Jasper turned hearing the door to Emily's room open. Quickly pushing the tome he had been examining back onto the shelf he raced back to the chair by the fire. The red haired man exited first, still pulling his shirt back over his head. Straightening himself out the man turned to Emily, who was now visible leaning against the door frame to her room, and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Without a word he vanished behind the portrait and into the dungeons of the castle.

oOoOoOo

Emily sighed as she watched Bill go. She knew this was always how it would be with him. It's not that she blamed him, being betrothed was beyond his control but it left her constantly having to watch him leave.

Looking away from the portrait Bill had disappeared behind Emily noticed the soldier-like vampire from earlier sitting in one of the chairs by the fire.

"Did you get volunteered to babysit?" Emily asked moving to sit on the sofa. Most of the furniture Dumbledore had created was gone. Which Emily believed was by the old man's design, as Severus would not be pleased by the changes to his sitting room.

"I offered," the man shrugged.

Grabbing the blanket behind her Emily wrapped herself up in it, "Kind of a boring job."

"To be honest not many things are all that exciting when you've lived as long as I have."

"Are you familiar with magic?" Emily asked tilting her head as she examined the man more closely. The vampire had shoulder length honey-blonde hair that had a slight curl to it. He wore a black t-shirt with a flannel over it and his jeans were more of a straight cut then the fashionable slim ones in the muggle world. She found him to be rather handsome, but Emily was well aware that part of becoming a vampire meant your beauty was amplified.

"I've heard rumors of your kind but I've never met anyone with magic before," the man's deep voice replied.

"Yet you didn't feel the need to explore the castle?"

"I'm sure there will be plenty of time for that later."

Nodding Emily closed her eyes briefly taking a deep breath, her body was tired but she couldn't bring herself to sleep. So many thoughts were still cycling through her mind, not even her occlumency could help her focus.

"Are you okay?" the man spoke, he sounded a bit concerned. "Do you need anything?"

Opening her eyes she smiled over at the vampire. "I'll be fine." All she received was a skeptical look in response. "What's one more scar?"

"It seems like this is more than just the cut on your arm," he said pointing to the bandaged arm that was resting on top of the blanket.

"For the moment, that is exactly what it's about." Taking another deep breath Emily tried to focus solely on the throbbing feeling coming from her arm. She attempted to block out all the questions, all the images… Slowly everything faded until all she could feel was the blood pulsing and the slight twinge of pain.

oOoOoOo

At those words Jasper understood the witch was overwhelmed and that she was attempting to calm herself. He remembered how at times when he was in the Southern Wars he would escape into the woods far away from the current camp to find a bit of solace away from the fighting. There were just some moments in life when no matter what was going on around you, you simply needed to allow yourself the freedom to forget even if it was short lived.

After about five minutes Emily opened her eyes and looked over at him, "Sorry."

"Don't be," Jasper said leaning back into his chair. "I get it."

"Do you?"

Inclining his head he watched as Emily seemed to be examining him. Her eyes lingered on the skin that was showing from under his rolled up sleeves, he wondered if she could see the scars that forever marked him as dangerous to others of his kind.

She opened her mouth to speak but the rooms glow from the fire turned green and Emily's attention turned to the fireplace. Jasper could feel the anxiousness she radiated as she stared into the flames. Her peace was broken but Jasper was unsure what was going on, standing up he watched as a man stepped from the fire.

The newcomer quickly stumbled forward and Jasper rushed to catch him feeling Emily's worry and warmth upon seeing the man.

"Severus," Emily yelled jumping up from her place on the couch. "Put him on the couch."

"I'm fine brat…" then man weakly spoke.

Rolling her eyes Emily looked from Jasper to the couch.

Doing as she instructed the vampire set the man down and stepped back allowing Emily to check him over. He appeared to be twitching slightly.

