Notes: Thank you so very much fireflii for helping me make sense of things, come up with ideas and make them logical in so many previous chapters. And thank you so, so much for betaing this one, fireflii! You're awesome :D

...

As promised, Harry returned to his friends on the weekend. Leaving early on Saturday, he arrived at Hermione's window in the middle of the Australian night. She was expecting him this time, so thankfully, he didn't have to evade curses or deal with wake-up grumpiness.

She hugged him tightly. "I spoke with Ron," the brunette said eagerly, speaking quietly to avoid waking her parents. "We mapped out a good path for you to take on wing." Harry sat down to rest on the bed as she dug around in her desk. She pulled out a large map filled with notes, arrows, and lines. "It's a little messy, but this way you should be able to make it through the sanctuary unharmed." She continued, delving into convoluted explanations for her complicated symbols.

He fell back on the bed as she eagerly explained.

"Stop sleeping!" Hermione whisper-yelled ten minutes in, pulling the pillow off his face to hit him with it. "This is important!"

"Oy." He shielded himself from the brutal, feathery attack. "You've already repeated the thing about the circles three times!" he whispered back.

"Because it's got three different meanings depending on the—"

"Line and angle of the path, I know," he cut in, laughing.

She grumbled but gave in then, folding the map and shoving it into his arms. "If you get scorched don't come crying here."

"Why not? Dinner on wings." Another pillow-slap for that.

Finally putting the fluffy weapon down, she sat down on the bed next to him, resting her back to the wall. Her brows furrowed in thought before she perked up again. "You went to school this week, didn't you?"

Harry nodded.

"Oh, it's been so long since I've been to a muggle school. What was it like?"

"It was alright. Forks is a small town so the whole new-kid-attention was a little suffocating at first. Now they thankfully avoid me."

She eyed him dubiously. "What did you do?"

He shook his head quickly, "Bella's boyfriend's got a sister. She's pretty funny, so I've been spending a lot of time with her. Most of the muggles stay away then."

Now she looked plain confused. Oh right, Harry may have forgotten to mention that tiny, little bloodsucking detail.

"Ah, erm, you see, my cousin's dating a vampire. His sister is one too, of course," he clarified slowly.

More silence. This wasn't looking good. Hermione took a moment to recollect herself, breathing deeply. She opened her mouth, seemingly lost for words. Her eyes stayed stuck on him, an incredulous tilt to her brows.

Finally finding her words again, she asked, "And there just so happened to be vampires in Forks? The tiny, inconsequential town that Harry, Hero of the Wizarding World, Potter was sent to live in." Her tone did not suggest any such faith for coincidences.

Harry scratched the back of his head. He probably should have mentioned this the last time he was here. The bloodsuckers just hadn't come to mind after two months of separation; as there was more concern given for his friend's summer in Australia than his own in Forks. "They're muggle-pires," he stated in a reassuring voice. She grimaced at the portmanteau. "Don't worry, Hermione, they lived there long before me. No involvement. Bells' beau has been pissing himself at my presence, definitely never met a wizard before." She still looked unconvinced. "You're the one always telling us to be open minded," he reminded her.

Hermine finally sighed in acceptance, although still clearly unsure. "What are they even doing at a school?"

"Posing as teens or something, I don't know. They were turned around our age."

"Why not just pretend to be home-schooled? Or young-looking adults at that." He shrugged. "And how do they hide their eyes? If they don't have magical connections, they, what, use contact lenses?" Her brain seemed to be melting with each question.

"Actually, that's a funny one. They're veggies."

She looked up in surprise. "And they're around accident prone high school teens all day?"

"Only met two of them, but it seems they got good control. Pretty impressive to be honest; the sister kept playing volleyball with barely a pause when some guy scraped his knee in gym."

"That kind of control must've taken years, decades," she trailed off, eyes wide. "Impressive for a muggle vampire."

"Yeah, that was my thought as well. Don't know about the bloke dating my cousin if he's that old," he grimaced.

Hermione's face warped in confusion. "You said they were turned around our age?" she asked. Harry nodded. "You know when a vampire's age freezes, their development freezes as well, right?"

Well, from the whole immortal children chapter he'd kind of gathered that.

"So, the guy she's dating is technically seventeen, inside out. It's weird, but," she cut off, offering only a shrug.

Harry didn't know how to feel about that. It wasn't any of his business, he supposed. He lay back down, hands behind his head "Explains why he's so immature for an old guy, I guess."

