A/N: I'm hoping to make up for the double-cliffy (as TimeRose pointed out) by posting this quickly.
KJS X-Over said that Jacob's out would be having Leah go to England to see Charlie, and have him follow as a guard. First, I'm going to have Leah keep hers a secret as well, as while wizards aren't as bad as vampires, a future chapter will explain why the tribe isn't too fond of the 'Wandwavers' as well. And I don't think she'd agree to a guard. So both she and Jacob aren't going to reveal their imprints, they're going to create their own reason for disappearing, even if it's against what they want to do.
Enjoy, and please leave a review!
She emerged in the Burrow and took a look around. The whole of the Weasley family had gathered around the fireplace, all staring at her, as if they expected her to go on a killing rampage at any second. As soon as she stepped out of the fireplace Bill's nose wrinkled as if he smelled something foul. They stood, staring her down until she was almost ready to turn around and leave.
"Hermione," Molly whispered, stepping forward. Hermione placed her sack on the floor and took the matriarch's extended hands. Molly studied her face, then dropped one of her Hermione's hands to run her free hand over the vampire's face.
"Hi, Mrs. Weasley," she whispered, hoping for her approval. She gave a little chuckle, but closed her mouth quickly when she saw Percy and Arthur craning to get a look at her teeth as if they expected obvious fangs.
"Oh, Hermione," Molly sobbed before throwing her arms around Hermione and sobbing onto her shoulder.
"It's okay, Mrs. Weasley," she said in a soothing tone.
"It shouldn't have happened to you. You don't deserve this."
"This isn't that bad," she insisted. "Really. Now that I've gone totally 'vegetarian' I'm not all sad that it happened. There has been more good than bad that's sprung out of this than bad."
"What good could have possibly come from this?" Bill questioned, eyebrow raised.
"I'm working on an antivenin. If I wasn't a vampire I wouldn't have the access to the venom I need to test my creation."
"And then there's Edward," Ginny threw in.
"Actually," Hermione said, looking at her with a sad smile. "Edward and I broke up."
"What?" Ginny's jaw dropped. "What happened?"
"Time doesn't heal all wounds, apparently," she said shortly, then turned back to Mrs. Weasley. "I don't mean you or your family any harm or fear by being here. If you don't want me to stay..."
"Of course you're staying!" she said, looking surprised she would even suggest leaving. "You're family, Hermione, no matter what you are."
"Thank you," she smiled, getting another tight hug.
"You can use Fred and George's old room..."
"I don't need a room. Just somewhere to change."
"There's not much in the way of animal life around here," Bill said, eying her for a reaction.
"I hunted recently," she tried to sound non-confrontational. "I'll be okay for a day or two. Then I'll go up North, visit my family, and hunt again. That should hold me until after Christmas, then I'll go up again and hunt, and be back in time for George's party."
"You heard about that, then?" George beamed.
"How could I miss it?" she smiled back.
"What do you hunt?" Bill asked again. It was obvious he was the most apprehensive about having a vampire near his family.
"When I'm here, Acromantula."
"Really?" Bill and Charlie said in unison.
"How do you do that?" Charlie was looking excited.
"Let's save that discussion for a little later, shall we? If I'm not mistaken Mrs. Weasley has prepared a delicious dinner for you all and I would hate for it to get overcooked," she replied, not wanting to discuss killing right before dinner.
"That's an excellent nose you have on you," Arthur remarked as they all started towards the kitchen.
"All part of the package," she replied with a smile.
"Where up north are you living?"
"Just a few miles from Hogwarts, actually. The Forbidden Forest provides the best prey in the area, especially with eight of us in one house."
"Eight?" Bill stopped dead in his tracks.
"Yes. Well, not right now. Edward, Alice, and Jasper are back in Forks. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett are up there. Carlisle said he had a job he likes at a hospital up there that he's keen on keeping as long as possible."
"A vampire working at a hospital?" Arthur looked amazed.
"It actually works quite well because he can scent things other doctors would miss. He saves people, he doesn't kill."
They sat down, and everyone but Hermione helped themselves to a large plateful of food. Ginny scooted closer to Hermione, and asked the question she looked like she had been holding back all night."
"So, what happened with Edward?" she whispered while George and Percy started a friendly argument about the Ministry.
She shot a sympathetic look towards Ron before saying, "He saw his ex-girlfriend, Bella, and his feelings for her started coming back. I asked him to make a choice between her and I, he chose her."
"Is Bella another vampire?"
"No, she's a human."
Ron looked dejectedly at the table, suddenly not eating.
"But it worked out for the best now, didn't it?" Charlie smiled.
"What do you mean?" Ginny looked confused.
Charlie threw an arm around Hermione. "We're imprint buddies," he said, low enough that Molly didn't hear.
"Imprint buddies?" she looked even more confused.
"The pack I'm working with in Forks, some of their members 'imprint' which, the best way to put it, is love at first sight. Jacob imprinted on me, Leah imprinted on Charlie."
She looked from Hermione to Charlie in surprise.
"Pack?" Bill turned from the other conversation to theirs.
"Werewolves," Charlie beamed. "Though not like Lupin or Greyback. They can shift at will, and they were never bitten. They have complete control."
"Go to work with dragons, come home to a werewolf?" Bill smirked.
"What can I say? She's a great girl, for only knowing her a few hours."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Not sure yet, mate. Just going to go with it right now."
"So tell me about this Jacob," Ginny demanded, turning back to Hermione.
"He's a really nice guy," she replied vaguely, shooting another look at Ron, who was starting to look angry. "We're being really careful, because it's not the safest relationship."
"Jacob and Leah tried to kill each other when he told her," Harry clarified.
"Lovely," she said sarcastically, looking from Charlie to Hermione, each of whom gave a bit of a half-smile. "When do I get to meet my future sister-in-law?"
