Hi Guys, Girls and Non-Binary Friends,

I'm soo sorry this took so long. I've recently changed my work schedule so now I work more night shifts. The downside is I'm just much more tired as I have a six year old son to look after also. Whoever said having kids was fun is a liar. Or at least they didn't have to work night shifts...?

Anyway, this chapter was an absolute nightmare to write. I wasn't sure where I wanted it to go and rewrote it a few times and finally finished it today.

I hope you like it. I'm still not entirely sure I'm happy with it, but hey ho. Here it is.

Enjoy and make sure to review!

Rebella xx

Chapter 5

The next day the weather was nicer than it had been since she had arrived in Forks. It was one of the rare sunny days that Forks residents lived for. She imagined the town would be quite busy today, and so decided to make sure to avoid the area completely, and since it was a Saturday she didn't have much to do. She did, however, decide to do some research on those Wolves in La Push.

She still didn't have Artemis back from England yet, but Harry did Floo to say that he'd sent her on her way straight after their conversation. Artemis was a Great Horned Owl which Hermione ordered from an Owl dealer whilst in South America. If she left last night, she should be turning up this evening, which meant that she would be able to make her Monday morning order deadline.

Hermione decided that she would try and see if she could get any information off of the internet, which surprisingly, had quite a few bits of information which rang true for quite a few magical instances. However, they tended to get Vampires completely wrong. Honestly, melting in the sun and not having reflections. She would have loved to have seen Rosalie when she first turned if she couldn't see herself in a mirror. Hermione imagined it and laughed a little to herself.

She really did enjoy The Cullen's company. She still hadn't heard anything from Edward, but then again, she didn't really expect to as it was only yesterday afternoon. She had told him that she wouldn't wait around forever. She did like him and she could see herself being happy with Edward, she just didn't want something which wasn't reciprocated and so she had instead said that she wouldn't wait for him. Which added pressure to him making a decision. It wasn't like she wasn't getting the feeling that he liked her too and that they were something deeper. She knew of a True Mates connection. She had seen it. The Volturi Leader Marcus had one, but then he was being controlled by Chelsea's loyalty to stay with them. It made her roll her eyes that Aro couldn't understand that her gift made her understand the inner workings of things to a degree of obsession.

She was a fountain of knowledge and she loved it. She was still getting used to her ability and trusting her instincts. Like when your instincts are telling you to go outside of your property even though you're not expecting guests.

Hermione tilted her head slightly following her instincts and stood outside of her property. She listened to her surroundings and couldn't hear anything in particular. It wasn't until she looked towards the forest on her left that she saw it. It was a small kitten, it looked similar to that of a Mountain Lion or Cougar, however, it was throwing off a magical signature which made Hermione's mouth water a little. Shuddering a little she edged a little closer to the kitten taking small measured breaths. The closer she got she noticed that the kitten was injured. The injured kitten saw her and hissed at her. Hermione smiled as it was the least threatening thing she'd seen in a while, "I won't hurt you little one. Come here, let me see what's wrong." She said to the kitten crouching down and making herself smaller and less threatening, or at least, she tried to. The kitten eyed her for a while before gradually moving closer. The kitten was limping on one of its hind legs. Definitely broken. Which probably meant the mother had abandoned it.

The brunette carefully picked up the injured kitten when it got close enough, earning a small meow for her troubles. "It's okay. I can help." she said before stroking the small creature under their chin. She smiled when the kitten closed its eyes and relaxed a little.

Hermione walked back inside of her house before placing the kitten on the couch. She grabbed her Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book from her bookcase in the living room and looked through the pages. It didn't take her long to come across an entry about a particular cat found in North America, the Wampus Cat.

'Resembling that of the mundane Mountain Lion or Cougar in size and appearance, the Wampus Cat is native to the Appalachian Mountains. The Wampus Cat can walk on its hind legs, outrun arrows and its yellow eyes were reputed to have the power of both Hypnosis and Legilimency. The Wampus Cat was also known to be very fast, strong and almost impossible to kill.

Wampus Cats are also known to be very suspicious creatures and rarely trust people. They are however, drawn to forces of good when they are in dire need of help.

