Chapter 6

Magic at midnight

Hermione

Stealth. Not my greatest attribute in life, but if there was one thing that experience had taught me, was that moving through a large castle in the dead of night was near impossible. Given that I had achieved this so many times in the past, should have meant that moving from one small bedroom to a front door that was only one flight of stairs down, was going to be a walk in the park.

Or so you'd think!

Renee and Charlie had both fallen asleep downstairs, Charlie in his armchair with the dim light of a football game highlighting the drool rolling down his chin. Renee laying across the couch underneath a blanket with a few papers scattered around the floor.

I stood at the top of the stairs silent as a mouse hoping for a chance to sneak past, the original plan was to wait until they were in bed and just sneak down, unlock the door, slip out, lock it again and go. I wouldn't have needed the car going on foot, but I couldn't risk one of them suddenly waking up if either of them turned out to be a light sleeper.

I retreated up into my room and closed the door over, I wasn't keen on plan B for the simple fact that I hated heights. Not that I had anything to worry about, it was just a simple irrational fear.

Very quickly I locked, charmed and cursed my bedroom door to the point that if Renee could get through it to check on me, I'd have to snap my wand and no longer declare myself a witch.

Then with a deep breath I walked over to the window, flicked my wand lazily making it shoot up slowly. The cold night air brushed against my face and I checked the clock hanging on my door, It was Quarter to midnight, running late was never an issue for me either, but I was so eager to get going that I didn't even think about the jump.

When I hit the ground my legs gave in, there was no physical pain, just the rush and dizziness that made me fall over. I had a small giggle to myself as I felt my heart beat a little faster, it had been so long since I'd used the full potential of my physical power, that I'd forgotten how fun it was to be nearly indestructible.

Thinking about it now, I remembered the day I had received my school letter, detailing all the things I would need to get me through my first year.

The odd part had been the moment I sat down with my mother and instead having her explain the whole "Birds and the Bees" act of reaching puberty. It had been a conversation detailing what was going to happen to my body once I embraced my magical potential.

Now as the saying goes "Don't count your chickens before they hatch," as in, most witches and wizards just assume they're going to be able to run at 100 miles an hour and throw trolls around like they were pebbles.

As a matter of fact, that wasn't the case at all, going on experience I'd say I was physically weaker than most of the other witches and wizards I knew. I knew two boys who could run so fast they were all but a blur. I knew a girl who was so small but could wrestle with a troll in just her second year. There had been the odd special case, one of my former Head Masters gave off the impression that he was over 100 years old and very frail, but when push came to shove, he could move so fast and display power beyond the norm that it was almost scary.

Then of course there are the poor few that only have their magical intellect and power to defend themselves with. Those few often found ways to increase their physical strength and speed by magical means. Some even chose to hide the fact that they couldn't do the things that most magical people could.

In a rather silly way, I felt the need to stretch myself out, it had been so long since I'd used these muscles that I wasn't even sure what was going to happen when I started to run.

I made my way out across the front garden and headed over the road and onto the forest trail that led me away from civilisation. Once I was under the cover of the trees and was sure that no one in their right mind would be out here at this time of night, I flicked my wand and cast a spell that made a ball of light appear at the end of it.

"Alright Mister Cullen, where are you?" I whispered to myself.

Closing my eyes, I cleared my mind and thought of the happiest memory I could think of, ironically it was a fresh memory from this afternoon. A picture of Edwards face when I agreed to meet him tonight, it made me smile and my stomach fill with butterflies, I harnessed that power and pointed my wand out.

"Expecto Patronum!"

The silver otter shot forward and spiralled into the air, it soared down towards the ground and back up again to float in front of my face. I smiled up at its small face and it dipped its head forward to nuzzle my cheek affectionately. The warmth from the Patronus heated my skin and I felt the happiness it exuded rolling through my body.

"I missed you to," I whispered to it.

It shot backwards into a full flip, then settled down to float in front of me again as if awaiting my command.

"I need to find him," I whispered.

Knowing instantly who I meant, the otter sparked brightly and shot off deeper into the forest so fast that the only thing leading me was the light trail that it left behind. I took a deep breath and stepped forward once, twice and then broke out into a run. The trees began to fly past me, and I grinned with how natural it felt to throw my body forward like this. Following the light from the Patronus, I put my wand away and let my arms loose, kicking my feet forward and moving even faster.

