Chapter III: Who Is That?
Hermione smiled softly as she looked down at the sleeping boy in her arms, she shifted him a bit so his head was laying on her other shoulder and grabbed the luggage handle to pull through the airport terminal. She was soon outside the building and looking around for her ride. Harry had told her Kingsley would have someone to take her in once she landed in Port Angeles, someone who had helped Kingsley out of a tough spot long ago and the only person he would trust to keep her safe in The New World. She just hoped she would be be able to protect her son if they found her, and that having him with her wasn't much of an issue. Kingsley is with the assumption that only Hermione was going into hiding. Only Harry, the Weasleys and McGonagall knew of her son, so it would be a surprise to her host as well as Kingsley if he heard about it.
"Hermione Granger?" She turned to the voice and found a man in possibly mid twenties a few feet besides her. He had blond hair and was slender yet muscular, he looked like a model. But it was his pale skin and golden eyes that she realized what made him different from everyone around them, and why Kingsley said he was one of few who could protect her. He was a vampire, and possibly like her Edward, if those colored eyes were any indication of anything.
"Yes?" She asked softly, and he smiled at her but looked slightly confused by the child in her arms.
"I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen."
"Cullen?" She asked in surprise and he nodded confused by her reaction.
"Yes," he replied simply, "sorry I wasn't informed you would be bringing someone with you, we only prepared the one room," he was looking apologetic which made her smile at him then she looked down at the stirring child.
"You weren't expected to know about him, no one knows about his existence except for a few family friends, one of whom is still recovering at our hospital and my Healer obviously. The Minister is trying to contain the issue for my running away and the one room is fine. He's been a bit clingy lately."
The man seemed hesitant but nodded all the same and motioned for me to follow him to a nice black Mercedes. He put her luggage in the back of the car while she got in the back of the car to try and buckle in her son as safely as she could while trying to wake him up. Giving up when he wouldn't let go of her, she climbed in with him and placed him on her lab then buckled herself and him into the seat. Dr. Cullen slid into the drivers seat silently as Hermione silently tried to keep her son from waking. He will be a terror if he wakes up too early from his nap. Once he's settled and they had been driving for a while Hermione heard the doctor speak again.
"What's his name?" He asked softly, trying to make conversation. He knew what his guest was, it's a part of their world he made a point to stay away from, like he made a point to stay away from the Volturi, but he couldn't turn a friends request away when he knew he would possibly one day need to ask for help himself.
"His name is Emrys, Emrys Edward Granger-Cullen." Hermione replied softly, looking at the vampire and his face in the rear view mirror and wasn't disappointed when he looked slightly shocked by her son's name. Just as she had been by his.
"It's a good name for a boy," he commented and Hermione hummed in agreement looking out the window.
"It is," she replied simply. They were silent for a few more minutes before he spoke again.
"Do you remember where you met him? His father I mean." Carlisle asked and Hermione smiled softly.
"We met in Rio, almost exactly three years ago. He was very good at blending in with the crowd but having been associated with magic for a few years I soon figured out he was a Vampire. Much like you actually Dr. Cullen." She turned to him and leaned closer to him a bit to look at him more closely. "You have the same eyes, but I never got the courage to ask him why his eyes were gold instead of red and he never realized I knew."
Carlisle was silent for a moment as he process what the young witch was telling him. She had met a man named Edward who he was certain was his son and had his child. A child that when he had first smelled had thought rather unusual as he smelled both human and like a vampire but his heart rate was slightly quicker than normal. His skin was also rather pale and not unlike its mothers in tone but there was almost a glowing sheen to it that just seemed off. He was also almost unnaturally beautiful for a child, no mater how many beautiful children he's met before.
"My family and I don't drink human blood, we survive off of animal blood".
"Really?" Was Hermione's intrigued reply. "Tell me Dr. Cullen, have you ever tried to have dragon blood?" He snorted and shook his head in mirth.
"Miss Granger.."
"Hermione," she interrupted. "Call me Hermione."
"Hermione," he amended, "my kind is feared even in the Wizarding world. I don't think anyone would be receptive to believe I lived off of the blood of animals and be willing to sell me blood let alone drink from a dragon. It's why my children haven't found out about that part of our world just yet. Except for possibly Alice, but Alice knows everything important that will impact our lives so she probably will already know by the time you meet her."
