CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Summary: Hermione is running. She is running from rogue Death Eaters bent on revenge, the fame that surrounds her after the war and an overbearing ex-boyfriend and his mother, insisting that they marry, regardless of her ex being a cheating weasel. She finds a quiet town in the States and meets a handsome young man, one that gives her a new outlook on life and a new love. The kind of love she had craved.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters; they belong to J.K Rowling and Stepenie Myers. I am not making a profit from writing and posting this fanfic. As for the descriptions of appearances for the Twilight characters, all my research is based on the books and not the movies.
Q&A
Blushing Green Apple – I haven't wrote about the missing necklace, as I'm just going to say that it was destroyed during the battle, what with all the action going on, someone was bound to stand on it.
SereniteRose – Of course there will be drama, this is a vampire/human wedding after all with our dear Hermione and Seth attending. I can't allow it to go smoothly now, can I? I would never forgive myself. As for The Cullens and The Volturi knowing Hermione's a witch, I'm keeping it a secret for now. How it will be revealed, I haven't quite made my mind up yet.
AN
It is currently 1:30 in the morning, I am exhausted and I have work in a few hours, so I'm off to bed. Enjoy, whilst I sleep peacefully knowing I got this chapter finished in time to share with with you all.
Sunday 13th August 2006
"Is Jake coming?" Seth asked, as he buttoned up his shirt and Hermione sat on the bed, a towel wrapped around her and her wet hair falling down her back, as she applied moisturizer to her arms and legs.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "When I saw him yesterday he didn't give anything away, but I told him I'd kill him if I had to suffer through today alone. I'm hoping he turns up, every wedding needs a bit of drama." He shook his head at her.
It had been just over a month since Jacob had left, and true to Hermione's word, once a week she tracked him down, give him more supplies and sat with him for a couple of hours, talking, joking and laughing. When she left him she would head to Billy's and inform him of his son's wellbeing and she would also tell the pack, lessening their worry over him. As far as she was aware, Jacob had stuck to Canada, each time she had been forced to climb up one mountain or another, she suspected Jacob did it just to wind her up, since she would grouch and grumble to him about it afterwards and he would always smirk at her.
"Are we still taking Billy?"
"Yeah, Mom's going with Charlie, we have to be there in an hour."
She nodded and then stood up and summoned her clothing, going to the bathroom since she didn't want to distract Seth when she changed.
Barely ten minutes later, Hermione returned to her room and Seth's mouth dropped open when he looked up at her. He tried to speak but incoherent sounds left him and she giggled softly and smiled at his reaction.
She wore a light blue off the shoulder dress with a sweetheart heart neckline. The dress fit her figure perfectly, showing off her feminine curves, before flaring out the tiniest bit and falling down to her knees, the skirt swishing and swaying as she walked. Her hair was left down in soft ringlets, flowing down her back and it was clipped back from her face with some glittery pins. On her feet she wore black flats, but only due to driving the car, once they arrived she would change into strappy silver heels, and she had the matching clutch purse which held her beaded bag and wand.
She walked over to him and took his tie, which he had been struggling to do. She tightened the knot and tucked it into his suit jacket and smiled at him. Seth wore a black suit, with black dress shoes, a white shirt and a blue tie which matched the colour of Hermione's dress. It had been Sue's idea that they show a united front, as a result, she was also going to wear a blue dress, but darker than Hermione's and Billy was to wear a blue tie. The men just went along with it, and Hermione had been surprised to find she had actually enjoyed shopping with Sue, when looking for a dress for the wedding.
"You look beautiful," Seth finally managed to speak and she laughed at him.
"And you look very handsome, I need to find more excuses for you to wear a suit," she commented and he chuckled at her.
"I have something for you," he said, pulling out a rectangular box from his inside pocket.
She took it curiously and opened it, gasping as what she saw. Inside there was a silver necklace with a round sapphire pendant, surrounded by smaller diamonds.
"It's beautiful, but I can't accept it."
"Try telling my Mom that," he snorted. "She asked for me to give it to you. It belonged to my great-grandmother, or at least, I think it did," he shrugged.
"If it's a family heirloom it should go to Leah."
