Hi…Sorry, for the wait. *Sheepishly look down in shame* It has been far too long. I know I promised April updates and it is now June, and I know it has been a good four months since I thought about this story, so…Sorry.

I made a stupid mistake in chapter two and said that there were seven periods per day and each teacher had to teach six, but then I gave Hermione two periods off. Pretend that I said there are eight periods per day.

I had considered quitting this story after a friend of mine told me that she thought the pairing to be awful because Carlisle was way too old for Hermione, but I think I'll keep up with it. So, if my silly, ballerina/sous-chef/best-friend is reading this hope she'll forgive my going against her advice. Love You, girly.

Disclaimer-You recognize it? I don't own it.

Chapter Five

A week had passed since Carlisle had spoken to Bella in the hospital about Edward. Every time he'd gone to check on her condition after that, she'd either pretended to be asleep or had treated him like they'd never met outside of the Doctor-Patient relationship before. It bothered Carlisle more than he wanted to admit. He would have to ask Alice if she had any insight into Bella's reasons for avoiding him.

Anyway, Carlisle was on his way to Forks High School to formally withdraw his 'son' Edward from school. He hadn't even thought about a need to do that, it had totally slipped his mind, until he'd received notice from the school that if Edward missed one more day of school he would be Expelled and reported to the police for Truancy. Needless to say, Edward wasn't planning on returning to Forks High anytime soon.

It was nearly time for all the students to go to Lunch and Carlisle was considering making a stop in the school's cafeteria, after finishing whatever paperwork the school required, just to embarrass the 'children'. He was positive they would not enjoy having their 'father' visit them in school, the few hours a day when most teens could escape their parental figures.

The thought of their reactions was what kept him entertained throughout the entire, rather tedious, process of removing Edward from school without having Edward present. When he finally finished his business at the school, he exited the office and was about to head toward the cafeteria when he saw Alice leaning against a wall outside the office, smug expression firmly in place. "Don't even bother, Carlisle. I already warned them what you were planning."

Damn, I forgot about her ability for a moment. How did I forget that even after knowing her so long?

"Oh, Carlisle, one more warning for the day; you'll be getting a call about Emmett's bad behavior in about thirty seconds. He decided to be stupid so that he would be held after class and therefore would be able to avoid seeing you. Oh, and the Art classroom is that way." Alice pointed toward a building on the other side of the school from the Office before disappearing.

Why would I need to know where the Art classroom is? Carlisle only had a few seconds to wonder before he got a call on his cell phone from an unfamiliar number that he assumed would be Emmett's teacher.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen speaking." He answered in his most formal tone, the one he always used when getting calls about business.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen. This is Ms. Granger calling from Forks High School about your son Emmett."

Where do I know that voice? ...Is that Bella's cousin?

"Is Emmett alright? He's not hurt is he?" Carlisle knew Emmett wasn't hurt, but he had to put on a concerned parent act.

"No, nothing like that! He isn't injured, but I am slightly concerned about his behavior in class today."

In the background of this call, he heard Emmett call out "Tell Carlie I said Hi!"

Carlie? What is Emmett hoping to achieve with silly names?

"Ms. Granger, I am actually at the school right now taking care of a bit of paperwork for one of my other children; if you'd like I can just stop by your room and we can have this discussion in person?"

"That sounds like a good idea, Doctor. My classroom is room 21, and I have Emmett here with me so we can all talk about this together."

Carlisle headed to the Art classroom wondering what Emmett had done this time.

Two things were obvious when Carlisle stepped into Ms. Granger's classroom. The first was that she was most definitely Bella's cousin Hermione. Even if Carlisle hadn't recognized her voice on the phone and then her appearance after seeing her upon entering the room, he would have known it was her because of the cloud of magic surrounding her. The second was the reason why he was getting calls from concerned teachers.

If he had been an average human father, he probably would have had a heart attack at the sight of his son. Emmett had obviously gone back to the house since the school day began. There was no way Alice would have let him anywhere near the school looking like that if she could have stopped him; she wouldn't have even allowed him out of the house.

Deciding the best approach to this would be to get the story straight from Emmett's mouth, he asked "Emmett, why are you wearing your Rocky Horror costume? You know it's indecent to wear that in public unless you are actually going to see Rocky Horror!"

I'm only glad that Rosalie wouldn't let him go completely authentic with the costume and forced him to wear shorts, not that those too-tight, leather shorts count for very much.

Other than the shorts, Emmett was looking like a very authentic replica of Frank-N-Furter. Including the make-up. It had been disturbing the first time Emmett decided to wear the costume to see the movie. It was just awful to see when Emmett had absolutely no reason to be dressed like this.

"But, Carlie, it makes me feel pretty!" Emmett said in his most girlish voice.

