Life Happens

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter or Twilight series or have any rights to them.

AN: Everyone who is reading this story makes me so happy! And thank you again to everyone who has added it as favorite or put it on his or her list of alerts. Special thank you to everyone who has reviewed!

I'm still not sure if it'll be Bella/Remus or Bella/Edward. However, seeing as Bella has changed, her reaction to the Cullens, and vice versa will be different and less sunshine and butterflies. I personally really do hate when Bella is made at Edward and all upset and angst and then, in the blink of an eye, she just forgives them all, especially Edward! I can't stand it! It's like someone gave her an emotional shot of morphine or vicodin or something!

It's literally:

Cullens leave and Bella is all- I hate them, I'm not worthy, I'm miserable, anger, pity, self-loathing

Cullens make a return and Bella is- you lied, you betrayed me, so upset, extreme anger, I can't believe you, how horrible, you ruined me

Cullens apologize and Bella is- OMG I MISSED YOU AND LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! GROUP HUG!

Therefore, while I'm not sure how it will play out just yet, especially with (spoiler to own story line) Remus having also recently come back into the picture (end spoiler), but I know there will emotion and drama and tension and maybe some fighting. Though remember, Bella wears big girl pants now, so all of this crap to go down will most likely be initiated by the immortal teenager brigade, yes that means the Cullen kids.

Chapter 7: Summer Reunions

Bella POV

I knew one of my first priorities this summer was to make sure I saw Neville. There would be no traveling for Harry and me. On top of talking to Neville and his grandmother, there was the Weasleys to go see. That would be an adventure in and of itself. I could see it now, Molly would be shocked, even if Ronald had already mentioned me, then she'd gush and cry, and then scold me for being gone for so long and not keeping in touch. Then Arthur would come in and smile, and gently pull Molly's grasp from me, welcome me in, asking how I have been. And then I would meet the kids, again.

In the earlier part of July, Harry wrote to Neville asking if we could come visit for a small while. Mrs. Longbottom, as I was used to calling Neville's grandmother, invited us to stay the week. So Harry and I packed our travel bags and headed out via sidelong apparation. Neville lived with his grandmother in the Longbottom ancestral home, up on a hill surrounded by trees. Its lawns were well manicured and its upkeep perfectly tidy; none would expect any less from Augusta Longbottom. Harry followed me up the path, which held such memories for me, and to the ornately carved, wooden door. I knocked on it once- Augusta had always hated excessive banging on her beautiful door- quick and precise and waited for the door to swing open. When it did, a small astute looking house elf showed up in to the main pallor. Neville quickly rushed down the main staircase to greet us. I doubted the poor boy ever received visitors of his own before. He almost fell down the last few steps, but he hurriedly steadied himself before rushing over to Harry, gripping his hands excitedly. Mrs. Longbottom appeared at the stop of the stairs, looking ready to scold her grandson. Her eyes roamed over Harry and I quickly, then turned back to me.

"Isabella Swan?" she asked, cautious and hopeful.

"Hello Mrs. Longbottom. It has been such a long time. Your home and grounds are as lovely as ever." I smiled openly up at her from the foyer. As fast as her old body would allow her, she rushed down the stairs and pulled me into a hug. Both Neville and Harry's eyes were wide as she held me to her.

Alice had started dating Frank Longbottom when we were just fifth years at Hogwarts. Alice Prewett, her maiden name, was a fellow Ravenclaw in my year. One of the few friends I had in Ravenclaw, she and I were very close. And when she began visiting Frank at him home, the summer after six year, she dragged me along to be her 'chaperone' in hopes that Mrs. Longbottom wouldn't be so strict with a friend around. Frank and I had become good friends not long after- I was brought along for almost every visit to the Longbottom home which was apparently dreadful when I wasn't a good friend and didn't agree to go along.

"Oh Bella," she said as she finally pulled away, though still holding both my hands, my bags forgotten momentarily at my feet, "dear it has been too long! Please, come sit, have some tea, there is so much we need to catch up on!" She began leading me to her dayroom, one I had spent hours in with Frank and Alice and Mrs. Longbottom, with both boys following. As we sat down, Mrs. Longbottom blinked at them, as if she had forgotten they were there.

"This is my nephew, Harry. James and Lily's son." I supplied. "It seems he and Neville and become quite good friends, though I am hardly surprised. The Longbottom family has always been a pleasant lot."

Augusta smiled a small, warm smile at the boys who were standing unsurely and close to each other. "Neville, why don't you show Harry to your greenhouses. The elves will take care of the bags. Be sure to be back by supper." The two boys scampered out quickly, obviously happy to get away. "Now dear, how have you been?"

