Disclaimer: I wanted to refresh my disclaimer in this chapter. I do not own anything from Twilight or Harry Potter. No copyright infringement is intended. The details in Edward's explanation about the events following Bella's attack in Port Angeles come directly from the portion of Midnight Sun posted on Stephanie Meyers' website. I added the part about the trial at the end, but most of it is all Meyers.
Chapter Sixteen:
Time passed very strangely in the beginning. The way days no longer had a clear beginning and end was very disorienting. As a human, you perceive the day to begin when your alarm wakes you up in the morning. The day ends when you drift off to sleep at night. As a vampire, the days aren't broken up by sleep. Time just flows, like one long endless day. It definitely takes some getting used to.
The first week I basically spent every moment with Edward. We spent most of the time off on our own. We had missed each other so much while we were apart. We needed this time to be together, and I was finally able to tell Edward everything about my life. He had gotten a short introduction to the magical world from Dumbledore and The Skirts, but it wasn't really an in depth explanation of what my life has been like.
Luckily the pouch still recognized that I was Isabella Black, so I was able to retrieve Regulus' letter. I felt like that was the best place to start. His emotions overwhelmed me a bit as he read the letter. He felt incredibly helpless and angry that someone had plotted to kill me when I was just four years old. When he read that Voldemort had decided to make me his mate rather than kill me, his emotions warred inside of him. On one hand he was grateful that something made Voldemort decide not to kill me. On the other hand he was enraged that someone else claimed his mate. Then he would feel guilty for being angry about something that saved my life. Finally he felt overwhelming gratitude towards my Uncle Regulus for saving me from that fate and bringing me to Port Angeles.
We didn't say anything for a few hours after he finished reading the letter. We just held each other tightly without saying a word. Edward needed the time. Needed to reassure himself that I was safe. That I was his. I gave him all the time he needed, allowing my quiet presence to calm his fears.
I finally felt him relax around me and knew it was okay for me to continue on in my life story. I told him about living in the orphanage and feeling like an outcast. I told him about Doc and what a positive influence she had on my life. I discussed my adoption, and what it was like living with Renee and Charlie. I moved on to when Renee left and how I was forced to the responsible party in our relationship. He laughed when I told him about all the mischief I would get into, and how I'd always loved to mess with people.
I talked about spending my summers with Charlie. How I'd spend a lot of time down at the Rez with Jake. We discussed all the trouble the two of us would get into together, and how he has always felt like a brother to me. We moved on to when I found out that I was a witch, and everything we did in NYC that first summer. I promised that I'd take everyone to a wizarding district soon.
I told him about finding out about Sirius, and everything that went along with the realization. We talked about how hard it was for me to live my life knowing that my father was locked away for a crime he didn't commit. We had the most fun talking about my years at Salem. He was fascinated by the wizarding world, and looking forward to learning as much as he could.
He was a bit upset with me for putting my name in for the TWT. He had asked me not to do anything reckless or dangerous, and the TWT definitely fell into both categories. I sheepishly admitted that he may have been part of the reason why I submitted my name. I wanted to be reckless. He didn't really like the sound of that.
After I finished explaining everything that I could remember about my human life, I floo called Grimmauld Place and asked one of the girls to bring me my pensieve. Some of the memories you really need to see for yourself. The one I was most interested in showing my vampire family was the first task of the TWT. I thought it would earn me some points that I was able to hold my own against a dragon when I was human. I also thought they'd love to see a dragon. They were all suitably impressed. Well, except Edward. He was upset with me for endangering myself. Whatever. It obviously worked out just fine.
I also showed them our "Fireworks" performance that we did for our introduction to Hogwarts. They loved that as well. "Wow Bella! Magic is so cool and you're one bad ass witch!"
"Thanks Emmett," I responded shyly.
"Guys, I've been thinking that I want to spend our last week in Forks. I don't know when I'll get to see everyone again." I was really going to miss the wolf pack and Charlie. Renee and Phil, too, of course. I'd just gotten used to not seeing them as much.
