(Hermione's POV)
As much as my bottom was objecting to an hour and a half of sitting in the same, uncomfortable chair with my back as straight as possible and doing my best not to move and mess up what Ginny was doing. She was delighted at the opportunity to be my stylist for this wedding, as I had not planned on doing much more than living in the woods and, as thus, had decided against bringing anything more formal than a sweater with no holes in it. So I asked Ginny if she could visit me the day of the wedding, bringing me everything I might need to look presentable, and not only had she rose to the occasion spectacularly she managed to keep everything from Harry, even the brand-new dress she had stashed in their closet. I felt bad that she had gone shopping, especially since I had plenty of dresses at home, but she was concerned at making me look perfect, and told me my thanks would be not complaining. I was happy to comply.
"Almost done," she muttered, as I felt something fluttering over my eyelid. She stepped back to admire her work, then said, "Alright, I think you're ready."
I opened my eyes and immediately sought out the mirror. I had to hand it to Ginny, for a girl who earned her living whipping around the Quidditch pitch on a broomstick she knew how to clean someone up and make them look presentable. As much time as she had spent with her fingers in my hair the soft, careful curls looked effortless. The makeup she had applied was subtle, but a definite improvement over the barely-slept, living in the woods look I had been rocking lately. The dress she had bought me was a lilac-colored halter-topped sheath dress, and it clung to my body without being overly sexy. The final accents were a pair of silver high-heeled sandals, and some understated silver jewelry she strategically placed to draw attention away from the battle scars and hand-shaped burn that I still bore.
"Wow, Gin," I smiled. "You're brilliant."
"I know, I'm a genius, an artist, whatever you want to call it you owe me a night out for it."
"You'll get two," I smiled.
"Now, do you think you can make it through this wedding without winding up in the hospital? Or should I call a healer to be on stand-by just in case?"
"You know how it is with me," I rolled my eyes. "It's not a party until someone winds up in the Accidental Spell Damage wing at St. Mungos, but seeing as we're pretty far away from there, perhaps I'll have to tone it down a bit."
"Maybe just a tad. When are you coming in? I'm eager to meet these wolves."
"Tuesday afternoon."
"I'll get the spare rooms ready and tell Kreacher to prepare extra food."
I couldn't help but shoot her a look.
"Come on, 'Mione," she groaned before I could say a word. "He likes it, and we're paying him even though it's driving him crazy we are. We've found his wages stashed all over the house, he hasn't spent a knut. And you know he's a good cook."
"Still..."
"I'm not fighting with you on this. If I even suggest that his head won't wind up on the wall he goes into fits. That's all he asks, and while we have said we're not going to kill him we did promise to do that when he goes. Let him live out the rest of his life happy, Hermione, and I promise we won't replace him."
"Fine," I sighed.
"Now, you have fun, be safe, stay away from anything you shouldn't be drinking. You know, the whole 'don't do anything I wouldn't do' bit."
"I got it."
"Now go get your werewolf," she smiled, giving me a hug. I grabbed the clutch that was holding my wand, then Apparated to Jacob's house, landing on the front lawn in front of a larger crowd of people than I expected. I couldn't identify one of the girls, but the concern that flooded over me quickly drained as I saw the way Jacob was looking at me.
"Wow," he breathed, looking me over quickly several times before slowing down and looking again, this time taking in the details. His smile was growing wider as he did so, and I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks once again. He was wearing a nice pair of slacks and a button-up shirt, a tie draped around his neck but not done up, the whole ensemble looking a little odd on his tall, muscular frame.
"Good to see you again, Hermione," Billy said, wheeling his way over to me for a one-armed hug. He, too, was wearing what looked like his nicest outfit, topped with a worn black hat.
"Good to see you, too, Mr. Black," I smiled.
"I don't believe you've met my daughter, Rachel," he said, motioning to the girl I didn't know, who I now realized had Paul standing closely behind her, arm haphazardly around her middle.
"Nice to meet you, Rachel," I smiled, walking over to her to shake her hand.
"Nice to meet you, too, Hermione," she grinned, a lopsided smile she shared with her brother, and looked at me with a knowing in her eyes that confused me. Like there was something this girl I had never met before knew about me that I myself didn't know.
"Are we about ready to go?" Sue Clearwater asked, coming down off the porch to take a position behind Billy. To my surprise Seth was behind her, dressed nicely and grinning widely.
"You're going, too?" I asked him in surprise.
"Yeah. I'm a little more forgiving towards the Cullens than the rest of the pack, and a bit more friendly. It earned me an invite," he replied.
