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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.


Harry Potter: A Life After Hogwarts

Chapter 11: Warding La Push


September 17, 2005

10:15AM

Leo woke up to the blaring of his alarm clock. He made mental note to set it for 10:00AM since he didn't get much sleep last night due to the incident with Bella. He spent hours thinking about the idiocy of a human falling in love with a vampire until he finally dozed off.

Despite having 5 hours of sleep which was usually enough for him, Leo was feeling weak and mentally drained but he couldn't stop now. The only way to get proper rest was to finally satiate his curiosity of the mysterious Cullens.

He finally decided to just do the research he had planned with Freya before putting this event to the back of his mind to be forgotten. If the Cullens were gone for good then it was good news for him. The earlier the young Swan forgets her vampire lover, the better.

He walked into the dining room and was surprised to find his breakfast already waiting for him. His sister was in her usual seat enjoying a steaming cup of tea while reading the Daily Prophet.

"Good morning, sis." Leo greeted sleepily as he sat in his favorite spot.

"Top of the morning, Leo." greeted Freya with a nod then observed his brother's rather tired facade. "You look tired…didn't get much sleep?"

Leo shook his head as he poured himself a cup of tea. He took a sip before answering.

"No. Thinking about Bella and Edward Cullen's idiotic relationship was keeping me awake. I was able to doze off a few hours ago and just woke up. You, however, don't look tired at all." explained Leo though the last part came out as an accusation than a statement of fact. How in the world was she able to sleep with all the things going on?

"Simple. I shoved the memory of the night's events deep inside my Occlumency shield and locked it up tight so I won't have to actively think about it. Thanks to that, I slept like a log. I brought up the memory again AFTER I woke up and pondered on the implications." Freya said with a smug smile on her face. She instinctively knew his brother forgot that little application of the Mind Arts. His brother might brag of being a scholar but he was still forgetful to a fault.

"Cheeky sister." he mock-growled at his sister before noticing the existence of breakfast on the table. "Did you make all this?"

"No. I'm pants in the kitchen, remember?" said Freya. "Leah came by earlier and brought us some of the breakfast Sue cooked. She knew that we were up late last night because of Bella so she sent us breakfast because she knew that you'd be sleeping late.

"Bless her." said Leo in gratitude as he dug into his plate. "This is really good. Sue is a pretty good cook."

"Yes, she is." agreed Freya. "Why do you think her Café Quilleute was popular? It was definitely her cooking. I heard that her baked treats were the best sellers."

"I definitely agree that they're good. I tried one myself and couldn't get enough of it." Leo declared with a smile on his face. "Anyway, are you busy today?"

Freya shook her head before putting down the paper, giving her brother all her attention.

"No. I plan to just stay at home or maybe drive to Forks and check out the stores there. I heard there's a quaint book shop that's selling some rare muggle books. I want to see if it's true." Freya admitted. "Why? Do you have something planned?"

"Not really but if you're going to Forks then maybe you can swing by the hospital and ask about Carlisle Cullen? Jared told me last night that he works there as a doctor." said Leo though there was a slight hint of disbelief in his voice. A vampire working in a hospital and didn't kill the patients? It seems that the Cullens don't do normal.

Freya nodded, agreeing with the plan.

"I can do that. I'll drop by Forks General first and ask around before I look for that bookshop. What are you going to do for the day?" asked Freya.

"I'm going to town and meet up with Billy. I have a few more questions for him about the Cullens. I want to hire the goblins to do a little bit of digging for me but I need to get their names first." said Leo as he finished his breakfast. He made a mental note to drop by Sue's café and grab a few treats for the road later.

"That's good. I'll leave in an hour then. The earlier we get the information, the better." agreed Freya in which his brother nodded in agreement with her decision.

-x-x-x-x-x-

It was 30 minutes later that Leo parked his truck outside the Wolf's Claw and walked into the garage to see what the boys were doing. He looked around and saw that there were three vehicles currently being serviced by the boys, one each. Jacob was under the hood of a rather expensive looking Ford pick-up, Quil was removing the tires of a sedan, and Embry was finishing up his work on a convertible.

He couldn't help but admire Embry's physique since the teen was working without his shirt on like the pack. From the looks of it, he was close to phasing since he was growing like a weed, not as tall as Jacob or the pack of course, but his 5,10 frame was nothing to be scoffed at. Spending months working on cars also improves his musculature. He could see a forming 6-pack there somewhere and his muscles stretched and bulged as he worked on the convertible. Leo definitely approved of the change.

