Harry and Merope and the Mystery of Forks
Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own any of these characters, only the plots and situations that you do not recognize.
Chapter 8
In no time at all, Harry found himself at the beach meeting up with Mike and the same group of friends that Mike typically ate lunch with; Tyler, Eric, Angela, Lauren, and Jessica. Harry fought back the urge to roll his eyes when he noticed Jessica fluttering her eyes in his direction.
After the initial greetings had ended, Angela, the only truly nice girl of the three, asked Harry in concern, "Where's Merope?"
Smiling, Harry responded with, "Oh, she decided to spend the day with the Cullens, in fact, I'll be heading there when we're all finished up here."
"Aren't you worried that she'll cheat on you with Edward?" Jessica asked, a little too happily, in Harry's opinion.
"Edward and Merope have my complete trust and if I hear you make any more disparaging comments about either of them, I guarantee you'll regret it." Harry said coldly, not being in the mood for any of Jessica's normal antics.
Hoping to avoid an argument, Mike asked, "Well, shall we go find a spot to set up near the nets and start up a game of volleyball?"
Harry turned to follow Mike towards the volleyball nets and he heard Angela say quietly to Jessica, "Jess, I really think you need to stop trying so hard to get Harry's attention."
"Whatever. She's not pretty enough to be with him," Jessica said with a frustrated huff. "He should be with someone as attractive as he is."
Harry forced down his sneer and sent a tripping hex at her, causing her to squeal in surprise right before she face planted into the sand. It wasn't the soft loose sand either, it was the kind of sand that had been packed well together with bits of broken shells mixed in.
Since Angela was closer, she helped Jessica back up and had to fight back the urge to say that Karma was a bitch, when she noticed the large strawberry that was starting to form across Jessica's right cheek. It looked downright painful.
Lauren had no such difficulties and exclaimed with an amused giggle, "Well, with the way you're looking now, I'd say that you're not pretty enough to be with him either." Which caused Jessica to huff and cross her arms in annoyance and frown, which then turned into a whimper when the shifting of her facial muscles caused her to feel pain from her injury.
Harry told himself that he should feel guilty that Jessica got more injured than he had intended, he had only wanted her to be embarrassed a little by tripping in front of everyone, but he couldn't bring himself to care about it very much. He had tried to let her down gently when they first met and the stupid girl just wouldn't give up gracefully. He feared that if she didn't stop bad mouthing Merope sooner rather than later, he was going to have to do something more drastic, like hitting her with a babbling hex or something. He decided he should wait a few more weeks to see if she would take the hint.
Things went more smoothly from there, and they found a nice spot to set up their stuff at. Harry had to walk back to his motorcycle and pretend to grab some stuff out of his saddlebags, including a small lunchbox with snacks and drinks, before he came back to the spot the others had reserved. Rather than spreading the towel out, though, he tied it up into a makeshift bag and placed his lunchbox inside, and then found a good-sized stick that he stuck in the ground, with a little magical help to make it stay, and used the other end that was in a wishbone shape as a hook to hang his things on. The other guys seemed to be pretty impressed with that idea, but since they had already laid their towels out, they didn't attempt to do the same.
The girls had chosen to lay out to soak up the sun instead of joining in the volleyball game, so Mike invited some of the local boys to join in for a few games.
All in all, Harry had a good time, but after a few games and a quick swim out in the water, he said his goodbyes and headed home to clean up before he headed over to the Cullens'.
When Harry arrived at the Cullens' home, the inhabitants were too engrossed in their piles of new research to have noticed his arrival, even though he had not arrived in stealth mode. Before he could decide on a proper prank, however, Merope greeted him with a smile and asked, "Did you have a good time in La Push, Harry?"
Harry shrugged and said, "Well, the portion of the time that I spent down on the beach was fun, but the scene I came upon while exploring the forest trails beforehand was a little disturbing."
"Why, what happened?" Carlisle asked in concern.
"Well, I came upon three red-eyed vampires surrounding a lone wolf. I believe you call them werewolves, but as it was daylight and not the full moon, I think the proper classification would be shapeshifter. If we were in my world, they would be called an animagus." Harry responded.
Harry could see the curiosity Carlisle displayed for this new information, but held up his hand and said, "We have plenty of time to answer your questions about that, but let me explain my story first."
At Carlisle's nod, Harry resumed. "The wolf was alone, it seems he doesn't have a pack yet and he's new to this life, but he was outnumbered and frightened enough to project his thoughts and I heard his distress." When no one appeared as if they were going to interrupt, Harry continued with his story. He told about ordering the vampires to leave the area and not to return, followed by his subsequent conversation with Sam.
Merope studied Harry's face for a moment and stated, "You don't think they'll leave."
