A/N: Hello, people!

I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.

I have no beta.

ENJOY!

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TAGS: Drama, Innuendo, and Mild Language.

-Glad y'all like this!


Magic existed. Magic was real. So many questions came to mind. So many pieces of fictions she'd absorbed at some point that she now wondered at the validity of.

"So… what are you?" she asked, trying to piece together what she knew about him.

"A wizard." Wizard. Magic. Wand-waving and spells and potions and flying on broomsticks and different religious beliefs.

"And when you said that back home they're a pagan community…?"

"I wasn't lying. Typically, the European Wixen World seems to put their faith in the Greek Pantheon or Norse Mythology. The Asian Wixen World has their own mythology they believe in. The American Wixen World tends to lean into the beliefs of the indigenous peoples who inhabited this land first. The Middle Eastern Wixen World is the most obscure to us still, but they take their beliefs as seriously. And I mean wix in general take things very seriously. There are blood and sacrificial rituals on important holidays. And sometimes weird chants people have to do. 'So mote it be' is a favored phrase among the lot of European wix."

Okay. So he literally had meant a cult when he was describing what had happened back in Britain. That part had not been an exaggeration. "And… are magical people only from Britain? Like, you know how the British conquered the whole world, did everyone come from there?"

Harry laughed and shook his head. "No, they're naturally from everywhere because magic is everywhere. Not as large in numbers of course. If we just count wix, which is the term used when referencing witches and wizards at once, then there would be eight billion humans living on Earth instead of seven billion."

Damn.

"If we included all magical beings that look humanoid and could pass for humans easily into that number, we'd reach ten billion humanoid inhabitants entirely."

Holy shit.

"You know, I think you'll need this," said Harry, waving his hand and saying, "Accio, Fantastic Beings and Where to Find Them! Accio, Fantastic Beings and Where to Find Them!"

Two massive books, wider than her own body came sailing down the stairs and landed in Harry's hands. He looked like he had no trouble holding them up.

"That's the word you said today!" she realized, recognizing the sound he'd made. "The one that took me off my feet and had me flying into your arms!"

"Summoning Charm," he clarified, handing over the books which were oddly light and made of some kind of leathery material. "Those are about the currently known magical creatures under Beast and Being status according to the International Confederation of Wizards."

Confederation… they had a government structure of their own if they managed to have a confederation.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "There's a lot to learn, isn't there?"

"Yeah, but you won't need to know everything. I'll teach you what I know in broad terms. As I'm currently avoiding the magical side right now because I deserve a break after all the shit I've been through, even I don't know everything. I'm just a teen. By their standards I'm an adult though. Seventeen is when you reach your magical majority and it usually comes with a power boost at midnight on your seventeenth birthday and full access to your inheritance if you have one."

Harry was a wizard. And he could do magic. And he was part of a hidden community of people who could do magic too and where magical creatures existed.

"Are dragons real?"

"Yes! I have a pygmy one! I'll be right back!"

He rushed up the stairs, leaving her to flip through the first book page by page. It was in alphabetical order and each page had a colored sketch of the creature in question, plus a description of them and their habits.

Abraxans were real. And huge if the average height and weight recorded were true. Bigger than normal horses could be.

Moments later, Harry returned, depositing a small, winged lizard with a spiky tail on her lap. "That is a pygmy Hungarian Horntail. I got it when I was fourteen. It can breathe fire but the flames are small. Still, they can cause pain so be careful."

It was a dragon. A real, dragon. It gave a gurgling purr when she scratched under its chin.

"That's considered the fiercest and nastiest of the breeds. The barbs and spines are dangerous and the real one can grow to have a body larger than this house."

"Okay," she said, taking another deep breath. "Is there anything else I need to know immediately?"

Harry smiled. "I think the Cullens are vampires."

Of course they were. The unnatural beauty they all seemed to have made sense that way. And how cold both Edward and Carlisle were made sense if there was no blood circulation. And how they all looked alike when they weren't all blood related.

She had a lot to learn it seemed, but she could take it.

