A/N: Hello, people!
I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
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TAGS: Humor and Drama. Edward's Woe is Me behavior too.
-I got a particularly dumb review last chapter and have to wonder how some people
can assume they know everything about the in-fic universe better than the writer. I
put it in the TAGS that were listed thoroughly in the first chapter. Alternate Universe
Canon-Divergence is the major one. I specified I'm following the Twilight Books(not
the movies)and that Deathly Hallows was changed up and will be explained later on.
"What's wrong?" Esme asked the moment they got in the door in a very obvious rush. Jasper blocked the most obvious exit just in case, and Emmett hovered in case he needed to grab Edward.
Normally, Edward did a solid 100 mph because he liked going fast for the thrill of it. This time he pushed the Volvo as far as he could - a top speed of 130 mph - to get home faster and get away from the scent of Bella Swan. Since the Police Chief lived on the other side of Forks, the chances of her scent being anywhere near their home were nonexistent.
"Chief Swan's daughter is Edward's Singer," Alice said lightly, without any worries. "He managed to stop himself from doing anything rash during Biology though, so nothing happened." She made it sound as if it was an easy thing to do and didn't take every ounce of his concentration!
The woman immediately looked to him in concern. Is everything okay, Edward? Do you need something?
"I'm going to visit Eleazar and Carmen for a while. I need time to hunt and prepare myself. I can't stay here like this. Can you apologize to Carlisle for me?"
The woman pressed a hand to his cheek. Of course. Be careful. Come back when you're good and ready.
Edward borrowed Emmett's Jeep specifically for the trip, leaving his Volvo S90 with his siblings so they could continue to take it to school. Hardly anyone would notice the deviation that way.
As he drove away, he could hear Alice regaling Esme with the details of Harry Potter and Bella Swan's first day of school and shook his head.
It was a shame that this had to happen.
Harry actually had a medal. After the revelation of his former residence and what was involved, he'd invited her inside to see it in his spare room. And said medal rested in a glass case, on a royal blue cushion, in the center of the room that was filled with boxes and luggage that had yet to be emptied from the move. The medal would probably be bigger than her palm if she wanted to measure it. Then again, she had small hands.
"I even have the privilege of using the title of Sir," Harry told her. "It doesn't really come with anything else, but there is a list and my name is on it. And the offer for MI5 is open any time. I won't be taking it up any time soon since I really don't want to have to deal with danger at every end again."
"What is MI5 and what's the difference between it and MI6?" she asked, thinking about James Bond and Casino Royale and trying to make some kind of connection between them.
"Think of MI5 as dealing with the UK's domestic security and MI6 dealing with foreign intelligence."
Oh. Then it would make sense that he got the offer for MI5 instead of MI6. He'd stopped a domestic terrorist organization apparently. James Bond was always going to other countries. "Are there any articles about this?"
"Should be. The gas leaks were said to be the actions of a domestic terrorist organization run by a man named Tom Riddle Jr.. I was told they made a Wikipedia page about it. I should be listed in there but my page that it'll link to is pretty barren beyond the Knighthood and where I grew up."
She'd look it up later on to get a better understanding of what had happened. Hopefully there'd be photos to parse through too. "Is a real sword used when getting Knighted?"
"Yeah! It's pretty cool too! The Queen has her own and no one is allowed to use it but her. If someone was to do the Knighting in her place they still couldn't use it."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Your life sounds crazy."
"It was."
"What are those ones?" she asked, pointing to the display case beside the medal of Knighthood. This case had a red cushion and three medals, but those were the only differences.
Harry smiled. "Decorations that would also be pinned to a suit. From left to right: the Victoria Cross, for 'pre-eminent act of valor or self-sacrifice' and then the George Cross for, 'acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger'. The last on the end is the Emrys Cross. I'm not allowed to divulge what that one is for though, sorry. Special or something."
