Chapter 12: Time to visit home

Hermione still tried to contain her tears when they met Doctor Cullen at the Airport. Forgetting about her Manners and everything important she sat on a bench sobbing into a tissue while the men greeted each other and had brief talk, that she tuned out completely. A million thoughts chased each other through her head, all of them charged by regrets to leave her friends behind. Only when the headmaster turned to her to say his goodbye as well she returned to the real world for a short moment. Everything else happened in somewhat of a blur, since they already were running late. Doctor Cullen took care of their Luggage and made sure they made it to their seats in time. Only when they were seated and were able to stop rushing through the airport, they both had finally time to adjust to their situation.

Carlisle rested against the soft headrest and took an unnecessary but habitual deep breath. So here they were. He actually brought a human girl home with him and Esme didn't know yet. What the hell was he thinking? If he would have been able to turn paler than he already was he would have. It wasn't helping that she was crying ever since they met this morning and he had no way of making her stop so far. He was used to being stared at, but today he had the feeling he got eyed because people thought he was a horrible parent. He did hear about such experiences before, but it was nothing he ever had to experience in his life or after life. His kids just weren't exactly in an age, where such behaviors were on their agenda. Well now at least one was. God, what if she hated him, because he took her away from the only place she knows?

Caught up in his thoughts of horror, that clearly formed a downwards spiral he lost focus on his primary task and only got pulled back when he noticed a woman, seated across the walkway, handing Hermione a tissue. Damn, he WAS a horrible parent.

Embarrassed he shot the woman a thankful smile and formed the word 'thanks' with his mouth, not wanting to startle the girl, then he turned his attention to her.

Hermione felt the heat pool in her cheeks, as a stranger handed her an tissue. She must have annoyed everyone with her sobs. All she wanted was to vanish into thin air, when Doctor Cullen reached out and wiped away a tear with his thumb. With a shameful look she turned to face him. How horrible of her. He was so nice and made all this possible for her and she gave him so much trouble all morning. "I….I am sorry." She mumbled. His face looked a little stressed too, but Hermione came to the conclusion that it was hard to read negative emotions on his face, due to his vampire appearance. But of course she stressed him. She wasn't exactly a display of good behavior.

"I am not sure how to help you." The Doctor admitted. "What is wrong?" He asked a little cautious. Secretly scared that she wants to cancel the whole thing.

Hermione got increasingly angry at herself. Her Dad would have been mad at her for causing such a scene and tell her to behave like a big girl. And there was Doctor Cullen, being all nice instead, asking her what troubled her. Why did she mess up like this? "I am so so sorry" she repeated again and Carlisle noticed people turning around to stare at them more obvious.

His face turned into a grumpy grimace. They should just mind their own business. "Why are you sorry? There is no reason to be. I am sure it is not easy to take in all the sudden changes." He said in a low calming voice.

Hermione blinked away the newly upcoming tears. "You are so nice and I give you so much trouble." She gasped. "I really didn't mean to make you angry!"

Carlisle pulled the girl into a soft hug. "You don't make me angry" He tried to calm her. It's the people that try to catch our private business that make me angry"

This caused Hermione to let her eyes explore her surroundings. There indeed were a lot of people shooting them some too interested looks. But something else shocked Hermione much more. The interior! Everything looked so much nicer than what she was used to. "No way" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper. "Is this first class?" She asked staring at the Doctor with wide eyes.

He chuckled at the evidence how unaware the child was of the world around her. He hoped to make her travel a pleasant memory, although it didn't go as planned so far.

Hermione covered her face with her Hands. "This must have been so expensive!" She complained "I would have been fine with economy." She didn't want to come off spoiled or unthankful and were at a loss how to react to this discovery.

The Doctor laughed again at her. "Don't worry. You will notice money isn't exactly a problem, when one has as much….time….as we do." He gave her a little wink. She got what he tried to say. "Besides" he continued "I work at the hospital, it's not like we exactly have to save the pennies."

