The poll is still up for those of you who haven't voted. BDH is winning by a mile!

Previously

Every moment, every time I even thought about the monster I was, she knew and in an instant I could feel the guilt and sorrow washing off of her. I didn't need a gift like Jasper's to know how she felt.

Suddenly I felt hot with anger. I was hurting my Bella. I wouldn't let that happen every again. I resolved, then and there, to do anything I could within my power and beyond to make Bella happy, to prove to her, that she was the best thing that ever happened to this world, to me.

"I love you with all of my being sweetest Bella," I whispered tenderly, brushing her hair out of her eyes with the gentlest of touches.

Edward POV

"Bella, angel, it's almost dinner, you need to wake up," I whispered softly. I rested my hand gently over her shoulder. No response. She remained still, save the slight rise and fall of her chest. "Bella wake up!" I muttered worriedly. She had never failed to wake at my call. "Bella, angel?" Panic fluttered in my gut, though I could hear her pulse clearly in my ears, strong as ever.

"Carlisle!" I called loudly, knowing that even though he was many a hall away he would hear me. "Carlisle!"

He burst through the door, Alice and Esme just behind him. "What is it?" he demanded, frantic, his blonde hair messed. "What happened?"

"Bella," I answered, cradling her to my chest with the lightest of pressure. I gazed up at him, feeling as if my chest were constricting, blocking air I didn't need. He looked back at me confusedly. "She won't wake up. Her pulse is fine, her blood pressure is normal, nothing is wrong but she won't wake up," I beseeched, my dead heart stuttering in panic. I brushed my thumb across her cheek. "She's been sleeping since the game ended but she won't wake up."

He nodded, moving methodically. He held her wrist in one hand, measuring her blood pressure and her heartbeat. After a few minutes he shrugged. "She seems fine," he informed me. I felt the last of the breath I had within me escape my mouth.

"Then what's wrong with her?" Esme demanded. "Is she alright?"

Edward, please just don't overreact to this okay? He pled mentally.

"What's wrong with her?" I growled through gritted teeth.

"As far as I can tell is that her sleep pattern is unstable," he said slowly. "She hasn't been sleeping deeply or long enough for her body to rest. Now that she is able to rest, her body is refreshing itself. Sort of like a computer. When you shut it off, it needs to restart. Bella shut herself down and is now taking her time to restart."

"So her sleep deprivation is causing this?" Alice asked, sounding guilty. I knew I should have said something. I knew I should have brought this up. Maybe if I had said something… Her thoughts trailed off, miserable.

"You knew?" I hissed, fury welling within me. "You knew all this time and you never told me? What if something happened to her? What if she fell asleep and someone, something, hurt her? What if…"

"Edward, don't you think I would have seen that?" Alice inquired softly. "I was watching her just to make sure. I don't have a medical degree Edward. I didn't know what was going to happen. I watched her future to make sure she would be okay. Obviously she is! She is peacefully asleep in your lap. There is absolutely nothing wrong and nothing is going to happen to her."

"But something could have," I snapped, stroking my hand across Bella's hair. "Something could have happened to her and I wouldn't be there," I murmured, my voice quiet as I wondered what could have happened.

Alice's tiny hand covered mine, stopping its movement. "I love Bella too you know," she said carefully. "She's my little sister. If anything bad would have happened I wouldn't have let it. None of us would, you know that. We all love Bella."

"She's right Edward," Esme said warmly, her gold eyes staring softly at me. "Bella is part of this family. We will never let her go."

"Always," Carlisle added, patting my shoulder in a fatherly fashion.

"She can't sleep!" I snapped, pointing at the door, behind which Bella sat with Alice and Rosalie. She was grumbling about Bella Barbie and how she couldn't escape because the stupid vampires were torturing her with hairbrushes and too many clothes.

"What am I supposed to do about it?" Carlisle demanded. "She's already been trying the sleeping draughts. I spoke to Madame Pomphrey and Severus about it and both say she is not responding to the potions. They have tried everything short of the draught of living death. She will not sleep."

I growled, distraught, slamming both fists into the wall above my head. There was brief silence as the wall trembled before Alice and Rosalie continued their pointless babbling in a hopeless attempt to distract Bella.

"What if she stayed here, with us?" I asked, almost pleaded. I clasped and unclasped my hands, twisting them, running them through my hair, stress rolling off me in waves. I could hear Jasper groaning at the strength of my emotions.

"She can't do that Edward and you know it," he sighed, his surface calm but his mind racing. Inside he was battling with himself, his professional side trying to hold firm against his fatherly instincts that were practically yelling at him to find a way to keep Bella with us. He wanted desperately to watch over her like he could with none of us. He could be her other father like Remus was. "Dumbledore would never allow it. And even if he did Remus is just accepting that we are back in her life. It would be him giving us an inch and us taking a mile. We can't do that if we ever want him to trust us again."

"But Bella," I pointed out half furious, half desperate. "Bella can't keep loosing sleep the way she is. It will kill her if she only sleeps on the weekends. I can't let that happen. I won't let anyone stand in my way if Bella's safety is on the line. I will not stand on the side while Bella kills herself."

