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Chapter 9: The Truth

"All right everyone, listen up!" Harry yelled over the noise of the very crowded Gryffindor common room. Everyone was exited; they wanted to know who would be on the team this year.

Whilst at dinner, Harry and I spread the word to everyone sitting at the Gryffindor table that we were going to announce who made our house Quidditch team.

And now, here we were, standing on two of the tables, trying to get everyone's attention. The only problem was that they kept to talking between each other, discussing who they think made the team. Now that they were talking between each other, they couldn't hear Harry, nor were they noticing that he was trying to get their attention.

I sighed and pulled out my wand. Pointing it at my neck, I non-verbally cast Sonorous. I took a deep breath. "QUIET!" I shouted with my magically magnified voice. The effect was instantaneous. Everyone clamped their hands over ears to try and block the loud bellow. I felt sorry for Harry and the Cullen's. Harry, because he was standing right next to me, so he got full brunt of the noise; he'd probably have his ears ringing for quite a while. I felt sorry for the Cullen's because of their enhanced hearing. I smirked at the annoyed glances I received from everyone in the common room. Non-verbally, I cast Quietus to counteract the spell.

"Well, now that we finally have everyone's attention," Harry began, throwing me an annoyed glare, "We will now announce who made the team." Harry told them.

Everyone watched on eagerly, waiting to hear the results.

"The Keeper this year will be..." I couldn't help but pause for dramatic effect. "Ron Weasley!" I announced. Many cheered and clapped while others patted Ron on the shoulder. I could see a few people consol the other boys that had tried out form the team, but didn't make it. "Now, after much discussion between Harry and me, we have decided that Miles Keller will be our substitute keeper, so if anything were to prevent Ron from playing, Miles will replace him." There was another round of applause for Miles who was obviously quite pleased for the attention.

"Alright!" Harry shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "Thank you. Right, onto the Chasers. As you all probably know, Bella will be Chaser again this year," Quite a few people cheered at that, which then caused me to blush. "So that means that there will be only two spaces open, but we have decided that someone will be a substitute Chaser. We've decided that Fiona Cattermol will be the substitute." I could tell that she was slightly disappointed, but still happy that she might get a chance to play. "Now, let's give a round of applause to the two Chasers of our house team, Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevey." Harry told them. Everyone seemed shocked. Not so much about Ginny, her being on the team was probably as obvious as me being on the team. No, they were shocked at Colin being made Chaser. After a second, everyone started cheering and clapping Colin on the back. "Ginny will also be a substitute Seeker, in case I can't play." Harry added.

"And finally, the Beaters." I continued. "After much thought, we have decided that Dean Thomas and Emily Tonks will hold those positions." I told them. Seamus, although upset that he didn't get to be a Chaser, still seemed happy for his best friend. Ginny cheered in happiness for her friend, although she did seem a little smug, as if she expected that Emily will be given the position.

"Professor McGonagall has given our team permission to have practise on Saturday afternoon, after lunch. So make sure you are at the Quidditch pitch at 1:00." Harry told the team.

"Okay that's it; you can go do your own thing now." I said, ending the little meeting. Harry and I jumped of the tables; however I had a much less graceful landing than Harry did. I landed on my bottom with a 'thump'.

"Ow." I moaned quietly, rubbing my sore rear end.

Harry pulled my up, thankfully ignoring the blush that was spreading over my cheeks.

I heard a loud booming laugh. "I have to admit Bella; I still can't see you playing Quidditch." Emmett told me.

"Didn't you watch me today at the tryouts? Ginny, Dean and I were the Chasers for those trying out for Keeper." I told him. I knew they were at the tryouts, I did see what happened today. Poor Derek Thorn was absolutely terrified when he heard that he was almost vampire chow.

Alice shook her head. "We only managed to get to the pitch just before you started trying out the Chasers. We had to go find Esme and Carlisle. It's actually quite hard to find someone in this gigantic castle, even with my seeing the future and Edward's mind reading."

I nodded my head in agreement. This place was like a maze.

