Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot.

IF THERE WAS ONE THING HOLLY WAS GOOD AT, it was noticing things and then getting curious about it. So, of course she noticed when the Cullen and Hale siblings decided to pay her a surprise visit in the night. The only reason she had caught them was because Luna had set up protective barriers to alert them if any Death Eaters had found out their location.

But since the Cullen Clan were not Death Eaters, yet still posing a threat to them, the silent alarm had gone off, alerting all residents of the house.

The four had taken action immediately, knowing that every second counted. Kreacher hid downstairs in the basement, where he had a room all to his own set up, and Holly went out to the balcony after shamelessly admitting that she'd try and spot them (a.k.a Edward) while being discreet. Luna and Neville shared a look between each other before agreeing.

"We'll come up with hot chocolate in a few," Luna had said, dragging Neville into the kitchen.

That left Holly with a pair of invisible and notice-me-not charmed Extendable Ears to overhear the hushed-up conversation of the vampire siblings. She hoped her spells would work on hiding from the Cullens and they did.

From what she had gathered, they were having quite the scuffle. Holly would be lying if she said that the fact that Edward came here because he thought of her as interesting didn't make her unwilling heart flutter slightly.

She heard Luna and Neville coming and decided to play a little joke on the Cullens. The immediate stillness and lack of noise she had heard was enough to tell her that her trick had worked. For the next few days, the only time Holly could detect the presence of the Cullens was when she was at school.

Weeks had flown by so quickly it was hard to believe that it was almost Halloween again. Holly would have been grateful if that holiday was on the weekend, but nooo. It had to be on a Monday. Holly officially hated Mondays.

She would have faked being sick or made an excuse to not come, but Luna had insisted.

"Something good will happen today," she had insisted. "I've Seen it."

"It had better be worth it," grumbled Holly, stumbling reluctantly out of bed.

The entire drive to school, Holly refused to stare out the window. Every Halloween decorated house was a jab at her, and she refused to let it get to her, no matter what. They parked and stepped out into the cold air. The students still hadn't stopped staring, which didn't help Holly's grumpy mood.

"Bella and Edward seemed to be arguing today," Luna whispered in an attempt to cheer her up.

Holly sighed. That didn't mean that Bella and Edward were going to break up. All couples fought—it was only natural. But before she could point that out to Luna, she heard two agitated voices, one annoyingly shrill while the other was deep and annoyed.

"What's going on with you, Edward?" Bella demanded. "Ever since the start of the school year, you've been distant with me."

"That's none of your business, Bella!" Edward shouted. The two were next to Edward's Volvo as they argued. The entire school was watching.

"What are you talking about? As your girlfriend, I have a right to know!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't be my girlfriend!"

Everything was so silent, you could have heard a pin drop. Bella was confused, as if she couldn't see a single reason as to why she shouldn't be Edward's girlfriend.

Bella's mouth was open like a fish out of water, opening and closing repeatedly, like she couldn't decide whether to say something or not.

Finally, she whispered, "What?"

Edward's stony expression didn't change. "You heard me, Bella."

Or maybe it did mean that the two were going to break up. Holly could hardly feel sorry for Bella at a moment like this. The girl was rather unpleasant, not to mention clingy. She noticed Luna looking triumphant.

"Told you it'd be worth it," Luna muttered.

It was then that Bella chose to acknowledge the two girls' presence. She turned to them, her face red and her not on lip trembling. Holly knew exactly what was going to happen, having already gone through something similar with Cho Chang.

"You!" Bella hissed. "I suppose you're glad that this happened, huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Holly said calmly. "I'm new here and what could I possibly have to do with any of this?"

"He's been enamored with you ever since you came here! You've been making up lies about your life to attract him, you witch!" She cried. She jutted her fingerShe lifted an arm, ready to lay down a punch, but she had forgotten—Holly was a war veteran and she had skills.

Before Bella's fist reached Holly's cheek, Holly had grabbed Bella's fist easily in her hand, keeping the Swan girl from hitting her. Then, Holly twisted Bella's arm painfully, not caring in the slightest of their audience.

Bella cried out in pain, but Holly didn't stop until Luna came up behind her and put her hand on Holly's shoulder, her eyes warning of the danger Holly was putting them all in.

