The news of Harry Potter's godson spread around the school like wildfire. By the time third period came around, no one was shocked to see the green-eyed student with a child in his arms. His teachers were very receptive to Teddy, cooing at him or holding him until the frightened child cried for his godfather. Students were excited to have the infant among them as well, and many made funny faces as they passed in the hall.

Harry was relieved to find that there were only two minutes left until 4th period was over. He had noticed that Teddy's hair was developing some subtle highlights, and while the change was too minute for anyone else to notice, he knew that he would need to give the boy another potion soon. When at last he left for lunch, he fished a bottle from his bag with a free hand, and popped the cap off between his thumb and forefinger before holding the nipple to Teddy's lips. The boy grasped the bottle clumsily and suckled loudly as Harry walked down the hall to the cafeteria.

"So, what do you think?" Alice asked her brother as they sat at their lunch table.

"What do I think? I think that he's a very interesting person. I think that he has a lot to handle, and he has done a great job so far. I think that he has a lot that he's still hiding," 'I think that he's amazing.' He finished to himself.

"Well obviously he's hiding something. There isn't anyone in this school that isn't. I mean, look at us!"

"Emmett, that is not helpful." Jasper told his bear-like brother.

"Edward, they both experienced a wide range of emotion during their presentations. Excitement, mourning, nervousness, anger, fear… you know, I think that "Death Eater" gang is worse than they made it sound. Did you hear how fast Harry's heartbeat spiked? And Draco's as well. They were either shocked or terrified. Or both."

"So you think that they are killers then?" Edward accused angrily.

"No! That's not what I said at all. Listen to me, Edward. I do think that they have been through a lot. Much more then they mentioned in their projects."

"Maybe," Edward sighed. "But who am I to care about what their secret is? As a matter of fact, I don't care." He got up to dump his still-full tray, and Alice followed.

'That's not true, and you know it.'

"I know," Edward groaned at her. "But I can't do anything about it. It wouldn't be normal. I'm not- we're not normal, Alice. I should just leave him alone. It's not as if he'd be interested."

"Well, now you're wrong." Alice told him quietly. "He needs you, and he will trust you- sooner than you may think. I know, I've seen it. Yes, he's a very complicated person, but then again- so are you."

Alice returned to her other siblings and Edward growled in frustration.

One of the cafeteria doors opened and Harry walked in, talking to Draco Malfoy and feeding a tired baby. As the black haired teen broke into laughter, his eyes lit up and venom spiked through Edward's veins.

"I don't need this," he told himself. He left the cafeteria and walked to the parking lot where he spent the remainder of the lunch period in his car.

Before Harry entered the loud cafeteria, he cast a silent muffliato over Teddy, who was just drifting off to sleep. The charm would filter the noise that was sure to awaken the baby.

"Oh, great plan, Potter. Tell them he's advanced for his age. A SuperBaby that now has the ability to sleep through the roar of a few hundred muggle high-schoolers."

Harry laughed as he pushed through the door. "Let them think whatever they want. We just say that he's a heavy sleeper."

A cold and moist breeze swept over the three as someone exited through doors that lead to the outside. Harry caught sight of the elusive Edward Cullen and hoped that he would be back for biology.

While ignoring an unexplainable feeling of rejection, Harry lead Draco to their 'usual' table with Mike Newton and his friends. Each of the muggles had shoved aside unappetizing lunch options in favor of looking through their possessions from first period.

"Here they are! The men of the day, c'mon! Join in!" Eric had stood with his arms spread wide to the new teens, shouting excitedly.

Draco scowled and turned to sit sideways on the bench. Razor sat in front of him at once and placed his head on the blonde's knees. While Draco kneaded his fingers through the thick fur, Harry gave in to the group of enthusiastic classmates.

"I'm assuming that you either want to look at the album or coo at Sleeping Beauty here, because there isn't much exciting about the pendant or sweater."