We all then seem to split up doing different things. Ron challenged Harry to a game of Wizards Chess and Hermione decided to go do some homework. I agreed. Esme had set a four foot essay on Boomslang skin. It wasn't due in till Tuesday, but I wanted to get it over and done with.

Whilst Hermione and I were sat at the table I had stood on, I watched what everyone else was doing.

Ginny wasn't in the common room, so I guessed she was with Emily.

Edward, Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Rosalie were watching fascinated as Ron and Harry played wizard's chess. I could hear Emmett cheer loudly whenever one of the pieces destroyed its opponent. I smiled at their cheerfulness.

I finished my essay at the same time Ron made his last move. "Checkmate!"

I could hear Harry groan; mostly annoyed that Ron would be gloating over this win for a while. I could tell he really wanted someone to put Ron in his place.

That gave me an idea.

"Hey Ron!" I called after packing up my things.

"Yeah?" He asked cheerfully. He was in a good mood I could see.

"Why don't you play Jasper?" I asked. Alice looked blank for a moment then grinned at me.

"Why I think that would be an excellent idea Bella." Alice agreed. I smiled at her.

Ron shrugged. "Sure," then he smirked. "That's if you're up to the challenge."

Jasper's eyes narrowed while Emmett hooted with laughter. "Fine, I'll play you. Maybe when you loose you'll learn to be less big-headed."

Ron laughed cockily. "I haven't lost a game of wizard's chess since I was nine, and that was after Fred had hexed me."

"We'll see." Jasper said calmly.

I sat and watched while Ron and Jasper played. It was probably the most fascinating game I had seen played since that huge game of real wizard's chess we played in our first yeah when we were trying to get the Philosophers Stone. More than once did Jasper seemed to have the upper hand, and then Ron would come and take control again. The game was so interesting that many people had come round and watched, often cheering for whomever they wanted to win. I could tell that Jasper was slightly shocked when people started cheering for him, especially after what happened today. It seemed that most people were quick to get over it. I wasn't really that surprised. Many people throughout the school belief that Remus was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we have ever had; and he is a werewolf.

Finally, on waited breath, someone made the winning move.

"Checkmate." Jasper said smugly to a dumbfounded Ron. Half the people watching stared dumbstruck, while others clapped. Ron had never been beaten.

Harry clapped Jasper in the back. "Thank Merlin you're here." He told Jasper. "Ron may be my best friend, but I have been waiting years for Ron to be knocked of his pedestal."

Jasper smiled. "I have to admit that it was nice to finally have a real challenger at chess, especially with all the cheats in the family. I really enjoyed playing with you Ron; maybe we could play again sometime?" Jasper asked Ron.

Ron seemed to snap out of his daze then. "Sure." He answered eagerly.

"You know, I resent being called a cheat." Alice said grumpily, crossing her arms.

Jasper laughed, seemingly on a happy high from all of the feelings of acceptance around him. "Oh Alice love, you know I'm only joking."

Alice smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "I'll forgive you if you give me a kiss." She said coyly.

Jasper smirked. "Your wish, my command." He said before kissing her softly, sweetly.

That's when it happened. The walls, the ones I had built around my heart, came crashing down.

That memory was still fresh in my mind. My 'eighteenth' birthday when I had practically begged Edward to let me watch the 1960's version of Romeo and Juliet. I had made a comment about watching the Capulet's and the Montague's hack each other up, and Edward had answered, 'your wish, my command.' (A/N: New Moon: page 16 at the bottom.) It wasn't three days later when he left me alone in those damn woods.

The pain was unbearably worse as I watched Jasper kiss Alice. I tried; Merlin knew how hard I tried to get the walls around my heart back up. They just refused to be rebuilt. My hand clasped to my chest, trying to hold in the gaping hole in my chest, the one that I thought I had closed up when I returned to Hogwarts. Now I understood that the pain was just building up till the pressure became too much and the walls came crumbling down.

It wasn't five seconds later when Jasper's eyes flashed up to me alarmed. "Bella!" He said shocked.

When he said my name, all eyes turned to look at me.

