Chapter eight: Coming together

Harry was walking towards where Cedric was waiting in the car after school on Tuesday, when he turned at his name.
"Harry!" It was Alice.

"Oh, hey Alice." He stopped. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Alice smiled. "Just wanted to know if you wanted to come to my place on Friday? 'Cause we have the day off, and Bella's coming over too."

Harry considered for a moment, before nodding. "Okay. Cedric's working, but I guess I'll just catch a lift with Bella then."

"Great!" Alice chirped. "I'll see you then."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're not coming to school this week?"

"I've predicted sunny weather." She said with a wink.

"Oh, right." Harry shook his head. "Well…have fun, with whatever it is you do…"

"We will. Bye Harry!"

"Bye." Harry said, before jumping into the car.

"What was that about?" Cedric asked with an odd look, pulling out onto the road.

"Alice asked me over on Friday." Harry said simply.

"Don't you have school?" Cedric asked.

Harry shook his head. "Nah, public holiday."

"Oh yeah." Cedric said. There were a few minutes of silence, before Cedric asked slowly, "So, do you like Alice or what?"

"What?" Harry asked, eyes wide.

"Alice." Cedric repeated. "I thought you liked Bella before, but now you've been spending a lot of time with Alice."

"Uh, no." Harry answered quickly. "I don't like Alice or Bella. They're my best friends, like Ron and Hermione – it would just be weird."

Cedric laughed slightly. "You know, if I didn't know better I'd say you were gay, Harry!"

Harry laughed awkwardly, but inwardly his mind was spinning over the comment. He found himself staring pensively out the window for the rest of the drive home, unable to forget Cedric's words.

...---…

The next few days passed quickly, and before Harry knew it he was in sixth period English on Thursday with Bella. True to her word, Alice and the Cullens hadn't shown up leaving Harry and Bella sitting alone at their table.

"Hey..." Harry said, once the teacher was far enough away not to hear. "So is it still alright for you to pick me up tomorrow?"

Bella quickly glanced to the teacher before responding. "Sure. Although I had another idea if you're interested?" Harry indicated for her to go on. "I was thinking you could just stay over tonight and then we could go over to the Cullens' place in the morning?"

"Okay." Harry said after a moment of thought. "Your dad won't mind?"

"Nah." Bella shook her head. "He won't even notice."

Harry shrugged. "Alright then. I'll get Cedric to drop me off tonight."

---…---

"Hey Bella." Harry said as the door opened.

"Hi Harry!" Bella said cheerfully. "Come on in." Harry followed her inside.

"Just dump your stuff here, we're gonna have dinner now anyway." Bella said, heading into the kitchen. Harry did so quickly before following Bella into the kitchen.

"Mmm. Smells good." Harry said as he entered the room.

"Lasagne." Bella said, dishing a slice onto each of the three plates in front of her. They carried the plates over to the table where Charlie was already seated and sat down.

"Hi, Harry." Charlie greeted warmly, digging into his lasagne quickly. Harry nodded in silent greeting. "How are you?"

"I'm fine thanks Mr. Swan." Harry answered between bites. "How are you?"

"I'm great." Dinner went smoothly, Harry managing small talk with Bella's father. After dinner Harry and Bella watched an old vampire movie (Which made them both laugh) before retiring to Bella's room close to midnight.

"Is that you and Edward?" Harry asked, gesturing to a photo of the two hugging on the wall.

"Yeah." Bella blushed. "We used to go out."

Harry nodded. "Yeah I think you told me earlier."

"Probably." Bella smiled.

"How come you guys broke up?" Harry asked after a few moments of silence.

Bella shrugged. "I don't know. It just sort of…happened I guess. We started spending less time together and then it just got uncomfortable. We avoided each other for a while, until Edward finally cornered me and told me it didn't have to be that way. After that we just stayed friends."

"So who do you like now?" Harry asked, flopping down onto the bed.

Bella blushed slightly before shaking her head. "No one."

Harry sat up quickly. "Tell me!" He demanded.

"You'll laugh." Bella said, biting her lip.

"I won't. I swear!" He added at her dubious look.

"Okay fine." She sighed. "Well…I've always thought your brother was hot." She admitted after a lengthy pause.

"Cedric?" Harry asked, surprise showing in his eyes. "You like Cedric?"

"I know, right?" Bella sighed, falling back against the head rest. "He probably doesn't even know who I am."

Harry thought carefully for a moment. "I don't know." He said slowly. "He used to ask if you were coming over a lot, I thought he was just trying to see if I was making friends, but maybe…"

"Seriously?" Bella asked hopefully.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, maybe."

Bella sighed. "Maybe." They thought to themselves for a moment before Bella asked, "So who do you like, Harry?"

