Chapter 10
"Why?"
Hermione POV
She is tired, very tired but she needs to keep moving for Luna, she broke her Vow, and once again, she failed a friend. When she had apparated outside the mansion of the Cullen's, she didn't know what to expect but knew that every second and minute was important. She had decided to trust them and hopefully it was the right thing.
With everything now clear to her, she can't help but feel disgusted with herself. She keeps on calling death eaters monsters but what she did to them was inhuman! but what made her feel worse was the fact that she enjoyed every bloody scream of pain that came from their mouths.
She didn't know how long she had been in the shower but what she really wanted to do was wash away all the blood and everything else that came from those monsters, she scrubbed her body not caring if it was starting to turn red due to the hard friction.
She could still feel it, the dark magic inside her and it frightened her, she never felt that kind of magic before and just thinking that it might take away all her control scared her.
After she felt clean, Hermione dried and quickly dressed herself with the clothes that the vampire kindly lent to her.
She was never into fashion like most girls but because of Ginny who constantly nagged her about her choice of fashion , she started to be more conscious of what she wears. The clothes that was lent to her made her more girly than she wanted. It was a simple white dress with spaghetti straps that reached to her mid thigh, thankfully they gave her a pair of black leggings making her movements much easier.
She walked out the bathroom but stopped instantly upon noticing the stiffed positions of the two vampires that accompanied her, "Is something wrong?"
"We have company, and they arrived the same way you did."
Hermione clutched her wand tightly, If what this pixie saying is right it only means one thing a witch or wizard is here and she needs to be ready.
"Don't worry we wont let them hurt you or your friend." Rosalie said, this girl is too calm despite her obvious alertness as if this is just a daily occurrence in her life, but that's impossible this girl is too young.
Hermione smiled to her companions, she could feel the terror running through her veins. This family of vampires has shown her nothing but kindness, and she can't let them get hurt because of her, they think that they are indestructible but in her world, her kind can easily kill them with just a flick of their wands.
Hermione turned to the vampires and thanked them for everything they done for them but she can't impose any longer on their hospitality.
They want to say something but was interrupted when the door opened and the vampire from before entered the room. His alertness and wary posture was out of place compared to his goofy face when she first saw him. He looked towards Hermione "There are four really weird wearing robes men looking for her."
Hermione allowed her body to relax just for a minute. If the men outside were death eaters they would not ask for her, they would just fire off curses and kill whoever stood in their way till they found her or Luna.
She stayed calm for another minute while thinking who the men could be, without saying anything and with a intimidating determined expression on her face, she walked out the door to meet with the men. No one stopped her from leaving the room but they did follow her and from her peripheral vision she could easily see the vampire nature in them. Their faces were neutral but you could sense their alertness which was like a predator's just waiting for their prey.
When she was on the stairs she could see the bottom very clearly and saw other vampires who she assumed were members of the Cullen coven, but what attracted her attentions was the four men that was wearing robes on the other side of the spacious living room.
She stopped immediately knowing why they are here.
"Ms. Granger." the man in front said.
"Minister" She replied with a neutral and emotionless expression and voice. She only gave a short nod to the aurors behind Kingsley.
"Always so formal aren't you Ms. Granger," Kingsley tried to step towards Hermione but he immediately stopped when the blond behind Hermione growled at him, warning him to not do anything that they might not like. Kingsley sighed inwardly, leave it to Hermione to find a vampire that drinks animal blood instead of human as a guardian.
Hermione walked towards Kingsley and when she was a couple of steps away from him, she raised her wand and pointed it towards him. The three aurors immediately mimicked her action and pointed their wands towards Hermione, Kingsley remained calmed he was already expecting some sort of action from her.
She heard the Cullen's footsteps from behind her but she paid them no mind, her sole focus was on Kingsley and the three aurors behind him. "If you are really who you say you are," answer this, What's my middle name."
Kingsley smiled then look directly at her eyes and replied, "What middle name are you asking me for? The current one or the real one?"
When she heard his answer she immediately lowered her wand down, the action was followed by the three aurors. "Sorry I just wanted to make sure you are who you said were."