I didn't mean to, but I looked into the pair of eyes that had caused me so much pain. Edward's eyes were wide as he looked at me. The pain doubled over, causing me to flinch.

I hadn't realised I was shaking till a warm hand was pressed onto my shoulder. I hadn't realised that tears were streaming down my face until the same warm hand brushed them away. I hadn't realised I was still staring at Edward till someone turned me around.

"Bella?" Harry's voice asked. I couldn't really tell by the face, my teary eyes made it almost impossible to see, but I recognised his green eyes. "Bella, what's wrong?" He asked almost in a whisper.

I didn't answer.

Instead, I turned and ran.

It was actually quite shocking that I had made it out of the Gryffindor common room without tripping, especially in the state I was in.

I was also surprised, yet pleased, that nobody had stopped me, but then again, it was unexpected for me to break down like that, they were probably too shocked to move.

If I wasn't too busy crying and running, I would have smashed my head into the wall. This was my second breakdown in one week. First, in the great hall on that very first day when I saw Esme, and now, crying over a comment Jasper said to Alice.

I was so pissed of with myself. It was understandable why I was crying that first day. I had just been reunited with the woman I considered my mother. But what was surprising was that even though it hurt to see Edward walk through the huge doors of the Great Hall, I didn't cry. Nor did I cry when telling Dumbledore and my friends what had happened in Forks.

Yet now, after a simple sentence, the dam breaks and those damned tears just won't stop.

I didn't know where I was running; I just let my feet carry me. I was so glad for my Quidditch training at that moment. Over the years, my stamina had increased, which now benefited me. I would have been panting and doubled over with a stitch by now if I hadn't had my training.

Once I had stopped running, I looked up to see that I was just outside the Room of Requirements. I began pacing back and forth.

I need somewhere to hide and be alone! I thought desperately.

The huge doors appeared immediately, much to my relief. I threw the doors openly and hurled my self inside.

I was panting by now, not from the running, but from trying to breathe around the sobs that desperately wanted to come out.

When I finally saw what the room had provided me, I gasped.

I'd expected to find the room to appear as a copy of the Gryffindor common room. I had always found it comforting. Many times in the past year I'd come here to be alone, maybe let a tear or two fall. I had sat, curled in on myself, on the sofa in front of the fire place. I found that when the common room was silent, it was one of the most calming places in the world to me.

No, unlike the Gryffindor common room I had expected to see, the Room of Requirement had turned itself into a passage way.

I followed it blindly. There were no light to tell me where I was going, so I had to use my hands to feel my way along the wall.

After taking five steps, I felt stupid and started patting my pockets for my wand. I cried out in frustration when I found that I didn't have it with me.

Harry was right, I did need to glue my wand too my head.

I carried on though, letting my hands guide me to wherever the room had provided me.

It wasn't a long walk, but I had to keep stopping so I wouldn't just break down right in this unknown passageway. The tears hadn't stopped, and I could still feel the surging pain in my chest, but I still carried on. There was no noise other than my stumbling steps. More than once I found myself almost falling over, but I had managed to catch myself with my hands each time. Luckily I hadn't hurt myself yet.

Finally I could see a slit of light, which I had assumed came from a gap from the bottom of a door.

I kept moving forward towards the light, feeling a weird sense of hope. Strangely, it reminded me of what muggles say when someone is dying. 'Don't go towards the light!' Ironic, wasn't it?

I hesitated when I had eventually reached the door. I didn't know why, but I was nervous, so nervous that my hand had started shaking even were than what it was before. But, I wasn't placed in Gryffindor for nothing. So, after sucking in a shaky breath, I silently opened the door.

The first thing I noticed after my eyes adjusted to the light was that he passageway had led me to an abandoned classroom.

The second thing I noticed was the full moon had now risen, illuminating the classroom rather eerily. The light I had noticed had come from the lit candles on the walls.

The final thing I noticed was that I was not alone, and whoever was with me was sobbing their heart out.

The sound itself could break anybody's heart if it wasn't already broken.

