3:45pm, January 26th, Swan Residence, Forks
It was mid-afternoon on the 26th of January, two months and twelve days since Edward came back to Forks.
Bella was still a shell.
When he left her, she could talk to no one, she broke down. But now he was back she opened up to only him, cutting herself off from everyone else. It was a horrible thing for her father, who had tried to help her through it all, only to end up watching her implicitly trust the boy that did this to her, who left with not even a phone call or an apology, a declaration of his regret, but not him, her father who had tried everything, done everything to make her feel herself again.
Her father, Charlie was at the end of his tether. He didn't know what to do, he had contemplated sending her to Jacksonville, to be with her mother but somehow he thought that her having to adjust to a new school and new home would make things harder for her, so he refrained. Plus she would never forgive him for parting her from Edward, he might follow her anyway, they were adults, he could not do a thing.
One month ago today he received a letter, written in black ink on heavy parchment and with an English post mark on the envelope, the letter still lay on the kitchen table, he had been reading it a lot today.
Dear Uncle Charlie,
I hope you are well and that this letter gets you in time for Christmas but I fear I may have been a little late in posting it.
If it is not yet Christmas Day then I wish you a very happy Christmas and hope that you have a lovely break.
If it is after Christmas Day then I apologize for the tardiness of my correspondence and hope you had a lovely holiday and that you received the letter and gifts my mother sent.
Speaking of my mother, she mentioned to me you were having problems with Isabella still, she didn't go into detail about what was wrong but I hope she is okay.
I am writing to inform you that now I am an adult and have finished my boarding school education in Britain, I am looking to continue my studies in an American university and have been advised to take up the final years of high school, to get a feel for the education system.
In one month I am travelling to America so that I can pick somewhere to live and go to school, nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing you, we're long due a catch up after so many years of nothing but the occasional letter. I know little about schools in America at the moment and your help with finding a school would be invaluable- if you have the time to help of course. I can come to Washington if that is where the schools you know most about are, I'm really excited to go anywhere, I'm not being picky.
All my love and hopes of seeing you very soon, thank you,
Hermione Granger
PS- My mother sends love to her brother.
Hastily he had emailed his sister and told her that he would love to see Hermione and wrote about how she should move to Forks and go to school with her cousin. Hermione had accepted the idea after a little research and was due on his doorstep at four o'clock.
She had been very mysterious about her arrival, refusing the lift Charlie had offered to pick her up from the airport but she had promised to be here on time.
So Bella and her father sat in their living room, the silence only broken by the excited tapping of the usually sedate Charlie's foot and the occasional sip out of a bottle of beer. Bella could see that Charlie was excited to his see his niece, she wondered whether he had been like this when she had first come to Forks.
At exactly four o'clock a long, shiny black car pulled up smoothly behind Charlie's cruiser, Bella's first thought that it was one of the Cullens, she knew no one else to have such an expensive and grand car. She quickly came back to reality as she realized that none of that family had a Jaguar hiding in the garage.
Charlie jumped from his seat with energy that Bella had never seen in him, setting down his beer on the table and taking one look out of the window before going to open the front door. She also stood, but stayed in the living room, she would let Charlie say his hellos first, she had mixed feeling about meeting Hermione after all these years.
When they were little Hermione, who was born exactly a week after herself, Bella on the 13th, Hermione on the 19th, was a bookworm with bushy hair, large front teeth, and Bella had teased her for it, so she just hovered in the doorway.
"Uncle Charlie!" she heard in a thick English accent.
"Hermione!" her father replied excitedly, he was blocking her from view. "It's so good to see you kiddo!" Bella's heart sunk a little as her father laughed as Hermione flung her arms around him, and he enveloped her in a hug. He didn't hug her when she got to Forks, their meeting was awkward.
"I hope you don't mind Uncle Charlie, but I've bought a friend with me. We have to attend a meeting at six and making him sit in the car would be awfully rude," she said, Bella could hear the smile in her voice even though she could not see her. "Even with the window cracked open."
"Not at all, pleasure to meet you, Charlie Swan, Hermione's uncle," he said, Bella saw him leaning forward, as if to shake hands.
"I'm Draco Malfoy," came a deep, silky reply. "Thank you for your hospitality." Bella was surprised; she had expected a girl, not a boy she had travelled half way across the world with.
"Come in, come in," Charlie said, Bella ducked back into the living room. "Bella's just through here, she's been looking forward to seeing you. I just can't believe how grown up you look, it seems just yesterday that you were four and running around the garden at knee height." Hermione let out a musical laugh as she followed Charlie into the front room. Bella had to contain a gasp as she took in the beautiful girl in front of her.
In some ways Hermione was very similar to her cousin, they both had the same large, almond shaped brown eyes, slender frame, high cheek bones and heart shaped face. But Hermione's hair was not waist length, straight and a dark brown like Bella's, it fell in waves just past her shoulders and was a light, sun kissed brown which if Bella's was likened to chocolate, hers would be caramel. She was tall and even without the high, shiny Mary Jane's she stood several inches above Bella.