"Could you show us the pictures, Harry? If you don't mind, we'd like to know about some of them," Angela questioned shyly. She was still nervous about offending him, and to make it clear that he wasn't angry, Harry pulled his photo album from his bookbag.

Both Hogwarts cases had been left in the English classroom, as they were too bulky to lug around.

He opened to the first page. "This is my mum and dad when they were our age. They met at the boarding school that Draco and I went to, and this is a picture of the grounds."

It was a candid shot of the two, taken from behind. Their hands were clasped and they stood watching a sunset on the Great Lake. Harry smiled at the photo and skipped several pages.

"This was taken two years later."

A pregnant Lily stood outdoors, held tightly to James' side. He had one arm around her waist, and one hand on her rounded belly. Harry knew that when the picture moved, his father would kiss Lily's temple and spin her in a circle, both of them laughing.

"My godfather took that picture 3 weeks before I was born."

He skipped a few more pages.

"Here's one of me and my parents."

The students aww'ed at the small boy being held between his mother and father. His bright eyes shone out from beneath his tightly bundled jacket, scarf, and hat- the picture was once again taken outside. His mother held one of his small fists, waving to the camera.

"Wow," Harry said. "I must be Teddy's age here. Let's skip a few years, shall we?"

"This is me and Ron in the Gryffindor common room first year. This was over the Christmas holidays so it was pretty quiet. We took this after opening out presents."

The picture showed Ron and Harry grinning widely at the camera. On the left was Harry in his green sweater, and on the right, about 4 inches taller, was Ron in his own maroon present.

"Woah! Is that an owl?" Eric pointed to the top corner of the page, where a snowy owl was perched on a windowsill.

"Oh yeah. That's Hedwig. She was my very first pet and my first ever friend. I guess Draco and me both like exotic pets. I've got a ball python now."

"That's crazy, man."

"Maybe," Harry told him. He flipped a few more pages.

"Oh, here's the picture from before… I'll tell you some history behind it. Draco, being a Slytherin, decided that he had to hate my friends and me. He got all up in our faces one day, so I teased him about his stuffy clothes. He was pissed. I think we both ended up fighting in the water. You know, it wasn't a very good idea to argue next to the Lake."

His classmates sniggered and Harry leaned over to pat Draco's shoulder. The blond was still brooding with his panther. It wasn't his fault that he had been dressed that way. He was raised to dress as the aristocrat that he was.

"I forgive you for all those fights, mate. It's all in the past, right?"

Draco only grunted.

"Oh, Harry! I had a question about one of the photos in the back of the album."

"Sure, Mike. Which one?"

"The one with the hot girl…" Mike raised his eyebrows suggestively at the wizard.

"With a hot… Oh! You mean this one?"

On one of the final pages of the book was a picture of sixteen-year-old Harry. He was dressed lazily in his school uniform with his tie slung around the back of his neck and over one shoulder. His shirt was not tucked in and his shoes had landed casually by his knees. Relaxing in front of a fireplace, he appeared to be lost in though while a beautiful red-haired girl sat in his lap. She was leaning against his chest while his fingers ran through her fiery locks.

"Damn, Potter- Get on that! Who is she?"

Harry laughed uncertainly at the other boys' excitement.

"Um, that's Ginny Weasley. We dated for a while in 6th year."

"Only for a while? Man, you don't just drop a girl like her."

Jessica smacked the back of Mike's head. "Don't be such a pervert." She told him.

"Er, yeah." Harry said uneasily. "Ginny was a great girl, but truly I didn't really like her. She um, helped me figure some stuff out, and we were better off as just friends. She's like a sister."

"I don't believe it." Eric said, shaking his head. "Only a gay man could turn down that girl. Look at those-"

"You are such a boy!" Angela cut in. "I don't even want to know what you were about to say!"

Eric snickered and ducked his head. "Sorry."

Harry was glad that Eric's statement had been mostly ignored. Perhaps no one had actually realized what he said? But no, Jessica was looking pointedly at him. He ignored her. Teddy began to fuss and squirm in his sleep, so Harry gently swayed his arms from side to side. While the rest of the table finished their lunches, Harry rocked the child and waited anxiously for Biology to arrive.