Time was all she needed.


The whole week following the accident, things had been a little hectic. Bella's fanclub seemed to be even more insistent with their interest after she nearly got squished by a van in front of their eyes. Mike, Eric, and Tyler were now the most obvious people in vying for her attention, and she was aware of it but passed it off as 'shiny new toy syndrome' or something.

When Harry asked her to elaborate, she shrugged and said, "I'm new. They've all grown up with the girls here and watched them go through puberty. They don't know me from Eve, so they know next to nothing about me. The novelty will wear off eventually as I'm pretty boring as a person and not worth all this attention they keep shoving my way."

"I don't think you're boring."

She sent him a small smile, though it was obvious she didn't believe him. "You're my best friend so you're biased."

Being declared someone's best friend was a nice feeling and put Harry's mood all the way into the clouds. It had been a while since he'd made a true friend. One who wasn't jealous of him in some way be it academically or financially or what have you. Luna was probably the last one and that was in his Fifth Year.

Like, Bella liked magic and thought it was cool and had so many scientific questions, but she didn't sit there bemoaning the fact that she was a no-maj/muggle. And she didn't ask for anything either. She merely read the books he offered, asked questions when she didn't understand something, and verified for her own sanity, that the Cullens were in fact vampires and she wasn't imagining how odd they were compared to everyone else. Her reaction to the Vampire Types had been hilarious!

It had been a taxing week for her as she'd been bombarded with new information so soon.

She got used to the new knowledge she had after another week passed, and was no longer obsessively preoccupied by Edward Cullen's fine self. Life continued on as it was and nothing seemed to be any different.

She and Harry were even planning a trip in their free time. More like she decided she wanted to see a bookstore that was useful and asked him to come to Seattle with her.

He'd agreed out of boredom and wonder at what the city was like, the date set.

"There's a Sadie Hawkins dance coming up," Bella hissed the moment they reached the cafeteria on Tuesday.

"A what?"

"That Spring Fling thing," she clarified. "It's one of those girls do the asking type of dances, AKA, Sadie Hawkins. Jessica wants to ask Mike, she called me about it last night."

"And why did she have to call you about it?" Was it a girl thing he just wasn't aware of?

"She thought I wanted to ask him and wanted to make sure I was okay with her taking the plunge," Bella confided lowly. "I told her to go for it. With gusto. All the gusto hopefully."

Harry's snort echoed through the cafeteria, attracting too much attention for either of their preferences. He waved everyone's attention away and leaned in closer as they stood in line, so no one would hear him say, "Last time I checked, you weren't into puppies."

Bella smacked his arm playfully and rolled her eyes. "Apparently he and she haven't noticed that though. And she's been in a sour mood all day and Mike's been quiet and I just know what it means and I'm not ready for it! It's gonna happen and I just want to crawl under a rock and die so I can avoid it!"

They both got fizzy drinks and a block of pizza that could probably knock someone out if thrown hard enough, and went to join the group they'd assimilated into. And truth be told, Mike and Jessica were indeed off the moment they sat down.

"Good luck," Harry murmured to his friend. He then asked, "Can you explain to me why there's a dance so soon when prom is like a month away?"

She shrugged. "No clue. It makes no sense to me but maybe I'm just not up on these things like other teens are."

After that, Harry went on to Government, where he was asked by three girls he didn't know, to go to the dance. He cited his and Bella's plans for Seattle and apologised to them with a smile. "I just don't like dances." He was only going to prom because he wanted to win Spirit Week! "I wouldn't be much of a companion if I went to one."

When the duo met up in Gym, Bella's entire face was red in a mix of anger, embarrassment, and probably a bit of humiliation.

"What did Cullen do?" And did Harry need to commit murder? Because he would commit murder if it meant protecting his friend.

"Not just him. Mike had to ask me out right before class even began. Edward was listening in since Mike planted his ass on our table and wouldn't move! He said he told Jessica he'd have to think about her offer to the dance and the reason he said it was because he wanted me to ask him to go. And Edward was sitting there all broody and shit when he wasn't even the one being bothered!"

