Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters the author J.K. Rowling does. I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, the author Stephanie Meyer does.
Chapter 2-Harry, Ron, and Hermione
It was another early sunny summer morning, or that is early afternoon when Ronald Weasley awoke with a start at the shrieking below. He rolled over onto his right side, the bright sun piercing his sleepy eyes. Ron yanked the covers high over his face as the shrieking continued.
"RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY GET DOWN HERE THIS MINUTE!"
Ron barely had time to comprehend the person's voice who was shouting at him when his door burst open in an angry fury. The covers were torn violently from above him. Ron opened his eyes to see his red haired mother standing over him with her face the color of her hair. "Uh oh, this can't be good." He thought to himself.
"I cannot understand it Ron, how you see it fit to sleep until 12:30 in the afternoon. What could you possibly have done within the last day and a half to make you sleep this long? It's barbaric Ron! You are seventeen years of age and with that comes responsibilities... "
Ron tuned his mother's voice out of his mind, he wasn't worried, he was used to it. He had heard this speech at least a dozen times before. What did he have to wake up at the crack of dawn for in the first place? It's not like there was school, that was far away from now.
"RONALD!" His mother harped, pulling on his elbow. "Have you even been listening to a word I have said!" yelled uproariously.
"Mum," Ron mumbled, "Calm down, it's not that late." He told her wearily getting to his feet and grabbing a dirty shirt from his floor which he was planning to wear.
"Excuse me young man. It most certainly is that late! Now get up, Hermione's here for a visit. And for heaven's sake Ron will you please consider wearing a clean shirt and trousers?!" And with that left the room, shutting the door gently behind her.
Ron was suddenly wide awake, he loved it when his best friend in the world came to visit during the summertime. He only wished that his other best mate Mr. Harry Potter, wasn't trapped with his Aunt and Uncle in London so that they could all be together.
He reached into his drawers and pulled out a light blue shirt and pulled it on over his bare chest; finding a pair of dark blue jeans to accompany it.
Satisfied, he started out the door down the many sets of stairs to greet Hermione. At last he reached the foot of the final staircase and stared into his living room looking for the brown-eyed girl he expected to see there.
"Hermione!" Ron called rushing forward. He reached out and pulled her into a hug, it had been at least a month since he had seen her, she had been busy with her parents and had just gotten back from a family vacation a few days ago.
Ron pulled out of the hug and looked down at her, "How's your summer?" He asked. "How was Florida... you look a little burnt Mione', not that I hadn't expected it, because well, you know how it....." But his words were cut short by a sudden pain burning in his right shoulder. "OUCH! Hermione! Was that really any way to greet me?" He asked rubbing his shoulder.
"Yes it was Ronald!" Hermione hissed at him, standing on tip-toe to make herself more threatening.
"This was turning into a perfect day, I've been awake ten minutes and I've already been called Ronald twice!" Ron complained to himself.
"Honestly Ron! What part of, 'write me back' is so unclear to you! Do you realize the effort and time I took out of my day to write to you.... and never a word in return!"
"Oh Mione' don't be like that, you know I never write."
"That's a lie! You wrote me all last summer!" Hermione argued back.
"Well... I haven't had a chance yet, it's only been a month!"
"Only a month! Oh that's rich Ron! I suppose you have been busy catching up on your sleep." Hermione spat.
"I would've gotten around to it...."
"Eventually." Hermione said, this time with a laugh because Ron had spoke the word the at that precise moment. Hermione pulled her friend in for a less angry hug. "Florida was dreadful! So many people there, and the sun! All the time the sun, I can't imagine anyone living in solid humidity and severe sunlight their entire lives. " She told him, a smile on her lips.
Ron laughed at her, "Any word from Harry?"
"Yes actually! I almost forgot!" She yipped excitedly, " Oh It's unbelievable, truly. Harry has somehow convinced that purple-toad faced-goon of an Uncle to let him out of the house for a visit!"
