Renesmee Cullen and the Locket of Michael

Chapter 3: Birthday Surprises

The first week ended fast and Renesmee's birthday was coming quicker than usual. The day of her birthday, September eleventh, Renesmee woke up to Rose's constant shouts to wak her. "Oh, would you give it a rest?" she grumbled as she got up and dressed quickly. "I don't see what the big deal is..." Then it finally hit her. "Oh, for the love of...it's my birthday, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Rose said excitedly, "and an owl came with a dozen gifts from your family!" Renesmee ran down the stairs like a bullet and stopped to see more than a dozen wrapped gifts on a table near the fireplace. "The first one is from your parents. Open it, will you?"

Renesmee carefully opened the first one on top, a box-shaped one wrapped in red paper with a large card saying 'Happy Birthday, Little Nudger' on it in bold red letters. Inside the box was a family portrait set in a silver picture frame. A tear escaped as she blinked and her finger ran along the family in the portrait. "It's a picture of my whole family." she said stifling a sob as she showed the picture to her friends. "The tall, blonde man is my paternal grandfather, Carlisle, and next to him is my maternal grandfather, Charlie." She pointed out everyone in the picture and laughed as she remembered her father's reaction when her mother trained in controlling her shield-projection powers.

-Flashback-

Renesmee watched, though she wasn't really paying attention, as Edward got shocked by one of the Nomad coven's vampires. Bella stood by, concentrating on pushing her shield to him but couldn't do it right away. When the blonde female vampire shocked him again, he slumped to the ground from the power of it and glared at Emmett as he stood up. "She really got you, Edward," Emmett said grinning.

"Would you like to try, Emmett?" Edward snapped and Emmett backed off. The blonde vampire told Bella that she would be using full-power and he looked at his stronger adoptive brother. "Emmett?" Renesmee laughed and couldn't stop.

"I really miss them," Renesmee whispered and let another tear fall. She felt a gentle hand grasp her shoulder and she recognized it as Albus's. With a shaking finger, she pointed out Alice and Jasper. "That's my aunt Alice and my uncle Jasper. They're the new teachers here. Aunt Alice is the other Divination teacher and Uncle Jasper is teaching the new class of Mythology."

"I wouldn't mind meeting your family." Albus said smiling at the picture. "Hey, who's that man beside your dad?" Renesmee saw who he was pointing at and grinned again.

"That's Jacob. He's my best friend...almost like a brother to me." she said. "He's a shape-shifter." Albus and Rose glanced at each other but she didn't notice. "He can turn into a wolf when angry. He kinda scared my grandpa Charlie when he did it in front of him." Even though she was only a baby, she remembered how angry her mother was about Jacob inprinting on her. "With the shape-shifting, he had the need to imprint on someone, so he imprinted on me. My mom was really mad."

"I bet," James muttered from behind her and she looked around. "If a guy like that imprinted on my daughter, I'd be pretty hacked off, too." He paused for a moment, then said, "What did she do?"

"To put it in the nicest way, she beat the living crap out of him," Renesmee said laughing. "I was only a baby at the time, but I could hear her. All I know is that she yelled at him for a few moments, beat him up...then beat him again because he nicknamed me 'Nessie'. Mom was ticked because he named me after the Loch Ness Monster." She let out a giggle and smiled. "He never challenged her again after that." James, Albus and Rose all laughed at this and watched as she turned to the other gifts from other members of her family. She got a gold watch from Carlisle, a pewter hip flask from Emmett and...though she couldn't believe it...a few things from the Volturi.

"Who are the Volturi?" Albus asked as he saw a few of the items they sent her. Renesmee explained that the Volturi were a 'family' from Volterra, Italy who got the wrong information when they found out about her and then approved of her after the leader of the family, Aro, understood her after a while. "Interesting. Will we be meeting them as well?"

"I doubt it," Renesmee said, but she was unsure about anything nowadays. With the Volturi, it was hard to even foressee if they were coming for only Alice would know. "I'll have to ask Aunt Alice about it." She rolled up her shirt sleeve revealing the charm bracelet and grinned as she remembered last year's Christmas when Jacob made it for her and her mom put it on. Her reminiscing was interrupted by Rose tapping her shoulder and laughing a little as she read the card. "What? What's so funny?"