Harry blushed. "No one." He said quickly – maybe a little too quickly.

"Oh, come on Harry! I told you…" She pouted.

"Seriously, no one." Harry sighed.

"Seriously?" Bella asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…sort of." Harry blushed. "Maybe."

"Who?" Bella pressed. After Harry sat in silence for a few moments, clearly not intending on answering, Bella sighed. "Fine I'll guess. Alice?"

Harry cringed. "No way."

"Uh…" Bella thought for a moment. "Angela?"

"That girl from my biology class?" Bella nodded. "No. I've only talked to her like, once."

Bella shrugged. "I don't know then. Is it even a girl?"

Harry blushed.

"Oh my God!" Bella sat up quickly. "A boy?!"

Harry sighed. "You can't tell anyone."

"Of course not." Bella said quickly. "But who is it?"
Harry sighed, mumbling into the pillow inaudibly. Bella elbowed him in the ribs sharply. "Ow!" He exclaimed. "Oh fine. Edward Cullen. Happy?"

Bella gasped. "Seriously?"

Harry shrugged, blushing brightly. "I don't know."

"Aw, Har that's so cute!" Bella knocked him playfully on the shoulder. "Harry's got a crush!"

"Shut up!" Harry groaned, shoving her lightly. "The last thing I need is you teasing me about it."

"Sorry." Bella said with a giggle. "But Seriously? Edward?"

"Yes, seriously." Harry growled.

"Wow." Bella sighed, flopping back onto the bed. "What brought it on?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know…I was talking to him and…I don't know, it seemed like he was hitting on me or something. And then Cedric said something that made me think…and I don't…know." He finished, looking frustrated. He sighed after a few moments, shaking his head. "I feel like a girl." He snapped. "That's what hanging out with you and Alice does to me. First shopping, then sleep overs and now I have a…a crush!" He spat the word as if it was venomous, his voice growing a little more hysterical. "And…I…I don't even know if he feels the same!"

Bella pulled him into a comforting hug. "Aw, Har, it'll be okay. You'll see." They stayed like that for a few moments before Harry pulled back, nodding.

"Yeah." He sighed. "You're right…I guess."

"That's right." Bella smiled. "Now it's like one o'clock, you wanna go to sleep?"

"Yeah." Harry sighed, rolling onto his own side of the bed.

Bella got up to turn off the light, before returning to the bed. "Night, Harry."

"Night Bell." Harry mumbled, already feeling himself falling asleep.

…---…

Harry…

Harry!

"Harry!"

Harry jerked awake opening his eyes blearily. "Ugh…what?" He asked groggily, glaring at the annoyance.

"Time to get up!" Bella chirped, hitting him again with the pillow.

Harry sighed, stretching slightly. "Seriously?" he yawned. "How early is it?"

"It's already eleven." Bella answered. "We were supposed to be there at ten, but I decided to let you sleep…but you didn't seem like you were gonna wake up any time soon, so I had to wake you."

"Damn…" Harry muttered. "I'd rather go back to sleep." He groaned.

"No you wouldn't. Now get up!" Bella said sternly.

"Fine." Harry sighed, sitting up slowly. "God I'm tired." Harry moaned, running a hand through his messier-then-usual hair.

Bella shrugged. "You're the one who wanted to stay up all night talking." She said, before leaving the room.

Harry climbed out of bed, reaching for his bag and quickly changing clothes. Once presentable, he ventured downstairs to where the smell of pancakes was very prominent. "That smells good." He commented, sitting at the table.

"You bet it does." Bella said, walking out from the kitchen with a large plate of pancakes. "And it tastes even better."

Harry reached for the syrup that sat in the middle of the table, drizzling it over his stack of pancakes. "Mmm." He said as he took a bite. "You're a really good cook."

Bella laughed. "It's not like making pancakes really qualifies as cooking." She scoffed. Harry just shrugged, digging into his stack in earnest.

Half an hour later they pulled up in front of an old, beautiful house. "Wow." Harry said as they got out of the car. "It's nice."

Bella grinned. "Wait till you see the inside. Come on!" She pulled him along until they reached the door, which opened before they had even had time to knock.

"Bella! Harry!" Alice greeted warmly. "Come in!"

Bella had been right – the inside was even more impressive then the outside. "You're house is really nice." Harry said, looking around as they walked through the spacious entrance hall.

"Thanks." Alice said, leading them over to where a young couple were standing. "Harry, this is Esme and Carlisle, my…well, parents I guess." She said with a giggle. Dr. Cullen was incredibly good looking – blond, pale and very handsome. Esme was also stunning, as seemed to be the norm for vampires.

"Hi." He said awkwardly, shaking Carlisle's hand shyly.