At that moment she notice they where pulling up to a large house and once the car stopped they got out with Carlisle already taking out her luggage from the trunk and then leading her to the house. The house was large and seemed mostly made out of glass walls, she could see three people in what appeared to be the living room heading towards the door and she was greeted by a woman, equally as beautiful as Carlisle, once inside the door.. She had caramel colored hair, with a heart shaped face, slender and soft looking. She had on a beaming smile as she was lead inside and looked surprised as she spotted the young child in her arms. Behind her three more people entered the hall they were at, one another woman and two men. This woman was tall and exceptionally beautiful especially for a vampire, with really long blonde wavy hair. One of the men who came in after was also tall, though more so than the blond one behind him, with curly dark hair and huge muscle the seemed like he could be a weight lifter, if he were human that is. A beaming smile lit his face and I know I'd have to keep an eye out on this one least he get Emrys involved in mischief. Finally, the one to enter and seem to keep their distance was the honey blonde man with very eerie similarities to the girl. Though she suspected they had no relation with each other but being vampire.
All had stopped in their steps as they focused on the child that had suddenly decided he didn't want to sleep anymore and was waking up.
"Hermione, this is my wife Esme," he motioned to the woman with dark hair and she nodded to her slightly. "Then my adoptive children Jasper and Rosalie Hale and Emmet Cullen." The blond woman, Rosalie, looked fascinated by Emry as he started to whine and looked around him in confusion.
"Mama? Where Nana Mo?" He asked looking around the room and she sighed as she shifted him in her arms.
"Nana Molly had to stay home Emry, remember? I told you we would go on a trip and wouldn't be able to see them for a while." Emrys looked up at Hermione with consideration and she felt a slight probing at her mind. She looked sternly at him and kept her shields up.
"Emrys what did I say about looking in peoples minds?" She scolded and the probing stopped as he looked down sheepishly.
"Mama say is bad manners," he replied and she shook her head trying to keep a smile from her face as she set him on the floor and he turned to look at the people around him. "Who you?" He suddenly asked and Rosalie couldn't help her beaming smile as she knelt in front of him.
"I'm Rosalie but you can call me Rose, it's very nice to meet you young man," she said and shook hands with Emrys. She looked curiously at her hand holding his and she visibly sniffed a bit, frowning slightly at what she smelled. Then stood up and looked up at Hermione questioningly. Hermione, though, was already taking out a supply cup bottle from her beaded bad.
She opened it and handed it to Carlisle, while Emry aquatinted himself with the vampires, then she took out a sealed potion, juice, a vial label dragon blood and a knife.
"Where is your kitchen? It's almost time for his potion," she asked and she and Emry were soon led to the kitchen where she placed everything on the table as everyone gathered to see what she was doing.
She uncorked the vial of Emrys potion and the juice, she took the offered bottle from Carlisle and poured the juice in it. She grabbed her knife pricked her finger and let three drops fall into the opened potion. She looked up as she heard someone gasp and followed everyone's eyes to Emrys as he climbed effortlessly onto the kitchen counter and sniffed in the direction of his mother and her blood. He smile and looked up at her.
"Mummy give Em juice?" He asked and she smiled bending over to kiss his head.
"Yes, mummy is going to give you your juice." She replied smiling at his beaming smile. She healed her cut and closed the vial of potion before shaking it, she watched as it went from a dull color to a flowing green and then a red and she uncorked it and poured it in with the juice. Next she took the vial of dragon blood and paused.
"Might I have a spoon," she asked looking at Esme who she had seen was looking rather put off by what she was seen and seemed to be holding her breath. Jasper seem to be unnaturally still in the back at the door as well. She nodded and grabbed the spoon for her and while handing it to her couldn't help but voice the question everyone was wanting to know.
"What exactly are you giving him?" Hermione smiled as she poured the blood onto the spoon carefully.
"Every day, Emrys must have exactly one spoonful of dragon blood and a gene suppressing potion until he reaches the age of majority at seventeen," she held out the spoon full of blood to her son and watched as he took it into his mouth and hummed in delight. "My blood is added to his potion because my magic is what suppressed his nature while I carried him, otherwise he would have killed me trying to be born. I drank the potion while carrying him so my pregnancy while short was longer that it would have been and as normal as it could be to carry a child like him."