"What's the 'Little Nudger' thing about?" she asked while holding the card.

"Oh," Renesmee said laughing now. "That's Mom's nickname for me because I have a certain ability...I can penetrate mental shields. I did that once with Mom, thus the name Little Nudger." Her smile didn't falter as she remembered the other nicknames her parents gave her like Vanessa Wolfe, the fake name when she had to leave Forks, Bebe linda from Carmen of the Denali coven and Ness from Charlie. "I've got more nicknames, but 'Little Nudger' is Mom's favorite to call me."

"Interesting," James said smiling. "I'll have to tell Dad that one when I write to him next. In fact, I think Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione might have a laugh with the 'Little Nudger' thing." Renesmee hung her head, hoping that the older Potter sibling was joking, but she knew he wasn't because he had retreated to the second year boys' dormitory and came back with a quill and parchment.

"Please, don't!" Renesmee begged. "I don't want that to become my full-time nickname for everyone!" James ignored her pleading and started to write. In her frustration, she reached out a hand and touched his cheek gently; she watched as his eyes slid out of focus for a second then widened. When she took her hand away, he stared at her with a blank expression one of horror. "I told you not to do that."

"Um, right," James said, his eyes still blank and horrified. "I'll just head to class." He grabbed his school bag and headed off toward his first class. As he walked, Renesmee could hear him mutter, "Something else, she is." and she smiled.

The second week of school went well for Renesmee until the most curious thing happened at the beginning of the third week. She and her fellow first years had entered the History of Magic classroom to learn about the Werewolf Code of Conduct and Emeric the Evil. Renesmee's throat burned from not drinking any blood for a while and found herself wishing she had her hip flask she got and filled it with some of the grizzly bear blood her mother gave her. She stiffened as the smell of human blood hit her nostrils and her vampiric instincts started to take over. "Nessie, what's wrong?" asked Scorpius from beside her. "You look tense."

She shot the blonde boy a look and said, "Is anyone in here bleeding?" He shook his head. "Must be coming from the teacher's office, then." She took a step forward and knocked on the office door. "Professor Macmillan? Is everything okay?" No answer. Another series of knocks and she hollered, "Professor Macmillan! Professor, answer me!"

"Something's definitely wrong," Albus said in a frightened tone. "It smells like a dead body in here." Renesmee tried to turn the doorknob on the large door but it was locked. Using her vampire strength, she kicked the door in, splinters of wood flew from the doorway and scattered to the floor as the door crashed inside. Albus watched as she walked inside, then fell against the wall letting out a blood-curdling scream. "Renesmee!" he cried and ran inside to see Professor Macmillan hunched over his desk, blood pouring from a gaping whole in his neck. "Bloody hell! We need to get a teacher in here!"

A half-hour earlier

Alice Cullen was teaching a sixth year Divination class about dream interpretation and was just about to pass out the books needed for the subject when the vision hit. The pixie-like vampire gasped and dropped her books as she saw something happen in the vision only she could see. One of the students, a girl in Ravenclaw, asked if she was okay. "I need to speak with Professor McGonagall." she said quickly. "Miss Davies, if you are able, please do a revision on palm-reading until I return." The girl nodded and took her place in front of the class as Alice slipped out of the room quietly and sped toward the headmaster's office. When she entered, Minerva McGonagall was in a meeting with an Auror from the Ministry of Magic about something. "Headmistress, I'm sorry to disturb your meeting, but this is important."

"What is it, Alice?" McGonagall said worriedly and her voice lowered as she said, "A vision?" Alice nodded. The Auror in question, Harry Potter, listened to Alice's vision and couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you sure that's what you saw?"

"Yes, Minerva, that's exactly what I saw." she said grimly. "The thing is on the move but I can't exactly see where it's going now because it has changed its mind. I can only see what happens when a person or," she whispered the word vampire, "is set on a certain goal. This one is definitely out for something, but it's learned at closing its mind so I can't see what it's really after."

