CHAPTER 3

"Carlisle, we need to talk." The older vampire looked up, his ageless face darkening at the grim expression his adopted son was wearing. He knew this time would come, sooner or later, though he had done his best to avoid it.

Motioning at Edward to take a seat, he leaned back on his chair and surveyed him with his ever kind eyes, putting his hands together on the desk.

"I'm listening."

"It's the wizards. I think I've found another one of them."

Carlisle sighed and sat back up, turning to look at the cypress trees growing outside his window, a subtle reminder of what they were. It was ironic, in a way.

"What did they want?"

"Not a they. She. She was alone, and is now living in Bella's house. I don't know what she wants, what she's doing here, but I'm sure that whatever it is, it's not good. Perhaps she too was sent by the Volturi's ally."

If it was possible for a vampire's face to show pain and grief, it would have been heartbreaking to look at Carlisle. Even then, the stress was evident in his golden eyes, the only indicator of how troubled he was. His mind drifted back to just two months ago, when the first letter came to him. Two days later, there were humans with powers that could equal theirs knocking on the door. He hasn't had peace since then.

"This girl could be their ultimatum. The power I sensed from her was much greater than those who have been visiting us. We can't ignore them any longer, the deadline is next week; what have you decided?"

He looked up wearily. "Call the others; it's time we put this to the final vote."

"No need, we're here." Both vampires looked up to see Esme, Rosalie and Emmet enter through the door. A few seconds later, Alice swung in through the window, closely followed by Jasper. Everyone's faces was unusually grim, even Alice. The situation was much too serious, although Alice hated being like this.

"We can't ignore them any longer, huh? Well then I say we reject them and kick them out of Forks!" Everyone turned to look with surprise at the pixie-like vampire, her eyes narrowed in anger at the strangers who dared threaten them and Bella. She would be lying if she said she wasn't even a bit scared of them, but she knew that rejecting them was the right thing.

Edward snarled. She had said the same thing two months ago, but though he respected his adoptive sister's advice and opinions so much (goodness knows how many times she saved the family) he couldn't agree with her on this one. No - there was just too much at stake, beginning with his beloved Bella.

"Do you not care what will happen to Forks? To Bella? I thought you see her as your sister now. Are you not aware of what could happen to her?"

Alice bristled, her temper flaring up for once. She loved her brother, but he could be such an obstinate blockhead sometimes.

"Of course I care! So run! Flee the country, go into hiding with her! We could protect Forks with the help of the wolves. These people are evil, Edward, and I will not help them with their plans! They mean to use us in a war, do you not understand that?"

A hand landed lightly on her shoulder, stopping her angry tirade. Jasper squeezed her shoulder slightly before looking straight at Carlisle, giving Edward a half glance.

"I agree with Alice."

The room was painfully quiet, the only sound coming from the crickets outside as the sky swiftly darkened. Nobody moved, marble statues waiting for the rest to speak. Unable to take the silence anymore, Emmett shifted and looked up. Instantly, all eyes were on him.

"I think... that Alice is right. Helping them would mean killing humans in a war. I don't want that, even if those humans aren't the defenseless ones we're used to."

At this, Rosalie flipped her hair back and studied her perfectly manicured fingernails, blowing on them before looking evenly at everyone else.

"I hate the idea of working with mutts, but I think I'll go with Alice on this one." Her eyes glinted maliciously and she scoffed. "I don't care what happens to Bella either way."

Edward snarled once more, murderous thoughts racing through his head. Rosalie had gone too far; she was going to get it now. He dropped down to an offensive stance, with the intent of teaching her a lesson, and she grinned, the expression dangerous on her face.

"Enough." They all turned to look at the weary Carlisle, Edward shooting Rosalie one last murderous glare. The oldest vampire was once again staring out the window tiredly, his mind made up.

"4 in favor of not joining then. Esme?"

"Yes... I think... we can protect Bella and this town enough... I'm sorry, Edward, but I agree with Alice."

Carlisle got up, surveying everyone in the room before giving a small smile.

"It's decided then." At that moment, a jet black owl swooped in from the open window, dropping a scarlet envelope before flying back out. Carlisle deftly caught it, staring at it in wonder; it had begun to smoke. All too suddenly, it burst into flames, Carlisle instinctively dropping it. From the burning letter came a shrill, unearthly voice, shrieking madly, amplified by the sensitive vampire ears.

REMEMBER THE LAST.

The silence that ensued was terrible, all eyes on the smoldering remains of the letter on the floor, the ashes a sign of what was to come.

Despite Hermione's forebodings of the night before, the next two days had been spent in relative peace and normality, if you could call being introduced to a vampire family normal.

They were a friendly bunch, the charade they called "family" taken too seriously. It was all there - there was the father, Carlisle, the mother, Esme, and the sons and daughters all living in one house (an extremely expensive looking one too, noted Hermione) in relatively close quarters to fresh human blood.

Imagine her astonishment when she found out Carlisle worked in a hospital.

She was itching to get to a library and research about these strange new phenomenon. She had never heard of "vegetarian" (she had to give a small snort of laughter at that term, earning her a weird look from Edward) vampires before and this was the first time she had marched into something she knew so little about. Her extensive readings had failed to produce anything of the sort on these type of vampires, and this had served as motivation for her to know more. It wasn't everyday that the Hogwarts library failed her, after all.

Bella was worried, for more than just one reason. All afternoon, Elizabeth had been asking Carlisle questions that had become increasingly pointed as her curiosity for the Cullen family rose. Bella was worried that the Cullen's secret would be found out sooner or later; Elizabeth was way too smart for her own good, and her questions were getting suspicious. There was a glint in her eyes that showed astonishment and disbelief, and Bella could practically hear the gears of her brain turning. It was unnerving.

