A/N: I'm taking a long time to update, but that's because RL has been a big old pain in my behind. I've been sick, and it's the type of sick where I can read, but I can't put my ideas into a coherent story. I took medication to get through the day, but during the time I normally wrote it was kind of weird. Crackfics galore, but nothing I'm ever going to publish. So read, and don't hold back if this is a totally horrible chapter. I'm still not a hundred percent. I know I said this would be the wedding, but I thought that was kind of rushing things. You're going to have to wait.

Enjoy.

He had held off for the two days, because he didn't want that damn Empath to win. That was not the difficult part. The difficult part was turning on enough of the charm to try to get Hermione to forget their agreement. What he hadn't counted on when making the bet, however, was how quickly Hermione picked things up. The moment his hand tried to slide up the nightgown she was wearing she had broken their embrace and stared up sharply into his eyes.

"What's going on here?" she demanded.

"Um... I'm needing a little physical release?" he replied, feeling a pit in his stomach starting to grow.

"You know we're trying to hold off for a month. You can't even make it three days?" her tone was accusatory.

"Come on, Hermione," he groaned. "You know I was against this from the start."

"But you know it means a lot to me. So why try?"

"I... er..."

"Do you have some kind of bet going on or something?"

His jaw dropped. "That's quite a leap..."

"I caught a glance of some sort of signal going on between you boys as I was talking to Rosalie. Were you placing a bet on how long we'd make it, Jacob Black?"

"Is this one of those moments you're going to be mad no matter what I answer, so it's best to tell the truth?"

She glared at him, pushing herself into a sitting position, and looking very much like a vampire.

"Yes. There was a bet that we wouldn't be able to make it the full month."

"What did you have?" she asked, the calm in her voice somewhat unnerving.

"A week," he mumbled. "Jasper had two days, Emmett has two weeks, Edward thinks you're going the whole month."

She nodded once without saying anything. Without making a sound she slid out of the bed, and in less than two seconds was wearing the jeans and sweater she had been wearing earlier in the day. Feeling that something was most certainly going down he followed her out the door and phased to run behind her as she made her way to the Cullens' house. Something told him he should probably bolt back to La Push, maybe even beg Sam for a little protection, but he phased back and followed her in. She walked to the middle of the house and crossed her arms.

"Who was it that decided to start a bet on my sex life?" she demanded.

Emmett's booming laugh sounded from upstairs. "Edward started it," he tattled.

Edward, who was waiting for Charlie to fall asleep, glanced up at from the book he was reading, then put it back up, hiding his face.

Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing for a few moments. "I need to talk to Carlisle," she muttered, and disappeared upstairs. Jacob stayed rooted to the spot, looking after her in disbelief. Was he really going to get out of this that easily? Edward dared to drop his book, and Emmett suddenly appeared.

"Did she really just walk off?" Emmett asked.

"Be afraid. Be very afraid," Alice's chuckling voice called from the next room.

"What's happening?" Jacob asked Edward.

"I don't know. Alice does, but she's keeping me out of the know by translating The Lord of the Rings into Ancient Greek," he was looking worried.

"I think I might be go hang out with Sam and the gang for a little bit," he said, inching towards the door. "Tell her I decided to go to poker night?"

"Of course," Edward muttered, concentrating as if he was hoping Alice would slip up. "Are we still meeting to go get outfits for the wedding tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See you in the morning," he muttered, rushing out of the house before Hermione could finish her conversation with Carlisle. He phased and ran through the woods, feeling more and more nervous the farther he ran, until he came across Emily's house. He could tell from a distance that poker night was still going strong, and that Quil was cleaning house. He would certainly have to do something about that.

"Oh, my God, it's alive," Jared smirked as he entered. "We haven't seen you in so long we thought you might be leech food."

"Nah. Tried that. Didn't take," he said, grabbing a folding chair and squeezing between Paul and Sam.