He shook his head to clear the cobwebs that Embry's physique was giving him. It was not a good idea to have those thoughts when the subject of those thoughts was underage. Sure he liked Embry but he didn't want to make a move so early that would make it hard for the teen. Muggles were rather touchy regarding that sort of thing.

"Hi boys, how's it hanging?" he shouted to get their attention.

"Hi, Leo" greeted Embry since he was the one who reacted first though he could hear the grunt from the others while they were working. Leo couldn't help but stare at the boy's chocolate brown eyes before mentally berating himself. "Damn it. Get a hold of yourself. Stop acting like a stupid fan-girl."

"Morning, Embry. Working hard I see." He observed as he checked the convertible Embry was polishing, trying hard not to stare at the teen's sweaty pecs.

"Yep. Jake and I just finished cleaning up the engine an hour ago and I'm just giving it a last minute clean-up to since the owner would be coming in any minute now to pick it up." explained Embry while giving him a smile. Leo mentally agreed that the smile should be illegal, especially to him. Thankfully, Jacob finished whatever he was doing on the pick-up and took up his attention.

"Hey, Leo. What brings you here?" asked Jacob as he wiped his greasy hands on an equally greasy shirt.

"Dropped by to check up on you guys before going to have a talk with Billy. I haven't seen you three since you seldom visit the Den and busy with all the work here in the garage." he said sincerely. He really did miss the trio and was lonely with seeing Embry around.

"Sorry about that, Leo. We've been rather swamped with work lately and just couldn't find the time. If we don't have any scheduled work this weekend, we could drop by and hang out." Embry said with a sad smile on his face. Leo patted him on the back and gave him a one-armed hug which practically cheered up the teen. He noted that Embry's core temperate was up. He would be phasing soon, a few months at the most.

"Don't worry about it, Em. I understand that you guys loved doing your job and I'm not going to take it away from you. You and the rest are always welcome at the Den so drop by when you have time. I'm always there anyway and if I'm not, just make yourselves at home." He declared with a smile directed at the teen he was holding. His statement rewarded him a huge smile from the teen that tugged at his heart.

"Anyway, Jacob, is Billy around?" he asked as he turned away from Embry. He didn't want to look at that smile any longer or he might end up doing something inappropriate.

Jacob nodded and jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards the house.

"He's in the living room watching a game. Just go right in." said the boy with a grin on his face.

Leo nodded and gave Embry one more pat on the back.

"Well, be seeing you guys. Drop by the Den anytime you're free." said Leo as a farewell before walking out the garage towards the house.

Leo didn't see a pair of longing, warm chocolate brown eyes intensely staring at his back as he exited the shop.

-x-x-x-x-x-

It was half-past three that Leo finally arrived at the Den. Freya called him up as he was driving back home that she just left Forks General. One of the interns working there told her that Dr. Cullen resigned from his position last week and left. The good doctor didn't give any reasons as to why he resigned and where he was going though he did mention in passing that it was a family emergency of some sort.

Both decided that the Cullens left Forks, they just didn't know why.

Billy might not be fount of information regarding the Cullens but he sure knew their names. He quickly penned a letter indicating his intentions and sent it to Spleensmash via Fawkes and wait for the reply.


September 22, 2005

8:15AM

Leo was sitting in the Attic reading a tome on Soul Bonds when his study was interrupted by the arrival of Fawkes bearing a three letters, depositing them on the table before disappearing again to who knows where. He frowned at the interruption since he was deeply researching his unnatural attraction to Embry. He didn't mind falling for the young Quilleute but he didn't like the fact that something was pushing him towards the decision and he was sure that it was his magic doing the pushing.

Being a scholar, more so a Battle Scholar, there was a deep need to determine the facts behind the phenomenon so he started researching. Thankfully, he had the entire Potter, Black, and Lestrange library for such a study neatly stacked in an expanded library in the Attic of Marauder's Den. The book he was reading now was written by an ancestor of his, William Potter, who did an in-depth study of this phase in a wizard's growth.

According to the William, Soul Bonds were rare; roughly one out of ten thousand were lucky enough to find their perfect match. The magic and soul didn't discriminate as to who they match with and whoever they are, it was 100% compatible.

