Bonjour! Paris was good except for two of my friends got food poisoning that went on for like three days. Yeah...put a bit of a dampener of the holiday. But all was good. Met cute boys Vincent and Guilliame. Sadly, they couldn't speak English and I can't really speak French.
Eiffel Tower? BIG. La Lourve? Awesome
Oh, of course I need to say, review, ya hear?
Sorry it's so late. I'm not that reliable when it comes to quick updates. I apologize.
One person got confused about this I think, so I want to clear it up. When I put Dumbledore pov it doesn't mean the Dumbledore, it means the golden trio pov. Ok? Or third person either which.
We've reached Chapter 10. Yay!
Slight gore and illegal drinking in this. (In America you need to be 21 to drink legally. In England its 18. Juno and Ron are 16)
Chapter X - LA PUSH
Nothing. That was all I saw. Nothing. Not even darkness. Not the deep, never ending abyss, the evil that was darkness could not even be related to where I was now... There was Nothing. Not even a sound.
I looked down at my body, and felt it with my hands. I was still there. Same curls. Same slight dent to the collarbone, from a Quidditch accident. Same too prominent ribs. I was even wearing the pajamas I remembered putting on, battered and old as they were. After that, I had just laid down on my bed to read...I couldn't remember anything after that.
I must be dreaming. That was the most simple, most obvious answer that I could think of. But I could tell...I was here for a reason. What that reason was? I need to find that out.
I gingerly took a step forward. Nothing happened. I took another and another. My bare feet made a soft tapping, though I was sure that there was nothing beneath my feet. Well, not that I could see. Suddenly, I got the horrible feeling of being drenched with water. Freezing liquid ran down my back, seeping through my clothes, sticking them to me like a second skin. I spat out the liquid as it ran into my mouth, and pulled my hair off of my face, rubbing my lips together, trying to identify the metallic taste that it had left in my mouth. I froze, my hands gripping my hair, my fingernails digging almost painfully into my scalp.
Blood.
I began to tremble, and pulled my hands away from my head to stare at the large red congealed liquid there. My breathing increased, and I could hear my heartbeat roaring in my ears. Blood. I was covered in it. Drenched in life. Drenched in death. My senses went haywire. The rust and salt smell burned my nose and made my eyes water, and I began to scratch and claw at my body. I clawed at where the blood had settled, but it refused to leave my body; if anything, more appeared in my haste to get it off. I ripped at my clothes, sobbing, tears rolling down my cheeks. I gulped and wailed.
"Come off" I sobbed, falling to my knees, not being able to hold my body any way, without the blood being close to me. The blood seemed to be greatest on my legs, on the origins of my scars, and I squeezed my eyes shut, determined not to look and be disgusted by my own body. "Please…come...off!"
"Oh, Gabriel.... Oh, Gabriel..."
Everything froze. My breathing, my heart, my body. Even my mind went blank. Blood, my weakness, wasn't even a factor anymore. All that I knew and focused on was the soft words, almost like to a lover, whispered through the Nothingness. Right into my ear
"Gabriel?...Why do you cry, Gabriel?"
A pain, a bizarre sharp pain erupted in my head, and I screamed, clasping it. Nothing, not even my mental bond with Tom Riddle, and all the pain and memories and feelings he had sent me, compared to this. It felt like something inside my head, was erupting, determined to break through the boundaries of my mind, and run free.
"GO AWAY!" I screamed, my voice losing its threatening cold edge, as it dissolved into a sob.
Like a bird flying past, something brushed against my cheek and once more…"Sleep...now"
I glanced up, trying to find the now fading voice. He's gone? Please be gone. After what seemed like an age, I was finally able to pull my resisting feet up, and stand. I shook my head, and began to pinch my arms.
"Wake up. I need to wake up" I spun around, looking everywhere, and my heart almost soared at what I saw. A figure, tall, bronze haired…
"Edward" I muttered, tears filling my eyes. Trembling, I ran. "Edward?! Edward!" I ran towards him, and couldn't help smiling through my tears. I grabbed his arm and tried to spin him round. He did in the end. And what I saw shocked me to my very core, more than anything else I had seen here.
Blood congealed and gaping wounds covered his entire body, his torso. A large laceration split his face, destroying the soft marble, that was normally perfect in his own unique way, showing muscle flesh and bone.
"No" I whimpered, stepping back, sobbing. "No, not again" I squeezed my eyes shut, made to open them almost immediately; Edwards image being made to haunt me. He opened his mouth, blood dripping from it incessantly. "No, Edward, please"
"This is all your fault," he rasped.
My eyes snapped open and I jolted up in bed, screaming, finally awake, breathing heavily…to see Edward standing in the corner of my room.
I turned and almost leapt at my side table and flicked on the light. I rooted for my wand, before giving up and turning to look back, the light illuminating the entire room.
The room was entirely empty.
My eyes closed and I buried them in my arms wrapped around my knees. A sheen of sweat lingered on my body, and I shook and trembled, tears beginning to leak through my eyelids.
I never noticed my window was wide open, the curtains blowing in the breezeless air.
Hermione POV
"I was thinking that we should probably take some food with us to La Push tomorrow. Like a picnic…then again, we don't know what the weather would be like"
"Herm-"
"Or if we would even eat there. We might be able to buy food…maybe I should call Jessica, or Mike"
"Hermione…"
"I mean, we never have been there before…what should we bring at all? We've never been. And we have to go surfing…maybe its not entirely a good idea-"
"Hermione, would you just stop and listen to me?!"
Hermione jolted, as she had been racing around the kitchen, looking for something or the other, rambling under her breath. Now, she ceased, and turned to face her sister, who was standing beside the counter opposite her. Her hair was cascading down to her shoulders, falling out of a loose ponytail, her eyes were bloodshot, heavy bags underneath them. There were marks on her face, long pink trails, in sets of five. Hermione had seen Juno like this for morning when the war first ended. When she had the more horrific nightmares, and woke up screaming, crying and pleading for him to be left alone. To be left alone.
It was during those times that they all believed that by winning the war, forcing Juno to endure so many things, they may have cost Juno her sanity and peace of mind.