I could tell that whoever it was, it was male. At least I thought it was by how the sound of the sobbing was deep. It was a sound that I almost recognised. The only problem was that I couldn't recall why.

I also knew that this person had yet to realise that I was here.

Very carefully and quietly, I closed the door to the passageway, not wanting to startle whoever was sobbing.

They still hadn't noticed me.

I was beginning to think they wouldn't notice if the school was on fire.

I was still crying silently, but now I had grown used to the pain in my chest.

Now I was beginning to question.

Why in Merlin's name did the Room of Requirement bring me to this room? I had needed to hide and be alone, but I here I was, silently crying with some unknown male who was sobbing loudly. Who on earth was it?

Finally, between sobs, the male began muttering quietly. The persons voice was thick from the sobbing, and barely understandable and I only caught a few words he said like "why?" and "stupid", but then I heard something that shocked the living day lights out of me. "Oh Bella, why was I so stupid?"

I gasped, loudly, startling the person who I now recognised.

"Who's there?" He asked suspiciously.

"E-Edward?" I asked timidly. I couldn't believe it.

Edward gasped. "Bella?" He asked in disbelief. He was suddenly standing in front of me, the look of sheer agony on his face. If he could, I could tell that he would have tears flowing rapidly down his face. Kind of like the tears that were flowing endlessly down mine. "What are you doing here?" He asked in a broken whisper.

My throat constricted and I found it hard to keep myself from sobbing.

I wanted to ask him the same question, but I just felt tired and defeated, so I told him the truth. "I wanted to be alone." I told him in the same type of broken whisper as him. "When I ran, I headed straight for the Room of Requirement. I knew it would provide me with whatever I needed." I swallowed quietly. "I knew I wanted to hide and be alone, and I expected the room to turn into what it usually does for me when I ask for those requirements, but instead I find a passageway that leads me to this classroom." I paused for a moment, looking at Edward carefully and ignoring the now familiar pain in my heart. He seemed tense and had his hands were clenched into fists. From what it looked like, Edward was trying to stop himself from sobbing again. "Were you crying?" I asked him, wanting to know what he would say.

He laughed, it sounded fake. "You know I can't cry." He told me. I knew he was lying straight away.

I could feel my tears start flowing faster, but I was determined to hear the truth from him. "Were you crying?" I asked again, more firmly this time.

The already agonized face broke even more and he lowered his head. "Yes." He whispered.

Suddenly, his head snapped up, startling me slightly, and his eyes filled with determination. Just as suddenly, his hand lifted and he gently cupped my face, his thumb wiping some of the tears away, only to be replaced with more. My heart thudded loudly and painfully in my chest.

"Bella," He whispered sadly. "I'm so sorry." He continued only to start breathing heavily again, almost as if he was going to start sobbing tearlessly again. My heart was pounding faster and faster, and I opened my mouth to say that he didn't mean that, but he placed a finger to my lips. "No, let me finish, please!" He begged.

I could only nod, too shocked to say anything. He was getting so worked up over this. "Bella, please believe me. That day I-I," He paused to take a heavy breath. "That day I left you, when I told you I didn't want you, I lied. God, it was the worst lie I had ever said. I was just so afraid."

"Afraid?" I asked confused.

He nodded his head. "Yes, I was terrified. When Jasper almost attacked you, when I pushed you back and you ended up cutting your arm, it made me realise that by just being near me, I put your life at risk. And that terrified me. I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt, or worse," Edward chocked back a sob, "because of being around me. It hurt so much just thinking about it.

"In my panic, I began thinking of ways too keep you safe; and the only thing that was clear in my mind was that you would be safest if I was away from you. Alice tried to fight me, saying that you were willing to risk your life to be around me, just because you loved me, that you wanted to spend eternity with me. That only made my reasons to leave seem more justifiable too me. I began thinking that because of your love for me, I was holding you back. You deserve so much Bella, and by being with me, you wouldn't get what you deserved."

Edward was beginning to speak faster. "I begged Carlisle, telling him that leaving would be best for everyone. He seemed reluctant, but I knew that if Carlisle agreed, then everyone else would too. He tried to get me to change my mind, but I wouldn't listen to him. He finally agreed, and then they left, leaving me to tell you the news of our departure.

