CHAPTER 14:
Two days later, Hermione popped into the Cullen household along with her extended family. Ginny, Ron, Harry, George, Neville and even Bill and Fleur had come in to help her set her new home. Only Molly had stayed behind. She had wanted to come but instead had offered to look after Teddy for the day, so the youngsters could have a nice day out.
Luna was already waiting for them at the Cullen house along with Jacob since Hermione had sent a patronus in advance to inform her about their arrival and asked her to convey the same to Esme, who Percy had informed them was going to do the property buying and decorating for her.
Bella had tried, albeit in vain, to get Edward out of the house before her arrival but he had refused to budge claiming that his mother-figure might need his help. The other Cullen kids thought the same, so everyone was at home.
"I can't thank you all enough for doing so much for us," Hermione smiled in gratitude as soon as she was within speaking range of the vampire family.
"Everyone," she turned to her companions, "meet the Cullens. This is Esme, Carlisle's wife and these are their adopted kids – Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Edward and that is Edward's girlfriend Bella. You of course know Luna and with her is her mate, Jacob Black."
Then she turned to her other side, "And these are my friends and family – Bill and his wife Fleur, George, Neville and Ginny. You of course know Harry and Ron."
After all the hellos were exchanged, Esme made a move towards the cars. "Shall we leave then?"
"In them?" George asked pointing at the numerous cars in their garage.
"Yes," Esme smiled.
"Oh, this will be fun!" George rubbed his hands together. "Lead the way ma'am."
Ginny grinned at her brother's exuberance and Hermione clapped a hand on her forehead, already regretting getting the big band along with her to help set her house. Something very close to a headache stabbing in rhythmic beats behind her eyes.
"Have they never been in a car before?" Edward asked her softly, gauging her pinched face and understanding her stress immediately, or so he thought.
"How I wish! But no, they have. Mr. Weasley, their father, bought a scrapped car long time back and in order to get it working, charmed and enchanted it improving a few of its functions. In short the car did everything, including flying! George and Fred, his twin used to sneak off in it every night and once they even pulled Ron in and flew over to Harry's muggle neighborhood and broke him out of the bars that his guardians had placed around his room. Then Harry and Ron missed our school train that year and flew the same wretched car all over from London to Scotland, forgetting to turn it invisible and thereby getting sighted by many a muggles! As luck would have it, the car landed straight into a tree that hits back and since then has been running wild in the Forbidden Forest near our school. I'm pretty sure George is sitting in a car after all these years and will have way too many questions for whoever is unfortunate enough to be driving the car he is a passenger in."
"Not it," Emmett immediately called. Followed quickly by Jasper and Edward together.
"Mum then," they all said in unison and laughed, Hermione joining in.
As if on cue, George took the front seat in Esme's car with Bill and Fleur taking the seats behind them.
"You two are coming with us," Alice held both the witches by their wrists and pulled them towards her car with Jasper following behind the three.
"We'll take Harry, Ron and Neville in my Jeep," Emmett announced and did a jolly dig in his mind, knowing Edward was reading it. You get stuck with the dog…he sang repeatedly in a loop for his brother to hear in his mind.
Bella however was happy with the arrangements and almost skipped to the silver Volvo.
…
As soon as they got to the new property, Hermione gasped in pleasure.
"It's perfect!" Ginny whispered eyeing the small cottage in front of them. It had a long, winding driveway. A separate shed that would probably house the cars, she guessed, remembering the set-up from the Cullen's house. The cottage looked cozy from the outside and was warm and homey on the inside. It stood alone in the smack-dab middle of nature, something she was Hermione would appreciate given the constant magic that was bound to happen around the place, what with a tiny metamorphamagus living there.
They entered into a big and airy room that spanned the entire length of the house, with a kitchen right at the back, beside which was a fleet of stairs leading to the first floor of the house. On the first floor were five bedrooms, three of which had ensuite baths and two shared a common one between them, right at the end of the hallway. There also was a ladder that had to be pulled down and when pulled it opened a rather nifty little doorway into a spacious attic.
"It's just perfect!" Hermione repeated Ginny's earlier sentiments taking it all in.
"Shall we begin then?" Esme asked, itching to get into her element and decorate the blank slate in front of her.
"Sure. First, let's take care of the security detail. Harry, Bill, could you two please do up the wards? I want everyone here to have undeterred access to the place, so please use blood wards for us and venom for the vampires. Please add the intention wards too, so anyone coming with harmful thoughts in mind is pushed out into the pacific before they gain entrance. Oh, and the regular muggle repellant charms, I don't need the heart ache of having foreign ministry putting me behind bars for Teddy's unintentional magic."
