A/N: You'll have to forgive me with some information I've found about America, specifically Seattle. I'm relying heavily on Google, as I mentioned before, and I'm trying my best to make it all work.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to completely mess up with the timelines, as Bella won't be introduced until a way bit down the line (She moves to Forks in the January), so our beloved Heroine will have some time in Forks on her own before the arrival of the disaster known as Bella Swan.

Characters may also seem a bit OOC, but this is AU after all, and I'm trying my best.

Still haven't decided on a pairing btw. I'm leaning towards Jacob (who I'm going to age up a wee bit anyway), but I'm welcome to anyone trying to talk me out of it, ha!

I don't own HP, Twilight, Google, or any other major brand that is mentioned. I'm only using them for my own entertainment, and hopefully yours too.

Chapter 2: Arrival

"She's already landed." Alice's voice was tinged with confusion. Jasper looked up from the book he was reading – some nonsense about the British Civil War (that was completely wrong, by the way) – "How has she already landed? She's only just gotten to Heathrow."

"Your visions aren't usually this chaotic, but it's been known to happen." Jasper said to her slowly, as if not wanting to poke the proverbial bear. He could see how concerned she was about her visions. He made a show of closing his book and setting it on the table beside him. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "She's probably still on the plane, and you're getting a vision of her landing safely."

"You don't understand, Jas." Alice told him frantically, pointing at the elegant clock on the wall next to them. It was 2.12 in the morning. "It's 10.12 in the morning in London. Her aeroplane to JFK departed at 10.10, only two minutes ago! In my vision, she was in an airport, that I am pretty sure is Seattle-Tacoma International because I recognise those awful seat covers, looking at a watch that said the time was 2.11, am! She's already here and I don't understand how."

Jasper pressed his lips together as he frowned at his wife. Yes, it didn't make sense, but he wasn't sure if something weird was going on, or if Alice's visions were messing around. He didn't know how to ask her without angering her. She was terrifying when she was angry. She was even worse when she was emotional, just like she was now. He heaved a sigh and tried to send her some calming energy. There was a little bit of hope within him that once she calmed down, she would see sense.

Nobody could transport across the world in less than a minute.

It was impossible.

Jasper looked at his wife again, seeing her face relaxing to a thankful smile. He smiled back at her and noticed the dark hue in her normally golden eyes. Hunger could also be a reason why she reacted so emotionally. He stood up and put a hand softly on her cheek, rubbing her skin gently with his thumb. After pressing a soft kiss to her lips, he gave her a pointed look.

"I think perhaps its time to eat. You've been pushing yourself all day, worrying about Carlisle's granddaughter when you should have been eating. No, I understand why you're worried," Jasper quickly continued when Alice opened her mouth to protest, "But until she's actually here, there isn't anything you can do. Even Carlisle isn't sure who she is, and that's saying something. He's lived for over four hundred and fifty years not thinking that he had a biological family, and now suddenly he has a great-something Granddaughter on her way. He's calm about this. You should be too."

"You're right, Jas." Alice sighed petulantly, crossing her arms over her chest. She then looked up at him with an adoring twinkle in her darkened eyes. "Where would I be without you?"

"I dread to think." Jasper drawled, smirking down at her. He placed a kiss to her forehead then offered his hand. "Come on, I'm sure a bit of hunting will do you good. Then, if you're still thinking about it when we come back, you can talk to Carlisle about what you saw."

Alice nodded, a smile on her face as she took Jasper's hand and let him lead her deep into the woods.

He was right. He always was.

After all, nobody could just appear half-way around the world with a blink of an eye.

Right?

oOoOoOo

It was official.

Hermione hated International Portkey Travel.

Sure, she wasn't a fan of portkeys at the best of times, but she was used to the feeling of nausea and kept her balance when she landed. Why nobody in London Heathrow's Portkey Travel Office didn't warn her about the dizziness, vomiting, and the inability of being able to stand on her feet for at least five minutes unaided, she had no idea.