"Mom gave her a bracelet and the matching earrings when she turned eighteen. When I turn eighteen I'll be getting something of my grandfather's, I don't what since she hasn't told me. My mom sees you as her daughter, and you're already eighteen, she wanted to keep up with tradition."
He took the necklace from the box and slipped it around her neck, fastening it at the back. The pendent fell just below the centre of where her collar bones met, and since she had placed a Disillusionment Charm on her galleon necklace, it was unseen.
"Thank you," she said softly and he smiled, leaning down to kiss her.
They arrived not long before the wedding ceremony was to start, as Seth helped Billy out of the car, Hermione slipped on her strappy silver heels, locked up the car and took a steadying breath.
She felt Seth take her hand and she opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"You okay?" he asked her.
"Yeah, just reminding myself that I'm surrounded by vampires and it's not a battle, so I can't go about spells and magic blazing."
He chuckled at her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. Billy took her other hand and squeezed it tightly and she smiled down at him. Over the last month, she and Billy had become rather close since they had bonded during their shared time talking about Jacob, the pack and magic. And if Sue was her mother, than she saw Billy as a father figure.
Seth pushed the wheelchair in the direction of the ceremony and Billy kept a hold of Hermione's hand. They walked down the aisle and to their seats and Hermione looked at the decor with a raised eyebrow. She would describe it as an 'Enchanted Forest' wedding, all it needed were a few fairies to complete the look, she thought with a snort. It was far too busy with all the vines, flowers and trees for her tastes, she preferred something simpler, but to each their own.
They were on the front row, great!
They took their seats, Billy being positioned in the space where there was a seat missing, Seth sat next to him and she sat beside Seth, her hands clasped around his and held in her lap. Her eyes flickered over the guests present and although there weren't many, she noticed that those on her side of the aisle were definitely human, and there was no mistaking that the pale and beautiful people on the other side of the aisle were vampires, two with dark hair and three blondes, with hair to rival The Malfoys.
As if sensing her stare, the five vampires she didn't recognised turned their golden eyes in her direction. A sneer appeared on the three blonde women's faces when their eyes caught sight of Seth, who was conversing with Billy so he didn't notice.
Her own eyes hardened into a cold and hateful glare.
"I swear, if you lay a finger on him, I'll flay you until your ashes are swept away in the wind," she spoke quietly, so no one but the vampires would hear. Their eyes widened minutely, she didn't know if it was surprise that she knew what they were, or shock that she had threatened them the way she had.
Seth squeezed her hand tightly, but didn't pull his attention from Billy, not wanting to alert him to a possible conflict.
"I'm human," she muttered, seeing the confused looks they shared. "But I'm also your worst nightmare, and making an enemy of me would end your existence."
Jasper suddenly appeared, walking down the aisle with a crease in his forehead. He stopped by the vampires and they had a whispered conversation, before all eyes darted to her and she raised an eyebrow in response.
They slowly nodded at Jasper and he stood, catching her eye before disappearing back inside, just as the mind reader made his way down the aisle and stood at the altar.
His eyes locked onto hers and he frowned slightly, before turning his eyes to Seth, then Billy and Sue, who was heading to her seat beside Hermione. In that moment, she was glad she had made and given both Sue and Billy a galleon necklace, to prevent their minds from being read. The pack didn't want to give up the advantage of the vampires not knowing who she was and just how powerful of an ally she truly was.
She smirked at him and then turned her attention to Sue as she sat down beside her.
"You look wonderful, Dear," Sue smiled.
"Thank you, you look quite lovely yourself," Hermione complimented and Sue waved her off with a shy smile. "Thank you for the gift," she said.
"It looks far better on you than it ever did on my Grandmother," she smiled.
"Seth told me the reasoning."
Sue took her hand that wasn't holding Seth's and held it between hers.
"I meant it, Hermione, you are my daughter now."
Hermione smiled, feeling tears welling up in her eyes.
"It's been a long time since I've had a mother," she said and Sue smiled too, also with tears in her eyes and they both chuckled at each other.
Hermione leaned her head against Sue's shoulder and she caught Seth looking at her lovingly, and Billy was smiling at them.
The wedding march began and everyone stood.
"A vampire marrying a human, now I've seen it all," she muttered, but Sue and Seth heard. Seth snorted and Sue hid a laugh behind her hand.
