Chapter 10: The Absolutely Not's of Mrs Weasley

"No. Absolutely not!" Mrs Weasley shouted furiously. Harry looked down at his hands and exhaled heavily. He knew it wasn't going to be easy telling Ginny he was staying here.

It was stupid of him not to consider Mrs Weasley's reaction. Thinking about it he should've told Ginny in private, not with Mrs Weasley sitting at her bedside listening intently to his every word. Of course when he said he'd be staying on with Hermione and Luna, Ginny had said she would be too. That was before Mrs Weasley jumped to her feet with her hands on her hips, steaming at the ears.

"I forbid it! It is not happening, do you hear me? I let Hermione and Luna come here before I found out about the vampires! I've got half a mind to haul them back home, I still might - but I am NOT letting the two of you -" She spat jabbing her finger at the two of them, "- stay here just because it tickles your fancy," she finished, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"I'm not leaving!" Ginny growled, her fingers curling into fists.

"You'll do as you're told! You're not staying here indefinitely with a bunch of vampires," Mrs Weasley hissed under her breath. Harry's head shot up, ready to leap to the Cullen's defence when Mrs Weasley shot him a burning look.

"Who have done nothing but HELP me! I am STAYING HERE!" Ginny shouted, her fingers twitching so violently Harry had to straighten them out.

"NO! You are not! You're barely of age! You are coming home to recover once your Muggle stitches are out and that's the end of it!" Mrs Weasley roared, sitting down with a plop.

Ginny shot her mother a withering look. "I'm staying with Harry," she hissed at her mother, her wildly twitching fingers now shaking under Harry's hands. Mrs Weasley's face was now blotched and red – both witches looked ready to combust.

"THAT'S JUST LOVELY! YOU CAN BLOODY WELL STAY WITH HARRY BECAUSE HARRY ISN'T STAYING HERE!" Mrs Weasley screamed, slapping the bed for emphasis.

"I'm staying here," Harry said quietly, looking levelly at Mrs Weasley whose eyes sizzled with fury.

"No you're not Harry. You're coming home and Ginny's going to get better and we are going to fix this thing with Ron," Mrs Weasley said through clenched teeth and although her voice matched his in volume it shook with unbridled fury.

"I'm not going back," Harry repeated calmly. Mrs Weasley closed her eyes and took three deep breaths.

"YES YOU ARE!" she screeched, her eyes flying wide open. Harry sighed and looked back at her with hard, resolved eyes.

"No I'm not. I appreciate everything you've done for me Mrs Weasley – for all of us, I really do but I'm not going back." He said gently, though his eyes remained firm. Mrs Weasley pursed her lips, looking from Harry to Ginny and back again before leaping to her feet and storming out of the room.

"You're too young to know what you want – what you need. Arthur will make you see sense!" she fumed, marching down the corridor and out of earshot.

Ginny leaned further into her pillows and closed her eyes. Her fingers had stopped twitching, and Harry lay them down on her tummy before she spoke. "Good one Harry."

"Not one of my best ideas," he answered softly, his own eyes closing for a moment.

"You're telling me."

Harry smirked but kept his eyes closed a moment more, his face dropping into his hands. The Weasley's were his family too and he knew Mrs Weasley meant well but he wasn't going back to The Burrow – to Ron – no matter how furious Mrs Weasley became. He missed, Ron, yes but he no longer saw him in the same way he once did.

"Dad will make her see sense. She'll calm down," Ginny reassured, her hand coming up to flatten his unruly hair.

Harry scoffed and pulled his face out of his hands to look over at Ginny. "And what about when you tell her about your magic? It's bad enough you can't walk yet Ginny – how do you think she'll react – how all of them will react when you tell them you can't perform a single bloody spell? How calm do you think she'll be when you tell her you've got no control over your magic? Just like you've got no control over your body," Harry asked gently, his fingers coming up to grip her hand and move it back down to the bed. Ginny sighed heavily and pulled herself up on her pillows with difficulty.

"I'm not going to tell them yet. Don't you dare look at me like that Harry Potter – I remember the things that you've kept from Mum and Dad and all the Professors!" Ginny growled at him, her eyes hard.

"I'm going to have to tell Hermione and Luna, Ginny," Harry said firmly, his hand squeezing hers. Ginny rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm surprised you lasted two days before you told them. You're like a woman the way you gossip," she teased, a smile playing at the edges of her mouth.

"I've learnt a thing or two from you." Harry replied, ducking as she aimed a fist at his head. Of course she missed and her fist punched Harry square in the nose.

Harry wiped his smarting eyes and chose to ignore Ginny's chortling laughter. Harry's eyes hardened with resolve upon hearing her laugh. He would tell Hermione tonight – Ginny's physical control would get better with time but her magic was unpredictable. He needed Hermione's help. He knew there was an American Ministry of Magic and that there was a Magical community in Seattle – he just didn't know where or how to get there - Hermione would. They'd go in the weekend – the sooner Ginny got some help the better he decided.