All the bonded couple William interviewed said the same thing. When the two people who are intended for each other meet, their souls would automatically be drawn to each other until the bond settles once they copulate for the first time.

Leo cringed when he read that. Sure, Embry was quite delectable in a gangly way but he would never do any of the physical acts of love to an underage teen. Soul Bond be damned.

He also discovered within the tome that wizards and witches who soul-bonded with other species, like a veela or a werewolf, often reports the same attraction from the other party though it was intense due to their unique magical make-up. It was likened to an animal who finds their perfect mate in the same species. Despite the difference in their biological make-up; the soul, and in this case, magic, didn't discriminate.

Sighing, he closed the book and walked over to his study table to see who the letters came from.

The first was from Spleensmash reporting his findings regarding his request for some information on the Cullens and their whereabouts. The letter from the goblin lacked the current location of the Cullens but it did provide clear insight to the workings of the family.

According to Spleensmash's report, the Cullen started with Carlisle Cullen who was turned into a vampire in the late 1600's. The good doctor seems to abhor the vampire's lifestyle to drink human blood so he trained himself to ignore its delicious call and feasted on the blood of animals. The Cullen family grew from there. He first turned Edward Masen who was dying from the Spanish Influenza. Next, he turned his now mate, Esme, when he found her clinging to life after committing suicide due to the death of her only child.

The next person to be changed and added to the rolls of the family was Rosalie Hale, now Cullen, when Carlisle found her left for dead in an alley. The next was Emmett which Rosalie forced Carlisle to turn him when the teen was left for dead after being mauled by a bear.

The last two additions were Alice and Jasper who found the Cullen family and joined them.

As it now stands, they are parading the world as a family; Carlisle and Esme as the parents, adopting Edward, Rosalie and Jasper pretending to be siblings due to their resemblance, Emmett, and Alice.

Spleensmash also noted that he got the information direct one of his contacts that has a connection with the Volturi, a large group of vampires considered to be royalty who provided rules to avoid discovery and keep the evidence of vampire's existence to a bare minimum. If he wanted more information from the leaders of the Volturi then he would need to visit them and ask, though the goblin warned Leo from doing so since he would be surrounded by vampires who would do nothing but love to feast on a wizard's blood since it was a delicacy for them and a rare treat.

Of course it was rare, wizards do have magic to fight back and it's somewhat hard to drink blood from a being that could set you on fire with a wave of a wand.

Putting Spleensmash's letter down, he picked up another which coincidentally came from Liverwhacker. It was his monthly account statement concerning the activities of the Black Family Vault.

After perusing it for a few minutes, he discovered that he was earning extra money with the inclusion of the three businesses in La Push. It was small since he only asked for a measly two percent for the sake of formality but the amount was there.

There was also a document attached to the letter for the goblin to use 1% of the total value in the vault for investment. The goblin listed down shops that are earning quite a dividend in various magical settlements in the US that offers available stocks for investors.

He couldn't help but grin at the similarities between this goblin and his brother. Both had a good mind for business. He immediately signed the document to be sent later.

The third letter was something of a surprise. It was addressed to him and Freya from the Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Minerva McGonagall. The letter was two-fold. One was asking on their status since it's been more than 6 years that they've seen each other and asking for Leo's permission to open the Chamber of Secrets since it is a historical part of the school.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, it would be a good idea to open Slytherin's chamber and make it accessible to the students. McGonagall could use it as a classroom or a training hall or something.

However, he needed to spend some time in the school to check that there was nothing in the chamber other than the dead basilisks. It wouldn't do much good to have a student suddenly finding long-lost tomes belonging to the Hogwarts Founder of the Snake House and suddenly using whatever knowledge in it.

Leo shuddered at the possibility of another Voldemort rising up in Wizarding Britain and him getting called back just to take care of it.

Minerva also included a post-script that Kingsley was looking for him and asking for a way to contact the duo. Leo thought hard and finally decided to give the two mobile phones so they could be contacted if there was something happening in Wizarding Britain that demands their attention.

He quickly penned a letter to Liverwhacker to purchase two mobile phones and sent to Spleensmash with instructions to give it Headmistress Minerva McGonagall and Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt.


October 5, 2005

Life in Marauder's Den became a chore come October when Liverwhacker sent the first 300 ward stones to them via owl post.

