Smaragdus arcanum Lunam
Cloud Sorano
21
Swan's Residence, Forks, Washington
Jacob watched the Cullens warily as they mingled with the other guests. He nodded politely to an elderly woman who just finished talking with Bella, giving her condolences. He had stuck to Bella's side since she came home from Florida, giving her supports she needed in planning her father's funeral. Now the funeral was over, and they were at her house for the post-funeral gathering. It was a depressing atmosphere at the Swan's residence. He looked about the living room, catching the eyes of several other wolves and giving them a shake of the head as they sent him a questioning look regarding the vampires.
Only Carlisle, Esme, and Alice made attendance much to his relief. He doesn't know how much he can handle the smell of six vampires in Bella's house. He watched as the youngest of the three chat with several people before making her way to Bella. He gripped onto the back of her dress, watching and keeping his posture relaxed. He was tense on the inside.
"Bella," Alice greeted the girl, giving her air kisses on each side of her face. "I am so sorry."
Bella nodded somberly. "I know. Have you heard from Edward?"
Alice gave a small smile and nodded, "Yes, he's still in England. Staying there for the time being. He didn't say when he would be back yet."
Bella nodded and leaned forward, "But, have you seen if he would come back? Him and his… what do you call it?"
Alice softly chuckled, gripping Bella's hands fondly. "Mate. We call it mate, but you could also say his boyfriend," then she shook her head, "No. It's hard to see. I am only getting glimpses." She eyed Jacob, "It's like when you're with him, I don't see you at all."
Bella frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I can't see werewolves. So, it might be the magical community he's in that is blocking his future. He might be around some werewolves."
Jacob rolled his eyes and muttered. "We're not werewolves. Shapeshifters. Get your fact right."
"Same difference," Alice quipped back. "If there are any help you need, we still love you and consider you family. So ask anytime."
Bella smiled, "Thank you." She opened her mouth to ask another question, but it died on her lips as Alice stiffened and stared off into space.
Jacob nudged Bella, whispering into her ear, "What's with her?"
Gripping his bicep, "She's seeing something… shh," Bella replied frantically and looked about the room. "Get Carlisle and Esme quick!" Jacob nodded and used his height advantage to look over the crowd to find the pale blond head of Carlisle. He quickly found him across the room and waved at him to come over.
"Alice?" Bella asked as she noticed the other girl seem to shake out of her stupor. "What did you see?"
Alice blinked several times before turning to Bella, "Victoria. She's dead. She went to the Volturi thinking she could get them to punish us for killing her mate and Laurent."
Jacob turned to Bella and shook his head, "But you guys didn't. We did."
"I know." Alice nodded. "But the Volturi decided that she was in the wrong for trespassing in our territory."
"Your territory?" Jacob asked accusingly, glaring at the blond progenitor of Cullens who approached them with his wife.
Carlisle gave Jacob a smile. "The Volturi is the spearhead of the vampires in the world as the largest clan, however, my family is close second largest and they consider the northwest, including Alaska our territory. All vampires know this."
Jacob gave him a skeptic look, opened his mouth to say something, and was interrupted as Bella gripped his arm with her nails digging into his skin. He shot her a look and saw her glaring up at him, shaking her head. He sighed and clamped his mouth shut.
"But it means that you are safe now, there will be no vampires after you." Alice smiled at Bella. She turned to Carlisle and froze as her eyes glazed again. Carlisle grasped her shoulders to shift her out of view from any onlookers and pretended to hug her. He felt her relax and stepped back. He quickly ushered her through the living room and into the kitchen, where there were no guests. He glanced at the doorway to see if anyone was listening in. He turned to her, asking, "What did you see now?"
She whispered, "They're in trouble."
Esme asked quietly, "Edward and Harry?"
Alice nodded and frantically gripped Carlisle and Esme's hands, "We have to go." She looked over to Bella. "I am sorry to run out on you guys. But we must leave."
Jacob frowned, "What's happening? I think we deserves to know too."
Alice glanced to Carlisle briefly to see him give a tiny nod. "Harry and Edward has been arrested and they're going to be put to death."
"What?" Bella gasped in surprise, worry steeped into her features. "Why?"
