Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Of Witches and Plans

Emmett was still sitting on the couch with the boy—Teddy—on his lap. Rosalie was sitting next to him. From reading his brother's thoughts, Edward knew that Emmett had felt immediate attachment to the young wizard and the first thought that Emmett had— hearing the boy's plight—was that he needed to comfort the young grieving wizard.

Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, Neville, Luna and Hermione were sitting around the dining table while Esme was busy keeping an eye on Tony. The latter was playing with the big orange cat that he'd brought with him.

"Come on, Crooks. Mummy says you need to do some exercise because you're too lazy and you're getting fat," said Tony, as he twirled Esme's feather duster around and the cat chased it. Edward smiled at that.

Sitting aside from the rest of his family, Edward observed Hermione as she talked to her friends and the rest of his family. He could not stop himself from comparing the differences between Hermione and Bella. Even though, he knew it was unfair and cruel, Edward's only conclusion was that Bella paled in comparison to Hermione.

It would be true to say that Edward's knowledge of Hermione was very limited and even his limited knowledge of her life was apparently flawed. Hermione was—of course—older than Bella and had more traumatic life experiences than Bella. When he'd met her at that event at the MOMA, Hermione had told him that the Wizarding World had been in a war. What Hermione hadn't said was that she'd been on the very front-line of that very war. Even a bounty had been placed on her very life during the peak of the war.

He knew that Hermione had been tortured and badly injured. He knew as much when he'd seen her scars. He hadn't asked her any questions because he had other concerns at the time. Like, how beautiful she was naked under him and him thrusting inside of her. Scars could be easily overlooked in the throes of passion. He'd intended to ask her about her scars that fateful morning, but with everything that happened that morning, it simply flew out of his mind.

Hermione was a witch of exceptional skill, ability, power, and talent. At least, that was Carlisle had told them last night and Edward didn't doubt that assessment from his father figure. She was ambitious. She knew what she wanted in life and sadly, Edward knew he didn't feature prominently in her plans.

Bella had just graduated from high school and had no plans—whatsoever—for her future other than her desire to be a vampire. She did not know what she wanted to be in the future and had no career plans. Bella willingly wanted to give away her mortal life so she could eternally be by Edward's side as a vampire. That was the principal cause of aggravation in Edward's mind about the deal.

How could she walk away from everything she could have to live a life in eternal damnation? She was going to lose her soul in the process and that was what made her beautiful to him. She had assured him many times that she believed he wasn't soulless and that the change would not make her lose her soul. He still had his doubts though. How could it be otherwise? Vampires were abominations of Creation. Edward strongly believed in that and a century of existing as a vampire wasn't going to change his mind. He was too stubborn for that.

Yet, Bella wanted to throw away all that to be with him. She said that she'd love him for eternity and nothing could be better that spending an eternity by his side. That was why she she was willing to give away her mortality. Because she loved him. It was as simple as that.

He tuned back into the conversation going around him when Hermione started telling her friends what had happened while his family listened with rapt attention.

"The President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America—Samuel G. Quahog—had intel on a dark magic cluster down in New Orleans area and there have been a dozen reported disappearances, mostly young witches, " she said. "He did not want to involve the Auror Office because he feared leaks to the press and due to my temporary relocation this side of the Pond, Rita Skeeter has been nosing around the Ministry. So, the best alternative was me. He gave me carte blanche on this affair."

"Thus, I found myself in front of this funeral parlor house on Bayou Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans—" started Hermione before her friend, Neville, interrupted her.

"Isn't that near where the Voodoo Queen—Marie Laveau—lives?" he asked.

"Exactly and that's why I thought it was fishy. So, there I am infiltrating the parlor house taking a leaf out from John McClane's handbook. The air ducts," she elaborated at seeing the confused look on her two friends' faces at hearing the pop culture reference.

"I discovered that under the funeral parlor house, there was a rather extensive subterranean level. However, I wasn't able to do much poking around before I was quickly discovered despite the chameleon charm I've cast on myself to blend in the surroundings. I was able to pop out of there before they got nasty but I was still recognized. I floo'ed Harry and from there, we worked out that it would be more than likely that they would come for me. Which they did in fact try. Thus, the reason why I needed a safe house as a contingency plan and Harry chose this."

"We should probably check out the parlor house now," suggested Neville. "They'd probably already moved out but there might be some clues left for us."

"Are you sure it's safe to do that?" asked Carlisle, worried for Hermione and her friends' security.

"Well, we could probably have good use for some muscles," hinted Luna, eyeing the huge silhouette of Emmett on the couch.

"Count me in," announced Emmett, almost instantly. When Rosalie went to argue with him, Emmett cut her short, "I'm going and that's final, Rosie!"

Rosalie was shocked that Emmett had been so snappish to him but she took it in stride. She reasoned that Emmett hadn't forgotten how she voted for Tony and Hermione to leave and that he was still angry with her.

"I'll go also," said Jasper. Alice didn't protest.

Edward didn't say anything. He reasoned that Hermione wouldn't want to have him around her. Also, with Hermione, Neville, Luna, Jasper and Emmett going, they would have no need for a sixth person for the investigation party.

"In regards to the attack of last night, we believe that it could be linked to the Volturi somehow," Carlisle shared, looking at Hermione.

"How?" questioned Hermione.

"Your guess is as good as mine," replied his father. "What we know is that Aro has always wanted a vampire with magic; a vampire not limited by one or two abilities but with the wide palette of magic like you have."

"And then there's your son," added Jasper.

"The Volturi would never dare come near Hermione or Tony," supplied Luna. At their questioning looks, "The Wizarding World takes precedence over the Volturi. After all, the first vampire was once a wizard who'd experimented with spells and potions. The Volturi submit to the Wizarding World not the other way around."

