Sorry, for the delay.
Bella was sleeping soundly in their shared dream, contently snuggled to his body. It felt so natural and he regularly brushed the juncture between her neck and her shoulder, which elicited a heartfelt sigh from his beautiful mate. It was the exact point where the Veela in him had bitten her all those years ago. Although she had fallen asleep she had not yet woken up in the real world or their shared dream would have ended abruptly. Only he knew that by holding their connection he was strengthening their bond and thanks to one very old tome in the Malfoy library he had found out how he could do this. He looked around the unfamiliar, rather small place. Normally he had drawn her into his mind, yet this time he had teased her magically and let himself be drawn to her mind. Was this her room? It looked tiny compared to everything he was used to. It looked cosy, yet positively muggle. So, he was right. She was living in the Muggle world and when he concentrated he could make out rain in the distance. He squinted his eyes and saw some pictures and post cards pinned to the wall, but he could not see anything telling him about her whereabouts. No, wait. There was a bird raising from the middle of a circle. It looked like a flag. But as he was just lying connected with Bella on her purple bedlinen he couldn't get up without waking her and she was quite exhausted after their steamy session earlier. But he needed to find out where she was. He needed to get up to find a clue.
'Accio.' He summoned it to look at it. Why hadn't he thought about that earlier? 'Phoenix, Valley of the sun' it read. His heartbeat accelerated, and he eagerly turned it over and frowned. It seemed that when she had said that she wouldn't reveal her whereabouts she had meant it. Her mind was blocking the information of the address. He could only see parts of the text, which was apparently written by Bella's mother sending her greetings from Phoenix from her and a guy called Phil, but there was not much else. It sounded as if she lived permanently in that town, but why didn't Bella stay with her? Had the Swans separated to throw any potential pursuers off their trail? He cursed. Bella's mind was protecting the rest of the information, but at least he had one hint where he could start.
She was in danger and he could feel it. And his father had opened marriage negotiations with the Parkinson family against his will. This felt as if he was running out of time.
He wanted Bella and nobody else. The thought of being forced to procreate with somebody else made him and the Veela in him nauseous. But would he be able to control himself once he was in the same room as Bella. He couldn't just jump her and there was her boyfriend to consider that she seemed unable to split up with. The Cold One. The information he had detected about them had worried him even more. They had incited the witch frenzy all over Europe. He just wanted to find her and bring her to safety, hidden away from any danger, although he knew that if she was the same Bella than he knew as a young child, then she would not allow that.
Charlie trudged up the stairs with more tea for Renée who was lying next to their slumbering daughter, brushing her cheek and telling her to wake up. But they both knew that she would only wake up when Draco would let her go from his controlling dream or when she decided to wake up. That he had been able to lure her away from school was worrisome and spoke about his growing influence on her. It had caused him quite some unrest when the Cullens had called him at work telling him that Bella was missing. Renée had been back at Wales, when he had informed her what had happened and now his mother-in-law had changed her search and was now looking for something to protect her from the Malfoy heir, before something more severely could happen to her. Her normally invisible Veela bite mark was now shining on the juncture where her neck met her shoulder.
"Still no change?" he asked his ex-wife who shook her head.
"She is not moaning any longer, just sleeping, but she does not wake up. She might have exhausted herself apparating back into the house and the slipping of magic in sleep." Renée answered accepting the tea.
"Didn't you have plans to see some football game at the Blacks?" she asked him, and he nodded. "Yeah, but Bella's more important than some game. Remember when we thought about which position in Quidditch she would be best at?"
"Yes, I remember that you wanted her to become a chaser whereas I was convinced that she would be a seeker." Renée smiled remembering simpler times while brushing her daughter's darkened hair. She paused.
"Her physical changes, did you notice them?" she asked Charlie who nodded solemnly.
"Yeah, she grows into your family's trademark features. But has it ever been as pronounced like that?" he asked her, and she shook her hair.
"Not that I know off. But it might be a side-effect. Morgana was known to be the most resilient of my ancestors and Bella is currently fighting against multiple aggressors. Her body probably tries to prepare her."
