A/N: Goodness Gracious Me! I'm an idiot. :( I know. Thankyou so very much if you're still sticking with this Fic. Its more than can be said for me sometimes. Its taken me ages to finally update. But here is another chapter of Isabella Swan goes to Hogwarts. I quite like this chapter. Its been a while since I've written anything so I'm a bit rusty. Thankyou once again to my lovely reviewers: anna123, Mgirl1818, ReadItAndWeep-Nik, cullenlover101, fanpire.x, Twilight-Forever-Love, elegantgoth89, twilightOBSESSEDcutie, lilcheekyelaine, verox29, Endearing Blush, ClumsyQuirkyBookworms & melissagarcia12370. This time I'd like to give a special shoutout to ReadItAndWeep-Nik who is the reason that I am finally updating this now AND the reason why you have the lovely Malfoy in this chapter. *Claps and gives cookies*. I am forever in her debt! (: Her encouraging reviews have got my fingers into action! So without anymore waffle from me... here is Chapter Seven - Unexpected Meetings. (:
N.B. There was a mess up with the ages in the last chapter. I said that Edward was older than the rest when in previous chapters he was the same age. I have corrected this for the last chapter so the Triwizard Tournament doesn't have an age limit on it and Edward is going to enter anyway. Sorry. This is why you got two updates for this Fic. *Angelic-Face*
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry, Edward OR Draco. (3) much to my displeasure. They belong to Stephanie Meyer & J K Rowling. Oh how jelous I am. O.o Anything you recognise isn't mine. I do not own this content. I have not written it. And I am not trying to make money from it ok? Same goes with anything Twilight related. ;] I don't own that either. ^^ There MAY be a Lord of the Rings reference in here. Its very blatant. Don't own that either? (A)
As they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower they talked about the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. They had only made it to the Entrance Hall.
"Did you see her though Harry? She can't possibly be human. She was just so..." Ron's eyes glazed over as he thought about Fleur Delacour, a student from Beauxbatons who had come to their table to borrow 'ze bouillabaisse'.
"I didn't notice actually Ron. Are you sure it's not just you? I mean she is pretty but nobody else was so transfixed?" Harry didn't seem to be fully in the conversation he seemed to be staring intently at something just behind Bella. She turned round but didn't see anything. Harry seemed to come out of a trance and looked at Ron again. "Maybe she is part Veela? Who knows?"
"Harry, did you see the way Karkaroff looked at you as you left the hall? He looks a bit shifty doesn't he?" Hermione speculated.
"Well he IS headmaster of Durmstrang. That school is notorious for its acceptance for the Dark Arts. Do you know it is actually taught as a subject there? Not just DADA." Bella explained. Hermione patted her on the head condescendingly.
"I have taught you well Miss Swan. Now kneel before your master of knowledge and nerdy book reading." Bella laughed and smacked her playfully.
"Shh. You're just jealous because I beat you to explaining it." She laughed again. At this point the Beauxbatons students danced past on their way out to the carriage where they would be spending the night. Ron sighed after them.
"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts." Hermione rolled her eyes and looked a little bit irritated.
"They make them OK at Hogwarts," said Harry, without thinking. He was once again looking at something behind Isabella. She didn't notice but Hermione did and she frowned as if in thought.
Bella had been distracted because a certain bronze-haired boy had just walked out of the Great Hall with his burly brother. The Hufflepuff girls seemed to have followed them out without thinking. Those poor girls. Dazzled by Edward thought Bella. She didn't notice she had unconsciously taken a step towards him until Hermione pulled her back.
"Seriously? What is wrong with you guys tonight? You're all acting weirdly!" Hermione asked, hitting Harry lightly on the arm to get his attention.
It was at this moment that they bumped into Malfoy.
"Well well well, look what we have here. Its Pothead, Weaslebee, Mudblood and... Friend." He drawled in his pretentious way as he strutted down the corridor towards the Gryffindors.
"We've been at this school together for 4 years now Malfoy. Anyone would have thought your thick head could have memorised my name by now?" Bella stood her ground just as Hermione stopped Ron for going for his wand. ("Leave it Ronald. It isn't worth it.")
"Oh don't remind me, Swan. It's been torture enough." He smirked at them all and Hermione scowled.
"Shove off Malfoy! We can't be arsed with your immature and frankly pathetic attempts to annoy us tonight thanks." Harry said as he stepped forward in front of his friends.
"Considering it's so pathetic I seem to be doing a very good job." He gestured to Ron who was wrestling with Hermione for his wand. "But of course simply annoying mudbloods and bloodtraitors is child's play for people from more... respectful families. Like myself."
"There is NOTHING respectful about your family Malfoy. Now leave us alone. We would like to go to bed if it's all the same to you." Bella pushed Harry out of the way as if to have a go at Malfoy more but her foot got caught on a loose tile and she lost her balance.
It was lucky that she had stumbled even closer to Malfoy who grabbed her arm so she could steady herself. She looked up at him and her chocolate brown eyes met steely grey.
They're eyes locked and she was reluctant to look away. She had lost every coherent thought apart from the pretty silver eyes in front of her own and the vice-like grip on her arm that was stopping her from falling on the ground.
Just then, Professor McGonagall came out of the Great Hall and the connection was lost. Malfoy looked away quickly and let go of her arm as if it had burnt him.
"Careful there, Swan. You might fall over." The pureblood mask was back and the emotion she thought she saw in his eyes was well glazed over.
