A/N: A couple of you mentioned that Ron is acting like, well, not Ron. I'm trying to write like he's gotten more mature through having to deal with Fred and Hermione's deaths. But there's still a bit of Ron there, I don't think he'd completely change. Thank you for the constructive criticism, it helps me know where the story is falling flat. And some of you wanted more Edward/Hermione interaction, here it is.
As always, enjoy and please review!
"Good morning, Minerva," Kingsley Shackleboltsmiled warmly, shook her hand, and took the seat she indicated.
"Good morning, Minister. What can I do for you?" McGonagall replied.
"Call me Kingsley. I wanted to know if you've had any strange occurrences in or around the castle this year?"
"Nothing more than the usual pranks, why?"
"Our intelligence revealed that a rather large coven of a vampires has moved just a few miles away."
"Really?" McGonagall acted surprised.
"Last count there were six that move into the area, meeting up with one or two who were already around."
"Eight vampires..."she pondered. "Are they...?"
"That's the funny thing. We haven't found any evidence that they have killed anyone. The American Ministry thinks they might be a large coven that survived by killing animals, and for some reason they moved over here."
"Really?"
"Yes, they've had surveillance on them from time to time, just to make sure, it always makes us nervous to see a coven that size, you see."
She nodded.
"They went there about a month ago and it seems that the coven had cleared out. They tried to pick up their trail, tracked a few of them to Alaska, but they couldn't find most of them. From their descriptions it sounds like them, though it appears that if there are eight. They picked up a new member."
"And what does the Ministry plan on doing with the coven?"
"I'm not sure. I don't want to take action against non-problem vampires. If they really are animal-killers I'd be content to let them be, but it does make me nervous."
"Minister, if I tell you something about the coven, can I have your assurances that you'll leave them be?"
"You knew about his, Minerva?" he asked in surprise.
"I was unaware of the size of the coven, but I was aware that there were at least two animal-feeding vampires nearby. I believe Hagrid is starting to suspect something, he's been the one finding the dead Arcromantulas in the Forest."
He chuckled a deep chuckle. "That would be one of those 'strange occurrences' I was talking about."
"I'm just looking out for the interests of a good friend."
"You're good friends with one of the vampires?" he asked, eyebrow lifting.
"As are you."
"I'm not quite sure I follow you."
She sighed, then leaned forward so the pictures could not snoop on them. She had the sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore and Snape's portraits, which were closest, could still hear them. "The newest vampire in the coven is none other than Hermione Granger."
"No!" he gasped in surprise, nearly falling off his chair. Snape looked like he was going to be sick, Dumbledore stroked his beard in contemplation.
"That vampire we caught at the battle had bitten her, and one of the coven stopped him from killing her. We hid her in the Potions classroom until she was changed, I evacuated the school, and her vampire friend took her off into the Forest. Potter has been in touch with her, has even met with her once or twice, and she has been able to control herself."
"This is an interesting development. I certainly wouldn't want to attack Hermione and her coven."
"I believe they prefer to be thought of as a family rather than a coven."
"Either way, I'm going to call off surveillance. I'm sure that Hermione knows, better than some of my own men, how they could draw negative attention to themselves and the consequences if they do."
"I would agree with you there. Thank you. I'm sure she'd appreciate her privacy."
"Hermione Granger," he groaned, sitting back in his seat.
"I know, it's hard to believe at times. But she is what she is, and I'll fight to protect her if someone makes an unjust decision about the family."
"Trust me, I'm taking over this case personally. No harm will come to her or her family as long as they remain animal feeders." He bid her goodbye and stood to leave.
"Won't you stay for the match, Minister? Gryffindor versus Slytherin."
Kingsley considered it. "It's been a while since I've been able to sit down and enjoy a good Quidditch match. I think I will stick around."
"Help yourself to breakfast in the Great Hall."
"I think I will. Thank you, Headmistress."
"Oh, and Minister?" He turned back towards her. "Hermione and her new friend Edward Cullen will be attending the ball next weekend. I'd appreciate it if they weren't torn apart."
He sighed deeply. "My blood pressure is of no concern to you, is it, Minerva? No one will bother them, though I'm assuming they'll be using fake names."
"She will. As no one knows who he is he'll probably use his own name."
"Vampires running around a ball while not hunting. I thought I had seen it all," he muttered, walking out of the room.
"Do I really have to go?" Edward groaned as Hermione put the finishing touches on her latest batch of blood replenishing potion.
"Yes," Hermione said, leaving the potion to simmer and bending over to give him a prolonged kiss. "Are you so afraid of dancing?"
"Dancing isn't the problem, it's being in a group of highly-trained witches and wizards that makes me nervous. Someone's bound to notice we're vampires."
"I'm sure that anyone who would will be warned by McGonagall to leave us be. Besides the biggest thing we've been taught to look for in vampires are red eyes," she looked up at him with her eyes that were now a deep amber. "I think we could pass, don't you?"