"He's stuck in his late teens. Have some sympathy."

He stayed until Hermione started yawning every other minute, figuring she was way past her normal bedtime. Another hug later and he was off, ready to brave Romania's dragon sanctuary once more.

The path they'd mapped out brought him gliding through the forests and mountains for ages. The flight was exhausting, weaving in and out of dragon territories, but he remained unharmed by the time he'd reached the little warded settlement the dragon handlers stayed at. Thank Merlin for the map, he already knew which cottage Charlie and Ron stayed in.

One of the windows was open so he took it as an invitation. It seemed he'd gotten lucky, as his best friend was flopped out in an armchair, yelling at the figures on the chessboard.

"Stop arguing, knight, take one for the team," he commanded hotly. The little porcelain horse-rider shook his head vehemently, inching away to the corner of his square.

Harry trilled from the window, drawing his attention away from the disobeying chess pieces.

The redhead perked up. "Harry?" he called, getting up from his seat.

Harry transformed, grinning. His friend hugged him tightly, taking another moment to look at him before hugging him again, grinning back all the while.

"It's good to see you. I thought you might show up, Hermione told me about," he cut off, instead gesturing a hand at Harry. "How long were you planning it?"

Leaning against the window, he shrugged. "Almost since I first arrived at my uncle's."

"Have you seen any of the others? Hermione told me you met with Ginny."

Harry shook his head. "Well, I met with your parents as well," he corrected. "I'll pay Neville a visit soon, but I got no idea where Luna could be now." The girl and her father were off on an adventure, no doubt looking for Snorkacks. "How've you been doing here, though?"

"Been more scared than I ever was back home. Got singed five times just today, and that was from the hatchlings!"

Harry laughed.

The hours flew by, Harry happy to spend time again with his best friend. By the time he made it to the Weasleys, it must've already been early evening in Forks.

He landed on Ginny's windowsill, tapping on the glass. She rushed over to open the window, greeting him happily. Harry jumped in and transformed, wrapping his arms around her, digging his face into her shoulder, breathing in the familiar, sweet scent. She pulled away to caress his face, beaming up at him.

He stayed at the Burrow for longer than he should've but still shorter than he'd wanted. Before he left, Ginny reminded him, "I'll be at Hogwarts next time you're out flying."

"Your final year," he remembered. "Luna should show up as well, finally."

"I'd hope so, but you never know with her."

A too short kiss later and he was off, only returning back to Forks by night-time.

Charlie was still up, watching the telly in the living room. At the sound of the front door opening, he called out, "Harry? That you?"

Harry came to stand in the door, greeting his uncle. "Sorry I'm so late."

The man cleared his throat, straightening in his chair. "It's no worries, kid. Just let me know next time. Where were you?"

"Just with some friends from school," Harry said simply. It wasn't exactly untrue.

His uncle nodded, leaning back again. "Glad you're making friends at school." He took a second look at him, noticing the yawn Harry tried to hide behind his hand. "You going to sleep?"

Harry nodded. The excessive travelling, though exceptionally shortened, was still tiring. He bid Charlie goodnight and went to his room.

…

Monday was sunny. Harry was happy for the reprieve of vampires it offered him. Whilst he didn't particularly mind Alice, she could be a lot to handle. Bella, however, seemed rather unhappy about the situation.

"Enjoy the sun, Bella!" Jessica implored during lunch. They were all sitting outside under the clear sky. Harry had gotten to know the rest of Bella's friends mostly from their shared lunch table the past week. "Edward will be back," she promised, leaning back on her arms to let herself absorb the most sun.

Bella rolled her eyes but didn't respond, putting her head back down to her book.

"How about a trip to the beach later?" Mike suggested, also relaxing in the bright weather and chewing on some candy he'd brought along. "We can meet up after school. You been to La Push, Harry?"

Bella snorted. "He goes at least once a week, usually more."

Mike peered at him questioningly, so he nodded, answering, "I've got a childhood friend living there."

"Oh, I see. Well, he's free to come too!" Mike smiled. "Tyler," he called, throwing one of the gummy vines at the other boy sitting further off. Tyler turned inquisitively. "La Push, after school."

The boy smiled, throwing a thumbs up before turning back to his conversation on the other table.

"Aren't you warm, Harry?" Jessica asked. He never wore short sleeves to school; today was not an exception. "You should've brought a T-shirt."