"Interesting," Harry said scratching the short whiskers on his chin. "I've never heard of anything like this before." He straightened up and said, "I'll take a look in the grounds. Perhaps whatever's out there is still in the grounds or at least in the forest." Alice nodded. "Professor McGonagall, you can rest assured that the Ministry will definitely be on the lookout for this...whatever it is."

"Thank you, Potter," McGonagall said. "The Ministry's help is always welcome here." Harry nodded again, gave Alice a searching look, then headed out toward the grounds. Once he left, she turned to Alice and said, "Alice, dear, is this the first vision you've had or are there others you haven't told me?"

"I've had a few before, but none this vivid." Alice said. "The last one was just a blur, but I could see someone being killed. No, I don't know who it was that attacked Professor Macmillan, but I can bet that whatever attacked him isn't human, or is pretending to be." McGonagall nodded curtly and headed for the door. "Minerva, should I get Jasper? He may want to know about this as soon as possible."

McGonagall stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "Yes, and get Renesmee a pint of deer blood. I daresay she'll need it." Alice nodded and followed her into the grounds and up to the castle. The two of them parted ways when the petite vampire headed toward the dungeons to get Jasper and McGonagall headed for the History of Magic classroom on the fourth floor. When she got into the classroom, she took notice of the students huddled around the office entrance. "Get back!" she ordered. "Everyone stay out of the way!" The students retreated and went into the fourth floor corridor to wait as McGonagall entered the office and saw Renesmee huddled on the floor, her eyes fixed on the blood pouring from the body's neck. "Renesmee, are you okay?"

"Get...away..." she gasped. "I can't...hold it in...much...longer..." Alice came in, grabbed Renesmee gently with one hand and helped her drink the pint of deer blood she brought. "Alice...?"

"It's okay, Ness," Alice whispered. "Everything's going to be okay. I had a vision about this a half-hour ago. From the look of things, whatever attacked Macmillan did it right before I had the vision and left." Renesmee rested her face in Alice's chest and started to cry in hysterics. "Nessie, please be strong. Why are you so upset?"

"I..." Renesmee sniffed, "I...didn't have any blood and I almost lost control." Alice stared down at her adopted niece and felt sad. "I didn't tell anyone I'm a vampire/human hybrid and it's better that they don't know yet...at least until this whole thing blows over."

"That's a good plan, Miss Cullen," said McGonagall as she examined the body. "Professor Macmillan was definitely attacked by something. It looks like some sort of wild animal. Alice, did you see what exactly attacked him?" Alice shook her head. "Well, until we can find out what attacked Professor Macmillan, I suggest we postpone any History of Magic classes and inform the students of this tragic death." There were no objections to this, so they all went down to the Great Hall. The students were muttering questions as to why they would be called to the Great Hall during their classes and their answer was clear when McGonagall explained the situation. "Everyone, please stay calm!" she called and the whole room fell silent. "Now, the death of Professor Macmillan is a tragedy, that is true, but we are still finding out exactly what attacked him. I have sent an owl to the Ministry of Magic about this event and I am still waiting on word from Minister Shacklebolt."

"The Aurors are here, Headmistress," Argus Filch said as he ran down the hall between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables. "They're asking to question all students who witnessed the body."

"Very well, Mr. Filch." McGonagall said nodding at the caretaker. "Tell them to meet in the staff room. I will need all students who saw the body to make their way to the staff room immediately...in single file." The students who were there when Renesmee found the body, mostly the first years in her class, walked toward the staff room on the second floor. When they got in, McGonagall saw Harry and Ron Weasley along with a whole team of Aurors gaurding the door. "Potter, Weasley, how do you want to start the questioning?"

"We'll ask the room at large who saw the body first-hand, then we'll question those who raise their hand individually, ma'am." Ron said grimly. "Now, those of you who did see the body, raise your hands." Half of the students in the room did and he sighed. "Bloody hell, Harry, we've got a whole mess of students who saw it."