With an unwilling sigh and a final glare at the dull girl, Holly released her, but not before hissing, "Stay away from my friends and I. Our lives are none of your business."

Bella nodded shakily and began scuttering off, but Holly had one last thing to say. "Oh, be careful what you call others. Names have power."

Edward sighed, rubbing his hand over his chiseled face. He started to come over to Holly, probably to apologize, but Holly couldn't deal with any more drama for the day. Yes, it was worth it to come to school on Halloween, a day that was celebrated by pretty much everyone, and see her other half break it off with Bella Swan, but she could not deal with Edward Cullen and his stupidly handsome face right now.

She sighed and turned to Neville. "Tell the school I wasn't feeling well. I'm outta here."

Unfortunately, before Holly could make it to the car, a cold hand grabbed her arm. She stilled, but forced herself to not turn around. "Go away. I'm not feeling well."

"Please, just let me apologize."

Holly sighed. "You shouldn't have to apologize for her behavior. It wasn't your fault."

"Still," he insisted. "Please, at least let me drive you home."

She pursed her lips. One the one hand, this could be beneficial for their relationship, even if Holly was too prideful to admit it. Plus, Luna and Neville needed the car to drive home in. But on the other hand, he'd prove to be nothing like the Cedric she knew, seeing as he, for some reason, dated the dullest and plainest girl Holly ever had the misfortune to meet.

A moment and life-altering decision later, Holly found herself seated in Edward Cullen's shiny, silver Volvo.

She didn't want to talk to him, but before she knew it, she blurted out, "I met your mother Esme and your sister Alice about a month ago."

"I know. Alice wouldn't stop talking about you. Something about you jumping out a window during Christmas, was it?" Edward flashed her a cocky grin.

Despite her slight blush, Holly's grin never faltered. "Like I said, I've done plenty of dangerous things. Jumping out a window of my dorm tower was nothing compared to some other stuff."

When he didn't say anything in retaliation, Holly finally turned to look at him. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were pressed into a thin line, like he was confused.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine." He didn't sound very convincing, but Holly decided to leave it at that. It was his business, not hers.

Edward seemed surprised when Holly didn't question him. "You...you aren't going to question me about it?"

"Why would I? If you aren't fine, you obviously don't want to talk about it, and it's not my business. Besides, I should be grateful that you're giving me a ride home...hang on, how do you know where I live?" Holly paused in her ramblings—a nervous habit she had—and squinted suspiciously at him. She knew that he had paid her a visit, but she wasn't supposed to.

"Oh, Esme told us that you lived reclusively in the woods five miles away from our house and obviously I know where I live," was his excuse.

He's quick, but he could do better, Holly thought. After all, five miles? Who memorizes that kind of knowledge?

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked, Holly was pleased to hear the desperation and frustration that leaked into his tone. "You're very hard to read, you know."

"Oh? And I suppose you consider yourself a good reader of people?"

"I like to think so."

"Well, then you should've realized by now that I have many layers," Holly said.

"Is that code for something?" he asked.

She smirked. "Maybe."

It was silent for a while. Holly stared out the window, biting her lip nervously. Merlin, it had never been this awkward with Cedric, but then again, Holly had to continuously remind herself that Edward wasn't quite her boyfriend—as long as he didn't remember being Cedric, he didn't remember who he was.

Luna had tried to explain the whole thing to her, but Holly didn't understand it very well. Their best hope, however, was somehow getting this vampire teenager to remember his previous life, then hope he becomes the person they had known and loved. If this didn't work…well, Holly didn't want to think about it.

"Is biting your lip a nervous habit for you?" The question was so sudden, Holly almost didn't catch it.

"Huh? Oh, um, yes. I suppose it is."

"Well, it's not a good habit," he said, sounding like a mother hen. "Your lips are sensitive and more prone to pain. Biting it could possibly make them bleed from the punctures, and you'll have a lot of bleeding. Your lips have a rich supply of blood."

Whenever he said the words "bleeding" or "blood", he paused for barely a millisecond, pressing his own lips together.

Holly stared at him. "You must learn a lot from Carlisle, huh?"

"You could say that."

Holly decided to take a leap. "Forgive me if this is too personal, but do you have an aversion to blood or something?"

Edward stiffened, his cold face turning as still as stone. "Why would you ask that?"

"You paused a little whenever you said the words "blood" or "bleeding" and I just thought that it might be a sore topic for you or something," Holly shrugged, trying to sound indifferent.