"Well I'm glad it's almost over," Hermione commented, as she and Seth danced together, with other couples surrounding them, including some of the vampire couples and she knew they were watching them and listening to their conversation.
"But I'm going to kill Jacob; I had to sit through the ceremony on an arse numbing chair without him. If I had to suffer through it, then so did he." Seth chuckled at her. "I swear, Seth, if he forces me to track him down again in a week's time and I end up having to climb yet another mountain in Canada, I'm going to turn him bald for the rest of his life." He snorted. "I only gave him enough supplies for a few more days and I don't want him to think this is going to be a permanent thing. I'm giving him his space by keeping his location a secret, but the pack is worried about him, and I hate that I can't take away his pain," she sighed.
"Jake'll be fine, with you looking out for him, he can't be anything but."
"And there hasn't been any drama; no wedding is complete without drama. I was quite looking forward to Jacob insulting everyone and picking a fight," she said sadly. "I suppose there's still a wedding tradition that can be fulfilled."
"And that is?" Seth asked with a raised eyebrow as he twirled her under his arm and pulled her back to him, making her laugh.
"A couple, two strangers or two exes sneaking off to have sex," she answered.
Hermione burst out laughing at the look on Seth's face, and she heard a sudden laugh coming from the right. She turned her head and caught the eye of who she was now referring to as The Ice Queen.
Hermione cocked her eyebrow in response and Blondie just smirked at her in return, a slight look of approval on her face, and when she looked at the large vampire she was dancing with, he looked amused.
She turned back to Seth. "What?" she asked innocently.
"Your brothers are a bad influence on you."
"Now are you sure about that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Or am I a bad influence on them?"
"I see your point, you're all as bad as each other," he commented.
She grinned in response.
"Charlie's asked me to visit for a few days," she told him, before he could frown she continued. "Do you want to come with me?"
"To visit your brother in Romania?" she nodded with a smile. "Where would we stay?"
"The Reserve does have housing for its keepers and workers, I know Charlie has a spare room in his cottage, but I don't want us to stay with him, you wouldn't even fit through the door, the spare room's so small, and there is no doubt in my mind he'd spend the majority of our time there following you around and glaring at you for even looking at me. I know his appearance makes him seem big and intimidating, particularly with his choice in career, but he's actually a big softie, a walking talking teddy bear if one were to exist. But when it comes to Ginny and I and the opposite sex, all bets are off and he's actually worse than the others on that front. The Reserve has guest houses, they're mainly used for visiting researchers and possible donors. The Reserve can't do all the good work they do in healing and releasing the... animals back into the wild without donations. Treatments are expensive, and since it's difficult to breed them, a lot of money goes into that since they're trying to stop them from becoming extinct. Charlie's the head keeper, so basically, he's the boss." He snorted at her. "He'd easily be able to get us in a guest house, and The Reserve should be closed to most visitors, since they've just got an injured Horntail, Welsh Green and Opaleye admitted. Charlie wants to see if I can get Benji to eat."
"Benji's not eating?" Seth frowned.
"No, he's not, Charlie thinks it's because he misses me. What Bill said was true, I was the first female Benji saw after he hatched; he genuinely thinks I'm his mother, and I haven't seen him since we got the pack and my friends and family together, five weeks ago. Because Benji's not eating, he's not developing as he should be. Hopefully my presence alone will change that."
"You're going anyway aren't you?"
"I have to, I can't allow Benji to fall ill, but I want you to come with me. How many chances in life are you going to get to go to Romania and see a well guarded conservation reserve for endangered animals?"
He chuckled at her.
"The others will be jealous."
She shrugged. "They can come next time I visit. I noticed Leah eyeing up Charlie."
"She did?" he frowned.
"She did, from my understanding she hasn't looked at another man since Sam broke up with her and imprinted on Emily. And I know Charlie thinks she's beautiful, he asked about her. They seemed to have hit it off at the beach party."
"No, I don't believe it."
She laughed. "Well I saw the sex eyes they were sending each other." Seth grimaced. "It's your turn now, your poor sister has had to deal with the knowledge of our sex lives." He scowled at her and she laughed, she heard a snort and she caught the eye of The Ice Queen again.