Leo immediately called Billy to inform the pack that they were going to start on the ward stones for the added protection of La Push. Of course, Billy gave his blessing and promised that they would only be called during extreme circumstances that they're help would were sorely needed.

The Black elder also made an alibi with the teens that Leo and Freya were taking their mastery exams at home so they needed to concentrate and study. They immediately promised to stay away from the Den unless it was important.

Even if they already had the needed runic sets and enchantments for the ward stone, putting them on was definitely a chore. Considering that they have their own specialties, Leo would start carving the rune set into the face of the stones then pass it on to Freya to be enchanted. When they timed their work, they found out that they could do 20 stones a day for 8 hours straight.

It was definitely hard work and they had to put aside their study and research time for this project.


October 22, 2005

After 15 days of work, the duo finally unveiled the completed 300 ward stones for the initial protection of La Push. Of course, they finished the 300 stones in exactly 15 days of non-stop carving and enchanting but they took a day off to rest up since they would have to place them around the boundaries of La Push and link them with the ley lines in the area. Fortunately, both Leo and Freya could perform the linking process since they knew how to do it.

It was around 8 in the evening that the shifter and elders had a meeting in the Attic of the Den regarding the placement of the stones. There was a short debate before they finally decided to start by placing some of the stones by the beach since vampires were known to travel underwater due to their inability to breathe. Also, the beach was quite close to the more populated areas of the Reservation so it was a good idea to start there.

The shifters were given their own assignments and sent off with their own sets of stones to place. Once the placement of the stone was finished, Leo and Freya visited them one-by-one and linked them together.

It was a tired group of magic users and shifters congregating in the Attic to check the large map of La Push and Forks. They could easily see on the map where the stones were placed as they released a steady pulse of a perimeter charm something similar to that of a sonar.

They were shocked, however, when a mental alarm blared in the shifter and the magical's minds as they saw a red pulsing dot appear on the cliffs where the gang usually held their cliff diving sessions. The shifters immediately left to dispatch the vampire while Freya and Leo stayed glued to the map to check their progress.

It was a 20 minutes later that they saw a red dot being followed by three blue ones running to the boundary of La Push until it disappeared from the map. The blue ones were stationary for a few minutes before making its way to the general direction of the Den.

Leo immediately relayed what they saw on the map via their mental connection through the necklace and congratulated the wolves in getting rid of the threat though they heard some grumbling from Jared and Paul when they failed to kill the leech.

The duo just shook their heads and ignored them.

There was a short meeting afterwards to finalize deployment if a threat appears and the alarm was received. It was finally decided that the Wolf's Den would be used as a staging point for deployment. The map would be moved to the infirmary and the wolves would simply portkey there to locate the intruder before heading off. In most cases, the one in charge of watching the map would just direct them to the location of the intruder to finish it off. By general consent, Leo and Freya were designated as the 'watchers'. They were a bit short-handed but that would be remedied when the younger generation shifts for the first time.


November 18, 2005

Leo and Freya were in their make-shift beach resort relaxing when they heard a ring from somewhere under the towels up in the cottage. Leo immediately stood up and retrieved the phone since it was ring tone.

"Leo Black speaking." answered Leo. He didn't recognize the caller ID and there were only a few people he gave his number to, mostly Quilleutes, the Headmistress, and Minister Shacklebolt.

"Hi, Leo, this is Charlie." came the voice of the Chief of Police. Leo immediately placed it on speaker so his sister would be privy to the conversation.

"Hi, Charlie. What can I do for you?" Leo asked politely.

"Well, I was wondering if Freya is available."

Freya raised an eyebrow at that. Since Charlie was looking for her, she answered.

"Charlie, this is Freya. What seems to be the problem?"

"I was wondering if you have time to check up on Bella for me."

"Check up? Did something happen to her?" asked a worried Freya.

"Well, no…not really." she and Leo could practically hear the hesitation in the Chief of Police's voice. "It's just that she's been like a zombie for two months now ever since you guys rescued her from the woods. I also got a call from her school that she barely functioned as a student. She doesn't talk or socialize like she used to. It's like she's not there at all."

"Did you get a doctor to take a look at her?"

"The School Nurse suggested that I bring her to a psychologist to find out what her problem is. When I relayed that to her, she adamantly refused to go and I wasn't convince her. She hasn't been sleeping and eating well. It's like she has no reason to live."

