All right! This story is getting along faster than I thought it would!
Fair warning though: This chapter contains a couple of long speeches (mainly about Remus) and is mainly just to get some points across. The fun stuff starts in the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I own all of this... yeah, and I also own a pet unicorn! -sigh- Sadly, Twilight and Harry Potter IS NOT MINE... I am no where close to that good.
Chapter 3
Learning about Magic
"So… you're the vampires that will be looking after my godson."
"Yep, that's us! We drink blood, have cold, hard skin, no heart beat-"
"Hey Emmett, speak for yourself! I have a heartbeat, I eat normal food, have toasty warm skin-"
"And so do I! Well, apart from the eat normal food part. I mean, I can eat normal food, I just don't, so-"
"Quiet!" called Carlisle, sending a stern look at Emmett, Jake and Ness. "I would like to try and make a good first impression."
Mad-eye Moody and the portkey had taken us to a grubby little house on the outskirts of London. I must say, when Dumbledore had said 'Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix', I was thinking something a little more elaborate. But, I guess this will have to do.
The owner of the house, Sirius Black – who was also Harry Potter's godfather – had greeted us at the door and ushered us into the kitchen, before staring at us with an intensity which I thought might have burnt a hole in our cold, hard skin.
Edward had said Sirius was a great person – if not just a little bit depressed – but that he was treating us harshly at the moment out of care for Harry. He loved Harry more than anything in the world, and wasn't too keen on putting his life in the hands of a couple of bloodsucking monsters.
However, after the little banter between Em, Ness and Jake, his eyes had softened somewhat, and he looked a little amused.
"Yes dad," muttered Emmett.
"Sorry Grandpa."
"Won't happen again, Dr. Fang."
"I highly doubt it," muttered Carlisle, before turning back to Sirius. "I apologize for that."
"That's quite all right," said Sirius.
"You see, Jacob is not a vampire. He is a werewolf, only he can control when he phases. And Nessie is half human. But yes, other than that, we are all vampires."
"And you will be looking after Harry?" His serious tone had returned.
"We have not been told the details yet, but I gather that is the plan, yes."
"You'd better watch out," growled Sirius, "If any harm should befall Harry while you are around-"
"We have no intention of harming your godson," said Edward.
"But when it comes to vampires, accidents happen, do they not?"
"Yes, they do. But we have all had much practice at ignoring the scent of human blood. Carlisle, for instance, is able to work as a doctor in a hospital. And only hours after her change, Bella was able to run from the scent of a human."
Sirius didn't seem to find that bit of information that impressive, but I put it down to knowing absolutely nothing about vampires in general, let alone newborns.
"So? That's two of you, what about the rest?"
"Well, I don't drink blood at all," said Jake.
"And, being half human, I can control myself a lot easier than they can," said Ness, motioning towards us with her hands.
"The rest of us have had a lot of practice, as I said before," continued Edward. "You see, in America, we all go to Muggle high school. Also, when Bella was still human, she was with us pretty much all the time."
"And yet look where it got her," said Sirius, glaring at me.
"I asked Edward to change me," I said quietly, understanding what he meant.
"Asked?"
"More like demanded," laughed Emmett.
"Yeah, she wouldn't stop begging to be changed," said Alice, also laughing.
"Oh, shut up guys, you're making me sound pathetic!"
"Well…" said Jake, stroking an imaginary beard.
"Oh, shut up," I said again - but in a different tone - slapping his arm.
"Wait, you wanted this?" asked Sirius, now looking confused. I sighed, and looked at Edward, then Alice. They both nodded. So did Carlisle.
"Well, when I was human, I fell in love with Edward. I loved him more than anything, so when I found out what he was, it didn't matter to me. Then Alice told me I could become a vampire if one of them bit me. I wanted nothing more than to be with Edward forever, to be able to stay with him for the rest of his existence. You see, vampires are immortal, we do not age. If I were to stay human, I would grow older, but Edward would stay the same. I couldn't bear the thought of looking like I was his grandma. And then, he did something which made me even more adamant in my decision."
"What did he do?" asked Sirius. He was curious now.
"He tried to kill himself."
"What?"
I sighed, then continued to explain.
"You see, about six months after we got together, Edward realized that it was a bit dangerous for a human to be hanging around seven vampires. So he left me."
I felt Edward stiffen beside me, and I edged closer to him, pressing against his side. I hated these memories, wishing that they would disappear, but I knew they wouldn't. They were too big a part of me to forget.
"It was horrible for both of us. He was gone for months, and that was when Jake and I became really good friends… One day, Jake mentioned cliff diving. It sounded like fun, so I decided to try it. I almost drowned though – would have done if Jake didn't pull me out. Anyway, Alice – she can see the future, by the way – saw me jump, but because she can't see wolves, didn't see me get back out of the water, and thought I was dead. Then Edward found out, and thought I was trying to commit suicide."
Rosalie smiled at me for leaving her involvement out, and I smiled back at her as Edward wrapped his arms around me. But I kept talking – I had to finish the story, and it was easier now that I had started.
"Edward thought that I had died, so he wanted to die too.
"As a vampire, you have one mate. One mate, and that's it. If they die, it's like the world has come to an end. There's nothing left to live for…
"When Alice realized what had happened she came and got me, and then we ran after Edward and got him back. But my point is, all of this made me realize that if I were to die – and if I were human, I would have done after sixty, seventy years? – Edward would go and kill himself, and I couldn't let that happen. So I all but forced Edward to change me.
"In the end though, all that didn't matter. Because I ended up getting pregnant with Nessie, and if Edward hadn't changed me when he had, I would have died during childbirth."
"Well that's… that's some story you have there." It wasn't Sirius that spoke.