Emily pointed her hand at the wooden chest behind her and Jasper watched as multiple potions flew towards her open palm. She seemed to force the man to swallow each one, softly thanking him each time he grudgingly complied. Her efforts were met with an obvious annoyance from the man but he seemed unable to refuse her. After the last potion Jasper noticed the man's tremors had stilled and his breathing had evened out.

"He's going to be fine," Emily announced standing up. "It was mostly Cruciatus exposure that had weakened him a bit."

Raising an eyebrow Jasper wanted to counter that the man couldn't even stand. "I think he's sleeping," the vampire pointed out instead.

Indeed the darkly dressed man's head hung to the side, his eyes were shut but he was breathing. "I may have tricked him into taking that last one," she shrugged moving to adjust the blanket she had been using earlier and wrapping it around the older man.

Raising her hand the vampire noticed she was holding a wand. Or at least he assumed that was what it was called, it was a dark ebony wood with a bit of purple on the handle.

Two ghostly snakes slithered from her wand seemingly growing from wisps of smoke to larger beings before him. Jasper found himself leaning forward trying to understand what Emily was saying to the creatures but all he could hear was hissing. Emily seemed to caress their heads before the pearly snakes turned away and slithered off through the wall confusing Jasper.

Before he could ask her what she had done he suddenly felt Emily's pain spike and she was overcome with exhaustion. Rushing forward he caught her as she began to fall. Adjusting her, Jasper held the witch tightly to his chest and allowed himself to take a deep breath. She smelled intoxicating but not in a way that made him want her for his next meal.

Looking back at the man who was sleeping on the couch he decided his best option was to move her back into the room she was supposed to be staying in. Slowly as not to wake the girl who had obviously overdone it, Jasper carried Emily into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. Covering her with the duvet the vampire moved to sit on the chaise by the wardrobe.

Settling in Jasper focused on the rise and fall of Emily's chest, in the back of his mind he couldn't help but wonder why he felt the need to sit and watch the witch sleep.

oOoOoOo

Sighing Charlie stared down at the glass of firewhiskey in his hand. He wasn't too fond of the drink but in the magical world he couldn't simply pull a Rainier from his refrigerator as he would back home, so he slowly sipped the liquid as it burned its way down into his stomach.

It was quiet, Bella had quickly gone to bed but only after she had slammed the door as best as she could in his face. Closing his eyes Charlie pinched his nose with his free hand, his oldest daughter was a completely different kind of headache for him than his youngest, but one thing was for certain both had a knack for trouble.

Across the room Remus cleared his throat but otherwise remained silent and Charlie appreciated the gesture. The werewolf was one of his oldest friends and probably the only person who understood his need for quiet at times. Growing up James and his friends had always brought mischief with them wherever they went and at times Charlie loved it. Playing pranks and flying around brought the now cop a certain thrill but at the end of the day it was always him and Remus who would quietly sit together while the other two plotted or chased after the local girls in whatever town they were visiting at the time.

Charlie wondered how Remus had put up with the other two while at school all year. He on the other hand had plenty of quiet in his life during the school year, being a squib he had gone to school in Forks and had been raised by a family friend he called Aunt Helen.

A little mischief he supposed was always good though and he found himself missing his friends by the end of each year. When the war had started the men had no longer been able to visit or meet for their annual trip. In that silence he found himself missing the adventures they had and before he knew it he was marrying Renee. She had filled a void for him for a time but his need for fun and companionship only took him so far and eventually he watched as Renee practically ran out the door searching for sun and a new adventure to be had.

Charlie was broken from his thoughts as a laughing Sirius come through their portrait. "That big guy Emmett is a hoot! We should teach him some of our tricks, he could be part of the next generation of marauders."

"He's probably older than us," Remus corrected the animagus without looking up from his book.

Shrugging Sirius threw himself down next to the wolf on the sofa, "He could be the forever generation then."

Grunting Charlie took another sip from his glass and coughed as the strong liquid made its way down his throat.

"Not used to the good stuff anymore?" Sirius teased reaching forward to pour himself a glass from the bottle that sat on the coffee table.

"Haven't had a need for it till now," Charlie countered rubbing his forehead.