"On it," both men nodded. Bill stepped out immediately while Harry walked up to Esme. He pulled out a tiny glass vial from his inner jacket pocket and duplicated it several times over and handed all the vials to Esme. "Please take one and pass them out to the others of your family. We'll need your venom in this to grant you entrance into the house. Carlisle promised me he'll be here during his lunch hour, so we can take his venom then. Once the vial is full, cork it and leave with Luna," Jacob growled, barring his teeth, he was not going to stand for his imprint being anywhere near vampire venom. Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine. Leave them with Ginny and we'll take them all from her when we need them." Harry looked around to check if everyone had understood, when they all nodded, he walked out.
"Now, that that's out of the way, Ron," he looked up at Hermione, "I want you with Esme. Place whatever wherever she asks and duplicate whatever that needs to be duplicated.
Nodding, Ron found his way to Esme. "Ready then?" he smiled.
"Always," she pattered back and walked him towards the backyard where they had housed all the furniture boxes.
Ron was back in half a minute. "Mione!" he exclaimed.
"What, Ron?"
"The furniture.. it's all unmade! It's in boxes, as in slabs of wood put in boxes!" he yelled.
Hermione groaned. "Oh! I had forgotten muggles box their furniture that way. Uhm.." she turned towards the vampire men, do you think you could help your mum? Please?"
"Got it," the three ran towards the backyard.
"If you want you can go with them Bella. We have it all covered here," Hermione smiled at Bella who looked decidedly unease without Edward by her side.
"If you're sure," Bella gave her small smile and walked at a more sedate pace behind the vampires that had all but disappeared from their view.
"Okay, Neville, Ron I want you to put a new room beside the stairs for Andromeda. Make sure it has a functional bath and toilet in it. Use all the space from the stairs till the wall, if needed, expand it with charms.
"On it," both men spoke in unison and made their way beside the stairs at the far end of the house.
"I'm on Teddy's room," Ginny announced.
"May I help you?" Rosalie nervously offered.
"Yes! Please!" Ginny grinned and tugged her along. "You see, I have no idea about muggle furniture, much less a child's," everyone heard her say to Rosalie.
"Then why did you offer to do the boy's room?" Rosalie frowned.
"So he has no books in there! You see, Hermione is our resident book worm and I won't stand for our Teddy Bear to be turned into something that everyone pokes fun at in school." Just on the top stair, Ginny turned and winked at Hermione who scowled at her in return, before Rosalie and Ginny disappeared to the second largest bedroom on the floor.
"I know exactly how you want your room to be. So I can unpack your stuff and fill in the wardrobe there till the other furniture gets ready." At Hermione's doubtful expression, Alice put her cold hand on her warm one. "Trust me, please," she pleaded and finally Hermione relented.
"Alright, you do that. Fleur could you help her please."
"Oui, Ermione." Fleur smiled at Hermione first and Alice next.
"Thanks." With a wink Alice was gone to the largest bedroom, followed more sedately by Fleur.
"Luna and Jacob, can you do the kitchen please? Luna will set it and Jacob you could help her keep things safe for the muggle eyes?"
"Definitely!" Jacob grinned and pulled Luna along to the kitchen.
"What about me, Granger?" George asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet, waiting to get in some action.
"First, promise me you won't make me repent it." She glared at him while he made an absolutely innocent face. Hermione shook her head. "No George, Teddy's gonna be here and I can't risk his wellbeing."
"You're no fun anymore," George scowled but agreed.
"Good. I love the way you've done up the potion's lab at WWW, could you do up mine too? Just no pranks, please."
Understanding the gravity of the situation, he nodded solemnly. "Definitely not. You know we don't risk innocent lives at WWW," he said cheekily and made for the room Hermione had pointed to him – a part of the attic! She really wanted to keep all the hazardous stuff away from little hands and curious minds!
Seeing no one around, Hermione finally sighed and reached for her wand. With one swish she transfigured three long wooden filigreed partitions and placed two of them strategically on both sides of the door, to afford privacy to the household. The third she placed between the large hall, dividing the space into two for dinning and sitting. She then stuck the partitions in place with the strongest sticking spells she knew.
Now, when you looked around, you could not peep into the house from the doorway. The place near the fire was left vacant for the sitting room furniture and the space beyond the other partition for dinning. Then came the open kitchen where Jacob and Luna where working in harmony, engorging the small boxes and unpacking their ingredients. Hermione wasn't too bothered about where they were placing what, she would just summon whatever she needed and set her own stuff at her own pace later.
The right side of the ground floor though remained unnervingly empty. What do I do here?
"You should get two more of these lovely partitions and place them there," came Edward's voice from behind her. "The space next to Andromeda's room can be your godson's indoor play area for when the weather is bad outside.."
"Which just happens to be every day," coughed Emmett from behind Edward.