From the doorway behind Sirius' chair, a man appeared.
The moment his scent hit me, I – along with the rest of my family bar Jake, Ness and Carlisle - lowered myself into a crouch and growled.
He smelt terrible. Similar to Jacob, but worse – much, much worse.
I hadn't even thought that was possible.
I didn't quite register what he looked like, and the logical bit of my brain knew that he had done nothing to harm me, but every part of my body was screaming danger! Enemy!
It was all I could do not to attack then and there.
I did not know what he was, but I knew he wasn't human, and that there was something different about him.
"Werewolf," spat Jasper.
Well, that would explain it.
"Vampire," said the werewolf, although his tone was softer, and a little confused.
"Everyone, calm down," said Carlisle, moving to stand in front of us.
Esme straightened up, but the rest of us stayed crouched in an offensive position.
"Carlisle, that's a werewolf," snarled Rose. "Not just a mutt like the Quileutes, a real, proper werewolf!"
"Edward, does he mean us harm?" asked Carlisle.
Edward growled.
"Edward?"
"No," he spat, glaring at Carlisle. "No, he doesn't. But that doesn't alleviate the fact that he's our natural enemy."
Something about Edward's tone hit home in me. I had heard him say something similar before.
"It doesn't matter," I whispered, straightening up.
"What?" asked Rose, glancing at me in disbelief before turning back to the wolf.
"You guys thought the same thing about the Quileutes." I looked at Jake. "Edward, everyday you would tell me I couldn't go to La Push to see Jake and Quil and Embry and Emily; you'd tell me it was too dangerous. Whenever I asked you to be friends, you would tell me that you were natural, or mortal enemies. But I didn't care. And I got you to cooperate in the end."
I looked away from Jake, and focused on the man on the other side of the room.
He didn't look very old – late thirties, maybe – but his face was lined and tired. He was scrawny and his clothes were ripped and torn. He didn't seem dangerous.
"You told me the Quileutes would slip," I said, my tone still quiet. I was still watching the wolf, but directed my words at my family. "But the only one to ever slip was Paul, and that was only once. This man here, he can't slip. Am I right in assuming you can only transform at the full moon?" The man nodded quickly. "Then you are safe right now. You can't hurt us."
I dodged Edward's restraining hand, and crossed the room slowly, walking towards the werewolf.
"You can't hurt us," I repeated, "And I don't think you want to. I promise I won't hurt you. I criticized Edward and Jacob for their prejudices before, and I refuse to do what they did."
The man smiled at me, and held out his hand. Sirius looked livid as he glared at my family, and I could tell that the werewolf was a friend of his. He clearly cared deeply for him if he was willing to glare at a group of hostile vampires for merely acting prejudiced.
"I'm Bella Cullen," I said, taking his hand, and noticing that it was the same temperature as a normal human's.
"Remus Lupin."
"See?" I said, turning back to my family. "Am I dead yet?"
"That was cool, Bells!" said Emmett, grinning. I noticed he was standing up, completely relaxed. "I don't think I've ever heard you say so much as you have today!"
"Leave me alone, Em."
"That transformation really didn't change you at all, did it?" grinned Jake, bounding over to Remus and I. "Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Jacob Black, I'm a werewolf too. Well, not technically, the big boss vampire called me a shape shifter."
"Like an Animagus then?" asked Remus.
"No," I said. "At least, that's what Edward said. An Animagus is someone who has to use magic to be able to transform, right?"
"Yeah," said Remus.
"Jake's wolfiness is hereditary."
"Wolfiness?" said Jake. "Really?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Well, you seem all right," said Sirius, nodding at me. Then he looked at Remus. "But I'm not sure about the rest of them."
"Oh, that is so unfair. How come she's your favorite?" asked Emmett, pouting.
"Maybe because she was the only one that actually tried being nice," muttered Nessie before joining Jake and I. "Hi. I'm Renesmee, but everyone just calls me Nessie."
"Hi Nessie," said Remus, smiling as he shook her hand.
I smiled at Remus again before walking back to Edward.
No need to overwhelm the humans – well, human and werewolf.
"How are they taking it?" I breathed to Edward, too quiet for even Alice, who was right next to him to hear.
"Remus is a little more relaxed since you went and talked to him – he trusts you. Sirius trusts you enough to not kill him, but doesn't trust the rest of us, although he seems to trust me a little more than the others – your story made them like me a little more. Remus trusts the rest of us a little less than what Sirius trusts you. They both seem comfortable with Jake, and a little with Ness."
"Well, it's much better than it could have been," I muttered.
"You did brilliantly," said Edward, kissing my forehead. "If it weren't for you, I don't know what would have happened."
I grinned.
"Switzerland."
"What, so you wouldn't pick me over them?" he asked.
I shook my head, smiling.
"I just wouldn't get involved."
"Sure…"
"So," growled Moody from the hallway, effectively ending our conversation. "The Weasleys will be arriving tomorrow, and we need to get you all sorted out before then. We need to figure out how this is all going to work."
"Yes, right," said Sirius. "First of all, you need to learn how to do magic."
He waved his wand, and several spell books flew down the hall.
"I got Molly to send these over," he said. "I know you've all bought your books for this year, but you need to catch up. How fast can you read?" He looked at me. I grinned.
"Very."
"Good. You'll all need to read these." He gestured to the books. "They are everything you need to know from first year at Hogwarts to fourth. You can read those during the night. During the day, a member of the Order will be teaching you the practical side of magic – spell casting, potion brewing, flying and the like."
"Will Carlisle and I be learning also?" asked Esme.