"That's great!"
"So we need to go back to my house, he's meeting us there in about an hour! He even convinced Vernon to drive him from Surrey!"
"How long can he stay?" Ron inquired.
"As long as he wants! His Uncle told him if he wants a warm place to sleep he will have to walk home." Hermione chuckled, "I guess they don't want him to go back so he can just stay with one of us until school starts."
Ron frowned a bit, disappointed that his best friend had to be treated so unfairly. It always seemed like Harry got the short end of the stick in many situations, but then again he was the most popular person at school. Ron often times felt jealous of how much attention he got, but he also didn't mind being the best friend of the boy-who-lived.
After a few minutes of chatter with , Ron cleared it with her to go to Hermione's as long as he promised to be back by eleven that night. "I'm sure then you'll sleep until two in the afternoon if you come home at that hour." had said accusingly, just before Hermione had told her good-bye and followed Ron out the door.
***
When they had gotten to Hermione's house, her parents had left them alone to go and get groceries. Ron helped her by following her all over the house as she raced to get the list of chores done they had left for her. Ron had even gone so far as to spray her with the hose when she went out to water her mother's flower garden.
Hermione had noticed the two pairs of eyes staring at her from across the street and threw a friendly wave. They certainly didn't look like the couple that lived there. No, they couldn't have been them, the girl had gorgeous blonde hair and the boy was very muscular, he reminded Hermione of Viktor Krum. The two that stood there now were much different and Hermione wondered if they were going to be her new neighbors. Though, they both seemed very nice, odd, but nice, she hoped that she would get a chance at another time to become better acquainted.
She rushed through the other chores in a flash and soon the door bell rang, signaling that Harry had finally came.
Hermione raced to the front door, Ron following closely behind, she whipped it open hastily. "HARRY!" She screamed, throwing her arms around his back to hug him.
"Hermione!" Harry said excitedly, "RON!" He called as soon as he spotted Ron standing in the door way. "It's been far too long, what have you been up to?" He asked.
"Plenty of time for that later mate, more importantly, how in the name of Merlin did you convince Vernon to let you out?" Ron asked eagerly as Harry was led inside Hermione's home.
Harry blushed a bit, "Well, I err, told him that if he didn't let me get out of that house for a while I was going to singe off his mustache with my wand..... he didn't take me seriously at first until I went to get my wand. Then Petunia came in, well you can imagine she was all worried. But that bloke Dudley was good for something after all, he's the one who convinced him to let me go."
"No matter Harry, you're here now, let's just sit down and catch up. That is, unless the two of you would rather do something a bit more exciting. My parents won't be home until around nine tonight, they are going out with some friends of theirs for dinner after shopping." Hermione explained, taking a seat on her fluffy green armchair.
"Not hardly!" Harry said, "It's so nice to be able to sit in a chair... to spend time in a real house!"
Ron laughed at his friend, though it really wasn't funny how Harry was held prisoner in his own home, if you could even call it a home.
The trio sat for a very long time, first they listened to Hermione's stories from her time in Florida. Next, Ron told them all about how he had been helping out the twins in the Joke Shop, and how he even got a bit of the profits to keep for himself, not to mention the free stuff he got when the Fred and George ordered too much by mistake. Harry didn't have much to share, other than a very amusing story of how one morning Dudley had been trudging down the steps when they broke under his massive weight causing him to plummet to the floor.
After a few hours, it seemed that the friends were never really apart and they were talking and laughing just like they were back at Hogwarts school once more. Though, both Ron and Hermione could tell that Harry was very worried about Voldermort and his final year of school.
At around 4:30, Hermione made some supper for them, nothing fancy just a few sandwiches (which Ron was grateful for, but for the first time ever, Harry finished eating before him since he was so famished. ) After that, they went outside in Hermione's front yard and pretended to play Quidditch, but since they didn't have any brooms it wasn't quite the same.