She was dressed in a tight pencil skirt and a pretty white lace blouse which showed off her curvy figure, Bella suddenly felt very under dressed and plain in her own jeans and brown t-shirt.
"Isabella," Hermione said, smiling wide and showing off a full set of pearly white –normal sized Bella noticed- teeth. She stepped forward and put her arms around her for a second, nothing like the bear hug her and her uncle had shared. "It's so lovely to see you."
"It's Bella," she said quietly. Hermione raised her perfectly arched eyebrow at her cousin, obviously thinking that was very rude.
"I prefer to call you Isabella," she told her, not taking no for an answer. "And this is my friend Draco Malfoy," she said, gesturing to the boy behind her. Her mouth dropped slightly as she saw the boy stood next to her father, he was beautiful.
He had blonde hair, pale skin and startling blue-grey eyes, which she just couldn't look away from. His tall body was undoubtedly muscly under his suit, but not in a bulky way. Bella stood transfixed until Draco looked to Hermione and broke their eye contact.
"It's a pleasure," he said. Bella got the feeling he was quite distant and detached. For some reason her cousin was looking at him with angry eyes.
"Please sit down," Charlie said. "Can I get anyone a drink?"
"No thank you Uncle Charlie, we have to be in Port Angeles to sign some papers soon," she said. "I hope you don't mind me cutting out visit short but I'm sure we will have lots of time to catch up very soon," Hermione said.
"Oh not at all," Charlie said, seating himself in his armchair. "Do you know when you're coming back? To stay for good?"
"Coming back?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "But I'm not going anywhere to begin with. I start Forks High School on Monday, just as you suggested."
Charlie broke out into a smile and Hermione noticed Bella shoot a glare at her father.
"Do you want to stay with me and Bella-" Charlie tried to ask, but Hermione cut him short with a wave of her hand.
"Thank you for the offer Uncle Charlie but the Malfoy's have been kind enough to lease me a house on the other side of Forks," Hermione said. "Draco here has come from London to sign the paperwork; a Malfoy has to be physically present."
"All by yourself?" Bella asked. Hermione nodded.
"Are you sure you can handle it, I mean you'll have to cook, clean, shop for yourself, you might get lonely or-" Hermione laughed away her uncle's concerns.
"I lived in a dormitory for six years with four other girls, I look forward to the peace and independence" she reminded him. "I've been sharing a flat with six boys in London for the past four months, at least like this it's only me to cook for and clean up after. Besides," she said. "I'm going to be having friends from England coming to stay for a few days at a time all year, I couldn't impose that upon you."
"If you're sure about all this," Charlie said apprehensively.
"Positive," Hermione said with a smile. "I also have a cat,"
An hour and a half later, after a conversation about Forks, school, Hermione living on her own and why she was leaving England, she and Draco made it out into the drizzly evening air.
"They really are typical muggles," Draco sighed as they climbed into the car. Hermione said nothing. "And you're not going to tell them about you're magic or the even the real reason you've moved here?"
"Nope," she said simply, pulling her wand out of her thigh holster and changing her clothes with a flick of it, into a tight pair of jeans and a thick jumper. They had been dressed smartly to go to the American ministry, which was in New York earlier that afternoon. They were now going to their 'meeting to sign papers' which was really Draco handing her the keys and showing her around.
"I saw you using Legillimency to see her thoughts," Hermione said, raising a disapproving eyebrow at the blonde. He flashed her a wicked smirk.
"You want to know what I found out?" he asked.
"No, that is unethical, you had no reason to look into her mind," she replied stiffly.
"Apart from I was interested," Draco responded. "But fine, I won't tell you."
"I knew I should have left you in the car," Hermione muttered.
"I knew I should never have offered to show you round," Draco countered, still smirking.
After a minute of driving they stepped out of the car, Bella's house was near the forest and they had driven into it, where they could not be seen. Draco pointed his wand and the car shrunk to the size of a toy and he put it in his trouser pocket.
"Ready?" he asked. Hermione nodded and he took her hand. A few seconds of discomfort caused by the sensation of apparating later and they appeared on a long, wide, twisting driveway.
Hermione looked back toward the imposing wooden gates, obscured by tall, ancient-looking trees and full, vibrant bushes with colourful flowers adorning them, taking in the magnificent views of the sounding forest and her own grounds.
Slowly they walked up to the front door, straying from the driveway which veered to the right and instead walking along a path which seemed so natural and fitting that it looked as though it had grown amongst the grass itself, she marvelled at the beauty of the house, it was made from a sandy coloured stone and had grey slate roof tiles. The front door was sheltered by a long, thin balcony held up by stone pillars and encased in dainty looking railings made by weaving the finest strands of metal as though they were silk. She turned the key in the hole and stepped excitedly into what she would call an entrance hall.
Draco showed her around the house, starting with the large, homely wooden kitchen which sported a great arga, going to the dining room with a table large enough to fit three football teams around underneath a low chandelier then a large 'drawing room' as Draco called it, which was furnished decadently but seemed rather cosy, even with its ginormous fireplace.
