Disclaimer: Contrary to popular belief, I do not get everything I want. On that note, I still don't have possession of Harry Potter, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Luna Lovegood.
Author's Note: I deeply apologized for the late update but school and life has caught up with me and as my father used to say, "You can't forever live inside your head, Jay." So yeah, it's now a new year, and I'm using the time to write a very long overdue update. I hope you like it.
P.S: Just to let ya'll know, this is unbeta'ed. I think my beta left me. I don't blame her as I have taken too long. Any and all mistakes are mine and mine alone.
A Family of Immortality
It's been a couple of weeks since the unfortunate incident that took place in the Lion's Den; a couple of weeks that neither the Pack nor the Cullens' were seen in school; a couple of weeks since the Pack had let Emmett and Rosalie take a 'short vacation' in Alaska. It was also worth of couple weeks of deep contemplation on Edward's part.
He now sat at his piano, his fingers dancing lightly on the black and white keys as he thought back to the conversation he had with Harry after the wizard had basically told the vampires to 'get the hell out of my sight'. The wizard was an enigma that Edward couldn't deny had thrilled him to no end. He had given up completely after Bella, but that all changed once Alice started having fuzzy and often blacked out visions of Harry Potter. As soon as he saw him crossing the school parking lot, Edward knew instantly that his search was over. Completely ignoring Emmett's mutters of, "Here we go again," the older vampire had set out to claim Harry for his own despite Draco's contempt. He still didn't know anything of Harry but he had hoped with time (that he most certainly did not want), he would, but what had happened a few weeks ago, and afterwards, still shook him to the depths of his frozen heart.
*Flashback*
"What do you want, Edward?" Harry asked without turning around.
Edward inwardly winced at the harsh tone. He had never been confronted with an angry Harry and now he was starting to believe Ron's claims of a 'scary Harry when mad.'
"I need answers, Harry," Edward answered. "I need answers and I'm tired of all this secrecy about your pasts. And now you show us that? What aren't you telling us, Harry?"
Harry shook his head, still keeping his back to Edward. "You wouldn't understand. And I don't make a habit of blurting out my life secrets to anyone who wants in my pants, Edward."
"Damn it, Potter!" Edward snarled. "I'm not asking for an entire novel here. It just would have been nice to know a few things about you like the fact that you're Death in your spare time. How's that working out for you, by the way?"
Harry finally turned around; there was a smirk playing lightly around his mouth but the look in his eyes was far from amusement. "It's working out great, thanks for asking. Hell's hell on the features but you know, I'm 'still pretty', as Luna always tells Death. How about you?"
Edward glared heatedly at the mock innocent look on the wizard's face. When a few moments of silence passed without any more input from Harry, the vampire shook his head and said, "You know what, never mind. If you don't want to tell me, fine, but understand something, Harry: You are my mate and somehow, some way, I will find a way into that mind of yours and everything you've kept hidden from me will be revealed. I just want to hear the truth from your own lips with your own voice. And I can't be there for you if you don't try and let me in."
"Don't be such a drama queen, Edward," Harry snapped. "I'm starting to think that all that sparkling has damaged your manhood. I know damn well you're my mate but I also know that my family comes first. We are here to heal, Edward, not to pick fights and that is exactly what it'll come to if your family doesn't back off! I have no regrets killing those who offend me; don't think your family will get off scot-free. I'm not done with any of you yet."
Edward literally took a step back at the fury radiating from the wizard. He knew well what lengths Harry would go to and that scared the hell out of him. Hearing the fact that he will always come second in Harry's life hurts but it would also be the pot calling the kettle black so he let that thought go.
He shook his head; he didn't want to fight with Harry again. He said, "I apologize. I wish I could promise that Emmett and Rosalie won't try that again—"
"It's not your apology that I need," Harry interrupted. "I want Emmett and Rosalie to apologize to my sister in person and with sincerity. Anything less and I will not be responsible for my siblings' actions. Keep this in mind, Edward, and tell your family that the only thing that will stand between your deaths and my siblings' is me. I may be dangerous but the others can be viciously vindictive."
Edward nodded, resolved and resigned. He had firsthand experience just how cruel the Lions' could be. Draco had sent them clothes reeked of werewolf smell just because; they had to relinquish their home to confused strangers to clean their home. Hermione had once sent a potion to Rosalie, saying it would enhance her beauty. Rosalie, being of vanity that she is, had drunk it. The only thing it had accomplished was giving her boils for a week. It was revenge for calling Neville a 'clumsy, idiotic fool.' Unfortunately for Rosalie, Hermione had taken offense to that and exacted her revenge on the vampire's pride. Ginny had gifted them with a baby dragon for the insult.
Edward finally said, "Will I see you again?"
Harry shook his head. "We're leaving for England. Right now, I need my mother and the others need to see Luna to comfort themselves. We'll be back when I feel better about all of you. But like I said, I'm not done with any of you yet."