Harry shook his head and said, "No, I don't. The redhead was all for leaving the area and never returning. It seems as if her talent is the gift of escape, it pained her to stay where she felt danger and the innate need to escape once I made my presence known. Perhaps I should have checked their minds," Harry looked at Merope as he said this, "but you know that I tend to save that as a last resort." Merope nodded and smiled at him encouragingly. "Come to think of it, I probably should have placed a tracking spell on them." Harry mumbled to himself, though everyone in the room heard him.
"The only name I got from the three was the name of James, who appeared to be the leader," Harry said, "and it seemed to be a game for him, a great thrill."
Emmett grinned as he made the motion of popping his knuckles as he said, "Oh, if he wants a game, we'll give him a game."
"Well, I hope they don't choose to stay in the area, we don't need anything to draw attention to ourselves." Esme said worriedly.
Merope smiled kindly at Esme and said, "Even if attention is brought your way, you won't raise any suspicions because the rings we made hide your scent and regulate your body temperature."
"I hate that I can't See what's going to happen," pouted Alice.
"I'm sorry, Alice," Harry responded with an encouraging smile. "I promise that I'm trying to work out something that will shield Merope and I so that your visions can at least work around us, even if I'm unable to make them work to include us."
"Well, I hope it's sooner rather than later, I hate feeling as if I have a disability." Alice said petulantly.
Rosalie rolled her eyes and said, "Well, now you get to see how the rest of us feel on a daily basis."
"Hey! I don't feel like I have a disability," Emmett said with a frown.
"Of course not, babe," Rosalie said as she rubbed his arm and kissed him on the cheek. "You have super strength. I don't have any special gifts, which I'm constantly having to fight being jealous about while living in a house with other vampires that are more talented than I am." Rosalie held up her hand when it appeared Emmett would interrupt her and said, "And before you say anything about my beauty being my gift, just stop. I won't deny that I enjoy the benefits of being exceptionally beautiful, but it gets old when others get the misconception that beauty is all I am."
"I had a part-Veela friend that felt the same way, Rosalie," Harry said with an understanding smile.
Clearing his throat, Jasper asked, "What will be the plan to handle these nomads?"
Harry shook his head and said, "There's nothing to do now, except wait and see if they heed my warning to leave. I have hope they will not return, but my instincts tell me to be prepared."
Harry noticed Edward looking thoughtful, so he waited a moment so he could gather whatever thoughts he had formed, when it seemed as if Edward would not be saying anything after all, Harry asked, "Was there something you thought of, Edward?"
"I was just thinking back to what you said that day at our baseball field." Edward responded, with his eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"Yes?" Harry asked.
"You said some things about wards. I don't know how difficult or time consuming it would be for you, but could you perhaps ward the town against all vampires with the exception of us?" Edward asked curiously.
Harry frowned in thought and said, "Theoretically I could ward the whole town, but it is rather a much larger space than your baseball field or the typical size of a manor house. While I'm sure I have the power to do so, unless there are ley lines that the ward stones can be recharged from, it would be a constant drain on our magic to keep the wards up and running."
Merope thought very deeply for a moment before she asked, "What if you spoke to Sam about it and at the very least, we can ward La Push against all vampires, since the treaty already prevents the Cullens from going there? In addition, we could at least ward all of the popular trails to protect hikers?"
Harry thought for a moment and said, "La Push will probably be easier to ward, because there is a form of magic within the tribe, I could probably even anchor the wards to Sam." Harry nodded. "I'll talk to Sam about it when I schedule a time with him to work on his phasing as he calls it. The poor boy doesn't understand how to phase back and forth while leaving his clothes intact and on his body."
"And the popular trails?" Edward asked inquiringly.
"It's something that will require additional thought." Harry responded. "Even sticking to wards on just the popular trails is a lot of ground to cover."
Edward nodded in understanding.
"Well, at the least, we should start patrolling the area more frequently," Carlisle added thoughtfully.
Harry was definitely in agreement with that, so they worked out a semblance of a schedule that Harry said he would relay to Sam.
After about another hour of visiting, the Potters regathered their books and made copies of the ones the Cullens wished to keep, which turned out to be the majority of them, then the Potters returned to their home.
Once home, the Potters made quick work of making sandwiches for supper and then made their way down to the RoR under time compression to work on a supply of vampire meals, followed by setting up their magical greenhouses so that they could grow their own ingredients for future meals.
Before they started, Merope suggested that it would be simpler in the long run if they requested the RoR to set up both the greenhouses and a kitchen in connecting rooms, that way they would not have to jump back and forth between asking the RoR for a kitchen and asking for the greenhouses and they would still remain under time compression.
While they worked together, Harry discussed Sam's phasing dilemma to Merope in more detail in order to figure out how to work Sam's training into their schedule.