Their diet tends to consist of a similar diet to their mundane counterparts enjoying a varied diet of Deer, Rabbits, Mice, Ground Squirrels, Skunks, Porcupines, and Birds, with few exceptions. Wampus Cat's also enjoy Nogtails, Mooncalves, Jarvey's, Knarls, Jackerlopes and have even been known to occasionally feast on Jobberknolls, however, this is a rare occurrence because of the sounds the Jobberknoll makes as they die.' Hermione read straight from the book. She looked back at the kitten, "You really need help, huh? Let's get you sorted." She muttered to herself whilst grabbing her wand. She cast a simple diagnostic spell which she used to cast on Crookshanks. The results came back with a broken back leg and it informed her that the kitten was in fact a she. The diagnostic also showed signs of the kitten being very underweight. Which meant this wasn't just a matter of healing her leg and setting her free. It would mean healing her leg and feeding her and helping her get her strength before releasing her back into the forest.

"Looks like you're staying for a while, Miss." Hermione said whilst stroking the tiny kitten, "Well, since you're like a Lion, how about a name from the Lion King. I know, not very original, but it was my favourite Disney movie growing up. Okay so… Nala? Sarabi? Sarafina?" Hermione looked at the little kitten in her arms for a minute and decided to wait to see what her personality was like before confirming her name.

Hermione then went over to her Care of Magical Creatures book and found a spell to heal a broken leg. Casting the spell on the kitten caused her to hiss out in pain before purring once it eased.

"Now. Let's get you some food. You stay here and I'll go do some hunting for us okay?" Hermione said. She cast a quick spell on the kitten to dull her claws down so she didn't scratch any of the furniture and conjured a play pen for her and some of Crookshanks' old toys. Spelling the dangler toy to play with her she left the house and went off into the forest.

Hermione ran for a little while before stopping. She listened around her and heard a herd of deer off to the west. She listened a bit closer and noted three heart beats. She went running that way and slowed down as she got closer. She didn't want to get a huge deer and so she wouldn't be going for the buck. She looked at the two younger deer and saw a female who looked a lot older than the other. She was also quite small. She decided she would be her target. Hermione captured and snapped her neck before the other two deer even realised what had happened and ran off. Hermione gulped down all of the blood she would need from the deer, and then cast a stasis spell on it before shrinking it and putting it into her beaded bag.

She ran back to her house and realised she was only gone for about fifteen minutes. She walked back into her house and saw that the kitten was asleep in the middle of the playpen with the dangler toy in its mouth. She smiled at her and went towards the kitchen island. She didn't know how to prepare meat off the bone but she cast a slicing hex towards the carcass and started separating the meat from the bone. She managed to get a good few cuts of meat off the deer before deciding she had enough food to last the little kitten for a while.

She was just about to take the deer into the forest and bury it when there was a knock at the door. She looked at the deer carcass and the meat and waved her wand and the meat went either into the fridge or freezer and the carcass disintegrated into thin air. She sighed thinking it was very disrespectful to not honour the sacrifice but needs must.

She went to the door looking around and noticed the cat toys still moving around. She waved her hand to stop them before opening the door with a smile. "Hello," She said to the person standing at the door. He turned around and she thought she felt her dead heart thump a little. "Edward, nice to see you." She smiled at him. He smiled at her too. They both stood in silence for a second before they both started speaking at the same time.

"So I've been -" He started to say.

"Do you want to-" She said. They both stopped abruptly before laughing a little. She stepped back and opened the door inviting him in. He looked at her once before complying and entering the house. He stopped looking at the floor, seeing the still sleeping kitten with the dangler still hanging from its mouth.

"Why do you have a mountain lion in your house?" Edward asked with a raised eyebrow. She smiled at him a little before shrugging.

"I found her outside and she was injured. I'm just helping her before releasing her."

"Oh. Okay…" Edward mumbled before looking around the room again. He had never been inside her house before and he was interested, there were a lot of books around, which made sense, since he also spent a lot of time reading. He went to head over to the bookcase to check out the titles when Hermione interrupted him.

"So, why are you here Edward?" She asked, reminding him of the reason he came to her house in the first place and turned back towards the object of his affections. He had spent all of last night thinking about her and Jasper who had been feeling his frustration and his obvious lust for the small vampire in front of him had told him to get his head out of his arse and act on his feelings before she moved on. He had to admit he was a bit frustrated at his family because he didn't want to rush into anything, however, Esme reminded him that he can make his intentions known but still take his time.