"Yes," said Remus. "You will be acting as teachers in Hogwarts, and so you will need to know magic also. Esme, you will be the Muggle studies teacher, so you'll only need to learn the basics, but it would be better if you could learn as much as you can."
"I'll do whatever you need me to in order to protect that young boy," said Esme determinately.
"Good," growled Moody. "When the Weasleys get here, we'll need you to try and stay out of sight of the children. Dumbledore wants them to see you for the first time on the Hogwarts Express, and so they shall. During the day, you will be going out with a member of the Order and learning magic. At night, you can come back here to read. If, however, you need to stay here during the day – say, when it is sunny-"
"Which will be the majority of the summer," said Alice.
"I'm sorry?" said Remus.
"There will only be ten overcast days from now until the first of September."
"How do you know that?" barked Sirius.
"Bella already told you," sighed Alice. "I can see the future."
"So, we'll have to stay here during the day," said Jasper. "We can't go out in the sun."
"How did you shop in Diagon Alley then?" asked Remus, raising an eyebrow.
"We can go out during the day," I explained. "Just not in the sun."
"Ah."
"Back to the topic at hand, we have a room set aside upstairs where you will stay during the day if it is sunny-"
"A room?" asked Emmett. "A room? As in, one?"
"Yes. One."
"For all of us?"
"Yes."
"But-"
"Emmett!" I hissed.
"Bella!" growled Rose. Then she turned to face Sirius and Remus. "I refuse to stay in a tiny, dirty room with that mutt all day!"
"Hey!" exclaimed Jake. "You smell bad too!"
Rose ignored him.
"Rose!" scolded Esme. "It's the best they can do-"
"No! I reckon they think we're just creatures from horror stories who are happy to sit in a coffin all day! I do not want to sit around doing nothing! And if you think I'm going to go weeks without-"
"Aunt Rosie!" wailed Ness. "There are children present!"
"Ness, you're seventeen. You really are Edward's daughter!"
"Emmett!"
"Edward!"
"Quiet!" yelled Carlisle for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "Honestly, you would think you lot are children!"
"Well, technically Edward is still a-"
"Emmett! Not another word!"
"Sorry Dad."
"Anyway. Is it really necessary that the children do not see us?" he asked Moody.
"Yes. Dumbledore said that the first time they see you should be on the train."
"Well then. Why don't we stay somewhere else?"
There was silence while everyone processed that idea.
"We need to be able to teach you magic," said Remus.
"Yes, and one of the wizards could go to wherever we are. We were going to go out during the day anyway, right?"
"Well, I guess…"
"You need to be here for the meetings too," cut in Sirius. Carlisle thought for a moment, but I had an idea.
"What do you do with the children during the meetings?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, will the children participate in the meetings?"
"No, we were going to shut them in their rooms upstairs."
"Well there you go," I said. "If you shut them in their rooms before we come, and we leave before you let them out, they wouldn't see us, would they?"
"There's still a chance," said Remus, shaking his head. "You don't know Fred and George."
"I'm sure it will be fine," I said. "It's either that, or have Rose and Alice go mad from boredom and destroy the house, and that would definitely get some attention, don't you think?"
Remus sighed.
"We'll have to talk it over with Dumbledore, but I think it is a good idea. You'd be welcome to stay at my house, just so long as you stay away for the full moon."
"We couldn't do that," Esme started, but Rose cut across her.
"There is no way I am living in a dog house," she snarled. "Living with the mutt is bad enough, but have you smelt this one?"
"Don't take offense," said Emmett, winking at Remus. "You should have seen the way she acted when Jake first moved in. She made him a dog bowl and everything!"
"Yeah," laughed Alice, "And that was when Ness wanted her to be nice to him!"
"We'll get our own house," said Carlisle. "Some-where close."
"You'll need to be quick," said Remus. "The Weasleys arrive tomorrow morning."
"Do you have a computer?" asked Carlisle.
"A what?"
"A computer?"
The wizards looked at Carlisle strangely.
"Carlisle, they don't know what a computer is," said Edward. "They don't even use electricity."
"What!" cried Emmett. "Nooooooooo!"
xXx
Eventually, it was decided that Remus would apparate – which was sort of like teleporting – with Carlisle to the real-estate agency, and Carlisle would use massive amounts of money to buy the closest house to Headquarters of a decent size.
Luckily, there was some sort of small mansion for sale a couple of blocks away, which, after much talking, a lot of paper work, a bit of help from Jasper and what I can assume was a rather larger bribe Carlisle had managed to buy for us in less than two hours.
Moody said that he would send a couple of people over there to help him enchant it to stop Muggles – and other wizards – from approaching it, although he would not bother with the fidelius charm. It would be nowhere near as well protected as Grimmauld place, but as we would only be there for a few months, it didn't really matter anyway.
Rose was over the moon.
However, we still had to stay and practice magic until tomorrow morning when the Weasleys would get here.
When two new people came in – they were quickly introduced as Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks – Remus and Moody left with them to start enchanting the house, and we were left with Sirius.
I didn't need Jasper's or Edward's gift to be able to tell that Sirius was a little uncomfortable, even though he hid it well. The moment Remus was out the door he was all business, telling us to pull out our wands and start on a spell.
The first spell he had us try was a levitating spell. All we had to do was 'twist and flick' and say Wingardium Leviosa.
Apparently, it took eleven year old humans three or four lessons to get this spell. We all managed in about ten minutes… well, all the vampires. Jake got it in less than an hour, though.
Sirius said that were fast learners due to vampire nature, and that Jacob was a fast learner due to the fact that his blood was thick with the Quileute magic.
He then had us try some basic transfiguration – which, surprisingly, Jacob managed on his first try, while the rest of us took a little longer – and a basic shielding and disarming spell.
