Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Beta'd by Wandofhawthorn and Evelyn-shaye of the Project Team Beta.

Meeting the Witch

3rd January 2007

It had been an odd first thirty minutes since he'd met his newly-found wife, and Edward, other than his unusual greeting, had still not decided what he should or should not say to Hermione.

The latter was currently examining the exquisite interior décor of the living room. Esme had really outdone herself on this project. The whole design of the cottage and the furniture purchased was graceful and elegant, trendy yet functional. Edward found that there was a simple balance between his world and the world he knew was Hermione's. After all, the moving pictures and odd objects here and there weren't easily available in the quality furniture catalogues that Esme read with genuine and avid interest. Edward had yet to know how all of this had been made possible.

The only person that held the answers to his numerous questions was currently gazing at one of the pictures over the mantelpiece with a glass of alcohol. "Odgen's Old Firewhiskey," she'd muttered when she reached for the bottle that was on the side-table next to him. Edward had been standing in silence behind the lush Chesterfield couch, waiting, when he noticed something odd at the window. He automatically rushed to the window to see that it was snowing heavily outside. It had been one rare, hot, sunny summer day in Forks, which was the reason why the Cullens had stayed indoors, the refuge that their house provided from the outside world. Now, however, it looked like they were back in winter. The harshest period of winter.

Edward could perfectly hear his family marveling at this sudden change of weather. The cobblestoned path that he'd followed from the main house to the cottage was almost completely covered. Edward was startled when he turned and saw Hermione standing next to him, watching the heavy snowfall outside.

"I'm sorry if I startled you," Hermione said sincerely. "I believe we have a lot to talk about, so we might as well start right now, don't you think?" Despite her sincerity, her voice was tentative.

"Yes, I do believe we have," Edward replied before he moved to sit on the Chesterfield couch, while Hermione sat on the small pub-styled chair that faced him. However, once he was seated, Edward found himself unable to kick-start the long overdue conversation, and so he found himself staring straight at Hermione.

"You better be very careful of what you say, Edward. Wizards and witches are an extremely dangerous kind, and even if you find yourself married to a witch, I don't doubt that she would attack you if she felt threatened," Edward heard Jasper warn him from the main house.

"You've encountered their kind before, Jasper?" Carlisle asked, always curious.

"Not now, Carlisle," Alice advised, interrupting any further discussion that would have surely followed.

'Pity that,' Edward thought, because he was also very curious. Jasper had never been forthcoming about his past, and Edward wanted to know why Jasper believed witches and wizards were a dangerous sort. The witch in front of him didn't seem very dangerous, but when he considered everything that had already happened, Edward reasoned that there was some measure of truth in Jasper's warning.

He saw a flash of Jasper's memory in his head. It was of a couple of men wearing heavy cloaks and waving sticks from which real fire was bursting out, burning what appeared to be vampire remains. 'Do you understand now, Edward?' Jasper sent the thought to him.

"Yes," he simply whispered, knowing that his empath brother would hear his answer.

Hermione blinked, ending the unofficial staring contest that had started between them. "I understand that all this—" she gestured to the surrounding area and pointed to the various moving pictures and odd objects that he'd picked up before, "—is rather difficult to digest." That was one big understatement. "So, we might as well start from the beginning?" She smiled encouragingly at him.

Edward found himself automatically responding with a smile of his own. "I would like to know how all of this started, actually."

"Well, it all starts with a simple ring. With this ring, actually." Hermione showed him the rather simple gold ring that she proudly wore on her ring finger.

Edward's eyes widened as he recognized his mother's wedding ring. It could have been a long-forgotten memory, but his mother's wedding ring was one of the only objects that Edward had been unable to find after he inherited his estate. He'd long since believed the ring to be lost. He'd remembered that loss when he had given Bella his mother's engagement ring.

"How … how did you find this?" Edward asked as he sat up straighter on the couch. "I thought it was lost."

"It was an object that I found on sale at —" Hermione started to say before she was interrupted by the phone ringing.

Edward glanced at Hermione, who shrugged in response before moving to pick up the phone. He answered the phone on the third ring. "Hello?" he tentatively said.