Glaring at him, Edward continued, "and this space here can be your TV room."
Hermione clapped a hand on her mouth. She had completely forgotten about a telly!
"Don't tell me you'd forgotten about television sets soldier," Jasper chuckled in amusement.
"I had," she whispered.
"How?" Emmett laughed.
"It's just been so long that I've actually used one, that I completely forgot about it." Hermione could swear she heard laughs from all the different rooms of the house. Right! Advanced hearing! Need to bear that in mind, she made a mental note.
"Alright then," Hermione nodded, sheepishly avoiding eyes of the laughing people around her and conjured two more of the filigreed partitions, levitated them to the spot Edward had pointed out and stuck them down with permanent sticking charms.
"Woah! That was amazing!" Emmett's jaw dropped.
"Oh, but you've seen nothing yet," Hermione smirked and ran up the stairs.
"Dibs on being Hermione's pair," Emmett ran behind Hermione to see what else she would do while Jasper and Edward laughed at his antics and followed their mother out to set the furniture in.
By the time Carlisle's lunch hour rolled in, the house was almost set – the only exception being Hermione's library that she had refused to set with George working very close to where her library would be. She just knew she couldn't take that risk with her precious books.
"You know I will come visit, right?" George laughed as he finally made his way down.
"I know but.." Hermione pointed her wand at the ladder and the door and muttered strong locking spells on them. "You won't get in there," she winked.
"It has a window, Granger," George rolled his eyes. "And I have a broom."
"Thanks for pointing that out. I'll remedy it next time I go up," she grinned and they both walked downstairs.
Hermione stood in the middle of the stairs and smiled happily. The house looked truly beautiful. The furniture was all dark wood with light cushioning seats. Standing there, with a wave of her wand she turned the walls there to creams that went well with the furniture.
Ginny whipped out her wand and added multiple cushions on every spot she liked and Luna turned all the cushions to bright and whimsically printed ones.
Hermione grinned. "I like it."
"Can I hear a hallelujah!" Harry walked back into the house. "Gin, the vials please, love," he held his hand out to her, palm facing up.
Smiling shyly she handed him the vials and he walked back out to finish with the access through the wards.
"Everyone needs to step out now," Bill's voice came in from outside.
Everyone filed out. "I don't think our blood will appeal to you, but nonetheless, if you want you can hold your breath, we'll be working on the blood wards now," Bill warned the vampires.
Neville and Hermione smiled at the Cullen clan and pulled out their wands. "She'll erase the scent from the air I'll put up a shield if required," Neville said.
One by one, the witches then the wizards, followed by Jacob dropped a few drops of their blood where Harry asked them to while Bill kept chanting something under his breath.
"Any problems so far?" Hermione asked the vampires and they all shook their heads. "Told you we don't appeal to them that way," Hermione smirked smugly and walked towards Bill with Neville behind her. Luna and Ginny took their place, pulling on their wands with Jacob shielding Luna with his body.
"He is almost like a Veela!" Ginny winked at one of her best friends.
"He is. They even mark us during the first time we mate, just like the veelas. Only I can't show you his bite, Jacob's marked me in a particularly intimate place, just above my heart, you see," Luna informed in her dreamy voice, making both Jacob and Ginny go red in the face and stare at the floor. Then she rubbed Jacob's back caringly, "There's no need to be embarrassed, Jacob. All magical creatures do that. It's a way to ward off your territory, kind of like how dogs pee on their property, so their scent can keep other dogs away. All magical creatures do the same so no one else approaches their mate."
"Luna.." Ginny said warningly, before she could embarrass everyone further but her warning fell on deaf ears.
"Did you know, the biting serves the additional purpose of preparing the mate's body for complete claim through the sexual act? By introducing the little venom into the bloodstream of their mates, the magical creatures ensure that their mates survive mating and pregnancy whenever it may occur and however rough it may be. It works especially when the two are from different species." Luna smilingly informed them all.
"Wait. Back-track. Are you telling me two different species can have sex? .. I mean mate?" Bella asked furrowing her brows.
"Of course they can! Look at Jacob and I. He is a natural shape-shifter and I am a witch. Also, all the other imprints are humans and they still survived the mating," Luna smiled. "Only, the partners have to be true mates. The magical creature only ever feels like marking his mate, no one else. And it is only their mate that can survive their venom, no one else."
"So, if Edward bites me, I won't turn into a vampire then? And we can have sex?" Bella asked this uncaring of the said vampire's family's presence all around her.
"You can have sex even now, his bite has nothing to do with it. But like I said, the bite is a marking and only works on true mates, ask his siblings if you want; they must have all marked their spouses. If Edward bites you, you'll either turn or die, depending on how much of his venom he pumps into you or how much of your blood he sucks out."