"Emrys? As in Myrddin? Or more popularly known as Merlin?" She knew her legends pretty well. Bella liked Literature as a subject, very much, and it was often tied to mythology.
"Yeah." He didn't explain beyond that and she found it a bit strange but didn't pressure him for further answers.
Bella had a mental image of Harry, dressed in a military uniform - probably Marine since those ones were very sharp and always looked clean - and attaching all of his medals to his chest and standing at attention. The image was a nice one. Despite his eerie words that afternoon, he gave off a sort of air of a protector. That's why she felt so calm around him, even when he offered to 'take care of' Edward Cullen for her.
She really needed to get home a do a Google search!
"Is that the trophy?" she asked, pointing to what looked like a gold man holding up a gold carving of the UK, on a stand on the far side of the room. It was kind of gaudy and more out of the way than anything else. Beside it was a large, golden plaque in the shape of a shield, leaning against the wall with words that looked like they were in Latin, inscribed on the face.
"Yeah, the Commendation. I said it wasn't necessary but was pretty much told to suck it up and deal with it. The plaque is an award from my old school for saving it basically. The big fight was at the school. An attempt at terrifying the children into compliance, I think. Half the castle is gone, but not too many minors died in the event, so I consider it a victory no matter how pyrrhic some would say it really was," he finished, voice dull.
Harry's life was messed up.
It was sad. It shouldn't be this easy for him to talk about tragedy, but if one had been faced with it for so long, they had to toughen up somehow, she supposed.
Edward Cullen was not at school the next day. Both Bella and Harry shared a look at that when they noticed the vacant spot at the Cullen's table. Bella refused to make a big deal of it though. She didn't care if he didn't come in to school. His business was none of her business and her life would move on whether he was in it or not.
But then he didn't come in the next day. Or the day after that. To the point where it seemed as if he transferred schools entirely. His family acted as if nothing was different though and no one else in the school seemed to notice this odd behavior.
When she and Charlie had dinner after her first day of school, she'd brought up the people who stood out and the Cullens came up. And how the students talked about them too. It was the first time she'd seen him get so heated over something in a long time.
Apparently, they'd been around for two years already, but still gained a lot of so-so attention. Half good and half bad. The kids never got in trouble though and were never anything but respectful to any adults they came across. Charlie was especially offended by the jealousy some people had for Dr. Cullen's wife and the lengths some would go to just to try and degrade her kind actions which involved making regular donations to the food drives the school held, and helping to raise money for the town's needs since the government wasn't helping much.
From what she'd gotten, Edward's attitude was especially uncommon, which made everything make even less sense! What the hell was his problem then? She'd never been this vexed by someone before!
Harry told her to just forget about him and that he wasn't her problem or worth her consideration. He also threatened to do something to him with a blunt spoon that she didn't like thinking about because the mental images were very… yeah. But she didn't doubt him.
And after reading the Wikipedia page about the 'gas leaks', she believed in his conviction without hesitation. While it didn't talk about a cult or anything, Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. was definitely mentioned as the one spearheading the whole thing and how he did it all to draw out a man he hated, Albus Dumbledore, by killing people Albus knew, so he and his group of domestic terrorists could kill him for some old quarrel they'd had years ago.
It was all very hush-hush still, but the attacks had been described in great detail. One of the robes of the group had been recovered and true to Harry's word, looked like the costume of a KKK member, but in black, and with silver masks that apparently each bore a special design of its own.
There was an element of truth to everything. Half of what Harry had said was confirmed. And if it was even bigger than what was allowed to be shared with the public, then it made sense they didn't want to scare their citizens any more than they were already scared.
Harry's offer to help was accepted and she even viewed it as a kind of sweet offer. From what his life had been like in the past couple of years, that had to be a very common thing to say on his side. She doubted he'd fully realigned his life after only four months of the trauma being over. In his mind he probably extended a great offer of friendship and loyalty.
She could safely say that Harry was definitely her friend because he was the fastest person to ever take her side in something and offer her aid without requiring something in return.
