Welcome to Chapter 3! Thank you for the reviews! They feed my muse.

I forgot to clarify a few things about timelines, forgetful me! First, this story starts in a weird place in Eclipse. As in, they have graduated high school and Edward has proposed to her, but the Vampire army events are barely starting. I can't exactly remember where everything fits in the book, so it's being done this way. Totally fine as I tend to throw Canon out the window when I feel like it!

With that, Enjoy! Let me know what you think in the reviews!

Well, things could have gone worse.

Hermione firmly believed that as she looked up at the ceiling from the twin bed she was laying on. She had approached her Uncle and cousin with the events of her life like she would have if she were writing a book; from the beginning. She had informed them about finding out she was a witch, demonstrating with her wand when they didn't believe. If she weren't feeling so down, she would laugh at the panic that had lit her Uncle's eyes when she'd drawn her 'gun.' Dropping its glamour and waving it around to perform simple spells she could have done wandlessly had reminded her a bit of Professor McGonagall's visit to her parents that summer before her first year.

She'd skimmed over many of the details of her adventure's with the boys, simply telling them that a civil war had been brewing and she had been caught right in the thick of it. She talked about needing to go on the run, about how she'd tried to protect her parents by erasing their memories and sending them to a different country. She told them how they had been found anyway, and died because Hermione was their daughter. She was glad her Uncle didn't ask how, though she knew it would come. He'd just been too shocked to ask then. She explained that her side had won, and as soon as she could, she had tracked them down to reverse what she'd done. She ended with receiving Charlie's letters, and the decision to come down herself to inform them and reconnect.

It was a very watered-down version of her life, but she wasn't sure her family could take the full account. Charlie had said nothing, staring at the wall for a long while before getting up and going to his room. Bella had reassured her that they'd be fine, it was just a lot to process before giving her a hug and heading up herself.

So really, it could have been worse. At least they weren't throwing her out and condemning her to hell for being who she was.

Bella had taken things a little too well in Hermione's opinion. After the initial show of magic, there had been no disbelief or questions of how. If she didn't know better, Hermione would assume Bella had been exposed to the magical world already. But as far as she knew, she was the only witch in the family.

Of course, there was that faint outline of a scar that Hermione had seen when Bella had reached out to hug her. The girl had been wearing long sleeves, so Hermione hadn't noticed it before. The indent of teeth could have been a coincidence, but the phrase 'constant vigilance' never left Hermione's mind. She'd seen marks like that before, normally with the person being dead.

Just when had her cousin come into contact with a vampire?

Edward sighed, his expression forlorn as he watched Emmett and Rosalie play a video game. Bella's rejection was still on his mind, unable to be put aside when he had nothing else to occupy his mind. We're too young, Edward. I promised I wouldn't get married as a teenager.

But she wasn't too young to be turned into a vampire, and damn her soul?

He'd hoped proposing marriage, giving her suitable college options that meant he could go with her, would put off her desire to be like him. He'd wanted to give her time to make sure this was what she really wanted. It had backfired, the marriage proposal spooking her into reevaluating their relationship. Never before had he wished he could read what was going through her mind. Pushing hadn't helped, their wants clashing and devolving simple talks into stubborn arguments. It was nerve-wracking how much he miscalculated when it came to Bella. Sometimes he wondered if this was the Universes' way of telling him they shouldn't stay together.

His phone dinged, only one person assigned to that particular tone.

B: My cousin is here.

Edward gave a quick glimpse at the time, noting the lateness.

E: I figured, or did she get in late?

B: No, she arrived on time. She liked the recipe Esme suggested. We had a family meeting… it was a lot.

Edward frowned as he remembered the reason for Bella's cousin coming down in the first place. Her aunt and uncle had died. He didn't know the circumstances, neither had Bella or Charlie.

E: Do you want me to come over?

B: No. There are now two cops sleeping within hearing distance of my room. No need to have an incident.

E: Are you sure? You know I won't make a sound.

B: I'm sure. I'm going to bed. Night.

Edward sent her his reply before scowling at her message. She hadn't ever been worried about Charlie hearing him. Now her cousin was here, and that changed? It was true that he didn't make a sound. Even if this cousin was part of the police, he doubted she would be able to hear the faintest sounds he made when moving.

Alice came into the room, moving to sit next to him. "Something troubling you?"

Edward handed her his phone, letting her read the exchange. "I think I'm losing her, Alice. Have you seen anything?"

Alice shrugged. "Bella's cousin is definitely a cop. I had a vision of Charlie picking her up from the airport, she was wearing a gun and a badge." Edward saw the vision in his mind. A young curly-haired brunette was hugging Charlie. She looked familiar to a young woman in a picture Charlie had from his teenage years. The vision went fuzzy before cutting out completely.

Edward looked at her in shock. "What was that?"

Alice sighed, an irritated look on her face. "I don't completely know. I was able to see her clearly at first, and then that happened. I tried specifically looking for her, but nothing happened." She bit her lip and looked down at Edward. "What's worse, Bella and Charlie are gone too. Normally, with the wolves, they'd be shut off from me completely. This… I don't know what this is."

Rosalie and Emmett, who had been trying to give their siblings a semblance of privacy, abandoned their game. Rosalie asked, "Are you saying Bella's cousin isn't human? Wouldn't she have told us?"

Alice pursed her lips. "I don't think it's that. If she wasn't human, I wouldn't be able to see her period. It's like the wolves. Edward's admitted that Charlie can be hard to read. Maybe this is the same case?"

Emmett scoffed, "That's quite a coincidence, don't you think? Three talents in one human family?"

Carlisle came into the room with Esme, evidently having heard the conversation as well. "This must be kept from the Volturi. They are already interested in Bella. They dismissed your reaction to Charlie because his mind was able to be read in the end, but they won't leave the cousin alone if they find out Alice can't see her correctly." He looked at his daughter. "Aro wants you more than anything else but knows you'll never willingly leave our family. If he thinks he can change someone who will prevent you from seeing their moves, he'll be down here with a false charge in a heartbeat."