"As long as you're on your best behavior," he smirked as she opened her mouth to protest.
"Come on!" Emmett pounded on her door. "Whatever you're doing in there I'm sure it's not as fun as what we're about to be missing."
Hermione opened the door. "How do you know what we are or are not doing in here?"
"Edward wouldn't be so damn uptight if you were doing that. You promised we would go, let's go."
She sighed. "Afraid all the good trees will be taken?"
"Ha, ha. I don't want to miss the opening. You suck at explaining it."
They gathered outside in the yard, and to Hermione's surprise the whole family was waiting for her.
"I thought it was too dangerous," she looked at Rosalie.
"How often do you get to see something like this?"
"If you're me, more often than you'd think. But it has been a while."
They ran through the woods on their familiar path to the Acromantula nest, but this time when they saw the castle they turned away from the spiders and walked along the perimeter until they came across the field. In the distance they saw students pouring from the castle, making their way down the path to the stands.
They found a couple large trees and climbed up as far as they would dare. They spread out so each had a view of the field in the distance. With their vision it was almost as good as sitting in the stands themselves. First the green-clad players flew onto the field to a mix of cheers and boos, then the red to a thunderous round of applause. Hermione watched in excitement as Ron took his place in front of the goal posts on one side of the field. Edward winced as Alice and Hermione joined in singing "Weasley is Our King".
Harry did a lap around the field as people screamed below him. He scanned the crowd below and saw many of the students taking pictures of him. That was fine, he was used to it by now, and beyond happy that he was finally back on the Quidditch pitch. The day was mostly cloudy but still warm, good Quidditch weather.
The sun came from behind the clouds for a moment and something in the wood caught Harry's eyes. A brilliant sparkle, like a diamond, sitting in the trees. He squinted at the spot, and saw a few other spots of white among the trees. One, two... eight. Her whole family came to watch the game. With new life he flew to the middle of the field and shook hands with the Slytherin captain. Malfoy, who had lost much of his usual swagger after Lucius got sent to Azkaban with little hope of return, glared down at the ground. Harry was beyond confident.
The game started, and within fifteen seconds Ginny had scored her first goal. The Slytherin team, mostly inexperienced, and with much of the crowd cheering against them, wasn't flying as well as they should be, and the Gryffindor team had scored five times before Ron ever had to lay hand on the Quaffle.
Malfoy shadowed Harry, but he didn't say anything. He looked as if he was hoping Harry would end the match quickly. Harry was determined he wouldn't disappoint.
Slytherin rallied slightly, scoring three goals, making the score eighty to thirty. Ron stood up on his broomstick to make a save, and Harry thought he could hear 'Weasley is Our King' in the booming voice of Emmett joining in with the Gryffindors.
He finally spotted the Snitch flitting around the Slytherin goalposts. He pressed himself to his broom and rocketed across the field, Malfoy followed him but was easily outstripped. Harry swerved around the Keeper and his hand closed around the Snitch.
The crowd erupted in cheers as Harry sped back towards his own team. They gave each other mid-air hugs before descending to the ground into the waiting arms of their classmates. He gazed back at the trees, but the white figures were gone.
"Race you back to the house?" Emmett poked Hermione.
"We'll meet up with you," Edward said, holding her back.
"Ah, right, I got it," Emmett said, winking. "Just take pity on the poor trees, OK?"
"Stop, Em," Rosalie rolled her eyes.
"You love it," he muttered, bending over to take her in his arms and kiss her.
"I know where this is going," Jasper muttered. "I'm outta here. That was fun, Hermione," he smiled before he, Alice, Carlisle and Esme ran off.
Edward grabbed Hermione's hand and they rushed away. They ran until they came to their clearing, and they sat in the same place they had the last time.
"Did you have fun?" Hermione asked.
"It's my new favorite sport that I'm never going to play," Edward smiled.
"What did you need to talk about?"
"I never said we had to talk about something," he raised his eyebrow.
"I figured it out all on my own."
He looked over her face before speaking. "What are you thinking about Ron?"
"Haven't we been over this?"
"Okay, what are you thinking about me?"
She grabbed his hand, leaned forward, and kissed him gently. "Is that answer enough?"
"If you go to this ball next weekend, Ron's going to be there, isn't he?"
"I wouldn't see why not."
He looked at her.
"Just because I'm going to be around Ron doesn't mean I'm going to be jumping him. You should have a little more faith in me," she crossed her arms and looked down the valley.
He dug into his pocket, and after a moment handed her a folded piece of paper. He looked away as she carefully unfolded it. She looked down at the picture in her hands for a few moments.
"She's very pretty," Hermione muttered. "Who is she?"
"Isabella Swan. The reason I'm in Brittan."
She remained silent as she gazed at the photo.