Mike Newton was like a loyal dog who followed her around because she was new, but he was a nice guy in his own way. Eric Yorkie and Mike seemed to be in a competition to see who could keep her attention the longest. On Harry's side, Lauren Mallory had already been denied her request for a date despite how she'd been nothing but frosty to him on their first day of school. And another girl that Bella didn't really know had asked him out too, which he had again refused.
It just seemed like Harry wasn't much interested in that kind of thing. His attention was always split in so many directions that he didn't ever focus on one topic for too long. He was trying to get better at Biology without much success, and his Trig was abysmal to put it nicely. He didn't have time for socializing the way people wanted him to, but he also didn't seem to be jumping at the chance to socialize in person.
Crowds seemed to bother him as much as they bothered her, but probably for different reasons, which was sad.
School the next week showed a change in temperature. In March.
It got even colder and started to snow. It was the last month of Winter technically so why was it snowing now?! The air and ground should be getting warmer to welcome Spring!
"I thought this stuff was supposed to come down individually," she said when she and Harry met up at her truck on Monday morning. "The hell is this shit? It's all wet and gross."
"You've never seen snow before?" he asked, looking like he wanted to cackle and barely holding back for the sake of her embarrassment.
"On T.V.," she clarified.
"In the Scottish Highlands we got it up to our waists if it wasn't managed in time. The whole lake would freeze over even."
She took a moment to imagine Harry standing in waist high snow, and shuddered. "Ew," she decided.
He snickered as they got in the truck.
The day was filled with snowball fights that neither she nor Harry participated in. For him, it was as if the snow fell around him but not on him. His glasses didn't even fog up. His hair remained perfectly dry somehow when he wasn't rushing from place to place to stay dry. It was so unfair! As for Bella, she carried a binder in hand, ready to defend herself at a moment's notice the top of her head was wet and freezing!
"How are you doing it?" she demanded as they entered the cafeteria for Lunch period.
The other teen shrugged and sent her a smirk that held more meaning than she could understand. "Guess I'm just impervious to water or something."
They got in line, surveying their options which ended up being pizza that hadn't been warm in who knows how long, and salad that looked limp and not fit for human consumption. She got a carton of milk and an apple since the food was lackluster. Harry decided to spend money at the snack bar for pretzels and Coke. He'd brought a baggy of 'mince pies' from home though. He said they were a guilty pleasure of his.
And they were good too! Harry's baking was supreme!
Harry tsked suddenly, drawing her attention. "Don't look now but the Grand Twat has returned from on high to mingle with us commoners."
And just when she had finally gotten used to his absence without feeling weird! Now Biology was going to be all awkward!
Edward's morning had been full of reassurances from Alice and Esme. They both had faith, one with literal concrete evidence, that he would make it through the day just fine. Esme had given him a tight hug and patted his cheek softly, and Alice punched his shoulder and winked at him as if she knew something that he didn't.
Hearing Harry Potter call him a 'twat' the moment he finally caught sight of Edward after a week, made him a cross between annoyed and amused. He'd love to say he did nothing wrong, but his attitude the former week had been terrible and he knew it. But it was at least better than killing someone in cold blood, so he didn't feel that guilty over it.
It gave Alice a good laugh though. She was the most playful of his siblings. The rest were kind of on edge and waiting to pin him down if necessary. Jasper had already mentally mapped out the ways in which he could hold Edward down with as little resistance as possible.
"Is he looking this way?" Bella asked lowly, though it was as clear as a bell to Edward's advanced hearing. And he was specifically listening for her reaction above all the white noise in the room.
"No, but if he does I'll flip him off for you."
"I would much rather ignore his existence entirely."
"I suppose… sucks that he's such a prat though. He's so pleasing to look at. Look at his cheekbones! And his jaw! Fuuuuuck!"
"Harry!" was Bella's mortified wail of a whisper.