Augusta Longbottom spent the next couple of hours filing me in on what happened with Alice and Frank and Neville. She told me about her insecurities about raising Neville without her husband, so late in life, and in place of his parents. She worried she wasn't stern enough or that she was too strict. She worried about having him grow up strong without a father figure; she wondered how much she should dote on him. She confided in me that he looked so much like his father that she was afraid to get to close to young Neville, having lost all other Longbottom men in her life already, and that she was also very over protective of him and his well being. She asked how my life was since she'd last seen me and how I had raised Harry. I did my best to tell her that worrying would get her nowhere.

"Mrs. Longbottom," I said after a long pause in the conversation dealing with how we raised the boys, "I have found that all I can do is help him become himself. I can look after his health, make sure he eats and sleeps right, give him the knowledge of the world and try to show him what is good and bad, right and wrong. However, these are decisions he must make for himself. I know I won't always be there to show him the way, but that will be all right, because I have given him the tools to think for himself. If he gets hurt, he knows to learn from it and heal. If he does wrong, he will know and learn from the consequences. If he is in a tight situation, he will be able to think for himself and figure out what to do. I do not worry about him loosing me, because I know that one day, either way, he will become a man, an adult, and he will no longer need me. I worry that I will have enabled him to become the person he is meant to be without fear of what is to come."

We were both quiet for a long time then. A house elf came in to tell us dinner was ready and we both stood. As we went to leave the room, I took her hand and pulled her into a hug.

"Just remember this: we may not have all the answers, but they do not need all the answers. They just need to know how to find answers and truths on their own." I whispered into her ear as we embraced. With one final light squeeze we let go.

The rest of the week went smoothly after that first conversation. I distributed my time between chatting with Mrs. Longbottom and telling Neville stories of his parents. Augusta seemed a little calmer and upbeat, and Neville and Harry were getting along wonderfully. It was a little hard making it look like I ate at breakfast and dinner; the two formal meals of the day, but Harry said I had pulled it off, at least for Neville. We wound up extending our stay for another week, which included a two-day shopping trip during which I bought Neville a rare plant to put in his Greenhouse for his birthday the following week. Harry insisted Neville accept it, the boy was blushing madly, and picked out some books and rare potion ingredients for his own present.

The day before we left was very sunny and warm. Neville and Harry decided to go swimming in the lake behind the house while Augusta stayed indoors and I opted to keep outside in the shade. The boys had a picnic lunch outside, handmade by myself, before Harry dozed off for a nap. Neville sat next to me quietly for an hour or so, while I read a book.

"Miss Bella?" Neville asked softly. I had gotten him to stop calling me Miss Swan, but he refused to drop the formality of Miss.

"Hmm?" I put the book down, remembering the page I was on and turned to him. He was looking down at his slightly chubby hands, which he was nervously fumbling with.

"Thank you, for everything; for telling me about my parents, but for Gran also. She's never seemed as happy as she has been since you arrived. I had always thought it was my fault, maybe it is, but you made her smile and seem, I don't know, lighter I guess."

I put my hand gently on top of Neville's to calm him. He looked up into my eyes. His dirty blond hair hung in front of his face, partially covering his chocolate brown eyes. Eyes so similar to my own when I was human. "She wasn't unhappy because of you, Neville. She was unhappy because she forgot how to be."

"Gran forgot how to be happy?"

I laughed softly, "Yes. She was so worried about not being good enough as a guardian to raise you or the possibility that she could lose you that she forgot the joy you brought to her. Her worry over clouded her happiness. It happens sometime to people who loose the majority of their loved ones. I know."

"Oh." Neville trailed off, looking down at his hands.

"Don't worry Neville, all I did was remind her that we couldn't control the world. You are your own person, and I have no doubt that in what ever you do you'll make her and your parents proud. Just be yourself and you'll be fine. And if your grandmother ever starts to worry too much again; if she stops smiling, you let me know and I'll come sort her out, whenever."

Neville nodded his head happily. A few minutes later harry woke up, and the boys went back to playing. They'll be fine, both of them. I had to believe that.

The following week we were back home, celebrating Harry's twelfth birthday. It was quiet, just him and me. He had written to Ron while we were at Neville's asking when a good time to visit would be. Ron invited him, after checking with his mum, to spend some time with their family in August. Of course his aunt was invited too. I laughed at that. Harry asked how long we were invited for and I told him that in my dealings with the Weasley family, you never knew until you got there. We packed whatever we thought we might need in our trunks which were charmed to carry more than they should, and apparated again, right outside the Weasley property. Unlike at the Longbottom home, here I banged several times on the hard wood, because you never knew when someone would finally hear it and answer the door.