But after a while, they decreased. Juno became more like her old self. Not entirely the same, as so many weeks were full of attending funerals and journeying in and out of the Ministry to ensure that the right people were in Azkaban and the wrong people were set free. She still had a few nightmares though, that was inevitable. Hermione even had a few, and Ron had woken up numerous times distraught at the memory of Fred's near death at the hands of a Death Eater. Thankfully, he had awoken a day after the war, good as new.
But Hermione didn't now they would revert back to their worst. Not when Juno was getting so much better.
"What is it?"
"Has anything happened?" Juno asked, her eyes wild. "Are you ok? Is Ron?"
"Yeah, he's in the shower. School starts soon, so tell me quick-"
"I need to warn them" Juno began to muttered, wringing her hands. "If he's going to be here, I have to warn someone" she froze, and nodded. "I have to go warn Edward"
"Edward?!" Hermione asked, shocked, as she followed her sister out into the hall. "What does Edward have to do with anything?!"
Juno ran towards the door where her jacket and keys were. "Yeah. I saw it, Herm. I saw Edward. He…he's going to have the same done to him as…" she took a deep shuddering breath. "I can't let it happen again!"
"Juno. Juno" Hermione said, grabbing her sisters hands, and forcing her to stand still. She pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, looking her directly in the eye. "Tell me right from the beginning what has happened. There is time," she added, forcefully, as Juno opened her mouth to argue.
Juno closed her eyes, and taking a deep breath, opened them once again. "I had this…dream. But I don't think it was a dream"
"Juno, you've had nightmares fo-"
"No, no, no" Juno muttered, shaking her head frantically, her loose curls bouncing. "This was different. Really different. It felt real. Like when I had nightmares…visions when…me and Voldemort were connected mentally. They felt real"
"W-well, what happened? Juno, I need to know" Hermione pleaded, squeezing her hands gently.
"I…uh…I was somewhere…I don't know where. It was just dark. I couldn't see, and then…there was blood. Herm, it was everywhere. I panicked, I couldn't –couldn't do anything. I couldn't breathe"
"Ok, ok" Hermione said frantically, reaching forward and pulling her into her arms, and holding her tight. The slightly smaller girl shook incessantly, her nails digging into Hermione's arms as she clutched her as tight as she could, and Hermione made soothing sounds.
Juno had also become Haemophobic(1) at some during the past year, roughly around the same time her worst nightmares started after the war, but had been an easier result to deal with; injuries were scarce, except when Juno herself fell over or injured herself, but they were such minor injuries, that her heart rate merely increased and it was harder for her to breathe. But if the injuries were more severe, and there was more blood, her reaction was worse.
As there were so many injuries in the Last Battle (Percy, Ron's brother who had distanced himself from the family during the war, suffered a severe head wound), Juno could barely go anywhere when they stayed at Hogwarts for two weeks after the war, until they moved into the abandoned Privet Drive (Juno's aunt and uncle had brought a much more 'appropriate' house closer to London, and it would be sold. Until then they were welcome to live there). The Hospital Wing was full to bursting point with patients so they were being treated anywhere there was room. And with so many injuries, and blood Juno couldn't cope. When she was there when Percy's dressings were being changed, Hermione thought she would never stop crying.
No one knew the direct cause of her haemophobia. The one psychiatrist she agreed to visit, before leaving the office in a rage, said it was a built up of the war, and they would need to help her through it. The only way they could do that was keep her away from blood. They could think of no other way when she wouldn't tell them why it had occurred, and when she refused their help.
"What happened next?" Hermione asked, wishing she didn't have to.
"I heard this voice" Juno muttered, her face still in Hermione's shoulder, almost too scared to raise her head. "it was in my head. Then it was like echoing around me. I-I don't know what it was saying. But it didn't stay long. And then…then, there was Edward, and he- he-"
"Its ok, its ok. I understand, you don't have to say anymore," Hermione said, stroking the brunette's hair. She took a deep breath, before pulling away from Juno. She held onto her shoulders. "Maybe you should stay home today. You obviously haven't slept, and in such a state. Maybe you should just go back to bed, and maybe we can talk more later. And If you feel better…"
Juno blinked, her emerald eyes swimming with tears, and shock. "What? Am I not allowed to tell my best friend that she can skip school?" Hermione joked. "I am still human, you know"
Juno gave a small smile before she nodded slightly. She brushed off one of the remaining tears.
"I won't work tonight. Me and Ron will come straight home. And I'll call Diane and say you aren't well, so you wont have to worry about work either" she waited until Juno gave a shaky nod. "Ok. Now back to bed" Juno made to move, but Hermione held out her arm. "Hey" she said, making the brunette look her directly in the eyes. "If you need to tell me anything, you can. But I want you to know that we are safe and so is Edward. Nothing bad is going to happen to any of us"
Edward POV
Alice closed her glazed over eyes, and opened them again, before shaking her head, an understanding smile on her face. "Juno isn't coming to school today"
Edwards's head snapped up so fast, if he wasn't a vampire, he was sure it would've snapped right off. "What?"
Alice just shook her head, from where she sat on Jaspers lap on the other side of the kitchen table. "She's not going to be in school today" she repeated. She saw Edwards stricken face, and shook her head. "She's fine, don't worry. She'll be back on Monday. She just wont be in today"
"Why? What's wrong with her?" Edward asked, so many different scenarios flashing through his head. Alice just shrugged.
Edward scowled, his sister definitely not helping him. Obviously she knew, otherwise she would be even slightly anxious as well. But naturally, for some reason she refused to say. He dimly felt Jasper edging out calming emotions, but it barely affected him. He frowned. What could possibly be wrong with his mate?!
Carlisle came in at that moment, just before leaving for the hospital, before he noticed his 'youngest sons' more stoic than usual appearance. "What's wrong?"
"Juno is missing one day off school, so Edward is panicking" Alice sighed. "Cant you just trust me when I say she is fine?"
"She might not be" Edward began to rant. "She told me she hurts herself loads. She's never actually gotten ill before; she only suffers actual severe injuries. That's why she has so many scars"
"Edward!" Rosalie snapped from out in the hall. "We have to go!"
Edward shook his head. His thoughts began even more severe, the scenarios worsening by the second.
He jolted, as a smaller hand was placed upon his larger one. "Edward" Alice said, slowly. "We do need to keep up appearances. Believe me, she's fine. She's just having an off day. Loads of humans do. You go see her at night. Cant you just wait a few hours?"