"What? He's hot. I can appreciate his face even if I don't like him."
If Edward was capable of blushing still, his face would be lit up because his siblings were all listening in and their thoughts immediately turned to teasing him over his 'hot face'.
Potter sighed almost longingly. "It's a face I could sit on."
"Harry!" came Bella's even more mortified wail the second time around. Edward echoed her reaction with his emotions. Jasper did nothing but laugh.
"What? I refuse to be ashamed of my sexual interests. I was shamed enough already for things outside of my control and I'm not letting this bring me down in the least."
"Not that," Bella murmured, "it's just awkward talking that way about another person. Out loud. Especially since we're all minors."
There was silence for a moment, which was frustrating since usually he'd be able to hear what both were thinking if they were anyone else! Then Harry said, "I kind of get where you're going but we're practically adults now already. Besides, I could've been more crass and simply chose not to be because we're in public and I have standards for myself. They're not quite like what normal people would have but they're there."
Bella grumbled all the way to their table but said no more on the matter.
Somehow, Edward felt more relaxed at the prospect of speaking with Bella now. And he actually wanted to meet Harry too.
A human's interest in him was nothing new since he was a vampire and had the naturally alluring disposition that literally lured in what was supposed to be their prey. But the way Harry spoke didn't make Edward feel like an object, if that made any sense. Which was strange because he'd heard similar sentiments from the thoughts of humans for years.
Maybe his interest in Harry made him biased.
"So how was it?" Harry asked the moment they met up in Gym. As they were on the same team today, they stayed near one another. He basically guarded her the whole time and took up the duty of two people but it was fine since she was not an athlete.
"He talked to me."
"Really?"
"His voice is really nice."
"And what did you talk about?"
She shrugged. "He apologised for not getting to introduce himself last week, and then we were lab partners for labeling the phases of mitosis."
They'd had to do that in his class too. He'd hated it and his partner, whose name wasn't memorable, ended up saving his arse. Harry would probably buy them lunch as payment later on.
"Our hands touched while changing slides and he's really cold. Like, ice-pack kind of cold," she insisted quietly before diving for the floor to avoid getting hit with a dodgeball. In that moment, Harry managed to hit another oncoming ball away with the one in his hand.
"And then we talked about the weather."
Harry snorted. "Is he really that uninteresting?"
Bella shrugged. "But get this, last week I took very clear note of how black his eyes were because they were just so eerie and unnatural in shade. They made him look scary which was what put me on edge so much. Today his eyes were the color of butterscotch, but he denied wearing contacts when I asked."
Now that was indeed interesting. Cold, unnaturally handsome, and eyes that went from black to yellow? Could be a magical creature. He'd need to get a good look at the others, because all the Cullens were unnaturally attractive. Harry hadn't read his Defence Against the Dark Arts tome in a long time since he excelled in that class the most and felt he hadn't needed to.
"He also knew to call me Bella instead of Isabella like everyone else has been all week."
Yes, that was definitely weird.
"And is he as handsome up close as he is from far away?" Harry asked with a smirk.
Bella's face flushed an abhorrent shade of red, but she nodded shyly.
"And did he do anything arseholeish today?"
"Well... he still looked uncomfortable but there was no glaring or anything."
"Then I suppose he's off my shite list. For now." Anything could happen. He'd get a chance and Harry sincerely hoped he didn't fuck this up.
After Gym they headed out to the truck, and Harry asked a question he'd been pondering for a week but wasn't sure of how to ask without sounding inept. Eventually he got so frustrated that he swallowed his pride and got it over with. "Can you help me set up my laptop and then teach me how to work it?"
Bella sent him a confused look. "You… don't know how to use a laptop?"