Edward and Hermione sat on the bench of her mother's glossy black piano in the upstairs living area. Well, it was a very large landing for the stairs that functioned as a cosy living area. Strong warmth radiated from a heater above them and Hermione was glad of the heat. The cold outside would be unbearable even without Edward's icy form sitting so close to her on the bench. It was past 6:00 and already dark outside. Edward had been teaching Hermione for quite a while now and she was beginning to get frustrated.

"Slower," Edward instructed and Hermione's fingers fumbled to adjust to a slower pace. The simple melody was proving more difficult than it sounded. Her right hand hit a flat when her pace changed and she gritted her teeth in frustration.

"This is ridiculous!" she growled, moving her hand back to the notes at the beginning of the melody. She started off fine until the pace got the better of her and then the notes became too elongated or sharp. The result was a mutated and ghastly version of the original melody. It was only her first lesson with Edward but she had expected herself to do much better than this.

When the melody she was playing came to an end she finally let out a groan of frustration and snapped her hand back; it sounded nothing like it was supposed to. "Why is it so difficult?" She asked desperately.

Edward grinned crookedly. "You've started me with an advanced piece," she declared. Edward openly laughed at her then, the deep rich sound making the bench vibrate. This only irritated Hermione more. It was bad enough she found the piano more difficult than she could've imagined but the sound of his unnaturally perfect laugh riled her. She still couldn't get used to how perfect everything about him was. It just didn't sit right with her.

She reached out for the music book to look for something a bit easier to start off with.

"It's Mary Had A Little Lamb. There is nothing easier than that," Edward chortled, whipping his hand out to swipe the music book from her hands.

"There must be! Why can't I play it right? We've learned to read music, I've memorised the name of every piano key and you've taught me all the scales! I know the notes by heart!" She stressed, completely and utterly frazzled.

Edward placed his hands above the ivory keys. "Music isn't something you memorize like maths equations or particle formulas. It's something you feel," he said softly. The tips of his fingers were now gliding over the keys in a perfect and much embellished rendition of the song. "You have to feel it, Hermione, for it to flow," he murmured. The music had morphed into something much more beautiful than Mary Had A Little Lamb, yet just as simple.

"What is that?" She asked curiously. The melody was elegant and determined but there was something secretive in the way it dipped into darker and unresolved places.

"I'm not sure yet. A simpler version of something that came to me when we took Bella to the ER the other week..." Edward replied distantly.

"It's beautiful," she said smiling from far away. Her mother was the only one could play as beautifully as this.

"I'm glad you approve of something I do," Edward laughed, nudging her shoulder gently. Hermione's stare was questioning and Edward's eyes rolled. "I see the way you look at me, Hermione Granger."

Hermione's cheeks flushed. She didn't realize how obviously she had dismissed his good looks or his aptitude at school or even his effortless style and sinfully expensive attire.

"I don't mind that you're perfect at this one little thing," she said in a small voice, ignoring the exultant grin on Edward's face. The music was indisputably beautiful and it was the one thing about him she was impressed by – but only this. His perfection in other areas wasn't so endearing. Perhaps because this was the one thing that wasn't made beautiful by his vampirism.

"It sounds like you a bit, doesn't it?" Luna asked Hermione from her perch at the top of the stairs. The music came to an abrupt stop. Edward's eyebrows were furrowed and his long fingers hovered above the keys. Hermione shivered at the sudden quiet in the room.

Emmett snorted from his place on one of the squishy, black armchairs nearest the window. "With the way she butchered Mary Had A Little Lamb a couple bangs on the keys would sound more like her," He cackled. Hermione glowered at the piano keys, resolutely ignoring him. When they'd dropped in to visit Ginny after school Emmett was there and had invited himself back to their house when Mrs Weasley kicked them all out.

"Did you get my good side?" Emmett asked Luna, who shuffled over to show him the sketch she'd done of him.

"You have no good sides," Hermione muttered. Edward and Emmett's laughter filled the room just as beautifully as the piano had before.

"Oh, I'd like to paint your bad sides!" Luna replied brightly. "It would be lovely to see you look horrible."

"Excellent. I'll cook dinner for you ladies and you can paint me at it. Then we'll talk more about SPEW. I've been re-working Hermione's mission statement. Oh, and good luck trying to get me looking horrible; I leave that to the rest of you," Emmett declared getting to his feet.

"Oh, do you know how to cook? I'm dreadful at it," Luna asked as they descended the stairs.

"I know how to do everything," Emmett replied in a sultry voice. "Just ask Rose," he added from downstairs.