"Oh right, so, I was thinking about what you said at school yesterday and well… You were right. I do like you. Actually, I really like you, and the thought of Emmett saying those things to you makes me want to rip his head off. I really want to see how this goes, Hermione." Edward stated before releasing a large breath of air which he had obviously been holding throughout the whole speech. He seemed a lot more relaxed after saying what he needed to say.

"So… What do you actually want then, Edward?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow tormenting the bronze haired vampire in front of her, "because you know, you haven't explicitly said anything, just that you like me." She shrugged looking at him.

"I want to take you out on a date. A proper date." Edward finally stated, looking at her hopefully.

Hermione walked over to him and stood right in front of him barely an inch of space between them looking dead in his eyes. She waited for a second before she lifted her hand and raised it to Edwards face. She touched him feather lightly down the side of his face trailing his cheekbones before bringing her fingers to his full lips and tracing them gently causing him to open his mouth slightly and his pupils to dilate. She then leaned in slightly more, bringing her lips close to his own, "On one condition." She whispered to him. He obviously didn't have the words to speak so he nodded slightly.

"It's not anything vampire related. No hunting, no running, hiking, anything that being a vampire can make easier. I want a normal human-like date." Hermione whispered back.

"I can do that." He mumbled.

"Good." Hermione answered back softly, "Now. Kiss me." She demanded.

Edward looked at her for a second to make sure which made her roll her eyes a little at him. He closed the distance between them and finally his mouth touched hers. It felt like fireworks were going off. All he could feel were his nerve endings firing all over his body leaving it feeling like it was on fire. It felt like his body was finally alive after over 100 years. It felt incredible. He now understood why most vampires strived towards finding their True Mates if it made them feel this way.

Edward leaned further into the kiss tracing his tongue over her lips making her moan a little and he pushed his tongue into her mouth. He deepened the kiss and Hermione let out a small whimper at that. His hands which were on her waist travelled down to grab her bum. He squeezed her derriere before lifting her up. She automatically wrapped her legs around his waist and he walked towards the nearest wall which happened to be near the kitchen. Pushing her up against it, he used the wall as leverage and trailed his hands up her body. Her hands were in his hair, nails grazing his scalp. He felt a shiver go through his body and thrusted his hips into the junction between her thighs. She pulled back from the kiss and threw her head back with a gasp.

"Yes, Edward, don't stop." She whimpered.

"Wasn't planning on it." He said back, before thrusting into her again. He then leaned down and started kissing down her neck and towards her collarbone, when all of a sudden an onslaught of thoughts crashed into his head. He paused momentarily to figure out whose they were but it didn't take long to realise who they belonged to.

The first thought going through her head was that she was very much enjoying the onslaught of his attention, and so he made a point to continue kissing her neck and collarbone and thrusting into her.

He was intrigued by Hermione's thoughts as they weren't just what was on her mind at the specific moment in time. They floated through many different cycles. Her brain never stopped. This wasn't unusual for vampires as their brains were always holding information. For example; Alice always had possible futures going through her head no matter what she was doing. She also had her thoughts on most fashion trends and the stock market. So, he wasn't too offended by Hermione's thoughts drifting to other things for a split second here and there.

She was very much distracted by what Edward was doing however, as they kept cycling back to what he was doing and how good it felt. However, there were thoughts going through her head about her family back in the UK, he caught glimpses of a dark haired male with a red haired female and what looked like her family as they were also redheads, there were a lot of children in the family, he also felt the little bit of sadness that accompanied that thought and so bit her neck slightly causing her thoughts to go back to what he was doing.

Soon her thoughts drifted back to something to do with her basement and getting some books on La Push legends which made him pause slightly, he was just about to push further into that thought when he noted something odd. She had started thinking about an organisation called MACUSA, she had thought about going there herself, which didn't involve a car or running, in fact it looked like it involved teleporting? He wasn't sure but her thoughts referred to it as apparating. He had heard of MACUSA before but could not remember where from. She was thinking about needing to contact them in regards to getting more information on the La Push legends.

"Edward, why have you stopped?" She asked breathlessly.