"But you said yourself, it's different for mates."
"It is." Luna nodded, confusing Bella further.
"Are we done here? Can we go back in and check out the place?" Jacob asked, breaking the tension around.
"Yes, we are all done here. Now, one by one, everyone try going in. The muggle girl," Bill said looking at Bella in a friendly manner, "You need to hold someone's hand to get through or the wards will not allow you in."
"Won't the other muggles know there's something uncanny here when they are pushed out?" she asked in exasperation.
"No, they'll only remember something very urgent and turn around to go back the way they've come. It's only when someone comes with the intention of harming our Mione, Teddy or Andromeda that they'll find themselves in the middle of the pacific ocean without a boat or buoy in sight."
"Oh!" Bella flushed in embarrassment and reached out to grab Edward's hand.
One by one, they all entered and appreciated the new set-up of the house.
"You're really doing this then? Moving across the pond, leaving us behind to start a new life?"
Hermione looked on helplessly at Ron. He shook his head in exasperation. "I need some tea," he said and walked straight to the kitchen without a backward glance.
"Don't mind him, Mione. He is just not used to staying away from you," Ginny rubbed her back soothingly.
"He'll come around Mione. You know you two have always been like this, fighting one moment then friends the next." Harry smiled weakly at Hermione. "I'll go check on him."
"No, Harry. It's time he got it out of his system. I'll speak to him," Hermione said and walked towards the kitchen.
"Way to warm a house," grinned George. "May be we should go and grab some food till they speak."
"They won't kill each other, right?" Ginny asked.
"Not today. The wrackspurts around their head will make them reconsider their hasty tendencies," Luna answered helpfully.
"That's bollocks Mione!" they heard from the kitchen before the conversation went silent.
"At least one of them remembers the charms. Can't be that bad then," Bill offered half-heartedly.
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In the kitchen, Ron was losing it completely. "You keep pushing me away! Why did you kiss me then, if you didn't feel anything?"
"I did, Ron, I did. I've loved you for the longest time; but I've told we can't be together."
"Why? Just because Dolohov cursed you well? Are you going to let him win, then?"
"Ron! I will not ruin your life! If not today, then tomorrow, but you will want kids! You're a Weasley, you are meant to have a brood of your own. I can't give that to you and I will not be able to take yours or your family's hatred when I fail to conceive so.."
"You are just assuming all of this, Mione. I've never.."
"You've never what, Ronald? You've never thought of kids? Of having a big family of your own? Ron, it'll hurt us now, it'll sting bad; but if we don't do this, it will fester our relationship in the end. You are one of my best friends, I don't want to lose you."
"So, for fear of losing me then, you are giving up on me now? That makes sense to you?"
"We are young Ron, you will find a nice witch and marry her and I will stand behind you when the minister pronounces you man and wife and then we'll dance at your wedding and laugh about this debacle because you'll understand then why I am doing this now."
"Mione," Ron stepped close to her, right in her personal space, and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "Sweetheart, give me a chance and I'll make sure you'll stand beside me when the minister pronounces us…"
"No.." Hermione shook her head, bringing her hand on Ron's chest and pushing him slightly away. "Ron.. no.. I can't.. please.."
Ron looked at her and huffed in anger. What did she have to be so damn daft?! "So.. Now that you have everything sorted and tied up with a neat little bow, I don't think I'm needed here anymore. Good bye." With a loud crack that grated on her entire being, Ron was gone.
Hermione stood in the kitchen and wiped furiously at the tears that refused to let up. Why can't I stop? she chided herself, sniffling and dabbing her eyes.
While she had silenced her conversation, there was someone out there who felt everything that transpired in the kitchen. He didn't know why they fought but he felt her grief and despair hitting him in waves. He signaled to his wife and they both walked sedately to the kitchen, keeping away from prying eyes, though Jasper just knew Edward was reading their minds and following every step of theirs with his eyes till the disappeared from the view.
Alice immediately held Hermione's shuddering form in her cold arms and patted her back while Jasper stood near the door and sent her calming waves. A few short minutes later, Edward was by his side. He felt his dead heart twist at the sight that greeted him but he said nothing. He nodded at Alice and entered the kitchen, quietly assembling the tea for everyone.
When Hermione finally had her emotions under control, she wiped her eyes and washed her face in the sink. She was just charming the tear stains off her face when Harry walked behind her and rubbed her back. "It'll all be fine, give it time," he whispered soothingly.
Hermione nodded while Harry smiled at the three vampires around the kitchen. At least she had good friends here. He'd feel that much better about her living so far away with friends like them around. Harry showed them his gratitude in his smile and eyes and the vampires just nodded in return, a silent pact made between them.