"She wanted to be a vampire. More than anything. Not because she wanted to be a vampire, it's because she wanted to be with me. And I loved her enough to not give it to her. I thought we could work through it, I thought that I'd live the rest of her life with her. But she wasn't satisfied with that. And one day Jasper tried to attack her for a paper cut. And I made our family leave our home so I could get away from her. I was going to the Volturi, I was going to have them end it for me, and then Alice sent me here. And I found you. And I'm starting to love you."
She took his hand and placed the picture back in it. "So you know what I'm going through."
Edward nodded.
"If you had the choice, would you be with me or her?"
"You. Of course."
"And if she was a vampire?"
Edward looked at her.
"If everything was equal, would you still be with me?"
He gazed into her face, brushed her hair behind her ear, and muttered "Yes, I would."
She looked doubtful.
"I'm really starting to love you, Hermione. And you're different than her. You don't just give me your love unconditionally. You don't do anything rashly. And I find you completely fascinating. Like I've known you much longer than I have, but that I don't know a fraction of everything about you. I want to be with you because I love you. I love Bella, much like I'm sure you love Ron, but I have to make the choice, and I'm choosing you, 'Mione."
"And what about when you know everything about me?"
"I doubt I ever will. You won't give it all up. And it's not the mystery that fascinates me. You have passions other than me. You talk about things in such a way that your face lights up and like you'd be willing to talk about it until all my questions are exhausted. You don't need me, Hermione, and I love that. And every day I find myself falling more and more in love with you."
She smiled knowingly. "But you know how conflicted you are, and that's why you're having a tough time accepting that I really am past Ron."
"You say it, and I believe you. That doesn't mean I want the temptation around you."
She leaned forward and gave him a passionate kiss. They kissed until she felt herself losing control, and then she pulled away. "My only temptation is right here," she murmured into his ear.
He sighed as his fingers traced her face. "Alright. We'll go to the damn ball. And I'll even dress so I fit in. Purple robes with silver stars and a tall pointed hat, right?"
She playfully punched him. "We'll go into Hogsmede and buy you some dress robes."
He sighed. "Just don't tell Alice. I really want to go shopping without her opinion for once."
"My mind and my lips are closed," Hermione smiled.
The party was loud, and many of the portraits who wanted to get some sleep moved out of the common room. Even though the game was exhibition the Gryffindors were celebrating as if they had won the championship.
"Great job today!" Seamus Finnegan pounded on Harry's back, which was getting sore from the congratulatory pats and hugs.
"Take a shot!" Ginny muttered as a joke. Harry said he'd be drunk within five minutes if he took a shot every time someone told him he did a good job.
Harry took a sip of butterbeer instead. He was feeling a little looser, someone had smuggled in a large case of a variety of drinks from the Three Broomsticks. He gave Ginny a quick kiss and then looked out over the crowd. "Where the hell did Ron get to?" he muttered, scanning the group for the familiar red hair.
"He's hanging around a couple Ravenclaws that got smuggled in," Ginny replied with a mischievous smile.
"What do you know that I don't?" Harry asked, searching again for his friend.
"One of them is Luna," she replied in almost a singsong voice.
Harry's jaw dropped. "He asked her?"
Ginny nodded excitedly.
"And she said yes?"
Another excited nod.
"Oh, good Merlin!" Harry smiled, this time jumping to try to catch a glimpse of Ron and Luna.
"Leave them alone, they were having a mature conversation last time I saw them."
"About what? Crumple Horned Snorkacks?"
Ginny laughed. "No. Classes. I've never seen Ron acting so maturely."
"He has certainly been different recently."
"It's because of Hermione. Losing her really changed him."
"I know," Harry muttered. He made his way to the crowd until he found Ron and Luna sitting knee to knee on a couch, deep in conversation.
"Hey, Ron," he said, smiling at his friend.
"How's it going?" Ron smiled at him.
"Hi, Harry," Luna said airily. "Good game today."
"Did you enjoy it?" Harry smiled.
"Yes," Luna said. "I'm glad the Blibbering Humdingers got to Malfoy so he couldn't catch the Snitch."
Harry didn't roll his eyes.
"We got some news, mate," Ron said, and Harry beamed as he was sure what was coming. "We're going to the ball together."
"That's great!" Harry beamed. "Congratulations."
"Excuse me," Ron said, smiling at Luna. "I'll be right back."
The boys moved up the stairs until they were sure they couldn't be overheard. "Good job asking Luna, mate."
Ron beamed. "I'm pretty excited. I never really looked at Luna like that before, but she really is a good girl, isn't she?"
"Yeah, she is."
"Hermione would like her."
"You're not just doing this because you think it's what Hermione would want, are you?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"No. I like Luna. I want to see where it goes."
"I'm proud of you, mate."
Ron blushed. "Can't pine over Hermione forever, can I? She would want me to be happy, right?"
"I'm sure of it," Harry placed a hand on his shoulder in support before they returned to the party.