"Oh, good evening, Edward. How are you doing on your side of the world?" a cheery voice greeted over the phone.

Edward frowned. He did not recognize the voice. "We are doing fine," he replied before he asked, "But, erm … I'm sorry, but who is this?"

"It's Helen, Edward. Hermione's mother," the woman replied. Therefore, she was his mother in-law. "I guess you were too occupied during and after your honeymoon to give us a call, but I hadn't thought you would have already forgotten everyone else," the woman said suggestively.

"Hold on, woman," Edward thought. There was too much innuendo there for him to be comfortable.

"I don't need to hear this," Edward heard a male voice mutter over the phone. Probably Hermione's father.

"It's your mother," Edward said as he looked back at Hermione.

"My mother," Hermione muttered, surprised. It was as though she had not expected it. This was yet another mystery to be resolved later.

"So, how have you been keeping up, Edward?" Helen Granger's voice brought him to the present situation.

"Surprisingly well," he replied truthfully. It truly was surprising that he had not gone insane with all that was happening around him. His eyes, however, had not left Hermione, who still seemed surprised by the news that her mother was on the phone. "I think Hermione would like to talk to you," Edward said as he handed the cordless phone to Hermione over the coffee table.

"Thank you," Hermione said.

The latter did not speak immediately; she only listened to the voice of her mother—his new mother-in-law—who had to repeat 'Hello' multiple times before Hermione chose to reply. It sounded like she did not believe the voice on the phone. Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Hello, Mum."

"Oh, hello, honey," Mrs. Granger replied.

Edward watched, stupefied, as a tear rolled down Hermione's cheek.

"Hermione, sweetheart, are you still there?" Helen Granger asked as Hermione had again stayed silent.

"Yes, Mum. I'm right here," Hermione replied. More tears ran down her cheeks before Edward saw a bright smile appear on Hermione's face. "I'm right here," she repeated. "I'm just happy to hear your voice."

"Oh, pumpkin. I'm happy to hear from you, too," Helen replied.

Where normally an adult would have rolled their eyes or groaned at the endearment, Hermione's face lit up.

"She's feeling a whirlwind of emotions right now," he heard Jasper say. "It's like she hasn't heard her mother's voice in a long time. I detect a big undertone of sadness behind the current wave of happiness. I don't understand what that could mean."

Jasper was only confirming Edward's suspicions. He had been thinking the same thing, and Edward could only add this new discovery to the already long list of mysteries surrounding Hermione's arrival into his un-life.

"Is there something you need, Mum?" Hermione asked her mother.

"No, I wanted to know how you were doing after your honeymoon. Edward had us all intrigued when he said that the honeymoon was in a secret place, and you know … two weeks is a long time, even for a honeymoon," his mother-in-law replied.

"Erm," started Hermione, as her eyes flicked to look at him, "it was …"

"You don't need to give your mother any details, sweet." Edward heard a shuffle as Mr. Granger apparently took the phone from his wife.

"I'm still her mother, Richard!" Helen exclaimed. "And give me back the phone."

"Erm, nope. You've been beating around the bush, Helen," said Richard.

"Dad, what is it that you want to know?" Hermione asked with a sigh. The wide smile, however, was still there as she listened to her father's voice.

"We wanted to know when you'll be bringing our new grandson here. We'd like to get to know the newest addition to the family," answered his father-in-law.

Hermione's eyes again flicked to him before she answered, "I don't know. We," she emphasized, her eyes again darting to look at him, "only just got back with him, but if it's okay with the both of you, we'll be Flooing there this coming weekend."

"It's no problem, sweet. We'll make sure to clear our schedule for that, then," Mr. Granger said.

"I'm glad to hear that, Dad. Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?" Hermione asked.

She casually flicked a piece of wood—something Edward identified easily as her wand—at the cold logs placed in the hearth of the fireplace. Her strange wand had been previously placed on the coffee table in front of them. It occurred to Edward that the slightly bendy shape of the wand did not fit what he thought was the personality of Hermione. It looked like a bird's or an animal's talon in her hand. Even if had only been a simple flick of her wrist, the way Hermione held the wand in her right hand made it look like the slashing motions animals did to repel attacks.