"I know," Harry said just as grimly, "but we'll have to question them anyway. "Okay, we'll start with the eye witness, Miss Cullen. Could you come with me, please?" Renesmee, still in shock, followed Harry out of the room and to a secluded spot in the corridor. "Now, what exactly happened?" She didn't speak because she was so scared. "Renesmee, I understand you're in shock and you're probably scared, but I need you to tell me what happened." She shook her head, and reached a hand out to touch his face. Alice came in at the right moment because Harry had tried to step back a bit.

"No, let her do it," she said calmly. "It's her way of communicating when she's scared." Harry obliged and felt Renesmee's warm hand touch his cheek. When she made contact, he saw everything she remembered and his eyes widened to the point they looked like china plates. "Mr. Potter, are you okay?"

Harry was gasping when Renesmee took her hand away from his cheek. He leaned against the wall and slumped down to the floor. "Tell Ron to come here." he choked and Alice went back into the staff room and returned with Ron. "Ron, let Renesmee touch you. She's able to show you her thoughts by skin-contact." Ron knelt down to Renesmee's level and gasped as she touched his cheek next. When she took her hand back again, Ron stared at Harry with horror and awe on his face. "That's one hell of an ability, isn't it?"

"No bloody kidding," Ron said wiping a sheet of sweat off his face as he stared at Renesmee in shock. "That's bloody horrifying, too, what you saw." Renesmee nodded but didn't speak. "Since we don't have a verbal response, Harry, we'll have to show Kingsley by Pensieve. Be sure to take the memory she showed you out before we leave. In fact..." He withdrew a crystal vial, placed the tip of his wand at his temple and drew it slowly away. Renesmee watched as a thin strand of sliver memory hung from the tip of the wand and backed up as the memory turned into a watery liquid when it went into the vial. Harry did the same thing and both pocketed the vials. "So, what we got here is something new. Maybe Hermione can tell us what attacked Ernie earlier. She's part of the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Good thinking, Ron," Harry said clapping his brother-in-law on the back. "Let's get back to the Ministry." He and Ron led Renesmee and Alice back into the staff room and he called for attention. "All right! We've got all the information we need right now, so we'll head back to the Ministry. If we need anymore information, we'll come again." McGonagall nodded and watched them go.

Kingsley Shacklebolt sat in his office with Hermione Granger-Weasley, the wife of Ron. A basin floated a few inches above the desk as Ron and Harry entered the office. "Potter, Weasley, what's the emergency?" he asked in his calm, measured voice. "You said you have valuable information pertaining to the Macmillan death?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said and took out the crystal vial containing Renesmee's memory. "Our eye-witness was so scared that she had to show us the memory by skin contact. After we saw it, we took the memory and placed it in a vial each." Harry poured the memory into the Pensieve and motioned for Kingsley, Ron and Hermione to enter it with him. When their faces broke the surface, the four of them were pulled in and landed in the History of Magic classroom. There, they saw Renesmee entering with the rest of the first years for the class.

Renesmee and the rest of the first years entered the classroom and sat down to wait for their teacher to come out of his office and teach them about Emeric the Evil and the Werewolf Code of Conduct. As she sat, Harry watched her stiffen and tense up. Renesmee knocked on the office door and called Ernie's name, but there was no answer. "Professor!" she called louder and tried again. Professor Macmillan, answer me!" Again, there was no answer so she kicked the door in with surprising strength. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Kingsley were standing with the students when Renesmee let out a blood-curdling scream and they ran in.

"Bloody hell!" Ron whispered as they saw the Ernie Macmillan's body slumped over his desk, a large pool of blood pouring from a gaping whole in his neck. "Ernie's throat was torn out!" Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the scream that threatened to escape her. Even though they were in a memory, she couldn't help but keep herself quiet. "Hermione, would you know what killed him?"

"Of course I would, Ronald," she snapped, "but we need to get out of here." The memory ended as she saw Renesmee slide down the wall near the door, her eyes wide with shock and her complexion more pale than usual. The four of them landed in the Minister's office once more, all of them very pale from what they saw. "That was no ordinary animal bite," she said sadly. "That was a vampire."