"I'm no shrink and I definitely don't have the medical degree to address such a case but what do you want me to do exactly?" she knew that Charlie wasn't asking for medical advice. The Chief of Police was actually hoping that Freya could find something to get his daughter out of her funk.

"I was wondering if you know a way to deal with what Bella is going through right now. I'm sure that this has something to do with that Cullen kid that left her." The last part came out as a growl. From the looks of it, Charlie blamed Edward Cullen for the state of his daughter, and with good reason too.

"Tell you what, Charlie. Why don't we give it a month more?" Freya suggested. "You see, people who are suffering from an emotional problem usually need to just suck it up and move on. I could be there to help her if you wanted me to but I can't help her if she doesn't want to be helped. I suggest that you just be there for her just in case she decides to open up. If she doesn't change by January next year then we can come up with something then."

"So you mean I just need to be supportive and wait for her to come out of her funk?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"Yes. I think you know that people who don't want to be helped can't be helped at all, Charlie." she explained as patiently as she could. "If Bella finds out that you contacted me regarding her problem, she would be prone to rebellion and that would definitely lead to something that we won't surely like. I advise that you just be there for her. I can't help her because she barely knows me. She needs someone that she knows and can trust. Does she have a friend like that?"

"Well, she does have a group in school and hanged out with especially that time that they had a surfing gig down in First Beach. I think she was particularly close to Angela Weber."

"That's a start. Slowly push her to go out with her friends. That way, she'll be surrounded by people she trusts. Eventually, one or the other would say something that would get through to her defenses and make her realize that she needs to get a life and there's more to the world than Edward Cullen."

The other line was silent for a few seconds before Charlie spoke again, happier this time.

"That's a good idea. Thanks a lot, Freya. You've been a big help." Charlie said in a grateful voice.

"No problem, Charlie. Glad I could help. I just wished I could do more for her but considering that she barely knows me, I don't think we have enough trust with each other to connect. Just push her to go out with friends…like a movie or something. That would get the ball rolling."

"Great. I'll get right on it. Bye for now, Freya. I think I have some planning to do." was all Charlie said in a cheerful voice before cutting off the line.

Leo, who was listening to the conversation between the two, finally spoke up.

"That was interesting." said Leo as he buried his toe into the sand. "From the looks of it, Bella is suffering from a withdrawal… more like an Edward Withdrawal."

Freya snickered and gave her a brother a mock-glare for making a joke…a good one this time.

"From the way Charlie described her, you could be right." mused Freya as she floated the phone over to the towel. "Do you think that she is under Edward's Thrall?"

According to a book she read, a vampire had an ability called Thrall. It was an emotional hypnotic ability usually from the vampire's voice. It could easily enthrall anyone if they the victim didn't have a strong control over their emotions. Wizards and witches were immune to a vampire's thrall since their magic would automatically defend them against such an intrusion.

"Hmmm…I don't think so." Leo disagreed with a shake of his head. "People enthralled by a vampire would stick close to them till death. It's something similar to veela's charm. They victim will be so emotionally dependent on the originator of the thrall that they would go to any lengths just to get to them. Bella isn't leaving Forks and is just content on being the epitome of teenage angst. It's all her, sis. No vampire thrall there."

"You do have a point." agreed Freya. "If she was under a thrall then I would have detected it when I hit her with a diagnostic charm. I was very thorough."

"That you are sis, that you are." hummed Leo as he enjoyed the feeling of sand on his toes.

"So what do we do now?" asked Freya as she took of her robe revealing a two-piece red bathing suit and eyeing the waters with interest.

"Nothing. Let Charlie handle it. If something bad happens then we step in. I'm sure Charlie would call Billy, who in turn, would call us. We'll work our way from there."

Freya nodded as she started walking to the water. She paused and looked at her brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Care to join me, brother mine?" she invited her brother.

Leo just gave her a raised eyebrow and stretched on the towel like a cat.

"No thanks, sis. We cats don't like water that much. I'll just stay here and relax thank you very much." purred Leo as he buried deep into the towel and closing his eyes, his face in pure bliss.

"You're a lion, not a cat."

Leo opened one eye and gave her a bored look.

"I rest my case." He deadpanned causing his sister to stick out her tongue at him.


End of Chapter 11