"Didn't realize the weather varied past grey and greyer."

She giggled. "Rarely, but it does happen!"

The rest of the school day went rather slowly without the now familiar chattering presence of Alice glued to him.

Harry waited for Bella at the end of the day. It seemed one of her old teachers, the biology teacher, had come to strike up a conversation with his cousin in the absence of Cullen's overbearing shadow. Harry found it rather odd; he'd never been one to talk to teachers he didn't have a class with, but maybe it was a muggle thing.

The teacher let her go after a while.

Bella hurried over. "Sorry Harry, Mr. Banner just wanted to know how I was doing, but he wasn't making it easy to peel off."

"No worries." He hoisted the bag back onto his shoulder, following her to the truck. They headed off from the school parking lot, stopping by the house before heading to the beach. Harry wanted to call Jacob. He didn't bring the phone around too often, too worried it might break in his prolonged presence.

Fawkes greeted him from his perch when he walked in the door. "Been sleeping all day?" Harry asked. The bird warbled groggily, hiding his beak back under his wing.

Approaching the phone, he took a deep breath to stabilize his magic before he picked it up and tapped in the numbers. A couple rings in, his friend answered.

"Hey Harry, what's up?"

"A group from school is going to the beach now if you'd like to join," Harry offered, absentmindedly petting the sleeping bird.

Jacob quickly agreed to meet him there, eager to see him after missing out on the weekend; Harry had also spent the Sunday out of the country. Hanging up, he returned to his cousin waiting in the truck.

They drove peacefully on the empty road. Surrounded by green, there wasn't much of a change of scenery apart from the varying cracks and bumps in the road and warning signs appearing now and then.

That was until a huge, silver beast popped out in front of them.

Bella's foot smashed the breaks, car swerving off into the other lane to avoid hitting the creature. Silence followed, only Bella's harsh breathing and the stuttering motor of her red wreck audible.

The beast was long gone, disappearing once again in between the green.

"Did you see that?" she breathed.

Nodding, he leaned back in the seat in thought. He was rather positive it hadn't been one of the wolves he'd seen before. He turned to his cousin. She seemed rather shellshocked still, mute and not looking in his direction. She likely hadn't seen him nod, so he answered again. "I did. Are you ok, Bells?"

She gulped heavily, blinking back to reality. "Ye—Yes, I think so, I'm not hurt," she assured him quickly. Another pause. "What was that?"

Harry shrugged. "An animal?"

She regained some senses, punching him in the shoulder. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. Anything else you'd like to add?" She seemed calmer, her stiffly fisted hands relaxing more against the wheel. Bella exhaled and rested back in her seat, setting the car straight on the road again. "Maybe it was a bear? Some of the hunters at work have mentioned spotting bears. I thought they were exaggerating."

Harry thought it had looked rather distinctly canine, but perhaps his pre-knowledge of the existence of the wolves and his more keen, magically enhanced eyesight was the reason. "It could've been," he replied indifferently.

They set off once more toward La Push, Bella eager to catch up with her friends and forget the encounter.

…

The next day at school, Harry was already sitting down when the pixie menace appeared.

"Hi!" she grinned, hopping onto the seat next to him by the desk. "Did you miss me?"

"Define 'miss'."

She slapped his arm gently, likely the same way she would a fragile muggle. "You've had a week to get used to me. Besides, we'll be spending a lot of time together from now on. We'll be assigned a group project together."

Harry frowned. There hadn't exactly been a lot of group projects when being taught magic. It was more of an individual study. However, with new subjects came new rules, so Harry wasn't too taken aback at the possibility of working together for an assignment. Something still seemed off, though. His eyes narrowed. "The teacher didn't mention anything about that yesterday. You weren't even here then."

She tapped her nose, smiling secretively. "Splendid intuition, I told you before."

"You told me you're not usually taken aback by events, not that you can predict our assignments."

"Details. Besides, I don't have to be at school to know what goes on."

He propped his elbows on the desk, leaning his head in his hands. "How was your camping trip anyway?" he asked, somewhat ironically. It was truly a wonder the coven got away with using that excuse on uncharmed teachers. Harry supposed they had their own charms, if unmagical.

Alice peered at him curiously, no doubt picking up on the sarcasm. Without commenting on it, she answered candidly, "We saw many wild animals. It was quite enjoyable." Indeed, her eyes did perhaps look a brighter yellow than before the weekend. "I heard you and Bella spotted a wild animal as well. A bear, she said?" Her eyes turned inquisitive.