*End Flashback*
Edward had related the conversation to his family garnering various reactions of horror and resignation. Following the threat to them both, Rosalie and Emmett had packed for Alaska leaving only an unknown date as to when they would return.
Edward had spent the time contemplating what his life had come to. Centuries of living had never prepared him for the Lions', something that he was coming to regret as lessons beforehand would have been beneficial to dealing with the family of wizards. But despite the amount of emotional trauma his mother was experiencing due to the Lions', Edward couldn't have been more content with the knowledge that his mate was finally here, even if that mate was Death. That would require some getting used to.
He may not know more about Harry than he would like but he was certain of one thing: he would never leave the wizard for all the gold in the world. Harry was his and he was Harry's.
As he started on another piece of Bach's, he heard his family's exclamations of surprise. Curious, he made his way downstairs only to be assaulted of the distinguished smell of the only wizards they know. He hurriedly made his way down to find his family with Harry and his family.
"Harry?" He asked, confused and curious.
"Hello, Edward," Harry answered, a small smile on his face.
Luna, Hermione, Draco, and Ron stood behind him. They were looking around at the vampires but it was with looks of tight unease and anger. Luna just smiled beatifically at them.
Alice broke the uncomfortable silence. She moved forward, saying, "It's good to see you guys. I missed you."
And wasn't that the truth. Sometimes, Edward could hear her asking Jasper if it was wrong to miss the wizards more than she missed her own siblings.
Luna took a step forward to meet Alice only to be held back by Draco. Alice stopped, a hurt look on her face. Carlisle broke in, "Why don't we go into the living room?"
The party moved in. A few minutes was spent in silence as the group settled in to chairs and sofas.
"Where's Neville and Ginny?" Esme politely asked.
"They're busy," Ron answered shortly. He grunted when Hermione elbowed him but she didn't provide an answer herself.
Harry finally said, "Luna felt that we should all sit down and talk. Draco felt we should obliterate you all in to dust. Personally, I felt more inclined towards Draco's suggestion but that's just me. So, as we are here instead, I'll have to forego my desire to kill you all."
Ron snorted in contempt at the uneasy look on the Cullens' faces. "So, the Hales' aren't back yet?"
"Why do you assume they're not here?" Jasper asked.
"Please, we're not stupid, you know," Ron scoffed. "We paid them a little visit a few days ago. If I knew you could, Emmett would have pissed his pants when we showed up in their room. And really, for vampires, I got to say, you're all like kittens. At least Aro and the others put up more of a fight."
"Ronald!" Luna and Hermione scolded.
Ron paid them no mind as he and Draco went over the details of their meeting much to the horror of the Cullens'. Harry said nothing throughout it all, intent as he is on Edward.
He had missed the vampire more than he had thought he should. Losing so many loved ones in the war had hardened his heart against love and to find that another one holds the key to unlocking his walls had made him more than a little scared. But regardless of how he felt about opening up again, he knew that Edward was his key to live again, to be able to love again.
The incident with Luna was just another reason why he shouldn't but like many other instances in his life, he didn't have a choice with sisters like Luna and Hermione. Ginny was of the opinion of blowing up the Cullens' and then register himself in a monastery. "That way, we wouldn't be faced with your sullen and moping self around the house whenever you have boy troubles," Ginny had advised Harry. He threw a shoe at her.
Now they're back in Forks. He knew that the only way to resolve their problems was to talk and maybe come to some form of truce but he had been raised in a war and sometimes, the best problems are no problems at all and that can only be accomplished by eliminating it permanently. Unfortunately, Molly, Luna, and Hermione weren't very much accepting of that plan. Spoilsports, the lot of them, he thought.
He tuned back in to the squabbling. Well, he amended at the look of terror on the vampires' faces, at least they're afraid of us. Small comfort but it'll do.
"Enough," he said quietly. Ron and Draco ended their tale immediately. It was a tone they had learned over the years that meant Harry was no longer their brother; he was their commander and it would do them well to listen and listen well.
Harry looked at the Cullens'. "We will wait for the others."
Carlisle exchanged a look with Esme. "What 'others'?"
"Ginny and Neville are bringing your children, Dr. Cullen," Harry explained.
Just as Harry finished, there was a crack outside and then Ginny's voice. "Merlin's sake, Ron was right. These vampires bring shame to the vampire race. How they call themselves that without being ashamed is beyond me. Sparkling, drinking animal blood, not that I condone killing people but come on! They are not vampires, Nev!"
"Ginny, it's their way of life. We shouldn't begrudge them in how they live," came Neville's soothing voice.
"Yeah, well, they're still not vampires, I tell you. Vampires do not sparkle. At least Jane is scary as hell. These people just make me want to gag."
Ginny and Neville came in to the room still talking while Emmett and Rosalie walked behind with a sick look on their faces.
"Rosie? Emmett? What's wrong?" Esme got up in a hurry, worry clearly on her features.
"Nothing, Esme, it's just, their way of transportation makes my stomach turn," Emmett answered.
Hermione turned to Ginny and Neville. "Were there any problems?"