"Ha," Sirius exclaimed taking a large sip from his glass. "Where have you been the last four years?"

"In Forks, apparently my updates were lacking…"

Setting his book down Remus met Charlie's accusing eyes, "I know you're upset with us but after her first year we couldn't send information as freely as before. He was active again or at least had people helping him, we couldn't risk anyone finding out too much."

"No one knows where Emily lives when she's away from Hogwarts, let alone that she's in the muggle world across the pond. All it would take was tracking our correspondence," Sirius added leaning forward to really look at his old friend.

"If anything we sent was compromised…" Shaking his head Remus ran a hand through his hair, "It was one of the reasons I pushed Dumbledore to allow us to fire call you tonight. Being here allows you to be in the know about what is happening with Emily. Until Voldemort decides to step out of the shadows we are going to be fighting this alone and Emily is going to need her father here whether she realizes it now or not."

"I thought you called because you didn't know where my daughter had vanished."

Putting his hands up in front of him Remus tried to stave off the tirade he could see burning in Charlie's eyes, "We didn't but we had an idea by that point that it had something to do with Voldemort."

"Then why didn't you stop her from competing?!" Charlie accused jumping to his feet.

Sirius set his glass down and stood moving toward the angered man. "She would have forfeited her magic, her name coming from that goblet created a magical contract. We researched everything we could but there was no way to stop this… Charlie we aren't going to send her out there unprepared. She will be ready for this."

"She wasn't ready tonight!"

Gripping Charlie's shoulders Sirius looked him in the eyes, "She won tonight Charlie, she was strong enough to fight off a man who is likely more powerful than Dumbledore. She fought him and she came home. We have to focus on that. She's here, she survived. Let's make sure she continues to do that."

oOoOoOo

The Cullen sat in silence in the main room of the quarters they had been given. No one was talking which wasn't an uncommon thing but in this instance it made Emmett uncomfortable. No one seemed willing to voice their questions although it was clear they all were wondering similar things as they each watched their coven leader intently who was stood in front of the fire seemingly lost in the sight of the flames.

Deciding he couldn't take it anymore Emmett spoke up, "Carlisle, what's going on?"

Turning to face his family Carlisle took in the eager faces staring back at him. "The girl who spoke tonight of her recent trials is Charlie's daughter…"

"What does that have to do with us?" Alice whined crossing her arms. Emmett could tell the pixie vampire had been rather upset since Jasper had volunteered to stay behind. It seemed lately that a rift had been growing between the two. The more Bella became a part of the family the more Jasper had been pulling away. While Emmett had always had his doubts since meeting the couple it just increased his curiosity to whether the two were truly mates.

"It means she is Bella's sister and that makes her wellbeing a concern for us."

"Except she's never mentioned her sister before," Alice pointed out.

Emmett had to agree with his sister, in all the time they had known Bella never once had she mentioned she had a sister nor the fact that she had a witch in the family. There had to be some other motivation then it just being a family member Bella was obviously happy to forget existed.

"True," Carlisle conceded it seemed like he was weighing exactly what his next words should be. Emmett looked over to Edward to see if he was reading more into Carlisle's thoughts but his forehead was scrunched as if he was confused. "But it doesn't change the fact that she is still her family."

"There's something else Carlisle…" Esme prompted from where she sat on the arm of the sofa observing her husband.

Sighing Carlisle nodded his head, "I owe a debt to the headmaster."

"You mean the Merlin dude?" Emmett asked picturing the tall wizard from earlier who had the long grey beard.

Nodding Carlisle chuckled apparently amused by his son's description of the man. "Yes, the Merlin dude is actually named Albus Dumbledore and he was the person who helped secure my leave from Volterra."

"I thought the brother's let you leave freely," Edward spoke up for the first time since their arrival. Surprisingly the copper headed vampire appeared rather calm, he still had the slightly confused look on his face as he studied his sire but Emmett was rather shocked at his behavior. Usually when separated from Bella, Edward would race through whatever had to be done so as to quickly return to her side but at the moment he sat with the family patiently seeming in no rush to find the human and return to her side.

