Chapter Nine
Hermione re-entered the house and returned to Luna's side where the blonde was seated comfortably in the same armchair she herself had occupied earlier during her explanation. "What was that all about, Hermione?" Luna inquired with her typical slightly dreamy expression, which was somewhat marred by the faint paleness of her face and the circles under her eyes which had appeared several days ago.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It seems my fear that it was a Death Eater was, in fact, somewhat accurate. Severus somehow managed to track us all the way from England, though what the hell he's doing travelling by magic all the way over here when he should be limiting his activity is beyond me. He Apparated somewhere near the end of the driveway and Sam and Paul heard it. Sam ran to confront him about the time I Apparated to confront him, too. Needless to say, neither Sam nor I caught him off-guard and he managed to Disarm me as well as trip Sam up and force him out of his wolf form before revealing himself. Now he and Sam are behaving like a pair of overgrown crows with all their posturing, and who knows how long they'll be at it before they decide to finally join us."
Her vivid descriptions as well as her annoyed expression amused the vampires and Jake to no end, though they were also all a bit wary at the idea of a wizard who could apparently incapacitate both the Alpha and his powerful imprint. Hermione must have seen their expressions, because she raised an eyebrow and said, "Hm. It seems now you're worried."
Several of the vampires were confused about this, and she noticed. Before Emmett could do more than open his mouth, about to ask what she meant, she said, "When I was demonstrating my own magic, the spells I used were benign. They represent the more…magical, for lack of a better term…aspects of a witch or wizard's abilities. But the only idea you've had about the less pleasant things we can do is based off of what I've told you about the war. You haven't been as concerned about me because you've only seen me cast pretty, pleasant magic. Don't forget I killed a vampire with extra abilities, like the ones some of you have, with only this stick I carry in my hand. I sent a Killing Curse at him, which made his flesh crack, and then a Reductor Curse, which blasted him apart, and then I set him on fire. And now you're learning that here comes a wizard who is capable of forcing the Alpha, the strongest member of the pack, back into his vulnerable human form and incapacitating me. I think Severus and I need to give a demonstration of exactly what a witch or wizard is capable of so that you know to be careful. The world's mythical beings aren't limited to vampires like yourselves and shape-shifters. And witches and wizards appear to be normal human beings. Aside from, apparently, our smell, which must be the magic you're scenting. There isn't a magical community here in Forks, but there is one just an hour away in Port Angeles. You've probably encountered witches and wizards before without ever knowing it."
Before anyone else could say anything, the front door opened, and Sam, Severus, and surprisingly, Paul, stepped in. Hermione wondered at the impassive look on Sam's face and the almost imperceptible gleam of anticipation in Severus's eyes. She was even more confused when, as Sam moved over to stand near her, the anticipation in the dark wizard's eyes was joined by something that seemed like triumph.
The eyes of all the vampires were now on Severus, who still stood in the doorway to the living room in silence, black eyes appraising everyone in the room as they watched him warily. He seemed to notice the wariness the vampires regarded him with, and he looked to Hermione, one eyebrow raised.
She smiled at him, but spoke to the other occupants of the room rather than him. "This is Severus Snape. He was one of my teachers and mentors at Hogwarts. He is the Potions Master and had a vital role in the war." To Severus she explained, "This is the family I learned about. The family of vampires with a half-vampire child who was born to a human mother who survived the birth until she could be changed. When I arrived, in order to make them understand what happened to Luna and how I knew what was going on, I had to explain what I am. That led to an explanation of the war. I didn't give them many details about you, only that you were a spy who pretended to work for Voldemort while you were really working against him. The rest is yours to explain as you see fit."
He nodded as his eyes continued to scan the room, until they landed on Bella. "I take it you are the mother she speaks of?" he asked her slowly.
She nodded, not speaking, her dark red eyes distrustful. Almost imperceptibly, her husband shifted closer to her. But Severus said nothing else to her. Instead, he shifted his attention to Carlisle. "And you are the doctor who saved her until she could give birth and then change?"
Carlisle nodded. "I am a doctor, yes. But it was not only I who helped to save her." Severus waved his hand impatiently as if to disregard the importance of semantics, but Carlisle continued before the wizard could say anything. "It was actually Jacob Black's initial thought in the first place, but through my family's connections and resources, we were able to procure a supply of blood for Bella to drink, as the pregnancy was causing her body to reject human food."
Severus's eyebrows snapped together. "Blood?" he repeated dangerously. "Human blood?"
"Donated," Carlisle supplied quickly, correcting his unintentional omission. "My connections as a doctor and my family's financial resources enabled us to obtain blood without having to harm anyone. As a rule our family's diet consists purely of animal blood, but we thought human blood would be best while Bella was pregnant."
Hermione looked to Luna where the blonde sat in the armchair, and fought the urge to smile. Luna's expression was one of only very mild surprise, the kind experienced upon looking out the window only to discover a light shower of rain in the place of sunshine only minutes before. "So I'll do better if I drink blood? Well, I suppose that only makes sense, then, doesn't it?" She looked at Hermione, and added, "I'm surprised we didn't think of it before. After all, Tonks could only stomach steaks cooked very rare when she was pregnant with Teddy, remember?"
