AN: Thank you to all those who voted!
Chapter 23:
"So, you and the vampire then?" Draco asked raising a brow as soon as the two came into view. He had wisely refused to go inside the house with the vampires and so they were all standing there outside just beyond the porch of the Cullens' home.
Hermione had made Edward set her down before they lost the cover of the woods and thanked the stars Draco hadn't seen her being carried bridal style by Edward. As much as the action made her heart swoon and drop, she just knew Draco would abuse the knowledge and it would not be for her benefit.
"It's none of your business, now, is it?"
"No," Draco conceded, "but he seems like your type." Edward couldn't control his smirk. "Shaggy red hair, light eyes, tall, funny sense of style, clueless about most things in general and with a temper that has nothing to do with common sense." This time Edward scowled and Draco in return, smirked.
"Shut it, Malfoy. You, of all, are definitely not one to talk about temper."
"I've changed," Draco challenged.
"From five minutes back?" Hermione asked innocently.
Just as Draco pushed himself up, to put his point across, Alice intervened. "Alright then, that's enough with the pleasantries. Why don't we get inside and talk semantics now?"
Draco lifted his chin defiantly, waiting for Hermione to acquiescent the request first.
"Fine, but only if he minds his manners."
"My manners are immaculate, Granger. It's your sense of self-preservation that needs work."
"See.. that's what I mean.. I'm not about to share my boy with someone like him," Hermione glared at Alice.
"Your boy..??"
"Yes, Teddy is my boy. And I'm not sure what type of influence you'll be on him." This time she turned her nasty look towards Draco.
"Exactly the sort he needs," Draco sneered. "Besides security, both physical and financial, I'll give him my time, share in his responsibilities. I'll be there to take him out when you suffocate him with books, I'll be the one to teach him how to fly a broom when all the other uncles of his will be busy in their own lives and you will be cowering in fear, hidden under a table. I'll be the one available when his godparents are busy saving the world," he finished.
"You ass..." Hermione flipped and a slight movement later, in her place stood a graceful panther, pawing at the mud under it's paw as it readied itself to charge at him.
"What? No lioness? That's quite disappointing," Draco looked at her as if thoroughly unimpressed while the vampires around stood in shock at her transformation.
And Hermione charged, her last flimsy hold on her temper lost to Draco's careless remark.
With a slight twitch of his own, Draco charged ahead, changing mid-leap into a jackal as large as half-a-car.
Hermione went for his neck, with an intention to injure, though not too brutally, while Draco only worked in self-defense, doing his best to keep her away and taking care to not injure her at all.
It only took half a minute for the shock of it all to wear off before Edward and Emmett pounced right in and separated the fighting animals. "Back into human forms, right now," Emmett ordered in a rare bout of seriousness.
The two phased back.
Edward, who'd only ever seen the reservation wolves phasing, completely expected Hermione to phase back naked, and was shielding her body from everyone else around. Much to his surprise though, she came back with her clothes intact. He angled his head slightly to see Draco had done the same.
Interesting.
"Now, if we are done being all juvenile, can we grow up and work towards establishing some sort of semblance in our lives?" Alice glared at the witch and then turned to the wizard.
"She started it," Draco said, pulling at the hem of his shirt to straighten it.
"I don't care who started it," Alice began, throwing a glower at Edward who'd promptly snarled at Draco, "I will finish it. I will not stand by while you let your school rivalry throw your adult life for a toss."
"Then ask the beaver to behave herself," Draco glared at Alice. Alice scrunched her brows and turned towards Hermione.
"Only if the ferret minds his tongue." Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest, signaling that was her final offer.
"What's wrong with your schooling?"
"Where would you like me to start?" Draco asked Alice with saccharine sweetness.
"I meant, for two grown people to call each other animal names," Alice clarified.
"Oh that," a light colour marred Draco's cheeks.
"A ferret will remain a ferret," Hermione said in passing as she made to enter the glass house.
"Yet, a beaver turns into a kitten," Draco followed in after her.
"Don't you dare call me that," Hermione turned to face Draco.
Every vampire present rolled its eyes. He was bound to call her just that from then on, and she only had herself to blame for it.
"Why, kitten? Upsets you, does it?"
"I'm not a kitten, and you're a dog."
"Yes, I am," Draco grinned proudly, "I'm half Black. Blacks are always canines, or have you forgotten your dear Rebel? He was a large dog too, wasn't he?"
"What did you just say?" Edward asked, another Black? He was really beginning to hate that last name!
"About what, Coop?"
"Coop?" Edward looked at Draco strangely.
"Yep," Draco snidely remarked. "The Golden Girl and her Copper Vamp – A post-war Saga. Hmm... I can almost see the books selling themselves."
"And that's why Alice, there's no talking with the snake-boy! He just isn't worth it!" Hermione stomped her foot and entered the sitting area.
"All these years, and she's just as fun to rile up," Draco winked and followed her in. Alice, Jasper and Emmett not a step behind.
Yep! I hate all Blacks! Edward grimaced and followed the party in.