Edward leaned his head back, sitting in the front seat of his silver Volvo. He tried unsuccessfully to clear the burning sensation from the back of his throat before giving in to the desperate temptation to know what was happening inside the cafeteria. He relaxed as best he could and filtered through the mundane drivel of average teenagers before he came across the overenthusiastic thoughts of Mike Newton. Edward focused on that particular table of the room and gripped his steering wheel as he braced himself for the onslaught of inner voices. Wishing that he could hear the descriptions straight from Harry himself, he settled for the images he received through the minds of the other students.

First a snapshot of a young couple watching a sunset, followed by a beautiful woman with a pregnant belly and an ecstatic husband. Thoughts of pity and unspoken condolences accompanied an image of a small baby boy that would lose the parents on either side of him. Soon, curiosity grew within Mike, and a picture of Harry snuggled casually in front of a fire with a girl in his lap danced before him. Edward cringed at the inappropriate thoughts that rolled off of several of the boys in waves.

While Edward had experienced numerous emotions in his lifetime, he had never felt such raw possessiveness overcome him. Truly, he never had anything to be possessive of, other than his car and music. Edward's grip on the steering wheel caused the plastic to mold under his knuckles as raging jealousy surged through his being. He wanted to attack that red haired girl. Suddenly, the rush of venom from the glands in his mouth alerted him of reality, and he shook himself to concentrate on the thoughts of Harry's friends. Leaving the boys to their fantasies, he zoned in on Jessica Stanley. An irritating female, but she did have an intelligent mind. Her confusion that she expressed inwardly upon learning that Harry had dated this redhead built questions within Edward, and he felt hopelessness and disappointment pool in the pit of his stomach.

Just as the eavesdropper was leaving the thoughts of the students, Jessica began to chant desperately, a silent mantra of "I didn't tell anyone, I swear! You have to stay my friend!"

She was trying to communicate this promise to someone at the table, and Edward reached out to touch the minds of the others. The thought was already fleeing the minds of them, but Edward read it clearly. Eric had insinuated that Harry might be gay.

In one last attempt, Edward stabbed sharply at the only mind that had ever remained closed to him, desperate for confirmation. It was futile, as he bounced back forcefully and pulled entirely out of the cafeteria. The bronze haired boy looked at the bent steering wheel that he held. He ran a hand shakily through his hair, looked at his watch, and exited the car.

Teddy had woken up after his short nap and Harry removed the noise filtering charm. When he entered Mr. B's classroom, he was excited to see that Edward Cullen was sitting at their shared table. Upon noticing his gaze, Draco pinched Harry's arm. "Remember what I said, Harry." He tugged gently on Razor's leash and took his seat.

Harry didn't nod or acknowledge the warning. After all, if he was going to disobey Draco, (and he was) then he wasn't going to feel guilty for actually promising to stay away.

He crossed the room and sat down next to the boy that he had been thinking of all week.

"Hello Teddy and Harry," he greeted them.

"Hello."

"I enjoyed your presentation this morning. It was quite ah, enlightening. I am sorry about the death of your parents."

"Thank you," Harry said. "I liked Alice's presentation as well. You go camping?"

"I suppose you could call it that," Edward said. "My family loves the outdoors- the woods, mainly. And we hold a certain… fondness for the wildlife." He smiled.

"That's cool," Harry said.

When class began, they were told to complete a page of study questions from the textbook with their partner. As conversation unrelated to science swept the room, Harry placed his godson sitting up on the table, facing him. He wrapped one hand around the back of the small child and handed him Moony. As per usual, one soggy and worn ear was taken to the boy's gums.

While the Gryffindor opened his textbook, he noticed Edward was resting his head in one hand propped up by his elbow, and was looking at Teddy. His black eyes were narrowed and his nose was wrinkled seemingly in distaste.

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized. "Does he stink? Jeez, I don't even notice anymore."

