Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Harry Potter. Technically, I don't even own this fanfic!
6. Hogwarts Express.
EPOV
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," warned Alice as Fred and George raised their wands.
"Oh really?" asked George.
"Why not?" asked Fred.
Alice rolled her eyes. "'Cause it's all gonna end in tears and a lot of shouting."
"You should listen to her," I told them.
"Whatever," muttered George, and together the twins said the spell to make their luggage zoom down the stairs.
"Three…two…one…" muttered Alice. Our sensitive ears picked up Ginny's surprised exclamation and a series of thumps.
"Their fault!" shouted Alice and ducked out of the hall. As soon as she was gone, Mrs Weasley appeared on the landing below us and immediately started shouting.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? AS IF WE'RE NOT IN ENOUGH OF A HURRY ALREADY WITHOUT YOU TWO KNOCKING YOUR SISTER DOWN THE STAIRS!"
"Good luck," I muttered and then went into Harry's room.
He was having some pretty weird dreams. I saw him walking down a long dark corridor ending in a locked door before he woke up.
His thoughts were still wary around me so I assumed Hermione hadn't spoken to the boys yet.
Alice came dancing into the room the second Harry finished dressing.
"We're going to Hogwarts! We're going to Hogwarts!" she sang happily.
Edward, she thought, Hermione's about to tell them. You have to see their reactions!
Right on cue, Hermione ran through the door.
"Harry! Where's Ron? I have to talk to you..! oh, hi Alice, Edward. Um…"
Ron followed her into the room too fast and bumped into her. Hermione stumbled and tripped over her feet. I ran to her side and caught her before she hit the ground.
"Oh, thanks," Hermione muttered, turning red.
I ran back to where Alice was standing in a fraction of a second and shrugged. "You're not the only human who trips over her own feet."
Holy crap! thought Ron, That guy's fast!
Why did he say that about humans? wondered Harry, As though he isn't one himself!
For goodness sake! Hermione grumbled to herself, Ron should learn to watch where he's going!
Alice rolled her eyes. Not another Bella!
I growled at her.
Geez, Edward, lighten up!
Hermione had recovered herself.
"Harry, Ron, I need to tell you something!" She glanced at me and Alice shyly. We waited patiently for her to continue.
Ron glared at us. Why don't they just leave already? They can see she wants to talk to us!
"Er, can you guys give us a sec?" asked Harry.
"Actually, Harry, they can stay," Hermione told him.
Harry blinked. "They can?"
"Yes, they can. They're what I need to talk about!" She hesitated for a second then spoke quickly. "You know that theory I had about the Cullens being…being vampires? Well, it turns out I was right."
The boys stared at her. Their first thoughts were; Of course she was right! Isn't she always? then; Vampires!?
I laughed at their reactions. The sound of my laughter made Harry and Ron jump back and pull out their wands.
"Perlease!" cried Alice, rolling her eyes, "Give us a bit of credit!"
Hermione looked at us apologetically, just as the boys pointed their wands at us and shouted, "Stupefy!"
"Harry! Ron! No!" shouted Hermione.
Of course, the spell had no effect on us.
"Saw it coming," said Alice lazily.
"Are you okay?" asked Hermione. I raised my eyebrows at her and she turned pink. "Harry, Ron, don't attack them! They're friends!"
"Friends? You aren't serious are you?" demanded Ron.
"Do we look like we want to kill you?" asked Alice sarcastically, "Not that you wouldn't taste nice or anything," she added quickly with a teasing smile.
"We don't hunt humans," I told them, "Only animals."
I let them think for a minute.
"Yes, Dumbledore knows," I answered Harry's unspoken question, "Yes, I can read minds. Oh, and by the way," I said to Ron, "I would appreciate it if you stopped thinking about my Bella that way. You're really starting to get on my nerves, kid."
Ron immediately turned red and started singing an unfamiliar song in his head. It didn't help that Bella came into the room at that moment.
Oh crap! thought Ron, Here she is now! Wow, she's hot! I mean, no; I didn't mean that! Dammit! She's a mind reading vampire's girlfriend! Stop thinking! Argh!
I was shaking with laughter now.
"You're giving me a headache, kid," I told him, "Not the easiest thing to do, you know."
"What's he thinking?" asked Bella. I was at her side in half a second and wrapping my arms around her.
"He's trying not to make a vampire angry with him," I replied casually.
Bella laughed; the sound never ceased to make my dead heart leap. "Don't worry, Ron. It takes rather a lot to make Edward angry."
Ron looked relieved, but his thoughts were still amusing.
"Oh, and Mrs Weasley says to hurry up and get downstairs. She's worried we're going to miss the train."