"Well, at least Jake will have someone to talk to," I smirked.
"Someone's got to keep him in line," he chuckled.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and instinctively knew it was Jacob's. "Come on," he said softly, turning me towards the garage. "We're going to drive separately. Three people in Billy's truck is crunched enough. We don't need to try to squeeze in five."
"Okay," I said, and he took my hand to lead me into the garage. Without a word he opened the door to his Rabbit, but before I could get in he bent down, and kissed me again. Even though I had promised myself that I wasn't going to start anything until after the hearing, his lips felt so good on mine I couldn't help but kiss him back.
"You look absolutely stunning," he murmured after he had pulled away.
"Thank you," I bit my lip. "You look..."
"Like I was stuffed into a monkey suit?" he grinned, helping me into the car.
"Not quite the words I was going for, but accurate," I chuckled as he climbed into the driver's seat. "Are you going to be okay with this?" I asked as he pulled out of the driveway.
He glanced at me, and I could feel him looking me over again. "I think I'll manage to get through it," he said, before taking off down the road to catch up with his dad's truck.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(Bella's POV)
It was just a few more minutes before I would be walking down the aisle, and so many things were running through my head I had trouble making sense of any of it. But for some reason, in those final few minutes, my mind was not on my groom-to-be waiting for me downstairs. No, I had heard his booming laugh coming from the main floor, and now my mind was completely on Jacob.
I had been surprised to hear that he was coming. I was convinced that he was going to stay well away, and not even bother sending his regrets. But a week or so ago Edward slid me a piece of paper, that I could tell from a distance was an RSVP card, but I literally had to do a double-take when I read the name. And my heart started to flutter. Jacob was coming. But in the next second my happiness turned to confusion. Because scrawled after his name was 'and guest'.
"Guest?" I had asked Edward.
"Yeah. That girl he's been taking care of," he replied, suddenly concerned with seating arrangements to keep the Quileutes well away from the Denalis to minimize the possibility of a disagreement.
I vividly remembered the night that I woke up and Edward was gone. I panicked for a couple minutes before Alice climbed in through my window and explained that there had been an accident on the reservation- a vampire had attacked a girl, but she had managed to light it on fire and survived, but was very badly burned. She had no idea how the girl had known to burn the vampire, nor how she managed to pull it off, but she did and Edward was hurrying over in an attempt to try to know what the girl was thinking. Edward was back when I woke up. The girl was stable, and Carlisle was convinced she was going to survive. But she was still in a bad way, and for some reason they were keeping her at Jacob's house rather than the hospital. I had a lot of questions, but Charlie got up and wanted to talk to me, and I didn't get a chance until that afternoon, but even when we did talk Edward was a little short on details. At least, until that night.
"I didn't think she'd be ready to go out just yet," I said in surprise.
"She's actually mostly healed," he replied with a chuckle. "Her magic really helped with that."
"Magic?" I repeated.
"Yes, Bella. She's a witch."
I don't know why the revelation that there were wizards and witches was surprising, but it did catch me off guard. Charlie was gone at a meeting, so Edward managed to tell me everything he knew about the magical world, which he admitted wasn't much, since that world had a tendency to hate most anything to do with vampires. But this witch was different, he said, and she was open to give anyone a shot, and was more worried about a person's character than what they were. She would probably be excited to be able to go to a wedding where she could talk to vegetarian vampires.
And so I wasn't worried about Jacob's guest. And I convinced myself that he was coming to support me and not because Charlie and Billy were forcing him to go. I barely gave the girl any more thought other than to ask how she was doing until Carlisle assured me that other than some scarring she was fine.
Suddenly it was time, and I was on Charlie's arm, making my way to the staircase so I could make my grand entrance. And before I could see the altar I could see Jacob. Even though everyone was standing and looking back towards me, his eyes were down, looking at the pretty girl I've never seen before in a lilac colored dress standing next to him, who was gazing up at me with a passive interest, seemingly oblivious to the look of complete devotion she was receiving. And there was something in his eyes, something I had seen in Sam's eyes when he looked at Emily, something I had wondered if she appreciated as much as she knew. And my step faltered slightly, barely enough for Charlie to even notice.
Jacob had imprinted. And, even though the rational part of me knew that this should be some of the best news I had ever heard, jealousy suddenly flooded over me. The last time I had seen Jacob his eyes were only for me. He needed me as I needed him at the time, because I did love him. But seeing him look at the girl like that and I suddenly realized how he must have felt when Edward came back and I rushed to him. He was gone, he would never need me again. He only needed the girl at his side, and I couldn't even remember her name. I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw her out. I wanted to do what I could to get Jacob to at least look up at me. But as I started descending the staircase I knew that was never going to happen again. Because even if he did look at me, it would be the look of a friend and nothing more. Jacob's love for me had dissolved in an instant, and even if I tried I could never win it back.