My story had been all over the papers, so Charlie was aware that a lot had happened in my life. Everyone was buzzing about how Isabella Black has been alive all along. There were many speculations on how I'd survived, none of them accurate. They also had pictures of me growing up at Salem and competing in the tournament splashed all over the pages. News of my dad's innocence had also made the papers. No one but Dad and Harry had been able to hear me say that I'd been bitten by a vampire. Everyone just thought I was hurt in the tournament. Unfortunately, Voldemort would know about everything. At least he won't want to marry me anymore, now that I'm nothing more than a filthy half-breed to him.
Carlisle had called Sam to fill him in on what the papers didn't report. He asked Sam to let Charlie know what was going on with me. Carlisle informed them that they probably wouldn't be able to see me for awhile. I'm so glad I skipped over that whole crazed newborn phase.
"That's a wonderful idea, Bella. The wolves are anxious to see you. They've been really worried."
The Cullens have belongings that stay at each of their residences, so they had everything they'd need already in Forks. They were planning on buying new belongings in London to keep at my Dad's. Something about adapting to the style of their location. Right. Alice and Rose just wanted an excuse to shop.
The Denali clan had already packed up most of what they'd need in London, so it didn't take them long to complete the process. I shrunk their belongings and they stored them in their pockets. I then grabbed a pillow off their couch and turned it into a portkey. The thirteen of us crowded around the pillow and within seconds it was glowing blue and we were being whisked off to Forks.
None of the vampires fell, but they looked a little unsteady. I giggled. It's funny to see a vampire unsure on their feet. We made our way into the house to find it empty. Well, that's a bummer.
We decided to run over to the Cullens and grab their cars. We then drove past the police station to see if Charlie was there. He wasn't. He must either be at the Rez or out fishing. My guess was the Rez. I didn't think he'd be out fishing so soon after his daughter was assaulted by a vampire and turned into one herself.
So we made our way to La Push. There were no cars outside Jake's house, so we drove over to Sam's. Sure enough, the police cruiser was there. We hadn't even gotten out of the car before the wolf pack was emerging from the house. I stepped out of the Volvo, and they didn't even hesitate. They ran up to me and swallowed me in hugs.
Wow. They really smell. Good thing I'm partial to pups. "Bella! How are you here? Carlisle said you'd be some crazed out-of-control blood demon for at least a year!"
Wow, thanks Jake. "I doubt he used those exact words," I admonished.
Everyone just laughed and shook their heads. "No, he may have used a bit more tact."
I smiled at my friend and looked toward the door as Charlie emerged. I approached him slowly. Everyone was watching me on high alert. Honestly, people. I didn't lose control before the potion; I'm certainly not going to do it now.
I finally made it directly in front of Charlie, and he let out a breath he'd been holding. "Wow, Bells. I didn't think you could get more beautiful than when you were human, but vampirism really suits you."
I laughed out loud and gave him a gentle hug. Trust Charlie to come out with something completely unexpected.
The pack was looking at me, Edward, Jasper and Eleazar curiously. Sam asked the question his whole pack was thinking. "What happened to your eyes? Bella, yours didn't even change and Edward, Jasper and Eleazar's are no longer golden."
I smiled and explained to them about the potion. They were all excited for us, and congratulated me on figuring out how to make it permanent. I looked down shyly. "Thanks guys."
They ushered us into Sam's house and I noticed Emily for the first time. I gasped. "Emily! Merlin! How?"
I was directly in front of her staring at her scar less face in awe. Both she and Sam were beaming. "Madame Pomfry approached me at the Yule Ball. She gave me some cream and said that if I apply it every day for a week, the scars should disappear. It worked!"
I gave her a big, but gentle hug. "That's so awesome Emily! I knew there are creams and potions that can help prevent scaring, but I didn't know of anything that could actually remove a scar. I'm so happy for you!" I really was. It was very painful for Sam to look at Emily's face every day, reminding him of when he lost control.