He looked away, focusing at the front where the teacher just entered. "It was big and fluffy, and fast," he shrugged.

As the teacher started up class, Alice was unable to question him further. It wasn't like he had much to say about the wolf. They seemed harmless enough, last time he'd met them.

It was later in the day, in History class, that Alice's premonition seemed to come true. The teacher assigned the class to work in pairs, grouping up the ones sitting next to each other.

"…You will be expected to work on this assignment outside of class as well," the history teacher finished.

Harry glanced at Alice, exasperated. She stuck her tongue out in response. "Told you so," she sang under her breath.

The last bell rang soon after. Alice followed him eagerly to the lockers.

"Edward and Bella finished earlier and already left. They can't drive you today," she said cheerfully.

"That's ok, I'll walk," he replied easily. Not like it was a long walk either way, but he could always just apparate the distance once he was out of sight.

Her face fell. "No, no, I promised Bella you could hitch a ride with us," she insisted. So that's why she'd been so happy about her brother's absence.

"How thoughtful, but unnecessary." Harry closed his locker door, ready to leave. He'd rather not sit in a car with another vampire unlikely to stand his presence. Alice was an anomaly in her acceptance of the unknown danger his magic bore. And Harry didn't know if it was an especially smart attitude for the vampire to take, although he appreciated the impartiality.

"Jasper won't mind," she swore, coming to stand in front of him. "He's already waiting outside for me." Harry tried to sidestep her, but she mirrored his movement. "I can't just leave you to walk."

"It's two miles."

"Two miles in the rain!"

"I have a coat."

"The car has a roof."

"Charlie told me not to go into strangers' cars."

Alice looked more perturbed now. She hesitated, looking uncertain she asserted, "We are friends."

Harry smiled. Friends, huh. Not something he'd ever thought he'd use to describe a vampire, but he wasn't against the idea. "Friends don't try to kidnap each other, I think."

Lips pursed, she rocked on her heels, hands behind her back. "You'd be surprised." A pause before she continued. "And it's not kidnapping if you come willingly. Besides, you're not exactly a kid."

She seemed to have a plethora of counter-arguments ready. "Very reassuring." He made to move past her again.

Alice didn't hesitate, once more stepping in front. "We have to work on the assignment anyway. May as well do it today."

She had a point. "I can meet you at the library."

"It's small. Not a lot of space to work for groups, and the librarians don't care to make sure the noise levels are kept down. Our house is quiet, bigger, too." Her offer was delivered with a smile but her eyes were sharp. Harry would rather not sit down in a vampire den of unknown size, even though they were unmagical. He was uncomfortable enough just sitting down with muggles at his back.

"I'd rather not," he declined. Her face fell with genuine disappointment. He didn't know if he should feel bad, but he was sure her family would be thankful that he did not encroach on their home despite Alice's wishes. He didn't want to disappoint her further, he realized with a little shock. Harry sighed. "We can work at Uncle Charlie's," he proposed. It was more of a middle ground, he supposed; a place that wasn't public or Alice's family home. Additionally, Bella lived there, so she was likely to be more comfortable working there.

She beamed. "That's perfect!" Alice led the way out of the school, hopping eagerly down the concrete stairs to the car park.

They reached the car Harry had seen Alice get into every day after school. She opened the passenger door. "Hey Jasper," she smiled happily. "This is Harry." In no world did her excitement match the driver's wary gaze.

The new vampire gave a nod in greeting, which Harry returned in kind. Alice ushered him into the backseat, eager to take off.

"Can you drive us to Bella's?" she asked quickly. "We have a group assignment, so we'll work on it there."

Jasper glanced at her with concern, his stiff face turning down in a frown. "Perhaps it would be better at ours," he said instead, clearly uncomfortable with leaving his girlfriend unprotected with an unknown threat. "Bigger," he offered as an alternative explanation for his wariness.

Harry couldn't help but smile a little.

Alice shook her head. "We already agreed to go to Bella's," she denied, comfortingly stroking his hand resting on the gear stick.

He seemed to give in, silently driving them to the Swans' residence.

Alice hopped out swiftly, Harry following. Before she could make it much further than a step, a screech from the air called her attention. She jumped in fright, looking up with a frozen expression.