Hermione frowned a little. "My Parents were dentists." She stated, containing the sadness about their loss better every time she spoke about them now. She wasn't really sure why she said that or where she wanted to go from there but she somehow considered this information fitting the situation. Hermione expected some weird silence following her statement instead the Doctor sighted at her and patted her head. Confused she looked at him.

"So do you want to tell me now, why you were crying?" He asked in a friendly tone.

Hermione sat back and thought for a moment. She wasn't even sure WHY she was crying to be honest. It was just everything. Leaving Hogwarts, saying bye to everyone especially Ron and Harry. What she was not feeling the last few days just hit her full force now. Oh how should she put those feelings into words? She sat back "I…" a deep breath "I think I just now realized that I really won't see my friends again and will never return to school…" she was a lot calmer now.

The Doctor hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, she couldn't help but stare into his black eyes, even though she would have preferred to look away. "Look Hermione, if you don't want this then you always can tell me and we make sure you can go back." He paused and released her. "But you should give it a chance. I am sure you will find happiness with us. At least wait until you got to know everyone, alright?"

Hermione let that wander through her head for a while and then smiled content. This, she found, actually sounded like a nice plan. With the new peace, that filled her she couldn't stop a yawn escaping her.

"Why don't you rest for a bit?" Doctor Cullen advised. It will be a while. I can wake you later, if you wish."

She smiled and snuggled up in her seat. "Thank you Doctor Cullen." She said with a smile on her lips.

"Carlisle!" he corrected her and watched her drifting off to sleep.

Hermione woke an hour later to someone talking. Through her sleep clouded eyes she saw Doctor Cullen chatting with the lady across, that handed her an tissue earlier. If he noticed that she woke up he didn't show it, so she decided to stretch and get rid off the remaining sleepiness. "Good morning sweety" The strange lady called out to her. Hermione was about to stutter some confused reply, thankfully Carlisle was faster. "Welcome back among the living" He smiled, hoping she would get the joke and she did. With a giggle she sat up. "This is Miss Delaney" he introduced the stranger "We just talked about the food they serve here. Do you want anything, it's not really to my taste but maybe for you…." Again a giggle from the girl. The Doctor understood to make subtle fun of his situation, she had to admit.

Hermione shook her head. Not that she wasn't hungry but she already felt bad for the expensive first class ticket he got for her, she didn't want to ask for anything extra and wasn't sure if the food is included or not. "No thank you, I don't think eating and traveling goes well together for me" she improvised.

"As you wish, but you have to eat something once we get home. I doubt you had much for breakfast" he tried to sound strict, but that was hard with this angelic voice he had. Now for the first time the witch really had a chance to think about this. She always did read about Vampires as cruel creatures of the night. Never did she really pay attention to the little side note that they are actually beautiful. While people stared at them earlier for her drama, they now stared at them with some other focus. She noticed people whispering about them or rather him. The awareness of this attention made her go tense. She leaned to Doctor Cullen's side and whispered herself. "Doctor Cullen…..they all stare at you." She stated the obvious with some uncomfortable feeling.

He looked at some people that were staring at them and gifted them with a charming smile. "Don't worry I hear every word they are saying, it will get a little better once we are in Forks, where people know my family." He wasn't sure what else to tell the girl, it never really would vanish completely….the staring. It just was part of being a vampire. He had to solve another issue with the girl though. "Hermione, we need to talk about this Doctor Cullen thing."

Blankly she blinked at him. What was wrong with it?

He let out a sigh "Please, you can call me whatever you want and whatever you feel comfortable with, but I would feel a lot better if you would not address me with fully title and last name. How about we settle for Carlisle for now?" he didn't want to push her or anything alike, and his children often called him Carlisle instead of dad as well so she could decide herself what to go for, but something a little more private than Doctor Cullen hat to do.

Hermione blushed again, not the reaction he aimed for. "I….Yeah, you are right, I just didn't really got to the point where I feel that we are interacting in a non-professional way." She admitted a little guilty.

He leaned back. "That's okay. But please try to adjust to that. I wouldn't like being called Doctor in my home."