Carlisle glared at Emmett. "I don't know what you're playing at, Em, but just stop. Whatever your issue is, we can talk about it when we are all home." Carlisle said all this at vampire-speed; far too fast for Hermione to follow, or even know that he had spoken.

Carlisle then shrugged out of his white lab coat and tossed it to Emmett, who was still sitting on a stool near the back of the classroom. "Put that on to cover yourself, Emmett. My keys are in the pocket. Go home and just stay there until I get back. That is, if Ms. Granger is alright with you leaving and simply discussing your behavior with me instead of the both of us?" He said the last part as a question to Ms. Granger, feeling slightly guilty about going around her authority in her own classroom.

"That'll be fine." She responded.

"Thank you, Ms. Granger. Emmett, put on that coat." He repeated, seeing Emmett hadn't done it yet. "Good. Now, just go."

Carlisle had been having a less than stellar day full of paperwork at the hospital, and Emmett's odd behavior was just irritating him. Usually he wouldn't be so bothered by what Emmett had done, but Carlisle had actually hoped to get off on a good foot with Hermione after realizing she was a witch. He was hoping she would eventually open up to him about the magical world.

"Bye-bye, then." Emmett jumped up and left the room in a hurry. Before the door fully closed behind him, Carlisle heard him say, too quiet and quick for Ms. Granger to hear, "You're welcome, Carlisle. Because you will thank me later."

Carlisle just shook his head and put the cryptic message from his mind. He turned to face Hermione, "I apologize for that display. I imagine it was some sort of bet or dare between him and his brother, they tend to get up to the oddest behavior, but I really am not positive. Was he wearing that all day, or do you know?"

"It's perfectly alright, Dr. Cullen. I know a bit about people with odd habits, myself."

"I do believe I asked you to call me Carlisle the last time we met, Ms. Granger. If you'd rather be less familiar than that I'll understand, but I truly prefer being called Carlisle."

"Carlisle it is then. Please, call me Hermione. Now, about halfway through my class Emmett asked to be excused to go to the restroom. When he came back, he was looking like that. I'm assuming those clothes were in his locker or car, and that's where he got them, but I have no idea why he decided they were necessary.

"On another odd-note about Emmett's recent behavior, there was a second strange incident today. The class' assignment this week was to make a painting showing a scene from a recurring dream or nightmare or theirs. I make a point not to look at the students' work until Fridays when they present to the rest of the class. Well, It's obviously Friday. When Emmett presented his, I wasn't sure whether it was supposed to be a dream or a nightmare. He said it was a nightmare, though. I feel that you should be aware if your son has nightmares about being attacked by talking silverware."

Carlisle snorted. That's a new one.

"I hope there won't be any more problems with him, Hermione. I believe it probably has something to do with his brother Edward leaving. I have a feeling Emmett is trying to do anything outrageous that he can to cheer up Alice; she didn't take it well when Edward left and then her best friend began avoiding her all at the same time. You see, Alice once told Emmett that she would stab him with a spoon if he didn't get quiet quickly; I'd imagine that's why he pretended to be afraid of silverware."

"Carlisle, forgive me if this comes out rather rudely, but you have the strangest family I have met since I graduated from school; quite possibly stranger than most of the people I met in my boarding school in Scotland, and that is saying something."

Carlisle laughed. "I believe I know exactly what you mean, Hermione. I, too, went to a boarding school in Scotland and met some mighty strange people."

Come on, Hermione. Take the bait and realize I mean Hogwarts. Even if you don't know I mean Hogwarts, you are sure to start thinking about the possibility.

"You went to school in Scotland?"

"Many years ago." Carlisle replied while he looked curiously around the room, noticing the artwork spread all over the place. He looked at a few pieces and chuckled as he recognized something that was obviously done by Jasper; It was a sketch of Alice while she worked. Looking around, he recognized a few other pieces that he could tell right away were done by his family. "I like the way you have the students display their work throughout the room." He said, almost as an afterthought to his reply to her question.

"Yes, the students seem to enjoy that as well."

Carlisle spun around to look at the wall and jumped about a mile in the air when he came face to face with a sight he could have gladly never seen again in his lifetime. "Good Lord, it can't be." He said quietly to himself. At least he thought it was quietly, or maybe he had underestimated Hermione's senses.

Either way, she asked "What can't be?"

Damn. I can't very well tell her that I just saw a near-exact duplicate of the craziest bitch I ever met on her wall, now can I? Or, maybe I can; after all, I have been intending to have her figure out my past. Why not just tell her? A second little voice in the back of his head said, because where would be the fun in that? And Carlisle couldn't disagree.

"Nothing, I just thought I saw someone I recognized in one of these pictures. It isn't her, though. Who did these, Hermione?"