"But what is he?" Esme asked as Emrys accepted the bottle of juice Hermione gave him and he drank it happily, while letting her pet his wavy bronze hair. His eyes flashed red, then gold before returning to the beautiful green he was born with.
"Emry is half-human, half-vampire," Hermione replied and watched as they appeared shocked and it was Rosalie that recovered first. Her eyes never leaving Emrys, who smiled at her but didn't pull away from the hand running through his hair.
"How is that possible," she asked.
"It's a rarity, most human don't survive, and if the mother doesn't survive then the child doesn't either. But that seems to be only when the mother is non magical and unaware she is pregnant. However when the mother is magical, potions are given to her to slow down the growth of the child to that of a normal human. So instead of the one month rapid pregnancy I would have had, I only had to carry Emrys for six months almost seven." Carlisle looked slightly shocked by this and also like he wanted to take notes at what Hermione was explaining so she put her hand into her beaded bag and pulled out the research she had started on it and handed it to him to flip through.
"How can a mortal carry a vampire's child, and why not stop it before it kills the mother?" Carlisle asked curiously. Hermione snorted at the question. He looked up at her questioningly and she grabbed the spoon from where she had left it and held it up to Emrys who looked at it curiously.
"Emrys baby, would you show Dr. Cullen how strong you are now that you are a big boy," she asked and he nodded enthusiastically and proceeded to concentrate as he slowly bent the spoon. He showed it to Carlisle who took it from him to examine as Hermione applauded. "Yay, now Emrys can protect mommy from the bad guys." Hermione said as enthusiastically as she could and soon everyone else in the room was laughing and making comments after getting a pointed look from her. Emrys shyly smiled and burried his face in his mother's stomach not used to so much praise all at once from strangers.
"Like a Vampire he is strong, and like a vampire's skin, the sack he was in hardened to protect itself from outside intrusion. Not that I wanted to terminate, the thought was simply too unthinkable, but it is a difficult pregnancy and food consumption was made much more difficult if I didn't have a constant supply of blood as a side dish. Emrys is stronger than most humans even with the potion suppressing his vampire side."
"Why give him the potions though? If he's half human would he be less likely to go on a bloodlust rampage?" Emmet asked curiously and I smiled sheepishly.
"It's mostly for my benefit than anything. He would grow at an unprecedented rate but is estimated to grow to maturity in seven years. I'm mortal however, and would very much like to raise my child like any normal human and I fear that the short amount of time in which he grows I wouldn't be able to impart my most treasured moral qualities so he grows to be a decent being with respect for human life."
"It makes sense and it is rational thinking, though won't it hurt him to slow his growth?" Carlisle asked this time not looking up from the notebook.
"Not really. All I'm doing is putting his vampire side to sleep, though not really. The potion is designed to enhance his human qualities more than they would be. It helps him learn control of his cravings for blood, so that's a bonus." She answered, watched as Emrys finished his bottle and held it out to her before motioning he want to be picked up. She swept him into his arms and with a wave of her hand the bottle went to wash itself in the sink.
"By the way, how come you never told us about the magical world until Hermione was coming to stay with us Carlisle," Rosalie asked with narrowed eyes in the direction of the self cleaning dishes. Everyone else looked at Carlisle expectantly, and you would think he were distracted by the way he was reading through the book but he waved his hand dismissively at the question and answered either way.
"Magicals fear us, simple as that. They know what we are just from looking at us, and some countries have a deep rooted hatred for our kind because of the Volturi and Rouges like those of the south from here. We won't be welcomed in most communities and if we are it will always be with wariness. The danger that someone will hire out a Vampire Hunter from a neighboring country because of this will be even more of a danger should we have made ourselves at home within the Magical world."
"Carlisle is right," Hermione added. "England just recently had a great magical war about racial purity issues. It was bloody and we won but the changes are slow and many people escaped capture. It's why I'm here, I need to be hidden for a bit. As a war hero, no one wants to risk me and what I replresent to the advancement in the new government. After going to find my parents where I had sent them off with Emrys to hide I simply took a plane here once Kingsley had confirmed I would be protected. Those who know about Emrys know that going after him is the only way to bring me down. So he goes where I go."