"Fine" Edward snapped, grabbing his coat and stalking out of the kitchen. Alice sighed, as her and her blond mate rose from the chair.
"Honestly" she muttered to Jasper. "I feel sorry for Juno. She definitely has to put up with that for ever"
"I heard that!"
Juno POV
I sighed, rubbing my forehead, signing off my name on my last letter. I folded the piece of parchment in half and then into quarters, slipping it into one of the envelopes, and leaned across my desk towards the stamp. I pressed it deep into the small vial of hot wax, before dripping it upon the slit. It hissed briefly. "Hush" I pushed down the stamp, for a second before withdrawing. The Potter family crest, a lion entwined rose thorns, gleamed in the blood coloured wax. I turned the letter over, and printed on the front with my raven feather quill:
LUNA LOVEGOOD
RAVENCLAW COMMON ROOM
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
I sighed, happily, pushing away my chair before turning to my window, where a barn owl was waiting patiently on the windowsill. I jumped over yesterday's clothes, which would lie there for a while, and clasped the letter to the barn owls pouch.
"Ok" I muttered, softly. "You deliver this straight to Luna now, you hear? I know its far away but don't let me down ok?"
The owl ruffled its feathers, and nipped my finger a lot less than affectionate and flied out of the open window. I sighed, thinking how wrong it was to see a brown owl fly from my window, when Hedwig, a pure white owl I had for seven years, always sent my letters, until she was killed by Death Eaters when we were fleeing from my Aunts house last summer.
I shook myself. I need to take my mind off everything related to that. To everything. My nightmares were getting too much. They were becoming too real. They were like the ones I had when the bond still existed between me and Voldemort. I slammed the window shut with way too much force, causing it to shatter in places. I ignored the broken glass that littered my floor, and walked backwards until my legs hit the back of my bed. I sat down onto it.
He couldn't be back. That was just ludicrous. I knew it was impossible for him to be back. My scar hadn't hurt in months, since the last Horcrux was destroyed in my suicide attempt. I hadn't had the odd and vile moments were Voldemort and I were almost one and I felt his emotions. Anger. Ecstatic brief happiness. Murder intent. So powerful, I felt the own urge to murder my friends. To purge the Wizarding world of unnecessary tainted filth.
That feeling had been strong. Too strong. I had shared a vision with Nagini, the only other, a large python belonging directly under Voldemort's watchful gaze, in which she attacked and almost murdered Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, a person who was very dear to us all.
The aftermath of the break in the barriers between our two minds, had led me to want to murder and destroy my headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. After being taken to Grimmauld place, a property belonging to Sirius, now my own, I, only with the youngest Weasley children, had overhead members of the order of the phoenix, the Light Side in the War, talking about how I wasn't Seeing the present: I was being possessed by Voldemort.
Hours of contemplating on how I could wake up, and look to the next bed, and just see nothing but flesh and blood, what remained of Ginny Weasley, and what could happen to anyone else in the house, I did what I really wish I didn't have to do; I ran away from home.
Home had never been a word to me. Living with neglect and despair for a large majority of my life, I had never learnt the proper meaning. I would call Hogwarts my home, but even there I never felt completely safe as you should in a home. Now, glaring around at this very room, this place would never be my home. Just temporary, like all the others.
My home would never be an establishment. My home would be my family. So I ran. I left them. Ron had been scared to be around me, even now he would deny it, but the fear was obvious in the way he feared to be around me, or if I intended to murder someone else in his family. With them not wanting me, but me wanting them, I left. No one noticed I was gone until two hours later when Mrs Weasley came looking for me when it was time to eat dinner.
I was miles away from Privet Drive, which was the only place I could think of (I feared returning to Hogwarts in case I hurt Lavender or Parvati, or even Hermione just before she left for her Christmas holiday), and my broomstick was currently hidden within the cupboard of a frogs office back at school, I spent two days on the streets, the majority spent in the London Underground.
Remus and Tonks had found me, obviously alerted by Dumbledore, when I had to Stun a homeless man when he tried to force himself upon me. Before I could question them to see if they were real, or Death eaters in disguise, Remus had Apparated me back to Grimmauld Place, the experience so awful, I was happy that I hadn't eaten that day.
I was brought back in the middle of Mrs Weasley's normal hysterical behavior when anyone was in any remote danger, Ron's usual cursing in such a situation and Sirius' blazing anger. Dumbledore thankfully hadn't been there. Even now, even though I forgave him for his obliviousness, I still couldn't stand to see that twinkle and disappointment and a feeling of that he wasn't surprised about my behavior.
Molly tried to hug me, obviously pleased, as was the others, but Sirius got to me first. But he didn't hug me. He struck me.
Sirius never showed any aggressive nature towards me at all after that, as the bruise lingered on my cheek for a week afterwards. He looked so ashamed with himself whenever he saw me and Mrs Weasley had made sure he noticed it at every chance she could. After he hit me, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had taken me upstairs, while I was still in shock to talk to me, leading into a similar argument we had had the previous summer, we could hear Mrs Weasley ranting for hours. Sirius never said a word.
Afterwards, hours after my beloved guardians death I had heard that I could never be possessed by Voldemort. Why? Simple. I loved. I loved all my friends, I loved Sirius. As long as I held such deep love and devotion within my heart, I couldn't be possessed by Voldemort. Swayed? Yes. Manipulated? All the time. But not possessed by anyone as long as I loved.
I wished I had always had that information. Then I wouldn't have left even for such a short period, in a time where it was even dangerous for me to leave the castle. I wouldn't have such a terrible memory of Sirius. I wouldn't have Molly still insisting that he was a dangerous man, even though he has long been dead.
I wouldn't have begun to doubt my friends loyalty in my abilities. I wouldn't begin to believe that people were afraid of me. Even after the war, Hermione and Ron were wary of my control and behavior. Every time I had a nightmare, they pressed me to forget them, as of now, they weren't important. They were purely my mental ramblings of the past. They were no longer prophetic. Useful.
They didn't know what I had been through when I went off the fight Voldemort, and came back limp in Hagrid's arms, who was weeping, supposedly dead. They didn't know what occurred before and after that act. They didn't know the full extent of Voldemort's thrall over me, and how deeply he had affected my life. How his alliances with the even darker and dreaded forces of our world had shook mine.