We were apparently quarter way through first year in transfiguration, charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts and had started to learn how to make a simple potion when Dumbledore showed up.
He was immensely surprised by the progress we had already made, and told us that we would no doubt be incredibly strong witches and wizards.
I wasn't sure about that. Surely there was a limit on how much we could do – we, who were only made magical by the venom that ran in our veins – as compared to those that were born with magic in their blood. Once this thing with Harry Potter is done, I'm not sure that I would want to continue being magical… we can do everything physically already as vampires, what would there be left to strive for if we are magical as well?
Dumbledore said he had already visited our new house, and approved of the plan. Apparently, Remus had sent him a message telling him of it.
The rest of the night we spent reading textbooks and talking with Sirius.
Sirius was a good man, really. He was funny and charming, but he had an underlying sadness. At first I thought it might have been because he was missing Harry, but I realized that it was more that that.
I asked Edward about it when Emmett and Rose went 'exploring', but he seemed uncomfortable. I knew he didn't like to disclose other people's secrets, but he seemed more uncomfortable than usual.
"He thinks he is the reason for everything that has gone wrong," said Edward finally.
"What?"
"I saw it when we came in… he was afraid, because his brother's son was being placed in the hands of vampires."
"He's Harry's uncle? But I thought-"
"Not by blood. He wasn't related to Harry's father. But I they must have been close… insanely close. Closer than he was to Remus, although the two of them are distanced now. He thinks that Harry's parents deaths were his fault, and therefore so is Harry's misery."
"But it wasn't, was it?"
"No. From what I can gather, their house was under a fidelius charm as well – remember when Dumbledore explained how that worked?" I nodded. "Well, Sirius was going to be secret keeper, but he thought he was the obvious choice, so told Harry's parents to switch. Unfortunately, the person they switched to betrayed them."
"So it wasn't Sirius' fault?"
"No, it wasn't. I understand where he's coming from, though, but he couldn't help it. He was only trying to protect the people that he loved most."
I looked over to where Sirius was explaining one of the laws of transfiguration to Alice. He put on a good show, but I could see the sadness in his eyes.
"Poor Sirius," I muttered. I felt the urge to go and comfort him, but I knew he wouldn't appreciate it.
"ARGH!"
Emmett appeared beside me, having sprinted down the stairs.
Edward laughed, clearly amused by whatever had just happened to him.
"What?" I asked. Everyone was looking at him now – my family with amused expressions, Sirius with a cautious one.
"There's a, a thing upstairs!"
"A what?"
"It's half bird, half horse!"
Sirius began to laugh.
For the first time since we got there, he seemed happy.
Kind of.
"That would be Buckbeak!" said Sirius.
"The thing has a name?" exclaimed Emmett. "Well, at least you didn't call it Fluffy or something!"
"Buckbeak saved my life," said Sirius sternly. Then his face stretched into a smile which actually reached his eyes. "And he's actually rather nice, much better than some irritating leech."
"Yeah man!" said Jake, giving Sirius a high-five.
"Watch it," growled Emmett.
"What is he?" asked Rose, coming down the stairs at a more normal pace. "He's beautiful."
"Beautiful? Rosie, have you lost your mind?" asked Em, a disbelieving look o his face.
"What? It is! What did you say his name was? Buckbeak?"
"Yeah, Buckbeak. He's a Hippogriff."
"I've read about those!" exclaimed Nessie. "It was in one of the fantasy books Alice bought for me three years ago!" Nessie might have inherited my love for books, but she had a taste for fantasy novels that I had never acquired. I still preferred the classics.
"Well, he didn't seem to like me," said Emmett. "I walked into the room and it started to attack me!"
"That would be because you're a vampire, Em," said Jasper.
"Actually," said Sirius, "Hippogriffs will only allow someone to approach if you bow to them, and they do not like to be insulted, which no doubt you did the moment you walked into the room."
"I didn't insult it!"
"Emmett, you said it was the ugliest thing you'd ever seen."
"That wasn't being insulting! That was telling the truth!"
"No it wasn't," said Rose. "Remember that time we saw the dog naked?"
"Ugh," said Emmett, scrunching up his nose. "Please don't remind me."
"So," I mused, "Hippogriffs and werewolves and vampires and shape shifters are real… what else is there? Dragons?"
"Yes," said Sirius, smiling.
"Really?" I asked, eyes wide. "Dragons are real?"
"Yes," repeated Sirius, smirking. Ness squealed.
"Basilisks?" I asked.
Sirius nodded.
"Centaurs?"
"Yes, and don't ask them a question. You won't get a decent answer. All they'll say is 'Venus is unusually bright' or 'Saturn is close to the earth'"
"Unicorns?"
"Yes."
"Mermaids?"
"Yep, but they aren't the pretty little things in Muggle fairytales."
"Goblins?"
"Bella, we've already seen them," said Jazz, rolling his eyes.
"Oh yeah… Giants then?"
"BIG yes."
"Oh, very funny. Fairies?"
"Yes."
"Loch Ness Monster?"
"Nah, that's just a really big Kelpie."
"Elves?"
"How about you just look in your text book?" said Sirius, throwing a book called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander at me.
xXx
Over the next couple of weeks, we didn't get to see Sirius at all. He wasn't allowed to leave Grimmauld place for security reasons – apparently the Magical Government and pretty much the whole magical community thought he was a mass murderer – and so Remus, Kingsley and sometimes Moody would teach us. But mostly Remus, as he didn't have a job.
Because we were able to memorize the textbooks the first time we read them, and we could read very fast, we got the hang of the theory of magic very quickly. The practical side took a little longer, as we had to learn the proper way to cast the spell – something the book didn't explain very well and you had to get the feel for it – but we mastered everything a hundred times faster than any human ever could.