She should have been warned. Then, at least, she would still have some dignity about her upon her arrival.

Instead, an American witch with a too-fake smile and too-much make-up seemed all too happy about the Hermione Granger not being able to withstand International Portkey Travel.

She could defeat a Dark Lord, but International Portkey Travel knocked her for six.

"Don't worry about it, Miss. Granger. Everyone is like this the first time they internationally portkey. Here, have some water." The Portkey Stewardess had said to her, rather condescendingly if you asked her, as Hermione managed to lift herself into an armchair in the Portkey Travel Office. She offered the young witch a cold bottle of water, which she took politely and gratefully, and stepped back to the closed door. The Portkey Stewardess watched unblinkingly as Hermione gathered herself together. It unnerved Hermione a bit.

It was ten minutes later, after receiving directions to the hotel she was going to stay at that night (it was 2 in the morning), when Hermione found herself outside the Seattle Marriott hotel. She stared up at the building, her beaded bag held tightly in her hands. Her stomach was alight with butterflies as she made her way through the doors and to the front desk. She ran on auto pilot, paying for her room, taking the key card from the Night Manager, and then making her way up to the fifth floor via the elevator. She didn't even pay attention to the music playing in the elevator as she was brought to her designated floor.

All she could think about was getting to her parents. They were so close now, around four hours' drive from where she was now. As Forks was a Muggle town, or No-Maj as the American's decided to call them, Hermione would have to make her way there the Muggle way. Not that she could apparate anyway, she hadn't been there before and she didn't trust looking at a few images on Google Maps first.

Even the nearest Wizarding Enclave was on Pine Street, so she would have to drive back to Seattle anytime she needed to go shopping.

Though, she hoped that she could find somewhere to floo or apparate from when she was in Forks to save that hassle.

If she had a floo connection, she would be able to see Harry and Ron more often.

She'd have to make a note to speak to someone at MACUSA's Travel Department to have a floo connection installed at her parent's house when she gets to Forks.

If they had a fireplace.

Hermione groaned to herself, falling onto the bed. Her shoes were off and her beaded bag was still held tightly in her hands. There was so much to do still, so much to plan and buy before she could even make it to her parents.

She suddenly felt overwhelmingly unprepared.

Staring at the ceiling, Hermione found herself overcome with anxiety as she worried about finding her parents and restoring their memories. She was expecting them to be rather upset with her, but she didn't blame them. She would feel the same if she was in their position. It was meant to be the parents protecting their children, not the other way around.

And yet, there was this dark feeling settling across her chest, constricting her. It was the worry that nothing would go to plan, that she couldn't find them, couldn't restore their memories, couldn't leave with them knowing who she was.

She couldn't leave without her parents.

She couldn't leave without them knowing.

She also couldn't leave without fixing herself, but she had no idea where to start.

It was with that thought, the overwhelming fear of failure, that Hermione finally succumbed to sleep.

oOoOoOo

"Oh you stupid piece of shit!"

Hermione hissed, reaching down to hold the foot that she used to kick the tire of the beat-up truck she had bought from some car rental place in Downtown Seattle. She couldn't remember where she had gotten it from, but the car salesman was far too eager to give it to her for such a small amount of money.

She should have known from that alone, that she was in trouble.

In all fairness, it had nearly done the journey, but suddenly stopped just on the border of Forks when the tire blew out. The one hundred and fifty dollars would be worth it, if it took her all the way into town. But it hadn't.

If there was one thing Hermione didn't know, it was cars.

Specifically spells that could fix blown-out tires when she didn't have a spare.

Hermione sank onto the muddy floor – it must have rained in the night – and leaned back against the driver's door. She'd managed to drive on the right side of the road, managed to keep to the speed limit, and managed to stay out of trouble. Yes, she had her driving license in England, but her documents for driving in America hadn't exactly come through yet. She was waiting on the Owl from MACUSA first. She banged her head against the door softly a few times – it wouldn't do to get concussion – before digging out her mobile from the pocket of her beige peacoat.