"Thanks Bella!" Emily was transcendent. "Madame Pomfry said that it was a new treatment created by a Severus Snape. She wasn't sure if it would work, so we didn't tell anyone. Now we're just letting people see for themselves."
I smiled and turned to see Jake with his arm around Sarah. She was looking at all the vampires with wide eyes. When she realized she'd been caught staring she smiled at me sheepishly. "I can't believe we went to school with five vampires! Did you know the whole time, Bella?"
Everyone turned to look at me, interested in my response. I laughed. I had had so much fun messing with Edward. "Yes, I knew from the moment they walked into the cafeteria on my first day. I even knew who they were before Jessica filled me in, thanks to Eleazar. I remember her being all up in arms that you were dating each other. She said, "I mean, they live together. It's weird." I remember thinking, 'Yeah, they also suck blood together. What's your point?'"
Everyone laughed, and I continued my tale. "Then she started talking about how Edward never dated, and that he thought all the girls in Forks weren't good enough for him." Edward was behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist in the blink of an eye.
"No one was good enough until you showed up, Bella."
I scoffed. "You're a bit biased, Edward." I pecked his lips before continuing. "I remember wondering when you'd turned her down."
He laughed a deep belly laugh at that. Ah, that is the best sound in the world. "Very soon after our arrival. Her thoughts were very disturbing for a while."
I shuddered. "I can imagine."
I continued telling them about how I would have fun messing with Edward, especially when he saved me from the van. "I remember thinking that you'd saved me so much paperwork! I was dreading telling the aurors I'd performed magic in front of a school full of muggles and vampires!"
Everyone was laughing exuberantly at how I'd purposefully poked Edward about his vampire abilities. He was shaking his head while smiling at me adoringly. "I never saved you from anything, did I? You didn't need me to stop the van, or those muggle thugs."
I smiled at him lovingly. "It's the intent that matters, Edward. You didn't know that I could take care of myself, and you risked yourself to save me." I turned around and slinked my arms around his neck, batting my eyes flirtatiously. "My hero."
He laughed and kissed my nose. "You're so full of it." I snickered.
Charlie wasn't laughing, though. "What muggle thugs, Bella?"
Shit. "Erm…Uh, do you remember when Sarah, Angela and I went to Port Angeles before the dance last year?"
He nodded and I noticed Jacob tightening his arm around Sarah, trepidation rolling off him in waves. "Well, I left the girls at the clothing store while they were trying on dresses. I wanted to visit the book store." Charlie interrupted grumbling about how he raised me to be smarter than that.
"Come on, Charlie. I'm a witch. I can handle myself. It's exactly what I was going to do when the thugs boxed me in."
He interrupted again, totally in cop mode. "How many were there, Bella?"
"Four." He was about to interrupt again so I continued on quickly. "I had bought a book at the store, and transfigured it into a taser. I hid my wand inside and was going to use it to electrocute them with magic. I totally had it covered when Edward showed up to rescue me."
Everyone looked upset, especially Charlie and Sarah. Honestly, can't they see I'm fine? Sarah approached me and hugged me as tightly as she could. "I'm so sorry, Bella! We should have gone with you or something."
"Oh, nonsense, you are all being ridiculous. The reason we were in PA was to get your dresses. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine. I should have just stayed with you. I was never really in danger, though. I can take on four muggles without breaking a sweat."
Everyone but Charlie seemed at least a bit placated. "Bella, you should have at least told me what happened. What if they attack again, but the girl isn't able to protect herself with magic? I could have alerted the PAPD."
Damn. I didn't even think about that. I focused my eyes on the ground guiltily. Luckily, Edward had thought of it. "Don't worry, Chief. I led Carlisle back to the area where the men were lurking. The only really dangerous one was the leader. I could see in his mind the faces of women he'd raped and killed before. The others thought they were just having a little fun messing with Bella. As much as it angers me that they were even doing that, they had no intentions of harming her."