"In the forest, when I told you I didn't want you to come." Edward paused again to take a shuddering breath. "I could see it in your eyes that you believed me. God, that hurt so much, to see that after only a few words, you believe that I didn't love you. And when I left, I fought the urge to turn around so hard. I could hear you attempt to follow me, but I still ran. I knew that if I even looked back, I would not be able leave. I thought that my leaving was the best thing for you.

"When I finally reached Alaska, I immediately ignored my family and ran to the room that I knew was mine, locking myself in it and refusing to speak to anyone. I could tell that when Alice had helped Esme redecorate it, she was trying to spite me, because there was a bed in the room. Never, in all my years as a vampire have I ever had a bed in my room. She was trying to make me have a constant reminder of what I left behind. And what's worse was that everyone in my family, Rosalie included, just kept on thinking about you."

Edward once again paused to reign in his emotions. I stood there watching him, the tears still running and his hand still gently pressed to my face. "Three days after I arrived, everyone just stopped thinking about you. Alice even removed the bed, but then a few days later, I began missing all of their thoughts about you. It was unbearable. Finally, on the seventh day after leaving you, Alice began thinking about all the times that your life had depended on me, like with Tyler's van, or that night in Port Angeles." Edward growled out. "She reminded me of how clumsy you are and started picturing you falling down stairs, tripping in roads and all sorts of accidents that are just waiting to find you. Yet the thought that finally got me to realise just how stupid I was, was that if those things ever happened, I wouldn't be there to save you. And that thought alone made me pack all my clothes and throw the suitcase in the trunk of my car. Everyone was already waiting and ready to leave so we could return back to Forks, to you."

Edward once again paused and brought his other hand to my free cheek, so now he was holding my face gently between his hands.

"When we got back to Forks we didn't hesitate, we drove straight to your house, but when we arrived, you weren't there." Edward whispered sadly, his breathing ragged again. "I knocked on Charlie's house and asked where you were, only to find out that he didn't even know who Isabella Swan was, that he didn't even have a daughter. We thought it was a practical joke, but then his thoughts really did tell me he was telling the truth. When we left, I started panicking, not even Jasper's power could calm me.

"Once we confirmed that the entire town hadn't even heard of you, we began looking for you. The first place we went too was Jacksonville to talk to Renee. We waited for night, but when we got there she just said the same thing as Charlie.

"Alice began searching the future for you, but whenever she looked for you specifically, it was like she was hit with some kind of wall to keep her from seeing your future."

"That must be because of the protection around Hogwarts. One of the wards is designed for stopping anyone from finding it. If Alice was trying to find me when I was at Hogwarts, the wards would have prevented her visions from seeing me." I whispered.

"Yes." Edward agreed. "We continued to search for you. We asked people if they had ever heard of you, we showed them your picture, Jasper even hacked into police files to see if they have any records of you, but there was nothing.

"Bella, I was so afraid that we would never find you, but everyone still looked for you. Then Rosalie suggested that maybe you weren't in America anymore so we started thinking where you could have gone. Then I remember something you said when you were mumbling in your sleep, something to do with London and the Leaky Cauldron. So I told everyone that we should go to London first. When Carlisle asked why, I said that you we mumbling about London in your sleep.

"We purchased the first flight available to Heathrow Airport and boarded the plane. Alice insisted that we buy a new car instead of renting one, so when we got the car, we immediately drove to London. We already owned a house in London so we went straight there.

"We split up and searched for about a week. We were beginning to think that it was a lost cause when Carlisle asked me if you had said anything else in your sleep. I told him that you were talking a lot of gibberish about a leaky cauldron. Of course when Carlisle heard that he just about had a heart attack.

"When Carlisle told us that it was a wizarding pub, we were all shocked and didn't believe that you knew about the wizarding world, but Carlisle led us to it only to find that it was closed, so we went back to our house and decided to try again the next day.

