"You're avoiding me," were the first words out of Bella's mouth when Hermione walked into the room. She hadn't even had time to let the light adjust to her eyes. "Everyone knows what's happening but me."
"You're pregnant," Hermione answered, sitting down on the nearest chair with a plop and sighing as she relaxed into the cushions. "We're trying not to stress you out."
"Hermione, I'm more stressed worrying about what's going on with you than anything. Once you tell me, I'm sure it won't seem as bad."
Hermione puffed out a breath, running her hands through her hair. "I phased," she confessed eventually.
"What phase?" Bella asked, running her hands across her stomach.
"No, not a phase. I phased. As in, huge furry wolf." Bella blinked at her. "Although, I'm not as big as them guys. I'm like an average wolf size and put me next to Paul and Jacob, and I look like a fucking puppy." She scowled.
"I don't believe you," Bella breathed and Hermione stared at her, shocked.
"Excuse me?" she questioned. "Did I hear that right? Bella Swan, the women married to a vampire, pregnant with a vampire-human hybrid, cousins to a witch and best friends with a shifter can't believe that I turn into a wolf too?"
"Why would you?" she asked ,defiantly. "You don't have the gene."
Hermione paused, thinking her words over.
"Unless I did," she responded. Bella's furrowed brow showed that she didn't understand. "What if I did have the gene? Obviously it doesn't come from the Swan side of things because you'd be a wolf too which means it either comes from my Dad or-" Hermione paused, not really wanting to finish the sentence.
"Or your Mum had an affair," Bella finished and Hermione scrunched her eyes up in pain. The thought of her happy, loving parent doing that was too much to bear.
"Yeah," she muttered. "Or that."
The two cousins were silent for a while, both comforted by each other's presence and not having the urge to fill the silence with words.
"Can I see?" Bella asked quietly, fiddling with a loose thread on the blanket that was thrown across her legs. Hermione looked up from where she was dozing. "Can I see the new you?"
Hermione smiled and nodded and stood up to start kicking off the trousers and chuckling when Bella quickly covered her eyes so that she could disrobe completely. Bella heard the tell-tale sound and opened her eyes slowly, looking at the wolf that sat before her. Smaller than the others but with the gleam in her eyes, no less deadly.
"You're incredible," she murmured, eyes wide with awe. "You're prettier than all the other wolves."
The wolf made a deep rumbling sound that would've resembled laughter if Hermione had been human and Bella guessed that whoever was hearing their conversation, wasn't reacting too well to being shoved to the side in the looks department. Paul, probably.
"Carlisle," Hermione greeted, standing in the doorway of his study where he was looking at some paperwork. He looked up, acting as if he didn't know she'd been walking towards him and had been standing there for the past five minutes gaining courage for this conversation, and smiled encouragingly. "Would you be able to do me a favour?"
"Of course, Hermione," he agreed, placing the folder on the desk and turning the chair he was sat in to face her, giving her all of his attention. "What can I do for you?"
"What has happened to me in the past few hours, is not normal," she started and internally he agreed, but he wasn't about to voice it. "So there has to be an explanation. Someone doesn't just turn into a wolf out of the blue."
"What about animagus?" he asked curiously. "I'm aware that a wizard or witch has the ability to turn into an animal if they so desired."
"We can," she nodded. "But that takes months, if not years, of preparation and even then, not everyone is able to do it." She walked into the room more and shut the door behind her, waving her wand and casting a silent spell. By the relaxing change in her posture, no matter how slight, he felt that clearly she'd just guaranteed their privacy for the oncoming conversation. "I have to have the gene."
"Is any of your family Quileute?"
She shook her head. "That's why I'm being quiet about it." She took a deep breath before exhaling. "Bella and I have discussed it, as I'm sure you heard, and we have come to two possible answers."
"But one of them isn't likely, the one you'd prefer to be true and so you've come to me to have the second one tested whilst you pray that it isn't true," Carlisle surmised, leaning back in his chair when she nodded her agreement.
"Affairs are tricky things and there are reasons why they're kept secret; are you sure you want to dig?"
"My parents aren't coming back," Hermione argued. "If I have some family out there, even if it means I'm related to someone from the Pack, then I'd rather now. I'd want to get to know them and see if they'd want me."
"What if it's someone you knew and you feel betrayed by their actions?"
"Then I'll deal with that hurdle when I come to it."
"So, I hear you're going to do a demonstation on the wards," Rosalie said, filling in the silence as the two were sitting with a sleeping Bella. "I'd love to be there but I need to stay with Bella."
"Why's Edward going then? Surely he'd want to stay with her unless something happens."
"He needs to know that they work and she's protected," Rosalie responded. "He'd have a weight taken off his shoulders if he knew that there was that extra layer of protection for her."
"It isn't just for her," Hermione replied. "It's for all of our family."
"Our family?" Rosalie asked, eyebrow quirked.
"Of course," Hermione nodded. "That's my cousin," she motioned to the sleeping human. "And last time I checked, she married into your family which makes us in-laws."
Rosalie smiled but didn't respond.
"Say," Hermione said. "Would you be willing to help me out with the demonstration?"
"I can't leave her, you know that."