Ginny snorted. "Are you kidding? They folded as soon as they saw Nev's sword. It was easy as pie, as these Muggles always say."
"Ginny," Neville warned.
"Oh, alright. I might have threatened I would make a fire out of them as Alaska was way too cold. That Kate girl, she tried to electrocute me but well, I maybe kind of turned it back on her," Ginny explained, smiling sheepishly at the dangerous look on Hermione's face.
Before Hermione could say anything, Luna put a hand on her arm. "They are here, 'Mione. That is all that matters."
Hermione placated, they turned to Harry. The young father looked back at them. At Luna's nod, he glanced at the vampire family. They were all looking back curiously.
"You wanted to know who we are. I was told it would be best to reveal a little of ourselves before time," Harry began.
"We fought in a war," he said. "It was hard to trust anyone but we had each other. We were always at the front of each battles. We fought, hoping and praying that we would all come out of each one alive. We lost so many. Friends, family, enemies, allies; we lost so many."
Harry glanced at his family. "We almost lost Hermione not once but twice, I told you that. Luna was also taken; Neville was tortured every day while at school. Draco witnessed his parents' death when they refused to have him commit to the man who killed our people. Neville lost his parents' the same year my parents' died. Their bodies still lived but their minds, they tortured them so much that they were never the same. He and Ginny were beaten every day for daring to stand up to the forces of evil. Ron killed so many protecting us all; he saw his brother fall in the final battle. The beginning of the end; that's what they called it."
Harry didn't register the shocked gasps from the vampires. He was lost in the past.
"I was the end for the war. I started it and I had to finish it. This man, Tom Riddle, fashioned himself as a dark lord, intent on destroying one and all so he could rule the entirety of the world. My parents and so many others fought him at every turn. Then my mother got pregnant. That's when our paths crossed," Harry intoned. "There was a prophecy. "One will be born at the end of the seventh month." Neville and I fit the prophecy but until we were born, no one knows who exactly will carry it out. When Nev came out early, I became the prophecy.
"There was more to the prophecy, though. "One cannot live while the other survives." He killed my parents' on October 31st. I was one. I could still hear my mother screaming to let me live, to kill her instead. He killed her in the end; he tried to kill me too but he couldn't. I had to die, you see, so he could be the only one to live. The spell rebounded on him but instead of dying, he became nothing more than a shadow, living in one body and the next so he could survive.
"Anyway, I killed a man when I was eleven. That's when the war started. We were just too young at the time to truly understand what we were doing. But in our fourth year, that's when we learned. That's when we truly fought back," Harry told, quietly and harsh.
He looked up at the Cullens'. They were silent in their grief for the young family in front of them. Edward could do nothing but stare in cold horror at Harry. Out of everything he had learned so far of the wizards, this had never occurred to him.
Harry continued. "I was one when I lost my parents'. I lost my lover when I was fourteen. I was fifteen when my godfather died. At sixteen, I lost my grandfather. I lost my godfather and brother when I was seventeen. I lost so many friends and family, dying to protect me, to make sure I live. And I did. And I killed Tom Riddle and avenged so many deaths. But none of that could bring my family back. Killing Riddle didn't lessen the hurt any more than if I had killed myself instead."
Harry smiled sadly. "I don't think I would be here if it hadn't been for my family and Death. I wanted to die so many times but just because I was hurt didn't mean that my death wouldn't hurt my family. So I'm here with them. It still hurts, we are all still hurt, we all still have nightmares but the fact that we are still alive and living showed that even if Riddle had decimated family and friends of a lot of our people, we are still strong."
Harry trailed off, leaving silence. He didn't look at anyone, still lost in his past. Esme yearned with the desire to just take them all in her embrace and never letting go; Alice wanted to lock them in a room and never letting them out to the evils of the world. Carlisle finally understood what Harry had meant that they would never understand. He doesn't; not at the depths that these young people does and went through. He doesn't think he ever will.
Luna took up where Harry left off. "That's why we are here. We chose this place for its solitude and because it's out of the way. We wanted to go somewhere to heal. We couldn't do that at home; there are still ghosts haunting us. This way, so far from home, it might help us in letting go."
"How long ago was this war?" Jasper asked softly.
"Ten years," Neville answered.
The look on their faces was priceless but Ron held in his laughter. It wasn't the time.
"But, but that's impossible!" Emmett exclaimed. "You're only, what, 17 or 18? It can't be!"
"I'm afraid it can be, Emmett, and it is," Hermione said.
"But that would make you 27 years old and you don't look that old unless you're vampires which is impossible because we would know," Alice rambled off.
"I'm 26 years old, actually," Luna piped up cheerfully. "I'm the baby in the family."
"Harry?" Edward inquired. "What are they talking about? You are seventeen years old, right?"
Harry looked up. "No, Edward. I'm not seventeen years old. In reality, I'm 27 years of age. We all are except Ron; he's 28."
"How can that be?" Carlisle asked.
"We're immortal," Draco shrugged carelessly.
*Well, I hope ya'll like this chapter. I did my best!