Two balls of blue flames shot out from the tip of her wand onto the logs, and almost instantaneously, there was a crackling fire in the grate. Edward did not know how he managed not to bolt out of his seat. However, he still flinched away from the fireplace. Wizards and witches were even more dangerous than he thought if they were able to conjure fire so easily. He perfectly understood Jasper's warning then. His eyes darted from the fireplace to a surprised Hermione, and it was obvious she had seen his reaction. Her eyes flicked from him to the fireplace and back. A look of comprehension flashed on her face before it turned apologetic.

"I'm sorry, but it was getting rather cold here, and I don't know if this place has central heating," she told him, her hand covering the receiver. Then Edward saw, to his utter surprise, Hermione's eyes widen in horror as though she forgot something very important. "Merlin, Tom!" she exclaimed.

She was moving from her seat and had dropped the phone to go look after Tom. Edward caught the phone before it clattered on the thick red rug covering the seating area. Edward stopped Hermione before she could stand from her seat and wordlessly handed her back the phone before he disappeared in a blur of colours. The room at the end of the corridor was cold, and Edward understood the reason of Hermione's concern. Edward slowly approached the pastel blue painted crib that was in the room.

It was Edward's first time seeing a son that he'd adopted—eighty years in the past—back in 1926. There was no doubt for Edward that had he still been human, he would be suffering from the consequences of one massive headache. Luckily, there were still some perks in being a vampire. However, Edward still had many reasons to be confused and frustrated. There were mysterious reasons to Hermione and Tom springing up into his life, and he reasoned that the appearance of the cottage in the backyard of his Forks refuge was just the tip of the iceberg.

Tom was awake. Edward gazed down at the baby boy, who remained silent at his approach. He had coal black eyes that looked right back at Edward's golden ones. It was a little unnerving that he didn't cry to seek attention as he lay under a fluffy blue comforter. He had a tuft of jet-black hair and very pale skin that was slightly flushed from the ambient cold that had descended on the room with the sudden change of weather. All in all, Tom was a very beautiful little boy.

Edward smiled genuinely at the little baby looking up at him before he bent down to pick him up. He carefully balanced him in his arms, making sure that Tom was wrapped up warmly in the comforter; his cold arms would have not been welcomed in this situation. He smiled at the baffling fact that he was holding an 80-year-old baby. He walked back out of the room at a leisurely pace and followed the corridor to the staircase.

Hermione smiled as she saw him appear at the door of the living room. She still sat in the same place and had unknowingly ignored her father's repeated calls to attention. It was only when Edward sat back down on the Chesterfield couch that she snapped back to reality, apparently remembering that she had previously been talking to her parents. She surprised Edward, however, by moving to sit next to him on his left so she was able to see Tom's face.

"Can I call you back later, Dad?" Hermione asked as she talked again on the phone.

"Erm, yes of course," Richard replied hesitantly. "Is there something wrong, Hermione?"

"No, there's nothing wrong, Dad. It's just like I told you. We just got back here with Tom, and it's rather cold now. So, Edward …" she lifted her head to look at Edward, "… and I need to make sure that the baby is comfortable."

"Oh, of course. Well, we'll wait for your call, sweet," Mr. Granger replied.

"Dad?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, sweet," her father answered.

"Thanks for calling, Dad. It was very nice hearing your voice," Hermione returned with a smile.

"Likewise, sweet. Likewise. Oh, and before I forget, say hi to the family for me, okay?" her father added.

"Erm, yeah," Hermione answered uncertainly. Her eyes had again darted to look at Edward before adding, "Will do, Dad. I'll call you back later, okay?"

"Goodbye, sweet," Mr. Granger said before hanging up.

