A/N: So I really debated on this chapter (T rated, BTW). I decided that it was needed. Hermione does something that may irritate some of you, but it's important. Trust me on that one. It will be brought up again (there will be a test next Thursday...)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. As I said before, if you ask a question in your review I'll try to answer it, otherwise you get this nice, generic thank you. I really do appreciate them, I have gotten some ideas from them and changed a bit about my writing style according to what people say, so I really am using them when I get them.

As always, enjoy and please review.

Angela's prediction had been right, the DJ that had been hired mostly played modern dance songs, but occasionally threw in a disco hit. It didn't matter to the crowd, they wanted a reason to dance and have fun, and in that sense the dance was a success. Occasionally a teacher would wander the crowd, prodding apart two students dancing too closely or keeping an eye on the punch bowl to keep it from being spiked.

Halfway through the dance Edward awkwardly presented the principal and basketball coach with a check from his father to cover the rest of their expenses to get to state. He slunk away from the ceremony the moment several students started singing the school song and returned to Hermione's side moments later looking relieved it was over.

"That wasn't that bad," Bella joked, arm around Jacob's waist.

"It's not exactly keeping inconspicuous, is it?" he replied. "They demanded that little ceremony, another way to show school pride and all that."

Hermione smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You did fine."

He didn't respond as he grabbed her waist and pulled her to him as a slow song came on. While she was more accustomed to ballroom dancing she wrapped her arms around his neck and engaged in the slow rocking back and forth that was more the style of high school dances. Jacob swept Bella away to start dancing close to her away from the vampires.

"Mr. Cullen..." Mr. Berty's warning tone came from the side. Edward and Hermione looked over to see him touch his index fingers together, then move them several inches apart in a direct gesture to put more distance between them. Sighing Edward took a small step away from Hermione, then he moved his hand to show there was space between their bodies.

"That's better," he smiled at them. "I haven't had the opportunity to meet your friend, Edward."

"This is Hermione," Edward introduced awkwardly, hand not leaving her waist.

"Hermione," herepeated. "A name straight from Greek mythology lost to time. Or were you named after the Shakespearean character?"

"The Greek myth. My parents were fans," she nodded.

"Edward managed to convince you to come to our little town all the way from the UK?"

She laughed lightly. "There's a little more rain here, but I'm used to a damp climate. It's nice to be able to go see new places, even if they are just as wet."

He nodded. "Enjoy your night, Mr. Cullen," he smiled warmly before moving on to separate Bella and Jacob. The moment his attention was elsewhere Edward pressed Hermione back to him.

"Mr. Cullen!" she cried in mock alarm. "You are going to get us in trouble again!"

He smirked. "If I'm going to get in trouble maybe we should take this back home?"

She smiled sultrily, grabbed his hand, and started towards the door. They were cut off after only a few steps by Alice and Jasper, each looking grim.

"Shit," Edward muttered. "We've got a major problem."

"The wolves have him contained in the clearing, but we need to get there now to figure out what's going on," Alice said quickly.

"One second," Edward muttered as Jacob and Bella appeared next to them, looking anxious.

"What's going on?" Jacob hissed.

"Keep Bella here," Edward ordered. "If the dance ends before we're back get her in the Jeep and get her back to the reservation. Don't let her out of your sight." He handed over his keys.

Jacob opened his mouth to ask another question, but the four vampires rushed from the gym and he was too afraid to follow. Jasper and Alice led Hermione and Edward out to the parking lot, and with a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching they broke into a run towards the clearing. They slowed only when they came close to the clearing, where a large black wolf was eying something standing in the dead center looking terrified.

"Laurent!" Edward growled as the vampires stepped forward to meet him.

"Edward. Alice. Jasper." Laurent looked at each of them with relief in his eyes. "And you must be Edward's new mate," he turned to Hermione, smiling.

"Save it, Laurent," Edward growled. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the area, thought I'd drop by..."

"For a bite?" Alice hissed.

"To see some old friends," he finished, standing up straighter.

"On Victoria's high suggestion, right?" Edward shot back.

"She may have mentioned it to me," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"That's an understatement."

Hermione looked at Edward in annoyance. "Care to clue us in?" she snapped.

"Victoria told him to come here, to spy on us, or you rather, and figure out what's going on so she can give a better report to the Volturi when she makes it to Italy," he growled to her, eyes still locked on the vampire twenty feet away.

"She just asked me to stop by and figure out how you are doing," Laurent protested, looking nervous. "A friendly gesture, nothing less."

"Oh, I'm sure she's very concerned about our well being," Jasper rolled his eyes.