They had to improvise a lot just to pretend to play. For one thing, there was no snitch for Harry to seek (giving him a huge disadvantage) there was no quaffle or bludgers either. So Hermione had used a volleyball as the quaffle and two small tennis balls as bludgers, then they had set up three ice cream pails on both sides of the yard that were to be the goals. In the end though, the friends ended up playing a simple game of catch, which none of them minded or objected to.
In no time at all another hour had passed them by, Harry and Ron settled down on the grass trying to catch their breath after a very ferocious game of steal the bacon. It felt like they were younger again and it was just nice to be able to do something together without having to worry about much. Hermione couldn't imagine how silly they must have looked, three seventeen year olds playing children's games.
While Ron and Harry rested, Hermione went inside to make some iced tea for the three of them. She bustled out of the house carrying three frosty glasses, filled to the brim with tea. She joined them on the cool green grass and became absorbed with the talk of the many pranks the twins had pulled while at school.
"Hey look Hermione your new neighbors are back." Ron said, pointing across the street.
"Ron don't point its rude!" Hermione warned him.
Harry looked totally confused until Hermione explained that she had met them earlier and they seemed to be really nice.
Bella and Edward were just about to cross the street back to their own house when Hermione called after them.
"Hey you two! Are you having fun in London so far?" Hermione asked, getting up and walking towards them.
Bella led Edward over to her and met Hermione halfway, "Yeah it's been really fun so far." Bella said politely. "I keep getting lost though, Edward's the only one who knows where we are going." She finished looking a bit upset.
Edward smiled at her. Hermione looked from Edward to Bella and back again trying to think of something to say to be friendly. Hermione looked down studying her feet for a moment and then looked up to see the diamond ring sparkling on Bella's finger.
"Are you two married? You both look so young." Hermione asked hesitantly.
"No." Edward replied quickly, a slight edge to his voice, "No, not yet." He said more calmly than before.
"I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I was just curious is all."
"It's fine."Bella said, "Don't worry about it. Please." She added after a short pause. "See I told you it was a bad idea." Bella said to Edward very quietly.
Edward didn't look at her, he didn't want to have that discussion again, they had already had it once already this afternoon.
Bella and Edward had just begun their long walk to the nearby park, hand in hand. The day was still gloomy outside, but it was nice to walk around in any case.
When they had reached the park, Bella sat down on the wooden bench for a rest, Edward sitting as well, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Bella looked up at him, the full intensity of his eyes staring back at her. She reached up and touched his face, tracing his jaw line. Edward scrunched closer to her, his cold arms wrapping more tightly around her.
"I really like it here." Bella said quietly.
"I'm glad, I thought you would. England has such charm about it."
Bella smiled, kissing the back of his hand and leaning in to rest her head against his shoulder. Edward linked his hand with hers and rubbed an icy thumb on her smooth, warm skin.
"Bella." He said after a silent moment went by.
"What is it?"
"I was thinking that since we aren't in Forks anymore, and.... Charlie isn't here, if you wouldn't object to wearing your ring.
Bella was taken aback by his sudden request. "Edward you can't be serious."
"Why not?" He asked separating himself from her slightly to look at her more clearly. "Why are you so opposed to the idea of being married to me?"
Bella sighed, "I'm not at all opposed to it. I love you Edward, but I don't need a ring on my finger to prove it, do I?"
"No. You have a good point." Edward said quickly falling silent.
Bella felt the guilt bubbling to the surface, she felt bad for making him feel even the tiniest bit upset. The truth was is she was actually looking forward to her wedding day even though she had never pictured herself to be that way. She was beginning to get used to the feeling of the gold band on her skin, the diamonds glistening in the light. Whenever she wore it, she wasn't as uncomfortable as she once was with it, in fact just having it there reminded her of Edward , since the diamonds cascaded brilliant rainbows all over everything; much like Edward's magnificent skin in the sun shine.