"She's worrying about nothing," announced Alice, "I can see us getting there in plenty of time. Although," she added thoughtfully, "we could always get there extra-early!"
I saw what she was thinking. "Alice…" I warned, even though I quite liked the idea.
"Yay!" she squealed, "I knew you'd agree!"
"Alice, we are not stealing a car!"
"Yes we are! I saw it! You've already decided!"
Sometimes I hated having a psychic as a little sister.
"I could change my mind," I reminded her.
"But you won't! Oh, Edward, there's this cute little Mini parked around the corner! The owner won't even realise it's missing til this afternoon!"
There was no way I was going to win this.
"I'll go tell Mrs Weasley!" Alice sang, dancing out of the room.
Bella groaned. "Not again!"
I smiled down at her. "She misses her Porsche," I shrugged, "There aren't any cars in the magical world."
Hermione was staring at us. "She can't just steal a car!"
"Try telling Alice that," I replied darkly.
There wasn't enough room in the stolen Mini for all of us, so Alice took us in groups. I, of course, ended up stuck between Jasper and Emmett.
"So, Edward, what are your thoughts on Harry Potter?" asked Carlisle from the front passenger seat.
I shrugged. "He can get a bit grumpy and he's fairly self-obsessed – you should've heard his thoughts when he didn't get prefect! – just like a normal human teenager, really. He does have some pretty weird dreams, though." I proceeded to tell them about the dreams I'd seen.
"Harry sounds like one seriously messed up kid," commented Emmett.
Alice got us to the station in two minutes, where we met Bella, Esme, Mrs Weasley and Harry. Bella and Esme were standing awkwardly by a separating barrier.
"Hurry, hurry!" babbled Mrs Weasley, "Get onto the platform quickly!"
I glanced at my ticket, and then at the platforms on either side of us. Platform 9 and Platform 10. No Platform 9 ¼, no Platform 9 ½, certainly no Platform 9 ¾.
"Um…" I began uncertainly.
"Where the hell is this Platform 9 ¾?" burst out Jasper, who was looking uncomfortable surrounded by so many humans.
Mrs Weasley looked confused for a second. "Oh yes, of course! I forgot you wouldn't know what to do!" She pointed at the barrier behind us. "You just need to run at that barrier there and you'll get through."
"Are you crazy?" asked Emmett, sounding genuinely curious, "If we collide with that, we'll knock the whole station down!"
"No, no, you won't!" replied Mrs Weasley, wringing her hands anxiously, "I'll go first to demonstrate!"
We watched her lean casually against the barrier and then she was gone.
"Sweet!" commented Emmett.
"But will it work for us?" asked Bella nervously.
An awful smell came up behind me right then, and I turned to face Jacob, a big black dog that was Sirius (both of whom were the source of the smell), Renesmee, and Rosalie.
Rosalie looked revolted. "Imagine sitting in a car with not one, but two smelly mutts!"
"You don't smell so wonderful yourself, Blondie!" retorted Jacob.
Renesmee rolled her eyes. "Alice says to tell you that yes, it will work for us."
"Excellent!" exclaimed Emmett, bounding forward. "Watch this Rose!" And he disappeared through the barrier.
"Show off," muttered Rosalie, following him.
Carlisle and Esme went together, then Jacob and Renesmee, then Harry, then Jasper.
"After you," I told the dog, and he left. I offered Bella my arm. "Shall we?"
She took my elbow with a giggle and we walked forward together. I heard Bella gasp in wonder.
"Wow."
I had to agree with her. The rest of the station had disappeared and we were now standing on an individual platform in front of a gleaming red steam train.
We were joined a minute later by Ron, Hermione, Tonks, and Mr Weasley. Ron looked rather pale.
"Your sister drives like a maniac!" he said shakily.
Jasper, Emmett, Jacob, Bell and I laughed.
The last group to arrive consisted of Alice, Fred, George, Ginny, and creepy old Mad-Eye. If Alice was hyper before, it was nothing to what she was now. She was jumping around like Winnie-the-Pooh's friend Tigger the tiger gone psycho, and confusing other students by greeting them by name.
I glanced at Jasper. "Isn't there anything you can do?"
He grinned at me and went after his overexcited wife. "Alice…"
A whistle rang out over the platform and I took Bella's hand. "Time to get on the train, love."
Carlisle spoke now to the rest of his family. "Esme and I are going to sit in the staff carriage. You kids have a good trip and please, please try not to get into any trouble!"
"Don't worry, Carlisle," I assured him, "We'll keep Emmett in check."
Carlisle smiled gratefully. "Good luck!"
I returned the smile. We were going to need it. "Well, we'll see you when we get there."
Esme reached out to hug us. "Be good," she told us gently, but firmly.