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And that was how, a week from that day, Hermione found herself sharing tea with Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy and her son in her own house, after the regal witch had made her teary reunion with her sister, of course.
"Thank you so much, Miss Granger, for everything. You have no idea how much this reconciliation means to me. I had been begging Lucius to allow me to meet with my sister and make amends but he never relented, but now that he is away in Azkaban, I pestered Draco to bring me to my sister. And it is only because of your kind ways that I've finally got the chance."
Draco managed to contain his snort at the 'kind ways' bit, remembering exactly how taxing the Gryffindor Princess' kindness was on him.
"The thanks is really not necessary, Mrs. Malfoy," at least not to me, Hermione added in her mind, while part-taking in the most awkward tea party of her life.
"Narcissa, or even Cissy will do dear. We are going to be too much around each other to stick to formalities," Lady Malfoy insisted.
"Hermione then, please," Hermione graciously invited while eyeing Draco dubiously. He heaved an exaggerated sigh. "I'm sticking with Granger."
"As you wish, Drakey-poo," Hermione inclined her head. Draco scowled.
"I'm not sure how this works, but if you ever need to, I've readied two guest rooms for your use," Hermione switched gears and turned to speak to Narcissa, ironing out the small details, trying to make the new transition as smooth for everyone involved as possible. Though, Hermione stirred clear of her day's timetable, not trusting the two Malfoys enough to let them know when and for how long she'd be unavailable, and the two Malfoys, whether by a slight overthought or because they understood her reluctance, did not ask after it either.
"The coven of vampires that help me will be here shortly. They wanted to afford us some privacy for our talks so they did not intrude earlier, but I'd like you to know them since they are a big part of our lives here. Dr. Cullen, their head is treating Andromeda, so any query, any doubt you have that I haven't answered, you can ask him. He is really nice and very patient and will explain everything to you as many times as you'd need. Also, one of his adopted daughter's helps me with Teddy, so I figured introducing the lot of them to you two is crucial."
"Indeed," Narcissa bobbed her regal head once. Thankfully, a few moments in, the coven arrived and introductions were made all around.
"She's beautiful, for a human," Rose grudgingly complimented, whispering near Hermione's ear. "I can see where the boy gets his good looks from."
Hermione made a foul face. "His father was just as good looking," she murmured, softly before walking away from Rose.
Teddy had just recently started crawling and was always all over the place, zip-zapping between the elders as fast as his fours could take him and flashing them gurgling smiles when caught, and Hermione was busy trailing after him whenever she was at home, so that's where she went to when
she left Rose behind. Not that Rose was one to stop, she too was trailing behind the babe, beaming with maternal pride.
She is blessed with a family here, Narcissa thought to herself as she looked at the brunette and the vampires scattered all around the said witch's home. Some people are just lucky she thought and looked at her own son, who stood in corner, eyeing the crawling baby with amusement but not stepping ahead.
Draco had so much love to give but no one to understand him, Narcissa felt her eyes brimming with tears. She hoped that would change as he spent more time with the muggle-born witch. Hermione was famous for her compassion and she hoped her son would receive some and finally have someone to call a friend, if not family, after she departed this earth.
As bad as her husband was thought to be, Narcissa really did love him, and staying away from her soul-mate was a punishment that she knew she wouldn't be able to endure for long. It was for that reason, more than anything that she had wanted to patch things up with her estranged sister.
She did not want to leave this earth without making up with the only family she had living, nor did she want to leave Draco so alone in this world. She had hoped Teddy would engage her son, but now she hoped Teddy's extended family accepted him too.
It would mean the world to him, she thought and smiled.
Unbeknownst to her, all her thoughts were heard by one, and all her emotions felt by another.
Alice looked at her mate and her brother and challenged them to defy the order she was throwing at them with her eyes.
"Oh, the things we do for love!" Jasper muttered under his breath as he pulled Edward's hand to walk towards Draco to extend the first hand of friendship.
"Not a chance!" Edward clucked his tongue. "The guy disappeared with my mate! The only reason he is even alive is because Hermione would undoubtedly have my hide if I did something to him. Had it not been for that, I'd have killed him within the second I saw him."
"Edward!" Alice glared at him, both the adopted siblings speaking in fast hushed tones to avoid the mortals from over-hearing them. "He is gonna be close to Hermione. They've both grown up as single children, lonely in their own ways, so they're soon gonna forge a sibling bond. You better get over your hatred for the guy, because if you want things to progress between Hermione and yourself you will have to accept her entire extended family. She is no Bella to leave everyone for you..."
Edward growled lowly in his throat at his sister, wondering why he thought of her as his favorite one, and stomped his way towards Draco. Oh, the things we do for love! He repeated Jasper's sentiment in his mind as he went to befriend the guy he wanted to kill less than a week ago...
All for love, indeed... he sighed yet again in his mind as he made small talk with the guy, who, according to Alice was gonna be kinda-sorta a brother-in-law to him.