Yeah, that was pretty much what they'd expected. And Bella got so annoyed that she swore! He fought the urge to giggle.

"And then Edward and I got into an argument in the hall and then I dropped my books and he annoys me so much, that- that- Errruuuuuuuugh!"

She'd almost called him a vampire, but caught herself in time. The whole, Supernatural Senses thing had been drilled into her head very quickly above all else. She'd asked if they could hear her stomach growling and smell her menstrual cycle, to which Harry replied that it was very likely. The mortification from that revelation had lasted three whole days.

Even if there were no Cullens in their Gym class, the chances of them hearing her call them vampires were high, no matter where they were on the campus. It was a good thing she'd caught herself in time.

"Have you been asked out?" Bella asked as she hovered somewhat behind him while Coach Clapp began divvying up teams for basketball. She was obviously trying to get the attention off of herself so maybe she'd get forgotten and not have to play. Since they were the same height, she wasn't getting away in the least.

"Many times. I keep bringing up the Seattle trip to dissuade them. You should do it too," he told her. "It'd make things a lot less awkward if you want to let your many admirers down easy."

Basketball was an interesting game. Harry had to be taught the basics before they could even get into a game, but it had been fascinating. Harry had learned to be a fast runner growing up if he didn't want to get caught during his cousin's gang's game of Harry Hunting. It usually ended up badly for him, so he quickly got better than them and then outran them every time they tried to mess with him by the time they were nine.

Bella on the other hand… she just wasn't a sporty person, would be his diplomatic explanation.

She fell a lot. He felt bad for her knees and elbows and considered getting her some protective gear so she'd hurt herself a lot less.

"I need hot chocolate and then sleep," she grumbled on their way to their respective Locker Rooms.

Well, the school day had practically ended so nothing else could happen, right?


Edward was leaning against his Volvo, contemplating what his 'life' had become in recent weeks. Alice had warned everyone else to take their time and that they couldn't leave the school building until at least 2:59 and no sooner. It had been explained with grave insistence and everyone had reluctantly followed along.

He hadn't known what she'd meant by her words since she was busy mentally quoting Nietzsche in Japanese. Only Alice would go to such lengths to protect her thoughts from him.

As he waited, he saw Eric Yorkie stop by Bella's truck. The teen decided to lean on it, his thoughts a jumble of nervous questions and an attempt to discern just how he should ask Bella to the Spring Fling. And distantly, the thoughts of Tyler Crowley came into focus as well, just a few cars down, since he was thinking the same thing and needed an opening where neither Mike nor Eric were around to ruin 'his game'.

Now he knew why Alice said everyone else had to wait! The arrogance of youth clashing with Bella's awkward nature and introverted personality was going to be the best!

He could hear the humans who captivated his attention so much lately, the moment they left the school. Bella and Harry were in deep conversation about… treacle tart?

"All I'm saying is that it's one of the best sweets in this world. Butterbeer is also among the list of course," Harry murmured. "I could imbibe nine bottles of that without stopping and feel no side effects."

"What's Butterbeer?" asked Bella, voicing one of Edward's own questions.

"A drink that's good either warm or cold and has a light butterscotch flavor. Also 7% alcohol content from what I recall."

"And they let you drink that as a minor?!" She sounded appalled. "You can drink nine without getting hammered?"

"Britain doesn't really have a drinking age. There's an age to when you're allowed to buy alcohol but not one for consuming it on the normal side. So you just hand some money to an older individual, enough for both of you to have something, and life's good. I have some Butterbeer at home. And some of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey if you're interested. It might make you cough up a ball of flame though so you'd probably need cold water with it."

"How did you get all of that through customs?" Bella asked quietly, sounding tired but not surprised in the least.

Honestly, if Edward could read either of their minds, he'd have more answers and wouldn't feel so left out! It wasn't normal for Edward to be left out of anything! He wanted answers but didn't know how to go about getting them!

"Magic," was the Brit's teasing response.

The young woman groaned.