Hermione nodded dedicated, she would be able to do as much for him. She decided it was time to behave like the well educated girl she was, and make him not regret his decision. She was just about to pull a book out of her smaller bag, when she realized it would be better to get to know where they were heading. Always stay informed her grandma used to say.

"So how is it where we are going…..living, I mean?" She asked and didn't even have to fake curiosity. This actually was as good as reading, she would get to know new things after all.

His face lightened up at her question. It felt good to see her eyes sparkle with interest, this was so much better than the tears she displayed earlier. "Forks." He said happily. "It's a really small town. You will be glad that you don't have to visit the local high school, like the others do. Everyone knows everyone. But I think you will like it." A smirk formed on his face. "I already got told you are a little bookworm, and Forks has the perfect weather for reading. It rarely has sunny days and a lot of rain."

Hermione actually liked that thought. She didn't know what was up with people hating rain so much. There wasn't anything better than a rainy morning with a good book and a cup of tea.

The man continued "our house is a little outside town, surrounded by the woods. So I have to admit you wont have an easy trip to the town, but someone always should be home to give you a ride if needed."

She didn't think about this yet either and suddenly her nervousness reached a whole new level. "Can you tell me a little about your family?" She asked, her face white as snow.

"OUR Family" Carlisle introduced the topic "is not as scary as your face tells me you think they are." He chuckled. "No reason to be nervous. The kids are out on vacation this week, so you only will meet my wife for now and I am sure you will get along well. Her name is Esme."

Esme huh? Hermione never heard such an unusual name before, it sounded nice. A relieved breath escaped her lips. It was really a calming thought that she wouldn't have to meet everyone at once.

"and your children?" She asked honestly curious now, that she knew she didn't have to meet them any time soon.

Carlisle felt her nervousness and reservation, he really hoped she would warm up once they were home. But he couldn't expect that after only a few conversations. It took forever until jasper warmed up to them too, thanks to Alice he did by now. Hopefully Hermione would find someone among the family who would help her with this complicated task as well.

"Well. Let's go by the order they joined us, shall we?" he asked playful and she gave a nod, as if waiting for him to tell her the end of a book she wasn't able to finish. He had to smile at the thought "There is Edward. He is my youngest son but the first who joined my family. He reads a lot too, so you have common ground there, and he plays the piano. Also he recently found his better half, Bella." Hermione's face lighted up at the mentioning of another book lover.

"Then there is Rosalie. Our oldest daughter. She can be a little complicated to deal with, her intentions are sometimes hard to understand for people who don't know her, but I have a feeling you two will understand each other just fine."

Hermione counted with his explanations in her head. One son and one daughter so far. Okay this sounded nice.

"next would be Emmet. Our oldest and the most unpredictable of the pack." Carlisle let out a annoyed sigh. "He's a real big brother type, so be careful. He wants to gets all the crazy experiences and doesn't say no to any adventure. But since he is with Rosalie, they actually balance out each other well. Rose, sometimes is a little too careful."

Hermione got confused. Did he say he is with Rosalie as in couple? She held back to ask.

"then there are Alice and Jasper, who joined us together. Alice is always in high spirits, but a real caregiver. She will always have your back once you got to know each other. And her other half Jasper is a really calm character. He also reads a lot." He wasn't sure how to tell much about him without saying anything that could peak the interest of people that listened in on their talk. So he left it at that.

Hermione turned more confused. He said it again. She just had to ask. "What do you mean Other half?" She asked a little grossed out. "As in romantic couple?" She was shocked, what had she gotten herself into.

Carlisle didn't actually think about the fact that it would confuse her, but of course it would. It's not really the typical human image of a family. How did he explain this in a way she could understand without saying too much?

"You have to take in mind…how long we…uhm live together." He tried to approach the topic from this corner. "and how old they were when they joined our family." He saw that she was actually thinking about it. He already knew that he would like that the most about her, she always thought before jumping to conclusions and tried to react reasonable. The Healer at St. Mungo's wasn't wrong when she told him that Hermione was a real smart head.