"Vampire?" Ron gasped. "But don't they normally leave two fang marks in the neck instead of ripping someone's trachea out?" Hermione shook her head. "Looks like a werewolf bite if you ask me."

"It's definitely a vampire that attacked Ernie," Hermione said confidently, "possibly a rogue vampire." She tried to look confident at this last part, but it was hard because she wasn't all that confident. "The team at the Beast Division of my office are trying to pass a law on vampire rights, but if a vampire is going to kill teachers at Hogwarts, then I'm not sure I should sign it."

"Yeah," Harry said tersely. "What's the use of signing a law on vampire rights if it'll let vampires attack and kill people when and wherever they want?" He was just about to go to the door when he stopped suddenly, a thought on his mind. "I thought vampires can't get into Hogwarts?"

"Not true, Harry," Ron said holding up a finger. "Remember at Slughorn's Christmas party there was a vampire named Sanguini?" Harry completely forgot about that and felt a surge of remorse for getting Cormac McLaggen a month's worth of detention because Hermione did not want to be with him anymore. "Vampires are technically magical creatures with human intelligence, so they can get into Hogwarts just as well as we can." Hermione nodded vigorously in agreement and pulled out a sheaf of documents. "What are those, dear? I thought this was a meeting about the attack at Hogwarts, not a regular meeting?"

"I'm merely going through the notes Harry gave me." Hermione snapped. "This one explains the wounds on Ernie's neck and how Miss Renesmee Cullen took to the attack. "I don't have a lot of information on the attack because there was no eyewitness to it..."

"Actually, the eyewitness is Professor Alice Whitlock," Kingsley said grimly. "She teaches fifth and sixth year Divintation while Professor Scamander teaches third and fourth year." Hermione looked absolutely disgruntled that their only eyewitness to this event was a Divination teacher, a subject she thought to be a fraud. "Ron and Harry were told that Alice had a vision about the whole attack. Maybe she can tell us what happened in the vision, and we can find out who the vampire is that killed Ernie."

"Sounds like a good plan," Harry said, "but it seems too simple. I've never fought vampires, but I know for sure that one wouldn't just go into a school full of children just to kill one person. There's got to be a reason why this particular vampire would go into Hogwarts and killed Ernie." he slammed a fist on the desk, ignoring the throbbing pain in his wrist as he realized something. "I think I know it, too." Seeing that all eyes wereo n him, he smiled and said, "Miss Cullen must have something that would hurt the vampire...silver, possibly, or something magical. Hermione, is there anything in the books that tell about a weapon or something that would kill a vampire?"

"The only thing I found on killing a vampire is that a wooden stake and Muggle weapons like a gun wouldn't hurt them unless the points on the stake are silver and you use load silver bullets into the gun." Hermione said. "Although, I do remember hearing of an object called the Sword of Angels, the weapon of the Archangel Michael. Legend has it that, when he fought the first vampires, the blade shattered and the shards were cast down to the four corners of the Earth." Then it hit her. "Renesmee Cullen must have one of the shards! That's what the vampire was afraid of or why they wanted her dead!"

"We need to alert her family immediately," Kingsley said nodding. "Harry, since you and the Cullens are not on best terms, I suggest that Hermione go and talk with them. Maybe she can find out how Renesmee got the shard, if she even has one, in the first place." Hermione nodded and headed out the door with her bag. "I need you two to talk with Alice as soon as possible. She's our sole witness to the event, no matter how much Hermione thinks all Seers are frauds. I'll issue an official summons to my office for tomorrow and we'll get to talking with her."

"Sir," Ron said, "Couldn't we just talk with the Cullens at Christmas?" Harry and Kingsley looked at him as if he were mad. "Right, too early. Well, I'm off. I have a report due today and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement said he'd have my head if I don't turn it in today." Without another word, he vanished from the room and ran down the corridor toward the lifts.

Cullen Residence, London, England

The Cullen's house was quiet when Hermione Apparated onto the doorstep and rang the bell. At first, she thought nobody was home and was surprised when a young man looking at least in his late teenaged years with tan skin and dark, short hair opened the door. "My name is Hermione Weasley from the Department for the Regulation and Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. May I speak with Edward Cullen?"