"Well, you're right," he grunted. "It is a sore topic for me."

"Okay. Then we won't talk about it," Holly said, knowing that he expected her to bombard him with questions, like Bella. Holly was nothing like Bella Swan, though, and she had to make Edward see that. The million-dollar question, though, was how.

"Hey, how long have you been playing piano?" she asked suddenly. She had no idea where she was going with this, but if there was one thing Holly knew, she could find answers as well as easily as she found trouble.

"Since I was 6," he answered, sounding grateful for the change in conversation. "How long have you been playing piano?"

"Actually, I only started a couple months ago. I never really had much time to do it before because of the war in England."

"When did the war stop?" he inquired.

"May 2, 1998," she replied swiftly, as if she'd memorized it.

"And you were already 18 by then?"

"My birthday's in July. I was still 17 while fighting the war."

Edward was stunned into silence yet again. It seemed hard to believe that such a young girl, one that hadn't even been of age, had fought and been the center of a great war. At first glance, Holly didn't seem like a testy but Edward had been quick to dismiss the thought when he saw her scream at Rosalie and Bella with gusto.

While Edward was silent, Holly stared out the window. She scowled as she noticed a row of houses dressed to the nines in Halloween decorations. She couldn't hate the muggles who celebrated the holiday, no matter how much she tried at times, but that didn't mean she couldn't hold resentment for the witches and wizards around the world who still did.

Had they so easily forgotten the tragedy that had befallen the Potters? Ever since she was young, she'd known her parents had died on Halloween, and she'd watched in disgust as her Aunt and Uncle took Dudley out to celebrate and trick-or-treat. Aunt Petunia didn't even care that it was the same night her only sister died!

To Holly, no matter how many years would pass, Halloween would always be a tragic and painful reminder that she was parentless. It always hurt more on Halloween.

"Don't like tacky decor?" chuckled Edward from beside her, unaware of her real reason she was glaring at the following houses.

"I definitely hate tacky decor, but…" Holly inhaled, rubbing her temples. It didn't help that she could feel Edward's burning gaze on her…or rather, on her exposed neck. Holly quickly covered up by letting some of her vivid crimson hair rest on it.

"But what?" asked Edward, who had stopped staring at her neck.

"I really hate Halloween," she confessed. "It's a constant reminder of…my parents…it's the anniversary of their deaths today."

He frowned and did the most unexpected thing. His pale cold hand entwined itself with her ivory one. "I'm so—"

"If you say 'I'm sorry' I will slap you, Bronze Boy," she warned, smirking at his expression.

"Glad to see not much of your behavior has changed," he grumbled, removing his hand from her hold, something Holly wished he hadn't. "Still planning on using that horrible nickname?"

"First of all, yes, and second, it's called acting, Bronze Boy."

Meanwhile, back at school, Luna and Alice were in Art, having taken refuge in the back of the room. The usual teacher was out sick, so the sub basically had them do whatever they wanted as long as it was artsy. Alice and Luna leaned their heads together, whispering quietly, per Alice's request.

"I'm so sorry about Bella. I had no idea she was like that."

"No worries. I believe that you and your family have had Wrackspurts fuzzing up your brain," Luna said smiling. "That is why you must have gotten close to Bella."

"Um, I don't know if I wanna know but…Wrackspurts?"

"Oh, they're rather troublesome little pests." Luna nodded in agreement with herself. "They make people's brains go all fuzzy and it gets them confused—that must be why you decided to become friends with Bella."

"Sure. That's why."

Luna hummed, stroking her paintbrush lightly across her easel. Then, she had to be even more gentle as she traced light lines vertically with a thinner paintbrush. Finally, she used some gray paint and colored half the face of the subject of her painting. Luna stepped back, paintbrush in her mouth as she squinted, one eye closed, hands cupped around her face so as to keep her from the distractions of the rest of the room as she focused on only her painting, which was finished…almost.

"Um…Luna, what is that?"

"You really don't see it?" she said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"No…what is it?" asked Alice again, tilting her head sideways, as if that would help her understand the painting better.

Internally, Luna was screaming in an unholy manner, trying to keep the panicky feeling down. Alice might not be an empath, but it was common knowledge that your heart beats faster when you're nervous.