Thankfully, Harry and Merope were still in the habit of wearing their backpacks even in their house, unless they're sleeping or showering, because they ended up under time compression for the equivalent of two weeks. As they had their backpacks, they were able to set up their tent and sleep when they were tired, and, of course, eat when they were hungry. They may have indulged in the use of their hot tub more than they normally would have, too.
Initially, they intended to only make enough food for a week, but as Harry's time was soon to be taken up with training Sam, plus the threat of the nomads in the area, they decided to make up as many meals as they could, since they could be stored and kept fresh for an unlimited amount of time with the help of magic. By the end of their time in the RoR, they had about six month's worth of meals.
Phoenix, Arizona:
"Bella, do you have everything packed and ready to go?" Bella hears her mom, Renee, ask from the other room.
"Almost," Bella called out to her, as she took another glance around her room.
"Well, the flight leaves in an hour, so we need to leave soon." Renee announced from what sounded like the living room.
"I know, Mom," Bella replied. She had been taking her time packing, because she wanted to be sure she didn't forget anything, she had no idea when (or if ever) the next time she came back to Arizona would be.
In a few hours, Bella would be in Forks, Washington, the rainiest and cloudiest town in the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, the complete opposite of what she is used to. She forced herself to put on a happy face as she gathered the rest of her belongings and walked out the door to the rest of her life. She was not looking forward to spending time in Forks for an extended period of time, but she knew her mom would be happier if she could travel with her new husband, Phil, so Bella decided it was time to return to Forks to spend quality time with her dad, Charlie.
Despite the fact that Forks was her least favorite place in possibly the entire planet, she did look forward to seeing Charlie again. Though he was the Chief of Police, he was a quiet and easy person to be around, not the least bit flighty and hyper, as her mother, Renee, tended to be. Charlie was a bit more self reliant than Renee, though what she remembered of his eating habits, she expected she would be taking over the job of cooking.
As she thought to herself, she reminded herself she should start referring to him as Dad, even in her own head. It was a habit referring to him as Charlie, because that's what her mother called him all the time.
Instead of saying stuff like, "It's time for you to visit your dad," or, "Your dad called to talk to you," her mother would say, "It's time for you to visit Charlie," or, "Charlie called to talk to you." Deep down, Bella knew Ch — her dad would be hurt to hear his daughter refer to him by his name, so she was determined to change her habits and start calling him Dad.
The drive to the airport was silent during the majority of the drive, there really wasn't all that much more to say. Renee tried once more to halfheartedly tell Bella she didn't have to move to Forks, that they could just continue on as they had been, but Bella remained resolute. She knew her mother would be happier traveling with Phil, and she loved her mother enough to want her to be happy. If that meant that she had to sacrifice her own happiness, and move to the cold and wet that was Forks, so be it. She silently wished her dad lived someplace sunny, perhaps then she would be more enthusiastic about the move.
All too soon, Bella was seated on the plane and on her way to carry out her self-imposed exile to Forks, Washington.
~A Few Hours Later~
The plane touched down in Forks after a very uneventful flight. Despite Bella's exhaustion, she was unable to find any kind of rest during the flight. She went to the luggage collection to gather her belongings, and then went to go find Ch — her dad.
It wasn't hard to find him, he came to pick her up wearing his uniform. When she walked over to him, dragging all of her luggage behind, he greeted her with a sort of embarrassed grimace and patted her on the back. "Have a good flight?" Charlie asked, as he took over transport of her large and bulky pieces of luggage.
Bella gave him a small smile as she hunched her shoulders self consciously, "It was fine."
"Well, that's great," Charlie said, after he had her control of the luggage, then they headed outside of the airport, with Bella only carrying her carry-on bag.
Unsurprisingly, he had driven his police cruiser. Bella promised herself then and there that she was going to definitely buy herself a vehicle as quickly as possible to avoid having to be driven to school in it.
The drive from the airport was a little awkward. Charlie did his best to initiate conversation, but Bella was feeling too awkward to really give more than one or two-word answers. Only after Charlie told Bella about the truck he bought for her from Billy Black did she start to break out of her shell and give him a brilliant smile. Conversation came a bit easier after that.
They stopped off Charlie's favorite diner for supper on the way home, where Bella had to endure all varieties of attention from the servers and regulars that were present. She didn't have much of an appetite, but tried to eat as much as she could to appease her dad.
Shortly thereafter, they had arrived home where Bella's eyes lit up at the sight of her truck. Charlie said, "I know it's not much, but it's reliable and sturdy."
Bella smiled back at him and said, "It's perfect. I love it." Then she quickly got out of the car to get a closer look at the truck.
Next, they went into the house, Charlie following Bella up to her room with her baggage. Bella noticed the room hadn't changed since the last time she was here. Well, the house itself hadn't changed since Renee left all those years ago, so it didn't really come as a surprise to her that her room had not changed. The only difference was that there was a desk and a computer. The computer was a requirement made by Renee, so that she and Bella could stay in contact via email.