He wasn't back I knew that. This other person in my dreams…the one who called me Gabriel…he's not stronger. But…
He still may be worse.
Edward POV
Edward Cullen sat beside his youngest sister and her mate on the sofa, Emmett on the chair opposite, Rosalie on his lap. All were watching the TV, while Edward was watching his siblings, in nothing but jealousy.
He wished Juno could be here. Sitting on his lap like Rosalie was with Emmett, or even holding his hand, and leaning against his shoulder like Alice was with Jasper. Just to be near here would be fine for him.
He had even talked to her brother for the first time that very day. Him and Hermione had been beside the three way shared locker, and had approached them much to both of their surprise, and Ronald's annoyance. He had lied to them, quite well he thought himself, and had said he thought he and Juno were studying after school and wondered where she was. Ronald had been nothing but short and angry with him, with a mere 'She's at home'.
Hermione, however, had been kind to him. With a stern 'Ron!' and his immediate withdrawal from the conversation, she had explained that Juno wasn't well, and she believed she might have a virus. She had lied.
Her thoughts were hurried and slightly panicking, contrasting greatly with her calm yet only slightly worried expression.
"God, I hope she actually is alright. She was just awful this morning...I shouldn't have left her alone…if she really thinks someone's after her and making her think and see these things. Its ludicrous, but she was always right about these things…she's made so many enemies these past years…oh, now she thinks Edward is in danger from him…oh why did she have to care about him?"
Questions flittered back and forth through his mind as he left the two siblings and still went back and forth in his head now. Who was this person she thoguth was after her? How did she make so many enemies? What was so wrong with Juno that Hermione was upset to leave her alone? And why exactly did the fact Juno seemed to care for Edward upset Hermione?
Edward sighed, closing his eyes, and rubbing his temples, to try and ease the rush of thoughts. He had never been more confused in his entire life than he had become when he found his wonderful yet extremely difficult mate. And he'd only known her for seven weeks!
A soft ringing was heard in the other room, but all the siblings ignored it, Alice only turning her head towards the noise, before leaning back against Jasper, sighing contentedly. Esme picked it up instead.
"Hello?…Oh, no this isn't Edward, this is his mother…of course, you can speak to him…what is your name again?…oh! Of course!" Esme came into the room immediately, a smile on her beautiful face, almost shaking with excitement. She held out the cordless phone towards Edward, who blinked at it, wondering who he had ever given the number to. "Its Juno"
Edward snatched it from her hands and put it to his ear, not noticing that his siblings were not looking at the TV but at him, Rosalie somewhat put out. Esme sat beside him on the arm of the sofa.
"Juno?" Edward asked into the phone.
Juno sighed in relief. "Hi, Edward"
He almost sighed in relief himself. She was ok. She seemed tired if her breathing was to show anything, but thankfully she was ok. He became aware that his brothers were smirking at the smile on his face, his mother and sister smiling, while Rosalie's scowl deepened even further. He made to leave the sofa, but Alice shook her head, gesturing that they wanted to listen. "Anywhere you go, we will hear you" Edward scowled in return and defeat, but turned to look away from all of them.
"Are you ok? Your siblings said you weren't well"
"Wait…you actually talked to my brother? And you weren't scared of him? My word!"
"I'm not scared of Ronald" Edward pressed, earnestly, as his brothers laughed, as did Juno. He sighed, and stood, leaving the room, as quickly as he could; this didn't take long and He sat down on the couch within his tiny bedroom, elbows on his knees, eyes dead on the floor. "But that aside…are you ok? Hermione seemed worried"
"Um…well…I'm ok now. I was just a bit off today…I had some…stuff do deal with"
"Have you? Dealt with the stuff you needed to?" There was silence on the other end of the phone, Juno's slightly uneven breathing and a tapping of a pen all he could hear. He closed his eyes in despair. What possibly could his mate be going through?
"Edward?"
-He wished he could read her mind. He would be at her house in less than ten minutes –
"…you there?"
-He would hold her to him like they both needed to. He would find out everything. Everything that haunted her. He would tell her exactly what he was.
"…taking off my shirt…"
-He would deal with whoever this stranger was, no matter who and what they were to Juno. He needed to protect her-
"…over and ravish me…"
He rubbed his brow with the tips of his fingers, the phone still clutched in his hands, but he ignored it. Maybe he should go-
He jolted as pure noise shattered through the phone. A distortion of an electric guitar, an incessant drumbeat and a high-pitched screaming. He pulled it away from his ear, glaring at it. "Hey!"
The sound diminished almost instantly. "Are you there?"
"of course, I'm here"
"Oh, you weren't talking though, and I swear you weren't breathing. I said a lot of stuff that would normally get a reaction out of people"
"Like…?"
She paused. "I'm not repeating," she said quickly. "You're ok, right?"
Edward frowned, leaning forward off his sofa. "Why wouldn't I be ok?" Silence. "Juno? Talk to me"
"I…I think I had a dream about you last night, but…I don't remember. But…umm…don't worry about it. I was just…worried about you"
Edward couldn't help the small smile that stretched across his face. "I was worried about you too today"
"Well…I'm ok. And you're ok too" Edward could almost hear her smile. "Umm…if I feel better tomorrow…well, my family are going up to this beach called La Push with some of the kids at school…Hermione is going to be busy, and Ron is going to go off and try surfing. So if you weren't doing anything…I'm going to most likely be on my own, so…do you want to go? It would be cool to talk to you"
Edwards grip tightened to an almost breaking point onto the phone. La Push…the wolves. So many thoughts took over his mind once again for the infinite time that night. What if the wolves smelt him on her? They sent so much time together and he was proud to know that she had been marked by him already. His scent marking her as his own. But what if the wolves warned her? Told her what their family was? They weren't ready. She wasn't ready to know that yet. What if she rejected him? He didn't know if he would survive loosing her after having her. Even for this amount of time.
"Sorry" he croaked out, his voice hoarse. "I have some family things to take care of tomorrow myself. Sorry"
"…Oh. Don't worry about it" he heard loud tapping of glass on her end of the phone. "Sorry, Edward. I have to go now. So I'll see you Monday?"
