A/N: I'm sorry for the wait! My little boy and I have been poorly with a stomach bug and I've not had much energy to do anything. I'm hoping to have Rewriting Destiny updated by the weekend, but I can't promise anything I'm afraid.

Chapter 4: Realisation

Dear Harry,

I miss you and Ron so much. A lot has happened already and I've only been here for two days. My parents are on holiday, so I won't be able to meet them for another two weeks. It's okay though, I can do some research and do some exploring. I'm in a little B'n'B in La Push, a reservation near Forks, and they are all very welcoming so far. I've even met a family in Forks. Long story short, a car that I bought broke down just outside Forks, and the youngest son of the family gave me a ride to town. His dad even works with my mum at the hospital so was able to help get their address for me.

Also, okay this sounds utterly bizarre, but go with it please.

There's something not quite right with that family, and I'm determined to figure out what it is. They're definitely a magical creature, but I'm not sure what exactly. I'm going to need to do some research before I confront them about it. It's their eyes that strikes me the most Harry, they are gold. Almost like Moony when he comes out to play, but so bright. Their skin is pale, and they feel cold to touch. I feel like I already know what they are, but I just can't convince myself either way. It's their eyes that are throwing me off, I think. I've not heard of anything like it, and I need to know why and what they are.

If they're a danger, I need to know.

I wonder if MACUSA knows about them. I'll have to visit them and find out.

I hope everyone is doing okay. How is Auror training? I know you've barely started as I write this letter, but I'm not sure how long it will take for this letter to get to you. I'm trying to find a Floo connection nearby, but so far I'm out of luck. Fingers crossed that mum and dad have a fireplace in their house when I finally reverse their memories. The nearest Enclave is in Seattle, and I've already visited there so I can apparate whenever I need to use their Owl Post or any other shops.

America is so weird, but it's refreshing. Nobody knows who I am here. I can just be me. I don't have to play up to cameras or anyone's perceptions of me.

I can't wait to see you again, but I'm afraid I'll be away a little bit longer than I planned. I'll keep writing, though. Please write back to me.

I miss you.

Love,

Hermione.

P.S. Please, for the love of Merlin, send some tea. Yorkshire Gold, if you can. I won't accept anything less than Twining's. Thank you, Harry!

Hermione sighed heavily as she sealed her letter to Harry, ready to send later when she had a free moment to apparate to Pine Street. Thanks to the woods surrounding La Push, she'd be able to find a spot to apparate from easily. The trees were quite dense, so she would be surprised if anyone saw her.

Quil was still downstairs with Seth and Jacob, but they had put something else on the television to watch. They invited her to join them later when they went to Seth's house to play some video games, but she politely declined. She had less than two weeks now until her parents returned from their holiday, and she wanted to be absolutely sure about the spell she needed to use to reverse their memories.

Plus, those damned Golden-Eyed Cullens wouldn't get out of her head.

Perhaps Hermione should give them a visit later after sending Harry's letter at the Owl Post. While she's there, maybe she can see if she can figure out more about the family and those Merlin-be-damned eyes.

They were going to be the bane of her existence, she was sure of it.

There wasn't anything that Hermione couldn't figure out and it was seriously irking her that she had no idea what they were.

If there was anything that Hermione hated more than anything else, it was not knowing something.

She could only hope that there was a book within her mini library that she had stashed away inside her beaded bag that could help her figure out the mystery of the Cullen family.

It also couldn't be a coincidence that the Head of the family shared the same name as her Great-grandfather.

Hermione didn't believe in coincidences.

There was a knock on the door to the room that she was staying in, snapping her from her thoughts. Knowing it could only be one of three people, as Joy was still out running errands, Hermione sighed again to herself and slowly made her way over to open the door.

Yes, Quil, Seth, and Jacob were nice. But they were teenage boys and had so much energy.

It was enough to give her a headache.

"Hey Mia, we're headed for a bite to eat, do you wanna come with?" Quil asked her, an excited smile on his face. Seth and Jacob were nowhere in sight, so she assumed that they were waiting downstairs for Quil.

"Mia? No. No way. I don't do nicknames." Hermione told him, shaking her head. "I actually needed to go to Forks this afternoon, so I'll have to pass for today. I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't worry about it." Quil gave her a smile, running a hand through his hair. "You've got my number in case you change your mind, right?"