Hermione was a bit hesitant placing her fingers in the right position. It didn't matter that if by some miracle she managed to get the tune right it would still sound like garbage after Edward's piece.

"I'll count you in. Just feel the rhythm and stay with it," Edward said quietly. The steady rhythm of Edward's hand tapping against the wood kept her in time and while it was a slow pace when she moved her fingers it actually sounded like the song. She never knew such relief when her fingers lifted off a perfectly played Mary Had A Little Lamb.

"Perfect," Edward grinned. She met his amber eyes and smiled back in pure elation. It was strange but she never noticed how close they were sitting before. The sound of clapping drifted up the stairs.

"Can applause sound sarcastic?" She asked sourly.

"From Emmett? Absolutely."

"I don't know how you handle living with him," Hermione said knowing full well that Emmett could hear everything but could say nothing. It was a small and petty victory.

"He has you to torture now so I'm handling it pretty well. Plus he's finished school," he replied with twinkling eyes. "Why don't you sit with us during lunch?"

"I don't want to sit with people who don't want me there," she replied coolly. What was the point? She wasn't an idiot she knew Jessica, Lauren and all the rest of them thought she was a know-it-all loser. Just like the Slytherins had back at Hogwarts and just like at Hogwarts she didn't give a damn.

"Why would I ask you every day since the beginning of the week if I didn't want you there?" Edward asked still confused.

"You're not the only one that sits at that table," Hermione argued.

"Bella's friends will get over it," Edward said briskly. They both knew that was a lie.

"Well I don't want their company," she finished.

"Alice thinks I should just drag you over to our table."

"You can try," Hermione taunted, lifting her chin and meeting his gaze in challenge. Edward smirked at her and his eyes bored into hers refusing to back down.

"We wouldn't want to make a scene now would we?" He asked indulgently. There was a twinkle in his eyes and after a nearly a minute of silent staring hers were starting to water. Cursing the vampire for his inhuman strength she blinked and huffed at the arrogant look on his face.

"Are you going to teach me anything more today or just sit there looking pleased with yourself?" Hermione asked with a clipped voice. He smirked and checked his watch, letting rip a low curse.

"I didn't notice the time. No more for today, sorry. I'm late to go see Bella."

"You have an appointment?" She asked incredulously.

He chuckled and closed the music book. "No. She's grounded. It's the only time I get to see her outside of school." Hermione's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Isabella didn't seem the disobedient type, but then Hermione didn't know what type the girl was. She didn't seem very forthcoming with anyone outside of the Cullen family, not even with her own friends.

"She was grounded as the result of a friend's bad influence," Edward defended, seeing Hermione's shock.

"Some friend," she snorted, reaching up to grab the pens scattered along the piano-top.

"You've no idea," Edward said lowly, a hard expression passing over his face. Hermione knew that look, she'd seen it on Ron's face all too often the last few months.

"Young love," she replied, offering him a reassuring smile. Jealousy was an ugly thing. She'd felt it often enough in their sixth year when she was so besotted with Ron.

"You speak from experience...?" He inquired with a raised brow.

Well, she'd walked right into that. Lifting her chin she busied herself with packing away their materials. "That's none of your business," she said briskly.

"A yes then," he said quietly. "Are you still together?" When Hermione still didn't answer him she felt rather than saw his smile. "That would be a no," he answered for her.

"No, Ron and I aren't together anymore," She huffed.

Hermione didn't know why she was irritated at Edward. It wasn't like she had any lingering feelings for Ron. Hermione knew nothing would ever happen between them romantically, despite Ron's unwelcomed attempts to try again. Ron was a sensitive subject not because of their failed romance but because she hated to think about what he'd done to Ginny. Granted, Ginny smashing into the clock wasn't exactly intentional, but Ron had still drawn his wand on his sister. Hermione couldn't move past that. He had actually thrown a hex at Ginny with enough force to cause damage even if all she'd hit was an empty wall. How could he do that to his own sister? She knew Ron was many things but she didn't think he would be capable of that.

"I apologize if I've stepped over the line. I should have realized what a sensitive subject it was..." Edward's voice said drawing her back to the present.

"It's fine really. We aren't an item anymore, you were right I spoke from... experience," she apologized.

"All bad from the look on your face," Edward commented.

Hermione smiled ruefully at him. "'If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience,'" She said shrugging her shoulders. Edward's eyes widened in surprise.

"That's a very... mature way to look at things," he remarked, watching her closely.

"Expecting something more like 'See how I leave with every piece of you?"

"You've gone from quoting Victoria Holt to Adele?" Edward scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "You are completely unexpected Hermione Granger."

"Because I know 'when to held em and when to fold em'?"