"It wouldn't be you that I'd be using."
"Okay, so we're here for a reason," Hermione spoke, looking at the odd collection of shifters and vampires that had gathered. Carlisle had chosen to stay behind with Rosalie to ensure Bella's health whilst Leah had chosen to carry on patrolling the perimeter so that she didn't stick around with the 'leeches'. Jasper and Edward had come to check that it worked and that their family wasn't in danger whilst Alice and Esme had tagged along because they couldn't carry on sitting around and watch Bella as she was. Emmett had came because he was bored.
Seth was sat next to a rock, in his wolf form, so that he was quick to make an exit if the need arose whilst also maintaining contact with Leah in case of emergencies. Jacob was there to watch and ensure it worked for all of their protection whilst Paul wasn't going to leave her alone with a bunch of vampires.
"We're going to prove how amazing I am and so you can all relax a bit." She sent a smirk to the group and watched as they smiled tensely. That would all change after this.
"Paul, do me a favour?"
"Of course, babe," he responded, jumping to his feet and standing awfully close to her. She stifled an eye roll, knowing that it was more of the wolf acting up than him. She couldn't blame him when she was feeling the same. "What do you need?"
"Stand by that tree." She pointed in the direction she wanted him to go and, after sending her a confused look, went. "Good. Now come back." His confused look deepened into one of complete bafflement. He wandered back to her side and she turned back to the group. "The ward perimeter is just after that boulder. As you saw, Paul walked through it without any problem because he doesn't want to cause any damage to any of the wards' occupants." She turned back to Paul. "Now, go back to the tree." He gave her a quick kiss before jogging back.
"So, now you're going to test what happens when he does want to hurt someone, right?" Jasper asked, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. She nodded and turned to Emmett.
"Come here," she ordered. He exchanged a look with Edward, who nodded, and appeared at her side in a blur. "Rosalie said okay," she breathed before reaching up and kissing him. She kept her mouth shut but she could feel Paul's fury. She pulled away and turned to her wolf who was shaking a good'un but wasn't coming any closer to defend her.
"Why didn't he come in and pull you away?" Jacob asked, standing more to attention than he had been. If it was because a member of his Pack was in distress or because she'd just kissed a vampire, she didn't know.
"Because right now, he wants to hurt Emmett," she told them. "Even though that kiss means nothing and was more disgusting than pleasurable, no offense, the wolf still saw it as a threat to their mate and wanted to get revenge. My wards don't let him."
Jasper looked thoughtful. Esme was the one, however, who turned to Paul and asked the question that a few had been thinking. "How badly do you want to hurt Emmett?" He didn't emit anything other than a deep growl whilst both Jasper and Edward snorted.
"His thoughts are all about planning the different ways of attack and killing."
"His emotions would support that."
"Then why hasn't he phased, if he's that angry?" Alice asked, tilting her head to show her curiosity.
"Because Paul's managing to keep himself from phasing. He knows 'Mione wouldn't want him to act out like the wolf wants him to," Jacob answered, looking impressively at his beta. Hermione had to admit that the control he was showing was impressive.
"What about if someone is calm and not wanting to hurt us but then events occur and they change their mind once they're in?" Esme asked and Hermione smiled, motioning with her finger to wait a minute before popping over to Paul and calming him until the shaking subsided and he was able to walk back through the wards.
"Hermione," Jacob said warningly. "How are you going to demonstrate what Esme asked?" She didn't say anything, but she was impressed with how he was able to say her name instead of calling her a leech. She gave an apologetic look to Paul before apparating back to Emmett and kissing him again.
She heard the sound of Paul passing out and dropping to the floor and she broke the kiss before making her way over to check he was okay. When he didn't wake immediately, she cast a rennervate and he blinked immediately, causing her to relax.
"Incredible," Jasper breathed. "So is it the moment the idea or the need pops into his head?"
"Both," she responded, not looking away from Paul's eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Whatever comes first."
"So we're safe?" Esme asked, moving to rest her hand on Edward's forearm, where he rested his hand on top of her in comfort. Edward nodded and Hermione watched as all the vampires, and the few shifters, relax immediately.
"Go to bed," Hermione growled, annoyed. "Jacob said that tonight was my turn to patrol with Leah and pick up the basics and you're being completely unreasonable."
"No," Paul protested. "He said that moments after you shifted and before you used up a bunch of magic to create the wards. You need to rest more than me."
"No, I don't," she countered. She huffed out a breath, realising he wasn't going to listen to her arguments and stepped closer. "I need to bond with Leah on some level," she told him quietly. "She holds a dislike for me like she does everyone else but here, we can come to some agreement and it will reduce the tension. Please," she pleaded. "I need to do this."
"Fine," he responded after a while. "Come wake me up when patrol is over."
"I promise," she replied, kissing him deeply before shedding her clothes and shifting to run away.
Okay, so I'm back. I'm trying to be more consistent but I'm struggling. However, HSWW forum has opened an event where everything HP I write, counts towards my words goal, including multi-chap x-overs. Brilliant! It's definitely boosting my writing fingers. So, hopefully you'll see more chapters for this this month.
As always, love you all, and please, leave a review!