According to Remus, this was why wizards refused to let non-humans have wands – they would become too powerful. Creatures such as house elves and goblins had their own magic. Vampires had their superior skills at everything else. And Werewolves had their second form.
Once, Emmett asked Remus why he had a wand.
"Why? Well, I'm a wizard, aren't I?"
"Yeah, but you're not human, and you said that non-human's can't have wands. I mean, I get why we have them, cause we're helping and the Ministry thing doesn't know about us, but you.. the ministry knows about you."
This made Remus angrier than I'd ever seen him before.
"Not human? Not human? I am human!"
"No mate, you're not."
"Yes I am! What is the definition of human?"
"Well, it certainly isn't turning into a wolf every full moon."
"My parents were human!" exclaimed Remus.
"Well, here's a newsflash for you: so were mine!"
This silenced Remus for a few moments. Then –
"That's different. You were changed –"
"Yeah, you're right. I got bitten, and I changed. You got bitten, and you changed. The only difference is the thing that bit us."
Remus didn't answer.
"Look, mate, I'm not trying to upset you. I'm not trying to offend you or anything, and I'm sorry if I have. But you aren't human, and you should be ha[[y about that."
"Why should I be happy about being different? Why should I be happy about being a monster?" croaked Remus.
"Remus," said Emmett, a tender expression on his face. "Look. Look at me. Am I a monster?"
Remus looked at Emmett carefully. I saw his eyes slide over his Emmett's pale skin, pause at his white teeth, then on to his brown hair, before finally, his eyes. Then he glanced at me, and I knew he was remembering what I said that first night.
"No. I think that others of your kind are, but not you, nor your family."
"And what species are we?"
"Vampires."
"Right. The humans, they generalize us. They say we are monsters who would suck them dry at the slightest moment! Just look at Dracula!"
Remus let out a small laugh.
"But what they don't see is how hard we really try. Yes, most of our kind are monsters. But even amongst those that drink human blood, there are many nice people. It is in our nature to drink. Should humans be treated as monsters because they eat meat? Even worse – they raise animals purely for the purpose of food. Is that not worse than letting the prey live before they die? But that does not matter. My family, we don't even drink human blood, yet you saw how Sirius reacted when he first saw us, and Dumbledore had explained it all to him.
"Werewolves are generalized as well. Not only do they hate you for what you are, they don't even allow you to be yourself. From what I've read in those books, they've classified you as having a 'condition', a disease called lycanthropy. But there is nothing wrong with you. You haven't caught anything. You are a werewolf.
"Humans hate what they don't understand. I'm sure you know this better than anyone. And I'm sure that there are many monstrous werewolves. Am I right?"
Remus nodded.
"And yet here you are. You are the werewolf version of us. You have tried so hard to fit in… and you manage. You should be proud, not afraid. You have been given a gift with which to help the war. You can spy on wolf movements. No one else can. "
Remus smiled at Emmett. A real, proper smile.
"Thanks Emmett," he said chuckling. "But if you wanted me to answer the question, you could have just said please."
"No, I mean it!" he said. "I… you were joking, weren't you?"
"Yeah," said Remus. "You remind me of how Sirius used to be like… before… back when James was still alive… Anyway. Thanks for that. And the reason why I have a wand? Well, It's like you said; the ministry sees us as humans – or at least, part human, seeing as we used to be human…"
That conversation was probably the wisest thing Emmett had ever said.
And Remus trusted us completely after that.
Now, we just have to work on the others…
xXx
About a week after Emmett's lecture on human stupidity and werewolf superiority, or whatever he was talking about, interesting things started to happen.
It all began when Kingsley was teaching us how to stun stuff. As we weren't sure whether or not magic effected vampires the same way as humans – we were waiting for Dumbledore to be there before we tested it out – so Kingsley would stand still in front of a pillow and we would practice on him.
However, just before Alice raised her wand, she let out a short 'oh!' and looked at the center of the room.
A couple of seconds later, there was burst of fire right where Alice was looking, and a piece of parchment appeared.
Kingsley ran forward to pick it up, opened it, swore, glanced at Edward, and then ran out the door and disapperated.
"What happened?" asked Jasper, looking between Edward and Alice.
Nessie picked up the note that had appeared.
"All it says is 'Harry has been attacked by Dementors. Used a Patronus charm. Ministry has expelled him. Headquarters, now.' What does that mean?"
"Well, Dementors are those prison guards right?" I asked, remembering what I'd read about them.
"Yes, and they suck the happiness out of you," said Jazz.
"Edward, what did Kingsley tell you?" I asked.
"He said to stay here, and that he has to go help Dumbledore sort this out. Some-one will come and explain to us what is happening when it is all sorted."
"This sucks!" yelled Emmett. "I hate being left out of the loop! How can we help if we're stuck here?"
Just as Emmett finished speaking, there was crack outside – the sound we all knew meant some-one had apparated.
Tonks ran into the room.
"Carlisle," she said, "Dumbledore wants you to come with me."
Carlisle nodded, and ran back out with her.
"Damn!" yelled Em.
"Emmett!" said Esme.
"Sorry Mom."
"Now, what was that about?" asked Esme, looking at Edward.
Edward sighed, running a hand through his hair.
Dumbledore is calling an Order meeting to decide what to do. Tonks was thinking that he already had a plan… he didn't tell her much."
"Well then, there is no point in worrying over this when we can't do anything about it," said Esme. Then she pulled out her wand. "Right, we're going to play a game. We need to practice that color changing spell Tonks taught us yesterday. Everyone is going to have a color: Bella, you're blue; Edward, green; Rose, red; Alice, pink; Jasper, Orange; Emmett, yellow; Jacob, Black; Nessie, purple; and I'll be white. Now, Everyone must turn anything in the house their color – the person at the end who has colored the most stuff wins. You can color stuff other people have already done."
