I, London Man, did NOT write this story. This was written by Early-Frosts. I am just hosting it because EF was going to cancel their account. EF allowed me to have them on my site so people can read or reread them if they wanted.

I did NOT steal this story. Also, I want to thank Early-Frosts for letting my host their stories.

Chapter 25: Twenty Four: My Friend, Jacob

Family Matters

Disclaimer: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer and all related materials belong to their respective owners. This is non-profit fanfiction.

Warning: This story contains slash.

Chapter Twenty-Four – My Friend, Jacob

February faded into March far faster than Alexander would have expected it to. Things with the Potters remained primarily strained and distant, but they had all managed to go over a month without any major fights.

It was the last Wednesday of March—smack dab in the middle of spring break—and Alexander was sitting on the floor of his room wrapping a birthday present for Jonathan. The older Wizard's birthday was the following Tuesday, the thirty-first of the month, but the 'family' birthday party would be held over the weekend.f

The black-haired boy had spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out what to get his older biological brother. He wasn't very experienced at gift-giving. His was the only birthday that the Cullen family ever celebrated and, as they tended to buy anything that they wanted as soon as they wanted it, the vampires all preferred either something homemade or to do some sort of activity that involved spending time with the mortal for Christmas. Eric and Marcia, likewise, both preferred that their friend spring for something like dinner and movie over him buying them something material. In fact, the only traditional birthday present Alexander had purchased for anyone in the past year had been a box of assorted sweets for Charles in late January. It was a perfectly fine belated birthday gift for a younger biological brother that he didn't know very well. But Alexander had spent a significant amount of time with Jonathan over the past two months and, as a result, a pile of candy seemed somehow insufficient.

He ended up settling for a set of books on advanced defensive magic that Cedric Diggory had suggested. It was a practical gift. And, because Defense Against the Dark Arts was Jonathan's favorite subject, there was a better than decent chance that the material would be genuinely interesting to the Boy-Who-Lived.

Alexander finished carefully wrapping the book up in red and gold paper. Satisfied with the job he'd done wrapping the present, he set it aside and then went upstairs.

Most of the rest of the family was out hunting for the day. A student had skinned his knee at Forks High School the day before and Jasper was in desperate need of a good feeding after being pushed to the brink of his self-control. Only Rosalie stayed behind; it was her turn to stay home with Alexander.

The Wizard looked around the living room where his sister was sitting, quietly reading a book. "You wanna play a video game?" he asked after a moment.

Rosalie looked up at her younger brother and quirked an eyebrow.

"I'll take that as a 'no.'"

The blonde vampire looked over at the television and its attached video game systems for a moment. "I suppose I could."

"No," Alexander said with a shake of his head. "It was a stupid suggestion; you hate video games."

"But I love spending time with you," the immortal countered.

The mortal boy grinned. "We don't have to play video games, but I really need to do something to pass the time until Edward comes home. I'm bored."

Rosalie smiled knowingly. "You two are certainly coming along nicely. He can barely stand to be away from you and it appears that you feel the some way. I remember when Emmett and I first started feeling like that about one another."

Alexander couldn't stop himself from blushing.

"You're perfect for one another."

"You really think so?" he asked.

"Of course," the vampire said as if it was obvious. "We all do. Edward has never been this happy and neither have you. You two were made for one another, I just know it."

"Glad to know I have your vote of confidence in my love life."

"What are big sisters for if not to cheer you on? And, of course, to inflict horrible pain upon those that harm you." The vampire's smile became a bit more playful. "Now, while I am more than willing to play a video game with you, I think I have a better idea."

"Oh?"

"You're on spring break, Alexander. You have the perfect cover for exploring Forks. Everyone is gone, so this is your golden opportunity to go investigate the town without one of us standing over your shoulder. It isn't much, but I know you've wanted the chance to see it on your own for some time now."

"You're not afraid that I'll get into a car wreck or something?"

"Alice has been watching Chief Swan's future rather closely ever since she had that vision back in January," Rosalie explained. The vision she was referring to was, of course, the one of Carlisle being called by the chief of police to examine a body found in the woods. The body had been Alexander's. Had the seer not had the vision, the family wouldn't have been able to acquire the details necessary to save the mortal from three nomadic vampires. "If she has a vision about Swan dealing with a car wreck or anything else related to you, she'll call immediately and I'll be at your side in no time at all."