"I understand Hermione." There was an awkward pause with no one speaking, Hermione was determined to not break the silence first. She knew why they were here, and now they were in a silent battle on who will be the first to break, the tension in the atmosphere unnerved their other company.
"Why don't you all sit down so you can-"Carlisle immediately stopped talking when their visitors looked at him. It was maybe the very first time in his vampire life that a human stare made him nervous.
Hermione took pity on Carlisle, she silently sat down on one of the seats offered to them, Kingsley and the aurors followed Hermione's example and sat down, the Cullen's remained standing from different positions around the room.
"I think I am right to assume that you already know why we are here, Ms. Granger."
When Hermione remained silent Kingsley continued. "Earlier Mr. Weasley demanded us to go to an old Manor claiming that you were in danger, but when we arrived at the location we found 13 brutally killed people but judging by the dark mark on their arms they were recognized as the missing death eaters. We managed to locate you using the coin Mr. Thomas had when Mr. Weasley refused to lend his."
"Yes I killed them." She heard a loud gasp from the Cullen's but she ignored them. She looked at Kingsley with no emotions showing on her face. "Are you here to arrest me?"
"Arrest! You can't do that she's just a kid!" Hermione looked at the blond Cullen who suddenly appeared at her side and growling menacingly at Kingsley.
"Rose.."
"No! Emmett didn't you hear them, she's just a kid."
Emmett didn't know what to say it was the first time he saw Rosalie react this way, even to Renesmee she is not like this.
"Hush…Ms. Hale we are not here to arrest Ms. Granger."
"How did you know me?"
"You will not arrest me?"
Rosalie asked at the same time as Hermione exclaimed.
"The Cullen's unique way of feeding are quite known in Ministry Magical Creatures Section." Kingsley said earning Carlisle attention.
"Ministry Magical Creatures Section…you are all wizards."
Kingsley stood up and bowed politely at Carlisle who was at Rosalie's side. "Minister
Kingsley, it is nice to meet you Dr. Cullen."
Carlisle nodded not really knowing what to say. He already heard about the magical world from the Volturi who have a great respect to someone named Albus Dumbledore.
"You knew, Carlisle."
Carlisle look at Edward who is standing at the bottom of stairs along with Bella and Nessie. "When I was in Volterra, Aro mentioned to me often about the magical world and his friend Albus Dumbledore."
The wizards suddenly had a solemn and sad expression, which did not escape the sharp eyes of the vampires. "Did I say something wrong?"
Kingsley shook his head while sitting down again. "Nothing Doctor Cullen, it's just that Albus is dead."
"Oh..I-I'm sorry."
"Don't be..He died for a great cause."
All the attention went back to Hermione who had a calm expression on her face. Carlisle can't help but admire the girl, he never saw a young human that was mature as her.
"Minister, not that I'm complaining but why- I mean.."
Kingsley smiled softly while looking at Hermione who he admired very much for her undying bravery. " Hermione, I don't know what happened but I know you enough, to trust you."
Hermione bowed her head when she could no longer bare Kingsley's soft gaze. "I killed them, and I am not regretting it."
"If anything…even the whole magical world betrayed me I know that Hermione will be by my side. It's her nature you know, she will do everything for those that matters to her most, even sacrificing her own soul."
Hermione looked at Kingsley again not really understanding what he was saying. "Minister?"
"That was what Mr. Potter said to me before the final stand. He believes in you more than anyone."
Hermione was speechless not really knowing what to do or say. When Kingsley stood up along with the aurors, Hermione remained immobile but when they started to walk out the door she stood up immediately. "I may not regret it but I didn't mean to kill them in that way."
Kingsley stopped and looked at her waiting for her to continue.
"They said what they did to Luna…t-they said what they did to Luna was w-what they did to S-Serena."
Kingsley froze in his position while looking at Hermione. He could not believe that those bastards would go that low to brag to Hermione.
Hermione laugh bitterly. "They were so proud to tell me t-that they raped L-Luna." Again she heard a loud gasp. "T-they raped her c-continuously just like t-they did to Se..Serena…J-just like what they did to my…to m-my m-mother." Hermione couldn't stop her tears.