He flushed and nodded. "My aunt and uncle did the bare minimum the law required when I lived with them. I wasn't allowed to touch anything of my cousin's unless I was taking his things up to his bedroom or cleaning his bedroom. He had a computer but he put his fist through it in a fit, so they got him a laptop, but he sat on it and the battery leaked all over the screen, so they bought him another but he cracked it in half, and another which he threw at a wall during a tantrum, and another that ended up getting ice cream all over it and stopped working. And many more after that. But I never learned how to use them myself. And the cults I mentioned are very old-fashioned. Like, quills and parchment old-fashioned. Like, horse-drawn carriages old-fashioned. Like corsets and stays as part of the regular wardrobe kind of old-fashioned."
The young woman blinked as she processed all that information, and then shook her head. "You got a laptop?"
"Yeah."
"And you have an internet connection?"
"My neighbors on the right, the Smiths, will let me use their internet if I get something called Netflix and allow them access to it with at least three screens or something, and honestly, that's so much easier than me having to set things up because I don't understand half of this shite."
"How'd you get your TV set up then?"
"I don't have one of those."
She sent him one of those looks again and he said, "I wasn't allowed to watch the telly so I've never gotten into it. I'm just doing the laptop thing because I've learned that school projects, especially in normal schools in 2020, require an internet connection. So I bought a bunch of things with names I'm familiar with and know go together for optimal performance, but I don't understand most of their uses. What is a hard drive?"
Bella unlocked the truck door for him and then went around to her side. "Do you know how to use any electronics?"
"Some," he admitted blithely. "I got a new iPhone that took weeks for me to learn how to use. And I have Spotify as a mobile application so I can listen to all sorts of music any time I want without advertisements! And it is so much cooler than my old gramophone because I don't have to crank a lever. And it's easier to carry around because I don't have to lug this big arse, brass horn everywhere! Though I do have the gramophone set up anyway just in case. For aesthetic purposes mostly." It looked cool at least, which kind of made it worth the trouble.
"You have an honest to God phonograph?" asked Bella, jaw practically in her own lap. "As in a super old record player?"
"Yeah."
"And how big is the horn?"
He took a moment to think, before stretching out his right arm and gesturing from the tip of his middle finger to his shoulder, with his left index finger. "The mouth is about this much."
"I've never seen one in person before."
"I can show you it sometime! I have a lot of records!"
"Were things better this time around?" Esme asked that afternoon when they'd gotten home.
He was a bit iffy on that. "I was able to make light conversation with her and apologized for my behavior. We talked about the weather. But no, her scent was still as intense as before." It made his mouth fill with venom and his whole body ache!
"You'll get used to it," Alice told him confidently from the sofa. "After being around her every day it'll become quite a bit easier. Being gone for a week probably made it worse because it was like she was new all over again."
That was a good point.
Also, he felt compelled to ask, "Am I going to meet Harry Potter any time in the near future?" Just to satiate his interest of course. And hope fervently that the other teen didn't have blood as appealing as Bella's.
She merely grinned in her usual, all-knowing way and proceeded to mentally do runs of Bohemian Rhapsody in true Freddie Mercury fashion.
Esme patted his shoulder in passing and said, "Whatever you choose to do, we'll help. All you have to do is ask, you know."
Edward did not deserve such devotion.
Sometimes it hurt to think that someone like Esme or Carlisle could possibly be damned. They were too good, and not like Edward at all. They never strayed from their chosen path, not once. They had both managed to control themselves. And yet they'd also never hated him for his faults and mistakes.
In personal belief, Edward deserved Hell.
And it was that stark fact that reminded him that being friends with any human was incredibly risky to all involved and that really, he should stay away no matter how much the new students intrigued him.
No need to damn them too.
"What's Spirit Week?" Harry asked the next day when he saw all the posters that suddenly appeared on the school walls overnight. The second week of April was to be Spirit Week. Forks' only high school sports team was a Basketball Team and they had to wait for the bigger schools in Washington to get past their Football season to begin their games.
She personally didn't think it was enough to have a Spirit Week, but maybe it was for morale or something like that.