"Awesome," said Jake, grinning.
"You know, this is the first time she's ever let us mess a house up on purpose, let alone tell us to," said Emmett.
"Well, before we didn't know magic," said Esme. "Ready, set, GO!"
Suffice to say that by the time Carlisle came back with Remus, the house – and it's occupants – were rather colorful.
Edward ended up winning, due to the fact that he was the fastest runner, but he got attacked by Alice afterwards for turning my sweater – which was apparently rare and rather expensive – lime green.
When everyone had calmed down and everything was back to it's normal color, Carlisle and Remus told us what had happened.
Apparently, Dementors had attacked Harry Potter – as the note had said – and he had defended himself. However, as Harry was underage, his usage of magic outside of school meant that he was expelled.
Even though they shouldn't be allowed to do that, as he was defending himself.
So, Dumbledore had gone to the ministry to get Harry a hearing, and Harry would be picked up and brought to live in Grimmauld Place for the remainder of the summer.
After Remus left, it was a tribute to how bored we were getting that Emmett convinced us to play another round of 'paint the house'.
xXx
Finally came the day when Dumbledore was able to come to our house and test out how spells acted on us.
He seemed to have brought the entire Order with him.
There was Remus, Sirius (who had been let out of the house just this once), Tonks, Moody and Kingsley, but then there were a lot we didn't know as well.
There was a woman called Hestia Jones that reminded me of a taller, longer-haired Alice.
Daedalus Diggle who was a cross between Emmett, Seth, Jacob and Alice… but with terrible fashion sense. Even I know a purple top hat doesn't look good. Alice almost fainted, I swear.
Arthur Weasley, father to the Weasley children that we were meant to be avoiding. He was a pleasant man, and the moment he walked in began quizzing Carlisle on Muggle medical procedures – it had seemed they'd had this conversation the last time they'd met.
Bill Weasley, Arthur's eldest son, who worked for Gringotts as a curse-breaker.
Sturgis Podmore and Elphias Dodge… they nodded hello, but kept well clear after that.
Emmeline Vance, another who kept to herself, although she seemed cheery.
A hook nosed man named Severus Snape who would be our potions teacher at Hogwarts… He didn't talk to me, but I could tell he hated us.
And there was Minerva McGonagall, a stern, but brilliant woman who was the Transfiguration Professor. She got along well with Esme.
Okay, so not the entire order, but it was a lot more than I thought they would need just to fire a couple of spells at us. I could tell the others felt the same.
Dumbledore seemed to notice our confusion.
"Most magical creatures," he said, "Have thick skin, and are partially immune to spells. For example, while it takes only one stunner to stun a human, it takes two to stun an acromantula, about five to stun a dragon, and six to stun a giant… do you understand?"
We nodded.
"So… you want to see how many people it would take to stun one of us?" asked Emmett.
"Basically, yes. But your skin is, well, not thicker, but harder than any other that I have ever encountered. I have no idea how much you will be able to withstand."
"So… we're guinea pigs?" asked Rose.
"No, you're vampires," said Jake.
"That reminds me," said Dumbledore, "We want to test it on you, too. You are not human, but as it takes a normal stunner to hit a normal werewolf, I am curious to see how it would affect you. You too, Nessie," said Dumbledore, smiling at my daughter.
We nodded again.
"No," said Edward. I turned to him, frowning. Didn't he want to know what we could take? But he wasn't looking at Dumbledore – he was looking at Moody. "I would not risk any member of my family in that way," he hissed.
Moody growled at him rather impressively, considering he was a human.
"Think of the lives it could save, boy," he said. "If you are immune, you could protect countless wizards – it could win us the war!"
"No," snarled Edward.
"What's going on?" said Carlisle, looking from Moody to Edward and back again.
"He wants to test the killing curse on us," spat Edward.
"What?" I gasped. "No!"
Moody was right; if we were immune, it would save lives, but, as Edward said, we couldn't risk any of our lives like that.
"If you think we're just going to stand here at let you fire a killing curse at a member of our family…" snarled Rose, not bothering to finish the threat.
"Now now, calm down," said Dumbledore, holding up his hands.
Reluctantly, we all took deep breaths and – ignoring the burning in our throats – managed to calm ourselves a little.
"How does the curse kill?" asked Jacob.
"Jake," hissed Nessie, "You can't seriously be thinking about this?"
"I just want to know," he said, holding his hands in the air.
"No-one knows," said Kingsley. "Why?"
"Well, if it stopped the heart, or stopped the breathing, or even burst an artery in the brain, then vampires would be safe."
"That's true," said Carlisle.
"No one knows how it kills," repeated Kingsley.
Jake sighed in defeat.
"Then we can't risk it."
"Why not?" asked Moody. "All of you have lived longer than a normal human life-"
"Actually, that's not true," Jazz pointed out, but Moody ignored him.
"-and you should be dead anyway. There is a chance that it will not harm you, and if it doesn't it could save the life of a young boy!"
"My daughter is only two years older than Harry!" exclaimed Edward. Once again, Moody just kept talking.
"Hundreds of people have been sacrificed trying to destroy Voldemort, and you think that-"
"SHUT UP!" I yelled. Everyone froze, and turned to stare at me. Moody looked rather mad.
I was not normally the one that yelled and interrupted, but I had had enough.
"When we stop discussing the killing off of my family members, I have an idea. When you're ready to listen, I will tell you."
Nobody spoke, so I continued.