"T-They told me…They t-told me that he is there…w-watching them…t-treating my m-mother l-like an animal…"
Hermione felt someone put their hand on her shoulder but she could no longer stop herself from crying and talking. " I-I am the p-product of h-him and Serena…I-I am the p-Product of that c-coward who c-chose to t-turn his back f-from her at that t-time…and h-honestly I can't understand… w-why she gave u-up her life for me…she must really hate me! R-right?"
Kingsley walked towards Hermione as fast as he can and when he is about an inch from her. He gently grabbed Hermione's face and got her to look at him directly. "Listen to me Hermione, Serena was my friend…and even when you were still in her womb she loved you so much.."
"L-Love me.. Why?"
"Because that's what mothers do…when they have their own children, everything that they love before will come second in their heart because mothers will love their children more than anything."
Hermione looked at the blond vampire behind her and all she can see is sincerity when she
looked at the other Cullen's they were all looking at her especially the women with the same sincerity as the blond. She bowed her head not really knowing what to say anymore. She looked at Kingsley after a while and saw him smiling at her fondly."
"You grew up into a very fine young woman Hermione, your courage never failed to amaze me and the goodness in your heart never faltered."
Hermione tried to protest but she stopped suddenly when Kingsley shook his head. "Listen Hermione if your mother was still alive she would be very proud of you."
Rosalie POV
In her life as a vampire she filled her heart with anger and bitterness, but now hearing all this, she can't help but be ashamed. This girl suffered a lot and she will not be surprised if what she heard was only small portion of her life.
She can see her sadness and a deep hole in her heart, a hole that will take a lot of time to be fixed and she really hate to think that there might be a percentage no matter how small it is that, the hole in this girl's heart might never be fixed at all.
Hermione remained sitting silently on the sofa, Kingsley was already at the door to leave but before he does he looked at them first. It was really weird to be looked at by a human in a normal way despite the fact that they already knew what they are.
"Please take care of her even though she herself can't see that she was probably the only one that remains pure in our world after everything that happened." Kingsley said in a low voice that they heard clearly despite of his low tone.
"So you are a witch." Emmett asked suddenly after a few minutes of silence."What!"
Rosalie sighed loudly while glaring at her husband, honestly he can be over bearing sometimes.
Hermione looked at the guy and when she saw his goofy smile she can't help but smile softly, he reminds her of Fred with his playful aura. "I guess I am."
"Cool, so you can practically do everything!"
"Emmett!"
"Oh come on Edward don't tell me you are not curious."
"We are Emmett but we think she is really tired and she needs to rest."
It was a surprise for Rosalie to hear Jasper but what was surprisingly more she saw the look of understanding in his eyes while he was looking at Hermione who was continuously yawning.
"Jasper is right, Emmett."
Emmett really wanted to protest but stopped when he heard the soft breathing of Hermione. "Well look at that she is sleeping, she must really be tired."
"Well it is expected it has been a very long day for her."
Rosalie touched Hermione's face softly before bending to pick up the sleeping witch.
The Cullen's have been very helpful, they even tried their best to keep her and Luna as a secret from anyone even to Jacob's pack. She didn't know what they told him to make him stay away from the Cullen's house but it seemed to work out just fine. Though she rarely saw Renesmee too, who is Jacob's imprint.
The Cullen's still doesn't know about the past war or what role she was playing in the magical world and they never asked her, they never pressured her to tell them anything and for that she is extremely grateful.
For the past weeks Luna's condition has been very unstable. She had been unconscious almost all the time but if she woke up her magic will act on its own. Her magic even managed to cut Emmett's arm who didn't listen to her warning to not go too near Luna.
It has been hard for her, she can feel her body slowly wanting to give up due to extreme tiredness but she knows that she can't. Rosalie always reminded her to rest, she took care of her almost like a mother but never hover just like a true friend.
"What's wrong?" She asked worriedly when she noticed a commotion in the living room.
"Don't worry about it Hermione, the mutt is just being a drama queen and demanding to spend more time with Renesmee."
Hermione frowned knowing who Rosalie was referring to. "Jacob?"
"Yup, that mutt!"
"Rosalie, Renesmee is Jacob's imprint it's only natural for him to act this way, being away from his imprint hurts him more than anything."