I tried to put it out of my mind, and looking up at Edward waiting for me did the job quite nicely. I didn't even think about it again until later that night, as everyone was dancing, and Edward said something that made me realize that I had been staring at Jacob and not him.
"Would you like to go talk to him?" Edward asked, following my gaze.
"Hmmm?" I asked, tearing my eyes from him. The girl was patiently trying to teach Jacob a dance that wasn't the awkward high-school box step, they were talking about something I couldn't hear, wide smiles across their faces, one or both occasionally breaking into laughter.
"I'm sure he'd like to see you," he continued.
"Oh. Yeah. Okay," I murmured, and we started over there, but I let off a soft wounded sound as Jacob spun the girl to him, then bent low so his lips could softly meet hers in what each probably thought was a private stolen kiss.
"She doesn't know," Edward said out of the blue.
"What doesn't she know?" I asked.
"About the imprint. He's decided not to tell her. He wants her to decide for herself."
"Wouldn't it only help...?"
"She's a very successful, very well known witch. He feels lucky that she even looked at him twice. That she could easily find someone like her, who is rich, successful, or famous themselves, and never give La Push another thought. If he tells her about the imprint, he think's it'll just scare her and she'll run, because he's afraid it would sound like he's asking her to leave her world for his, and what's the incentive for her to do that? He thinks that if he can get her to start to develop feelings for him, it might not seem such a surprise if he ever reveals the imprint to her."
I looked at Hermione then. She really looked nothing more than an average college-aged girl at a quick glance, but watching her a little more closely I could see there was more there. Her body had a myriad of scars, the most prominent being a hand-shaped burn on her arm which looked like it could be months, maybe years old, not days. Her face, while pretty, did betray a life of stress, and there was a worldly look behind her eyes. The type of person who could use something good happening in their life, who didn't feel entitled to happiness, but deserved it anyways. Most people would see having someone willing to devote themselves to them and love them without question forever with a guarantee of never losing that feeling would be a good thing, but I can see where it would throw her life out of balance. There are thousands of miles, physically and figuratively, between their worlds. She had just gotten over an injury. News like that might be too much for her to handle, but Jacob had lost once, and he was unwilling to lose again, so he knew he'd have to change tactics to do so.
While I was thinking Edward had led me over to Jacob, who didn't even seem to notice me. It was Edward who reached out and tapped Hermione on the shoulder.
"Hullo, Edward," she smiled at him. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," he beamed back. "Have you met my stunning bride, Bella?"
"Pleasure to meet you, Bella," she said, her hand moving into the space between us, but my hands didn't leave my side. So Hermione turned the attempt at a hand shake into an awkward curtsey.
"Nice to meet you, too," I muttered, looking away from her.
"May I have this dance?" Edward asked her, extending his hand. Looking into Jacob's face I could see his jaw tighten.
"Of course," she smiled, taking his hand and letting him lead her a short ways away so he could start leading her in a waltz.
"I guess that leaves us," Jacob said with a flash of a smile. He held his arms out to me and I allowed him to wrap them around my waist and started swaying on the spot with him, more distance than was comfortable between us.
"You look great," he said after a few minutes.
"You imprinted," I blurted, unable to think of anything else.
"Yeah," he beamed, looking over at Hermione, who looked much more comfortable dancing with someone who knew what they were doing. She and Edward were chatting as he expertly led her with the music. "She's great," he added.
"But you imprinted," I repeated mindlessly.
"I don't know what I was afraid of," he went on. "Because I love this feeling. I love looking at her, and the way she smiles at me, and everything about her. And I think she's starting to have feelings for me back."
"But she's only here for a short time."
His face fell slightly. "I'm not sure what to do about that just yet. We're going to have some more time together, I'm going over to England to give a demonstration to her Ministry of Magic. I'm just going to have to figure out what to do during that time. I'm going to have to show her how much she means to me, and hopefully we can work something out."
I looked at him, unsure of what else to say, and he seemed just as awkward with me.
"This is a decent gig you got goin' on here," he muttered in his search for something to say.
"Alice put it all together for us," I nodded. "Except the honeymoon. Edward put that together. He won't tell me where he's taking me or anything. He wants it to be a surprise."
"And what exactly are you planning on doing on your honeymoon? Read books?" he asked with a smirk.