Finally, the two rounded the corner so Edward could see them in full. Bella halted, a look of horror passing over her face as she held an arm out to stop Harry with her before dragging him back behind the wall as she made some odd, dying frog kind of croak while drawing out the word, "Noooooooo!"

And then she peeked around the corner and went, "Oh wait! Oh! Oh, okay!" She sighed deeply and shook her head, looking relieved all of a sudden.

"What?" Harry asked, leaning around her to stare at her truck too. He then smirked. "Did you think that was who I'm thinking of?"

"Shut up! Thankfully it's just Eric. Leaning on my truck. Waiting for us. Oh no!" she groaned. "End the misery nooooow! Can you just take away my memories of this day in a non-traumatic way?"

"Nope! Let's go face the music!" Harry said cheerfully, dragging her around the corner, a wide smile full of knowing on his handsome face.

"Noooooooooooo," she hissed before her entire demeanor did a 180, aiming a kind smile at the teen awaiting them at her truck. "Hey, Eric!" Her ability to flash through different emotions so quickly was impressive. And her acting was pretty decent as well.

What followed was the most awkward attempt at asking someone out, that Edward had heard that day. And poor Bella just wasn't up for it. Her patience had obviously reached max tolerance by now. What a shame. She still managed to be kind about her refusal though.

"I think you broke his heart," said Harry, which earned a not so quiet laugh from Edward, who was parked just a couple cars down.

The flaming color that appeared on Bella's cheeks, and the glare she aimed his way made his day so much better! For some reason he just really got a kick out of her being angry with him!

There's my chance! he heard Tyler Crowley say to himself.

Edward was in the Volvo and had pulled out quickly before putting the car in Park just in time to prevent Bella from going anywhere once she pulled out as well. And Tyler, in his newly rented car, was right behind her in the long line that began to form. It was the perfect opportunity!

Thank God Cullen has to wait for the fam!

He was getting out of the car!

This was better than any entertainment Edward had gotten in years!

Harry, who was listening to Taylor Swift's third album on his phone, merely leaned back in his seat so Tyler could ask Bella out through the passenger side window. He looked amused from what Edward could see in his rear-view mirror, even though music was blasting in his ears.

Bella's limit of patience had been reached it seemed. She'd lacked any kindness when she refused him. Tyler wasn't fazed in the least.

Though this trip to Seattle was interesting to learn about. What would she and Harry be doing there all day? And would it truly be safe for them when there were... other vampires who were far less tame, roaming the Pacific Northwest?

Tyler's declaration of wanting to ask Bella to prom was the icing on the cake! Just in time for the rest of Edward's siblings to reach the car and get in. Bella's aggravation was so high that she almost read-ended him while he was laughing at her expense!

"See?" Alice said jovially. "I knew you wouldn't want to miss it!"

As always, she was right. It was nice to laugh again.


"Since neither of us have been to Seattle, we should totally make a day of it," said Harry that evening. He was sitting cross-legged on Bella's purple bedspread, looking at Seattle-related happenings on his laptop, which he'd brought with him.

Charlie, who had gotten home an hour ago, had given them a very telling look at dinner. It wasn't hard to determine that he thought Bella and Harry were an item and that he thought they'd be up to… stuff while in her room together. He didn't say anything, but it was all in his face.

Harry wasn't sure if he should tell the man he had no interest in Bella that way. Yet. Anything could happen so it wasn't like he'd just assume he and Bella couldn't become a couple at some point in the future, but for now, she was a good friend. And honestly, he needed friendship first.

Between them, on the bed, was Scattergories. They'd been playing nonstop rounds for over an hour before they decided to finalise their plans for skipping out on the dance and avoiding the numerous amount of stalkers seeking their hands.

The last round had been with the letter M.

-Things that go well with chocolate: Marshmallows

-Things in a mystery novel: Murderers

-Websites: -

-Loud things: Mice

-Things you eat with a spoon: Mountain High Mudd Pie

-Famous sayings: Make me

-Underground things: Moles

-Things in the wild west: Money bags

-Things in an airport: Morons

-Words with double letters: Mollycoddling

-Found in New York City: MACUSA Headquarters

-Things in Fairy Tales: Manticores

He'd won by a point. It was a great victory.