"Or Draco is turning her towards the dark side." Charlie sighed anxiously.
"Morgana wasn't evil." Renée hissed. "She was misguided, but certainly not evil. Bella never had a mean or dark streak, so chuck that theory out of the window."
"Alright." Charlie conceded raising his hands defensively. An angry Renée was not something to be trifled with.
"Why won't he wake up?" Narcissa's voice shivered next to her regal husband, who seemed to be unable to make up his mind about their son. He partially looked worried and partially smug.
"He's connected with Bella and probably tries to find out about her whereabouts." He explained, but Narcissa wasn't pacified as she was sitting on her son's bed, who snored almost silently with a wide grin plastered onto his angelic face.
"You shouldn't have opened marriage negotiations with the Parkinsons. You drove him to this recklessness." She accused him.
"We need an heir for the line and let's face it. If the Swans don't want Bella to be found, then we won't find her."
"He will. She is the only thing he can think about, talks about and apparently dreams about. Look at his desk. He even draws her! Do you really think that he would touch any other women than Bella? And besides. He hates Pansy." Narcissa defended herself and jumped when her sleeping son started to move again. Stretched contently and slowly opened his eyes.
He yawned and stretched contently and jumped a bit when he realized that his parents were in the same room, while he had a hard on throbbing under his blanket.
"Ever heard about knocking?" he mumbled frowning. "Why are you in my room?"
Narcissa chortled. "You were asleep for over two days! Nobody was able to wake you. We were worried!"
"Oh" He murmured astonished. "Didn't feel that long. And it was worth it. I know now that Renée lives in Phoenix. Finding Bella shouldn't be that hard now. So, now you can stop your stupid negotiations with the Parkinsons." Draco told them gleefully, but Lucius shook his head.
"I'll only stop with the negotiations once you've found Bella and you have completed the bonding process. And I mean the entire process."
"So, Charlie is not coming today?" Sam asked Billy as he put the prepared burgers on the overladen table next to the large bowls of popcorn and beer. "He'll be sorry missing the game."
"No, I don't think that he could even concentrate on the game when Bella's apparently sick." He told them, and Jakob jumped up from his seat. It was the first he had heard of it since their fallout.
"Has the leech bitten her?" He was shaking slightly in anger and Sam shook his head. "No, she wasn't bitten. Embry and Paul had her house on their tour. From what they could overhear she had bailed on the Cullen's and somehow managed to get home. Renée is in the house as well and apparently her grandmother is on the way." Jacob calmed slightly but still wasn't happy.
"And the bike is still hidden behind their house. So maybe she used this to get back from school?" he suggested, and Jacob shook his head. "Nah, Charlie would go ballistic if he knew that we still have them."
"B.T.W. Morgana was some sort of evil sorceress, right?" Embry cut it. "I mean in the movie Merlin, she was."
"If you are referring to Morgan Le Fay, then there are several literary sources about her, but she is a myth. If I remember correctly, then she was the half-sister of King Arthur and yes, some kind of powerful witch or fairy. Why do you want to know?" Emily told him, her bookishness paying off.
"Am, well this sounds crazy, but I think that Bella's mum said something about Morgana being her 'most resilient ancestor'. The window was closed so everything sounded a bit distorted."
The entire pack was silent until Emily took the initiative again. "Morgan Le Fey is a Celtic Myth. So, if she had offspring, then there would be quite a few generations of people and statistically a lot of people around the world could be descended from her, even without knowing about it. So, maybe Bella is related to some apparent evil witch, but we need to consider the possibility that the myths itself are inaccurate. Many Legends were rewritten by the overlaying culture turning powerful or wise women into evil witches because women were supposed to be meek and subservient to men. I mean the Celtic Culture in their earliest forms was known to have matrilineal tendencies. Maybe Bella is coming into her inheritance. She told you that she was having déja-vus, right?" Jacob and Billy nodded.