As if I don't already know that you did, Ms. Granger.

He was looking at what appeared to be a collage dedicated to a man named Sirius Black, if the Wanted posters were anything to go by. In the bottom right of the collage was the picture that had shocked him. The woman, who appeared to be both in pain and laughing at the same time, bore a striking resemblance to Elladora Black; Elladora had been a few years older than Carlisle and tormented him mercilessly through his Hogwarts years for being a pathetic excuse for a Malfoy. Of course, Carlisle hadn't really counted as a Malfoy because his mother was disowned after she married his father, but the blood had still been there. Elladora felt it her right to torture him because she was betrothed to a Real Malfoy, as she often said. Crazy bitch. The sight of her look-alike gave him chills.

"I actually drew those. This one is my favorite of the ones I have at the school, though." She gestured to a depiction of a young man standing in front of a shattering window while the full moon rose in the background. It was incredible to see the amount of work she had clearly put into the art.

"Wow. They're all beautiful." Carlisle was at a loss for words. One thing he had never been able to develop a talent in was art.

She snorted disbelievingly. "Some of them don't turn out so well."

"Oh, really? I doubt anything you could make could be as bad as my best attempt, even if you tried to make it awful. I am woefully incapable of anything artistic, aside from writing." It was true, Carlisle had tried for decades to find anything artistic he could be remotely successful at and the closest he'd gotten to creating something as beautiful as her artwork was only through his written words after Alice suggested he try writing.

"Oh, please. Everyone is capable of making art; you just have to find the area you are good at." She was about to go into what Harry and Ron had always called her Lecture Mode, but managed to stop herself in time.

"Someday you'll have to swing by the house and I can show you the past disasters. " He laughed at the remembrance of a few disasters. When Alice suggested he attempt writing, it had been after he tried to paint a picture of a bird and it looked about like a turtle floating in midair.

"I'll be sure to do that. Maybe I'll bring a few disasters by to compare."

"I'd like to see what you consider a disaster." From the looks of what she had hanging up, Hermione liked things perfect. He could imagine her being one of those people who considered a slight mistake, something only the artist would notice, grounds to toss an attempt in the trash and start over, at least when it came to her work. "What's under here?" He asked when he came to a covered easel that was at least six feet wide and probably four feet tall.

"Oh…Err…that's just a little something I've just finished working on, it's been a pet-project of mine for quite a while. The assignment I gave the kids, where they were to paint their recurring dream or nightmare, well…I decided to give them that assignment because I was already doing it myself. I chose nightmare."

Just a LITTLE something? I can't imagine what she considers large project to undertake.

"May I?" He asked gesturing toward the cover over the painting.

Hermione considered for a moment, and Carlisle could have kicked himself for doing something as stupid as basically asking to see what was probably either her biggest fear or worst memory.

Just as he was about to apologize and step away from the painting, she nodded and stepped closer to help him uncover the massive painting.

His unnecessary breath caught in his throat at the sight of Hogwarts practically destroyed. It was obvious something horrible had happened there. He could understand why the thought gave her nightmares. If he could sleep, Carlisle would have had nightmares for months just from this painting. It physically hurt to see Hogwarts so injured.

Hogwarts had always been beautiful, and so full of life. Now the life was being snuffed out right before Carlisle's eyes.

Hogwarts grounds' were littered with bodies, young and old, innocent and guilty, clearly-human and horrible masked-beings that could have been anything or anyone.

Her lawns were on fire, as were the walls and the trees of the forest. The forest looked different from what Carlisle remembered even without the fires, but he supposed that a few centuries would do that to a forest.

Of all the horrors and nightmares the picture represented, the worst was the pain that had been inflicted on Hogwarts itself. The school's windows, both the stained glass that told so many stories and the regular windows, all appeared to be shattered. Entire walls seemed to be crumbling. The inside of the Great Hall was visible through a gaping hole in one of the walls. There were what appeared to be bodies lined up on the four House tables while other people grieved for the lost that surrounded them.

In front of the school, leaning against a wall in order to support himself, was a young man who appeared to be in his late teens. He looked like his heart was breaking into pieces; one arm was curled around his chest, like he was holding himself together, and his other hand was on covering his face. His fingers were threaded into his messy, black hair and pulling on it while tears leaked down his face. His glowing green eyes were wild and tormented.

"What happened to Hogwarts, Hermione?"

҉….҉…..҉

҉….҉

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Author's Note-I know that they were already calling each other Carlisle and Hermione a few chapters ago, but the relationship between a man meeting the family of someone he considers family is different than the relationship between Parent and Teacher. I felt that they needed to re-establish that they could be informal with each other, even when they were speaking because of a happening at school.