Fawkes landed heavily on Harry's shoulder, wings spread in threat. He was apparently not happy with his friend's forced company. Jasper exited the car at inhuman speed to stand by the front of the car, closer to Alice, too startled to consider subtlety. The bird screeched again, the sound ringing in Harry's ears.

He petted the phoenix's rustled feathers calmly. "Relax, Fawkes," he murmured. The bird shook his head in displeasure, but settled down, glaring at the closest vampire, Alice, who still seemed extremely disturbed.

Jasper looked like a coil, ready to spring to his girlfriend's defence. Fawkes could be rather intimidating, Harry supposed. For a burnt turkey.

"Sorry about him, he doesn't like strangers much." Of the vampiric kind, anyway.

Alice took a moment to regain herself, body held stiffly and gaze cautious, she laughed awkwardly. "I should've expected it. Edward told me about your bird." She eyed the unlit phoenix carefully.

Jasper painfully unwound himself from his rigid posture, face set in stone. Harry could see his hand trembling slightly. The vampire peered over at Alice, eyes warily questioning. She smiled back at him. Skipping over to him, she kissed him on the cheek, directing him back into the car.

"Go now, we've got work to do!" she demanded, looking more uncertain than before. Harry wondered if she regretted not bringing them to hers. Her boyfriend certainly did, judging by his distrustful stare.

In the end, the blonde obeyed haltingly, eyes still on the phoenix in confused apprehension.

They entered the house, Alice carefully keeping her distance from Harry and his glaring bird as she made her way to the living room. Clearly, Alice had been in the house several times before. Harry dropped his bag, sitting down in Charlie's chair as she'd occupied the couch. He doubted she wanted Fawkes in the same furniture as her.

The phoenix hopped from his shoulder, re-perching on the arm of the chair, head still kept low in a threatening glower, wings stiff by his side.

Alice looked away from the bird, focusing instead on the work at hand. She sorted out her textbooks and notebooks on the coffee table, keen to start. They soon ended up flipping through the material beside each other, jotting down notes and setting up a basic thesis for their assignment. She seemed to forget Fawkes' overbearing presence with each newly turned page.

Sitting on the carpet facing each other, books and assorted flyaway papers lined with notes between them, was how Charlie found them later in the afternoon.

"Alice," his uncle called from the living room doorway, happily surprised. "How nice to see you again, it's been a while."

She grinned from the floor. "Hey Charlie, it has! I'm just working on an assignment with Harry."

"I didn't know you're in the same class," he smiled. "I won't bother you further, you two work hard. I'll pay Billy a visit."

Left alone again, they resumed their task until evening when Bella returned with Cullen. The other vampire sat waiting outside for Alice, so they packed up.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" she teased. Harry rolled his eyes. "We'll continue tomorrow if you have time," she continued.

Standing in the hallway as she put on her jacket, Harry said, "I've got some work for the other classes as well due the day after, I'd rather finish that up first." They had received two weeks for completion. They already had the general idea of what to write, their sources and facts ready, so taking a day off shouldn't hurt. "How about Thursday? Or Friday?"

"She nodded. "Perfect. At my house then? It's only fair."

He crossed his arms, leaning back on the doorsill with a silent noncommittal smile.

"Come on," she pouted, dragging the last word out. "Your bird was giving me the stink eye the whole time."

"He doesn't trust you," Harry commented honestly. "So I shouldn't worry him further by going somewhere with you."

She put her hands on her hips, staring him down. "He's a bird," she stated, not impressed.

"He is," Harry nodded. "So why are you so scared of him?"

"I'm not!" she frowned.

Fawkes of course took that as a cue to flap over to Harry's shoulder, staring her down once more. She took a step back, toward the door, expression frozen.

"Of course," Harry agreed. "Not scared in the slightest. He's just a bird, remember."

She made a face before running out the door, eager to escape the big bad warble-machine.

Harry laughed, petting the phoenix. The bird trilled happily.

…

Notes: So I personally find Edward and Bella's relationship weird af cause he so old. But I also understand that although he's technically 100 years old he probably wouldn't be attracted to gran-mamas and they are unlikely to be attracted to him. Besides, Carlisle is also with a woman far far younger than him x.x The ages are just so wildly out there it's hard to really consider them at all. But since immortal children can't learn to reason due to being stuck in toddler understanding, I guess the frozen development could count for an immortal teen too?

Hope that makes some sense, considering the world it's set in.