"Well.... maybe it wouldn't be so bad. You have a point too, no one is here to catch me." Bella said after a long minute.
Edward's face lifted the moment she said the words, pleased with the fact that Bella was starting to warm up to the idea of marrying him. With one swift movement he pulled the small ring from his pants pocket and slid it ever so gently onto her finger.
***
There was a very long, drawn out silence while both Edward and Bella seemed to recall the incident from earlier that day. Edward finally broke the silence, "Bella and I are getting married very soon." He told Hermione, just to be polite and be certain he didn't offend her.
The sudden sound of Edward's voice startled Hermione a bit, "Ohh, how lovely. Congratulations!"
Edward smiled, pleased. Bella stared off into the distance, looking a little uncomfortable.
"Look as long as you two are here why don't you come inside and join my friends and I for a bit of tea? Unless you have plans." Hermione asked kindly. Ron was watching them now, he waved in their direction and Edward waved back.
"I guess we could come in for a bit, Edward what do you think?" Bella asked, clutching his hand.
Edward was noticeably tense at the invitation, whenever it came to meeting new people he was always overly cautious, he always feared for Bella's safety. Something about these new strangers seemed of particular interest to him, he still hadn't told Bella what he had discovered while poking around inside their minds at their earlier encounter. After another long moment Edward finally responded, "No we have no other plans," He swallowed, "Thank you for your hospitality."
"Fantastic, well right this way then." Hermione said, she was always glad to meet new people. She led them across her lawn to where Ron and Harry were now standing. "Harry, this is Edward and Bella, they are visiting here for the weekend from.... where was it again?"
"Forks, Washington." Bella said hastily.
"Right, well I've invited them in for tea, I suspect rain is coming in soon it's getting a bit chilly out."
Edward gave a throaty laugh.
"Nice to meet you Edward," Harry said stepping forward to shake his hand. This time Edward shook it back . The moment their hands met several things happened. Harry immediately took a step back shocked by the snap of cold that was rushing through him suddenly. Edward froze on the spot and tensed his muscles. Bella gasped in surprise and Hermione narrowed her eyes with suspicion.
"We better get inside. Your hands are freezing mate." Harry said.
Bella shot Edward a sideways glance, looking worried. Hermione never broke her gaze on either of them, she had obviously sensed something.
Ron strode over to them, "Bella, Edward." He nodded at them each in turn, breaking another slightly uncomfortable silence. Edward nodded back, Bella still was gazing up at him, studying his every move.
Hermione finally took her eyes off of them and turned to lead them inside her house, gesturing for them to take a seat in the living room. In no time at all she was back, this time with hot tea. "Here we are, one of my favorite blends, white raspberry." She chirped happily setting a tray of tea onto the coffee table.
Harry and Ron lurched forward gratefully to grab one of the cups, Bella leaned in hesitantly and took the steaming cup of liquid in her hands, looking up at Edward. "How in the world is he going to pass this one off." She wondered.
"None for me thank you, you see I have a...severe allergy to raspberries." Edward said politely.
Hermione stared at him over the rim of her glass, "Oh, I'm sorry, I can get you something else if you..."
"That's won't be necessary." Edward interrupted. Hermione looked a bit startled but decided to ignore it.
"So, Bella..."Hermione went on, "What's it like in Forks?"
"Oh, it's... interesting." Bella mumbled more to herself than the others.
"Interesting how?" Ron asked, he was very unaware of the uncomfortable tension between them.
"Uhh, it's very wet... and cold."
Ron blinked, "That doesn't sound a bit interesting." he said taking a swig of tea.
"Ron!" Hermione cautioned, still set on making friends with someone new.
"You guys look about the same age as we are, what do you like to do for fun?" Harry asked, he spoke much more naturally than anyone else in the room, he was used to awkward silences.
Edward smiled a bit, "We like to run. Lots of wide open spaces in a small town." Bella's face flushed with color.