Alexander didn't really have to think about the suggestion too long after that reassurance. Because of the cover story that the family used for why he didn't attend Forks High School, he had yet to really have the opportunity to explore the little town in the year and a half since the Cullen family had moved there.

Not five minutes after Rosalie had made the suggestion, Alexander was cruising down the road in his car. As expected, there wasn't much to Forks. Despite that fact, the Wizard was thrilled to be able to see it all up close and on his own. It wasn't long until he'd driven through the town twice. He then parked his car in one of the spaces outside of the one and only coffee shop in town and went inside.

Every head in the room snapped up to look at Alexander when he entered. He was a stranger in a small town, even if he had lived there for well over a year.

The boy bought a cup of hot cocoa before taking a seat in a booth by the window. He sat in silence, enjoying his drink and watching the pleasant scenery outside. There were only a handful of people in the shop, all of whom were at least ten years older than him. Although it wasn't spring break in Forks, it was nearing four o'clock in the afternoon. The Wizard was beginning to wonder where all of the teenagers were.

After about ten minutes of sitting by himself, Alexander pulled out his cell phone and called the Black residence.

"Hello," a gruff voice came from the other end of the line.

"Um, hello, Mr. Black. This is Alexander. I was wondering if Jacob was in."

There was a momentary pause on the other end of the line. "Just a minute."

Alexander could hear Billy Black shout his son's name before the line went silent for almost a full minute. Thinking he'd been disconnected or something, he was just about to turn his phone off when a new voice came to the line. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jake."

"Alex!" the younger boy said in excitement. "What's up?"

"Not much. I'm just sitting in the coffee shop by myself. Thought I'd see what you were up to."

"The coffee shop?" Jake asked. "You're bored and want me to come entertain you, don't you?"

"You know me so well," Alexander said dryly. "You don't have to come. I just wanted someone to talk to."

"No, it's cool, man. I haven't seen you since that night. And only the once before that. I can be there in about fifteen minutes. Is that good?"

"I'll see you soon," Alexander said before hanging up. He put his phone away and went back to drinking his cocoa. After he finished it, he went back to the counter and bought two more cups; one for him, one for Jacob.

The Quileute teen showed up a short while later. His eyes found Alexander as soon as he entered the coffee shop and he made his way over to sit across from the other boy in his booth.

"That for me?" Jake asked as soon as he sat down, pointing to the second cup of cocoa.

Alexander nodded his head up and down once in response. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good," the younger teen answered as he took the beverage. "I think."

"You think?"

"It's still a lot to take in. Knowing that I might be . . ." he trailed off, the word 'werewolf'—even though the Quileute wolves were technically shapeshifters—was left unsaid. His eyes darted about the room as though he was suspicious of someone overhearing them.

"You might, you might not," Alexander said with a shrug. "Does worrying about it help you much?"

"You don't worry about the future?"

"I try to only worry about the things I can affect," the curly-haired boy clarified before taking a sip of his drink. "It doesn't always work. In fact, it doesn't work most of the time."

"There a story there?"

Alexander hesitated for several seconds. "Yes. I, uh, found my biological parents a couple of months ago."

"What! That's huge!" Jacob shouted, flailing his arms into the air dramatically and gaining the attention of everyone in the coffee shop.

The Cullen boy did his best to send Jake a withering glare, but it came off as a mild reproach at best. "It's something, that's for sure."

"You're not happy about it?" the russet-skinned teen questioned. It was pretty clear that he thought that finding a place to live that didn't involve vampires should be considered a godsend.

Ignoring Jacob's tone, Alexander answered. "Things are weird. I've been spending every weekend with them for two months, and we're just now starting to move past the uncomfortable awkward stage."

"But they're your family."

"They're my relatives. Biological family," Alexander corrected firmly. "I hate that everyone seems to want to equate DNA to something more than what it is. I was with these people for a couple of months after I was born before they left me with some relative that they evidently didn't get along with. They left with an aunt of mine for an entire year before she dropped me off at a hospital to be rid of me. And then, it took a whole 'nother month before they even realized that I was gone. And then, whatever search they did for me was so minor that there isn't even a record of it," the boy vented.