"Aw man, what did he do?" the young man asked in a hopeful tone. Hermione raised her eyebrows suspiciously and his grin faded. "Sorry, he and Bella are out hunting right now. They'll be back soon." He opened the door for her to come in and sit down. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea?"

"Tea would be nice, thank you." said Hermione as she sat down in a surprisingly comfortable armchair. "I believe we haven't met. What's your name again?"

"Jacob Black." said the young man. "I'm a friend of Bella and Edward." His grin reappeared as he set down two cups of tea. "Sugar?" Hermione nodded and watched as he dropped a teasoonful of sugar into each cup and stirred his. "Bella and I have known each other since childhood. Edward's her knight in sparkly armor." He laughed at his own wit and sighed. "Sorry, I always like to pick on my friends. Exactly why are you here?"

"Well, seeing as your a friend of the family, I can safely tell you the problem." Hermione said smiling at him gently. "There's been an attack at Hogwarts and we, the Ministry, think a vampire did the attack." Jacob tensed, his eyes showing a flash of anger and he started to tremble. "Mr. Black, I need you to stay calm. I'm just relaying information that you should know."

"What...happened...?" Jacob seethed. Hermione recounted everything she had in her notes, the wounds on the body, and Renesmee's reaction. At the mention that Renesmee was okay, shaken but still normal, he relaxed. "Good. If anything happened to her, I'd...I'd kill that vampire with my bare hands, that's for sure." He paused for a moment, his back to Hermione, then he turned and said, "Could I show you something?" Taken aback, Hermione nodded. "Follow me to the back yard." Once in the back yard, he started stripping off his clothes. "Now, this is going to come as a shock, but..."

"Mr. Black, I'm shocked that you're willing to take off your clothes in public. I suggest you put them on immediately." Hermione said in a high voice. "I think you're a sweet guy, but..."

"No, no, no," Jake said in a harsh tone, "You won't after you see what I am." He unzipped and slid his jeans down to his ankles and threw them off. "You may want to back up a good ten or twelve feet." Hermione did as suggested and watched in shock as he vaulted into the air and transformed into a large, tan wolf.

"Bloody hell!" she cried. "You're a shape-shifter!" The wolf nodded and nuzzled his snout against her neck. "Sweet Merlin, I can't believe this."

"Well, I suggest you get used to it," said Edward Cullen from behind her. "Jake's a member of the Quileute tribe in Washington and has that interesting ability. Though to us vampires, he smells very bad." Jake snarled at him. "Oh, shut up. You know Bella would...WHAT?" Bella stared at her husband as he kicked the boulder bearing their address and it cracked down the middle. "What do you mean, a vampire attacked Hogwarts?"

"What?" Bella hissed and turned to Hermione. Her amber eyes were coal black now and it scared Hermione out of her mind. "Were you going to tell us this by chance?"

"I was going to tell you when you got home from your hunt, but I was a little preoccupied with learning that your best friend is a bloody wolf!" Hermione snapped at the pale woman. "I have a lot of information to bring back to the Ministry. At first, when I got here and tod Mr. Black who I am, he thought you two did something wrong like slip up, but when I explained everything, he decided to show me his...other part of him." Bella looked as if she was about to tear Hermione apart, but caught herself. "Look, Mrs. Cullen, your daughter is perfectly fine, shaken up but otherwise fine."

"Good." Bella said nodding. "So, what happened exactly?" Hermione shrugged and explained that the only person who knew was Alice. "Alice had a vision about this whole attack? Normally she'd tell us."

"Maybe she thought it wasn't your problem yet," Jake said. "I mean, you know how Alice is." Bella and Edward nodded but Hermione had no clue what was going on. "Okay, just to let you know, ma'am, the last time Alice had a vision, she dropped a plant and told us that a coven of vampires were coming to attack us because of Renesmee being born a human/vampire hybrid just because Irina of the Nomads thought she was a danger to all of us." He chuckled and added, "Turns out that the Volturi, the coven that came to us, actually believed her until Renesmee showed the leader, Aro, some of her thoughts and he thought it was interesting."