"Bye, Juno. Don't go hurting yourself" there was a small giggle before the phone line went dead.
"I'll kill them wolves if they jeopradise this"
Juno POV
I muttered, furiously under my breath, in what I was sure was cursing in Parseltongue, from the hisses that spurted from my lips, and slightly lagged behind Ron and Hermione, who walked hand in hand towards Newton Olympic Outfitters store, a store I had seen and passed by frequently but never had to go in. I knew what I was getting into when I had agreed to this little outing. I knew I would have to endure Mike's endless almost nauseating hanging to my every word, and the numerous glares I would get from anyone who wasn't male or Herm. The day had begun bad, with incessant nightmares throughout the night, and the lingering static on my cheek that I thought was Edward touching my face in the night, a thought immediately shot out. Also the startling arrival of the sun in the normally vacant sky had only worsened my mood.
I pulled my unnecessary jacket closer around myself, spotting Mikes suburban and the group crowded around it. Immediately, I could see Laurens scowl and the droop in Jessica's shoulders at my appearance. I never knew what to say to her anymore. Her and mike are so obviously suited, its stupid that he hadn't realized it yet. He and Ron were almost entirely the same, except I was stuck halfway through an irrelevant equation. I wasn't at fault, nor was it my problem, that he had become my own personal, annoying puppy.
Said puppy grinned as he saw us. "You guys came"
"Told you we would" Ron said.
"Are we going to be leaving soon?" Hermione asked.
Mike nodded. "Not unless you guys invited everybody?" the other two shook their heads, while I began to discreetly place a headphone in my ear, trying to hide the cord in my mass of curls that I hadn't even attempted to tame that morning.
"J.D?" Mike asked, blissfully. "You can ride shotgun". I nodded and followed the group, where we dispersed into three separate cars. Ron and Hermione went into Tyler's Sentra and just as I was about to climb into the front seat, I turned and grabbed a shocked Jessica, wedging her in between mike and me. Ignoring mikes crestfallen look, I couldn't help but smile and feel better about myself to Jessica.
It took about 15 minutes to reach La Push, and the dense green forest of the outskirts of Forks wound through most of the road, the river, I had forgotten the name, wound beneath it twice. The windows thankfully had been rolled down – claustrophobia began to settle in with so many people – and I tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
I'd only ever been to a beach once, mostly due to the fact the Dursley's hoped I would drown and get lost when I did ever go. After the one and very horrifying time, where I set fire to the picnic basket without magic due to my aunts surprise, I had never been allowed to go again, and had to endure many hours with Mrs Figg, my old neighbour who had a severe affiliation with cats. In my teen years I had spent most of the year either at Hogwarts, where there was only mountains and a giant lake inhabited by the Giant Squid, or at the Burrow in the countryside, or wandering around Little Whinging. I had had to make do with the beaches I saw on television, with golden sand and a deep aquamarine sea.
This was nothing like them.
I had to say I wasn't really that surprised. All of Forks was grey and the weather today wasn't perfectly ideal for a day at the beach. Though I would have to admit it was still breathtaking. The water was a deep grey, even with the small rays of sunlight, and the white capped waves hit the bottom of the cliffs and the rocky shore, making a soft whooshing noise every time it hit. There was a small stretch of sand just next to the shore, but the rest of the beach was covered in large grey slabs, but when up close, they were such an array of colours: blue gray, dull gold, soft amber. The tide line was strewn driftwood trees, bleached bone white from the waves.
We picked our way down to the beach, Hermione and Ron hurrying to walk beside me.
"This looks wonderful doesn't it?" Hermione asked, smiling brightly. I nodded, while Ron merely shrugged.
"It's alright," he muttered. He leaned closer to me. "Still wished we were back in England some times, so we can do Quidditch" I gave an odd jerk of the head.
"Only for a little longer, ok?" I muttered back. He remained silent and Hermione rambled on aimlessly about the beach.
There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon there was a small teepee shaped construction built upon the old cinders. I dropped my backpack a fair distance away from it, Ron and Hermione doing the same.
"Have you seen a driftwood fire?" Mike asked, as I sat on one of the bone bleached benches, Ron and Hermione either side of me, Mike kneeling beside the fire. He lit one of the sticks with a cigarette lighter.
"Yeah" I replied. "We've gone camping a lot" Ron nodded in agreement.
Mike wiped the slight crestfallen look of his face quickly. "You'll like this, anyway – watch the colours" He lit another of the small branches, placing it beside the first.
"It's blue?"
"It's the salt from the water" Hermione chipped in. Ron rolled his eyes as she burst into an explanation. I leaned closer to the red head.
"I think it was better when she just talked about magic. At least then it was interesting" He just shrugged, obviously not wanting Hermione on his case. Mike had had his attention quickly claimed by Jessica, while Hermione whittered on to the only person polite enough to listen: Angela.
I claimed Ron's attention for almost half an hour, longer than I had in a while, not talking about what we really wanted to talk about since we were surrounded by Muggles, but it was enough. Some of the other boys talked about hiking near the tide pools, Ron saying he would go, me not sure until Lauren decided she wasn't going to go. Barely any of the other girls were wearing the proper attire to go hiking. Angela and Jessica decided to join (possibly because of Eric and Mike), and I grabbed Hermione's hand, and she came willingly enough seeing who was staying behind.
"This place is really cool," I said, looking around, as we walked through the woods, linking my arm with Hermione's.
"Reminds me too much of the Forbidden Forest" Ron muttered, edging closer to Hermione's other side. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, Ronald"
"Don't worry, Ron. I'll look after you. I wont let the big bad tree roots get you"
Hermione's laugh rang in my ears for a while after that, as well as Ron's outraged yells. Naturally, that was replaced with laughter as I ended up tripping over the tree root myself.
!"£$%^
After a while, everyone, especially Ron, got too hungry to stay much longer, so Ron supporting me, we made our way back through the woods, Hermione pretty much hissing at me angrily, holding blood covered tissues. I glared at her with as much ice as I could muster, as I limped, Ron's arms around my waist, and she did wince slightly. But sadly, being incredibly stubborn, she continued to rant.