The other reason was Edward. He was the same as always; if you didn't look closely enough, that is. He concealed it well, but Bella knew there was something wrong, if the way he kept glancing at Elizabeth and Carlisle edgily, almost angrily, was any indicator. She wondered what it was that Elizabeth was thinking that was making Edward angry.

She heard him curse under his breath, and promptly turned to face him.

"What is it?"

"Your friend... I can't hear what she's thinking at all."

Now that came as a shock.

That afternoon yielded more results than Hermione expected it to, surprising her once again at how easy the vampires were making it for her; indeed, she was half-expecting it all to be a trap, or at least know about her. There was definitely something odd about Edward; sometimes she felt like he was watching her intently, only to find him either staring into Bella's eyes (she shuddered at that, remembering Ron and Lavender back in their sixth year) or talking with the others.

What was even queerer, however, was that she felt his gaze on her only when she was talking to Carlisle, and the feeling intensified when, in her excitement and disbelieving curiosity, she had mistakenly asked him if working in a hospital was difficult for him. But he wouldn't suspect anything from it, right? It was simply an innocent question, after all.

An 'innocent' question that could spell the difference between their knowing and total ignorance. As things stand, I have reason to believe that Edward senses something... off about me. Perhaps questioning Carlisle like that wasn't the greatest idea after all.

Inwardly cursing her carelessness, she stepped out of the bookstore Bella had dropped her off in after their short visit to the Cullens. Bella had offered to pick her up later that day, but Hermione declined. She knew Bella had a big test she had to study for, and she wanted to look around on her own for a while, so Bella had sped off, looking a bit relieved. Between Edward and Alice, not to mention the wolves, Bella didn't really have much time for studying nowadays.

Hermione walked down the street, alert and on guard while making her way back home, her hands on the roadside railing separating the road from the forest. It was not that long of a trek; Hermione had easily walked (and ran) greater distances. Besides, it wasn't that late; it was barely four. What kept her on her toes, however, was the fact that the forest on either side of the road provided an infinite number of hiding places in which she could be attacked by concealed enemies, and the words of Alastor Moody reverberating in her mind... Constant Vigilance!

It was at that moment that it happened. Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of brown streaked past and she jumped away, drawing out her wand, staring at the woods beside her. The forest was quiet and nothing moved, save for the tree leaves rustling in the afternoon breeze. She looked around, not quite believing that what she saw was nothing but her imagination; she definitely saw something move.

There!

A huge, brown figure was moving slowly across the trees, almost completely concealed by the dense foliage. She moved closer, straining to get a better view of the hulking mass of brown. She leaned farther in, hands on the railings with her wand still in hand, forgetting the fact that just beyond the low railings, the forest floor sloped steeply downwards.

A loud motorcycle zoomed behind her and she jumped, putting her wand away. She had forgotten the muggle traffic behind her. Looking back at the forest however, she found that the figure had disappeared. Cursing, she leaned over the railings once more, anxious to catch sight of it again, but to no avail; it had completely disappeared.

"One more step and you'll fall off."

She spun, startled, hand instinctively going towards the wand concealed in the front pocket of her pink coat. If they were going to take her, let them try - she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Standing a meter behind her was Jacob Black, surprise apparent at her defensive stance. After what seemed like an eternity of staring with bewilderment at each other, Hermione relaxed and gave an embarrassed laugh, her face a slight shade of pink.

"I'm sorry. Jacob, isn't it?" He nodded, still watching her curiously. When he made no other move, she smiled and turned to leave with a weak excuse involving the grocery. Reacting quickly, Jacob reached out and caught her wrist, stopping her from leaving.

"Hey, why don't we hang out for a while? There are some pretty cool places here in Forks, or I could walk you home..." He trailed off, noticing the knowing yet nervous look on her face. He got nervous. Was he coming on too strong? It was then that she blinked and her eyes trailed down to where his hand was still firmly on hers... and he dropped it quickly with a hurried apology.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't realize..." She smiled at him, and for a moment his heart stopped beating.

"It's fine. I'm expected at Bella's already, so yes, you may walk me home." Mentally pumping a fist in the air in triumph, he grinned at her, offering her his arm.

"I don't know how you guys do it in England, but perhaps I can pass off as a decent gentleman." He said, in a British accent that he couldn't quite pull off. She laughed, a soft tinkling laugh that was music to his ears... and yet that laugh sounded held back, guarded. He stopped thinking about it, however, when she took his proffered arm and he led her down the street.

He glanced back at the spot where she had been staring. He couldn't quite shake the feeling of them being watched and he knew, by the way she glanced back at the spot too, that she felt it as well.

But, he decided, he would ponder on that later; right now, he had Elizabeth holding on to his arm and life didn't get any more better than that.

After all, he was confident that nothing could go wrong today.

How very wrong he was.

Okay, I realize that the last part was extremely filler-ish and that it took me too long to update (again.) I don't know what the matter is with me already -.-

On a brighter note, I finally found a beta! She'll start for next chapter though, so this chapter still hasn't been beta-ed. I just had to post it as soon as I possibly could. So there you go.

Oh and for those who want more Jamione (why does that sound wrong) moments, the Death Eaters won't really attack until chapter five, I think... But I'm not a fan of fluff, so there'll not be much of that here... Sorry -.-

Lastly, I finally realized that in order for me to work efficiently, I have to set deadlines for myself. And so I set my deadlines to every Monday! I'll try to update every Monday. (I should have done this to begin with.)

Oh yeah and thanks for all those who reviewed last time... your reviews certainly made my day! ^^