Hermione carefully placed the cordless phone back on its stand before she turned again to look at Tom and him, sitting next to her. She stayed silent as she observed him holding the baby boy that she'd gone into the past to adopt. Vampires didn't fidget like mortals normally did, but Edward was still a little unnerved under Hermione's steady gaze. He felt like he was being examined under a microscope, as though she was analysing something about him that he had yet to know himself. It felt like forever—not just a few minutes time—before Hermione's gaze shifted to the little boy cradled in his arms. Tom had fallen asleep. Edward smiled as he glanced down at the baby sleeping soundly in his arms before he looked back to Hermione.

She'd turned away from him and was opening the zipper on a small beaded purse that she had hidden in her right sock. It was an unassuming little accessory that Alice would have scoffed at. It shocked Edward that Hermione would be paranoid enough to hide such a small purse on her person. However, he was stunned speechless by what he saw just after that. Hermione's right arm had plunged completely into the small bag, and she was holding it open in her lap. Since she apparently wasn't able to find whatever she was rummaging for, she pulled out her arm.

To a certain degree, Edward was surprised that Hermione's right arm was still normal-looking. Subconsciously, he thought that it should be covered in warts and green looking, like the depiction of witches in fiction. It reminded Edward that the vampires in fiction were still depicted very differently from what he knew was real. He chortled at that.

The analogy made was quite peculiar between the two worlds to which Edward and Hermione belonged. Still, it was comforting in an odd sense that, despite their differences, there was a certain degree of similarity between them.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked, having been surprised by his sudden chortle.

"Be careful of what you're gonna say, Edward," Jasper warned him again.

"It's just that I always thought that witches were different," Edward replied easily, a smile lingering on his face.

"What did you expect? A pointed hat, a broom and a grotesque nose to boot?" Hermione snorted. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but I really only wore the pointed hats at school since it was a part of the regular uniform. I don't own a broom and have no need of one, thank you very much. It's the hags' fault that witches were classically depicted with the grotesque noses, warts and sickly green skin," Hermione informed him, leveling him with a somewhat exasperated stare.

"I didn't mean it as an insult, in any way," Edward defended, a sincere expression on his face. "It's just that I can't believe how much pop culture got wrong about both of our worlds."

"True," Hermione agreed, picking up her wand again.

Edward observed cautiously as Hermione waved her wand and said clearly, "Accio, documents."

Edward watched a manila folder pop out of the beaded bag. He noted that it was very similar to the one that Alice had produced a little earlier when informing the family of her mystifying discovery. It was physically impossible that such a big folder could easily get out of a bag that was at least five sizes smaller. She opened the folder on the coffee table and examined the documents it contained. Edward noted that these were the same documents that Alice had showed them earlier. There were, however, a few subtle differences. Like the dates and his name and signature. The dates were eighty years in the past, and where it had been Masen on Alice's documents, it was now Cullen and his current signature that appeared on the documents before him.

"How is that even possible?" Edward asked, bewildered.

"The timeline is correcting itself," Hermione answered before she turned, puzzled, to look at him. "What I'd actually like to know is how you are even aware of what has changed?"

"What do you mean?" he asked in turn.

"The timeline is correcting itself following my departure from the past, and you shouldn't have been aware of the differences. For you, it should have been a normal day in winter. To you, I would have just appeared as your wife and not as a stranger showing up in your house," Hermione replied, frowning.

"My sister's a Seer. She saw us discussing the discovery that I had been married in 1926 without my apparent knowledge, and that I had adopted with my wife a newborn son in the early days of 1927," Edward told her.

"Oh, I'm fed up with these pseudo-seers and their so-called Inner Eyes meddling with my business." Hermione sniffed, in disdain.

"Hey!" he heard Alice exclaim, followed by this family laughing at her expense. Edward difficultly refrained from saying that it was also his business and that was why Alice had again meddled into it.

Hermione surprised him when she suddenly turned to him and asked, "What sister?"

"What you would define as a coven, we call ourselves a family. We are seven including myself," Edward informed her.

"Seven!" Hermione repeated, in a stunned tone. "Talk about a package deal," she whispered.

"So, why go through all this planning to bring back this little one? What's so special about him?" Edward asked as he looked down at the baby boy still sleeping in his arms. Edward smiled at the serene thoughts he heard from Tom's mind.