"Where is the corpse bride?" Paul asked.

"She's at her family's house. She's in a bit of a bad mood," he said, changing the money in his pocket for chips.

"What did you do?"

"The mind-reader leech started a bet on this little pact she and I made. She found out. I don't know what her wrath is going to be, so I'm laying low for a little while."

"Pact?" Sam asked, stopping in the middle of his deal.

"Her sister gave her this idea about not having sex for a month before the wedding."

"Aw, man," Jared muttered. "Harsh."

"And you took the bet?" Sam chuckled.

"Stupid of me, wasn't it?" Jacob smiled.

"You're going to be lucky if you get any after the wedding. Not that I'm complaining. She's still going to marry you, right?"

"She hasn't said anything, but I'm sure Alice would have been in a much worse mood if she was going to call it off. The girl is spending every damn minute planning this shindig. She would be pissed off if it wasn't going to happen."

"I see. So I still have to deal with the leeches tomorrow?" he grumbled.

"You could trust me to pick out your wedding clothes," he smirked back.

"Hell, no. I'll be there. You can't make me happy about the situation, though."

"If it's any consolation, Paul has to suffer with you."

"Perfect. Vampires and a moody bastard. What a way to spend my Saturday," Paul rolled his eyes. "If I didn't love your sister so much..."

"But you love my sister, so your ass is going to be there and you're going to go pick up an 'ugly usher outfit' and act like you're having the time of your life," he smiled.

"Yes, sir."

"And Edward says that you can't seat his family off the side of the cliff, despite what you're planning."

"Fucking parasite."

They chuckled before they started playing. The more time that passed without his hearing from Hermione, the more nervous he became. Sam said he got a tingle whenever she crossed into the reservation, like his instincts telling him to phase, though it wasn't as compelling as it had been at first, but there was no sign he was feeling anything. He would give it a few more hours, then go back on his knees and beg if she hadn't returned home. His pride wasn't worth losing his love.

She knocked on the door to Carlisle's study.

"Come in," she heard him call. She slipped inside and shut the door behind her.

"Hermione," the blonde vampire beamed widely, standing and opening his arms in an invitation for a hug. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "I just found out the boys had a bet going on about my sex life, but I've got that under control."

"Really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing too over the top, I promise," she replied without him having to expand.

"I'm sure I'll hear all about it later."

"You'll see it tomorrow," she muttered, but he pretended he didn't hear.

"What did you need, dear?"

She took a deep breath. "I've been thinking a lot about this wedding, and with all the planning I've really felt something was missing. And it's been a real internal debate, since I know my father is alive in Australia, but I've accepted the fact that he'd be happier not knowing he had a daughter than knowing what is going on with me right now. But, I've always been a bit of a girl, I mean, more than people see me as, and I've always had these visions of how I want my wedding to go, and so that's where I realized something was missing..."

"Hermione, dear, should I get Jasper in here to calm you down a bit?" he asked with a kind smile. "You look like you're in danger of tearing a finger off with the way you're wringing your hands."

"I'm sorry," she shot him a nervous smile. "I just feel kind of silly asking, but the idea was that ever since I've become... ever since the Battle of Hogwarts you have been a father figure to me. I really appreciate that, because I don't know if I would have made it if it was only Edward and Alice. So I wanted to know if you would walk me down the aisle at the wedding. Not to give me away, just as an acknowledgement of the role you've played in my life."

He was smiling widely. "I would be honored to walk you down the aisle, Hermione. If you would do me the honor of granting me the now traditional dance the bride shares with her father figure."

She nodded, hugging him tightly. "Nothing would make me happier, Carlisle."

"I have never seen someone look at another the way Jacob looks at you. I can say with extreme confidence that you two will have a long, happy life together."

"Thank you," she said, but her smile betrayed her.

"Is there something else you're worried about?"