"Well, there are stories about Morgan Le Fay being a seer. What if Bella inherited the powers from her parents?"
"Sounds legit. She must have some powers." Jacob mused. "When we had our little disagreement, she pushed me away from her without touching me. Telekinesis, perhaps?"
"That means she isn't that weird after all. Maybe that's why she's so attracted to the leech?" Leah mused.
"Perhaps." Billy nodded.
Their musing was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the phone, which Seth answered standing closest to it. His jaw dropped at the information coming from the person at the other hand. His face lit up and beamed at his sister.
"He's woken up! Dad' woken up!" he happily cheered with everyone else in the room.
Bella was heartily digging in her breakfast her father had brought up to her bed. She had no idea that she had spent sleeping for over two days. Two days! It hadn't felt that long, but she was feeling well rested and extremely hungry. Renée had told her that Edward had called several times 'fishing' for information and telling them about homework, which mostly consisted of revisions of learned context for their standardized graduation exams. Bella had sent the Cullens a text message telling them that she was on the mend and that she was thankful for their concern. Her mother had gifted her with a very beautiful silver armbrace with runic inscriptions and one amber crystal imbedded in the metal and which would help her control her powers.
Renée was now quizzing her about her knowledge in Latin as she was informed that this was the most common use of modern day spells, but each culture had apparently different spells which were often forgotten nowadays. She had found out that her parents were literal walking encyclopaedias on ancient languages. Something that had to do with their upbringing, apparently. When she had asked if they had written evidence of the old, now mostly extinct languages, it had been her who had barely been able to contain herself. What would philologists give for texts like that to prove the language development in the world. And she had access to it due to her family.
Studying linguistics was now something that she wanted to consider for her future career. But the Cullen's would probably not like that and only Carlisle was the only one who had lived long enough to see the development from Early Modern English to present-day English first hand. Had he also seen the language development of Italian? She definitely had to ask him about that. Bella never had Latin in school as it had not been part of her curriculum, but she remembered having learned it from an early age. It had been her first foreign extinct language, at that time she had never understood why she had been forced to learn it, but now she understood. She hadn't continued practicing Latin in Forks, and it had showed for a few minutes after Renée had started her quizzing her. But now she seemed to get her touch back. Maybe she wasn't as stupid as she believed herself to be.
"Well, that does sound good already." came an older voice from her room door and Bella squealed in delight at seeing her grandmother. She scrambled to her feet and hugged her tightly while the elder woman chuckled and return the embrace.
"But Latin is only the beginning, dear." She told her when they broke their embrace again. "Most of the people in the Wizarding World use Latin phrased spells as they have forgotten their own traditions, but we need you to get you up to speed with the old language." She touched Bella's chin appraisingly. "After your graduation of course."
"Don't remind me of that." Bella groaned. "I'm gonna fail anyway."
"Nonsense, dear." Her grandmother said. "You'll do great and afterwards I recommend taking a gap year to catch up on your magical schooling."
Her parents standing in the door frame nodded eagerly and Bella saw the most curious thing. They weren't standing there awkwardly. Her Dad had his right hand around her mother's shoulders while she was leaning into him as if it was the most natural thing. Did her mother have marriage problems with Phil that she had overlooked? Her grandmother also followed her gaze and smirked knowingly.
At the idea of a gap year Bella became uncomfortable again. How should she explain it to the Cullens? She could not risk their lives with breaking her promise. Would she be able to take Edward with her?
"Well, with your wearing of Morgause's bracelet your magical slips should be a thing of the past." Her regal grandmother told her. "And after graduation we will start your training for good"
"But why not now?" Bella enquired. Victoria was still a looming danger and she needed to be prepared.
Her granny smiled happily at her. "Because I know how eager you are to learn, Bella. Especially when it comes to magic and I do want you to get good scores in your finals. But…" She teasingly put her index finger on her chin as if she was thinking hard. "this might be a good start and not too heavy for the beginning. She pulled a book from behind her back and Bella wondered where she had hidden that before.