She wasn't worried about the mud that would potentially ruin her peacoat and her blue jeans; Molly was kind enough to teach her some housekeeping spells before she left, which included a rather handy stain remover spell.

Merlin, she was going to miss that woman while she was away.

Molly had been nothing but kind to her since the end of the war, taking her under her wing after hearing about what Hermione had done to her parents. She was worried at first, fearing that Molly wouldn't want to know about her once she and Ron decided they weren't going to work out, but was pleasantly surprised. Molly was exactly what she needed to help her focus on the task of retrieving her parents.

She was a Godsend.

There wasn't many numbers listed in the mobile, seeing as she had bought it before she left Seattle, but hoped that Google would tell her about a nearby mechanic who could help her. Even if they took her into Town and then burned the truck on the roadside.

"Merlin's balls." Hermione moaned, seeing the No Signal sign flash at the top of the smart phone. So much for getting rescued.

It was at that moment when the heavens decided to open up.

"What did I do to piss you off?" Hermione yelled at the sky. She quickly shoved her phone back into her pocket and tried to get to her feet without slipping in the mud. Her foot slipped, but she gripped onto the bonnet of the car before she could fall onto her bum.

Nothing was going right today.

All Hermione wanted to do was get into town, find a B'n'B or hotel or whatever, and have a nice cup of tea. She was sure that her hair was already going frizzy, after she spent twenty minutes trying to wrestle it into a braid before she left.

She already couldn't wait to have a shower.

"Do you need some help?"

Hermione jumped, whirling around to locate the person who spoke, and ended up slipping in the mud again. She held onto the bonnet once more, but firm hands on her elbow helped to keep her in place. She looked up, ready to thank whoever had caught her, but stopped upon seeing their face.

Well, shit. If he wasn't the most handsome man Hermione had ever seen. And she had to go and slip around in the mud in front of him. He was pale, but so was she. He had dark brown hair styled into an attractive quiff. He was at least a foot taller than her – which wasn't hard really, she barely reached 5 foot 3 – and had lovely, broad shoulders. There was a soft smirk of amusement on his face. It was his eyes, though, that drew her in. They were the most beautiful shade of gold that she'd ever seen.

Alarm bells started to ring in her mind, but she turned them off instantly.

She could think about them when she was out of the rain.

"I-um. Y-yes. Sorry. Yes, please." Hermione stuttered over her words and mentally slapped herself. She was a Gryffindor, the Brightest Witch of her Age, a War Hero. She couldn't turn to mush in front of a handsome man like this. She wasn't Lavender.

Lavender.

A pang of hurt resonated within her chest as she thought of her deceased roommate.

Nope. No, Hermione. Pack it away for later.

"My tire blew out, and I don't have a spare. I only need to get into town." Hermione said to him once she'd gotten her wits about her once more. She extended a hand towards him. "I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger."

"Edward Cullen." He replied in a smooth tone, smiling as he shook her hand. "I'm more than happy to give you a ride. I was heading back into town anyway."

It didn't even register to Hermione how cold his hand was – really, hers would just be as cold in this weather – when she heard his surname.

"Cullen?" Hermione asked before she stopped herself. At his confused look, she continued. "Sorry, it's just… I've been doing some digging into my family history and I had a relative with that surname. It's surely a coincidence. Sorry," she apologised again with a self-deprecating laugh, "I've just flown in from London and I'm still a bit jet lagged. Mind's all a mess. Sorry." Why was she acting like this?

She blamed the Portkey travel, and lack of sleep. She only managed an hour last night before the nightmares came. She didn't have any calming draught or dreamless sleep so ended up tossing and turning all night. She attributed that to her current mental state.

"You don't need to apologise," Edward told her, smiling at her once again. He shoved his hands back into his coat. "London? Why don't we get you into my car and you can tell me about it while I take you into town?"

"Oh, yes. Of course. Let me just get my bag." Hermione opened the driver door and reached into the foot well for her beaded bag. She left the keys in the ignition. She could find a better vehicle later.