"Just something Rosalie said a while back. That hearts aren't designed to go on forever. I'm just worried that one day his heart will give out, and I won't have warning about it. We've talked about turning him if he shows signs of aging, but what if he doesn't? What if his heart just stops? All I do with magic, I wouldn't be able to save him."

"Valid concerns," he nodded. "I've never seen anything like the wolves. I'm sorry if I can't provide you an answer."

"I didn't expect you to. I got those healing books you wanted by owl earlier today. I forgot to grab them on my way over here, but I'll make sure to send them with Jacob in the morning."

"Thank you," he smiled, pulling her in for one more hug. "In some ways you are stronger than any of the rest of our family. I am truly honored that you have let he have such a role in your life."

She bit her lip and nodded, walking out of the house with only a nod towards Rosalie. When she reached the woods she didn't start running towards La Push. She made beeline for the coast, and once there climbed halfway down the cliffs and looked out over the black ocean. There were less than four weeks before she became Mrs. Black. Everything seemed to be moving so quickly, and she rarely got a chance to just sit and think. She would go back to Jacob in a little bit, but she needed some alone time at the moment. Away from Alice and her incessant wedding talk. Away from Edward's sideways glances. Away from Emmett and his jokes about her sex life. Away from everyone.

As she watched the waves far below her mind miraculously and thankfully went blank. For the first time in a long time she was just lost in the scene in front of her. Time passed without her noticing, and for some reason her immortality suddenly seemed to be pressing in on her.

"Is everything alright?" a soft voice called from above her. She looked up and saw Rosalie perched on the edge of the cliff, looking down at her.

"Yeah," she said, motioning for her to sit next on the cliff next to her.

"I heard you found out about the bet. I told those idiots it wasn't the best thing to do, but they're all still teenagers in certain ways," she smiled, lowering herself cautiously onto the perch.

"Decades of life experience doesn't necessarily mean you're grown up, does it?" she smiled.

"Sometimes less than a couple decades is more than enough life experience."

"Sometimes a couple years is plenty," she nodded in agreement.

"Listen, I know I give you and Jacob a hard time for being together. And I..."

"No need," Hermione held up her hand. "I never expected you or any of the rest of the family to accept him very easily."

Rosalie studied her for a moment. "You really love him, don't you? For the longest time I tried to convince myself that you just felt some sort of responsibility to him because he had imprinted on you. I couldn't possibly imagine why you would love him back, but I can see it when I watch you two. Even when you're mad at him you can't help but show love towards him in your eyes."

"Hopefully it's near what you have with Emmett."

"What you and Jacob have is different than what Emmett and I have, or what Alice and Jasper, Edward and Bella, and Carlisle and Esme have. Not bad, just different." There was a long pause as they both watched the waves. "Have you two talked about turning him at all?"

"We've agreed to discuss it if it comes to him aging."

She nodded once. "He'll be my brother either way, you know."

She smiled. "Thanks, Rose."

"But if you turn him he'll probably smell better."

She tried not to smile, but was chuckling a moment later.

She had slipped into their bed at four in the morning to find him still awake, staring at the ceiling. As soon as she was next to him his long arm snaked around her, pulling her cold body to his warm. His lips ghosted over hers, and her hand reached up to cup his cheek, finding it wet.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

"I thought I had fucked up and caused you to leave," he said, his breath cascading over her face.

"Over a stupid, immature, teen-ager bet?" she held back her chuckle. "You can't shake this leech that easily."

A tear fell onto her cheek and she responded by pulling him as close to her as she could. "Jake, it's okay. I love you. You're going to do boneheaded things every so often, everyone does. I'm not going to leave you because you placed some sort of bet on our sex life. Though you are going to have be ready to pay Edward."