"Don't worry about us, Esme," said Bella, receiving a hug of her own.
"Come on!" wailed Alice impatiently. As soon as everyone had been hugged, she grabbed Jasper's hand and dragged him to the train.
"We'd better go," I muttered, and the rest of us followed them onto the train just as it started moving.
Ron and Hermione had to leave for the prefect's carriage, which left us Cullens alone with Harry and Ginny.
"Let's go find a compartment!" squealed Alice. Harry and Ginny led the way down the train corridor. We soon met a tall, round-faced boy. I learnt from the thoughts around me that his name was Neville Longbottom.
"Hey, Neville!" Ginny greeted him. Neville was too busy to answer, staring at us, his eyes wide.
Wow! he thought, Who are these guys? I've never seen them before. Maybe they're new students, although they're too big to be first-years. What are they doing with Harry? Oh no! I hope they're not giving him a hard time about all the news that's been going around!
I immediately liked this boy. He reminded me of Bella's old friend, Angela Weber, what with the way he thought of his friends before himself. I held out a hand to introduce myself. "Hello. My name is Edward Masen. This is my family; my sister, Renesmee; Bella Swan; Rosalie and Jasper Hale; and the Cullens – Emmett, Alice, and their cousin Jacob."
Neville flinched when I introduced Alice. Curious, I probed his thoughts, and saw the image of a wispy-haired, frail-looking woman who bore a strong resemblance to the boy before me. There was such sadness behind this image that Jasper winced.
"Oh, um, hi. I'm Neville. Nice to meet you." Neville turned to Harry and Ginny. "I can't find a free compartment! Everywhere's full!"
Ginny peeked into the compartment next to her. "This one's free. There's no one in here but Luna Lovegood."
Emmett snickered at the name. "We'll be next door."
"But they're both full," said Bella.
"Are they?" Emmett grinned and slid one of the doors open. The small group of girls barely had time to look up before he barged into the compartment. "Okay, out you go! This one's taken!"
"Hey! What's the idea?" demanded one of the girls, but Emmett gave her a fierce look and she hurried out of the compartment without further question.
Emmett settled himself casually in the corner, unaware of the frowns coming at him from all directions.
"That wasn't very nice, Emmett," I scolded him, sitting across from him and pulling Bella onto my lap. Emmett shrugged.
Everyone who passed our door would stop and stare when they saw us. We paid them no attention, used to whispers about the mysterious Cullen family, until the door slid open.
A tall, thin boy stood there. He had white blonde hair, styled in a way that made Alice shudder, and was very pale, for a human.
"I heard there were some new students on the train," he said in a drawl. He didn't even react to our inhuman beauty.
"That would be us," Alice told him. He looked at my sister with slight disgust.
"So you were raised like Muggles?"
"I guess you could say that," I replied slowly.
"Ew! I'm in a compartment full of Mudbloods! I was wondering what that smell was!"
"No, that's just the dog," said Rosalie, pointing at Jacob. The boy blinked and we all burst out laughing, even Jake. The pale boy apparently didn't like being laughed at.
"Your first mistake, Mudbloods!" he hissed at us, before turning to leave and slamming the door behind him. His anger only made us laugh louder.
The door opened again and Harry, Ron, and Hermione came in.
"What's the joke?" demanded Ron.
"Some boy just came in, called us 'Mudbloods' and wanted to know what the smell was," esplained Bella, "Rosalie told him it was Jacob."
The wizards exchanged dark looks.
"That would probably be Malfoy," muttered Harry. I recognised the pale boy in his thoughts.
"Yes, that was him."
"Why did he call us Mudbloods?" asked Renesmee.
"It's what some pure-blood wizards call Muggle-borns. People like me who have Muggle parents. They think our blood is dirty," said Hermione bitterly. She looked very upset.
I snorted. "What would he know about blood, dirty or otherwise?"
Alice stood up from where she was sitting on Jasper's knee and danced over to Hermione. She leaned in very deliberately and sniffed her throat. Everyone tensed, but then Alice stepped back and smiled kindly.
"I don't think you smell dirty. You actually have a distinctly sweet scent."
I noticed she was right. Hermione's blood was nothing on Bella's, of course, but it smelled nice all the same.
"She does too!" added Emmett, "I hadn't realised!"
"You all smell the same to me," shrugged Jasper, "If your blood is dirty, then so is his."
"I would know if you had dirty blood," Rosalie told her, "And trust me, so would you."
Hermione went slightly pink as the blood we were discussing rushed to her cheeks.
"Um, thanks, guys," she mumbled uncertainly. We all grinned at her.
"Hey, come sit down!" suggested Alice, "Budge over, Emmett!"