"I missed this!" I shouted to the darkness, giggling with enjoyment.

My voice echoed out into the forest and I laughed louder, leaping over logs and rocks I felt the urge to jump and when I took off, I gained about 10 feet before I landed back on the ground again. Laughing more, I broke through a huge brush that took me out to a ravine. The Patronus was still so far in the distance that I didn't even think about leaping over the huge gap to get closer to it.

The second my feet touched the rock however, something huge swept past me, it knocked me off my feet and I rolled tumbling into the dirt. I could hear a growling snarling sound moving around me, I leapt to my feet wand in hand and lit the tip again.

"Whose there?" I called out.

A silly question given that it sounded like animal, it swept past me again but this time I was fast enough to move out of the way. I turned quickly and I pointed my wand up towards the sky and shouted.

"Lumos Maxima!"

A ball of light shot out of my wand tip and cast a ball of bright light that hung in the air, lighting the whole ravine. I heard the low growling bark and I turned round, instantly jumping backwards to put some distance between me and what I was seeing.

It was huge, like a horse only with fur and muscle, it had a russet coloured tinge to its fur and the softest light brown eyes. It bared its teeth at me and snarled but I wasn't afraid, if this thing wanted me dead, I'm sure it would have taken me out while my guard was down. I lowered my wand and stood up straight, the huge beast continued to growl at me, and I was left wondering if this was a joke on its part.

"You, are, beautiful," I said honestly.

The wolf suddenly gave a strange kind of grumbling noise like it was confused, it was intelligent, and I could work with that. It took a step forward into the light as if trying to get a better look at me, when the light fully highlighted its face, I swear I could see a look of shock there.

Saying that this was no normal wolf would have been an understatement, the thing was even bigger than I was. I rattled through the magical creatures list in the back of my mind and for the life of me, I couldn't place this wolf anywhere. There were the possibilities that no one has ever done a complete check of Forks, giant wolves surely would have come up in the muggle news as well as ours, that's if anyone knew about them.

Was I discovering a whole new species?

If this was the case then I was going to have to make a good impression, perhaps take a picture and send it to someone who would truly appreciate a magnificent beast like this. That said, the person would more than likely want to make it a pet and I couldn't see Severus allowing that, So I focused on making friends instead.

"Now really, I can't be the first victim to point out how pretty a puppy you are," I teased.

It growled at me, not in the threatening way it had done before, if anything it sounded like he was telling me to shut up. The response made me giggle and I stepped closer for a better look.

"Well, it is a full moon tonight, you could easily be a werewolf," I said gently, "but you're far too controlled for that."

The wolf huffed and took a few steps back, I could have sworn it rolled its eyes at me and I was a little offended that it would think I was wrong. Then again it was more likely to know what it was than I did.

"Alright, I'm guessing you'd be offended if I said you were a mutated pet that belonged to someone?" I grinned.

It growled again and this time shook his large head.

"Fine, keep your secrets, but are there more of you?" I asked curiously.

Suddenly the forest filled with several and very loud howls, I gasped and turned my back on the wolf in front of me and listened to the beautiful music. The shock was so much that I could have sworn that the rumbling growl coming from the wolf was a laugh.

"Forks just keeps getting better and better by the minute," I whispered.

I turned back to look at the wolf and I smiled brightly, the light from the orb drifted away but I could still see clear enough to admire him. The wolf gave one frustrated sounding huff and without warning turned and shot off into the forest.

"Hey, wait!" I shouted, reaching out my hand to stop him, then I sighed in disappointment.

I wondered briefly if I had offended the poor thing, but the light of the moon passed over me and instantly brought Edward back to the front of my mind. I had to have been late now. I was so easily distracted sometimes, I hoped he would forgive me.

Without pause I chased after the Patronus that was still dutifully waiting for me.

Edward

15 minutes before midnight

I'd eventually got it together long enough to pull on some clothes, the only real obstacle in leaving was that Esme, Alice and Rosalie had all insisted on giving me advice before I left.