Growls had broken out amongst the wolves and vampires during Edward's explanation, and Charlie was clearly livid. I could sense that the vampires' emotions when beyond anger that someone attacked me. I couldn't quite place the emotion as it was very similar to anger, but it felt a bit like indignation. I peeked into their thoughts and realized that they were pissed that a human would treat another human with such disregard. Without the potion, they had to fight so hard to retain their humanity. To preserve human life. It went against all their instincts. To hear of a human acting so inhumane really bothered them. I could totally understand that.
After the room quieted Edward continued. "Anyways, Carlisle was able to locate the man at a bar. He waited until the man left and sedated him. He dropped him off, unconscious, in front of a police station in Portland. He was a known serial rapist and murderer, and had warrants out for his arrest in Texas and Oklahoma. I kept track of his case. He ended up standing trial in Houston, where he was found guilty and sentenced to death. He's still in the appeals process, but I don't see him living much longer."
I stared at Edward, shocked. I had no idea he'd done all of that. I hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear so softly not even the other vampires would pick up my words. "Edward. How can you doubt what an amazing man you are? How many innocent girls do you think you saved by getting that scum off the streets? I so so proud of you, Edward. I'm so honored to be your mate. I love you."
He held me to him tightly and buried his face in the crook of my neck. "Thank you, Bella. You make me feel like maybe I am someone worthy of your love."
I ran my hand comfortingly through his hair. My sweet vulnerable vampire. "Of course you are, Edward. I'm the lucky one in our relationship."
He pulled back and scoffed. "You're absurd, Bella."
I smiled lovingly at him and pecked his lips. When I turned around I remembered that we weren't in this room alone. There were in fact 21 others surrounding us, watching our display. "Please tell me you guys aren't going to be acting all nauseatingly sappy for the rest of eternity. I'm not sure I can handle that."
I laughed. "Too bad, brother bear. You're stuck with us. And yes, I plan on being a sappy lovesick fool for all eternity."
Emmett scowled in mock annoyance before grabbing me from Edward and swinging me around in circles. "You're going to make things so interesting, sis!" What can I say, I try.
When everyone calmed down Charlie asked me to expand upon what the paper reported on the third task. Carlisle had just informed that I'd been bitten. I explained how Voldemort returned to power and all of the horror that came along with it. I told them that we were going to be going back to London in a week to help with the fight against the evil despot, and that we wanted to spend the remaining time with them.
No one was too thrilled that the thirteen of us were going to be putting ourselves in harm's way, but they understood why I had to go. They were grateful that the others were willing to go with me, and made me promise to owl them if there was anything the pack could do to help.
Jake brought us all out of our morose thoughts. "Hey! We should do something fun before you go back. Why don't we take a trip to NYC? Pack members can alternate staying behind to protect the reservation! We can show everyone the wizarding town and explore muggle New York. It will be awesome!"
Everyone agreed readily, but I was a bit uneasy. Thirteen vampires, six shape shifting wolves and four muggles weren't exactly going to be inconspicuous, even in my world. I didn't want to do anything that would draw Voldemort's attention across the pond.
"What is it, Bella?" Jasper could feel my trepidation.
I explained my worries but they all seemed undeterred. "Come on, Bella! It will be fine! Besides, we can totally take that snake faced bastard!" Emmett was always too cocky. He needs to understand that this is a serious situation.
"Emmett, this isn't a joke. Voldemort has killed thousands of people. He kills his own followers, for Merlin's sake! He would not hesitate to kill anyone in this room. Do you really feel comfortable doing something that could draw his focus to Forks? I'm big news right now. If I'm spotted it will be in the paper."
They all looked thoughtful, and I could tell that the wolves were most certainly not comfortable drawing Voldemort's attention to their little piece of the Pacific Northwest.