He let off a nervous chuckle before his lips lowered to hers. "I was scared. I stayed at Sam and Emily's until the game died down, and then I came back here, hoping you'd be here and I would be able to talk to you. But you weren't here. I tried calling your cell phone, but Jasper answered. Told me you left it at the house. Said you left, and that you ran towards the coast on your side of the line. I thought you were going to swim for it. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't find you even if I phased and followed your trail I can't even dream of catching you if you went in the water. I've been up the whole time, thinking of what I was going to do if you didn't come back."

"What were you thinking?" she whispered, voice trembling.

"I would a chat with Sam, maybe Paul and Jared too. I know they would understand what losing you would mean more than anyone else. If they wouldn't... help me I would have taken a swipe at Emily. Not to hurt her, just enough to provoke him. I wouldn't fight after that. It's the same contingency plan I have if you ever go on one of those Volturi missions and don't come home. If they won't do it for me, that is."

Her mouth was hanging open in horror. "Don't you ever talk like that again," she hissed. "I may need some alone time, but I would never leave you like that."

"I can't live without you, Hermione," he muttered as another tear fell.

"Good thing I'm going to be around for a long time, then," she replied.

"So, you're not mad about the bet?"

"I'm not happy about it, but I'm not mad. I was out late because Rosalie and I got caught up in a conversation. I forgot my phone because I put it down before I went to go talk to Carlisle about wedding stuff. When I came out you were gone, and they told me you went to the poker game. I figured you wanted some time alone with your friends, I wanted some time alone with my thoughts. I should have let you know I was okay, but I figured you could spend a few hours without me. I'm sorry."

"Forgiven and forgotten, then?"

"Not quite," she said, pushing him back down to encourage him to get some sleep. "You still must face my wrath tomorrow."

"What wrath?" he said, but she could see the smile on his face. "Servant for life? I'm marrying you, that's the same damn thing."

"You'll see," she smirked.

She let him sleep until ten, an hour before he was supposed to go with his friends. She was downstairs making him brunch when she heard a shout of shock from above.

"What did you do to my clothes, Hermione?" he growled, thundering down the stairs.

"Is there something the matter with them?" she returned sweetly.

"Everything I put on turns... well, look," he said in horror, thrusting a hot magenta shirt in her direction.

She snorted but returned to the eggs she was scrambling. Before she had a chance to reach the fork, however, her phone rang. She pressed the speaker button so Jacob could hear.

"Hello?" she asked brightly.

"If you weren't protected by a pack of mongrels I would come over there and rip you limb from limb until you undid this damn spell," Edward's voice growled in response. Behind him she could clearly hear Emmett and Jasper growling in agreement and Rosalie and Alice laughing unabashedly. She thought she even caught a few chuckles of Carlisle and Esme's.

"I want to know why everyone is coming to the conclusion that I had something to do with this," she said with a forced frown.

"If you know what 'this' is you must have something to do with it."

"Who the hell else could cause our clothes to suddenly go pink whenever we touch them?" Emmett snarled.

"It's magenta, it's got enough purple in it you can hardly call it pink," she chirped, causing Alice to laugh harder.

There was a pause as Edward took a long breath. "Would it be possible for you to lift this spell?" he asked as civilly as possible.

"Of course. Once you're back from your errands today."

There was a universal growling, Jacob included, though Hermione would be willing to bet Alice and Rosalie were doubled over in laughter by now.

"Tell the mutt to be here in a forty five minutes," he snapped, then the line went dead.

"You're really going to make us wear this shit out in public?" Jacob groaned.

"It's the only way you'll learn," she nodded.

"You better be planning on killing me, woman, because the pack is never going to let me live this one down," he grumbled. He ate slowly, terrified to phase to go to the Cullens, and praying Seth and Leah weren't phased when he did. He could only hope that Sam's clothes were immune from the charm, and that as few people as possible would see his bright pink punishment.