Not that any of it made much sense to me.

Esme insisted that I should always be a perfect gentleman, that I should treat Hermione as if she was a fragile piece of glass. I wasn't planning to treat Hermione disrespectfully in any way what so ever, nor was she a fragile thing in any regards.

Alice insisted that I ask lots of questions, she had presented me with a list of all the things that she claimed would "Absolutely be the key to knowing if Hermione was the one" since all these questions were in fact about fashion, music, places Hermione would like to travel and if she had ever wanted a sister, I was certain without ever reading my sisters mind that these questions were designed to see if Hermione was more suitable for Alice as a sister, than for me as a possible mate.

"Take your clothes off and pretend your cold, worked for me with Emmet and he's never looked anywhere else since,"

This had been the advice of Rose, while the others found it hilarious, I couldn't even begin to imagine what a physical relationship with Hermione was going to be like. For one I couldn't even be near her without wanting to feed from her.

It wasn't that Hermione didn't appeal to me, far from it, despite the blood cravings there was one even stronger impulse building inside of me. A craving that I had never explored before, and one that if it were possible, would require a decent amount of patience on Hermione's part. The closest I'd ever come to being fully naked in front of another woman was the odd times that Rosalie and Alice would attempt to play dress up when we reached a new fashion decade.

Carlisle had spent the remainder of his afternoon before heading to his night shift at the hospital, going over what research he had pulled together from the magical world. He had always had a keen interest in their world, the complicated way in which they live and mostly where their magical power comes from has always interested him. Since there had been no known record of their kind ever becoming vampires, there had been no way for Carlisle to really research magic folk. He had met a few in his life, some were even kind to him, but they had always been very reluctant to give any details on their life regarding the magical world.

Even the ones we helped had been grateful, wouldn't so much as allow Carlisle to ask perfectly innocent questions. Granted that could have been because Emmet had stolen one of their brooms and refused to give it back, until Jasper and I were forced to tackle him down from it when he made a dive bomb for the ground.

Carlisle's drive now to know more, was because of our involvement in their war. Tanya and her family had accidentally found themselves involved and we in turn were dragged into it. We had gone willingly to protect the other half of our family, but we had never been fully prepared with what we were facing.

I knew that in knowing Hermione, I was likely to learn more, but how was I going to tell her that my first real encounter with her kind ended with me killing several of them?

These thoughts only really occurred to me while I was standing in the middle of my meadow waiting for her to join me. I stood nervously and occasionally pacing back and forth wondering if she was really going to show up. Perhaps she will have changed her mind or fallen asleep with the lateness of the hour.

I couldn't blame her, if she wanted to stay at home where it was warm and safe instead of coming out here on the mere whim of a vampire then I would understand. I was astounded by the amount of negative thoughts that were going through my mind. Hermione wasn't cruel or unkind, but my anxiety was having me think that I had done something wrong. That she would be right to not join me here, why should she take such a risk?

When midnight came, she hadn't arrived and I found myself on the verge of accepting that it was the hope of a fool, that she would ever come. Disappointment and a slight sadness took me, I would see her tomorrow at school and promise to stay away from her. That was the right thing to do, to not drag her into what would be a very hard life. I should have turned away right now and gone home, but like the fool I am, I waited.

It was less than a second later when I saw the ball of light shoot into the air, confused at first, I watched it hang there and tried to judge where it was coming from. From where I was standing, I guessed it was somewhere near the ravine that separated the borders between our lands and the Quileute's. It looked like a flare and I wondered if some of the Quileute folk were out on a late-night hike.

I couldn't really make sense of why they would be there or how they managed to find a flare that burned pure white, when it didn't fall from the sky, I realised there was more at work here than just a simple flare. I could imagine that there was only one person in this town that could cause a ball of light to float up into the sky and remain there. I smiled at the thought that perhaps she was lost in the forest and was looking for a way out.

My smile faded when I heard the howling.

"No!" I gasped.

My mind worked so quickly that the tenor of those howls could have only meant one thing, without hesitation I broke out into a run and crashed through the trees towards the border as fast as my legs could carry me.

In a rush I realised that she could have easily stepped into their territory and them knowing nothing about the wider world would have assumed she wasn't human. Perhaps they wouldn't know to even check if she was anything but a vampire, before attacking her.