Bella looked up from her own laptop to see what he was pointing at.

It was a page on the best attractions of the city and seemed to be the most promising thing to help them plan.

"Sounds cool. That's supposed to be a good library too."

He was excited! Actually exploring somewhere new without having to fear that he'd be followed by someone who recognised his face! Trying new things! On his own time! "And we can check out some craft shops because I need a few things for the costumes I'm making for Spirit Week!"

She sent him a dubious look and asked, "You're really serious about that,?"

"Yeah. I need those good grades in my poor classes! Also, dressing up is really fun and getting to do it without being looked at like a creep is even better! I can totally acquire costumes for you too! I know where to get some stays if you'd like!"

In the end, Bella chose to not participate in Spirit Week, which was sad, but he wouldn't force her or anything.

Though that didn't mean he wouldn't try to get her interested in it!


School the next morning was as usual. It was wet outside and the truck was freezing cold when they got in but burning hot when they arrived. Bella looked frustrated already, remembering the previous day and how everything had gone.

"Mike did tell Jessica yes though, so all's fine now," he reminded her. No more asking her out and making conversation bloody awkward at least.

"Yeah, but now I'm going to be reminded of that awkward conversation every time I see him or Jessica from now on."

Oh well! Such as life.

One moment the space beside Bella was absent once she got out of the truck, the next, Edward Cullen was there in time to catch her keys as they fell from her hand. Harry had literally watched it happen and everything. He was really doing very poorly to hide what he was, it seemed. Or he forgot that they were in public. Or just assumed all humans were oblivious and that no one would notice him since they hadn't noticed him move during the car accident.

"How do you do that?" Bella demanded, looking annoyed but regretfully grateful as she accepted her keys back. She stuffed them in her coat pocket immediately so she wouldn't lose them again.

"Do what?" Was he flirting with Bella? Merlin! Only Bella would attract so many boys without trying.

When could that start happening for Harry? He would love to have men falling all over him. Where was the fairness? He swung for two teams, dammit! That should make it twice as easy to get a good date!

"Know just when to appear out of thin air," Bella said in response to Edward's question.

Harry slid around the front of the truck to join them, a smirk on his face. "Perhaps he's got extra sensory perception and has been stalking you nonstop to know when you need help."

Bella flushed and sent him a glare practically screaming that he wasn't helping the situation at all, while Edward stiffened just a bit. Just enough for Harry to notice. Was he really watching Bella that much? Was he really paying that much attention to a human?

Damn. He had it bad.

In his shock, Harry managed to have his first ever real embarrassing moment since coming to Forks. His left foot slid in a puddle and he went flying back, only for a tall, handsome fellow with frigid skin to catch him around the waist like it was nothing. It was all very romantic and not at all as embarrassing as he said it was. Nope. Nada.

"Oh, Mr. Cullen, you need to buy me dinner before we even consider taking such actions!" he teased, feeling slightly overwhelmed in the presence of the Cedric-look-alike and trying to mask it quickly.

And, unlike many straight men that Harry had met in his lifetime, Edward did not suddenly wrench himself away from Harry nor did he look disgusted by Harry's joke. He merely returned Harry's smirk of amusement and said, "Oh, is that all, Mr. Potter? Or is that simply for my benefit?"

He was set on his feet with ease and Harry tipped his head in gratitude. "So what'd you need that involved giving poor Bella an aneurysm?"

"Well… you know the Spring Dance is a week from this Saturday an-"

"Are you fucking serious?" Bella demanded, looking livid and mortified at the same time. Her face had turned a morbid shade of red in the process and her hands were digging into the hem of her coat.

Harry patted her shoulder. "Let him speak. He came all the way across the car park for it. At least hear him out in return for his bravery."

She glared at them both, not believing their innocent smiles for a second.

"Yes, Bella," Edward said, gold eyes twinkling with wicked amusement, "please let me finish."