That was, of course, assuming Hermione accepted their bond and took things along with him... He expelled an unnecessarily long breath and bid his time waiting to chat with his mate...
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Edward hung back after everyone left and busied himself in the kitchen, making a cup of hot chocolate for his mate as she bid everyone else a good-bye.
They needed to talk and they never really got a chance to speak about themselves at other times, even when they technically spent the entire day with each other. What could he do? School really was not a place to speak of soul-mate issues, and close as his family was, there was never any privacy with them around.
Hermione tiredly flung herself on the couch and rubbed at her temples. She finally had a moment's respite. Everyone had left and the two sharing her house were deep in slumber-lands. Feeling the bone-deep lethargy seeping in, Hermione felt her head lolling at an odd angle on the sofa's headrest as her eyes drooped shut, darkening and blackening everything from her consciousness within the fraction of a second.
And that was how Edward found her, her hands wrapped around her middle, as if shielding herself and her head bent oddly on the top of the couch's backrest. He smiled, everything in him warming at that innocent sight.
He set the mug of cocoa down and began walking around the house, switching off all the lights and shutting the few windows that were on the ground floor. He then made his way back to Hermione, completely intending on carrying her to her bed. And if the opportunity presented itself, he knew he'd stand back all night to just watch her sleep.
Stalker a voice sounding very much like Rosalie's sounded in his head, which he promptly and quite unashamedly quelled. Bending at the hip, he went down to hoist Hermione up, yet found himself at the business end of her wand pressed hard unto his face.
"Sweetheart, it's just me."
"What was the last thing you said to me in the woods the other day?"
"What?" Edward was confused and moved to bring her wand down, but Hermione pressed it in further.
"Answer me."
"I said that the only way I could prove to you that we were mates was for me to shag you senseless, for, I'm pretty sure I'd end up marking you, just like your dear friend Luna says. And then, when you tried to run away from me, I told you there was no escaping me since I am the fastest predator there is. Later, when you told me you didn't want to rush into anything and joked about me running out of time, I told you it was my self-control that is running low and that I'm finding it very difficult to control myself around you. Every single time I see you, I just want to pin to the closest flat surface and kiss your adamancy off, so you'd start seeing things my way and let me make you mine sooner rather than later."
"You didn't say the last bit," Hermione blushed, her eyes dropping along with her wand hand.
"No?" Edward smiled. "Well, I can assure you, I sure thought it."
A few quick seconds ticked by. "What was that about, Hermione?"
"Just a precaution to make sure no one was impersonating you."
"Ah," Edward smirked wickedly. "And now that you know it is, in fact, me, what are you planning on doing with me?" he asked huskily, his cold hand brushing the apple of her warm cheek lightly.
Instinctively, Hermione leaned into the touch, yet tried to discreetly rub her thighs together so as not to attract the attention of the vampire beside her who's mere husky tone was eliciting some very naughty reactions from her.
Edward chuckled sinfully. "Not only can I see perfectly even in this darkness, I can smell you too, remember?" he said and placed a hand on one of her thighs, halting her incessant rubbing. Then running his hands over the sides of her denim-clad thighs, he whispered in her ear. "I'm right here, love. For anything and everything that you need from me, I'm right here to give it you..."
He trailed off at that bit and ran the tip of his nose over the side of the slender column of her neck, making her shiver. Then he peppered her throat with soft, light, barely-there butterfly kisses, slowly making his way towards her lips, all the while continuing to run his hand on her thigh, sensitizing her skin there.
Despite all her rebuttals, Hermione moaned deeply and then much to her embarrassment, yawned loudly.
"Oh God!" the muggle phrase escaped her lips, as she smacked her face with both her hands and hid behind them. While Edward stopped his ministrations and laid his forehead on her shoulder, shaking his head and chuckling yet again, though this time it was just that little bit mirthlessly.
"You need to sleep."
"I'm so sorry."
They both spoke together.
"It's alright. You're tired. I shouldn't be keeping you up," Edward replied, as much as I want to... he added in his mind.
"Edward I..." Hermione started to say but quickly trailed off. "No, you're right. I really am tired and should be off to bed," she said instead and stood up.
"I'll give you anything you ask for if you just let me carry you till your bed," Edward offered, his tone hopeful.
Hermione giggled, placed a kiss on the top of his head, a rare feat, since he was much taller than her but right then she was standing and he was still sitting on the couch so she could manage it just fine and went ahead and did it without a second's pause, thought or hesitation.
"Good night, Edward," Hermione wished him and walked away.
"Dream of me, will you?" Edward said to her retreating back.
"As if he's left me any choice..." Hermione muttered under her breath and started her ascent up the stairs.
"Oh and Hermione..." Edward's voice halted her steps. "Remember I come with advance hearing too."
And she could swear she saw him wink as she was pretty sure he saw her blush. She ran up the steps and Edward hit his head on the couch after Hermione had disappeared in the hallway above.
"Now... if only I could return the favor..." He clucked his tongue but shut his eyes nonetheless, letting his imagination take him further if not his dreams...