The truth was that the painting featured a handsome boy's face, except it was split in half. In the corner of one half of the face, the Hogwarts crest was creatively placed against the amber yellow background. On the other half, the background was painted pitch black with daunting gray swirls. The half of the face on the latter background had a pale skin tone, but the other half of the face had color on his cheek and the rest of the half of his face. One eye was bright gray while the other was the color of topaz.

In short, Luna had just painted a picture of the faces of Cedric Diggory and Edward Cullen merged to be put side by side with each other.

"Oh…now that I think about it…I'm not quite sure myself," Luna said finally. "What about your drawing?"

That diverted Alice's attention. Luna gave herself a mental pat on the back as she paid attention to Alice's drawing of Jasper. Luna had seen Alice draw her boyfriend many times and every time, there was something unique about the picture. Some were of Jasper dressed with a cowboy hat and boots, tipping his hat in their direction, a quirk of his lips visible. The drawings were so detailed and the color shading made the picture really realistic.

"So, Luna," began Alice conversationally, "why was Holly reluctant to come to school today even before what happened with Bella?"

"What makes you think she doesn't always do this?" replied Luna, focusing intently on the clock, praying that it would speed up already so she could avoid this conversation. Alice was a stubborn girl, but she didn't know when she was crossing lines and just being nosy, and not in the good way. Luna didn't want to be mean to the pixie-haired girl, but if it came to that, she had no choice.

"Normally, she only seems annoyed with the students and sometimes the teachers," Alice said, "but she actually likes her classes. Music mostly, according to Edward."

"Look, Alice, I can't talk about it," Luna sighed, rubbing her temples. "It's…a sensitive subject, okay?

Speed up already, you goddamned clock! she thought hotly, glaring at the object in question.

Alice did not get it. "But why? Does she hold a grudge against Halloween or something?"

Luna didn't have to respond, seeing as the moment Alice asked her questions, the bell rang as the clock hit 10:00. Luna hastily grabbed her art supplies, her still-drying portrait, and rushed out the door, hoping she could get to her next class before Alice caught up to her. Thankfully, she had the next class with Neville…and the Hale twins.

Joy, she thought sarcastically. If Alice was so hell-bent on bombarding her with personal questions about Holly, then there was no telling how far Rosalie would go for answers.

With a sigh, she met up with Neville at her locker, praying Alice wasn't there yet. She wasn't.

"What's wrong?" asked Neville, seeing the distressed look upon his girlfriend's features immediately.

"Alice is getting too curious about why Holly seemed upset," she informed him, then sheepishly held up her painting. "And this…was my fault. But, in my defense, the idea came to me, Nev! I had to paint this!"

Neville did not say anything instantly. He looked at her, then the painting, then up at the ceiling, and back at the painting.

"The painting is good," he said flatly, "but having it around for Alice—or anyone else, for that matter—wasn't the smartest thing to do. If we get to class now, and ignore the Hale twins, we can get through this. If they keep asking questions, we fake sick and leave. We're gonna be out of the country for a while anyways."

He was right. Luna had completely forgotten, but part of the agreement before moving to America was that Holly would visit her parents' graves as well as the other graves of the friends they had lost.

Luna and Neville went to their next class, Algebra, in higher spirits. The class was about half full and the Hale twins were seated in the very back, naturally. The front seats were all occupied, but plenty of back seats were available. The Hale twins were sitting in the right corner of the classroom, so Luna and Neville took seats farthest to the left.

"Oh, shit," Luna muttered when Jasper snapped his head to meet her gaze.

She quickly looked away, busying herself with taking out her materials and arranging them accordingly. It didn't seem to work, seeing as Jasper nudged Rosalie and they seemed to have an inaudible argument followed by a stare-down, and concluded by the blonde girl sighed reluctantly as she picked up her belongings and plopped down next to Luna. Jasper sat down next to Neville, who gulped and gave Luna a look.

Before the two could switch seats, the teacher, who was late, came in and started the class.

"Oh, shit," muttered Luna again, but this time, it was echoed in agreement by Neville.

"You won't believe what happened at school today!" Luna lamented, tossing her school bag on the floor next to the coat rack. Neville followed her silently, picking up the carelessly thrown bag and hanging it up in the closet with his own.

Holly raised her head slightly, lifting an eyebrow. "Let me guess: the Cullens?"