"Typically it's a week of dressing up in accordance with certain themes, leading up to a Homecoming Football game and then a dance. Those usually happen in like October though. Since Forks doesn't have a Football team, and instead has a Basketball team, they have to wait for the other sports season to be over. So Forks celebrates in a lead up to Prom I think." Something she wasn't interested in.
The poster was pretty simple.
SPIRIT WEEK!
April 6th - April 10th 2020!
April 6th - Medieval Day
April 7th - Victorian Era Day
April 8th - Sci-Fi Day
April 9th - Anime Day
April 10th - Mythology Day
At the end of each day will be a voting ceremony. The final class period will
be replaced as the students gather in the gymnasium and vote for the most
impressive costume of the day. The winner will receive an automatic A+ as
a final grade in their class of choice. On Saturday night(Prom), there will be
a contest for the Best Dressed Student for the entire week, based on the five
winners, and they'll win exemption from taking two end-of-term exams of
their choice and receive an automatic A+ instead.
Prom: April 11th!
7:30 PM - 11 PM
Forks High School
Gymnasium
$5 Admission
For additional details contact Mrs. Cope at the FRONT OFFICE.
Harry looked excited. "We get to dress up and no one can say shite about it?"
"Basically. The clothes have to be appropriate though, so no nudity, but you get the idea."
"This is going to be perfect!"
She didn't see how, but the twinkle in Harry's eye let her know that he planned to take the event seriously.
Luna,
I'm settling in very well here in Forks. You were right of course, I should probably stop
doubting you when you always seem to be right about everything.
My newest friend is named Isabella Swan. I think she is the 'little swan' you mentioned
before I left? She is hilarious and oddly accepting of strange things. I told her about the
'terrorist attacks' and while she looked a bit concerned, she took it pretty well. She then
went home and looked into it herself to verify my words and has seemingly gotten over
it. Like it doesn't matter. And she doesn't look at me any different either.
Not sure if I've ever met a person so level-headed. She even makes Mione seem a little
mad!
Listen, there is something a little strange going on. There are five students who are all a
off in a way. They do look human, but Bella and I have both noted some odd things about
them, and I'd hesitate to say they are totally human. Bella is a bit obsessed with finding
out the truth, which has affected me by association.
I wanted to ask if you could lend me your Diamond Edition of Newt's Fantastic Beings
& Where To Find Them. I only have Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them and
all the creatures in it are animal-like. I also can't seem to find the book I need in any of
the magical shops in America. British deliveries can't come this far apparently? I asked
if I could order something and it be shipped to NYC and then I'd Apparate over and pick
it up over there, but apparently that's just not on?
Anyway, how are things going over there with me gone? How many articles have called
me a betrayer for not sticking around and solving everyone's remaining problems? How
many people have bothered you lot to demand to know where I've gone? And do I need
to put someone in their place?
Say the word and I'm there to help if you need me.
When are you planning to go on your trip? Just after graduating or maybe waiting a bit?
Have you convinced Newt to take you on as an Apprentice yet?
Yours,
Harry.
P.S. Is it strange to be smitten with more than one person at a time? Even if you don't
know one of them at all?
P.P.S. I kind of want to tell Bella about magic. She seems like she'd be cool with it.
Luna smiled and folded up the letter. She looked toward her designated desk in her dorm, easily spotting the book Harry had requested.
The silvery words on the spine seemed to shine in the sunlight streaming in through the open window.
Her mind was filled with visions of a beautiful man with a face not unlike Cedric Diggory's, as he stood in a sunlit meadow. His golden eyes and exposed skin sparkling unnaturally like millions of diamonds, let her know he wasn't human. He stared down two real humans who watched him in awe. One was Harry, looking besotted, and the other was familiar only from a former vision. Bella Swan. Her expression mirrored Harry's perfectly.
Yes, Harry would need Fantastic Beings & Where To Find Them post haste.
A/N: Another is done!
How was it? Let me know!
See ya! :D