Carlisle frowned and asked seriously, "They have been discovered?"
Alice nodded, her face crumbled into expression as if she was going to cry. "We have to go."
Esme gasped at Alice's arm, "What do you mean?"
Alice shook her head, "I didn't just see their arrest, but the events that comes out of it. It's not good. Not for their world and ours."
"So you're going to England now?" Bella asked.
Carlisle's face was set grimly, "We are. At least you all are safe now and there should be no more vampires trying to roam in the area for now."
Jacob nodded. "Thank you for your help and good luck."
Bella looked up to Jacob worriedly as Carlisle, Esme, and Alice swept out of her home. She wondered if she would ever see them again.
Ministry of Magic, London, England
Kingsley looked up to see a Patronus of a welsh green dragon slither into his office. The mouth of the scaly creature opened, and Charlie's voice filled the room, "I'm here with the blood you requested."
The minister shot from his chair and hurried out of his office. It had been a stressful thirty hours since he had left Harry and his companion, Edward, in the DMLE room. The Auror had been sending a report on them every hour since. The reports were depressing to read. It was always the same thing; both vampires had retired to the cot and had not moved since, as if they had stilled into a stone statue themselves. The Aurors guarding them refused to dare to enter the room to check on them, only to peer through spell cast upon the door to see inside the room.
Kingsley searched across magical Britain to find dragon blood. Yet, every apothecary shop, potion labs, and even Saint Mungo hospital were all out of dragon blood. The Battle of Hogwarts had resulted in a shortage of various potion supplies and medical potions. And dragon blood was one of the significant ingredients for medical potions, with its highly sought out healing properties. Kingsley was frustrated by the end of the tenth hour of not having any luck. The following day, Arthur walked into his office, inquiring about his plan to do next with the two young vampires.
Kingsley was struck with realization and asked if his son, Charlie was still in the country, and Arthur had replied, yes, he was. Then he demanded to see Charlie and spoke with him to see if he could get the reserve in Romania to send dragon blood upon haste. Charlie then was given an emergency order signed by the ministry of magic to retrieve a barrel full of dragon blood post-haste and emergency two-way portkey to Romania and back.
Kingsley all but ran to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and shoved the door aside, finding Charlie with a large ten-gallon barrel in front of him. "Thank the gods." Kingsley said as he approached the red-head burly dragon tamer. He waved to the other door to lead them to the hallway where Harry and Edward were being held. Charlie waved his wand to levitate the heavy barrel to float in front of him and followed Kingsley.
"What took so long?" Kingsley asked, curious as they walked briskly to the very end of the hallway, where two Aurors stood guarding a door.
Charlie shook his head, "My boss wasn't on the reserve and I had to send him an Patronus to bring him back to show him your order. He was pissed and wanted to know why," He saw Kisngley's concerned look. "I didn't tell him, but that we needed more for medical potion due to the battle, so he relented. You wanted the strongest blood, so we had to wrangle down a Norwegian Ridgeback to get the blood. It wasn't easy. Three tamers got broken bones, and one was severely injured with burns."
Kingsley paused at the door and turned to Charlie, bowing his head. "Thank you, I will sign off a handsome payment to your reserve for the immediate service. No one must know why the blood was needed."
Charlie frowned at the dark-skinned wizard. "Kingsley. That young man in there," He looked to the door, "is my brother for all intent purpose. It doesn't matter what he is. You know there are people out there that will be after you and the whole Wizengamot if they are sentenced to death."
Kingsley exhaled a long shaky breath. "Don't think I don't know that. I am trying to find a way around this ancient and ironclad law. Like you and your family, I rather see them free, but my hands are tied until the Wizengamot decides."
Charlie glared, and his lips thinned in a tight line. "Let's get them better first."
Kingsley nodded and turned to the two guards, and waved them off. He waved his wand to unlock the door and entered. He took few steps in and inhaled sharply as he took in the sight of Harry spooning Edward on the cot, motionless. It disturbed him greatly to not see the rise and fall of Harry's chest, knowing he wasn't breathing. He swallowed hard and slowly approached the two, their backs to him.
"Harry?" Kingsley quietly asked as he stopped few feet away from the cot's edge. He waited for any sign of life from Harry. He asked louder, "Harry, we have the dragon blood."