"Hi, Harry." Esme said warmly. "I've been waiting so long to meet you – Alice and Edward talk about you frequently."

Harry blushed slightly. "Hi Esme, Carlisle." Bella greeted, shifting the attention from Harry.

"Hello Bella." They smiled. "How have you been dear?" Esme asked in a motherly fashion.

"Great thanks, and you?" Harry took the time while they spoke to calm himself – his nerves were racing. After a few minutes the adults excused themselves, and Harry and Bella followed Alice upstairs.

"Hey, Harry." Edward said, walking over with a smile. "Hey Bella."

"Hey Edward." Bella greeted while Harry just nodded. They hung out as a group for a little bit, before Bella and Alice went to Alice's room leaving Harry and Edward alone in the T.V room.

"How are you Harry?" Edward asked as the two took a seat on the couch.

"Fine." Harry said, finding himself a little nervous. "How about you?"

"I'm great." Edward said with a disarming smile. "How was school this week?"

Harry shrugged. "Fine, I guess. What did you guys do the last few days?"

"Hunt." Edward said with a grin. At Harry's curious look, he elaborated. "Bears, lions." He shrugged. "Sometimes elk."

"Wow." Harry said simply. "You eat bears?"

"Well…no." Edward said with a chuckle. "We just drink their blood."

"Ew." Harry scrunched up his nose. "That doesn't sound very tasty."

"To a human it isn't." Edward admitted. "But to a vampire…It's like – what's your favourite dessert?"

Harry shrugged. "Treacle tart? We had it a lot in England." He added at Edward's confused gaze.

"Right." He nodded. "Well, blood is like that only ten times more delicious, and instead of just wanting it, we need it." Harry was finding it progressively harder to listen to what Edward was saying – his melodious voice was rather distracting.

Edward gave him a curious glance causing Harry to blush, knowing he'd been caught staring. Edward just smiled in response and pretended he hadn't noticed.

"So uh," Harry changed the subject, clearing his throat awkwardly. "How's your family?"

"Yeah, good." Edward said with another charming smile. "Emmett is still in a bad mood 'cause he broke his car. It's going to be at least another week before it's fixed – which means another week of his complaining." Edward rolled his eyes.

Harry laughed. "Well I think we're in the same boat there – Cedric's been a total bitch since the T.V died."

"We should introduce them." Edward said with a mischievous grin. "Then they can bug each other."

"Sounds good to me." Harry said with a laugh, stretching out a little on the couch. They sat quietly for a few minutes, the silence stretching between them uncomfortably.

"So Harry," Edward said after a little while. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

"You have?" Harry asked, yawning a little.

"Yeah." Edward said with a laugh. "Am I boring you?" He gestured to Harry's still half open mouth.

"No!" Harry said quickly. "I'm just tired. I stayed at Bella's last night, and you know…"

"Relax, Harry." Edward interrupted with a smile. "I was joking."

"Oh." Harry blushed, causing Edward's smile to widen.

Edward shook his head at the embarrassed teen. "You're too adorable, Harry." His tone was joking, but Harry had his eyes firmly on the ground and missed the sincerity that flashed in Edward's eyes.

"Oh yeah, let's pick on Harry." He mumbled, glaring at the smug vampire.

"Aw I'm sorry Harry." Edward said playfully. "Forgive me?"

"Fine." Harry muttered after a lengthy pause. "What were you saying before then?"

"Oh yeah." Edward said, becoming serious again. "So listen, my whole family and I are going camping next Friday for the first few days of the holiday. We've already invited Bella, but I was wondering if you might like to come too?"

Harry thought for a moment, staring into Edward's hopeful eyes. Finally, he smiled widely. "Sure!" He said brightly. "I'd have to check with Cedric though…" Harry deflated a little at the thought. Vegetarians or no, he doubted Cedric would be happy for Harry to go camping with a bunch of vampires.

"Damn." Edward sighed. "I forgot about Cedric. Do you think he'd let you come?"

Harry shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe. I hope so." He said wistfully. "Camping sounds like fun – I've never really been."

"Seriously?" Edward asked incredulously. "We Americans go camping all the time."

Harry shrugged. "Well I sort of did one time, but that wasn't really like, wilderness camping. We just slept in a tent for a night at a sports event."

"Wow." Edward whistled. "You really are sheltered, aren't you little Harry?" He teased.

"Hey!" Harry snapped. "I thought we agreed you couldn't make fun of me?" He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Besides I wasn't allowed to do anything like camping until I was eleven, and after that there was no time."

"You weren't allowed?" Edward questioned, his eyes shining with curiosity.

Harry shrugged. "I used to live with my blood aunt and her husband. Sirius and Remus aren't my real uncles, but they took me in a couple of years ago." Harry explained with as little detail as possible.