If Edward was surprised at the lack of luggage she had, considering she told him that she'd just flown in from London, he didn't say as he led her to his silver Volvo. Ever the gentleman, he opened the passenger door for her and waited for her to get in before he made his way to the driver's side.

"Now, do you have anywhere specific you need to be? Where is the hotel you're staying at?" Edward asked her as he put his foot on the gas and drove them past the border and into Forks.

"Oh. Right. I don't actually have anywhere to stay. I sort of hoped to wing it." Hermione said to him with a sheepish smile. "I've got family here you see, so I was hoping to surprise them and see if they would put me up. If not, I'll be getting a hotel."

At least, that's what she planned to do, but soon realised that morning that finding them would be harder than she thought. She couldn't find any information on them on the internet, so would have to do a bit of ground work to find them. They didn't even have a dental practice here, from the look of it. She'd had a lead on them, but as soon as she arrived in America it was as if that lead had disappeared. Or didn't exist in the first place.

Was someone trying to get her to America and were using her parents as a rouse?

Nah, surely not.

"Wing it? Okay." Edward was clearly trying his best to not laugh at her.

"I know, it's normally not like me," Hermione admitted, a light blush on her cheeks. "I'm usually plotting and planning, making lists and ensuring I've got backups. But after this last year, I dunno. I think I just wanted to do as little planning as possible, be a bit spontaneous for once. But I definitely should have checked to see where they live first."

"Maybe I can help," Edward offered as he slowed the car. They'd just arrived in town, and he pulled up outside the café. "It's a small town, maybe I know them."

"Oh. Um. Monica and Wendell Wilkins, last I heard they were dentists."

"Wilkins?" Edward took his time to think about if he'd met them or not. He remembered a couple moving to the area six months back, but they weren't dentists. They did have an uncanny resemblance to Hermione, though. "Not dentists I'm afraid, I think the wife, Monica, is a nurse at the hospital. My father works there, I can ask him if you'd like."

"That would be lovely, thank you." Hermione smiled at him but felt her heart sink into her stomach. If they weren't dentists, and she couldn't find an address for them online, it was definitely going to take a while to find them. If Edward's dad really did know about her mum, then there was a little bit of hope.

If he knew her mum.

"Looks like I'll be needing the hotel after all." Hermione told him, looking out the window. She watched as a young couple left the café, holding hands and smiling at each other. She could feel Edward's eyes on her, so she turned her head to smile softly at him. "Even if it's just for tonight."

"Tell you what," Edward said after a pause. "Why don't you go and get yourself a coffee, or a tea, or whatever, and I'll give Carlisle a call and see if he knows anything."

Those warning alarms were back when Edward mentioned the name of his dad.

Carlisle. As in Carlisle Cullen. As in her ancestor that died around four hundred years ago.

Hermione shook her head lightly.

Nope. Coincidence.

Those alarm bells just wouldn't shut off though.

"Yeah, okay. You don't want anything?"

"Nah, I've not long eaten. You go ahead, I should know something by the time you're back."

With one last look at Edward, Hermione nodded and got out of the car. She made quick work of making her way to the café, and out of the rain. She'd have to remember to use a discreet cleaning charm on the car seats later.

Edward sat in his car for another minute, waiting to see if Hermione would come straight back out again. He knew the service was slow in the café, so he had a few minutes to call Carlisle and Alice.

His phone rang as soon as he decided to call Alice first.

"How is she with you already?"

"Hello Alice, my hunt was great thank you, how was yours last night?" Edward asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his cousin. "I don't know. I thought I'd be running into her tonight, not on the way home."

"That doesn't make any sense. None of this makes sense, Edward."

"Nothing like this usually does. Like Jasper said last night, there's bound to be a logical explanation for this. You're worrying over nothing." Edward paused. "I can't read her."

"What do you mean, you can't read her? Like, at all?"

"Nothing. It's as if she doesn't think at all. It's just empty noise in her head. I've not experienced that before. It's a little disconcerting."