"I don't mean any trouble with you, Cullens. Call off your dogs," he eyed the woods fearfully, seeing several large canine shapes moving around soundlessly. "I'll be on my way and I promise not to contact Victoria again."

"You're lying," Edward hissed. "You'll tell her everything because you're afraid that she'll tell the Volturi you were being unhelpful, and that they won't be happy at you if you don't tell them everything."

"I can take care of myself."

"Against everything the Volturi has that you don't? Not likely."

"I'm not lying. I'll keep my word. They'll find you regardless of me going to them," he muttered.

"It'll take them a lot longer," Jasper smirked. He and Alice both took menacing steps forward.

"Let's be reasonable here," he looked frightened again, taking a step back. A growl resounded behind him, making him inch back forward.

"We are being reasonable. We're going to tear you apart. It'll be much nicer than what they're planning for you. Though I guess I could give you the choice, us or them," Edward shot a glance at a grey colored wolf whose head was sticking through the foliage. The wolves growled in unison.

"That doesn't sound very reasonable," Laurent pointed out. "Either way, I lose."

"There's no options other than those. Make your choice," Edward snarled.

"Now wait a second," Hermione muttered, looking slightly horrified. "Is this really necessary?" she muttered to Edward, Jasper, and Alice. "They're going to find out no matter what. Maybe we should let him go and just deal with these things a little sooner than expected."

"That's not the only thing there for. It's what we're going to tear him apart for, but he had a secondary purpose when he set out last night," Edward hissed, looking at her.

"What secondary purpose?" she whispered.

"He wrongly assumed that since I was no longer with Bella that I wouldn't care what happened to her."

"You have to admit, she is rather tempting," Laurent smiled awkwardly.

"Shut up!" Edward shouted. "For that I should just leave you here with them."

There were barks of assent from all around them. Laurent started trembling in fear.

"Wait," Jasper said as Edward turned to leave.

He sighed. "I can't ask her to do that."

"We should know."

"You have no idea what you're asking of her," Edward stared directly at his brother, getting visibly angrier.

"If we plan on putting up any kind of fight we should discover all the weapons at our disposal," Jasper explained calmly.

"That's an act of war, we weren't planning on taking it that far."

"That doesn't mean they won't. They have so much at their disposal, and if they find out we won't use our best weapon to her full advantage..."

Edward sighed. "She'll never agree to do it."

"Since I'm assuming you're talking about me, I'd like to ask what you're talking about," Hermione snapped, hands on her hips.

"I've seen a curse..." Jasper started. "It kills normal humans, but when a human casts it on a vampire it just hurts like hell for a few seconds. Since you seem so much more powerful, I was wondering if it might be more... potent... should you cast it."

"You're asking me to hurl one of the Unforgivables at him?" she gasped in horror.

"It would help us know," Edward said softly.

"No! I can't believe you're even suggesting it!" she looked to Alice for support.

"If the Volturi are coming for us it might be nice to know what we can do against them," Alice said quietly.

"I can't," Hermione protested. "What if it works? What if I kill him?"

"You stop countless others, including Bella, from getting killed," Jasper muttered.

She looked from Jasper, to Alice, to Edward, mouth open, before shaking her head and crossing her arms.

"It will really be much kinder than letting Sam and the pack have their way with him. They desire a bit of fun before finishing him off," Alice pointed out.

"You have to mean them," Hermione grumbled. "How could I mean it? I have no desire to kill him, I wasn't all that thrilled at the 'tear him apart' idea in the first place, in case you don't remember."

"Fine, we'll go. Have fun, gentlemen, lady," Edward called into the woods as he wrapped an arm around her waist and started to lead her away.

"No!" Laurent suddenly grabbed the sleeve of the red jacket. "Please, talk some sense into them."

She opened her mouth and looked in his eyes, but suddenly speech failed her.

Face after face passed through her mind. 'Please, no,' a young woman begged, arms wrapped around a beautiful young girl no more than four. 'Please, my daughter, please spare my daughter, please,' she wept hysterically. He didn't care, his fangs sank into her as the young girl screamed in horror. When he was done with the mother he turned to the child. It would be unkind to leave her alive, too...

A police officer approached him, hand on his gun. 'Hey, buddy, you can't sleep here,' he said, scared for some unknown reason. 'So sorry, officer,' he smiled kindly as he stood up. He moved to walk past the officer, and when the officer bent down to look at the bag he had left he attacked. The officer screamed in pain and fought, but he was no match. When he was done he pocketed the platinum wedding band before disposing of the body.

