Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter 10

Jasper watched as Harry, Bella and Jacob lounged on the floor playing video games. It was amazing but he was actually getting used to the stench of wet dog. Harry had originally shielded them both from each other's scent but he had been gradually lessening it for several months now to let them adapt to the smell. Without Victoria around life had settled down and the most exciting thing that was coming up was end of year exams. Soon the three of them would be graduating and then what? Bella wanted to attend college but that would mean leaving Jake unless she waited a year. He didn't really care what he did; he had done college several times already. Harry seemed to be doing school for a similar reason to him, because it was expected. So would they follow Bella to college or would they do something else? And what would happen when Edward got his head out of his ass and came looking for Bella?

"Penny for them?" Harry asked and Jasper looked at him, finding that the game had finished.

"Just thinking about the future." He admitted as Harry collapsed on the couch beside him.

"Well I have no plans past graduation. Figured it will depend on Bella and Jake, that is if we're all staying together?"

Jasper didn't need to be an empath to detect the nervousness of the question. "Jake will never leave Bella and we promised to stick around too." He pointed out and felt Harry relax a bit.

Harry fiddled with his shirt as he looked in the mirror. Today was it, graduation day. He had never thought he would be graduating from muggle high school but now here he was. A small part of him wondered what graduating from Hogwarts would have been like but he shrugged it off. That was his past, this was his life now. He gave up on fixing his hair and grabbed his jacket, heading downstairs. Jasper was picking him up in his car and they were meeting the Swan's at the school. A few minutes later Jasper pulled in and Harry locked the house behind him as he walked down the stairs. He got into the passenger seat and grinned at Jasper who smiled back. "So this is graduation number what for you?"

Jasper laughed. "Not too many, after all we didn't join the Cullen's till the fifties."

"After I started at Hogwarts I never thought I'd be graduating from a non-magical school. It feels kind of strange."

"Be prepared for crying parents and corny speeches."

"Joy." He grumbled and Jasper laughed even as he pulled into the school's parking lot. Charlie's cruiser was easy to spot so they made their way over to join the Swan's and Jacob. Harry grinned at the sight of Bella actually wearing a dress for once and she mock glared at him.

"All right you three, you better get inside. We'll see you after the ceremony."

"Have fun." Jake grinned and kissed Bella's cheek, making her blush slightly. The three quickly made their way inside to don their gowns and get sorted into line alphabetically. As a Potter, Harry was the last of the three to walk across the stage and collect his diploma smiling as Charlie and Jake cheered. Once everything was done they left and headed back to Charlie's to have a quiet night of pizza and movies. With Harry and Jasper offering to fund it they could have afforded to go anywhere for dinner but none of them really enjoyed fancy restaurants and meals. Charlie eventually went to bed but they stayed up for most of the night just chatting until first Bella and then Jake fell asleep.

Harry stretched out on the floor with a pillow under his head and a blanket over him and Jasper lay beside him, the TV on quietly as they talked. Jasper was surprised and sort of pleased when Harry finally fell asleep, his head resting on Jasper's arm. That one act made him feel more accepted than he had in decades. Yes he had been a Cullen but he had always felt a certain amount of wariness from all of them except Alice. Even his 'twin' had held a healthy respect for his abilities. His scars stood out as a clear warning to all those of his kind and yet despite being able to see them Harry felt no fear. Even Jake had lost the natural wariness his kind held for vampires and Bella had never been scared of him. It was….humbling to be so trusted. But with Harry there was something more and it scared him. He had loved Alice; she was the only one he had ever truly loved. What he had with Maria hadn't been love even though he had thought so at the time. He had believed he and Alice were Mates but if that was the case then why was he healing from her death? Shouldn't he be like Marcus, mourning for centuries? And yet as he looked at the head of dark hair resting on his arm he felt a surge of warmth for the young wizard. He'd never been interested in other men before so why now? Even though it had never been spoken of he knew that many of the soldiers during the Civil War had sought 'comfort' from each other and even during the Southern Wars he had seen it happen. He had just never felt the urge to do so himself. But now that was changing and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

Carlisle hung the phone up and frowned, unsure what to do now. When Edward learnt he had rung Forks hospital to catch-up with the other doctors he was not going to be happy, especially when he learnt that Jasper was apparently back and close to Bella. There were days he wished they had never gone back to Forks, then his family would still be whole and happy. Alice had left a hole that could never be filled and it was not just because she could see the future, she had been so happy and full of life and now she was gone. He doubted very much if Jasper would return without her. Rosalie and Emmett had gone off on one of their around the world honeymoon's and had given no clue as to when they would return. That just left Edward at home with them and he was still depressed. He had after all left his Mate behind and from the sound of it she was now dating, maybe, Jacob Black. But if that was the case were the really Mates? He leant back in his chair and closed his eyes, wishing he could sleep. What was he going to do?

TBC….