"Why don't we decide to test the killing curse on one of us. We must all know whom. We must all believe that we are going to do it. Then, Alice will be able to tell us if it will work or not."
"That… is a really good idea," said Emmett.
"Why do you always sound surprised when I tell you my plans?" I groaned. He grinned.
"Ah yes, well, that plan of yours back when we were scheming against James didn't really work, so-"
"Please Emmett," groaned Edward, rubbing his face, "Please don't remind me of that."
I went over and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"That plan will work," said Alice.
"Good, I muttered, turning so that I was still in Edward's arms, but so that my back was against his chest. "Moody, decide to cast the curse on me."
Moody nodded.
"What? No!" cried Edward, trying to pull me behind him.
"He doesn't have to cast it," I said. "Mad-eye, just decide to."
Everyone else was watching our exchange in fascination.
Suddenly I felt Edward freeze. I looked up to see his beautiful face filled with anguish.
"Does it not work?" I said quietly. But then his face lit up.
"It worked!" he said.
"It worked?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes," said Alice. "All it does is cause the mind to go blank for a little bit… it seems that the Avada Kedavra kills by freezing the brain, cutting out all brain activity. Well, to put it more simply… it turns the brain off. But a vampire body doesn't need the brain to survive – it is frozen, stuck in the same position as always. That is why the only way to kill a vampire is to burn it – you must completely destroy the body to stop it from functioning."
"That's why limbs still work when you rip them off…" I muttered.
"Yes, exactly. Say if I were to rip your arm off right now, Bella, it would still be able to move, even if it wasn't attached to your body. This is because a vampire body does not need the brain to survive. So, all it does is stop the brain for about a second – you can't think, you can't feel, you can't move – but then it all comes back. A second is all it takes for a human, because the Avada isn't gradual like oxygen deprivation – it is literally like flicking an off switch. "
"I guess that makes sense…" said Carlisle.
"You bet it does," said Edward, grinning. Then he picked me up and spun me around. "No evil wizard is going to take you away from me!"
"I knew that already," I said, smiling, before leaning in and kissing him on the nose.
"Urgh, enough with the couple-y stuff, please!" said Jake, pretending to gag.
"Yeah, your daughter, right here!" cried Ness.
I rolled my eyes, then leaned in to peck Edward on the lips. When I pulled away and looked into his eyes, they were back with need. I smiled, but turned away from him and towards the Order before we did something that they would yell at us for.
"So, what now?" asked Emmett.
"I would like to see how different spells affect you," said Dumbledore with a smile.
Then we were all business.
We all lined up – all the vampires, not Ness and Jake – and all the wizards and witches - excluding Dumbledore - fired spells at us, before writing down on the parchment what affected us.
However, it didn't take long to scrap that plan – it was obvious that no single person cold harm us. So, they teamed together and fired spells at one vampire at a time.
It was discovered fairly quickly that we couldn't be transfigured – our bodies really were frozen. Professor McGonagall told us to watch out when studying human transfiguration in school.. but that we wouldn't being doing that until next year at least.
We could be levitated and blasted backwards, but it took much more power than it did when lifting or blasting a human – our strength and endurance made us harder to move. This concept applied to most of the spells.
Spells to do with emotion, however, such as a cheering charm, seemed to work extra well on us. Jasper said he thought that was because even though we were cold and hard, we felt emotions stronger than humans did – love, hate, anger. It was all there, but in much greater proportions.
I think the thing that surprised Dumbledore the most were the stunners. All fourteen of them fired a stunner at Emmett, and it did absolutely nothing.
"Try again," said Dumbledore, drawing his wand.
Then, the fifteen of them fired a stunner at Emmett.
He fell backwards, and landed on the floor.
"Well," said McGonagall, "At least we know it's possible."
"How long will he stay like that?" asked Rose, nudging Emmett's still form with her foot.
"Not sure," said Remus, walking forward and squatting next to him. "For a human, it's about ten minutes, or until you revive them. I have no idea with a vampire."
"Let's wait," said Esme, maybe a little to enthusiastically. "What?" she said, looking about her. "It's nice to have some peace and quiet now and again…"
It took about five minutes before Emmett was up and walking again.
"Right," said Dumbledore, "It took fifteen stunners to take down a vampire-"
"At least fifteen, Ablus," said Minerva, "Your stunner would have been stronger than any of ours. Lets say… seventeen?"
"Seventeen then," he said, "And the vampire-"
"Do you mind?" interrupted Emmett. "I do have a name. Or would you like me to call you 'the human'?"
"Can you stun him again?" asked Ness hopefully.
Dumbledore chuckled.
"My apologies. Emmett woke up after half the time it takes for a human too."
"That's better," said Emmett, nodding his approval.
After a couple more spells, we came to the ones I had been dreading.
There were only three more Dumbledore wanted to try. It was the first one that I was most worried about.
Incendio.
"No," said Alice. "No, you can't!"
He tone was the same as Edward's was when he realized Moody wanted to test the killing curse.
"Will it affect you?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes," whispered Alice. "Were you not listening before? That is the only way to kill a vampire… fire. If you use that spell on us, it will kill us."
"And you saw that?"
"I saw Bella going up in flames."
I froze, and in less than a second, Edward's arms were around me again, and he was snarling.
"Shhh," I said, stroking his face. "Now that Alice has warned them it won't happen."
"Incendio would be about as affective on us as Avada Kedavra is on a human," said Carlisle.
Dumbledore nodded, writing it on the paper.
"No fire then. Alastor… if you wouldn't mind…"
"Next is the Imperius," said Moody, stepping forward and pointing his wand at me. "Mind control."
"That won't work," I told him. "Not on me, Anyway."
"How do you know?"