"Yes, I do." Hermione gave him a small smile. There was a pause, then a shout from Seth from downstairs telling Quil to hurry up. Hermione gave him a small laugh. "Go on, sounds like he's starving."

"He could eat all day every day and not be full." Quil laughed. "Alright, if you're sure. I'll see you at dinner, yeah?"

"Sounds good, Quil. Have fun."

"You too, Mia." He gave her a cheeky wink then ran out of the way to dodge a slap to his arm.

"Oi, I said no nicknames!" She shouted after him, but she still laughed anyway. There was something about him that reminded her of Ron and Harry, and the banter they would have with each other. It was nice, comforting even.

Hermione closed the door to the sound of the boys leaving the house, laughing about one thing or the other. She stood, staring at the letter on her desk.

"Okay, Hermione, let's do this." Hermione said to herself as she pulled on a pair of white converse high tops that she had packed away into her beaded bag. She picked up her beloved peacoat, inspecting it for any mud stains she might have missed last night when she cleaned it, before putting it on too. After picking up the letter for Harry as well as a small purse with both galleons and dollars inside, Hermione made her way down the stairs, through the front door, and across the road to the woods behind Joy's B'n'B.

She looked around her as she moved, hoping beyond hope that the boys were far enough away to not see her enter the woods. After walking for five minutes, making sure that she was deep enough in to not be seen or heard as she apparated, Hermione gripped her wand tightly in her right hand and spun on her heel.

She was gone with a quiet pop.

Hermione didn't see the pair of ember eyes watching her from behind the trees.

oOoOoOo

It didn't take long for Hermione to make her way to the Pine Street Post Office once she apparated to the designated Apparition Point in the wizarding shopping district. She remembered seeing it yesterday, tucked between a bookshop and a quidditch supplies shop. She would have to remember to go in there when she had free time to browse the shops and pick something up for Harry and Ron. Perhaps they had something that could help them whenever they went out on Auror Duty, or whatever they had to do when they weren't in the Auror Office in the ministry.

She ducked inside the narrow building, barely missing someone as they made their way out of the Post Office. She kept her head down, avoiding any eye contact with anyone. She wasn't sure if news of the Wizarding War had reached America, but she wasn't particularly in the mood to be pulled into conversation about it.

There was a reason Hermione escaped to America, after all.

Well, that, and to find her parents.

Once Hermione got to the counter at the front, she offered the employee stood behind the till a small, timid smile. She dug around her purse for the letter for Harry and put it on the counter for him. He merely gave a raised eyebrow, clearly not in the mood for any sort of social interaction today.

"Can I send this to 12 Grimmauld Place, Islington, London, please?" Hermione asked politely as she began to dig in her purse for a galleon. She wasn't sure how much it was going to cost, but hoped that it wouldn't be that much.

The Post Office worker slowly took the letter from the counter and looked at the address written neatly onto it.

"For Harry Potter?" He asked in a thick accent. Hermione couldn't place it, but he definitely didn't sound like he was from Seattle. "That'll be 5 sickles and 12 knuts."

"Oh, that's cheaper than I was expecting." Hermione was pleasantly surprised. She put a galleon into his waiting hand and pocketed her change when he gave it to her.

"We send International Post by Floo to the nearest Post Office, makes it quicker you see." He said to her, seeing her eyes light up in curiosity when he put Harry's letter in a box next to the fireplace. "So it's cheaper 'cause we don't have to keep that many owls. Diagon Alley should get it tonight, so he'll have it by delivery in the morning."

"That's wonderful, thank you." Hermione smiled at him, pleased that he offered more information on how they sent the post to other enclaves. "I'm staying with muggles for the time being, so I've given my return address as this Post Office, I hope that's okay."

"Yeah, that's fine. It's more common than you think for folks on vacation." He paused, then pulled out a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill. "I can use a muggle phone, my wife's Muggle-born you see, so I can always let you know when you've received anything back."

"Thank you so much." Hermione gushed, quick to writing her name and her mobile number on the parchment. "I'm sorry, I'm Hermione."