Charlie, of all people, seemed to come up with a solution. "What about glamour, Bella? You can glamour everyone in our group, that way no one will know it's us. I'll tell the guys at the station that I'm spending the week with my daughter before she goes off to London for college. We can spend the whole week together."
Charlie really wants to go. I'm just not sure. "I'm not sure I could hold glamour over so many people at once."
Emmett looked excited. "Even with your magic all vamped up?"
I considered that, and started musing out loud. "Good point. It would have been doable but difficult as a human witch. It may be easier as a vampire witch. My brain now has the capacity to concentrate on many things at once. The glamour may even be able to self sustain for a while. It should be able to keep the vamps from going all sparkly in the sun, too."
I set Alice's glamour first and asked her to go find someplace sunny to test it out. I also wanted to make sure that it could hold up without me being close. She took off and I continued on to everyone else. I had a lot of fun with it. I made Emmett super scrawny and gave Jake a giant beer gut. I made Quil and Embry twins and turned Paul into a girl. He demanded I change him back. I conceded through a fit of giggles. Everyone looked different, but the most drastic change was seen in the vampires. None of the others had appeared human in decades at the earliest, and seven centuries in Eleazar's case.
Alice came barging back into the house beaming. "It works! It works! No sparkles to be seen!" The vampires looked at me like I'd just given them an amazing gift. It made me…uncomfortable. I had to agree that it would be awfully convenient if the charm was able to hold up over long periods of time, though. We could live anywhere if we didn't have to worry about the sun.
With Victoria dead, there wasn't a direct threat to the reservation. Sam decided that two wolves would stay behind in shifts. If there was a threat one of the wolves would phase and call the rest of them back. I'd given them a two way mirror, so they wouldn't have to worry about magical interference with their cell phones. With a portkey I could have the rest of the group in La Push in an instant.
Sam and Paul volunteered to stay behind first, and the rest of us made our way to Charlie's to use his fireplace. We'd decided to stay in a muggle hotel, as it would draw a lot of attention to rent so many rooms at Toils for your Troubles. Before we left I transfigured everyone's clothes into wizard's robes. I'd rather stand out in the muggle world than the magical one.
I went first to demonstrate and to monitor the others' arrivals. Charlie and Jake agreed to go last and monitor the departures. The vampires and wolves were able to gracefully exit the fireplace. Charlie even made it out alright, but Kim, Sarah and Emily struggled a bit. We helped them up and tried to look as inconspicuous as a group of our size could.
I led everyone to the back of the bar, nodding politely to the owner of the establishment. He eyed us curiously but kept mum. As we stepped out into the shopping district, I kept a close eye on all the newbies. Their reactions didn't disappoint. They were completely awestruck, and grins immediately lit up their faces.
Edward pulled me to him and peppered kisses all over my face. "This place is amazing, Bella. Thank you for brining magic into our lives. Literally and figuratively."
I returned his smile and started leading our group around the town. Our first stop was Gringotts. Carlisle wanted to open an account and have some of their fortune converted to wizard money. The process of opening an account was fascinating. The amount of money Carlisle brought with him earned him a vault deep in the depths of the underground. I hadn't realized one of the packages he had me shrink before we left Alaska was a crate full of cash.
The awesome thing about Gringotts was that you could visit your vault from any branch. There was a door in every Gringotts branch that opened to the same underground vaults. I asked our goblin if we could visit the Black Family vault after we dropped of Carlisle's new gold. He eyed me suspiciously and I produced my key. "Sorry, I've no blood to offer you."
"Very well," was his only response. Goblins are such assholes. At least I know I can trust them to keep my visit confidential.
The pile of gold left in Carlisle's vault was mammoth, even after he took a ton with him. I have no idea what he was thinking of buying. The amount of gold in the weightless pouch provided by Gringotts was enough to buy a fully furnished magical manor, and that wasn't even a tenth of the amount of gold he'd stocked in their family vault.