Hermione stared at her in shock. "Merlin's beard, Luna, you're right!" She ignored the comical looks on the faces of the vampires and the three wolf-boys at the extreme oddity of the term in favor of exclaiming, "I can't believe we didn't think of it before!"
"What's this? Hermione Granger, brightest witch of her age, didn't think of something obvious?" Severus drawled, causing the vampires, Jake, and Paul to look at him questioningly and Sam to glare at him while only just suppressing the urge to growl. And it seemed the wizard noticed, for he sent a smug smirk at the Alpha, and apparently, the young witch did as well. She patted Sam on the arm soothingly, but her next comment was directed at Severus.
"Oh, shut up, Sev, it's not like you thought of it, either, or you would have told us," she responded loftily.
Though the Cullens and the Quileutes had a vague feeling of surprise at her speaking to her former teacher that way, the three magical folk knew it was a testament to how much they had gone through together and how their relationship with each other had grown that Severus did not rake her over the coals for speaking to him that way. A comment like that during her school years would have won her a month's worth of detentions scrubbing cauldrons in the Potions classroom. With a toothbrush.
"Take care how you speak to your Professor, Miss Granger, or I will be forced to give you detention," he declared with a scowl, though Hermione and Luna both knew he was just blowing smoke.
She snorted. "You're not my Professor anymore, Severus, and after everything we've done for each other I'd like to see you try to put me in detention."
Sam suppressed the urge to childishly tack on "So there!" to the end of his imprint's sentence.
Before Severus could retort, Hermione turned her attention back to the Cullens. "So do you still have any of the blood that you used for Bella?" she asked, barely managing to suppress the tendency to be demanding in the face of her excitement.
Carlisle nodded and disappeared, returning moments later with a Styrofoam cup with an opaque plastic lid over the top with an opaque straw stuck through the hole in the lid. He handed it to Luna, who promptly defeated the purpose of the lid by cracking it open to peer inside. Hermione rolled her eyes with a small sigh and a small smile that belied her exasperated expression. Everyone in the room watched as Luna took a deep breath through her nose before exhaling.
"Well, I must say I never thought I would ever be drinking blood from a cup. But there are a handful of scholars who believe that the consumption of human blood helps purify one's magical aura to be more receptive to those of any Silvery Starspurts that might be floating around," she said, tone perfectly serious. Hermione, standing behind Luna, shook her head silently at all the vampires who would have opened their mouths to ask what a Silvery Starspurt was; they all closed their mouths. She glanced at Severus in time to see him rolling his own eyes, sans smile.
Luna replaced the lid on the cup and took a long draw from the straw. When she pulled her lips away, there was a drop of blood clinging to her lower lip. The only sign of Jake's distaste was a slight wrinkling of his nose; Sam and Paul both tried, with varying degrees of success, to suppress a shudder. It was Bella's reaction, however, that brought a reaction out of Hermione and Severus. Her eyes zeroed in on the drop of blood clinging to Luna's lip before dropping down to the cup still full of blood in the blonde witch's hands. She shifted almost imperceptibly, and the change in the room was instantaneous. Hermione and Severus's wands came up as they both moved to stand in front of Luna while Edward's hand closed over his wife's wrist.
The reactions were enough to draw the vampire out of her thrall; she looked up guiltily. "Sorry," she muttered. "I'm still pretty new to the life of a vampire. Sometimes I come close to forgetting to control myself."
"You come close?" Severus demanded, wand still up, as was Hermione's.
It was actually Jasper who answered, oddly enough. "She has an astonishing level of control for such a new vampire. About drove me crazy in the beginning. Since I pick up on emotions with my ability, I could always sense when she was upset and I kept expecting her to lose control of her temper and attack someone, but she never did."
Edward picked up the story. "When I took her for her first hunt after being turned, we found a group of elk that would serve for her first meal. But before either of us could move toward the elk, the wind changed and blew the scent of some humans nearby in our direction. She took off after the scent, and the only thing that stopped her was the realization that I was following her. She turned to warn me off, and then the wind changed again, blowing the scent away from us. She took off again, this time in another direction, away from the humans. She shouldn't have been able to do that. She shouldn't even have been able to be distracted from the hunt once she picked up the scent of humans, never mind run away afterward. Her level of control is unheard of in a vampire so new."
Both Severus and Hermione considered this as they finally lowered their wands. "Be that as it may," Severus said finally. "I would prefer if as few of you as possible are present when Luna must drink. I will accept the presence of Dr. Cullen, as the oldest and most experienced, and perhaps Mrs. Cullen, but no one else."
A sucking noise from behind the witch and wizard drew everyone's attention to Luna. She'd been the only person in the entire room who hadn't reacted to Bella's reaction to the drop of blood on Luna's lip, and while Hermione and Severus had been facing off with everyone else, she'd quietly finished the blood in the cup. It was the noise of the last of the blood being drawn up through the straw that drew everyone's attention.
"Well. Oddly enough, I feel quite refreshed," she said candidly.