"…I mean, honestly, Juno. Can you for once look where you are going? In the past year, you have gotten a ludicrous amount of injuries. Well" she added, quickly, at mine and Ron's reproachful looks. "Obviously with" she dropped her voice, so the others couldn't hear, seeing as they were too close. "the war, it was understandable. You got" she paled slightly, and shook her head. "They were horrific, but silly ones like these, can easily be prevented. So look were you're going. And you can't even stand the sight or smell of blood, so that makes it even wo-"
"Just leave it Hermione" Ron snapped, forcefully. Hermione fell silent, a frown marring her face.
When we got back to First Beach, the group that had remained seemed to have multiplied. As we got closer we saw the newcomers had shining straight black hair, and copper skin, obviously teenagers from the reservation. The food was already being passed around, and the boys hurried to claim their share, Ron waiting until I had sat down, before doing so. One of the others who had remained behind, I had forgotten their name, began to tell us the names of the newcomers, while I had to deal with Mike's questions if I was ok. At the sound of my name, a boys head looked up in interest but I ignored it, choosing to curse at Hermione as she began to rub antiseptic onto the long graze on my knee.
Ron came back a minute or two later to sit on my other side, and shoved some of the food we had brought onto my lap. "I put some Bertie Botts, and Pumpkin Pasties in there. Just don't let anyone else see"
I grinned and began to open the packets, just catching that one of the girls was called Jessica and the boy who had looked at me was called Jacob. That seemed familiar…
We spent the next few minutes just sitting in silence, eating the food that we had brought with us. I had removed my coat, revealing one of my old Dudley shirts, causing a hissed comment or two from Lauren when I could obviously hear. I began to think about how our time in forks seemed to go incredibly fast. We had already been here for seven weeks and already wormed our way into the most popular group in school, whether we wanted to or not, and I already had gotten into a deep –
"You're J. Dumbledore, right?"
I jumped as someone sat beside me, where Ron had been just before. Jacob grinned at me, while I blinked in shock. He was my age, possibly a year or two older, and had long glossy black hair, longer than mine, pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. His skin was beautiful. Silky and a wonderful russet coloured, with dark eyes, set deep onto high cheekbones.
"You ok?" he asked, looking slightly concerned.
"Yeah, a little fazed, but pretty good" I replied.
Hermione sensed my shock. "Ron went to attempt surfing down there," she explained, gesturing down the beach. She couldn't hide her slightly hurt tone and look, and neither could I.
"Oh. Ok" I turned back to Jacob, who seemed intent on staying there. "You can call me J.D. You get on my good side for long enough, you can call me Juno".
"I'm Jacob Black," he said, holding out a friendly hand. "You bought my truck"
"Oh, yeah" I recalled, shaking his hand. "Nice to see you again, Jacob"
Hermione POV
Hermione glanced towards her sister, who sat beside one of the La Push residents. A good-looking boy called Jacob. According to Ron, just before he went to attempt surfing with the others, said that he was the one they bought the truck from, and apparently he seemed to have an instant crush on Junie. This one, Junie was oblivious too. She sat there laughing, being as free as she was at home, talking to Jacob as easily as she talked to Ron or any of the other Weasley's. Hermione couldn't blame her though. Jacob had an almost calming vibe and seemed relatively easier to talk to than any of the other boys.
"So, Herm, is it?" Jacob asked, leaning around Juno and turning to Hermione.
"Hermione" she corrected him, smiling. "And you're Jacob? And you're the boy Juno and Ron brought the hunk of metal from?"
Jacob laughed while Juno frowned. "It is a perfectly good car thank you very much"
"Have you tried going over sixty?"
"No, not really"
"Good. Then don't"
Hermione laughed, as did Juno who broke out in her usual goofy grin. Lauren, a girl who Hermione severely disliked and she knew Juno did too, decided to throw in her two Galleons, in an obviously insolent tone.
"So, you know Hermione and J.D, Jacob?"
"Oh, yeah" Jacob grinned. He slapped Juno on the back, playfully. "Me and J go way back"
Lauren's fishy eyes were obviously not as amused as everyone else. Hermione sighed and pulled out her emergency book from her rucksack, and opened it at the marked page.
"Oh, J.D" Hermione suppressed a sigh. The girl was so incorrigible it was ridiculous. "I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullen's could come out today" she smirked, maliciously at Juno. "Didn't anyone think to invite them? You're…close to Edward, aren't you?"
"Do you mean Dr Carlisle Cullen's family?" said a boy who had come with Jacob, who was possibly much more of a man than a boy.
"Yes, do you know them?" Lauren asked, condescendingly, turning half towards him.
"The Cullen's don't come here," the man-boy said, his tone ending the conversation. Lauren ignored him and turned back to Tyler, and Juno, after frowning at him for a moment or two, but realizing he wasn't going to broach on the subject, turned back to Jacob. Hermione however kept her attention on him.
He himself was ignoring her, and staring off into the dark forest behind them. The Cullen's don't come here…a simple statement obviously, but there was something beneath that message, beneath his tone. The Cullen's don't come there, because they weren't allowed to. They were prohibited. Hermione frowned, continuing to turn over that brief comment, before a strike of inspiration struck her. It was a stupid plan, but Jacob seemed kind enough to agree. She just needed to get rid of Juno for a minute or two. And keep Ron away so he doesn't get the wrong end of the stick.
Still frowning, Juno moved over to Hermione as Jacob turned to talk to the other boy.
"Hey" she said, leaning back against Hermione's backpack, and dropping her head onto her shoulder. She sighed, pulling off her woolen hat, her hair static. "Why did Ron go?" she asked. It surprised Hermione hearing how small Juno sounded.
Hermione shook her head, turning the page of Draculaby Bram Stocker. (Once again, she had to explain to Ron, she was reading it to gain the Muggle mans point of view on Dracula. Especially, such an intriguing book as this) "I don't particularly know. We have been having an argument or two more than normal…" she sighed and decided to tell Juno what had grievously bothered her relationship with Ron. "He wont tell Molly that we're together"
Juno's head snapped up instantly. She glanced around, and seeing no one paying them any attention, looked back. "Why not? Ginny knows. I think all the Weasley's know. Well, except Molly and Arthur obviously"
"Well, mostly it's because of you"
"What?! What do you mean, because of me?!" she hissed, her emerald eyes flaring in slight anger. "Why wouldn't you say that the two of you are in a committed relationship, because of me?!"