Edward shook his head and shot her a pitying look. She should have quit at the first quote. "You've mentioned Ron a few times before, when I offered to teach you piano. He's from back in your school days. It sounds like you two were pretty close – I am capable of observing a thing or two," he remarked. "I saw the look on your face when you talked about him. It hurt you to mention him, and now I find out you were in a relationship. It seems that's not the reason why it pains you to talk about him though. People – people of this day and age especially aren't inclined to think that way, generally speaking. Especially people as young as you," Edward explained. His amber eyes were observing her with interest.

How old is he exactly? Hermione wondered curiously. Old enough to appreciate emotional maturity, yet somehow not old enough to know better than to romantically involve himself with a human. Hermione's mind came back to the conversation in an instant when she realized he was still waiting for an answer.

"I got over it. There's more to life," she reasoned and then because she couldn't help herself: "I didn't want to 'write a bad romance.'" George was rather fond of the more ostentatious Muggle women.

"Please stop," Edward managed through shaking laughter.

"George's bad influence. He's got a thing for that Gaga woman," a deep voice sounded from the top of the stairs.

"Harry! I didn't hear you come in!" Hermione exclaimed, whipping around so fast she slid from the bench. Ignoring Edward's now chortling laughter she rose to her feet. "Is Ginny ok? I was going to bring some dinner in for the two of you and Penny. I thought tonight was your night to stay at the hospital? Or is it mine? I can go stay with her if you want some rest here," she rushed.

"She's already out like a light. Bill's with her tonight. Mrs Weasley had to... go home for a bit. I didn't realize you guys would still be at it," Harry gestured towards the piano.

"Lost track of time," Edward smiled, packing everything into his backpack.

"I actually wanted a word but it can wait a bit if you're busy," Harry said, his eyes wondering over to Edward who was now getting to his feet.

"By all means, we were just finishing up. Same time tomorrow?" Edward asked Hermione.

"Oh, only if Emmett can fit it in his schedule."

"I'm sure he'll make time," Edward smiled before departing down the stairs.

"Is Mrs Weasley okay Harry? She had to leave all of a sudden. I thought she was staying through the weekend...?" Hermione asked with just a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Yeah, we got in to a bit of a row..." Harry explained as Hermione nodded in understanding.

"You told them you were staying here then?" she asked, knowing full well Mrs Weasley wouldn't have approved.

"Yeah, she didn't take it too well. She wants Ginny back home as soon as it's physically possible," Harry said tightly.

"I knew she would, she's not comfortable with having Ginny treated by Dr Cullen or at this... type of hospital," Hermione supplied, trying desperately not to give too much away; Emmett was still downstairs grumbling about leaving so soon.

"About that, I have to talk to you about Ginny and her accident – " Harry began before Hermione cut him off immediately when she heard what he wanted to talk about. She shook her head and placed her fingers to her lips.

"I haven't even gotten my SPEW badge yet! Hermione said she'd sew it for me tonight. Luna's got a hat too - I was going to butter Hermione up and get her to make me one of them," Emmett whined while he pulled on his boots. Harry chuckled quietly while Hermione groaned inwardly. She didn't know if she still had her knitting needles.

"I've seen that hat. There's no way in hell Alice, let alone Rosalie would let you wear one of those," they heard Edward laugh from the entryway.

"I'm a man, Eddie boy. If I want to wear an Emu hat then I will wear an Emu hat. SEE YOU TOMORROW, HERMIONE!" Emmett boomed before walking out the front door.

They waited for the soft crunch of tyres on gravel. Satisfied Hermione smiled at Harry.

"Constant vigilance, Harry," Hermione said rolling her eyes as comprehension dawned.

"I'm such an idiot! It's bloody lucky you're here Hermione. I forget their vampires you know? They're just so..." Harry began, struggling for words.

"Human?" she supplied. He simply nodded. Hermione followed him downstairs where they were immediately assaulted with the sound of sizzling and the mouth-watering smell of fried chicken. Hermione walked through the sitting room flicking her wand at the portrait above the fireplace whose occupants appeared back in place. They found Luna fanning the pan of cooking meat with paint smudged across the tip of her nose.

Harry took the pan from Luna and announced in a determined voice: "Alright, about Ginny, I think we might have to go to Seattle."

A/N: Thank you kindly to Macalaure for being the Beta for this. Shameless plug: He's quite the polished writer, do check his stories out.

I feel a little justification is in order. The "big reveal" hasn't happened yet because I wanted the Cullens to build relationships with Harry and Co. before it was revealed that they were Witches/Wizards; just so that the Cullen's will appreciate Harry/Hermione's character despite their magic. It's coming up in the next chapter though.

We've passed 200 followers - go team!

New found respect for everyone who read this story prior to 15/03/13. The formatting was atrocious. It's all been fixed up and I don't know how you made it past Chapter 2. Thank you so much for sticking with it.

You really are an awesome bunch.