"Well, you see, Tom Riddle, umm, that is, our son—" He nodded telling her that he was following her explanation. He'd already accepted that. He—a vampire in 2006—was the adoptive father to a baby boy born in 1927.

"He's potentially Voldemort. Oh, yeah. You don't know who that is?" That was a given. "Well," she drawled, "take Hitler –"

"Hitler?" Edward whispered, his mind drawing a blank.

"– a dash of Charles Mason, a pinch of Jim Jones and then add magic and voilà!" Hermione continued, not hearing him. "So, you see, I had to do it! Yes?" Hermione finished in a flourish.

His left arm still wrapped securely around Tom, Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, taking in a long, unnecessary breath. Despite not feeling the need to breathe, it was always able to calm him and helped Edward put things into perspective. However, as he let out the unnecessary breath of air, Edward was still was lost. He looked back at Hermione with what he knew was a confused and frustrated look.

"From the looks of it, you seem like you want a more thorough explanation, don't you?" Hermione observed wisely.

He was going to exclaim, "You don't say," but he reasoned that it would have come out as slightly aggressive, and Edward kept in mind Jasper's warning.

"Yes, I believe that would be very much welcomed," Edward answered.

"Okay, where to start this story?" she asked herself, before she looked down at the baby boy sleeping, cradled safely in his arms. "It all starts with a little boy named Tom Marvolo Riddle …"

Author note:

Yes, here is the long awaited update to this story. I mentioned in the last chapter in the author note that this chapter would be titled "Meeting the Flaw", but since I've gone with a full chapter from Edward's point of view, I've changed it to "Meeting the Witch". Seemed more fitting to me.

I had particular difficulty with this chapter because I kept changing the dialogue because I found it to be quite strained, if not somewhat artificial. I think that's because Edward and Hermione don't know how to address the elephant in the room, which is their unusual union. I'm not entirely sure if I got it right here but at least, they got to talking together.

A particular kudos for this chapter goes to Bridgetlynn (I did promise a quick update, didn't I?) for permission to quote her review. It fitted perfectly into the end of the chapter and I thank her for that as well as her inspiring review. I again take the opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it. Even if I haven't answered your (long) reviews yet, you know that they are always appreciated and they inspire me so much.

I'm going to sleep after updating this story and I'll be fresh and new to update my other stories. Next up will be 'Let the Right One In'.

Thanks to all reviewers: Lovelyinc, Hpobsessed, MoonShadowAMR, Nathaliie, Irmorena, HermisLupim26, Vepattinson, Black Phoenix Ranger, Thrae Elddim, Guest3/15, Angel, Flyingberry, Hermionefan1999, Sampdoria, Invisible-gurl, Beautiful-Tyrant77, RippahGoneWolf, Furface294, Crimsonprincess99, Disharandive98, Mh21, RainbowJH, Eulphy Whitlock-Lupin, Amata0221, Sherychery7, Arabellagrace, Sweets1111, Rosalie end Jacob, NorthernLights25, XTooxTooxLazyxToxLoginx, The Flaming-Gecko, Kaya, SharonH, HarryHermioneEdwardBella, Ice Demon Ranger, Amjed, RainDancin, FyCHnx, LadyNightV, Karen love, Smilin steph, Waterflower20, GlorifiedGenius, P. Cythera, Kat louise, KeiGinya, Terry, Lalitya, Indigo Lily, Tay, ShadowsOfTheDay, Kuramaworshiper, Nataliya, Eddysfer, KakaSensei, TheShiningStar, Astanley1991, TimeRose, Reader, Heiza, Memeememe, Deliolindie, Heart of Books, ariah23, Guest6/12, Pyra Sanada, Arorajames, Dark Moon Angel, Skylight96, JustAnotherPotterFan1999, She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Sane, SlytherinTech, Rainstormslove, Guest6/29, Hellcat-sakura, Snowystar2, Rose Dorea Potter Black, Jay, Cassiopeia Herveaux, Ssanmathy, AlexUdinov and Mbell185.

As always, take care of yourselves and have a great day.

Love,

Ludo.