Hermione looked at Bella, what she said kept ringing in her ear and she can't help it when her heart beats faster and her eyes widened. How can she be so stupid and forget about Paul.
"Hermione? What's wrong?" Rosalie touched Hermione's arm in comfort upon noticing her distress.
She looked at Hermione then to the other vampires. "I'm sorry but can you please look after Luna for a while I just need to take care of something."
"Of course Hermione." Rosalie didn't know what was happening but the panic in Hermione's eyes is enough for her to agree with her.
That's all Hermione needed and she apparated immediately at La Push not bothering to fix herself , the only thing on her mind was to see Paul. It seems that she keeps on hurting him even though it is unintentional and she hates it because Paul doesn't deserve it…
After she apparated she walked as fast as she can on the familiar path to Sam's house.
"Merlin this feels déjà vu!" Hermione can't help but think while standing outside at the front door of Sam's house. And just like before Jared opened the door with a scowl in his face while looking at her, not that she can blame him, guess she really messed things up now.
She didn't know what he saw in her, but his scowl turn into a frown while he was looking at her with..concern?
Jared quietly guided her inside that immediately stopped every noise in the house.
The whole pack are there even Jacob's except Paul. Her eyes were searching for him but she didn't see him.
To her surprise Jared offered her a seat almost gentlemanly.
"Ahm..thanks Jared." She said almost uncertainly before she sat. It was kind of new to her Jared's behaviour.
"You don't look okay.!"
Quil said to her rather loudly earning him a slap on his head by Embry who looked at her apologetically.
She knows she's a little bit paler than normal and her eyes have eye bugs. "I'm fine just tired."
"Tired you look like you need sleep." Jared said rather bluntly.
"Do I detect some concern in your voice Mr. Cameron?." She said teasingly to avoid any further questions because she is really too tired right now for any arguments. To her amusement he blushed and which was not the reaction she expected from him.
"Oh shut up!"
Hermione held back her laugh when Jared avoided her eyes but a blush was still prominent on his face.
Their friendly banter was stopped when the door opened rather loudly getting all their didn't know what to say or do but she would swear that she felt something in her heart when she saw Paul walk in with a woman on his arms, whatever that feeling was she didn't like it one bit.
The woman might be beautiful but her overly applied make up covered her natural beauty up and her scanty clothes covered almost next to nothing and didn't leave much to the imagination.
She didn't like it when she saw his smirk, it was not his usual smirk that calmed her. it was not the "him" that she went to see.
"Paul?" She can't help but muttered while assessing this Paul.
When Paul looked at her, she was taken aback when she saw him looking at her with an unreadable emotion on his face.
"So you finally decided to showed up." He said it calmly and quietly but she felt as if he shouted at her instead.
"Paul."
She heard Jared's reprimanding tone but her sole focus was on Paul. She can't help but ask if she hurt him enough to turn him in this person.
"Paul I-"
"Sorry kind of busy right now, but when I have time you can tell me whatever you want to
say. Unless you will run away again."
Hermione gaped not expecting the harshness in his voice but before she could regain her wits to talk Paul already continued walking towards the stairs ignoring the protest of his brothers.
Silence…no one knew what to say but she can feel their gaze on her but her mind was in turmoil to pay attention to anyone of them.
"Paul is being a jerk just give him time and he will be crawling back at you again."
Surprisingly it was Jared who broke the silence.
Hermione smiled but that smile didn't bring any comfort to the pack because that smile don't hold any emotion. "Thank you Jared, think I better go, I just really want to make sure that Paul was alright."
Hermione started to walk away but stopped when she heard Jared calling her. she looked at him and was certain she saw concern in his eyes.
"Paul is just confused-"
"Don't worry it is not the first time that someone turned their back on me." Without any further explanation she walked away to find a secluded part, so she could apparate away.
Yes it's not the first time, but why does it still hurt her? Why?
AN:
HEY Everybody thank you for all your support. Right now my Beta cant help me in editing my story. So please if anyone of you are interested to become my beta please PM me I will really appreciate it…thank you and enjoy reading this chapter. Bless you all
Please if anyone are interested to become my beta PM me asap because I don't know if I can post the new chapter without a beta, so please help me…thank you