"I see….I guess I have to see that myself to understand it" was the timid answer she gave and Carlisle was actually proud of her.

He felt how things already got easier with her, less scripted, if this made any sense. "So it's my turn again isn't it?" He asked a little daring and the witch's face showed understanding.

"Oh we continue our game from the hospital? Fine!" she taunted him. "Ask away, then"

Time to get to know her personality a little better. "What was your favorite subject before u went to Hogwarts?" He had to keep the questions in a way that wouldn't give away to much…supernatural. He felt people still tuning in on their conversation now and then.

Hermione tried to remember her elementary school time for a moment. "History and English, I think" Which was easy said, since History class only consisted of cool topics back then like local fables. "though the excitement for History got lost when I changed school" she grimaced remembering Professor Binns. "That's to blame on the teacher I fear" She didn't want it to sound like an excuse, but she was somewhat convinced that she would have enjoyed the History classes if it would have been taught differently. "You got another question, if we keep it fair." She granted sheepishly

This wasn't too bad of a choice, Carlisle thought. It's not the easy slacker classes and it's not too high ambitious to be faked out of misplaced ambition. He expected all his children to bring home good grades, she would not be an exception just because she only goes through school once. He had another question burning to be asked, but that was none for this environment so he settled for something else "Do you wanted siblings, when you were younger?" not a question without intention.

The witch was rather surprised by the question. This wasn't something you got asked every day. But she knew the answer without thinking. "No." she admitted very sure. "I always enjoyed being alone with my parents. It's not that I was scared of sharing my things or their attention. I just never was one of the children that went asking for a sibling. It never occurred to me that this was possible back then and when I was older it just felt right as it was." She actually was thinking about this topic in the past, when she met Ron's family for the first time, so she didn't have to hesitate with that answer, but she knew where Doc…..Carlisle was coming from. "But it's not like I hate the idea of siblings." She added to answer his unspoken question.

He nodded happily. "Smart girl, I see." He commented. He actually got a little scared that she would have issues fitting in with his vampiric children since they all were rather fast thinkers, but she proved him wrong in not even a day. Alice was right this would be great.

It didn't take them long to reach the airport after this and things were a lot more relaxed than when they started this morning. Carlisle got all their things on a little carriage and met Hermione at one of the waiting areas. "I hope you don't mind, usually Emmett would have picked us up, but since they are already gone for vacation and Esme wanted to prepare the house for our arrival, we have to take a cab." He knew this trip would take way longer than necessary and was a little annoyed by it. If he could drive himself they would make it in half the time. Hermione just nodded "I didn't expect anything else anyway." She said. She seemed a lot happier and this made even the extra travel time feel okay for him.

They entered one of the waiting cars and the driver was one of the less talkative ones, which Carlisle was thankful for. Hermione asked if it was fine if she would read a little, during their drive, so she was occupied until they were about 10 minutes away from Forks.

Suddenly he turned a little worried, her breathing got faster and louder, not noticeable for any human but he could hear it clearly. She slammed her book shut and squirmed in her seat. Carlisle looked at her face, she was even paler than earlier in the airplane. "What's wrong?" he asked a little panic in his voice.

He watched as she opened the window a little bit and then spoke without facing him "I think not eating and reading during the ride was not the wisest of combinations." She mumbled.

A lopsided smirk spread on Carlisle face, happy that it wasn't anything serious. He could deal with a little travel sickness and thankfully thought ahead.

"Can we take a little stop?" He asked the driver, who already eyes the sick girl suspiciously, worried about his backseats. He nodded in eager agreement and stopped the car on the road's side.

Carlisle opened his Seatbelt and then hers. "Come on lets take some breaths of fresh air and stand for a moment. " She climbed out of the car and stood on wobblily knees. Carlisle fished a small bottle of water out of his bag before he left the car and joined her. He put a hand on her forehead, knowing that it would create a cooling sensation for her, and handed her the water. "Take small sips."

She took the bottle from him, while wondering about the thing with his cold hands. She already noticed in the hospital but didn't really take it as characteristic for him, now she came to consider it some usual thing for him. Did she read about vampires being cold? If so, she couldn't remember.