"Do you think any of us want to do that?" he hissed, anger flickering in his eyes. "Do you think I want to do that? Bella is part of this family, our family! None of us will do what you say we are. But we cannot go against Dumbledore in this matter."

"Edward?" Alice's voice interrupted our argument. I spun to face her, my mind whirring with possibilities of what could have happened. "Bella fell asleep. She just sort of collapsed in the chair."

I was already pushing past her. True to her word, Bella was slumped in the chair, her eyes closed, her breathing heavy. Rose was crouched in front of her, her hand on Bella's arm.

"She's so exhausted," Rose murmured mournfully, pushing Bella's hair out of her face. She let me take her place as I scooped Bella into my arms. Her head lolled against my neck, the warmth soothing my panic and anger.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" she pleaded, her golden blonde hair flipping as she faced Carlisle.

He sighed, checking Bella over as she slept. "Edward and I will speak to Albus in the morning. She'll stay here for the night."

"Thanks Dad," I sighed, lifting Bella.

"That's not fair," Emmett whined, appearing suddenly out of nowhere. "If you put her in your room only you get to listen to her sleep talk!" he complained.

I just rolled my eyes at his childishness, continuing up the stairs to my room.

The Next Morning

A soft sigh escaped my lips as I watched Bella resting. Her arm was thrown across my waist, her head on my chest as I lay beside her. She mumbled my name again, bringing a smile to my pale pink lips. Her hand twisted into my shirt, one single tear leaking from the corner of her closed eyes.

"Edward," she called, her eyes clenched shut. "Edward! Please! No! Help! Edward!" She writhed in obvious agony, her hair flopping in every direction as she did.

I grabbed her shoulders pinning her to the couch. "Bella," I said loudly, hurriedly, panic gripping my gut. "Wake up Angel," I ordered. "Wake up. It's only a dream."

A strong surge of energy raced over all of us, Jasper contributing to my attempt to awaken her.

Her eyelids fluttered, opening wide for a fraction of a second. "Edward," she breathed, relief sounding in her voice. A second, then third, followed by a fourth tear fell from her eyes. I wiped each away, wishing I could take the ghost of the pain haunting her away with them.

"I'm so sorry Angel," I whispered, feeling my dead heart break as she cried. I cradled her to my chest, not caring in the least bit that her salty tears were ruining my emerald green button down. "Do you want to tell me about it?" I asked carefully as she dried her tears on the back of my hand. I nearly laughed as she stared at my palm for a minute trying to comprehend what she had just wiped her face with.

"No," she mumbled at last. She refused to meet my gaze, instead continuing to stare at my palm like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Bella, Angel," I breathed, blowing in her face to calm her embarrassment. I caught her face in my free hand, gently but firmly bringing her face to look at me. The tear streaks and her red puffy eyes brought a bout of pain to my chest. "I'm not the Dursleys," I reminded her softly. "I want you to tell me how you feel. I want to hear about your dreams and nightmares and I want to be able to make them better. Please let me. Please don't push me away. I can't help you if you do."

"I don't want to hurt you," she muttered, ashamed. "I don't want you to hurt because of me."

"Please Bella," I begged. "I want to be able to help you. Don't worry about me. Just let me help you."

"I dreamt that…" she choked up a bit but I smoothed her hair with my hand, patiently waiting for her to tell me. "I dreamt that James was killing me," she said unstably. "You didn't help me."

I felt as if the breath had be squished rather violently from my lungs. "I'm so sorry Angel," I mumbled, unable to meet her teary gaze. "I'm sorry you had to go through that again."

She bit her lip, hesitating.

"That wasn't all of it was it?" I stated, feeling my heart sink deeper and deeper. The empty sensation in the pit of my stomach grew, making me want to vomit.

She shook her head, curling into a ball on my chest as she did so. She burrowed further and further into my stomach, as if trying to mold herself into me.

"What happened love?" I inquired breathlessly. My arms snaked around her holding her tightly to me.

Her face pressed into my shoulder. "You said you didn't love me," she muttered, barely audible even with my heightened hearing. My skin crawled, my blood burned, my entire being felt like it was dying over and over. "You said you didn't want to help me. That I wasn't good enough."

I could practically feel my family's glares burning into my mind. They had thought I was simply saying goodbye. They didn't know I had told her I didn't want her. Of course, they had found out, but even Carlisle had cold feelings for what I had said.

"I promise Angel, that is not true," I vowed vehemently. "That was not, is not, and never will be true. I love you. I have always and will always love you. I will help you whenever it is within my power too. I would go to the moon and beyond for you Bella. And never, not ever and not once, ever think that you are not good enough for me. It is much the other way around. You are so pure, so innocent and a such a bright young woman. If you leave me behind you have such a bright future ahead of you. You could grow up, get married, have children, live happily ever after."

"There is no happily ever after without you," she whispered, hugging onto me even tighter. I hugged her right back, sure to keep my monstrous strength in check as I did.

We were interrupted by a grumbling from her stomach. Pink flushed her cheeks, her face turning a bright rose.

I chuckled. "Breakfast time for the human." I lifted her lightly, swinging her onto my back. She giggled slightly, wrapping her arms around my neck, locking on tight.