At the surprised looks from the Cullens, Hermione added, "She's right. Even if they tried, the retribution from the Magical Enclaves would be devastating for the Volturi. An action like that could rapidly escalate into a full-scale war and the ends would not justify the means."

"So, that means there is another player in the shadows. Someone very dangerous if he or she managed to have Antonin Dolohov follow blindly," said Neville, tension evident.

"Who's Antonin Dolohov?" asked Rosalie.

"He was the one that Jasper disposed of last night. He was responsible for this scar," she pulled her blouse slightly up to reveal a crude scar running parallel to her belly button, "I had to take ten potions every day for almost a month to deal with the internal damage."

"That's horrible," Emmett said, horrified.

"That's one the cruel realities of war," Jasper wisely said.

A burst of laughter near him interrupted his musings and the tense atmosphere. Edward looked down to see Tony standing before him holding the struggling cat. He was gonna use the time to get to know his son better.

"Daddy, can Crooks and I go play outside in the snow?" A winning grin played on his face as Tony looked up at him with his beautiful green eyes. How could Edward say no to that?

"Do you have warm clothes to wear. It's very cold outside," he informed his son, grinning in return.

"I don't know. I didn't pack," replied Tony, doubt in his voice. "I'm gonna ask Mummy."

He rushed to Hermione's side to ask if she had brought warm clothes for him.

"Your clothes are still packed in the furniture storage unit where I've sent them but Winky can bring those back for you," Hermione said, smiling back at his son who rushed back to Edward.

"Daddy, did you hear? Winky will bring me my warm clothes. Can I go play in the snow?" he asked again, scratching his butt.

"Yes, you can—"begun Edward, as Tony cheered "—but, first, you need a bath."

"Oh," muttered Tony, the cheerful mood subdued. "Is that really necessary?"

"Yes, it is," Edward replied, scooping Tony into his arms before he stood up.

He chuckled when Tony muttered in a small voice, "Okay." His heart soared again as Tony hugged him. He glanced at Hermione who'd been observing the exchange quietly from her seat.

"So, when are we going?" Neville asked.

"Not immediately," Hermione said, her eyes glancing at her friend before again turning to look at Edward. "I'll need to report to the Ministry about last night's break-in and attack. There's also my neighbours' murders that I'll have to deal with and I'd like to check on Ginny and Harry back home. Then there's Andromeda's burial arrangements that we'll have to think about and Teddy."

"For Andromeda's burial arrangements, Narcissa Malfoy said she was taking full responsibility for her sister's burial. Just imagine Lucius' face when he heard that one," said Neville. "And Harry said that Ginny's in a foul mood. Since a foul Weasley is as lethally dangerous as a herd of rampaging Hipogriffs, we might as well postpone that one on your agenda too."

"Then, it's Hermione's apartment and the Ministry first. Now, that we've got a plan, we'd better get going," said Luna, standing.

Hermione stood up and walked to Edward's side. Tony turned his head to look at her and asked, "Where are you going, Mummy?"

"Mummy needs to go check our apartment and report to work, Tony. Now, you'll be good with your Daddy, won't you?" Hermione replied.

"Yep," he answered, popping the p.

Before anything else could be said, Alice—glancing between Hermione and Edward— announced, "Bella's coming."

"Hmm," hummed Luna. "This is gonna be interesting."

Edward glanced at Hermione. He knew that this moment was decisive shaping what his future with his son and Hermione would become. The distinctive sound of Bella's red Volkswagen truck was heard in the distance. His family was looking at him.

"Who is Bella, Daddy?" asked Tony, innocently.

Looking back at his son and knowing that everyone present was looking at him, Edward smiled back at his son.

"She's nobody, buddy. She's nobody," he replied, firmly. His eyes were only for his son and Hermione.

"Now, how about that bath, buddy?" he asked, ruffling his son's hair fondly. He walked towards the staircase. "If she makes a scene, I shall deal with it," Edward said, looking back at the family.

The double meaning behind what he'd just said was not lost on his family.

End note

I know that this is again a short chapter but I reckon you'd still like an update than nothing at all.

I'm sorry but I've got a rant to make. So, here it goes. I've had a very funny review from Star Iron on my crossover story, For My Daughter. Since, an update will be done for that story after I've updated my othe WIPs, I'll do it here. I do understand that there are a lot of readers who love the canon of Twilight and I fully respect that. However, I reckon that authors of fanfiction actually write their stories to explore either the between the lines stories not explored in canon or the routes not taken. That's why there are warnings of AU (alternate universe) in fanfiction.

If you actually want to stick to canon, you might as well just read the books and not read fanfiction. I'm not going to put a stupid warning in the story summary like 'Don't like, don't read!" That actually defeats the purpose of the AU warning. Doesn't it?

If I've decided that Carlisle was Hermione's biological father or that Edward was married to Hermione like in The Flaw in the Best Laid Plan, that's my right as an author. I'm no gonna give away all the why's of the stories in the first chapter. What would I write about in the following chapters then?

I understand that there are some parts of the Twilight-verse that are essential but that doesn't mean I'll be keeping everything. I've never read the books nor do I intend to. The only time I had a Twilight book in hand. I checked the first page and left it at that because I was fed up with Bella's pathetic description of how pathetic she was.

I despise the movies but I've found there's something of value to the series. It's the characters. The Cullens, Denalis, nomads, Volturi, and the Quileute offer interesting development possibilities. Actually, even Charlie Swan is a more interesting character than Bella.

I've chosen to write crossover stories of Twilight and Harry Potter because it offers me avenues of development for original plotlines. Plus, there is the added bonus of the interaction of two different book verses and of their characters. What's not to like?

So, I'm not sorry that I'm not sorry If you don't like my non-canon take of your favourite book verse.

Cheers,

Ludo13.