Harry moved to pull the baby away, but Edward stopped him.

"No, no. I'm just playing with him, I think."

Surprised, the godfather looked at the child, who's own nose was crinkled, mimicking the teen.

"Now that's just adorable," Harry commented as he broke into laughter.

Edward looked at the wizard and smiled. "Yeah, it is."

The youngest Cullen brother slid into the driver's seat of his Volvo. His siblings piled in after him, and when Jasper sat in the passenger seat, he raised an eyebrow at the disfigured steering wheel. His brother shrugged, embarrassment radiating from him. The driver then turned to face to backseat where Alice was squished between a hulking Emmett and a scowling Rosalie.

"You will never guess what I learned today."

"Calculus? Again?" Rosalie sneered.

Alice pouted at her sister. "Oh be nice for once, Rosalie. I'm excited for him! Tell us, Edward."

"Well, least importantly is that he wasn't always friends with that Draco kid… just an interesting fact there. Most excitingly, he uh, swings my way?"

Rosalie groaned in annoyance, looking out her window at the parking lot.

"You mean he bats righty? He can play baseball? Sweet!"

"Emmett, shut up please. Edward means that they are both homosexual."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Edward interjected, "The most important thing was that little boy. Have any of you gotten close to him? Like really close to him?"

The siblings thought.

"No," Jasper said. "The closest any of us has been is about 3 feet, across a table."

"Well," Edward told them, "I've been about 6 inches from him."

"So?"

"He smelled. Bad. Like the pack up at La Push. But, it was very faint. Like I said, you have to be really close. And I think he smelled me too. I told Harry we were playing a copycat game."

"You think he might be a werewolf? He's such a little boy. Only a baby… I don't think that the Quileutes work like that." Jasper said.

"Hmm, I think I ought to ask Carlisle about our new friends." Edward shifted the car into drive and they sped out to the main road.

"Your new friends," Rosalie huffed.

Alice giggled. "That's what you say now," she told her sister.

Meanwhile, across the lot Harry, Draco, Razor, and Teddy drove away in their car and Mike turned to Eric.

"Only a gay man?"

"Huh? Oh that. I wasn't really serious at the time, but did you see his face?"

"Yeah, I did. And what was up with… Jess! C'mere!"

Jessica and Angela approached he boys. "What?"

"Is that Potter kid gay?" Mike asked her flatly

Jessica smirked. "You said it yourself, Eric. Only a gay man could leave a girl that pretty."

"Ha! I knew it!" Mike exclaimed. "D'you think that Draco knows?"

"New kid knows what?" Tyler Crowley joined their group.

"That Harry's practically a fairy. And of course Draco knows. That's how I found out." Jessica told them all.

"Jess!" Angela shrieked.

"What?"

"You shouldn't say things like that. Harry probably expected you to keep his secret, not to pull him out of the closet in front of the school."

Mike interrupted her. "Oh drop it Angela. It's not a huge deal, and Potter will get over it. Besides, the school would have known soon anyway. That sort of news doesn't stay quiet for long. My ride is here. We'll talk more tomorrow."

Mike stepped off the sidewalk and the group of friends dissipated.

When the Cullen siblings arrived at their home, Edward left the group and went to his room. On his way he pulled a cell phone from his pocket. Dialing a number, it rang twice before a smooth voice spoke on the other side.

"Dr. Cullen speaking."

"Carlisle! It's Edward. Listen, can I talk to you later? Alone?"

"Of course, Edward. I get off at seven. We will go hunting together alright? I noticed that you haven't been in a while. I'm sorry, son- I've got to go, there's a woman going into labor here."

"Thanks Carlisle. See you later."

The teen snapped his phone shut and threw it onto a shelf. He swiped a hand across his face. "What to do now?"

He made his way back down stairs to the living room, where he pulled a protesting Emmett away from his x-box.

"C'mon Emmett. Come wrestle with me for a while. I need to blow off some steam."

Emmett brightened and was out the back door in a flash. "You're on!" he called over his shoulder.