She gladly took it and smiled. "Fantastic beasts and where to find them by Newt Scamander." The title sounded familiar, but she could not remember why.
"Oh, Merlin! That was your favourite book before going to sleep." Her father told her, and Renée nodded groaning in remembrance.
"No, one more, one more, you begged." She mimicked. "So, it should be familiar to you."
"Good thing she can read this on her own, this time." Charlie remarked.
Later in the kitchen
"Did you find something that can block the Veela bond?" Renée asked her mother who nodded.
"Yes, but you would need to give me a strand of your hair and Charlie needs to do the same. We can bind those two strands together with magic and create a magical block, so that she can wear it as a bracelet and it will weaken the influence of the Veela on her, but we should do this after her graduation." The elder lady explained.
"No, we have to do this as soon as possible." Renée protested, but Charlie was already contemplating why. "Will she show signs of withdrawal? His voice became slightly shaky.
"The book wasn't clear, but it depends on the level of the established contact between the Veela and his mate. And after the last incident, I'd say chances of her going through withdrawal are high and I want her to get superior results for her graduation." She told them. Charlie snorted at that and was hit by Renée again. "Ouch!"
"But Draco could try something when she writes her exams." Renée threw in, but her mother's grin widened, and she smirked dangerously, which had Charlie taking a step back.
"No, Draco won't be able to distract her, when he is on a wild goose chase during her exams. I "leaked" some possible whereabouts of Bella to the Auror he uses to find her, and they will have to search several large cities on the planet as the places where Bella supposedly will show up are time sensitive."
"But he knows that she is somewhere in America. He deduced it from her accent." Charlie argued.
"Don't worry." Bella's Grandmother snickered. "He still needs a wand permit and magical visa to enter and thanks to my contacts in the ministry and within MACUSA, he won't get that easily. Let's say that Asterix's "Permit A 38" comes to mind."
All three adults chuckled darkly at the idea that the Malfoys would be trapped inside the ministry for several days.
"And there are other reasons, why MACUS might block their visa process for some time. So, we have time."
Bella pulled in the parking lot at school, her mind reeling. How should she explain the Cullen's that she would be gone for a year training with her granny? How should she get rid of Victoria's threat? She couldn't leave Forks unprotected. What about Draco? She knew that although she kept dreaming of him, he seemed to be real and with her being able to do magic. She had to find out if he was real. What would she do if he was real? Her heart jumped in elevation at that thought.
A soft knock on her door brought her out of her reverie and she saw her boyfriend standing there with a worried look on his face. God, she was glad, that he couldn't read her mind. That would have been embarrassing to explain.
She got out of the car and greeted him with a kiss to wipe his worried look off it. He responded with a slight chuckle, but Bella mentally sighed. It wasn't fait to compare him to Draco but kissing her vampire boyfriend didn't feel as right and exhilarating as it used to feel. Instead, the hair on her neck literally straightened and warned her of immediate danger.
"Well, somebody, must really have missed me." He chuckled when they broke apart.
"I'm not going to indulge your vanity, Edward." She teased playfully trying to lighten her mood, but Edward froze and opened her car door, sniffing intently.
"Someone's been there," he murmured in Bella's ear . His voice was strained. "And your little bag of extra clothing is missing."
"I swear that no werewolves —" Bella started to say with accelerated heartbeat, but he interrupted her. " She had always kept a small bag of additional clothing in her car, mainly to have an excuse for being prepared for sleepovers.
"Not one of them," he interrupted me quickly, shaking his head. "One of us."
His tone made it clear that he didn't mean a member of his family and Bella felt the blood drain from her face. If they had been in the car then it would have been easy to get into their house if her family hadn't warded it.
"Victoria?" Bella choked feeling the urge to wanting to magic faster than ever.
"It's not a scent I recognize." Edward answered her solemnly, pulling out his phone calling one of his family members.
"One of the Volturi," Bella guessed and contemplated that she needed to call her family too to warn them.
A minute later Edward told her that Emmet and Jasper would sweep the woods and get back at them.