"Are you sure?" asked Harry.
"Of course we're sure! Come on! We don't bite!"
We all stared at Alice and she rolled her eyes.
"You know what I mean!"
They sank awkwardly into the spaces we'd made for them.
"So," began Ron, breaking the silence, "do you know what houses you're going to be in?"
"I've got a fairly good idea," laughed Alice, while the rest of us shrugged.
"Well," said Hermione, "You're sorted into one of four houses based on your personality. There's Gryffindor for bravery, Ravenclaw for intelligence, Hufflepuff for loyalty, and Slytherin for…well, basically just for pure evil; people who only think of themselves."
"Oh my God!" exclaimed Jacob, looking at Rosalie, "That is so you!"
Rose started to stand up, a hiss escaping her throat, but Emmett held her back.
"Let go of me, Emmett! I am going to teach that dog a lesson!" she snarled furiously.
"Jazz, now would be a good time," I hinted.
"Don't you dare!" shouted Rosalie, "That mutt deserves what he gets!"
"JASPER!" yelled Emmett, Alice, Bella, Jacob, Renesmee, and I.
"Okay, okay! I've got it!"
It took a few seconds for Rosalie to relax. The three wizards stared at her with their mouths hanging open.
"Blimey! You've got a bit of a temper!" commented Ron.
"Tell me about it," muttered Jasper, "I was almost going to kill him myself!"
"Geez, you bloodsuckers can't take a joke!" complained Jacob. He looked at Alice. "Why didn't you warn me she would react like that?"
"You know I can't see the wolves! Don't blame me!" snapped Alice. Jasper calmed her down before she could get angry, then glanced apologetically at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"You're scared."
Ron scowled indignantly. "We are not! It takes more than just an angry vampire to scare us!"
Jasper chuckled. "No point lying to me. I can feel exactly what you're feeling."
Ron looked embarrassed. "You know what I'm feeling?"
"A gift of mine," he shrugged. He looked at Hermione. "You didn't do a very good job of filling them in."
"I didn't really have much time," mumbled Hermione.
"Well, you've got plenty of time now," said Alice. When Hermione didn't say anything, she continued. "Anyhoo, some vampires have certain talents. As you just saw, Jazz can experience and manipulate emotions. You already know how Edward can read minds. Renesmee can project her thoughts into other minds. Bella is a metal shield, that is, talents such as Edward's don't work on her. I can see the future."
I didn't have to hear Harry and Ron's thoughts to know they were impressed.
"That's pretty cool," Ron muttered.
Harry was about to agree with him, but Emmett interrupted with a groan.
"Are we there yet?" he complained, "This train is going sooo slow!"
Alice searched the future quickly. "We will get there in two hours and forty-three minutes," she told him, "I'm sure you can find a way to entertain yourself for that long!"
I really wished Alice hadn't said that. For the next two-and-a-half hours, we had to watch Emmett entertain himself in the form of making out with Rosalie.
"How could you not have seen this coming?" I demanded of Alice.
"I'm sorry!" she wailed, a sickened expression on her face, "If I hadn't told him he would've kept nagging until Jasper attacked him and then they would've destroyed the entire compartment from their wrestling!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were watching them with a mixture of fascination, disgust, and, in Ron's case, envy.
"Please!" I hissed as Ron's thoughts strayed to a disturbing area. "Stop thinking! Those two are bad enough!"
Ron went bright red while Harry laughed loudly.
"You guys can go back to your friends if you want," Alice told them, "We'll get there in seventeen minutes."
The three wizards jumped up immediately to go back to their own compartment.
"Emmett!" I said loudly, and he broke away from Rosalie to look at me.
"What?"
"You can stop entertaining yourself now; we're nearly there!"
"Awesome!" he exclaimed.
We changed into our new school robes at human speed, Alice and Rose making faces at they examined their outfits.
"These wizards obviously haven't heard of fashion!" Alice complained.
I suddenly realised how nervous my Bella was behaving. If I didn't know her so well I probably wouldn't have noticed.
I folded my arms around her shoulders.
"Is everything okay, my love?' I whispered in her ear.
"I'm just a little nervous," she admitted, "New school, people staring, all that." She giggled nervously. "You'd think I'd have gotten over my silly human worries after almost eleven years."
"Well, this time none of us know what to expect. Don't worry."
She still looked unsure, so I kissed her forehead gently.
"You'll be fine, love," I assured her.
She sighed against my chest. "I know."
We felt the train slow to a stop and heard the commotion of people getting their luggage together.
Alice yanked the door open so hard that it almost splintered under her hand.
"Careful, Alice," Jasper warned her.
I took Bella's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Here we go, love."
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