Jacob stared at his friend in shock. "Oh."

"'Oh'? That's your big reaction to all of that? 'Oh'?"

"I don't know what else to say," the Quileute boy defended before staking a big gulp of his still-steaming cocoa.

"That makes two of us. After they found out about me, they made a bit of stink about wanting me back. I agreed to spend my weekends with them in order to prevent anything too messy, but it's all very awkward.

"I have three biological siblings. One seems really excited to have me around; one resents me for not being what she always thought I'd be; and one wants to get to know me, but, at the same time, is afraid of me getting caught up in some dangerous family problems."

"'Dangerous family problems'?" Jacob parroted questioningly. He frowned deeply and his eyebrows moved to meet one another in the center of his forehead.

Alexander felt like he could just smack himself in the head for letting that slip. For a moment, he pondered the Statute of Secrecy and the possible repercussions of telling Jacob everything. "Have you ever had a secret? Something you really wanted to tell but couldn't?"

"You have another big secret?" Jacob asked with a groan.

"And it's a big one. So, I need your word that you won't tell anyone. Ever." Jacob was about to say something, but Alexander continued speaking before the other teen could get anything out. "Remember when I said that there were people out there that would hurt you for knowing the truth? This is something like that. I'll tell you if you really want to know because we're friends, but I have to have your word that you'll keep it a secret."

Jake looked stunned. "I swear, I won't tell anyone."

Alexander looked about the room to make sure no one was eavesdropping before taking a deep breath, as he often did to steady his nerves. "I'm a Wizard."

The other teen's face remained blank for several seconds before he burst out laughing.

"I'm not joking," Alexander insisted.

"Y-You're telling met that you're a-a," he tried. Jacob couldn't finish what he was trying to say because he was laughing so hard.

The Cullen mortal crossed his arms and leaned back in the booth. He waited silently until the other boy finished laughing hysterically. "Are you done?" Alex eventually asked.

"Unless you want to tell another one," the long-haired teen quipped. He wiped his eyes before looking at his friend. To his surprise, Alexander had a totally sober yet somewhat irritated expression on his face. "Wait a minute . . . You're serious, aren't you?"

"Deadly serious," Alexander answered. He looked around the room to make sure the few people that had turned towards the pair during Jacob's bout of laughter were back to focusing on other things. Certain that he wasn't being watched, Alex sat his bag on the table and opened it, revealing his wand and, beneath it, the somewhat crumpled picture of Alexander and the Potters that had been taken on Valentine's Day.

Jacob looked into the bag at the little piece of wood. He was surprised at the level of detail that had gone into carving the leafy pattern. Not nearly as surprised as he was at the moving photograph of Alexander standing alongside five other people in what appeared to be robes, but still surprised.

"I'm a wand carrying, spell casting Wizard," Alexander said in a voice that was just barely above a whisper. "Haven't you wondered where I go to school?"

"Well, yeah. But I figured you were being homeschooled. Your parents are really, really old. They know enough, right?"

"They do," Alexander confirmed. "But they don't homeschool me. I go to a school for Wizards and Witches on the other end of the country. I travel there and back everyday with magic."

"That's . . . so cool," Jacob said brightly.

The older teen couldn't help but smile at his friend's reaction. "I'm glad you think so."

"So, if I were to tell someone, a bunch of wand-waving people will knock down my door and kill me?"

"Not kill, but they might make you forget that you know about magic; I'm not entirely sure because I'm an a bit of a gray area here. There's a law that was passed centuries ago called the International Statute of Secrecy. You see, Wizards and Witches have our own governing systems in each country and the magical governments met in the seventeenth century and agreed to keep magic a secret.

"I'm walking on a thin line right now. It's technically illegal to tell a Muggle—that is, a non-magical person—about real magic except in very rare circumstances. For instance, we can tell immediate family members and people we plan to make immediate family members, like fiancés and such. But we can also talk about it with people already in the know. I'm skating the rules a bit here because you already know about shapeshifters and vampires and because I don't think you really count as a Muggle."