"For your information, we're planning on doing the same thing all couples do on their honeymoon," I shot back in annoyance.
He stopped, finally looking me in the face, but there was no hint of the happy Jacob I craved. "How could you even think about doing that?" he hissed, luckily too low for anyone to hear. "He'll kill you!"
"I trust him. I don't think he's going to hurt me," I replied in a whisper.
"You're delusional," he scoffed. "It's idiotic, Bells. I know you've always had a bit of a blind spot when it comes to him, but this is beyond the pale."
"What the hell do you care?" I snapped.
He looked wounded. "Because I'm your friend."
"You sure as hell haven't been acting like it recently."
"How am I supposed to act like a friend when the leech won't let me get anywhere near you?"
"You have Hermione. You should be happy and go," I shot back.
Probably because he was listening in, Edward appeared next to us just then, a confused and conflicted looking Hermione right behind him. He and Jacob exchanged a long glance.
"I don't need to hear your opinions on that, mutt," Edward snarled softly.
"It's not an opinion if it's fact," Jacob shot back.
"I'm taking every precaution..."
"And you think that's going to be enough?"
"Something the matter over here, boys?" Charlie had come over after noticing the exchange going on.
"Nothing wrong, chief. Just an old disagreement cropping up," Jacob said, tension thick in his voice.
Charlie glanced at Edward, who nodded in terse agreement.
"Jake, you haven't introduced me to your friend," Charlie said, and Edward placed his hand around my shoulders, leading me towards the Denali's and away from my former best friend. In the pit of my stomach I was sure that it was the last time.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
(Hermione's POV)
Jacob and I had been dancing together and having a pretty good time when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Before I could even look I felt Jacob's hands tighten on me, but this was not the time nor the place to bring it up, so I let it go as I turned to look at Edward.
"Hullo, Edward," I smiled. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," he replied with a grin that I was sure Muggle girls had been lusting after for decades. "Have you met my stunning bride, Bella?" he asked, nodding towards her.
She looked sour at me, like I was some kind of competition, and briefly I thought of all the anti-magic measures taken by Muggles in the past. Still, I wanted to be pleasant, so I reached out to shake hands and said, "Pleasure to meet you, Bella". But she refused to return the gesture, and not wanting to just snatch my hand back I attempted a quick curtsey as a show of respect.
"Nice to meet you," she responded in a tone that made it evident she thought just the opposite as she looked away from me.
"May I have this dance?" Edward asked as the hidden speakers began to play a waltz.
I took his proffered hand and as he led me away said, "It would be rude of me to deny the groom a dance, now, wouldn't it?"
"The height of rudeness, I'd think," he smiled as he began to lead me around the dance floor. I'll be the first to admit that it was nice to be able to dance with someone who knew what they were doing, though I had been having fun trying to teach Jacob some basic moves.
"How is your time with the wolf pack?" he asked. "Are you learning anything?"
"Loads, though I'm sure you know most of it already. And anything you don't know they probably don't want you to know, and it wouldn't do for me to go spilling secrets," I replied.
"I wouldn't dream of asking. I daresay they won't have to be burdened with us much longer."
"How so?"
"Moving often and starting over is something we have to do quite often, due to our condition," he said in a low voice, leading me in a twirl as his sister took a picture. "And now, with Bella, it would be safer for us to move sooner rather than later."
"Because of the treaty," I said in a murmur I was sure only he could hear.
"Exactly. Changing her is a violation, the pack has made that point abundantly clear, and they are unwilling to budge on that point. There are no boundaries on the treaty, they have vowed to hunt us down no matter where we go. The best we could hope for is to disappear before that happens and rely on Alice to let us know if our futures mysteriously go blank. She can't tell anything dealing with the wolves, but that seems to happen when our lives happen to collide. Strangely enough she can't see you, but you don't cause the whole family to blank."
"Perhaps a lack of hostility? Unless one of you does what that last vampire did to me, you have no reason to fear me."
"That, or perhaps a magical defense of sorts. If she can't see you, and you don't affect her, then that decreases the chances of you meeting or causing tension in her that would draw attention to you. It's fascinating, but something that might take years of study to discover."
"And you don't have that long."
"I would gladly keep in touch, but my first job is to protect my family, and with you so closely tied to the pack..."
"We're friends," I clarified. "I have no desire to play spy for either side."
"Right. Friends," he muttered, and I was sure there was something he knew that I didn't, and it annoyed me for a second. How is it I feel like I'm the only one out of the loop on something really big and pertaining to me?