"Austin, pleased to meet you Hermione." Austin gave her a smile and put the parchment by the till. "By the way, while you're here, you should try Madame Prewlish's Deli. They make the best sandwiches and their milkshakes are to die for. It's just a bit further up Pine Street."

"I will, thank you Austin. Have a nice day!" Hermione gave him a smile as she walked back out the door. She felt relieved that Austin either didn't know who she was, or was polite enough not to say anything. She checked the time on her wrist watch and balked. It was already nearly lunchtime. She didn't mean to be out this long. Madame Prewlish's Deli must wait another day.

Hermione sighed, pushing the strap of her purse further up her shoulder. There wasn't anything else that she needed to do while she was on Pine Street, and she still had a lot of research to do while Quil was out.

I hope I can get something done by the time Joy is back. Maybe I could cook them some dinner if I have enough time, Hermione thought as she made her way to the apparition point. The street had gotten a lot busier since she was in the Post Office, presumably because there were people out on their dinner break.

Hermione visualised the woods behind Joy's house as she took a deep breath, then twisted elegantly on the spot.

oOoOoOo

"I'm telling you, I saw her disappear!"

"People don't just disappear."

"But she did though! She did this weird turn and fucking popped out of existence. Popped! Noise and everything! I'm telling you, there's something not right about it."

"And I'm telling you, Quil, people don't just disappear." Jacob Black stared hard at his best friend. He couldn't believe what nonsense Quil was spouting. "Look, maybe you need to head back home and get some sleep. You're clearly a bit sleep deprived."

"I'm not sleep deprived, Jake! I'm telling you what I saw. Why don't you believe me?" Quil asked, quite pathetically if you asked him. He might mess around a lot, but there was one thing that Quil wasn't, and that was a liar. He was raised better than that.

"Maybe you should get some sleep, bro." Seth said quietly from where he was sat against Jacob's bedroom door. The bedroom was so small, there wasn't much room for all of them, and it was Seth's turn to sit on the floor. "I mean, we've all barely managed three hours a night this last week."

"Not you too," Quil whined, dropping his head into his hands. If Seth was backing Jacob up, then maybe he should hold back. But he knew what he saw.

Something wasn't right with Hermione Granger.

"I'm not saying you're right," Quil began, his head still in his hands. He gave his eyes an aggressive rub with the palms of his hands before he looked up at Jacob. He could feel the fatigue setting in, and he had to admit, he was feeling more than a bit bone tired. "But maybe some sleep is a good idea."

Jacob gave him a small smile and patted him on the back a few times.

"That's all I ask. And if you're still insistent about whatever it is you're on about with Hermione, then we can talk about it tomorrow." He said to his friend. Quil let out a sigh and nodded his head, pleased that Jacob would still be up for talking about it after a sleep. "I mean, she doesn't look like much does she? She was basically drowned in those pyjamas of hers."

"I wonder who Potter is. Boyfriend, perhaps?" Seth mused, smirking at them. He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at them. "If so, unlucky Jakey-boy."

"What? I … I have no idea what you're on about." Jacob denied, though a flush on his cheeks hinted at embarrassment. "We barely know the girl."

"You have to admit, mate, you couldn't take your eyes off her this morning," Quil joined in on the teasing, thankful for a slight change of subject. "Plus, she's rented that room for a month. Dude, that's plenty of time to swoop in and make her forget all about that Potter bloke."

With a growl, Jacob grabbed his pillow and chucked it at Quil's laughing face. If he had a second pillow, he'd chuck it at Seth too.

"Leave it, you idiots." He told them, more annoyed at himself for letting himself get flustered from their teasing. "Now get out so we can all get some sleep."

"Yes sir," Seth and Quil laughed, both standing up. They gave Jacob a high-five in goodbye before they left the room.

"You believe me, don't you?" Quil couldn't help but ask Seth as they walked down the path outside Jacob's house. He shoved his hands in his jacket pocket. The wind had picked up and there was a biting edge to it.

"Honestly, bro? I'm not sure." Seth admitted after a while. "There is something about her though. There's this sort of…" He wiggled his fingers in the air in front of him as he tried to find the right words to say. "Energy about her, I suppose. Can't quite put my finger on it."