Then, slowly Harry moved. Both Kingsley and Charlie winced as the sound of scraping stone filled the room. They watched as Harry slowly untangled from Edward to move to his back, his entire body letting off cracking and grating noise akin to rock moving. Harry's eyes opened, and the black orbs glimmered in the room's low light, staring to the ceiling. His mouth opened with a small slit and his grating voice was small as he asked, "Help me?"
Kingsley nodded and turned to Charlie, who immediately removed the top to the barrel. At the same time, he transformed a button into a goblet and handed it to the dragon tamer. Charlie dipped the goblet in the thick garnet liquid and filled it up. Kingsley took it and knelt, holding the goblet to Harry's lips, slowly pouring, helping Harry to drink the blood.
He watched as Harry slowly drank from the goblet until it was empty. Then Harry said, "More." He repeated the process until Harry had four goblet-fill of blood in him. Kingsley watched in amazement as the pale skin with marbled black and blue veins transform, becoming smoother and the lines vanishing. The black eyes slowly lightened, the sclera turning white and the iris becoming dark emerald.
Harry could move, albeit slowly, to sit up and stretch his limbs, testing them out as the creaking and grating faded away. He turned to Edward and slowly pulled him onto his back and took the goblet from Kingsley and drank the blood before leaning down to place his mouth over Edward's closed lips.
Kingsley took the empty goblet, stepped back, filled it up, and watched the intimate action of Harry transferring the blood to Edward. Edward was far worse than Harry was, stiff like a stone statue. His skin was like granite, with weathered cracks where the veins were. His hair even literally turned pale and stone-like. The clothes he wore were covered with thin layers of granite-like skin.
Kingsley kept filling the goblet with blood every time Harry emptied it. By the eighth fill, Harry could hold the goblet to Edward's softening feature and assist him in drinking it.
Charlie moved the barrel to the end of the cot, conjured another goblet out of a leather tie, and placed it on the top. He gestured silently to the door to Kingsley and left.
Finally, after a long while, Edward could sit up and move with Harry's help. He looked up to Kingsley and gave a single grateful nod.
"I can't say how relieved I am. I apologize for the whole ordeal." Kingsley said as Harry held Edward's hand on his leg. "The Wizengamot is ready to proceed the trial once you both are ready and able."
Harry nodded slowly and turned to Edward; he reached over with freehand and brushed Edward's cheek, "Love?"
Edward sighed and nodded, closing his eyes as he leaned into Harry's hand, whispering, "Might as well face the music sooner."
Kingsley frowned as he watched the two. He had never seen anyone as intimate as the two and felt a deep ache for them. It wasn't fair, and he didn't have the power to overturn the law without the Wizengamot. At least he could call in an emergency trial and hope against hopes that they would be reasonable. It was their savior that they're condemning, just because he became something else other than human. Just to save their sorry asses from the Dark Lord.
Edward looked up at Kingsley and smirked, "It's fucked up, isn't it? Making Harry the martyr."
Kingsley realized Edward had heard his thought and blushed, "Yeah." He straightened himself up. "The dragon blood seems to do you both good." He gestured to the barrel, "I will arrange for the trial now. Until then, please take your fill and regain your strength. You both will need it."
Harry quickly glanced to the barrel and back to Kingsley and nodded. "Thank you."
Kingsley turned and left, closing the door with a quiet click.
Edward leaned back against the wall. "So, that is what being petrified felt like. Very unpleasant, trapped in your own mind, unable to move. At least I wasn't alone in there." He was referring to the entire time he and Harry had comforted each other in their minds.
"Does it happen often to vampire?" Harry asked as he moved to fill both goblets with blood and handed one to Edward before sitting next to him again.
Edward drank slowly, savoring the flavor of the dragon blood. He then shook his head, "Not that I know of. I've heard about it, only as a punishment."
"How so?" Harry asked curiously, cradling the goblet in his hands on his lap.
Edward looked to Harry and replied, "The Volturi. If they decided that a vampire doesn't deserve death for the crime, they would lock the vampire in a stone coffin deep in the tomb underground for as long they wish." Edward leaned his head back, looking up to the ceiling where the lamp swayed slightly above them. "Sometime, they would be forgotten for so long."