"When we got home, we found that Dumbledore was there waiting for us. He asked us if we would be willing to come to Hogwarts to help defend it. Carlisle told him that we were busy searching for someone and that we couldn't. Then Dumbledore had this knowing look in his eye and said that you would find the people you're looking for in the most unlikely of places. He didn't say any more, just handed Esme a huge pile of books and told her to get studying to become the next potions master. He then handed each of us a wand and told us that he would be coming to pick us up tomorrow. And then he left.

"I was the first to object, followed by my siblings, but Carlisle and Esme said that they thought it was a good idea, that we could use the resources at Hogwarts to find you, so we eventually agreed.

"I asked Carlisle if there was that you would be at Hogwarts, but he told me that during the year that we had searched for you, that would have been your last year at Hogwarts, considering that we had celebrated your eighteenth birthday, but then we get to Hogwarts and see that you really were here. We were so shocked to see you, and so happy." Edward said.

"You were really looking for me?" I asked doubtfully. The tears still hadn't stopped. If anything, they increased while listening to Edward's story.

"Yes Bella, please believe me. We really did search for you for a year. We just couldn't find anything. It was like you had disappeared of the face of the Earth. But I was determined to find you. I wouldn't give the search, and I was so happy that everyone was willing to search with me." Edward said. "I knew that if I never found you, then there really was no point in me living without you. When Rosalie was still being spiteful about you, she had commented that maybe you had died. Just thinking about you being dead, made me consider joining you. I can't live without you. I need you so much Bella, I love you." He finished desperately.

I let out a sob, and when that sob was finally released, all the others I was holding back joined in. Edward pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me. Just being there in his arms was starting to heal the painful hole in my chest. "I love you Bella, I really do." Edward whispered in my ear.

"I tried to get over you." I said through my sobs. "I tried so hard to forget you, but whenever I thought of you the pain in my chest would flare up, reminding me that you weren't here." I sobbed louder, causing Edward's arms to tighten around me. "When this term started, I had finally thought that I had gotten over you, but I was just in denial. And then I see you walk through the doors to the great hall and then everything just rushes back again. But I was better at hiding the pain away, so I pretended that I was okay.

"Then Jasper said the same thing you did when we were going to watch Romeo and Juliet and the walls I built just crashed down. I ran and headed straight to the Room of Requirements which then led me here to you, and now I know why. I know that I didn't need to be alone, the Room knew what I really needed and it took me there. What I really needed was you. Merlin Edward, I need you so much." I told him through my cries. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him to me with all my strength. I knew that it would be easy for him to pull out of my grasp if he didn't want me to be hugging myself to him like that. But he didn't. In fact his grip on me tightened even more, almost to the point that it was painful.

"Oh God Bella, please, please forgive me." Edward begged desperately.

"I'll only forgive you if you promise to never ever leave me again." I told him quietly, even though I already knew that he was already forgiven.

"I promise." He vowed.

"I love you Edward." I whispered before moving my hands to his face and pulling his lips to mine.

As soon as our lips touched, the hole in my chest was now completely filled, as if a puzzle piece that had been missing had finally returned to where it truly belonged. I put all of my love into the kiss, showing Edward just how much he meant to me, and I could feel all of his love in return. There were no boundaries in this kiss; it was just two people trying to show the other just how much they meant to each other. Our lips moved in perfect synchronisation, and I knew that I had stopped breathing, as I often did when I had kissed Edward. I pulled back a little to suck in a breath, but then launched right back into kissing him again. It could have been seconds, minutes or hours, I wouldn't have been able to tell, but kissing Edward felt like eternity.

Eventually, we pulled back and Edward rested his forehead against my own. We were both panting heavily from the kiss and the light that had been missing from Edward's eyes had finally returned. I wondered if I looked any different, but at the moment I didn't care, Edward was here, kissing me as if his life depended on it and I for once felt real happiness.

So...who's pleased?
I know loads of you have been waiting for this, and I hope it was okay.
I have to admit, it was quite hard to write.
Anyhoo, please review and tell me what you think.
Especially for this chapter.

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