"Well…" Hermione muttered, blushing, and fidgeting under her stony gaze. "We said that you and me were sharing a room, because we didn't want them to know the full extent of our relationship" Juno nodded, understanding that, but her eyes remained slits. "And…because you and Ron have been a lot closer than you and me and me and him growing up, I always overheard Molly talking to Ginny, thinking…" she took a deep breath, looking extremely solemn. "That you and him were going to get together, and not him and me"
Juno remained silent, not moving at all. "You wont tell them because of me? Because they think Ron and me should be together? He's like my brother. He is my brother! It would be like incest for me to get together with him. It would feel like it anyway!"
"I want to tell them! We're in a deep relationship, and because Molly does feel like you are her daughter in law already, doesn't mean we should keep our relationship from her" Hermione shook her head again. "She will just have to deal with it," she muttered, defiantly, slamming her book shut.
Juno shook her head. "'We'?"
"I'm sorry?"
Juno shook her head, pulling her hat back on. She stood. "I think I'm going to go for a walk. My knee doesn't hurt so much anymore. Better walk so it doesn't seize up" she gave a small wave, and a soft smile, and began to walk past the group.
"Take your coat!" Hermione called after her.
Juno scoffed, but smiling as she did so, grabbing her large jacket from beside Hermione. "Yes, mum" she joked, before finally setting off, pulling on the jacket.
Juno POV
I shook my head at the sight. Ron, wearing one of those atrocious wetsuits I saw Mike in, leaving too little to the information, and sitting on one of the large stones, holding a small bag, and oddly triumphant. He stood, just as I neared him.
"She said we"
Ron jolted at my words, swore, dropping the bag, which clanged like it was holding tins, on his foot, before turning to look at me. "What? What was that?" he asked, hopping up and down and rubbing the offended foot.
"Herm. She said we" I began, my voice strangely hoarse. "Like 'we're in a deep relationship'. And its not like 'oh, we're just dating' thing type of we, or 'we're best friends' we, like it used to be. It was like…'we're going to get married, and stay together for the rest of our lives'…That kind of we" I shifted from foot to foot, while Ron blinked at me, his blue eyes blurred with confusion. They cleared as his ears burnt red. He understood my words. I gulped, never feeling as nervous around Ron as I did now. It used to be easy to talk to him about anything. Unless it was way too personal. But since our trust began to deteriorate and he and Hermione grew closer and we grew apart, it was much harder to talk to the man I called 'brother'.
"You're going to marry her, aren't you?" I asked, looking him directly in the eye.
He blinked, before nodding. "Yeah. Yeah"
I nodded, sitting down where I stood, a few feet away from him. He stood there nervously a few times, before he stepped forward gingerly. He sat opposite me, pulling the bag closer to him.
"You want a beer?"
"Beer? Where the hell did you get beer?" I asked, my eyes comically wide. He shrugged, muttered something about Mike, and passed me a blue can. I tapped it, a bit hesitant, before snapping the top. "Ew" I muttered, as it frothed, before taking a slight sip. It wasn't the best taste in the world.
"I think I am going to marry her, June" he muttered, taking a sip himself. He paled considerably. "If I am completely honest…That terrifies me"
"What? Why?"
"I'm not even seventeen, and I've only had two girlfriends. The first was…Well, you know Lavender. She was insane" he added, chuckling. I couldn't help but grin.
"I was actually going to help you file a restraining order to keep her away from me. I had to share a dormitory with her. She kept me up almost every night going on about you, her dear Won Won, and wondering whether me, as an outsider, thought your relationship was 'serious'" I added real air quotes, as I pretended to gag, Ron laughing boisterously at my expression. Lavender had been a nice enough girl, not particularly a close friend of mine, more like an acquaintance whose presence I lived with for five or six years. But since she began her…for lack of a better word, obsession with Ron, she had become intolerable. And with Hermione in the same dormitory all the time as well, I rarely saw my best friend when we had to sleep; she had stayed in the library till late and got up early just to avoid Lavender outside of lessons.
"But, you have to admit, Ron" I said, pulling off my hat. "Herm, no matter how controlling and stubborn she is sometimes, I can't think of anyone better for you"
Ron smiled at me. "Really?"
"Yeah. She can do better. You cant"
Ron shoved me hard in the ribs, and I shoved back, laughing.
"I know she will be my wife" I blinked at such a blunt statement, but nodded, allowing him to continue. "I know she will have my children. Its just…sometimes…I think like my life is already over. Like I wont be able to do anything else"
"What?!" I snapped, jumping up and standing in front of him. He made a pointed show of looking at everything but me, and seemed incredibly interested in his fingernails on his left hand. "Hey!" He refused to look at me. "Hey, Weasel!" I cried, taking a leaf out of the Malfoy's books. That caught his attention, and he looked up to glare right at me, his ears beginning to burn red. After hearing that insult almost daily from Draco Malfoy back at school, it always hit home whenever even I had the nerve to say it to him.
"You seriously think Hermione Granger, the girl who has been in love with you since she probably met you, who would do anything for you and puts up with all the crap we do. You think she would marry you straight away and have so many babies? And stop you from living your dreams? She won't force you to have a family. She's not your mum," I added, kicking a pebble.
Ron snorted at that and it took all my strength not to smile either. I kept scowling at him. "Hermione wont make this relationship incredibly serious, incredibly fast Ron. Though I have to admit, you guys are going pretty fast already. That's just my idea"
"It's just…what if it wont work out, or something as well…I mean, Hermione, she is perfect but… what…" he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "What if she won't want me? I couldn't put her through so much to have it just fall apart at a later date" he sighed, throwing his almost full can away, knocking mine over in the process.
"I guess it is like that…or you will have everything you ever wanted since you were eleven years old" I sat back down, careful of the stains. "First, you tell your parents. Soon"
He nodded. He muttered, kicking the cans. We sat in silence for I don't even know how long. But it was a comfortable silence.
"Remember…when we were ten," I said. Ron's head shot up instantly. "We locked that troll in the bathroom with Hermione"
"Yeah" Ron grinned. "We had to blow up the bathroom to save her. It was our fault she was in there anyway"
"No, it was your fault. You made her cry"
"I did not!"