It was silent for some time and I felt a strange sense of emotion that wasn't mine and frowned slightly at that but ignored it slightly.
"Anyway, could someone tell where my room will be so that I may put away our things away," at my words Rosalie was at my side instantly.
"I'll take you, but might I carry him," she asked and there was this longing look in her eyes as she asked this. Strange.
"Emrys, would you let Rosalie carry you to our room," Hermione asked looking at the boy in her arms and watched as he seemed to consider her question before holding out his arms to Rosalie. Rosalie took him into her arms with delight and then proceeded to lead Hermione to her room.
"We each have a room for ourselves. We try to blend in with the mortals as much as possible, living like them which includes going to schools and everything. When Alice saw that you were coming she had us build a room on top of the garage as well as empty out the basement. We couldn't figure out why until Carlisle got the phone call from Shacklebolt, and he had to tell us about your world and that you would be coming." Rosalie led her to a room on the second floor, which she instantly loved. It was filled with shelves that covered two walls, one half full and the others empty for future use which Hermione hoped will hold all of her things.
The bed was a large poster bed with its curtains drawn to the side, a deep royal blue with gold threading on them. Two side tables rested on each side and there was a beautiful oak rocking chair by the windowed wall.
"Wow, thanks you, this is beautiful, did you all really build this for me?" Hermione asked feeling a bit self conscious. Rosalie snorted and waved her hand.
"No thanks needed. Alice practically runs our family, when she says we need to do something we discuss it and end up doing as she says. She said something important will happen for our family and that we need to build an extra room so we did, and a day after the room was finished Carlisle got the call."
"Will I get to meet this Alice?" Hermione asked as she started to unpack her things. Rosalie seemed happy to entertain Emrys for the moment.
"Yes. She and Edward are at school at the moment, which should be out in just a few minutes. They'll be here soon enough."
Just as Rosalie had said this words Hermione could hear a car pulling out to the house and voices followed. Especially an excited female voice.
"She's here! I have to meet her! We have so much to talk about! Bella stay with Edward while I go meet our new guest..."
A knock on the door was followed by a small flash before Hermione was being pulled into a cold hug as Alice walked into the room.
"Hermione! I finally get to meet you! We have so much to talk about ..." her voice trailed off as she looked at Emrys playing on the ground besides Rosalie. She froze and she heard someone call up the stairs, a voice she knew well and which made Emrys snap his head in the direction of the voice.
"Alice? Why can't I hear your thoughts anymore?"
Hermione let go of Alice as she walked towards the voice downstairs, the others following as she stepped onto the top step and looked down at the man who's voice she know well. His bronze hair was as windswept as always but his eyes were a darker shade to what she had remembered. Besides him was a girl with brown hair and pale skin though not like him so Hermione knew she was human. She however couldn't stop from looking surprised and the mixed emotions she felt at seeing him again. Tears sprung to her eyes and she felt her legs give out from under her.
"Edward." Hermione whispered softly and watched as he looked at her confused. Which quickly changed to surprise as a small pile of limbs leaped down the stairs and straight into his arms.
"Daddy!" Emrys cried out happily as he was caught in the arms of his surprised father.
Gasps could be heard throughout the house as everyone gathered around them and the strange reunion. But everyone was looking at the boy in Edwards arms and the almost exact replica he was to the man. Finally a voice broke the stunned silence and it was the mortal girl by Edward's side.
"What is going on?" She asked and her face was set in confusion as she looked between Emrys and Edward and finally Hermione who was sitting on the steps with tears trailing down her cheeks.
Edwards on the other hand was shocked and didn't seem to be recovering anytime soon. He couldn't hear the thoughts of any of his family members close to the girl, that sat on the steps crying nor could not hear the thoughts of the boy in his arms. A boy who looked almost exactly like him if it weren't for the green colored eyes that looked up at him happily and he clung to him.
"Edward," he heard a voice call and he looked at the girl whom seemed to have gathered herself as she stood and slowly descended the stairs. "I'd like you to meet Emrys. Emrys Edward Granger-Cullen." There was a pause as she looked at the boy fondly before meeting Edwards eyes.
"Your son."