Jacob gaped at his friend. "Wait, are you trying to tell me that I'm-"

"No," Alex said with a laugh when he realized what the other boy was about to say. "But the potential to be a shapeshifter is something that is passed through family lines. Sam Uley can change into a wolf because one of his ancestors could. And you might be able to as well for the same reason. In my book, that qualifies you for 'not a Muggle' status. Sometimes magical parents have a non-magical child. I'm considering this to be something like; even if you aren't a shapeshifter, you have the genetic potential to be so I don't count you as a Muggle. That, coupled with the fact that you already know about vampires and stuff should mean that we're in the clear.

"Besides, even if it was illegal for me to tell you, there still wouldn't be a problem unless they found out that I told you. And unless you go blabbing about it or I start doing magic in front of you while I'm still a minor, then they shouldn't find out."

"What do you mean about being a minor?" Jake asked.

Alex smiled at how easily Jacob was taking the news. He chalked it up to the fact that the other boy had already had to deal with the existence of vampires and shapeshifters. "It's illegal for us to use magic outside of school until we turn seventeen. If I do, they'll detect it. Given that I'm in a Muggle area, they'll figure out pretty quick that I'd just broken the Statute of Secrecy, too. If I were an adult, there would at least be a chance of them missing it."

"You can drive a car but you can't cast spells outside of school?" the Quileute guffawed.

"And when I can use magic outside of school, it will still be another year before I can vote a few more until I'm allowed to drink alcohol," Alexander added.

"I was hoping you'd be able to show me a spell or two," Jacob said in disappointment before shaking his head. "And here I thought my life was getting really complicated. So, wait, you started telling me all of this because you mentioned your biological brother wanting to keep you out of danger. Does that mean they're Wizards too? Ones that are in some sort of danger?"

"They're Wizards and Witches, yes" Alexander said with an affirmative nod. "My older biological brother, Jonathan, has a dark Wizard hunting him. He's afraid that if it gets out that we're related that I'll become a target, just like everyone else in his family."

"So he's trying to protect you. Seems like a pretty normal thing for a guy to do for his little brother."

"Y'know," the green-eyed boy began, "he said something very similar to me back in January. He found out about me because I donated blood to save another biological sibling's life. I gave blood to save the life of Charles, who is only fourteen. When I asked Jonathan about how Charles was doing a couple of days later, he said that it was normal for me to be worried about my little brother."

"My sisters fuss over me all the time when they're home," Jake groused.

It was Alexander's turn to snicker. "I really do care about Charles and Jonathan."

"And the others?"

"I don't know. The last of the kids is my twin sister, Cara. She and I don't get along very well. Mostly because she resents that I'm not abandoning the family that raised me for her family. Every time we talk, it ends up turning into a fight. So more often than not, we just don't talk. And that makes it pretty hard to get to know her. There's a part of me that wants to care for her like a sister, but I just don't. Just because we're related by blood, even if we are twins . . . It's just not enough."

"I think I understand," Jacob said. "If I found out that I was adopted, I'd still love my sisters. And I don't think I'd just start loving someone else like I love them just because we have the same parents."

"The parents are another mess," Alexander sighed. "My biological mother, Lily, is trying so hard. She's been making a pretty big effort lately. James, my biological father, has been trying to get to know me, but it's pretty clear that he agrees with Cara. The main problem with them is that every time I start to warm up to them, I go back to wondering about why there is no record of a search for me. How much could they have loved me if they didn't do everything they could to try and find me?"

Jake eyed Alex critically. "Have you asked them about it?"

"No. I keep telling myself that things will become less awkward in a few more weeks and that I should just ask when I'm comfortable with asking them the deep questions. But it's becoming pretty clear to me that not asking those questions is part of why things are still so awkward."

"Does that mean that you're never going to ask them?"

"I am going to ask," Alexander said with great resolve. "Not this weekend, though. Next."

"Why put it off for another week?"

"Because this weekend is Jonathan's birthday party. I don't want to ruin it with a discussion that stands a pretty good chance of turning into a full-scale shouting match."

The two sat in silence for a few seconds as they drank their cocoa. After a short while passed, Jacob spoke up. "I'm really glad you told me all of that. We feel more like real friends now."

"We are real friends," Alex replied. "But in return, I expect to be the first person to know about it if you ever turn into a giant wolf."

"It's a promise," Jake laughed.