"Yes, eventually they did but it really was thanks to Albus' intervention that I was allowed to do so."

"Then why never mention him to us?" Rose asked softly. Emmett sensing his wife's unease, pulled her into his side. Rose never liked change and in the past few hours there was a lot of things happening with little explanation given.

"This was not a world I wanted for us to be a part of," Carlisle said hesitating slightly. "Vampires who are aware of the magical world often tend to choose to live under the reign of the Volturi in the muggle world then live by the ministry standards in their various countries."

Emmett was confused by that thought, so far from what he had seen of the magical world it certainly had to be better than the existence they knew now. Clearly they wouldn't have to hide as the wizards and witches seemed to know already what they were and so far no one seemed to care. "Couldn't we live more freely here? These people already know what we are. I mean think about it, no more going to high school to have to fit in!"

"While it sounds great, the reality is not what you would hope. Here we are considered dark creatures, most fear or shun us. A life here would be a far greater struggle than you imagine."

"No one seemed to care tonight," Emmett pointed out, in fact Sirius had seemed more amused by their presence than appalled and everyone else had simply acted as if it was a normal occurrence to have a coven of vampires around.

"The people you were around tonight are very different from most of their kind. We are not the first creatures to be accepted by them, did no one notice the werewolf?"

Emmett shook his head thinking back to earlier. He couldn't remember sensing anything but now thinking about it the comments Charlie had made to one of the men now made more sense, he had called the man Moony and asked him 'how the moon was treating him'.

"It was the tall lean one. The older wizard, Dumbledore referred to him as Remus I believe," Edward answered obviously putting together the same clues Emmett had.

"Yes Remus is a true werewolf. His turning is ruled by the moon unlike the shifters from the Quileute tribe."

"What's special about a wolf?" Rose spat looking angrily at the fire behind Carlisle. Emmett squeezed his wife's shoulders in an attempt to calm her. Now was not the time for her to get worked up too much.

"Remus has been friends with Sirius and Charlie for years, Emily views him as an uncle. His acceptance by the group means they are more open to dealing with creatures often classified as dark. It means, at least with them we will find welcome."

"I still don't understand why we're here!" Alice exclaimed jumping up from where she had been sitting close to the entrance of the quarters. "Wonderful, they accept us but that still doesn't explain why you brought us here if you never wanted us to be a part of this world. Why not come alone and leave us back in Forks?"

"Alice!" Esme scolded looking away from her husband to glare at the girl.

Raising a hand to halt Esme, Carlisle looked around the room clearly reading the curiosity on the rest of his children's faces. Emmett had to admit, while he may not have felt Alice needed to start taking out her anger on Carlisle for Jasper remaining behind, he too wanted to know what exactly they were doing here.

"For now we are here to assist and protect Emily."

"That's it?" Alice snapped.

"That's more than enough reason!" Carlisle countered making Emmett and the others in the room lean slightly away at the harsh tone the vampire's voice had suddenly taken. Clearing his throat their sire seemed to attempt to calm himself but Emmett didn't have to be the empath in the family to know the man was simply masking his true emotions. "Tomorrow I will meet with Albus, after I may have some better answers for you. If you find them unsatisfactory you will be welcome to leave."

With that the coven leader turned and walked down the short hallway off the sitting room. As the door to one of the rooms closed Emmett felt he was even more confused than he had been when they started the conversation. What was making his sire react this way certainly it couldn't be a simple debt…

oOoOoOo

As consciousness returned to Emily she noticed a throbbing in her arm, sighing she realized that while sleeping she had rolled onto her injured side. Pushing herself onto her back she allowed herself a moment to stretch out her body.

Hearing a chuckle Emily quickly assessed the room her eyes meeting the amber of the vampire from the night before. "You're still here."