"At least I'm not the only one to pick up on that too." Quil let out a small laugh in relief. He shook his head. "Man, I definitely need some sleep if I'm letting a chick get me worked up like this."

"Not as worked up as Jake is about her though," Seth laughed loudly. "Man, did you see his face? He looked personally affronted about your accusations about her."

"Those are some long words from you, Seth. What did you do? Eat a dictionary?"

"Nah, Leah gave me a Word of The Day calendar last year, I only just found it again." When Quil continued to laugh at him, Seth rolled his eyes and shoved him by the shoulder. He notice that they were outside Quil's house. "Right, I'll see you later, bro! You still coming to the fire tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Quil gave Seth a quick salute before he jogged up the stairs and into his house.

He needed to figure out what was up with Hermione before it drove him mad.

oOoOoOo

Hermione let out a growl of frustration as she carefully chucked another book on her bed. She'd been at this for almost two hours, since she got back from Pine Street. She had emptied her beaded bag of all books to do with magical creatures and began trying to narrow down the ones that held any information about creatures with golden eyes.

Thirty-five books later and she was ready to pull her hair out.

There was one book left to look through, then she could call it a day and wait to see what Harry could find for her.

If he could find anything.

With a reluctant sigh, she pulled the book towards her and opened it. Hermione was sat on the floor, her back against the bed. Her knees were pulled close to her chest, a perfect position to use as a book rest while she skimmed through the pages.

… rarest of all are those with golden eyes, made specifically from…

"What?" Hermione whispered, her brain finally catching up with her eyes. She had already flicked though a few pages since catching the writing about golden eyes, so had to gently flick back to the page she needed.

The rarest of all are those with golden eyes, made specifically from their vegetarian-like diet of animal blood instead of the usual and common human blood. Vampires like these are hard to come by, which is why it is rare for anyone to see one with golden eyes such as these. There are only two known Covens who still feast upon animal blood; the Olympic and Denali Covens. Spearheaded by Carlisle Cullen (born in 1640 and turned in 1663), the Olympic Coven can most recently be found in America. The Denali Coven, led by…

"Carlisle?" Hermione asked herself, shocked by what she had found. The only information she could find was this one paragraph in Unusual But True Facts about Vampires They Didn't Want You To Know by an unknown author, and it told her more in that paragraph than she could have ever believed to be possible. She ran her fingers over Carlisle's name and birth year. "No way."

Spearheaded by Carlisle Cullen…

… Carlisle Cullen …

… turned in 1663 ….

… turned …

"My Great-Grandfather's a vampire!"

A nervous laugh found its way out of Hermione's chest as she let the book she was holding drop onto the floor. She stared ahead, not really looking at anything in particular, as she let this new information sink in.

"He's a fucking vampire." Hermione whispered to herself.

Everything was starting to make sense now. The eyes, how young he looked for such a skilled doctor, his skin, his body temperature.

Does he know about me? Hermione suddenly wondered.

Would he have kept an eye on his family after all these years? She doubted it. He might not have even known that he had a child, let alone a whole family going back generations.

A sudden warmth filled Hermione's heart as she realised what this meant. It was selfish, sure, but there was something in Hermione that no longer felt so alone.

She had family now, family that was part of her world. All she'd wanted, since finding out that she was a witch, was family that could understand. Her parents, bless them, tried so hard to understand the world she lived in now and everything that went with being Harry Potter's best friend, but there was only so much she could tell them before they grew bored. She, too, grew bored of trying to explain everything to them all the time.

But now here was someone that was part of her family and part of the wizarding world.

He might not be one of those vampires that practiced magic, but he was a Being in the eyes of the Ministry, and therefore someone she could confide in.

She could tell him everything, and he would know and he would understand.

Just as quickly as the excitement filled her, it extinguished suddenly.

What if he didn't know about his family, and therefore didn't want her? What was she to do then?

"Get a grip, Hermione." She groaned to herself, burying her head in her hands. She was so conflicted with these different feelings. Hermione wasn't sure what she should be feeling, or why she should be feeling them.

One thing was for sure, though. She needed to confront Carlisle about it.

Hermione just hoped that he welcomed her just as much as she wanted him to, vampire or not.

Family was family, after all.