"Do they die?"
"Not unless if they are shattered or burned." Edward replied. "It's not something one would be willing to do to themselves. It's torturous. Being forced to petrify, you're trapped in your own mind alone and turn insane, wanting to die but you can't." He held up the goblet, staring pensively at the glittering ruby surface of the blood. "We hunt to survive," he slowly rotating the goblet to see the blood swirling against the edge of the cup. "This is our oxygen. We can't live without it. It's like trying to hold your head underwater and force yourself to drown, but your instinct overcome and you surface for air." He turned to Harry. "That's who we are and that's how we live. We can exist in environment without air," he raised his goblet to the ceiling, "In space," then lowered to gesture across the room, "or under the sea, but as long there are blood, we can live."
Harry hummed as he emptied his cup. "Interesting. So are there any in the sea?"
Edward gave Harry his half-cocked smile. "I've heard tales. But I do not know if it's real."
Harry softly laughed. "I suppose it's real. I've seen merfolk. They do look scary, nothing like beautiful sirens they are often described as." He held his hand to his chest, "after all, I'm a wizard and I'm supposed to be a myth."
"You have a point there." Edward raised his cup in a mock salute and finished his blood.
They both drank few more fills of the goblets before the Aurors opened the door, wands pointed at them. Auror Proudfoot stepped into the room and said, "It's time." She gestured with her wand for them to get up. She glanced to the other Auror. "Place the shackles on them."
Harry eyed the male Auror he had not met before, holding pair of metal shackles in his hands. He held his wrists up and grimaced as the touch of metal clasping around his wrists. He could feel the magic surrounding the metal. He glanced up to the female Auror with a questioning look.
"It's magic dampening. It only block your ability to cast magic. Standard for all wizards. Since you both can practice magic, it works. But we do not have anything to prevent your vampire strength, so please, do not try. We still have that vampire suppressing spell and can use them."
Harry nodded. "We won't." He looked over to Edward, who held his wrists up silently, being shackled.
"Alright, let's go." Auror Proudfoot said as she turned to lead them out. As Harry and Edward stepped through the door, two more Aurors took flank and followed them.
"It's all for show." Edward said to Harry in his mind.
"Obviously. But I can understand they want to assure the public that they are safe." Harry replied as he glanced down to his wrists and inwardly scoffed. He knew it would only spark outrage in the public because he was their hero. And how right he was.
The moment they stepped out of the DMLE and into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic, it was pandemonium. Hundreds of people crowded around to watch a group of Aurors surrounding Harry and Edward, leading them to their trial. They shouted objections toward the Aurors.
"Injustice!"
"Free Harry!"
"He's our Savior!"
And so on as they walked through the Ministry of Magic toward the lift. The Aurors had to force the people to clear the way. The crowds were becoming more agitated as the shouting demanding to free Harry rose.
"Good to know they respect you." Edward drolly said as he turned around in the lift.
Harry smirked. "Funny how I never wanted attention, but this time around, I don't mind it, now that my life is on the line."
Edward nudged his shoulder against Harry in amusement. "Don't let that get to your head."
"Never." Harry followed Auror Proudfoot as their lift stopped and the gate opened to the familiar hallway of black marbles. They stopped before the door to the grand room of the jury. Harry stared at the familiar door; he has been through the door several times in the past for different reasons. He took a deep breath for his nerves and exhaled slowly.
One of the Auror whispered to another behind them, "I thought vampires don't breathes?"
Edward rolled his eyes and turned his head to look at the Auror over his shoulder, "We don't. But we do it for other reasons, after all, we're still human inside. Right now, a deep breath is what we need to sooth our nerves."
The Auror's eyes widened before it softened into something like pity and said, "For both of your sakes, I hope you draw the lucks of the gods."
Edward tilted his head in thanks and turned back to follow Harry as the door opened.