"So, are you saying that if we don't stop this thing first," Hermione said slowly, "these Volturi people will?" Edward nodded. "Very well, I'll be sure to let the Ministry know of this and we'll make sure the problem is taken care of before the Volturi do. We will also ensure that Renesmee is safe."

"Thank you," Bella said and hugged Hermione, who was now gasping for breath. "Sorry. Vampire strength. Still working through everything." Hermione nodded once and Disapparated with a loud CRACK. Well, now that we know Renesmee's okay, we shouldn't worry about anything, right?"

"Let's just hope the vampire who killed the teacher doesn't make Renesmee angry." Jake muttered. "I've seen her angry, and she's pretty powerful." He rubbed his chest where a bruise formed. "I always forget about the strength she's got, and apparently, so did she." Bella and Edward laughed and went inside the house to relax after a good hunt. Jake sighed and followed them inside as well.

Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts

Renesmee and Rose were chatting as they entered the common room. The two had become very close friends over the past few weeks since school started and shared stories of their families. Today, Rose was talking about her dad's days when he was in Hogwarts and recounted one time in his fourth year when he battled a Hungarian Horntail dragon during a task in the Triwizard tournament. "The interesting thing," she said matter-of-factly, "is that Dad wasn't supposed to be in the tournament. There are supposed to be three Champions, one from each school, and someone put his name into the Goblet of Fire."

"How did he beat the dragon?" Renesmee asked interestedly as they sat down on the sofa to warm up. The weather had gotten colder as November hit and Renesmee had to wear a heavier cloak than she had when she first got to Hogwarts. "From what I've heard so far, dragons are hard to handle."

"Well, Dad used a Summoning Charm on his broom and was chased all around Hogwarts. For a moment, he thought he was going to die because the Horntail had him pinned on a rooftop but he got away just in time, then got the golden egg and got second place thanks to Professor Dumbledore." Rose explained. "Later on, he had to go into the Black Lake and 'rescue' Uncle Ron, but ended up helping Aunt Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle. Aunt Fleur was so grateful, she never let it go."

"Yeah, I know the feeling there," Renesmee said under her breath. "Anyway, how about we go to the dormitory and grab our books for the homework Professor Malfoy set us? That essay on the twelve uses of dragon's blood is really hard and I'm really wanting to get into it." Rose nodded and followed her up the stairs to the dormitory. When they got inside, both of them gasped and stared around the room. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" Renesmee growled. "Someone went through the dormitory!"

"No kidding," Rose whispered. "What were they looking for?" Renesmee ran over to her bed, which was destroyed along with her trunk being open and everything taken out of it. Ink was spilled all over the floor and rolls of parchment were everywhere. "Is anything missing?" Renesmee rummaged through her trunk and leather bag she kept her golden locket and the charm bracelet Jacob gave her for Christmas last year. "Oh no. Don't tell me all of your personal stuff is gone?"

"Just the most valuable stuff," Renesmee said grimly. "Whoever got in here was after something of mine and they took it. The gold locket my mother gave me for Christmas and Jacob's charm bracelet he made for me." Tears formed in her eyes and she sat on her torn sheets. "Why would they take something like that? It's not like I did anything to anyone!" Rose patted her shoulder comfortingly and sat beside her. While Renesmee sat there, Rose took out her wand and siphoned the ink on the floor. "Whoever did this is going to be dealing with a very pissed off vampire." she muttered. When she saw Rose's confused look, she sighed and said, "Never mind. I just want to find the person who did this and beat them to a pulp."

"You'll get that chance, Nessie," Rose said nodding, "but for now we should talk with Professor McGonagall about this." Renesmee shook her head. "No? Why not?"

"Professor McGonagall has too much on her plate as it is. I don't want to bother her with something like this." said Renesmee. She stood up and sniffed the room as if trying to catch a scent. "Well I can say that whoever came in here isn't human. It must be that vampire who attacked Professor Macmillan. He's back and he's after me for some reason." The two girls sat there wondering why a vampire would be after her and who it was.