Ignoring the expressions of distaste on the faces of the three Quileutes, Hermione looked at her friend. Sure enough, there was fresh color in the blonde's face where there hadn't been for far too long, and the shadows under her eyes seemed to have lightened.
The sight made Hermione feel as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. "I'm so glad, Luna," she murmured, struggling to keep her voice from breaking and her emotions from overwhelming her.
Luna must have picked up on the true depths of her friend's relief anyway, because she stood and pulled Hermione into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're my friend, Hermione. I'd be lost without you."
They embraced for a long moment, and then Luna finally pulled away. "Well. I've met the Cullens and Jacob, and of course I know Severus – hello, by the way, Severus – but I've not met Jacob's friends yet!"
The two witches turned to face first Sam, who was closest, having once more come to stand near Hermione. Luna saw how her friend blinked in surprise at the tall man's nearness, and when she saw Hermione's cheeks tinge pink, she was delighted. "This is Sam," Hermione said steadily, as if his presence weren't making her blush. "Sam, this is my friend Luna."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sam," Luna said cheerily.
"Likewise, ma'am," he responded, his deep voice slow and sure.
"And over there is Paul," Hermione added, indicating Paul standing in the doorway to the room, a short ways behind and to the right of Sam. "He, Sam, and Jacob are all members of the Quileute tribe and the pack of shape-shifters that…resides there…" Her voice trailed off as she realized that Luna and Paul were staring at each other raptly, as if everyone else in the room had faded away.
She turned to look inquisitively at Sam and found him watching the two with surprise, but then he turned and looked back at her. And when she met his gaze, she found traces of the same raptness that was currently plain as day on Paul's face deep within the shadows of Sam's midnight eyes. It was similar to the look on Jacob's face when he looked at Renesmee, only with Paul and Sam, an intense, fiery passion accompanied the sense of unconditional caring. What on Earth was going on with these boys?
A slight shifting movement drew Hermione's eyes next to Severus, who was watching Paul and Luna with a deep frown on his face. Well, he was watching Paul with a scowl. Then his eyes shifted to Sam, and his scowl deepened.
Hermione's sense of confusion increased. What was going on with the Quileute men and what had Severus picked up on about it that bothered him?
"All right, what's going on?" she finally demanded, unable to stand it anymore. Everyone's attention turned to her, Paul's and Luna's with reluctance. "Why do Paul and Sam keep looking at Luna and me like that, and what do you know about it, Severus?"
Her demand was met with a chuckle from one of the vampires. They all turned to see Emmett with a wide, mischievous grin on his face, rubbing his palms together in anticipation. "This is gonna be good!"
Hermione frowned; the wolves in question both growled. Severus, however, had a smirk on his face. Hermione could almost picture him leaning back in an armchair with his hands clasped behind his head as he prepared to enjoy the show.
She turned back to the wolves. "Outside," she barked. "Now."
"Now, Hermione, you know we'll still be able to hear you," the still grinning Emmett admonished playfully.
"No, you won't," she replied with finality as she held up her wand. She had the satisfaction of seeing his face fall.
"Dammit," he said.
She led the way outside, grasping Luna's hand and pulling her gently along. Severus and the three Quileute youth followed.
Once they were all outside, she waved her wand silently, casting Muffliato so that all the vampires would hear would be a faint buzzing. What none of them realized, with the possible exception of Severus, was that there was one vampire who could still hear just about everything going on, at least within the heads of the three wolves and the blonde witch. The other two, unfortunately, were the ones whose thoughts he most wanted to hear but couldn't.
"All right. Tell me what's going on. What has gotten into you three?" she asked the three young men.
Instead of answering her right away, they traded glances with each other, seeming to share a silent conversation. By their facial expressions, the two younger men seemed to decide on something and then they looked to their leader, who nodded.
"Our tribe has a legend that goes with that of the shape-shifting," he began slowly. "A legend regarding the way the members of the pack find their soul-mates, if you will. You'll need to hear the entire story of how the pack came to be to understand fully. One theory is that the magic ensures that the pack member it happens to will find the one most suited to producing stronger wolves in the future. This magic is called imprinting, and the wolf can't control when or even whether it happens, or who he imprints on." He took a deep breath and forged on, trying not to read anything into Hermione's expression until he'd finished.
"When a wolf imprints, the invisible bonds that tie him to the Earth, to the land, the tribe, the pack, all shift and tie him to her. She is suddenly what matters the most in the world, and because of that, he becomes whatever she most needs him to be at that moment. A friend, an older brother, a teacher…a lover." With those last few words, his eyes caught and held Hermione's eyes, trying to will her to accept him as a lover as he burned to be.
"And the three of you…you've imprinted?" On us? was left unspoken.
He nodded slowly. "Jake imprinted on Renesmee, within hours after her birth. For now he is like her older brother, best friend, and beloved uncle all rolled into one. Someday, if she wants, he will be more. Paul will give Luna everything he can, and meanwhile, he will leave it for her to decide what she wants from him." His eyes burned with promise, reaching out and ensnaring her, asking her to let him show her what it really meant to be loved unconditionally. "And I…well, I am yours. Plain and simple. I'm yours to do with whatever you want."