Chapter 4

Alice Cullen wore a tattered, heavy blue scarf Healer Chang lent her and dark sunglasses to shield her shining face from bystanders. Chang, the older healer she now knew was named Jonesy, and a heavy security escort named Greg Goyle led her down the crowded streets of London to a nonconspicuous telephone booth on a street corner. The two healers stepped in, dialled some numbers on the booth, and it sank to the ground. When it resurfaced, Greg escorted Alice inside, dialled 62442, and said, "St. Mungo's Security Officer Gregory Goyle, escorting vampire Alice Cullen to the Department of Magical Creatures." It printed out two badges and began to move downwards.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he said gruffly in the awkwardly cramped ride. His girth took up most of the room in the small booth.

"Thank you," she said sullenly. She found it hard to support her spirits when Jasper was dead and for all she knew, the Volturi could have come and went in her absence before she could find a mature half vampire to help Bella's cause.

Not soon enough, the telephone booth had reached some sort of atrium. People dressed in Volturi-esque robes scurried about, waving curious little wands and bustling in and out of fireplaces and into a large, old style elevator.

Goyle met up with the two healers who then boarded the elevator. Several floors sped past until they reached the necessary department. They brought her into the main department office and sat in a few leather chairs in front of a desk at which sat a young, sort of frumpy witch pouring over some legal books and paperwork. A miniature desk sign proclaimed this studious witch was "HERMIONE J. WEASLEY, HEAD OF DEPT. MAGICAL CREATURES."

Jonesy cleared his throat and the woman looked up. "Ah. Healer Chang. Healer Jonesy. Mr. Goyle. And I take it this is Mrs. Cullen," she said, shaking their hands in turn. "Let's get to business, shall we? Have you brought her medical evaluation?"

Chang nodded and handed over a manilla envelope containing the evaluation. Weasley skimmed the document, nodding and smiling as if it confirmed some unspoken theory. "If you'll take this to the research department, down the hall, first door on the right," she said to Chang.

"My patient is not yet fully recovered. It's my duty to stay with her," said Chang.

The woman sighed, exasperated. "Cho, she'll be perfectly fine. You all can leave, what I have to say only concerns Mrs. Cullen."

The three warily left the room, leaving Alice with Hermione.

"As soon as I heard about your case, Mrs. Cullen, I headed off to the library to do some research on vampire wars," Hermione said, a slight tone of disgust seeping into her otherwise professional voice. "Needless to say, there is an extremely bloody precedent, especially in the Americas. That said, the Ministry knows that the most recent massacre in Forks, Washington, is no exception," she said, her final sentence gentle. She saw Alice was in danger of crying, if vampires could cry.

"They're... They're all dead," Alice said, her girlish voice shaking. She said it more as a fact than as a question.

"That's where it becomes a bit complicated," Hermione said. "Reports have been conflicting as to the exact extent of the casualties. We have been working with our American counterparts to try to determine the impact of the battle. Rumors have been circulating that the Volturi of Italy have been decimated, which would dramatically impact our policy towards vampires... they always seemed to regulate their kind and we don't ask questions." Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to combat her newest stress headache. "But I digress."

"The Volturi were decimated?" Alice asked, hope rising in her voice. "So the Cullens won then?"

"I don't know about your coven in particular. I don't even know if the Volturi were truly destroyed. But I do know that at least in that particular region, anarchy is beginning to reign-vampires are taking out their aggressions on each other, and humans have been bearing the brunt of the conflict. Point being, we are willing to offer you asylum, as our department has been taking extra precautions about vampires and may be able to keep you safe. If you are related to this troublesome coven then I would strongly recommend you remain in our country under Ministry supervision, or you may be walking into your death in Washington."

Alice frowned. Without Jasper, and possibly without the rest of the Cullens, she had no one. The least she should do is return to America and try to salvage the remains of her family. But if they were actually involved in such a bloody battle with the Volturi, their chances of survival were minimum.

Hermione seemed to note her train of thought. "At least accept our offer until all this turmoil dies down. Our department is monitoring the situation, and if we truly suspect a threat, the Minister is planning on sending an international Auror team to assist the American ministry in calming things down."

Alice frowned. The witch was right. "Well," she began with a weak grin, "I do like your fashion here a lot. Fusion of the medieval and the modern." She tried to giggle but it sounded more like a whimper.

Hermione cocked and eyebrow. "Madam Malkin's," she said uneasily. Seeing Alice's deteriorating emotional state, she pressed some sort of magical intercom and said, "Can we please have an escort? And perhaps a counsellor of some sort?"