"That's not guaranteed yet," Charlie pointed out.
"You say that, but despite the fact that he and Hermione should be killing each other, he decides to try to kill one of the other wolves because of his love for her. If that's the strength of this imprinting thing then it's only a matter of time. When do I get to meet them?"
"I gave Jacob some plane tickets for both of them to come for New Years, but I don't know if he's going to come."
"Whatever. He'll be here."
They finished eating. Ginny told Hermione to give her a few minutes, then go to her room for some girl-talk. Harry headed upstairs to Ron's room, but Ron stayed behind until it was only him and Hermione who hadn't left or gone upstairs.
"How's Luna?" she asked awkwardly, not able to look at him fully.
"She's good," he muttered, staring at her. "So, Jacob. He's human, right?"
"When he's not a wolf," she replied, her stomach dropping.
"And Edward and Bella, they went out despite the fact that she's not a vampire."
"Ron..." she whispered, knowing where he was going and not wanting to get there.
"It's happened before," he said, sounding sad. "Vampires and mortals. It's worked."
"It's difficult for both of them. He's always tempted by her, and she's always begging to become one of us."
"I would have," he snapped. "I would have happily become one of you."
"No, you wouldn't have," she said quietly. "You want a family. You want lots of babies to hold and watch grow. I can't give you that."
"I wanted you," he replied softly.
"You have Luna."
"I do. And I love her. But I loved you first. And I feel betrayed, like you didn't even try," he finished almost too soft for her to hear. He turned and walked up the stairs. With a heavy heart Hermione waited a few moments, then started up to Ginny's room.
"What do you want?" Jacob called to Leah, holding a plate at the front of the buffet Emily had set up.
"Whatever you're having. I like what you like," she called back sweetly before turning back to her conversation with Kim.
With a smile on his face Jacob piled food onto two plates, then brought one to Leah and sat next to her, as close as he could get without putting an arm around her.
"Oh, have you tasted this pasta salad?" she asked excitedly. "Great batch, Kim. I know Emily appreciates the help. Here, Jake, have a bite," she added casually, holding out a forkful for Jacob. Without hesitation he took the bite, and smiled warmly at her as he chewed.
"It's really good," he said after swallowing.
"Hey, Embry?" Sam said quietly from across the room.
"What's up?" Embry said, walking over to him. Quil turned around to join the conversation as well.
"Do you see what I see?" he said, nodding towards Jacob and Leah, who were leaning into each other. Jacob put his fork down and carefully brushed a strand of hair out of Leah's face.
"When the hell did that happen?" Embry asked in shock.
"A few days ago," Quil offered.
Embry and Sam looked at him in disbelief.
He swallowed, looking slightly nervous. "That night they were doing guard duty together. The parasite was doing a lot of busy work, and they got to talking. He asked her out, she said yes, they've been seeing each other ever since."
"Why wouldn't they tell us?" Sam eyed they suspiciously.
"They're afraid of the reactions. They just want to spend some time together before broadcasting it."
Sam still looked like he wasn't sure, but he nodded as Leah stole a kiss on Jacob's cheek.
"They were, um, talking about, well, since the leech is gone, they were talking about taking a few days for a camping trip, you know, to get away from the pack and everything."
"So soon?" Embry was looking beyond surprised.
"It's kind of hard for them to do anything around the rest of us," Quil nodded. "They're a little nervous about it."
Sam's jaw was squared, and he was studying Jacob and Leah, but he didn't say anything else. Quil excused himself as Claire appeared, just out of her bath, holding Emily's hand.
"What do you think, Sam?" Embry asked in a low voice.
"I think that them seeing each other would be good for them," he replied shortly, and he dropped the subject.
After dinner Jacob escorted Leah out to his car. He held the door for her, then climbed in and started towards her house.
"Do you think they bought it?" he muttered.
"Yeah, I think so. Who knew I could be such a great actress?" she smiled.
"This is a lot of work," he grumbled. "I feel like I'm betraying her."
"Yeah, I know. But nothing worth doing is ever easy, right? If we're going to disappear for a few days..."
"I know, I know. I'm just anxious to see her again."
"Well, after we get back we can stage the huge breakup scene," she smirked.
"Don't need much acting for that one, do we?" he chuckled.
"Ha, ha," she rolled her eyes. "Ready for the acting job of your life?"
"Are you?"
"No. I'm going to have to concentrate to make sure I don't make a face," she muttered, taking a deep breath as he parked the car.
"Just pretend I'm Charlie," he muttered.
"You really don't want me to do that," she chuckled as he turned off the engine. "Nothing too loud. Sam followed us," she cautioned in a low voice. Her eyes flickered towards the woods, where a large black wolf disappeared into the darkness.
"Let's go," he said, mostly to encourage himself. He walked to the other side of the car, opened the door for Leah, and helped her out. He held her hand as he walked her to her front door.
"Feel like hanging out and watching a movie together tomorrow?" she asked nervously.
"Sounds great," he smiled. Knowing it was now or never he leaned forward, his lips meeting hers lightly. They held it for a moment, then he broke it, stepping back.
"See you tomorrow, then?" she asked as flirtatiously as she could muster.
"Can't wait," he replied with a wink. He watched her go inside, then started back to his car feeling like he had just cheated on Hermione. But it would be worth it if they could escape and he could see her sooner. He climbed into his car, and saw the black wolf streaking towards Emily's house. He drove in the opposite direction, and waited until he was sure no one else was around before wiping his lips on his sleeve. It almost wasn't worth it. Almost.
He got home and immediately went to his room. Sitting on his bed he took a few deep breaths, then decided he couldn't take it anymore. He took out a cell phone Edward had sent over for him with Bella, and called Hermione's number.