Luna didn't answer at once; she pulled open the refrigerator door and grabbed a large bottle of orange juice before slamming it shut. She slammed the bottle on the kitchen counter and grabbed three plastic cups (which was good because with all that rage in her, she might as well have shattered any glass ones) and poured the juice in them. Then, she set them on a tray and brought the drinks over to Holly and Neville.

Holly stared into the orange drink as she thought. Even angry, Luna was still the same, always caring, always kind, and of course open-minded. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Luna took an angry gulp of the juice, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and began ranting.

"I suppose part of it was my fault, but Alice would not stop pestering me! She kept on asking questions about why you seemed like you wanted to be anywhere but at school today and I tried to tell her it was a sensitive topic not only to you, but to us as well, but she wouldn't take the hint!"

"And how, pray tell, was part of it your fault?" asked Holly.

Luna cringed and Holly had a feeling she was not going to like the reason.

"You know how artists use their emotions and sometimes even confused feelings to create their projects?"

"Luna—what did you do?"

"I may have drawn a portrait of a face that was half Cedric and half Edward and Alice got curious about it and—"

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Holly nearly fell off the couch as she abruptly sat up, choking on the sip of orange juice she had taken.

Neville restrained her as well as thumped her on the back, which was a great feat done simultaneously. Luna was making a 'calm down' gesture to Holly, who was not calming down. She could not believe how reckless Luna had been. Alice would have so easily recognized her coven brother's face, even half of it!

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO RECKLESS, LUNA?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE CATASTROPHE THAT COULD HAPPEN IF ALICE FOUND OUT ABOUT—"

"Holly, I promise, if you calm down and let us tell you the rest of the story—"

"CALM DOWN?!"

"Alice didn't know what the portrait was about and I ran out with it as soon as the bell rang. Somehow, she didn't catch up with me, and then I put it in my locker for the rest of the day. I brought it home with me, okay? No reason to worry."

"What if Alice has figured out my now and then tells her whole family?" demanded holly. "Then what'll we do?"

"Holly," said Neville, speaking for the first time, "you do realize that Edward—Cedric—you know what I mean—is going to have to know this eventually, right?"

Holly was quiet and when she was quiet, she was thinking. Either way, her friends were glad she had stopped shouting. Knowing that the Cullens lived nearby their cottage (Holly had texted them about it at lunch, where they had, in an attempt to avoid the Cullens and Hales, eaten their lunch in their car), there would be a good chance that they'd be able to hear them.

The truth was, Holly wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to tell the vampire the truth. She was scared. What if Edward got upset that she kept it a secret from him? What if he ended up hating her for it? Edward was different from Cedric and while Cedric might have forgiven her, she could not be sure that Edward would react the same way. Not to mention the other reason: what if he didn't believe her? If someone had come up to her—a total stranger, too—and told her that her entire life was a basic lie, she would've thought they were crazy.

"I need to think," she said finally, her voice was shaky, but also hoarse, which was strange since she had just drank a whole glass of juice, "and I need coffee."

Just then, her phone rang, making Holly jump and point her wand at the sofa, where she was tossed her phone a while ago. A moment later, she sighed and picked it up, putting it to her ear and leaning her left side against the kitchen counter.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Holly, this is Esme."

Holly froze. Not now, not now...

"Hi, Esme," Holly replied, her voice relatively smooth. "Can I help you?"

Please don't ask what I think you're going to ask, please don't ask what I think you're going to ask, please—

"Well...I was wondering if you would like to come over to our house for a bit? Alice is eager to see you."

A/N: Another chapter has been updated! Ooh, suspense! Will Holly say yes? Will she say no? Is Edward finally gonna find out about his past in the next chapter? We'll find out in a couple of weeks! Also, this is just shameless advertising on my part but check out the new Percy Jackson fanfic I posted on my account. It's not up to date with the one on wattpad, but I plan to update sometime this month!

Also, I gotta confess something: I do NOT like how the original Twilight books were written and the behaviour of many of the characters, especially Bella and Edward. That is why this story is Bella-bashing and redeemable-Edward. Also, things are gonna be different with the Quileute wolves, too, in case you were wondering.

Question time!

1. Are you an early riser or a night owl? I think of myself as a night owl.

2. What do you think Holly is gonna say? Tell me in the reviews!

—TeamLeo765