Hermione's friends started arriving a week before the wedding, and before long the house was filled to the breaking point with witches, wizards, and the pack scrambling to get things done before the big day. Alice had given Hermione a checklist, and it was universally agreed that it would be much easier to just follow the list than deal with an irritated pixie-sized vampire. Harry, Ron, Sam, and Seth had taken to hiding in the woods and talking in low voices, and Seth was doing a good job of keeping their plans out of his thoughts while phased. In the meantime Molly was busy planning meals for friends who would be arriving early, and making sure everyone looked trimmed and nice before things got too crazy and went by the wayside.

Hermione and Jacob had all her friends boarding in it wherever there was a horizontal surface to lie on- Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, George, Angelina, Hannah Abbott, Charlie, Leah, Seth, and a very excited Kerri were all staying while the rest of the Weasley clan had boarded up with the Cullens, though after one night Percy's girlfriend, Audrey, decided she wanted to stay away from vampires, and they left to stay in a confused Charlie's living room. Bella would be living at Hermione and Jacob's house if Edward was allowed to stay with her- all the new, younger witches and wizards with their tales and much more reckless attitude towards using magic made there much more interesting than Molly over at the Cullens. Three days before the wedding Sam gave, and the Cullens were allowed on the reservation only to go to Hermione and Jacob's and only until the wedding.

Later that same day Jacob found himself in his Hummer, Billy next to him, Rachel behind, all riding in silence towards the airport. Carlisle had provided tickets for Rebecca to come in for the wedding, but an argument broke out at how and what to tell her and her husband. Jacob had wanted to keep as much as possible secret, but when it was pointed out that much of the wedding was going to involve magical elements he had relented and agreed that they should tell Rebecca about witches and wizards, but he was against mentioning werewolves and vampires. Billy and Rachel said that the information was bound to pop out, and it was best to let her know before she found out mid-reception and made a scene. It took some back and forth, but they eventually got him to agree to tell them, but it didn't release the tension in the car.

"Rachel!" Rebecca appeared near the baggage claim, running towards her twin and throwing her arms around her. Behind her a tanned, sun-streaked brown haired man smiled at the family he hadn't seen in a while. Rebecca repeated the enthusiastic greeting with her father, but stopped short when she got to Jacob.

"Holy hell, little brother," she said, eyes wide. "Did they not tell you that steroids kill on the rez?"

"Steroids," he snorted. "I wish it was that simple."

She studied him in confusion. "What's going on, sis?" she asked, turning back to Rachel.

"In the car," she muttered. Jacob grabbed their heavy bags without any difficulty and led the way out to the Hummer.

"Geez, Jake. Are you winning some he-man competitions or something?" Rebecca looked even more confused at the sight of his car.

"It was a gift from Dr. Cullen," he said.

"The nice man who sent us the plane tickets? He mentioned he was your future father-in-law..."

Billy scowled at the word 'father'.

"I thought it was really nice of him to make sure we got here for this. First class, too. It was amazing..." she spent half the car ride chatting animatedly about the plane trip and life in Hawaii. Rachel told her about Paul, and the mood in the car was generally a good one.

Then Rebecca turned to Jacob and asked, without giving anyone a chance to stop her, "So, Jake, tell me about this Hermione. Where did you meet her?"

"Here we go..." Rachel sighed. "Jake, concentrate on driving. I'll tell them. Just make sure you don't drive off the side of the road if she starts screaming or freaks out or something."

"Tell us? What the hell is going on?"

"Remember those stories dad told us when we were little? About the old legends?"

"Which ones? The spirit warriors? The wolves? The third wife?"

"All the above. Remember how, when we were really young, before mom died, we used to play wolves and cold ones?"

"Yeah. We made Jake be the wolf, and we would be the beautiful, strong cold ones and wail on him."

"They weren't all legend, and part of that is more accurate than we could have ever imagined," Rachel said, looking deep into her sister's eyes.

Rebecca's mouth worked, but only strangled air escaped. She looked to her husband, Stephan, then up at Jacob, and a light went on. "Jake, you're a..."

"Shape shifter," he finished.