"Run," she urged, excitement in her gaze. I complied willingly, not like I had a choice. What Bella asked of me, I would give her.

I flew through the castle, taking a longer route to the dining hall as to give her more time to enjoy the run.

I left Bella there, eating breakfast surrounded by her friends. Her face was alight with joy as she threw bits of bacon into George's orange juice while he wasn't looking.

I paced back and forth in our wing, waiting for Carlisle to return from Dumbledore's office. He did about fifteen minutes later. A relieved smile on his face told me the answer before I could pick the words from his mind.

"She can stay with us," he said, confirming the his stance. "It took a lot of convincing on my part that it was truly better for her to be around us. Remus was very resistant. Rosalie and Alice were very helpful along those lines."

I cocked my head to the side, listening to his thoughts.

Carlisle's Thoughts

"No!" Remus refused vehemently. "I will not allow my daughter to be in their care," he said firmly.

"Remus I understand your aversion to our family but this is for Bella's good," I said carefully, trying not to anger him any more than he already was. "Her sleep pattern is unstable. She hasn't slept well for a while. Yesterday, after the quidditch match, she and Edward were talking and she fell asleep standing up."

"Then obviously she can sleep," he pointed out snidely.

"In Edward's prescence," I added. "When he tried to later wake her, her body had completely shut off and she would not wake. Humans are very much like the technology they create. The human body, after being sleep deprived, will seize the chance once given to refresh itself much the way a computer shuts off and reboots. You cannot rush the process. If a computer is too energy deprived, it dies. The human body can last eleven days without sleep."

"Then give her a sleeping draught," Remus ordered still refusing to give in.

"Severus has already been trying that," Albus pitched in to the attempt. I had already convinced him to allow Bella to stay. He had known the better path, having been a very good legilimance.

"Give her a stronger one!" he cried desperately.

"They stopped just short of the draught of living death Remus," Albus said, calm. "Would you like them to try that?"

"Stop this game Dumbledore!" he snapped. "You do not actually believe this is what's best for her? After all they have done? You cannot believe this!"

"Ah but Remus I do," he insisted. "I really do. They have been nothing but caring, kind, and very worried for Audrianna's well being. I must say, they have been favoring her, against my better wishes but understandably so."

I felt slightly sheepish, knowing his accusations were true. We had not given her detention for disrespecting us, not for yelling, not for throwing accusations at us, not for her stony attitude. We had taken greater care with her than any other student, nurturing her and her talents until she had almost grown back to the Bella we knew. No matter how we tried, she would never be our Bella though. She was, and always would be, Harry's little Audra but she could still be part of our family.

"How long would this last?" Remus grumbled unwillingly.

"It would be a permanent relocation," Albus said, rather warily though he didn't show it.

"Please Remus," Rosalie begged quietly. Her topaz eyes were wide, the perfect image of a concerned mother. "Before you yell again, please listen to me."

His blue eyes turned upon my first daughter, the hard look in his eyes somewhat softer seeing her concern.

"Bell… Audra is growing up. She's not going to be a little girl forever. She will change in ways that you can't understand. There are things she could only learn from a woman, a mother she doesn't have. You won't be able to help her the way you would like to. Though she will always love you, she can't always be daddy's little girl. She will grow into a woman and you will have to sit back and watch because you cannot assist her. There are pieces of becoming a woman that she must learn from other woman."

Rosalie said each word gently, but firmly. For the first time ever she sounded like an authority. She sounded grown up, not the jealous teen she always acted like. She sounded like a mother.

I could instantly tell he had been brooding over the very same thing. Ever since our family had left, Bella had had no mother figure. He was too embarrassed and confused to broach upon the very subjects a mother taught her daughter. Here, now, Rosalie had displayed a reason for him to allow us back into Bella's life. He could not teach Bella how to be a woman. Rosalie, Alice, and my lovely, caring Esme would.

There was nothing he could say to argue with that. He knew he needed someone to be Bella's mother and he was given the choice. He would have to let go of her someday.

"Fine," he groused, still angry. He turned to leave, grabbing a handful of flu powder. "But if you hurt her ever again, even in the smallest way, I'll make sure the rest of your existence is pure misery."

End Carlisle's Thoughts

"We've won him over for now," Rosalie said appearing at my shoulder. "But the first task is coming up. If anything happens to Harry, Bella will surely do something stupid and then we'll have a whole new set of problems."

Look. I know I took forever getting this chapter out but I really did try. I'm just getting a bit bored. Don't worry, that doesn't mean I'm discontinuing this. It just means I'm going to check my poll and start updating the other story for a while.

Black Dahlia Huntress is winning by two cagillion miles. The poll will be up until Thursday, which is when I get out of school on spring break. I will then start updating again.

I have standardized tests for three days this week so don't give me crap on not updating. I don't want to hear it.

Again, review. You may not get a preview, depending on how far into the next chapter I am when you review. I'm upping the antie. I want fifteen reviews. There are stories out there with 800 reviews for 8 chapters so I'm not asking too much.

Yes, I did just wake up. Yes I do like sleeping in. Yes I get grumpy when I wake up early.

Sea