Up a flight of stairs was a long corridor, with guest bedrooms going off it. At the end of the corridor was the master suite. The bed itself was large enough to fit four people quite happily and had piles of the softest feather pillows and scarlet blankets. Opposite her bed was another large television, and to one side of the room was a dressing table with innumerable drawers and a large, gilded, talking mirror. There were two doors, either side of her bed. Through one was a walk in closet and the other a bathroom. Both rooms looked much too large inside to fit into the space available, but that's magic for you. The closest was half full of beautiful robes which Narcissa no doubt picked out for her, she made a mental note to go shopping for muggle clothes to fill the gaps at some point soon. The bathroom looked a lot like the prefect bathroom in Hogwarts castle and much to Hermione's pleasure had the same bathtub and more importantly the same magnificent taps.
The parts of the house Hermione had seen so far had been decidedly muggle, with just a few, easily hidden exceptions so she could easily bring Bella and Uncle Charlie to look at her house. Draco and Hermione left the master suite and stopped in the corridor; Draco raised his wand above his head and made a small circle in the air. On cue, a hidden staircase slowly descended from the ceiling.
"This one you can't show to muggles," he said as they climbed, he turned and gave her a mischievous smile. "Also you can't bring Charlie Weasley, with books and him up here; you'll hardly be able to contain yourself." He ducked as Hermione's hand came shooting toward his cheek, but luckily at that moment they entered the room in question and thoughts of causing him grievous bodily harm left her mind.
The ceiling was charmed, much like in the Great Hall at Hogwarts to show the sky outside, though Draco showed Hermione how to change it to what she wanted. The large room which spanned most of the top floor was sectioned off, the first half was rows of bookcases, full of magical reference books for Hermione to read to her hearts content. Next to the last of the shelves was a big mahogany desk with a deep inkwell and large quill sticking from it and an obviously magical filing cabinet – it was humming and rattling. By the large, open window stood a high perch for Birinus, Hermione's short and stout Tawny owl. In front of the desk was a circle of arm chairs on a scarlet rug. The room stopped here but two doors were set into the wall, Draco opened one and showed her the potions lab, in the centre was a huge, gold cauldron, big enough to bathe a child in and smaller ones along the worktops which lined the room. There was a storage cupboard off that room for ingredients. The next room had walls of glass, the outside of the house must have been charmed to show it and contained an array of plants and spaces for Hermione to grow her own.
Hermione was beaming as they looked around the house and when she and Draco sat in the circle of chairs she had not stopped.
"It's beautiful, Draco," she told him. "Thank you."
"I thought this top floor could help with some of your ministry things," he said with a casual shrug of the shoulders. "We have another thing to discuss though," he said eying her carefully.
"What?" she asked.
"Congar," he called, clapping his hands together once. With a crack a house elf with flappy ears and large, blue tennis ball sized ears appeared. "This is Congar," he said gesturing to the elf who bowed low.
"Congar is so happy to see you, young Mister Malfoy," the elf said in a squeaky voice. "What can Congar get you?"
"Cups of tea," he replied, before casting a glance at the horrified Hermione. "Please," he corrected. The elf cracked away.
"This elf, comes with the house?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, now before you say anything, he likes to work, you can treat him as well as you like and elves do eventually die if they are out of work for too long, you are doing him a favour," he explained. Hermione looked mutinous. "He will save you from spending time you could spend reading, on cleaning," he pointed out, she didn't say anything. "Well you're keeping him."
There was another crack and the elf reappeared with a tray of tea things.
"Congar," Draco said as he strained his tea leaves. "This is Hermione Granger, she's going to be living here for a few years." The elf gasped and bowed low at her feet.
"Congar greets Mistress Hermione Granger," he said in awe. "Congar is so happy to have you inhabiting this house and to be serving you, mistress."
"She's happy to see you too," Draco said quickly. "Now it's very important for you to remember something Congar, you cannot show yourself to muggles and the first two floors of this house must always look non magical, even if there is magic being used there. Do you understand?"
"Yes Mister Malfoy," the elf replied. "Congar will make sure that is the case for if Mistress has visitors who are muggles."
11:00pm, January 26th, a Forest in Washington State
"Esme and Alice have been acting weird all day," Rosalie said, leaning against a tall pine tree.
"I've noticed it too," Carlisle answered with a pensive expression. Rosalie had asked Carlisle to come out with her under the pretence of hunting so she could discuss her thoughts on the matter in privacy, she could not discuss their family's sudden strangeness with Emmett, her mate, as he lacked the discretion needed. Their blonde hair and pale skin were luminescent even in the almost pitch darkness, of course the lack of light did not affect their extraordinary eyesight.
"Do you have any ideas about why?" the beautiful vampire prompted. Carlisle shook his head.
"They have not disclosed anything about it to me and with Edward's powers he would know if something was up, surely?" he reasoned.
"Either that or they are guarding their thoughts very carefully," she wondered out loud. "What could be so secret that they wouldn't tell us?"
"We must trust our family not to keep important information from us, I'm sure it can be nothing of significance to us at this time," Carlisle said wisely.
"We could just be imagining it," Rosalie said.
"Perhaps," he replied. "Come, let us hunt before we return."