As she failed miserably at opening the bottle, she handed it back. Meanwhile the driver left the car as well to smoke a cigarette, a few steps away.

Carlisle opened the bottle with a fast 'click' and handed it back to her, annoyed at himself that he didn't think of this before.

She only took one sip, first feeling better when she felt the cool liquid running down her throat. So she felt safe to go for more, but when the first cool gulps reached her stomach it got all the way worse. The little clouds of smoke that attacked her nose didn't help either. Suddenly she felt really ill and she knew she couldn't stop the unavoidable.

Carlisle saw it too. The mixture of horror and displeasure on her face, was a picture he knew all to well from work. Usually he would hand his patients a little metal bowl, but in this case all he could doo was step out the way and quickly hold her hair back as she threw up her breakfast.

The driver, clearly not in this kind of situation for the first time, just opened the driver's seat door and grabbed a pack of paper towels and handed it to, what he assumed was the girls father with an annoyed grunt.

He gave him a thankful smile, and pulled a few pieces out, before handing them to her.

Hermione's cheeks burned with an intense feeling of shame. "I am sorry!" She said "This never happened to me before!" she really did mess up all way.

Again the vampire put one of his cool hands in her neck. "Don't worry, nothing I didn't see before…..hospital remember?"

Hermione would have lied if she said this didn't make her feel better. It clearly lowered the level of embarrassment she felt.

When they continued the rest of their way home Hermione focused on staring out of the window into the far distance to not make anything worse. She couldn't help but notice the unusual amount of green. She instantly felt sheltered beneath the trees and the closer they got to their destiny the greener it got.

….

(Cullen's home)

Esme returned from her own hunting trip this morning, to find her children already gone and a note laying on her kitchen counter.

"Mom,

We are on our way. Bella is worried, about Charlie being alone. Maybe you can bring him something to eat while we are gone, else he will only live off of take out.
Also you want to fill the kitchen with human food, you will need it. Have some Camomile tea ready, for an upset stomach when Carlisle gets home at 9:48pm.
I put a few needed things for our newest addition in my room. She will find them.

We will call when we reached our first stay in Italy.

Alice."

So the agenda for Esme during the day was to do some grocery shopping, finish a spicy Tuna casserole for Charlie. The man really was so helpless without Bella, or her. It was adorable in its own way.

Then she went to put fresh covers on Alice and Jaspers bed, but noticed that Alice already took care of that. She also saw the little gift basket on the bed and fought her curiosity to read the note.

The rest of the day she spend staring at Alice note for her and trying to call her to figure out what exactly she meant by 'newest addition'. She knew what it meant literally, but she didn't really want to get too excited in case she was wrong.

At exactly 9:40pm she brew the tea, as Alice advised in her massage. And wondered what this was about.

Exactly 8 minutes later, she heard a car in their drive way, a few words exchanged and much to her surprise she noticed a timid, very young, female voice apologizing, before the car left again. Then a key got put into the door and the familiar scratching noise that signaled the key's turning in the lock.

She walked to the door, filled with excitement, that she failed to hold back and nervousness. The door opened and the first thing she saw was her husband and double as much bags as he left with. He pushed them all inside and freed the way, to reveal a beautiful, little girl. Not beautiful in the fashion meaning way. But to Esme she was the most beautiful being, with all her humanly imperfections. A mess of untamable hair on a much too small head. She only reached up to Carlisle's Chest. Her hands trembled nervously, her face was pale but her cheeks and forehead were shining red. She looked a little sick, which just made her look more alive. Big brown eyes, didn't know if to look at her or somewhere else and as she entered their house, she hid behind her husband halfway. Esme was instantly charmed by this girl. And now she only could thank Alice for not taking this moment away from her with spoiling anything.