"What's MACUSA? And what is apparating?" He asked back. This caused her to stiffen and her focus jumped straight back to him. He narrowed his eyes at her when her shield snapped straight back into place blocking him out of her thoughts.

"Nothing." She said before wriggling to get down. He stepped away and she landed on her feet gracefully.

"I've heard of them before, but I cannot remember where. What are they?" He questioned her.

"It's nothing Edward, don't worry about it. Anyway, it's getting late and you should probably leave." She said, trying to force him out.

"No. I'm not leaving until you tell me." Edward demanded. He was looking at her and saw her eyes flash with something. She obviously didn't like how he'd just spoken to her. It's too late now.

"There's nothing to tell you Edward." She retorted back to him angrily, beginning to lose her temper. He could see what looked like electricity sparks going through her hair. He'd never seen anything like it. He knew that the reaction had something to do with what he wasn't telling him and so he decided to demand what was going on.

"Yes there is. Why are you lying to me?" He growled at her. He was now starting to lose his temper with her.

"I'm not lying to you. I just can't tell you." She growled back, sinking down into a defensive pose. Noting that she saw him as a threat he backed away slightly and opened his body posture making himself vulnerable and less threatening.

"Can't or won't?" He asked quietly.

"Can't." She answered back just as quietly, returning to her normal posture noticing that they were not going to start fighting in the middle of her house.

He was just about to answer back when a huge bird flew into the house and circled above Hermione's head before landing on her outstretched arm.

"Artemis, I see you made it. If you go into my office I'll meet you there in a moment." She said to the owl. He swore he saw the owl nod before squawking at her and flying off down the hallway.

"Hermione. What the hell was that?" He said pointing in the direction the bird flew off in.

"That was an owl." She said matter-of-factly.

"No shit." He mumbled quietly causing her to snort at his response, "Why were you talking to an owl? Where did it go?"

"She went down to my office. It's where she lives." She shrugged, heading into the kitchen. He followed her and watched her as she opened the fridge and got out some meat from inside. He scrunched up his nose and watched in as she started dicing the meat into small chunks and grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard and placing the meat inside. She took it to the excitable kitchen and she immediately started digging into her dinner. She watched the kitten for a second to make sure it was eating properly before setting about getting it some water to drink.

"Why do you have an owl?" He questioned her again.

"It's a long story." She sighed. Rubbing at her forehead in distress.

"I have time." He joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I know." She said laughing a little before turning serious again, "You can't tell anybody." She started but then stopped, "Actually, you'd have to tell your Coven Leader and his wife anyway. Alice probably already knows as I have made the decision to tell you, which means Jasper will know. Rosalie will get it out of Alice and Emmett would be the only one oblivious, so you may as well tell all your Coven." She started shaking her head. Sighing, she resigned herself to telling him. She was pretty sure that since he was a magical creature she wasn't breaking the Statute of Secrecy.

"I was a witch before I was turned into a vampire. The owl you just saw, Artemis, is mine and I use her to send messages and gifts to friends. Owl Post is the fastest way. We can also communicate in other ways, but I won't get into those just yet. However, we have wands and can cast spells." She said pulling her wand out and making all the cat toys float around again. Since Artemis had awoken the kitten she immediately began pouncing on the toys which were floating about.

Edward sat there for a moment looking at the proof right in front of him and stayed very still. He wasn't entirely sure what was happening but she was sure that he may have been going into shock.

"Edward, are you okay?"

"You're a witch?" He stated, when she nodded he looked at her again, "A witch that is now a vampire. You have the benefits of both being a witch and a vampire?"

"My friends call me a Witchpire. Which is pretty stupid if you ask me, but yes. I can use my abilities as a witch to pass as more human. I can make myself look older or younger depending on what is needed." She said demonstrating. She transfigured herself to look in her eighties, and then again to look prepubescent. It was harder to force a grown body into something much smaller and it took a lot of focus to keep up. She had tested it out and using a potion seemed to be the best option for her kind. She had altered an aging potion to work for vampires. It worked for about a week before it needed to be administered again. She turned herself back before looking towards her True Mate and waiting for him to say something.

"You're incredible." He muttered before pulling her closer and kissing her again. If only he could spend the rest of his life doing just that and he would be one very happy man.