"When are you planning to change Bella?" I asked to get off the subject.
"I'm attempting to buy myself more time, but she is quite stubborn about it happening sooner rather than later. I'd be lucky to get weeks out of her at this point. More likely than not it will happen during our honeymoon."
"Have you told her father?" I asked. I had not met Charlie, but from what Billy and Jacob have said about him, I'd be surprised if he didn't have an idea of what was going on around his town. Maybe not the exact details, but that something supernatural was happening. And if it had something to do with his daughter, he was probably willing to overlook it in favor of her happiness. I had met Bella's mother, however, and she would not be the type you'd entrust any secret to. She was happy. She didn't need Bella for total happiness. Losing her daughter would be devastating, but she'd get over the loss. Charlie, on the other hand, was more concerned about his daughter and her well-being, at least according to Billy.
"No," he replied, as if the very through were ludicrous. "We are in enough danger with Bella still being alive. I'm sure you've heard of the Volturi?"
I nodded, remembering the old clan from a textbook I read at Hogwarts.
"We're walking thin ice keeping her human this long. They're very interested in seeing her changed. They'd be pushed over the edge if they found out that we told Charlie about our world."
"So what are you planning on telling him?"
"Nothing. We're planning on faking our deaths. It may be difficult for Bella to stay still through a funeral, we may have to go down at sea or something of the sort, but if she thinks she can we'll allow him to bury her."
"And you think that's the right thing to do?" I scoffed.
"It's the safest. To tell him is to risk his life," he answered calmly.
"And do you think it would kill him any less to think his only daughter is dead, and that he had something to do with it?"
"He had nothing..." he started, but I interrupted.
"Do you think that would stop him from blaming himself?"
There was a look of conflict behind his eyes, so I was cautious as I continued.
"I kept my parents in the dark about what was happening, even forcing them to not know for a while through magic. It hurt them, and it took a lot for me to gain their trust again, but in the end they were much happier knowing I was alive, that I had survived everything I had been keeping from them, and they forgave me and we rebuilt our relationship and have all learned to deal with some things we can't control. They've kept my secret, and never discouraged me. My magic almost got all three of us killed, you should see what they did to our house just days after they left, but in the end they're happier with the relationship that we have knowing they can't change something so fundamental about me, and they've learned to live with it knowing that if they rejected it they'd be rejecting me. You should at least think about giving Charlie the option. He has good protection here. And your sister would know if you would have to make him disappear for a while. Hell, I'll help protect him if you don't steal his daughter forever. If I hide him even the Volturi will never find him."
"It's something to think about," he nodded. "Once it is safe for Bella to be around him, of course. We'll have to feed the lie to him at first anyways. It would be suspicious if he acted out of sorts when she becomes dead to the world, so to speak."
"Just think about it," I pleaded. "And remember he won't be the only one in the area who knows the truth."
"The pack," he frowned. "They probably won't be in the best of moods after the news. More likely they'll do their best to make the fake story the truth," he finished with a dry attempt at humor.
"Is there no way to get them to make an exception? It hardly seems fair. You would think that this would prove you are in love, and that you're only changing her for her safety in many senses of that word."
"They don't care," he shook his head. "The treaty is written in stone according to them. They've allowed some bending of the rules recently, I know they will not break on that. There is no provision for choices."
"They can be quite stubborn," I replied with a half smile.
"And yet it seems as though you are growing close to them, or should I say one in particular. I caught a bit of an interlude between you and Jacob earlier."
"That's something I just don't understand," I admitted. "By all accounts we don't match, but I feel close to him. Drawn to him in some way, and I keep getting the feeling that he has something like the same feeling."
"I'd be willing to bet..." he started, but he frowned and glanced over at Jacob and Bella. I followed his gaze, the two seemed to be upset at each other and growing more so with each passing second.
"We should get over there," Edward said curtly, and I found myself jogging behind him as he made his way back to his bride's side. He and Jacob exchanged angry sounding words, many of which were left unspoken by Jacob but still understood. I was wondering if I should intervene when Charlie did it for me. I was relieved for the distraction, and the tension seemed to leave as Edward led Bella away. As I participated in a polite conversation with Bella's father I made a vow to myself in my head. I probably knew more about Bella's upcoming transformation than any of the wolf pack, but the Cullens had been nothing but nice to me, and I was convinced they were a good family. I would not tell the pack what Edward told me, no matter how close to Jacob I was going to get. They would not be able to prepare for war because of me. And if it came to that and I was still around, I would fight for the Cullens. The only question in my mind was how far I would be willing to take that fight.