"What's a shape-shifter?" Stephan asked.

"There's an old legend in our people, well, I thought it was a legend," Rebecca started, needing to work things out verbally to keep herself calm. "Basically it's that a long time ago our ancestors found their spirits could leave their bodies, inhabit other animals, and eventually some of the male members of our tribe could turn into Protectors."

"Giant wolves," Rachel added.

Stephan looked around as if waiting for someone to jump out and say 'ha-ha, gotcha'. "So you're saying Jake here..."

"Can shift at will into a giant wolf. There's a whole pack of us in La Push. Pretty big pack, too," Jacob nodded.

"And you, the Protectors, they protect against these..."

"Cold ones," Rachel muttered. "Vampires to most people. Those are real, too. And witches and wizards, though that story wasn't nearly as popular."

Rebecca was looking around at her family as if hoping someone would tell her it was a joke. But all she met was the grim faces.

"Do I want to know what this has to do with Hermione?" Stephan asked.

"She's one of the Cold Ones," Rachel said, face stone.

"Don't forget her being a witch," Jacob grumbled.

"A vampire... and a witch?" Rebecca asked.

"It's a very long story."

There was a minute silence in the car. "I want to hear the story. From the beginning. Including how we survive meeting a vampire."

"You don't have to worry about that. Her family only drinks from animals," he started, but he started from when he had first heard Edward was back. The story took the rest of the car ride, and he was only just reaching the part where they were in England, before going to Volterra when he pulled into their driveway.

"Nice house, Jake," Rebecca said as he parked in front of the large garage. She stared at the structure for a while, but squeaked as two large wolves emerged from the woods.

"Don't worry. It's just Leah and Seth. They just wanted to be here for..." he trailed off, looking towards the house.

"Leah and Seth? Leah and Seth Clearwater?" she asked, eyes wide.

The sandy wolf nearby nodded distinctively.

She studied the wolves, who were both looking towards Jacob. He climbed out, leaving the door open.

"She's up in our room with the window cracked. If she smells something you'll be able to see her coming. But if she's not doing anything by now I think everything is going to be fine. She'll be able to smell them already."

The gray wolf looked towards the window. There was a flash of something white and the swish of the curtains.

"Come on out," Jacob encouraged his sister. "Everyone else went over to the Cullens, the Swan's or Sam and Emily's house. Thought this should be a private moment."

"Without Shortie flying around, talking a mile a minute about floral arrangements," Rachel grumbled.

Hands visibly shaking and needing an equally shaking Stephan for support she climbed from the car. They stood next to the open door, ready to jump back in as quickly as possible, as if the door to the car would save them in Hermione wanted to get to them. The door opened slowly and Hermione glided towards the car. She stopped about ten feet away, a smile playing across her lips.

"Hello, Rebecca. Stephan. Welcome to our home. Jacob's so excited you were able to come for the wedding," she said, and Jacob cringed. Her voice sounded so much more musical when she tried to keep it non-threatening.

"Probably wouldn't if we had known..." Stephan started, but Rebecca elbowed him in the ribs.

"I understand," she said, soothingly. "I assure you I'll do whatever it takes to make this as comfortable a situation as possible."

"Geez, 'Mione, you're meeting them, not welcoming them to a resort," Jacob rolled his eyes.

She chuckled. "A bit over the top?"

"A smidge," he smirked, walking up to her. He placed a hand on either side of her face and started intensely into her eyes.

"Did you have a good drive?"

"Yeah. Missed you, though."

"Jacob Black," she rolled her eyes. "Don't you start that dependent junk with me."

"Just telling the truth," he muttered, bending down to kiss her.

"Wow," Rebecca breathed.

"What?" Rachel said.

"I've just never seen two people look at each other that way. It's amazing," she muttered, and Jacob smiled against Hermione's lips. He had been worried his sister would never talk to him again. Now he was sure she was okay with the whole thing. His family felt almost whole again.