"Your professor checked your arm but he had to go meet with your headmaster. I'm supposed to make sure you take the potions he left," the vampire answered pointing to where several vials sat on her nightstand.

"Lovely," Emily yawned stretching out her body once again. "Any other instructions?"

"We are to join the others in the Great Hall for breakfast and I am supposed to keep my fangs to myself."

Laughing Emily rubbed her eyes before attempting to sit up. Her body ached and she was still slightly exhausted from the over use of her magic the day before. She would have to work on that as she doubted the Dark Lord was struggling as much as she was at the moment.

Obviously noticing her struggle to sit up without hurting her arm the blonde rushed to her side and helped her get adjusted sitting propped up in the bed.

"Thank you…" Emily paused realizing she didn't know the man's name. "I'm sorry, here you are helping me and I don't even know your name."

"Jasper Whitlock ma'am," the vampire pretended to take off an invisible hat and gave a slight bow. The deep smooth accent as he spoke made Emily's stomach flutter slightly.

"Are you from the south Mr. Whitlock?"

"Yes ma'am, I was born and raised in Houston, Texas." Emily couldn't help but smile at the smirk Jasper had on his face as he answered her.

"Ah, but the real question is in what year you were born…"

"1844," Jasper replied as he passed Emily the first potion vile to take.

Downing it as quickly as possible Emily switched the vampire for the next vial. "You must have witnessed so many things!"

Shrugging Jasper swapped her vials again, "More than I would have liked."

Emily felt the vampire's words resonate with her, nodding her head Emily couldn't help but agree in her almost 15 years of life she had seen far more than she had ever wanted to, she could only imagine the things one could see having lived several centuries.

"You okay Darlin'?" Jasper asked looking down at Emily with a bit of worry.

Shaking her head Emily smiled up at the blonde as she swapped him for the last vial. "I'm fine. So did Severus really warn you not to bite me?"

Chuckling Jasper took the final empty vial back and put it on the nightstand. "Yeah… I got the feeling he wasn't happy with me being here."

Laughing Emily waved off the vampire's comment, "He hates everyone and everything. Now you up for helping this damsel make it to the bath while she waits for her potions to kick in?"

oOoOoOo

Jasper followed Emily as the two made their way towards the Great Hall. The farther away they got from the professor's quarters the more stoic and quiet Emily got. The pair had been having quite a few laughs back in the room as Emily fumbled around trying to get ready. Slowly the potions had kicked in and she seemed to get her bearings, even to the point where her annoyance and pain levels were so diminished that Jasper could barely read them in her emotions at all.

It was the first time since leaving Peter and Charlotte that Jasper found himself truly feeling calm. He loved the Cullens to an extent and was grateful for their help as he tried to overcome his personal demons from his time in the South but he still always felt on edge. Everywhere he turned there were humans and temptation, a temptation he often found himself giving into over the years.

Being at home with the coven had been his one reprieve but since Bella had entered the picture he couldn't even relax there never knowing when the human would show up. Emily though didn't tempt him as a possible meal she simply intrigued him. He hoped that during whatever was to come he could get to know the girl more.

When they reached the doors to the Great Hall Emily smiled up at him, "Thank you for your help this morning."

"Anytime Darlin'." Jasper couldn't help but smile as the girl reached up to peck his cheek. He sighed as he watched her walk off to a table on the far left. The hall was surprisingly very empty as he scanned the room. He noticed Carlisle was sitting at the high table where he guessed the professors normally sat since the man with the grey beard was sitting in a throne like chair in the middle of it. Making his way to join them Jasper took the empty seat next to the older vampire.

"Thanks Jasper," Charlie's gruff voice caught the blonde's attention. "Emily can be a bit stubborn so I apologize if she gave you any trouble."

Shaking his head Jasper smiled at the Chief, "I didn't mind. She was asleep most of the time anyway."

Charlie opened his mouth as if to respond but something distracted the man, grunting he leaned towards his friend Sirius, "What is going on between those two?"

Looking towards where Charlie was focused Jasper noticed the red haired man from the night before. He was kneeling next to where Emily sat, the two whispering intently.