"I suffered most in that. I got troll bogeys all over my wand!"
"Well, you shouldn't have shoved it up the trolls nose!"
"I was being hung upside down by it, that was the easiest part I could reach. I couldn't do magic, all the blood had rushed to my head"
Ron shook his head, scratching his long nose. "Sometimes, I do wish we were back at Hogwarts. Ut then again if we were, it would be like normal. All the crazy stuff that happened to us was because of you and You-Know-Who. Now he's gone, it would be pretty dull"
"I guess. I didn't really think of it. I just…wanted a break"
Ron nodded, his smile fading. "We all did really. You were the only person who said it" at my face, he immediately brightened. "Anyway, we can just take our NEWTS in the summer or after that. We pretty much know it all anyway" he puffed up arrogantly. "We were the best students who defeated You-Know-Who"
I rolled my eyes and shoved him, jumping to my feet when he fell back. "So you helped defeat the darkest wizard of all time," I said, my eyes glinting mischievously. "Yet you cant seem to defeat your smaller little best friend? Well that looks all very well, doesn't it, Ronald?"
"Oi!" he said, grabbing for me. I darted past his hand and ran down the beach, Him following me.
"June, if you hurt yourself again, Hermione is going to do her nut!"
"Who cares?"
Hermione POV
"Jacob?" he looked up at Hermione and grinned at her. She tried to copy Fleur's habit of looking at people from underneath her eyelashes. "Do you want to do for a walk down the beach with me?" she knew it wouldn't have the same effect as Fleur's did on most men, but Jacob still nodded and stood up happily enough.
They pulled on their jackets, Hermione pulling on a hat, they began to walk north down the beach across the multihued stones towards the driftwood, Hermione ignoring the scathing look she received from Lauren, as they left. The clouds finally covered the sky, causing everything to receive a darkened hue, and the temperature to drop. Hermione shoved her hands into her pockets, shivering.
"So, how old are you? Sixteen?" Hermione asked, guessing that he was most likely the same age as Ron, considering his height.
"Actually, I only just turned fifteen"
Hermione just stopped herself from tripping, but couldn't stop the look of shock that marred her face. "Really? I would have thought that you were a lot older"
"I'm just really tall," he explained.
Hermione nodded. Ron was probably the same height as him at that age. "Do you go to Forks a lot?"
Jacob shook his head, pulling his hood up over his hair. "Not too much" he admitted. "I go there a few times, to buy car parts. And I was there to sell J the truck. But when I finish my car and get my license, I can go there pretty much all the time"
"That boy talking to Lauren? What was that he was saying about the Cullen's?" Hermione surveyed him carefully, trying to gauge his reaction.
"They're not supposed to come here" he said, looking out over at James Island, confirming exactly what Hermione thought she heard in the other boys voice.
"Why not?" Hermione asked.
"Oops. I'm supposed to tell anybody about that"
"Don't worry" Hermione grinned. "I wont tell anybody. I'm just curious" she tried to make her smile alluring, wondering if she pushing it by trying to be a different person.
He grinned back, leaning closer as they edged over more rocks, and made his voice huskier than ever. "do you like scary stories?"
"I love them"
He grinned ever so wider, and strolled to a nearby driftwood tree, perching lightly on one of the roots. Hermione sat in front of him, on the body of the tree. He stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering on his broad lips. Hermione fought to keep the real interest out of her eyes.
"Do you know the stories of where we came from- the Quileutes, I mean?" Hermione shook her head. "well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood – supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the Ark" he smiled, to show me how little stock he put in the histories. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves – and that wolves are our brothers still. Its against the tribal law to kill them"
Hermione nodded, almost frantically, agreeing. She never particularly liked wolves, but as they were so similar to werewolves, she naturally felt protective of them, due to Remus.
"Then" Jacob continues. "There are stories about…the cold ones"
Hermione couldn't suppress the shiver she felt as he said cold ones. Vampires. What did vampires have to do with their legends? Or better that, the Cullen's?
"Cold ones" she muttered, her voice obviously intrigued.
"Yeah. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legend, and some more recent"
Obviously. Vampires went back over five thousand years, as far as wizards knew anyway. There had been wars between the two races dating back to 300BC. And as a result from the Wizards being stronger than most, Vampires had no rights, and were hunted and banished from the Wizarding World for centuries and had their own royal family. One that the Wizarding world still had yet to find or gain any information.
"According to legend" Jacob continued. "My own great grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land" he rolled his eyes.
"Your great grandfather?" Hermione said, encouraging him to keep going.
"He was a tribal elder like my father. The cold ones and wolves are natural enemies – well, not really the wolf, the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. Werewolves, for lack of a better term"
"Werewolves have enemies?" Hermione couldn't keep the disbelief out of her voice, and she raised her eyebrows. She had known a werewolf for a good part of her life; Remus only seemed to have enemies with narrow-minded people who didn't understand him like they all did.
"Only one" Jacob shrugged. "So you see," he continued, ignoring Hermione's look. "The cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But the pack that came during my great grandfathers time was different. They didn't hunt like the others of their kind – they weren't supposed to be dangerous to our tribe. So my great grandfather made a truce with them. If they stayed away from our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale faces"
"But, if they aren't dangerous…" Hermione trailed off, frowning once again.
"There's always a risk to humans to around the cold ones, even if they are as civilized as this clan. You never know when they might be a little too hungry" he deliberately worked an edge of menace into his voice.
"What does this have to do with the Cullen's? Are they similar to the cold ones your great grandfather met?"
"No" he paused dramatically. "They're the same ones"
Hermione prayed that Jacob wasn't a werewolf yet. Even she was shocked and surprised, as her heartbeat began to beat frantically in her ears. There was still some rational thought left in her mind that told her she was overreacting and they were most likely just family stories to cover up something else, but one thought rang through her mind again and again.
Her sister was falling for a vampire. Her sister was falling for a vampire. Her sister…
Juno…
(1) Heomphobia is an extreme or irrational fear of blood, caused by direct or vicarious trauma in childhood or adolescence.
I sort of loathe this chapter, especially the part where she has the nightmare. I really hit a bit of writers block. Obviously, with the La Push part I had Twilight to help me out. Anyway hopefully the next chapter will be out soon.