CHAPTER 13:

On the fourth day after her husband's sudden departure with the magical teens, Esme finally heard an uncharacteristic thud somewhere outside her home which was followed with some severe swearing from her husband, much to her amusement. In all the years she had known Carlisle, not once had he ever sworn, much less so colorfully!

Moving towards the door, she heard a rather pompous voice saying, "Portkeying takes some getting used to. No matter, you should be good as rain soon, seeing as you are a vampire and all."

Then the two men stepped out. Carlisle looked frazzled and a tall, lanky boy who looked curiously like Ronald but wasn't him, looked smug.

Coming onto the porch, Carlisle's face visibly relaxed into a big grin as he saw his mate after four long days. Crushing her into a hug, then taking her in for a kiss that told her exactly how much he'd thought of her during his travel, he greeted her first, then made way for their guest, introducing him to his wife, "Esme, this is Percy Weasley, a brother of Ron's and Charlie's. Percy, this is my wife, Esme."

After exchanging pleasantries, the trio walked inside the house.

"She is moving here, isn't she?" Alice squealed in her glee.

"Hello to you dear," Carlisle laughed. "And to answer your question, yes, she is."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Alice jumped up and down in exuberance. "The minute I saw her I knew she was going to be a part of our family. She's finally coming around. I can't wait to have her here. She and I are going to be great friends! Oh, and Carlisle, thank you, I love the robes you've bought me and the gobstones sure look interesting," she continued.

"Anyone wishing to elaborate for us non-future seeing beings?" Rosalie cut in, glaring at Alice.

"Also, what are gobstones? Can I gobble these stones?" Emmett grinned.

"Welcome back Carlisle. We missed you around here," Edward spoke from a corner while trying to check Alice's hyperactive mind for who was coming. Though he did have a clue. Dare he wish it?

"Yeah, we didn't have a fourth for our nightly video games. The girls refused to play," Jasper smiled at his father figure in welcome.

"How was your trip, Carlisle?" Bella asked from her seat beside Edward.

"Good Bella, thank you." Smiling he turned to his family. "Kids!" Carlisle shouted. "This is Percy.."

"Yeah, yeah.. we know. He's Ron's brother. He is here to look for properties for Hermione and her godson and his grandmother."

"What? Hermione's moving here?" Bella stood up in shock.

"Yes! And we're gonna convince her to go to Forks High with us. Oh, this is so exciting! Isn't it exciting, Jasper!"

Seeing his mate so utterly high on exhilaration, Jasper sent more than a few calming waves to her.

Before Bella could voice her question about Hermione's need to attend their school, Percy voiced her thoughts for her. "Why would Mione attend muggle school?" he frowned at the hyper pixie-like, short vampire.

"Because!" Alice said simply then laughed. "Fine, I'll give you reasons. One, when she's up and about in the town, the muggles, as you call them, won't have too many suspicions about her. Two, and the most important reason actually, Carlisle will soon realize that she is brilliant with her work," Percy snorted at the obvious, "and hence he will convince her to join his noble profession and she will love the idea! They will work together to combine muggle and magical medicines to treat ailments small and severe. In a decade or so, they are gonna be pioneers in the field actually. But to gain admission into a muggle medical college, she'll need a high school certificate, therefore.. our school."

What a brilliant idea! Carlisle mused, already writing his letter to Hermione in his mind.

"You're a seer!" Percy exclaimed, in a high-pitched voice, very non-Percy like while pointing a finger at the excited vampire.

"Duh," Alice shrugged. "Now, Jasper and I will go with Percy to UK and get Andromeda with us through a flight. But we'll let Hermione come here with Teddy using her magical modes or else the little one is going to cry up a storm in the plane, literally. His magic will go askew and the people on the plane will find out about them."

"Why can't Andromeda come with them?" Percy asked with a frown.

"On a portkey? Absolutely not. I won't have my cancer patient squeezing through a tube and travelling through space and time to get here quickly. I can spare her for a few more days," Carlisle immediately put his foot down.

"Oh and Percy, Hermione's gonna hate the house you choose so you might want to rethink the little red brick town house you will end up liking today," Alice warned.

Percy scowled. "I knew I shouldn't have volunteered for this," he muttered under his breath but every vampire in the room heard him and smirked.

"You wouldn't know what she'd like, would you?" he asked hopefully, looking at Alice.

"No. But I know which one she would have picked had you let her come here instead of volunteering yourself."

"Brilliant. I'll take that one. Here, this is her card. She gave this to me saying you all would know how to use it. Please use it to buy her house and any furniture you may deem necessary for the three of them. And please leave two large rooms vacant, she said she'll make her own library and potions lab."

"Will she really be able to afford a house that big on her card?" Bella asked askance.

"Well, she said so." Percy's frown then cleared. "Oh, you are wondering about the finances. Don't worry the card's linked to her Gringotts vault and she has more than enough gold there to buy this town several times over. She is a celebrated war hero after all, she has recently been awarded with a lot of money. I don't think a house, however big it may be, will make even a dent in her vault. Please take this," he handed the card to Esme who was closest to him.

"And you and your mate don't need to rush out with me. I'll send in a portkey in a couple of days for you. That'll be enough time to buy the house and set it, right?"

"You must be joking. You really think we can buy a house and set it in two short days?" Rosalie asked.

"No?" he questioned, a little disturbed. "Isn't Miss. Lovegood somewhere around here? Ask her, she'll help you. Only, don't ask her to choose anything and don't take her inputs on any of your purchases. Our Mione just might set you on fire if you do that. Besides that, she can help. You tell her where what goes and she'll sort it for you. I'll send someone else to help her. That person can get you back to the Burrow."

"Sounds good," Carlisle nodded after looking at his family for confirmation.

"Good then. I shall leave now. Have a job to keep," he said and left the Cullens behind, making his way to the clearing nearby to portkey out.

"He's an odd one but I've been told he grows on people," Carlisle shrugged. "Now.. what have I missed?"

The family all huddled together, updating one another on the what and whatnots of their life of the past four days.