Ron, who must have been expecting us, was the one who yanked the door open and greeted us. "Harry! Happy Birthday! Though it is a little late, sorry. How's your summer been? How was Neville? Have you been hearing from Hermione? She doesn't have an owl, so I had to mail her first. Bloody hell it's hot outdoors!"

"Ron! Who's at the door?" Molly yelled before appearing behind him. She almost shoved him out of the way when she got a good look at me. I quickly put my trunk down as I noticed her rushing to me. She pulled me into her arms and would have squeezed the like out of me if I weren't already dead. She began to cry and ask where I had been and why I didn't write, just as I knew she would. Then Arthur appeared and joined the hug before pulling Molly back from me. I knew I felt cold to the touch, especially on such a hot day, but thankfully she was so overwhelmed that she didn't realize or just didn't say anything. I had decided I would tell Arthur and Molly what I was; they were too good and too old of friends not to tell. I just hoped they would be okay keeping it secret, even from their children. The two quickly pulled us in to their home after we grabbed our trunks, and sat us in the family room.

"Molly, Arthur, this is my nephew Harry. I know you've already met, but he wouldn't remember it." I said, as Harry plopped down next to me, with Ron next to him. Harry politely said hello, getting up to shake both their hands.

"Goodness, he reminds me so much of James at that age. I wish we had known Lily back then." Molly smiled. None of us had gotten to know Lily until James started crushing on her in their fourth year. Even then, we didn't really get to know her until their sixth year when they started tentatively going out. "Oh where are my children? You'd think with them all home I'd be able to find at least some of them!"

As if on cue, the Weasley children began entering the room from both upstairs and outside. I looked to the clock; it was lunchtime. No wonder. As if noticing this as well, Molly quickly served up lunch and introduced them all.

"Children, this is an old friend of your father and mine, Bella Swan, and her nephew, Ron's friend, Harry Potter." She said going to stand behind the oldest of her kids. "This is Bill, and next to him is Charlie and on his other side is Percy. You three should be able to remember her." The three boys in question nodded in confirmations, smiling at me, as Molly moved on. "Ron you've met, from what I understand. This is Fred and George."

"I'm George and he's Fred." The first said.

"Can't you even tell your own children apart?" The second asked.

"I'm sorry, boys."

"Just kidding, I really am Fred." The first laughed, followed by the second, "And I'm George." The two really were identical, though with my vampire sight I would see slight differences in the eyes and nose of each, and they both had a slightly different smell. Molly rolled her eyes and they finished their little speech together, "And we remember Bella too!"

"And then my youngest, Ginny. She was only a couple months old when you got sick." Molly said, taking her seat again.

"You're very pretty." Ginny had been staring at me from the moment she entered the room. Harry laughed suddenly at her statement. He was used to men telling me I was pretty, or beautiful. It was all part of being a vampire. Ginny turned bright red when he laughed. She looked at him before quickly focusing on her plate.

"Thank you very much, Ginny." I told her, before glancing around the table at all the Weasleys. My memories of the gaggle of red heads didn't do them justice.

"Well then, why don't you kids go play or something." Arthur said once lunch was over. Quickly the room, and house, was vacant except for Molly, Arthur, and me.

"You didn't eat anything, not that you ever used to eat much after your return from the states." Molly noted as I helped her clean up the plates and food.

"That reminds me, I have a lot to tell you." I said as I began to wash to dishes.

"Is your secret for looking so young part of it?" Molly asked playfully.

"Part of it." I said, before finishing up our tasks.

Afterwards, while the children were still out, I checked the room for any listening devices or spells, before sitting Molly and Arthur down to explain the last ten or so years of my life. Staring from the sickness and up until Harry and I returned to England. The two listened carefully and patiently, asking questions only when necessary. When I was done they were quiet for a while, but that was quickly dismissed when they pulled me into a hug.

"Oh Bella, I can't believe you had to deal with everything on your own. Does Harry know? How about Remus?" Molly asked.

"It's all right, it wasn't anyone's fault but my own. I made decisions and acted how I felt was best. No, Harry doesn't know. He knows things about my behavior, like that I don't eat or sleep, but he doesn't know what I am. Sun parasols and stories about overly sensitive skin helped keep me out of the sun, but Harry knows I don't go in it. He's seems all right about not knowing the total truth, and almost excited about when hell figure it out himself. He's a lot like Lily in that sense. He likes to work things out on his own. Please don't tell anyone. Only Dumbledore knows, and now you two. You have to keep it secret, even from your kids." I explained.

The looked at me solemnly and nodded. "Thank you for trusting us," Arthur said sincerely.

"You two are my oldest friends, besides Dumbledore. How could I not?"

TBC…