Bella turned to her dad with a smile and said, "Thanks for the computer, Dad." Then she gave him a quick hug, catching him by surprise, and she pulled away before he could do more than awkwardly pat her on the shoulder.
Charlie said, "I'll leave you to get settled in. I've enrolled you for school and you start tomorrow, so make sure you get plenty of rest."
"I will. Goodnight, Dad." Bella said.
Harry and Merope were lounging on the couch in their living room, though any of the neighbors who were still interested in spying on them would only see illusions of the four of them, through the window, in the middle of an enthusiastic card game.
"How did training with Sam go, today?" Merope asked curiously.
"It went well," said Harry, as he ran his fingers through her hair a little bit. "It took him a bit long to get over the shock of what the RoR could do, but afterwards, he was excited to learn. I suspect on top of the embarrassment of being without clothes when he shifts, or phases as he calls it, he doesn't come from a wealthy family that can just continually purchase new clothes to replace the ones that were destroyed during accidental changing."
Merope nodded and said, "I feel we should be more aware of the history of the Native Americans' histories, considering how many years we've been alive, but then before now, we have spent all of our time in the magical portion of the U.K. Why do they continue to live on reservations, I wonder? It doesn't seem to give them a lot of opportunities to have the same access to goods and services that the rest of the world has access to. Has your history class touched on this subject, yet?"
Harry shook his head and said, "No, it hasn't. Though, I have my doubts about how accurate the history books actually are. You know how the Ministry propaganda worked when we were in the Magical World, only teaching a part of history and suppressing other parts. I imagine any histories that are written in the high school history books to be either highly inaccurate or just a very tiny portion of the big picture."
"Did you talk to Sam about the nomads?" Merope questioned.
"Yes," Harry answered. "Though I didn't talk to him about it until after he had mastered the ability to phase back and to with his clothing intact. I didn't want him to lose his focus. Though he was disappointed to find that phasing with his clothing was the only magical thing I was able to teach him, he doesn't appear to have any other magical abilities.
"At first, he was reluctant to have anything to do with the Cullens. They have their own histories that are passed down verbatim in the tribe, so when he realized he had turned into a wolf, he then realized that the stories and myths he had grown up listening to about the Cold Ones and the Cullens were never a myth.
"It took a bit of convincing for him to realize that according to the legends he learned and told me about, that the Cullens really were different from the nomads he had encountered.
"After much debate, he's willing to be part of our rotation schedule to patrol the area. When I suggested it would be safer for him to patrol in teams of two or three, since he doesn't have a pack to help have his back yet, he was against teaming up with any of the Cullens, so he'll be joining with the two of us on our patrols."
Merope nodded and said, "Well, that's better than not giving the Cullens a chance at all. All he's known are the legends of vampires being their enemies, I suppose it's going to take him a little while to understand for himself that they're not all cut from the same cloth."
"Yeah, that's exactly right." Harry said. Then checking the time, he said, "Well, I suppose it's time we should call it a night and get to bed, since we have school tomorrow."
Merope broke off a yawn and replied, "I do believe you're correct, dear."
The Cullens were getting ready for their school and work day when there was a knock on the door.
As Carlisle was closest, since he was just about to walk out the door for work at the hospital, he was the one that answered the door. "Harry and Merope, it's good to see you," he said with a smile. "To what do we owe this early morning visit?"
"Well, Carlisle, as it seems you're getting ready to leave for work, we don't want to hold you up unnecessarily. We just wanted to bring you all the meals we made this weekend." Harry said.
This announcement brought all the vampires immediately to the entrance hall, causing Merope to giggle in amusement.
"Of course," Carlisle said as he stood to the side and gestured with a hand, "please come in."
"Are you sure we won't make you late?" Harry asked in concern.
"I'm sure." Carlisle said. "I have at least 10 more minutes until I absolutely need to leave, I just like to arrive a little early."
"All right. Well, there are quite a lot of meals that we've got stored in this temporary expandable box, so where would you like them unloaded, the kitchen?" Harry asked. "They're under preservation charms that will last indefinitely, so don't feel as if you need to rush through these." He further explained.
Looking over his shoulder, Harry said, "Well, come on everyone. It won't take much time storing it, but if you all want to actually take lunch to school or work today, you need to come pick a meal." Which caused everyone to scramble into the kitchen ahead of him at vampire speed, other than Merope, and made short work of putting away the food.
A/N: I wanted to write a longer chapter, but I don't have all my thoughts fully together for Bella's introduction at school, etc. We spent more time with my husband's family this afternoon than I expected, on top of the fact that my husband has a man cold and is being such a baby right now that he needs my constant attention. So I'm going to go ahead and post what I have ready now and hope that I'll be able to find time to myself tomorrow in order to write the school scene.