Her love put a hand on the girls back and pushed her forward gently. She stepped up to them, not letting the girl out of sight with a warm smile on her face. "hello there." She greeted them delightful as her husband put a tender kiss on her cheek. "hello my heart." He greeted her and pulled her in a deep embrace. She couldn't help but close her eyes, enjoying that he was back with her. As they parted again he stepped behind the girl and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Esme, this is Hermione Granger." He introduced her. Esme bend down to her a tiny bit and held a hand out. "Hello Hermione. My name is Esme Cullen. Nice to meet you." The girl was shy, which surprised her a little, she didn't look like the shy type.

Hermione took the offered hand carefully, not failing to notice that she was as cold as Doc…..Carlisle's. "H…Hello. Thank you for letting me be here!"

Esme didn't hesitate to pull the girl into a soft hug. As she let go the child blinked startled at her. But that didn't stop Esme from following though with her task. She laid an arm around the girls shoulders and led her towards the kitchen. Leaving Carlisle behind with all the bags and boxes. "I heard you are not feeling so well." Esme admitted as she led the girl to a seat on the kitchen counter, where the hot tea stood steaming. "I prepared some tea for you, it will help." She smiled and pushed the cup to her as she sat down.

Hermione's mouth formed a surprised but voiceless 'oh'. She let her eyes wander over Esme and then through the kitchen and the open living room, when she ended up at Esme's friendly face again. "How?...How did you?" she stuttered obviously stunned by this warm greeting.

Carlisle suddenly sat next to her, she didn't notice that he followed them. He looked at his wife with a proud smile. "Alice?" he asked, but it didn't sound like an actual question. His wife nodded.

Hermione looked confused from her tea to Carlisle and then to Esme. She felt like she was missing information again. Carlisle smiled at her. "You did read a little about our kind, didn't you?" he asked Hermione. He figured out by know that she responded to questions better than to bare facts. He waited until the girl nodded and then shot a meaningful look to Esme, who was confused if she was supposed to hide her vampiric nature or not. Who was this girl? Did she know about them already? Carlisle would have a lot to explain!

He continued "Then you maybe already know that some of us have special abilities." He waited for a response from the girl.

She shook her head slowly. "Actually, I hear that for the first time." She admitted a little grumpy. Her lack of knowledge annoyed her.

Esme took over, picking up where the talk was heading. "Some of us, that already had some kind of talent in their human life, gain a similar ability after their change." She explained.

Hermione wasn't really sure why they told her that now until Carlisle connected the dots for her. "Our daughter Alice, has the ability to have some insight on future events." He kept explaining. "She probably already saw your little adventure on the way here, and informed Esme." The last part was as much a question for the woman than it was a statement for Hermione.

Esme nodded happily. And Hermione was thinking about the possibilities of super powers as she sipped her tea.

"Finish your tea. I will take care of our luggage and then you should sleep so we don't mess up your sleeping pattern." Carlisle said stricter than he ever was before, but still with this warm friendly smile. "You have all the time in the world to talk and get to know everything tomorrow."

Esme shot Carlisle a look that yelled 'you gotta explain that!' but he could feel that she was positively surprised. She was all motherly when she spoke to Hermione. "I have Alice room set up for you for now." She explained to her and as soon as she caught a hint of newly rising embarrassment in the child's face she added "She offered it, since she already saw you in her visions. So no worries."

This made Hermione feel a lot better. She didn't like being an inconvenience. She should have been full of energy with all the Adrenalin filling her and the nap she had before, but as the sweet tea warmed her from the inside she couldn't help but feeling heavy with sleep. She thought this situation would have been a lot more awkward and uncomfortable, but Esme made her feel very safe and at home instantly. So she didn't protest when the woman showed her to her sleeping place for the night. This actually felt a lot nicer than she had anticipated.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

AN: So after the weekend again a longer chapter. I have to admit I had some trouble writing this chapter. I never know when I am too shallow or too detailed when it comes to such private conversations, but I hope you enjoy reading this

Since I am a victim to travel sickness myself, I thought this would be a nice mishap to place here and a good hook up for Esme.

And even though I am no Edward fan at all, I have a feeling Edward and Hermione will get along pretty fine. And I prefer to go with such impress rather than my personal preferences on characters.