"I have a gift too. My mind is shielded – you won't be able to control me."
"She's right," said Alice.
"Alright then," said Moody, pointing it at Edward instead. "Imperio!"
Suddenly, Edward's arms left my waist and he began hopping around the room like a kangaroo.
Emmett, predictably, burst out laughing.
"That is so cool!" he said. "I am sooo learning that one."
"No you will not!" growled Carlisle. "None of you are to ever use that spell unless it is a life or death situation, you understand? That spell is illegal."
"So is getting a forged passport," muttered Emmett, but he didn't complain any further than that.
I was still watching Edward. It was terrifying, watching him have no control over his body. Then, suddenly, Edward froze, then bent over.
"No," he muttered, "No, I won't!"
His face looked strained, and yet extremely determined. After a couple more seconds, he smiled victoriously and straightened back up. Then he glared at Moody.
"That was uncalled for."
"I wanted to see what would happen," said Moody, shrugging.
"What did he try to make you do?" I asked.
"He wanted me to bite you," growled Edward. Then he turned back on Moody. "Nothing could make me harm her."
"So it would seem," said Moody. "It's impressive that you were able to throw it off on your first go, but you need more practice. With how strong you are, if one of the Death Eaters cast the Imperius on you it could be the end of the world."
"Nah," said Emmett. "I could take Eddie down!"
"That's not the point," said Moody, cutting across Edward's protests. "The point is, you need to be able to throw it off for something a lot smaller than attacking your mate."
"Good point," said Edward.
"Now, last one," said Moody, glancing at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore nodded, but he had a pained expression on his face.
Moody turned his wand to Alice.
"No!" yelled Edward for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "I volunteer for this one."
"Really Edward," muttered Alice. "I can handle it."
"Yes, you can," Edward shot back, "But can Jasper?"
Alice winced, while Jasper frowned.
Edward stepped away from me, sending me an apologetic look.
Then Moody raised his wand.
"Crucio!"
I realized what the spell was the same moment Edward fell to the floor.
It brought back memories of a another day, another lifetime.
Everything was different – it was a castle, not a house… stone floor, not carpet… a beautiful little girl, not a gnarled old man… but it brought back the memories, because Edward was lying on the ground in front of me, writhing in pain.
"No!" I screeched, instinctively throwing my shield around Edward. I jumped in front of him in a protective position, snarling at Moody.
Mad-eye's wand was still out, still pointing at Edward, and he still had an expression of concentration plastered on his face.
But suddenly It didn't matter, because Edward put his hand on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear.
"It's alright, love, calm down."
"Not again," I snarled. "I promised, never again!"
Edward pulled me towards him once again, rubbing soothing circles into my back and pressing his face into my hair.
"What did you promise?" he asked.
"Jane," I whispered. I was sobbing into his chest now, rather than snarling. "When I learnt about my gift, I promised myself I would never let you be in that sort of pain again."
"And you didn't," he said. "You stopped it the moment you realized what was going on. I'm sorry I scared you."
I sighed, and held him tighter, before pulling back a little so I could kiss him. Nothing could make me feel more alive than when I was kissing Edward. It made everything feel right again. The feel of his soft lips, his tongue pressing my lower lip...
I forgot we had an audience, so when I felt a warm hand poke my shoulder, I spun around and found myself snarling again.
"Told you it wasn't a good idea, Jake," said Jasper.
"Whatever," said Jake, backing away from me. "It worked, didn't it."
I glared at him before settling back against Edward, looking sheepishly at the group of uncomfortable looking witches and wizards.
"Sorry about that," I said, looking at Moody. "I didn't mean to snarl at you, I just…"
"It's quite alright, it's only natural to want to protect the ones we love," said Dumbledore, smiling.
I smiled back at him.
Moody cleared his throat.
"So… your shield can block the cruciatus curse."
"I can block anything mental," I said. "The cruciatus curse does not physically hurt you, it only makes you think it is hurting you. So, it can't affect me. However, things such as Incendio, which physicaly sets something on fire, would affect me, because it is not mental."
"I understand," grunted Moody. Then he looked at Dumbledore. "Are we done here?"
"Yes, we're done," said Dumbledore. "My apologies for the problems we have caused today."
"It's fine," said Carlisle, "We're happy to help."
"Just one thing," called out Emmett as Dumbledore turned to leave.
"Yes, Emmett?"
"Why couldn't we see the other kids?"
"Because I want them to think that you are just a normal family of exchange students. I don't want them associating you with the Order, or they may guess that you were placed there to look after them, which would make them trust you less."
"Wouldn't they trust us more if we were in the Order?" asked Rose, frowning.
"No, you see, Harry likes to be independent. He wants friends – not babysitters."
"Ah. That makes sense," said Emmett.
"Well, Goodbye then," said Dumbledore.
"Bye!" we all waved as the others made their goodbyes.
Dumbledore nodded, smiled at us, then walked out the door, the others trailing behind him.
Oh yeah, longest chapter yet! Actually, it might be my longest chapter ever! It's more than 10 000 words long! (according to this website anyway...) Yay!
As I said before, this was mainly to get some facts down. And, as I said in chapter 2, I skipped over the detailed descriptions cause you all know who the characters are and what Grimmauld Place looks like... And by the way, sorry if anyone thinks the Cullens learnt magic too fast - I know it annoys me when people do that, so i guess that makes me a hypocrite - but remember, they are vampires, and this chapter spans pretty much the entire summer holidays. I want to get them to Hogwarts already!
Next chapter: HOGWARTS EXPRESS! Finally!
It took me 6 hours to write this chapter. It would take you way less than 6 minutes to review... probably closer to 6 seconds, but whatever. Please? For me?