Stupid ignorant mutts!

The light from the orb began to fade and panic took me, I shot forward like a bullet from a gun and instantly the scent of the wolves hit my nose. They had been dancing across the line, possibly showing one of their pups where it was. I let a snarl build in my throat, and I was ready for whatever kind of fight, to rip and tear, to avenge if I had to.

"You're girlfriend isn't human?" I heard a voice think, "You never mentioned that,"

"Dude, she's not my girlfriend, but I don't know, she's not a blood sucker anyway," Another voice thought.

"What was the deal with the stick?" a third voice, one that was female, thought.

"Who knows, but did you see her shoot that ball of light into the air, it was like a spell or something,"

"You're telling me witches now exist?"

"Maybe the stick is a wand?"

As relieved as I was to hear that they hadn't tried to kill Hermione, even more that one of them considered her a friend. It was almost sad to realise how ignorant they were to the world around them, had none of their ancestors ever encountered a witch or wizard to share the story of them?

I leapt up into one of the trees scaling to the very top so that the wolves wouldn't notice me here, they'd assume the scent was from someone else passing through earlier and just go on their way. While I sat here waiting for them to go, I couldn't help listening in, the wolf pack were so connected that I could hear all 6 members talking at once.

"We'll have to talk to the elders, see if they know anything about her, "A deeper voice said.

This had to be the alpha, I noted the deep and commanding nature of his voice and could only place him as their leader. Strangely, I wasn't hearing the name "Black" in his head, I wondered what happened there that named someone else as the leader?

"I'll talk to Sarah when I get home, she'll know, she's been friends with Renee for years,"

"Jake, do you really think Renee knows about her niece having super powers?"

"I doubt it, but either way I'm going to ask Hermione on Sunday," Jake promised.

"No, you're not!"

"Sam, why not?!"

"Because I don't want to risk exposing our numbers to the Cullens, they only know we're growing in number, if the girl is connected to them, I don't want her leaking information,"

"Right, didn't think about that, sorry,"

Jacob Black, I would imagine was the grandson of Ephraim Black, why wasn't he the Alpha of the current wolf-pack? I could hear the name Sam Uley in all their heads, a Uley being the Alpha? Last pack I met had a Levi Uley in it, but he was no more than a fighter, how did he end up as the Alpha and the direct descendent was only now just learning to become a wolf?

A mystery for another time, right now I had a bigger issue than a pack of ignorant wolves. Beneath the tree I was sitting in a light flash past and I saw my date rushing through the forest faster than I ever would imagined she could move.

Forgetting all about the wolves I leapt into the air to try and beat her back to the meadow.

I couldn't make it look like I was the one who was late.

Hermione

To count down the list.

There was me, a witch trying to escape the magical world and had somehow managed to find herself in a new world altogether. There were the Cullens, who were not a rich adopted family, but were in fact a coven of vampires and one of those vampires had invited me to join him tonight. That suited me just fine because the result was, that I was getting to spend the night with him.

Now I had giant wolves to contend with?

I wasn't really complaining, there was something about having all these supernatural creatures around that made me feel more at home here.

There was also the bonus of when I broke through a clearing and stopped a few feet away from him, the smile that lit up his face when he set eyes on me, was one that I would have happily walked through fire just to see.

I had been in danger before in the past, but never like this.

That danger being, I could easily fall for someone so wonderful and perfect where I in the strictest of senses, was so completely dull.

The moonlight was beaming down over his pale skin making it glow, his eyes were a fresh bright honey, and his hair was a little messy like he had been running. He was wearing a grey T-shirt that was like the one I was wearing, a pair of stone-wash jeans and boots. He made dressing normal look so alluring.

"I didn't know we were bringing friends?" He said, giving a light chuckle.

I was a little confused at first until he pointed to the otter, that was now dancing around him in a wide circle, proudly pointing out that it had found what I was looking for. I giggled and waved my wand, the otter faded away and I was so grateful to it for bringing me here.

The wolf was all but forgotten and I found myself walking towards Edward without a second thought against it. He reached his hand out towards me and I took it, his palm was so cold that I wondered for a moment why he was dressed so poorly for this weather.