"That sounds like it could be fun." Hermione said awkwardly.
Bella found her voice, her face still a bit pink, "We also like to listen to music, Edward is very musical he writes his own songs even. It's not very exciting but we only have a little time left before we both go off to college."
Hermione was suddenly intrigued, she loved talking about any kind of thing that dealt with school. "Really? Where are you going to be studying at?"
"Dartmouth." Bella and Edward replied in unison, laughing at each other. Harry smiled, these two were very similar to the three of them in many ways.
"What about you? What do you do for fun?" Bella asked.
Harry shot nervous looks to both Hermione and Ron before clearing his throat. "England is a very.... magical place... there's always something around to get us into some trouble."
Hermione's eyes bolted upwards to glare at Harry, fearing he was giving something away. But Ron laughed loudly at Harry's subtleties.
Bella looked confused, Hermione annoyed, Ron clueless, and Harry lost in thought. Edward was studiously watching him, searching for anything that might tell him what the big joke was.
Harry was consumed with his thoughts of Lord Voldermort again, he pictured himself standing in the Department of Mysteries, in the Chamber of Secrets, and lastly in the graveyard where Cedric Diggory was murdered. His scar prickled painfully.
Edward twitched suddenly, as if he was shocked by something.
Hermione noticed Harry's pained expression and got down on her knees to look at him. "Harry?" She whispered breathlessly, her brow furrowed with concern.
"Edward!" Bella said rather loudly at the exact same time that he had flinched and Hermione had spoken.
Bella and Hermione starred at one another for awhile, Ron was aware of the tension now his eyes darted from where Bella and Edward sat to where Hermione was kneeling next to Harry concerned.
Harry recovered instantly and beckoned Hermione back to her seat. Another uncomfortable silence crept into the room. Suddenly Hermione's clock on the mantle began to chime, sounding that it was now seven o'clock that evening.
"Oh my goodness! Is that the time already?" Hermione said, eager to break the silence. She was absolutely perplexed by Edward and Bella's behaviors, there was something about them that she couldn't ignore; yet she thought they were both so kind she wanted more than anything to make the situation more comfortable so they could talk more easily. "Edward, Bella would you care for something to eat?"
"No, thank you that's quite all right. Bella and I had a heavy supper."
"Ohh alright then, well what are your plans for your visit? Have you considered going to the London Library? It's such a fascinating building, there's always something going on there too."
Bella was keenly studying Edward once more, she was starting to see the faintest sign of hunger in him. His eyes were becoming blacker with every minute that went by, she prayed that none of them noticed.
"Actually, we were planning on visiting the major tourist traps, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, places like that." Edward said calmly.
"Oh well if you get some time you simply must go to the library!" Hermione yipped, getting excited at the thought of a good book.
"Hermione, they aren't going to go to a bloody library on their vacation! Really, who goes on a trans-Atlantic flight to visit London and then wastes their time in a library?" Ron said harshly.
"I would!" Hermione snapped back at him. (The friends were officially re-united, their small squabbles had returned.)
Edward laughed at them. "Just ignore Hermione, she's mental." Ron explained looking in Edward's direction.
"Ron! Why do you always have to be so rude?" Hermione hissed through her teeth, angry with Ron's incompetence.
Harry rolled his eyes and tried to find something more interesting to talk about, but it was too late, Ron and Hermione were quarreling back and forth like old times.
Bella raised her eyebrows , studying them intently. Edward was laughing at their immature nature. "Humans." he whispered in Bella's ear. He flinched again the moment he had finished whispering, Bella noticed at once. She looked to see if Ron, Harry or Hermione had noticed, but the two were still caught in their argument.
Harry's scar was burning again, his face was pallid and he looked very worried.
All of a sudden a sharp, earsplitting howl pierced the night. Bella felt herself go weak, she knew that sound; she heard it in her dreams nearly every night. Edward tensed again. Hermione and Ron stopped fighting at once. Harry looked up startled, forgetting the pain searing his head.