'What are you doing out here alone?' he asked the shaking teenaged girl sitting in the rain of a thunderstorm in an alley. 'I ran away from home,' she cried. 'I want to go back!' 'Where do you live? I'll take you back,' he said warmly and kindly. She stood up, clutching the backpack of her few possessions. As they passed a desolate area he made sure she'd never return home.

Prostitutes. Runaways. Homeless. Campers. College students walking home from the bar. Occasionally whole families. Hermione saw them all pass in front of her eyes. Many of them were begging, crying, pleading for their lives, and they were slaughtered without a second thought. Even if he wasn't thirsty, if an easy meal passed his way he killed them.

Rage built up inside her. She didn't realize her hand was mimicking the movement she had seen Bellatrix Lestrange do so many times. The words were shouted from miles away- "Avada Kedavra!" There was a flash of green light and Laurent's eyes were wide as fire burned him from the inside out, and he fell to the ground nothing more than a pile of ash.

She looked around for the source of the spell, and only saw shocked faces of vampires and werewolves staring back at her. Looking around she saw no one else, and then she realized there was weight at the end of her arm. She looked down and saw her wand pointed where Laurent had been standing moments before.

"Oh, sweet Merlin," she muttered, shoving the wand into her pocket and looking at her shaking hand in disgust.

"You lost control," Edwards reassuring arms were around her quickly. "You saw those faces, you felt his callousness. Your mind opened seconds before it happened, I saw everything you saw. You couldn't stop yourself."

"I didn't even know I was doing it," she whispered.

"That should be a very effective weapon," Jasper smiled.

Hermione shot him a look, then turned heel and ran.

Edward went back to the dance long enough to tell Bella and Jacob that they had gone to confront Laurent, and that Sam would fill them in on whatever details he felt they needed to know. He then got into the Volvo, Jasper and Alice said they'd pick the Jeep up and go take it hunting. They knew he and Hermione needed a day or so alone.

He took his time getting to the white house, afraid of what he'd find. He parked in the garage and made his way into the house. He found Hermione sitting on the couch, Hogwarts: A History draped across her lap.

"'Mione?" he called softly. She looked up at him, closed the worn book, and patted the seat next to her. "Are you okay?" he murmured into her hair as he wrapped his arms around her.

She sighed, and looked as if she was choosing her words carefully. "I'm not upset I did it," she said slowly. "I'm upset that I'm not upset. That, if I saw those people pleading again, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

He looked into her eyes.

"I didn't do it because the Volturi are coming for us. Let them come. I didn't do it because he was going to kill Bella. The wolves would stop him before he could get to her. I did it for them. I did it for the children who had to grow up without parents, the parents who would never get their child back, the spouses who would never get to kiss their loved ones goodbye. I'm upset because I feel right in what I did. I probably wouldn't do it again, but I don't regret killing him."

"That's a slippery slope," he whispered.

"I won't do it again, unless someone I love is in mortal peril," she promised.

He held her tight for an hour, slowly breathing her scent in and out. "What is your opinion about our souls?" he finally asked.

"Seeing as I've had more experience than I wanted to when it comes to bits of soul, I'm pretty sure we still have our souls."

"What makes you think that?"

"I haven't personally seen anyone who suffered the Dementor's kiss, but I've heard. They don't speak, they rarely move, they're vacant shells of people. We're not like that. I think we have the potential to lose our souls, just like humans. If we commit murder, we can tear our souls and lose a part of it."

"But we've both committed murder," he protested.

"Would you really consider what we've done murder? Do you begrudge the lion for killing the antelope?"

"No, that's its nature."

"Isn't it our nature to kill humans? Don't you think that the fact that you've turned your back on what is natural for us will score points with whoever is upstairs?"

"By your logic you left an innocent man in ashes earlier," he said bitterly.

"Laurent killed for survival most of the time, but he killed for pleasure a few times. That's where he crossed the line."

"Seems like an arbitrary line."

"Seems like debating that line is up to us and the creator, whoever you believe him or her to be."

He thought about it for a moment. "What do you call what you did in the clearing?"

She sighed. "Again, that's something I'm going to have to answer for when I die."

"And those two in the forest?"

"Instinct. Lions and antelopes."

"What about now? Why shouldn't our family just start to kill people, like is our supposed nature?" he asked angrily.

"Because you'd feel wrong. You can't live that life, and you know it. At this point it's about living with yourself," she replied, running her fingers through his bronze hair, calming him down.

He closed his eyes and felt the warmth from her fingers trailing over his scalp and face. He sighed, melting into the feeling. "I'd like to think that one day I'll go to Heaven and be able to introduce you to my mother."

She nodded, her hand cradling his face. "I'd like to see my parents again, and explain what happened to them," she whispered before her lips met his.