"That's another thing to add to the mystery that is Hermione Granger." Alice sighed. Even from the other end of the phone, Edward could hear her thinking double-time. "Let me know if there's anything else you can find out. Carlisle is waiting for your call."

"I will do, Alice."

The line went dead. There was still no sign of Hermione. He tried not to think too much on why he couldn't hear Hermione's thoughts as he dialled Carlisle's number. Predictably, he answered on the first ring.

"Edward. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Carlisle. I've already got Hermione."

"You have? That's great." If Carlisle was surprised, he didn't let it show. "Alice told me to expect a call from you. Anything I can help with?"

"Hermione's looking for two people, some relatives of hers. I thought one of them worked at the hospital with you. Monica Wilkins?"

"Ah, yes. She's one of the new paediatric nurses. Hermione's related to her?"

"She didn't say how, but she's hoping to stay with them while she's here."

"She's not working today, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give Hermione her address. Don't tell anyone though, I'm not legally supposed to do that."

"I won't tell a soul, thanks Carlisle." He saw Hermione leave the café, a small takeaway cup in hand while muttering to herself. "Hermione's on her way back. I'll let her know you're getting their address."

"Why not take her to the house while you wait? I'm sure Alice and Esme would love to meet her."

"I'll offer. See you later."

The passenger door opened just as Edward put his phone back in his pocket. Hermione was still muttering to herself.

"They don't do tea. Honestly, is everywhere like that? She tried to offer me iced tea, bless her, but it's just not the same. It's not even proper tea for starters. I had to go for this latte thing in the end. Can you believe I've not had coffee before?" Hermione turned to him and let out a small laugh. "Sorry, I just didn't expect to not be able to have a nice cup of tea. I'm sure this will be nice, right?"

"Sure." Edward gave her a small smile, watching as she took off the lid and blew gently on the hot beverage. "I spoke to Carlisle. Monica definitely works in the Paediatric department. She's not working today, but he's going to get her address for you."

"Really? Oh, thank him for me please." Hermione beamed at him, and he was suddenly struck by how her face lit up from it. "Do you know when he would be able to get it?"

"He hopes soon, but I can take you back to mine while we wait if you'd like. Saves having to get a hotel if it won't be needed tonight anyway." Edward turned the keys in the ignition, ready to drive off again. "He also said to not tell anybody. He's not strictly allowed to do that."

"My lips are sealed." Hermione mimed zipping her lips together. "Are you sure you don't mind? We barely know each other, and I'm sure your parents wouldn't like strangers turning up at the doorstep."

"Carlisle was the one that suggested it, actually." Edward put the car into drive, then pulled away from the curb. "I don't mind. Believe it or not, but you're the nicest person I've picked up at the side of the road. I won't consider my good deed for the day complete until we've got the address for Monica's house. That includes taking you home so that you're somewhere dry."

"Thank you. I suppose it would be nice to get out of these clothes." Hermione told him. She looked at her coffee, then back up at him. "You know, I didn't expect anyone to be this nice to me. I really appreciate you helping me, Edward."

"You can thank me by meeting my mum." Edward glanced at her. He watched as she took a sip of her drink and pull a face at the bitter taste. He tried to hold back a laugh. "She's going to absolutely love you."

Despite the unsure smile on Hermione's face, she was actually excited.

She was this much closer to finding her parents and removing their memory charm. Even though she was putting her full faith in a stranger, she felt hopeful at a happy ending with her parents. Hermione knew that she should be more careful about where she put her trust, but there was something about Edward that she couldn't say no to. He was just as desperate to help her, it seemed, and it warmed her heart.

Sometimes, people really just did want to help.

There was also the mystery behind Edward, his father Carlisle, and the warning bells that keep ringing in her head every time she looks into his golden eyes.

She's sure there's something her brain is trying to tell her, but right now, all she could focus on was getting somewhere dry so she could get into some dry clothes.

The mystery of Edward and his golden eyes could wait for later.