The breath she took was a long one, but she waited patiently. Even folded her hands behind her back to calm down for good measure. Or to prevent herself from trying to claw his face off in aggravation. Either reason would work.

"I heard you both are going to Seattle and wanted to know if you want a ride."

Harry's brows shot up since that was unexpected.

"What?"

"Do you want a ride to Seattle?" Edward repeated, sending Bella a pitying look.

"With who?" she asked, still not on the train of thought.

"Myself, obviously," the vampire said carefully, giving her this look of concern.

Harry was already nodding for them both before she could say anything more. He kind of liked the idea of going with the both of them. And getting dirt on Edward would be useful. No way would the vampire be able to avoid talking about himself during a day-long outing. "That'd be cool. We could see the sights, eat dinner somewhere nice, the whole shebang. Wouldn't be my first threesome."

The silence between them was deafening, and then Bella turned and laid her head on the bonnet of her truck so they couldn't see her red face at all. "Harry, whyyyyyyy?!"

Even Edward seemed a little flustered by how brazen he'd been, but he couldn't help it! "That's how the first one went! How else am I supposed to take this from a man who's been nothing but short with us and rude, and is now acting all friendly without any obvious reason to?"

With that out there, Edward even looked a little ashamed of himself and quickly said, "That isn't what I'm aiming for, I promise you." And Harry believed him because Edward's whole person screamed 'blushing, repressed virgin'. "I said that it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be friends at all, Bella."

Bella looked up just enough for her to catch Harry's eyes. They shared a look of understanding between them because they both knew Edward had a point.

He was a vampire and they were humans. Technically it would be very unsafe for them to be friends. Technically. But Edward was also on the Bunny Foo Foo diet and Harry was a wizard so the chances of anything bad happening were nil. Not that Edward knew that. So by his own merit, he was trying to protect them in his own way. Which was sweet but unnecessary.

It also scored him a considerable amount of points in Harry's book. The fact that he wanted to get to know them to some extent but didn't want to risk harming them to find out anything new.

"I've gotten tired of trying to stay away from you both," Edward went on to add. "I wish to satiate my curiosity and the best way to do that is to be near to you."

How Harry wasn't supposed to take that as a declaration of interest beyond friendship, he didn't know. But it was a decent start for what Edward was thinking.

Bella finally regained her composure from Harry embarrassing her second-hand, and stood tall once more. She even looked Edward dead in his golden eyes.

"Will you allow me to escort you both to Seattle, Bella?"

Escort. Wow. He wanted to escort them. It was so totally a threesome. Harry supported polyamory and polygamy! He didn't care!

She nodded silently, and he looked pleased. "Then I'll see you both later."

They both waited until he had disappeared around the corner of the nearest building, before turning to each other with raised brows.

"What the hell just happened?" she asked rhetorically.

He waited a moment, then said, "...We got an offer for a threesome."

Bella smacked him in the arm in return.


The whole day, Bella couldn't get her mind off of Edward Cullen nor Harry's words about his intentions with the offer to drive them to Seattle. While it was obvious that Edward wasn't aiming for… sex when it came to Bella and Harry, he was aiming for something. Something difficult to understand on the surface since they didn't know him all that well yet.

By lunch, she was on edge about it, trying to get through all her weird-ass theories about what was going on in Edward's head. He was a vampire, but had said it would better for them not to be friends. He'd said it out of some misplaced self-appointed duty to protect them. But now he was 'tired' of trying to stay away?

She wanted to grill him for information!

But Edward was not at lunch when they arrived. He wasn't seated with his family and Bella didn't have any clue as to where he'd be. Why would just him be gone? It made no sense!

"Aw," Harry cooed. "Missing our third piece already?"

"Harry, I will not hesitate to leave you here while I drive home," she threatened, though there was no heat in it. She wouldn't actually leave him behind.

"I have other ways of travel, Bella, and I'm sure you're aware of now. I could get home just fine," he countered, sticking his tongue out.