"Oh." Edward said softly. "What…what happened to your parents?"

"They died when I was a baby." Harry said shortly.

"I'm sorry." Edward said, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder comfortingly.

"It's okay." Harry shrugged. "I didn't know them anyway. Let's talk about something else?" He suggested, glancing up from his lap.

"Sure." Edward agreed. Thankfully, they were saved from coming up with another conversation topic by the arrival of the girls.

"Hey guys!" Alice greeted, flopping down onto the couch. "So I was thinking we could go see a movie? That one about the vampires is playing." She said with a wicked grin.

"Underworld?" Edward asked.

"Yeah." Bella nodded. "Alice wants to see it."

"Sure." Edward shrugged turning to Harry. "You wanna go?"

"I guess." Harry said. "But why do you want to see a movie about fake vampires…when you guys are real vampires?" He asked, looking a little confused.

"Vampire movies are their version of a comedy." Bella said dryly. "They get off on laughing at all the mistakes."

---…---

The movie was good – and Harry had gotten to sit next to Edward, which he wasn't about to complain about. The Cullens had dropped him home that evening, leaving him with the daunting task of convincing Cedric to let him go camping.

"Hey Harry." Cedric called from the kitchen as Harry walked in the door.

Harry wandered into the room, wincing a little at the cooking smells. "Hey Cedric." He said, dumping his bags on the floor. Cedric had never been the best cook, so Harry was a little worried when he saw the many pots cooking on the large stove. "Uh…what are you cooking?"

Cedric paused for a moment before answering. "I don't…really know. It doesn't really resemble the recipe all that much anymore, but it was supposed to be ah…" he glanced down at the recipe in front of him. "Chicken rasam. But I had a bit of an accident with the chicken…so it's really just rasam. Well, sort of rasam."

Harry paled. "Uh…I'm good – I ate at the Cullens." He said quickly, backing away a little.

Cedric's face fell. "Oh." He turned away a little.

Harry sighed, knowing he would regret this decision. "But I think I have room for some more." He bit out grudgingly, eyeing the orange goop warily.

"Great!" Cedric exclaimed. "You may as well sit down, it'll be ready soon."

Harry sighed, before taking a seat at the table. He clearly remembered the last time he had eaten Cedric's cooking, which had resulting in horrendous food poisoning for a week.

"How was your sleepover? And your visit with the Cullens?" Cedric asked with his back turned, still trying to salvage the 'rasam'.

"Yeah, fine." Harry answered.

"Did you have fun?" Cedric asked as he brought out the dishes.

"Yeah, I guess." Harry said.

Cedric smiled happily. "You see, Harry? Socialising is fun. I'm glad you went."

"Really?" Harry said quickly, seizing the opening. "Because I'm already planning on spending more time with them these holidays."

"Really?" Cedric asked, surprised. "That's great, Harry."

"Yeah. They invited me to go camping with them." Harry said carefully. "And I was really hoping I could go."

Cedric thought for a moment, chewing his 'food' slowly. "I don't know." He said. "They're vampires."

"I noticed." Harry said dryly. "They're also vegetarians. Besides, Bella's coming too. It's not like I'll be all alone with them."

Cedric appraised him carefully across the table. "You really want to go?" He asked uncertainly.

"Really." Harry assured him. "It would mean a lot if you would let me go."

Cedric sighed, stirring his food impatiently. "Alright." He agreed. "But I want to talk to their parents first." He muttered, looking unhappy.

"Thank you!" Harry exclaimed. "I love you Ced!" He said, bouncing up from the table and dumping his plate in the sink.

Cedric just nodded, wondering if he should be offended by the fact that Harry hadn't even touched the food.

A/N: Zomg so sorry! It's been, like a week. I totally underestimated how much school work there would be in the very first week of the year :o Therefore, this chapter is officially dedicated to sixth period study sessions – without them, I would probably never have gotten around to writing this. My wonderful sixth period study seshs are an amazing gift from god! They allow me a whole hour to do all the shit assigned in all my classes….well, I don't really get through it all in the one sesh, so I still have loads to do at home…but without them, I'd be SO screwed!

Also, thanks for answering the poll in the last chapter – it seems the unanimous vote was the Harry/Edward relationship, with Cedric/Bella coming in second. Other things like the La Push Wolves etc. seemed to be popular also, although the Voldemort war was only voted for like, once…which is good, because I don't really like writing that part either ;)

As you have just seen, I will be making an effort to include more Harry/Edward now that I know your views. Thanks for reading, and thanks (as always) to my Beta LadyBlackMagic who beta'd this chapter. I think you should all go read her HP/Twi story too cuz its awesome :D

Love rias.