"That would have been a tragedy if that happened, eh Malfoy?" Bella rolled her eyes trying to seem nonchalant. She hoped her friends hadn't noticed that strange encounter. She glanced backwards and saw Harry glaring daggers at Malfoy. Nothing unusual there... she thought. Only Hermione looked vaguely curious. Bella knew that Hermione could be far too perceptive for her own good sometimes.
Malfoy scoffed and pranced off, presumably back to the dungeons to the Slytherin dormitories.
"Nothing like a good bit of old taunting Malfoy to snap you guys out of it is there? Shall we go up?" Hermione gestured to the stairs leading to Gryffindor Tower.
"You guys go ahead; I'm just going to check something..." She thought she had seen the shadow of person behind the statue of Arwen, Lady of Rivendell, and she was already walking towards it. Her curiosity getting the better of her.
"You ok Izzie?" Harry asked, looking alarmed.
"Yeah of course Harry. You guys go! I'll meet you in the common room ok?" Harry looked at her with questioning eyes and held her own in them for a moment too long before putting his arms round his other two best friends. Leading them up the stairs and out of sight.
Bella watched them leave and then moved towards the statue apprehensively. She was fairly sure it would just be a lost first year but the uneasy feeling her stomach reminded her that she had been feeling strange all night.
"Hello..?" she asked into the relative silence. The corridors were eerie when it was dark outside and the students were all in their dormitories.
Nobody answered her as she crept towards the crumbling statue in the darkness.
"Lumos." A male voice whispered and then the crevice in the wall was light brightly with the eerie wand light. The owner of the wand was none other than Edward Cullen.
Bella gasped and jumped back.
"Goodness, Cullen! You scared me!" Her heart was racing in her chest and she took deep breaths to calm herself.
"I'm sorry Isabella. It's my own fault. I shouldn't be hiding in corners at night. People might get the wrong idea." There was a curious half smile on his face that was making Bella's already uneasy stomach clench.
"I'll say... You could have given me a heart attack." She took out her own wand and lit it in the same way as Edward. She looked around the corridor trying to work out what on Earth he could be doing hiding behind a statue.
"In answer to your question Miss Swan..." he had noticed the curious expression on her face and deduced what she was thinking. "I was just keeping an eye on you. I saw Malfoy heading this way and I didn't want you to get hurt or anything... Sorry if I scared you."
Bella felt a blush creep up her neck and she smiled sheepishly.
"Not it's ok. No problem." She coughed self consciously as she realised she was stood in a tiny space with Edward.
"You didn't seem to need my help though did you?" a flash of hurt seemed to cross over his startling green eyes before it was gone again.
"Oh... um... you saw that did you?" Bella could have sworn she saw his cheeks colour in the wandlight.
"It was hard to miss from this position. Does he like you or something? There seemed to be something... unsaid between you."
"It was nothing. He just surprised me by... helping me actually. There was nothing..." Bella couldn't seem to form proper sentences.
"Oh good... I mean... You know, not good... but..." Edward seemed to have the same problem. "I mean, just think of the scandal. Slytherin Prince and the Gryffindor Golden Girl. It would probably make the Daily Prophet."
"Oh Ha Ha" she rolled her eyes sarcastically. "The Gryffindor Golden Girl? Is that was I'm known as now."
"That's the word in the Hufflepuff common room. We're kind, sure? But we're a sucker for the odd rumour. Is that the wrong name for Harry Potter's girlfriend?"
Bella choked on her laugh and spluttered.
"Harry's... Harry's... girlfriend?" Her eyebrows had almost been lost in her hairline.
"That's what you are, aren't you? You're always around him and I've seen the way he looks at me when I'm looking at you."
"What do you mean? I don't think he likes you that much because you beat him at Quidditch and yeah I hang out with him a lot. But that's because he is one of my best friends. It doesn't automatically mean I'm going out with him. We're just friends." Bella had gone bright red now at the thought of her and Harry being together. It was just strange. He WAS her best friend. She had never thought about him as being anything else.
"So you're not going out with Harry Potter?" Edward asked. The small half-smile was back on his face.
"Nope. Harry is JUST a friend." Bella returned the smile.
"And you're not dating Malfoy? Or thinking about it?"
"Definitely not." She laughed.
"Anyone else I should know about then? The Weasley boy perhaps?"
"Of course not!"
"No. Nobody. Why are you so interested, Cullen?" Edward lifted his hand and paused as if thinking about something. He then moved his hand towards her face and gently stroked the side of her cheek, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She gasped.
Bella struggled to keep her legs from collapsing and she didn't notice she had forgotten to breathe until she took a deep breath when Edward finally removed his fingertips.
She could feel the places where his fingers had touched. She shivered. His fingers had been chilly to touch but had left searing warmth where they had made contact. She was sure that something that felt so real would have to visible.
They're eyes locked for a few seconds. Kiss me... she thought. But the moment was lost as he began to speak.
"Let's just say I have my reasons, Miss Swan." And with that he swept out of the crevice and down the corridor in the direction of the Kitchens; leaving a rather confused and dazzled Bella behind.
She slumped to the ground as her legs finally gave out and touched her face in wonder.
A/N: So this just adds a fourth person to the love-triangle-in-the-making. Oh wait.. that doesn't make sense does it? (: Well hope you enjoyed it. Review? Please? Even though I don't deserve it. (A)