Yeah. He'd probably Apparate. She'd only just read about that a few days ago and found it terribly convenient. So long as Harry had been there before, he could basically teleport there. And since he was strong enough to do it trans-internationally, he could basically travel the whole world in a day if he ever wanted/needed to.

"Oh look," Harry said with sarcasm dripping from his tone, "we have slop for lunch." Though it technically was chicken soup on the board. It just wasn't very well made chicken soup. The containers keeping the soup hot looked too old to be safe for use anymore. And the soup itself wasn't of a color that looked safe to eat.

Both shared a look of disgust and opted for just getting drinks.

"I'm addicted to this tea," he muttered, grabbing a bottle of Pure Leaf off the snack counter as she shuffled along to the register. "It's not too sweet and is the best iced tea out of all those I've tried thus far."

It was nasty in her opinion, but to each their own. She got a lemonade. Like usual.

When they sat down, Jessica leaned over the table to conspiratorially say, "Edward Cullen is staring at you."

Both of their heads snapped up and together, they looked at where she was pointing. Edward was indeed there, just seated at a completely different table compared to his siblings. On the other side of the cafeteria even and looking far too good to put into words. When he noticed he had their attention, he crooked a finger in invitation.

"Does he mean you?" came Jessica's baffled and slightly offensive disbelief.

Harry nodded and sent Bella a look. "He means you. You should go over there and see what he wants. Try to get some good info out of him in the process."

"Why can't he mean you?" she demanded, feeling a bit offended by the surety in his tone. As if Edward Cullen couldn't actually be interested in talking with Harry Potter who was kind and fascinating and handsome and nice to everyone so long as they weren't rude to him or his friends.

"Because I've barely spoken to him whereas you not only have a class with him, but have had regular conversations with him."

"But you've still spoken with him," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but he knows nothing about me. He's only been sucking the information out of you so far, so it makes sense that he'd want to talk to you."

"That doesn't mean he can't want to talk to you. I'm not quite so interesting." Bella could be described as a thirty-fiver year old stuck in a teen's body. In fact, her mother had told her that personally and said that she got more middle-aged every year.

"It's very doubtful that I am the focus of his attention," Harry said plainly, face going worryingly blank. "Straight men don't act this way toward other men because they're typically incredibly fragile in the masculinity department and think being seen as anything but the typical straight male stereotype makes them gay. Which is world-destroying to them. And said insulting belief is based upon harmful stereotypes about gay men basically being girls. Which means they're based in misogyny because being compared to a woman must of course be the worst thing they could possibly experience in life."

His answer blew her away for a moment as she tried to register just what he'd said while his voice got more and more mocking by the second. Jessica also looked completely baffled by the sudden turn of conversation.

While she was aware that Harry wasn't straight because he didn't really hide his interests, it had never seemed to be something he struggled with. She should have known that he would have problems being… not straight(she didn't know what he identified as) because of other people and their inability to respect people's personal space and life choices.

A cold hand touching her shoulder out of the blue made her jump and whip around to find Edward standing behind she and Harry, a hand on both of their shoulders. He was a vampire. He probably heard everything Harry had just said. How mortifying. She wanted to crawl under a rock and die just to get away from her embarrassment!

"I would very much like to take lunch with both of you if you don't mind," Edward said, choosing not to address Harry's words in the least.

They ended up leaving Jessica there, mouth agape as she watched them go. Her eyes promised a phone call later on though, and Bella resigned herself to the Spanish Inquisition that would follow.

She could only wonder what Edward wanted. Was this a part of him not wanting to stay away anymore? And should she be this thrilled about it? Her stomach needed to stop doing somersaults and chill out already! She had to use her brain and think clearly about this!

Edward's table wasn't in the middle of the room, thank goodness, and she and Harry didn't have a view of the rest of the room that was no doubt watching them, which made her feel a bit better.

"So…" Harry began quietly, "what do you want?"

A shrug that should have in no way looked so elegant, damn his vampireness! "I decided that if I'm going to go to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."

What had she and Harry gotten into?


A/N: Another is done!

How was it? Let me know!

See ya! :D