Edward had been almost intimated as they entered the courtroom. The seats of the Wizengamot were full, set in a semicircle and high above, looking down to the floor. He and Harry had been placed in the center with ten Aurors surrounding them, wands pointed at them. He had heard Kingsley's mind grousing how the whole thing was unnecessary, especially with the amount of Aurors guarding them. The guest seats behind them were filled to the brim. He was grateful to see the familiar faces of Harry's family and friends. He could hear among their thoughts that they were surprised, angry, shocked, and outrageous, not toward them, but toward the governing body of magical Britain. He heard the twins plotting between them, in their minds and quiet whispering several plans to overthrow the government and arguing how many would side with them. It was almost too comical that he had to bite back a laugh, earning a questioning glare from Harry.
They had not been given a chance to speak. Still, the two Aurors that questioned them a few days ago had presented their cases to the Wizengamots. They argued, discussed, and proposed among them for the past three hours, combing over every detail of information the Aurors had collected. To Edward's surprise, the Aurors didn't only question them, but over hundreds of people witnessed at the Battle of Hogwarts, several key portraits, and the entire Weasley family, including Hermione. Nothing was left unturned. He also learned from Harry's own surprise that it was something that Wizengamots had never done before. It seems that they were getting more than a fair trial, he had hoped.
"But the law still stand." An elderly man stood up; his deep voice boomed. His wiry gray hair haloed his square-set face that looked stern. "They are vampire, and it's illegal for magic-vampire to exist according to the law of 1682 anti-vampire legislation. We do not want to repeat the Wizard-Vampire war."
"Oh stuff it, Lord Padgett! That law is outdated by three hundreds of years! We have not had any vampire issue ever since!" An elderly woman with straight steel hair stood up, shouting.
Edward frowned as he stared at the man. He could see in his mind that he was determined to put an end to Harry and his lives. He felt a questioning nudge and turned his head to meet Harry's concerned eyes. "He's determined to stick to the law. There's something about wanting to keep the wizard lineage pure and controlling magical creatures?"
Harry's eyes widened a fraction, and he turned his head to Wizengamot as they erupted into another argument about how outdated or not the law was. "So, he's one of the pure-blood purist. Can you listen in their minds to see who support his ideal?"
Edward frowned and winced, "I can't. It's too jumbled and so many minds in here. There are some that thinks we should be freed, some wanted us free, but with limitations. Many are undecided."
Harry closed his eyes and bowed his head. "It's not going anywhere."
"I know. We've been here over three hours and nowhere closer to an decision." Edward relayed his hopelessness to Harry, and their eyes met, holding one another in loving gaze. "At least I got to know you, love you and be with you."
"I love you too, Edward." Harry gave a tiny smile.
"Enough!" Amelia Bones held her wand up and sent a shot that sounded like a gunshot in the air, effectively silencing everyone. "Thank you." She sent a stern glare around the room. "We've discussed this far enough. It's time to make a decision." She turned to look down at Harry and Edward at the center of the room. "We will vote if you both will be persecuted under the Vampire Law of 1682. Aye to those agree that both Harry James Potter and Edward Masen Cullen's life should be terminated." She then turned to the end of the Wizengamot council. There were fifty members, about half made up from old families, and the other half were half-blood and muggle-borns. Kingsley sat in the center of the Wizengamot, overseeing the trial proceeding. He would not cast a vote being the Minister of Magic. Amelia Bones was the acting Chief Warlock and presiding over the control of the trial. Every member of the Wizengamot council held up their wands, and slowly, some lit up to indicate they voted 'aye.'
Harry inhaled a sharp breath as he watched wands lit up. He watched as some he knew lit their wands and felt betrayed. There had been shouts of outrages from the audience. Yet, some did not glow. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard as the last of the Wizengamots cast their votes.
AN: Sorry it's been a while; I've been busy with a week-long vacation to Washington State with my family, showing my mum around Seattle, Everett, and the Olympic National Park. We're more determined to move to Washington next year.
Also, the school has been consuming the majority of my summer so far. I am nearly finished with the first semester! It is hard!
Part of the story was hard to write because I wasn't satisfied with how I want it to be. I swore that I wrote part of this chapter and searched all over three laptops I have and could not find it. Either I literally had imagined writing the story out in my head, or I deleted it by accident. It's more likely it was written out in my head because it's very vivid in my mind. But at least I managed to get it out and down here for you all to read!