"Bloody hell!" Ron swallowed. "You reckon' Lupin is back in town?"
"Shut up Ron!" Hermione said angrily. The howling continued, and she shuttered at the terrible sound.
"Do you have wolves in this area? Funny, I've never heard of them in London before." Edward said, now on his feet.
"Not generally. But...." Hermione hesitated, "There have been a few incidents recently."
Edward narrowed his eyes with concern, he was staring directly at Hermione. Without worry he began his way towards the door, rushing to get away from them. "We should be going anyway. It's getting late. Thank you for inviting us... it was nice meeting you... But Bella and I best be on our way. "
Harry, Ron and Hermione were also on their feet now. Harry and Hermione looking very concerned, and Ron looked bewildered as the sharp howling continued off in the distance.
"Bella?" Edward said, when he noticed that Bella hadn't moved since the howling began.
Bella couldn't move, she would have known that howl anywhere, anytime. The eerie cry of the wolf echoed inside her head. The creature was in pain. Not physical pain, but in complete anguish of emotional pain. But how? Why? It couldn't possibly be...Jacob?
Before Bella could even begin to think about how her ex-best friend could be in London, she was being pulled to her feet. Edward's cold hand wrapped tightly around her elbow. She couldn't find her voice, she was afraid to speak even if she could, if she could have spoken she would have been screaming.
"Thank you again." Edward said as soon as he had Bella within his grasp. "See you soon." He called before bolting out the door.
"Harry!" Hermione cried as soon as the door as closed. "We have to move, fast before it's too late!", her voice cracking as she spoke. "Your scar! It's bothering you again isn't it? Is it like you said in your letters? Whenever you hear the howling you can't shake the feeling its connected to.... you-know-who?" she lowered her voice at the last part.
"I have no doubt in my mind that it is Hermione."
"What do you mean we have to move?" Ron asked nervously. "If you think for one minute I'm going out there after a ware-wolf you've all gone mad!"
"RON DON'T YOU READ!" Hermione yelled. "Animals in the forest by your house have been found killed, some very large animals at that. And the boy... the little boy they found slaughtered last week at the edge of the forest?"
"Of course I know all about that Hermione! I hear it whenever the bloody thing cries like that, Mum's been going nuts with worry, she doesn't want any of us near that forest."
"We have to find this thing, I don't know what's brought werewolves to London, but we have got to find out. Every time we hear it cry, Harry's scar burns! Don't you see Ron, it's got something to do with you-know-who, it's all connected!"
"Blimey Harry I wish you would have told me!" Ron rounded on Harry.
"It's useless to write to you and tell you these things Ron you never write back, I know Hermione will and its nice when you are locked prisoner all summer long to hear from at least one of your friends. Now come on we have to apparate to the forest... and fast!" Harry said frantically.
The three fell silent at once, Ron refused to argue anymore, even though he had no desire to go hunting in the forest for a ware wolf that was sure to eat him for a midnight snack. When Hermione had said it was connected with you-know-who he felt an overwhelming surge of hate and wanted at once to get to the bottom of this.
In the blink of an eye the trio disappeared from the room with a loud CRACK!
As soon as they had gone they reappeared with another loud pop on the forest edge.
The moon had just broken through the blanket of clouds that had covered the skies all day and the soft beams of light illuminated the area, casting long shadows from the trees. The howling had died down and it was silent once more.
Harry, Ron and Hermione stood motionless as they looked around, taking in the sights and sounds of the new area.
Harry's eyes widened in disbelief, standing just ten feet from where his own feet were planted was Edward and Bella; standing still as stone staring back at them.
A/N: That chapter took a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I hope you are enjoying the story. I'm very pleased with the way it is turning out. Things are about to heat up... and what's with the howling? Is it a ware wolf or are Bella's instincts right... is it Jacob? Hmmmm, I don't know, you best review to find out!