"Unfortunately not much," Sirius sighed. "Bill is betrothed to the Beauxbaton's champion. Something about a life debt her father owed Arthur. I don't know the whole story but they decided the best way to settle it was to marry off the part veela to one of the Weasley boys."

"Then why do I keep seeing him around my daughter?"

Looking away from the couple Remus turned to his friends, "Em was in a bad place after Halloween, Cedric dumped her and being in Slytherin she was already an outcast. She turned to Bill, I guess the two had been corresponding for the past couple of years."

Charlie huffed as the group watched Bill kiss Emily's head before quickly leaving the hall. "It looks like more than that to me."

"Because it is," Severus said looking briefly at Emily. "Now would one of you pass me the coffee?"

Jasper felt a bit of anger rush through him at the statement from the severe man. Sure he had seen the red head leave her room earlier but something about it being confirmed that there was a relationship beyond that of friends upset him. Carlisle gave Jasper an odd look but the vampire waved it off.

"How can you be so calm?" Charlie asked looking over at the Potion Master.

"We have greater things that need focus then weighing in on who she is seeing."

"If memory serves me right, are you not the one who has threatened on many occasion since the Yule Ball to poison that man," chuckled the Headmaster chiming in for the first time.

Glaring at the older wizard Severus bit back, "Yes well it was highly unreasonable of him with everything that was going on to allow this to begin but now that it has we have other issues that need solving."

"Sadly you are right my friend," the smile vanished from the headmaster's face. He looked down towards where Emily sat and Jasper could feel the worry rolling off the wizard. "The clouds are looming above us, lowering ever faster than before."

oOoOoOo

"Em, you have to stop."

Running a hand through her hair Emily looked out over the lake as she walked next to Draco and sighed, "I know what I'm doing." Emily avoided looking at her best friend knowing he was likely raising his eyebrow skeptically at her. After the past few years the two could guess each other's actions before they did them. "You don't have to worry Dray. I know what I got myself into."

Draco grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her to face him, "This isn't going to end well. I watched you get hurt once. Em, you have to end it."

"I can't, not yet," she pleaded trying to get Draco to understand. She couldn't let Bill go yet, he was what was holding her together. Ever since Halloween when she had stumbled into him as he was patrolling the grounds the two had become each other's rock.

"Woah there," Bill said catching Emily as she nearly fell over a broken branch on the edge of the forest. "Shouldn't you be back in the castle celebrating?"

"What's there to celebrate?" Emily replied wiping fiercely at her eyes.

Realizing something wasn't right Bill pulled Emily over to a clearing just inside the tree line. The two had become friends, writing to each other since they met back at Malfoy manor before Emily's second year. Being that Bill was at Hogwarts as a Gringotts official, helping with wards and safety the two hadn't seen the point in writing but it also meant neither was really up to date on what was going on with the other even if they were living in the same castle.

"I don't want to compete," Emily finally whispered her head leaning on Bill's shoulder. The two had spent the past hour catching each other up on their lives over the past few months. Neither was truly happy it seemed and it felt good for Emily to voice her fears aloud. "I'm not a hero, I just want to be left alone for once. I didn't ask for this."

Nodding in understanding Bill ran his fingers through her hair as the pair stared up at the stars above them, "I don't want to marry her. I wish they had picked a different brother."

Together the pair could admit what they couldn't tell others. They both had obligations, ones that scared them, that forced them forward in directions neither wanted to go. Bill understood Emily, he helped her and he empowered her. He spent countless hours helping her train, holding her when she felt tired and when she wanted to give up, he built her back up. In turn Emily had been Bill's escape the one person he didn't have to put on a face for and pretend he was happy with his lot. "Please Dray, understand. I can't…"

Giving in for the moment Draco inclined his head at his best friend and offered her his arm. Together the friends finished their stroll silently around the lake. There would be time to talk later and they both knew this conversation was far from over but for the moment Emily needed the silence.