"Imagine that, my brother and your sister, possibly dating. It's a good thing I'm not blood related to my brothers, that'd just be weird," she shivered and he chuckled. "It's too bad I only have Ginny and Fleur as sisters. Fleur's married to Bill and Ginny and Harry are dating. We could've set some of the pack up with my sisters, otherwise."
He snorted. "How about Katie and Angelina, your friends?"
She shook her head. "No, I didn't invite them for my benefit; I did it for the twins."
"But they broke up five years, didn't they?" he said confused.
"Yes, when we were still in school. I can't even remember why they broke up, I think Katie and Fred had an argument, and since George is loyal to Fred, and Angelina is Katie's best friend, they ended up breaking up as well. Fred and Katie were an awful couple but George and Angelina were good together. I know George still has a bit of a thing for her, even after all these years. I couldn't invite Angelina without inviting Katie," she shrugged.
"Miss Granger, are you trying to fix up one of your twin brothers with his ex-girlfriend?" he asked amused.
"One hundred percent," she admitted and he sniggered at her. "And it worked, Fred and George don't usually write me separate letters, but Fred sent me one last week, apparently Angelina and George have been spending quite a bit of time together," she said smugly and he chuckled. "So, Bill and Fleur are married with a baby on the way, Percy's dating some girl called Aubrey, who I've never met and didn't know about since he never writes me, we're not that close anyway, never have been. George and Angelina are back on track, Harry and Ginny are going strong, they'll be engaged by the end of next year." He raised an eyebrow at her. "He's asked me if I'd go ring shopping with him."
"But they're only eighteen," he said in surprise.
"My kind tend to marry young, I don't know why, we just do, I suppose it doesn't help that if you come from a pedigree background, you're given an arranged marriage. You have to be married as soon as you graduate and you must produce an heir by your twenty-first birthday."
"But your friend Theo isn't married, nor is Blaise and most of your friends and brothers."
"Although my brothers and sister are from a pedigree background, their family has never believed in arranged marriage. Neville's grandmother tried to arrange a marriage for him, but after the war he put his foot down and told her he loved Hannah Abbott and that they'd marry and have children when they wished to, I was so proud of him that day, trust me, Augustus Longbottom is a scary woman," she shivered thinking of that hideous vulture hat. "Blaise's mother would never force him into an arranged marriage. She's a bit of a black widow, eight husbands have died on her, there's no proof she's involved though, so I don't doubt marriage is the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. Theo was disowned because he defected to our side during the war. His father was an abusive bastard, physically, emotionally and mentally, I don't know how Theo survived it, and his father killed his mother when he was five."
"What did you do to his father? Your friends and family seemed surprised by it, scared even."
"I made him mentally face his worst fears, hopefully the twisted bastard will go insane before it wears off; it's the least he deserves after what he did to Theo and the crimes he committed in the war. Anyway, let's get back on topic. Fred's the only one I'm worried about; hopefully George will be able to set them up on a double date before I have to intervene. And that just leaves Charlie. Maybe I should ask your sister to come with us to Romania, I doubt Charlie would mind," she mused.
"If it will get her away from Sam and Emily she'd do anything. I'll ask Mom, but we both know she'd say it's fine." She laughed at him. "Maybe you and Leah can do some bonding whilst we're away."
"We're slowly getting there. She laughed at something I said the other day."
Seth stopped dancing and looked at her in disbelief. "She didn't!"
"She did," she confirmed excitedly.
"No way," he whispered, slightly dazed.
"Progress, I know," she grinned. He shook his head and laughed at her. They shared a victorious high five before Seth pulled her back into his arms and they continued dancing.
"Will you do it again?"
"Do what again?" she asked, lifting her head from where it had been laying against his chest.
"Show me," he clarified.
"Are you ever going to get tired of this?"
"No, I know you love me. You tell me every day, but being able to feel that you love me, it's something I'm always going to cherish."
They stopped dancing and she smiled up at him. Her hand came up to cup his cheek and he leaned into the touch. She took his hand and placed it against her heart and covered it with her own. His free arm tightened around her and pulled her against him. With her eyes locked on his she spoke.
"I love you," she said softly.
Seth suddenly gasped as he felt her love for him swarm his body, warming him up from the inside and making his entire body tingle. It was overwhelming, but he would never grow tired of it.