"You're freezing," I said in worry.

"We are always cold," he told me.

"Always?"

"Always," he chuckled.

He looked up at the moon and so reluctantly did I, it really was lovely in the way it hung over the two of us. I looked around at the small space and marvelled at the way the different flowers all changed colour with the light moving around them.

"What is this place?" I asked softly.

"I call it the meadow, It used to be a bunch of tree's and dead soil, but with a little work I was able to coax it to life,"

"It really is lovely,"

He released my hand slowly and allowed me to crouch down and touch the flowers that surrounded my feet, I had to think It was impossible to grow these here, but I was starting to get the impression that even without magic, Edward could do the impossible even on his worst day.

"I'm glad you came here tonight, I was worried you'd gotten lost," He chuckled.

"Not lost, just, getting to grips with some wild life," I said casually.

Something I said made him chuckle again, I wasn't about to start prying into his thoughts when it was already so peaceful here. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him; I was ready to learn all I could about his life. The issue that now I was here the only thing I really wanted to do, was look at him.

"Your aunt and uncle won't miss you?" He asked conversationally.

"Nope," I smiled, "if they wake up, they'll just assume I'm asleep in my room, my aunt doesn't know enough about magic to get through the spells on my door."

"On your door?" He asked curiously.

"Mhm, there are all kinds of repelling charms, I can also put up charms that prevent people from hearing inside the room and I can even block out Charlie and his snoring if I like,"

"I can't imagine the freedom that must bring," He chuckled.

"Yes, you're clearly lacking so much freedom right now," I said playfully.

"That's not what I meant," He smiled, "When you live with a family that has senses that are dialled up to 10, it leaves very little privacy,"

"And the ability to hear thoughts must be a pain sometimes," I said fairly.

"Only if I'm looking directly into their mind,"

"Can you explain?" I asked politely.

He smiled and nodded.

"Think of it like standing in a room filled with people, there are so many conversations going on it's just noise, but if you focus on one person you can hear them above the din,"

"And you can read every person's thoughts?" I asked.

"Every person I have ever met," He said, "Except you."

I don't know why he couldn't read my mind, but I was more than happy to live with the fact that he couldn't. I really couldn't have him in my head seeing all the things I was thinking about him; I'd just be so embarrassed.

"Why do you think that is?" I asked, hoping he would have a theory, I knew nothing about vampire gifts to even contemplate my own.

"I truly have no idea," He admitted.

"Maybe my brain doesn't work the same way as everyone else's does?" I suggested.

"That is possible, you'd have to be insane to want to go on a date with a vampire," He joked.

"Well, that vampire is rather charming," I told him.

"I'm glad you came," he told me, the warmth of his words filling me with happiness.

"I'm glad you were here to meet me, I was worried that you wouldn't be here," I said feeling dumb.

"I'll admit when you didn't arrive on time, I wondered if you had changed your mind," I admitted shyly, the shyness adding to my attraction towards him.

"You may wish I had done in a second," I said seriously.

My words had the desired impact and I could see the slight twitch of worry etched in the depths of his eyebrows. I just smiled and shook my head and without thinking reached up and placed my hand on his cheek.

"Renee knows I like you; she thinks you're taking me to the winter dance,"

Confusion coloured his expression.

"Why does she think we're going to that dreadful dance?" He asked with a light chuckle.

I quickly explained about how I didn't want to tell Renee that Edward was a vampire, Edward seemed to expect that I wouldn't tell her, he just got the reason for it all wrong. Once I explained that I didn't want Renee to be typically afraid of her niece possibly dating a man who lives purely on a diet of blood. I explained that I had to make something up because she wasn't believing that he didn't ask me out.

"So, you suggested one of the most boring nights in Forks?" He chuckled, "I can do so much better than take you to a dance,"

"Look, if you don't want to go, I can just tell her you dumped me," I teased.

"Oh, you're good," Edward chuckled.

"I know, so just agree to take me and we'll sneak out early and go see one of those movies you like or something," I giggled.

He took a deep breath and smiled as he released it.

Reaching down he took both of my hands and held them to his chest in a very theatrical manner, he smiled down at me and looked deep into my eyes.

"Miss Granger, will you do me the honour of going to the winter dance with me?"

"I don't know, I could be busy that night," I teased.

"You're incorrigible," He chuckled.

With a swift and unexpected move, he dropped my hands and wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me into the air, so that my head was above his, I giggled and pushed down on his shoulders. He instantly gasped and fell back, clearly not expecting me to be so strong and hit the grass with a thud.

"And you, are in an exceptionally good mood, not nearly as tense as you were today," I giggled.

"In my defence I had no idea what was happening to me, a little demon from England was making me want to attack her," He chuckled, sliding his hands back to grip my waist more firmly, the change in position made me settle more and lean into him.

"You do seem to be in better control now," I noted.

I had forgotten to use the scent charm on myself to help shield him from any uncomfortable feelings. It was only now that I realised, I was so happy to see him that it completely escaped my mind to do it before I arrived.

"Because I know now that I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you," He said, the intensity of his words taking me by surprise, I had to take a moment before I could speak again.

"Care to explain?" I asked, I tried to remain as casual as I could while dealing with the heart-warming declaration.

"What happened today was very rare for a vampire, meeting someone whose blood calls to them like that, if you hadn't acted so quickly, I don't know what would have happened,"

I wanted very much to remove the sorrow that was in his eyes, for me or for the other people that had been in the class today, I didn't care what he was capable of so long as he wasn't suffering.

"When I calmed myself and realised the mistake I could have made, realised that it could have damaged my family, taken you away from yours, killed all those people, I felt so ashamed, but you took that shame away from me, it took you less than a few moments to make me happier than I'd ever felt in my many years of life,"

I was stunned.

I knew how he made me feel, how happy meeting him and even falling for him in such a short space of time had brought a very physical change in me. There was more to coming here than even he realised, using magic to escape the house, using my physical power to get here. I had sworn that I would never act like this again and yet, the happiness he had brought me had me sneaking out and going on adventures.

Just like the old days, only this adventure was far scarier.

But to know he felt that way, that meeting me had made him happy and that he was so excited to be here tonight. To ignore everything else, to ignore the fear and worry that was going to come with knowing each other, the prejudices we were likely to face. All those things he was no doubt aware of, and yet here he was, ignoring them with me.

"I would love for you to say something right now," He said nervously.

Looking down into his eyes I saw the fear and apprehension that I was feeling before, too afraid to even think that this could have all been a cruel joke. But his declaration had me admitting to myself that I cared for him just as much as he was claiming to care for me.

"This is madness," I said with a shaky chuckle.

"True madness," He agreed smiling.

"Every logical part of my brain, is telling me to back away, take it slow, what will others think, and the illogical part of my brain just wants you to…"

I paused.

"To what?" He asked.

Sitting up slowly I slid down his frame to straddle his waist, my knee's resting on either side of his legs while his hands reached back to support him. His head tilted to the right and I found myself breathing in and out faster and faster. I could feel my pulse racing, my heart crashing against my chest, the adrenaline was building, and I had the sudden urge to lean forward.

"To," I whispered.

"Hermione," He whispered back.

"Yes?"

"If you do this, if we do this, it's going to change everything,"

He was right of course, the moment I even thought about it, the second the idea that his lips would ever touch mine entered my head. I realised all too soon that things were going to change, people would talk, people wouldn't accept it. They would see Edward and I together and think it was wrong, they would think their horrible thoughts and they would see him as nothing more than a beast.

I was suddenly reminded of a night, not so long ago when I was stood next to my best friend on one of the worst nights of our lives. Gathered together with our friends in mourning over the loss of a great man, how we all watched a heart broken woman confess her love to a werewolf, her words echoing in my mind.

"I don't care either, I don't care, I want you!"

It would have been an insult to their memory to even consider not leaning in, and when Edwards hands took my waist, he finished the move for me. Pressing his cold smooth lips against my own, kissing me like no other person had ever kissed me in my life. My breath caught and I felt his strength take me, the light of the moon faded away and, in the darkness, I fell limp against his body. I felt myself falling deeper and deeper into the spell his presence cast upon me and when I drowned in the bastion of his passion, I only felt one thing.

Bliss.