Our group scrambled back into our carts and continued even deeper underground. Sweet Circe, how far down is the Black vault? Is it in the Earth's core, or what? We finally came to a halt. It was very dark and dank, and for the love of Merlin is that a dragon? The others looked excitedly at the dragon that had roused at our arrival. The goblin started making loud clanking noises causing the dragon to recoil.
I was…angry. The poor thing had obviously been stuck down here for many years. His eyes were all milky; he was clearly blind. The Pavlonian response displayed by the dragon told me that they'd obviously beat the poor thing while making that clanking noise many times before. The poor creature. It was enslaved in this depressing underground cavern in order to protect the material possessions of a bunch of wizards.
I turned away from the poor thing, pained. "What is it, Bella? Jasper can feel that you're saddened and angry." I could hear the concern in Edward's voice.
"It's the dragon. I don't like that it is enslaved down here just to protect a bunch of meaningless stuff. It is obviously mistreated."
The others realized the truth of my statement, and their excitement dampened. There wasn't much we could do about it, though. I couldn't very well shrink the thing down and escape with him in my pocket.
I was distracted from my thoughts by the goblin. "Key, please."
I handed him my key and he proceeded to open the vault of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. This should definitely be interesting. I made sure they all knew Regulus' warning. "Make sure you don't touch anything. There's probably a lot of cursed items in there. We'll need to get a curse breaker in here before we really start sifting through this stuff. I just wanted to take a peek."
Everyone nodded their heads in understanding. When the door was finally open a collective gasp could be heard echoing around the cavern. Holy. Shit.
This place was at least the size of a football field. There was gold, silver and bronze everywhere. I had no idea Sirius and I were so loaded. I mean, I knew we were rich, but damn. As I walked through the room I saw endless treasures. There was jewelry, books, artifacts, chests containing Merlin knows what, weapons and much much more. It was overwhelming.
After making our way back out of the vault I turned to the group clutching my pouch. "Well then, I guess I don't need to be too worried that I didn't get to sit for my NEWTs."
Everyone laughed nervously. "You sure do know how to make a massive understatement, Bella." Jake has always been so blunt. I smiled at his statement.
"Well, I officially decree that no one can complain if I try to buy them something."
Everyone seemed to smile at that. "Agreed."
We all clambered back into our carts and the goblin returned my key. When we finally made our way out of the bank I took a giant breath of fresh air. The other supernatural creatures did the same thing. The air down in the vault area was seriously unpleasant.
Our next stop was the quidditch shop. The vampire men were stoked to learn more about the sport. Carlisle ended up buying all the vampires a Firebolt, and I did the same for the wolves. The wolves' imprints said they'd only ride with their significant others, so they didn't need one. Charlie claimed he was too old. The shopkeeper was ecstatic. He'd probably earned a year's revenue with the amount broomsticks and other quidditch supplies bought by Carlisle and myself.
We made our way to the bookstore next. There was also a lot of money spent at this store. I told the wolves to get whatever they wanted, but they aren't really readers. The vampires, however, went a bit crazy. Carlisle wanted to buy every book that even mentioned vampires, but I insisted he could share mine. I had them all, and we were family. Plus I thought our group might draw even more attention to ourselves if we walked out of here with a library on vampires. He agreed and moved onto the books on healing.
Jasper was enthralled with the history books. He bought a fare few. Rosalie, Alice, and Tanya were entrenched in the fashion and charms section. They couldn't perform the magic, but they knew I could do it for them. Kate, Irina and Eleazar were browsing the section on magical creatures and herbology. Emmett, Charlie and the all the wolves had disappeared into the sports section and I was afraid they'd never be heard from again. Kim, Emily and Sarah were going through the books on muggles, laughing their asses off. I smirked at their humor. Wizards could be really clueless sometimes. Esme and Carmen had found a section on magical architecture and interior design. They were definitely going to be spending a good bit of gold.
Where the hell did Edward go? I continued walking around the store, trying to find the man I love. I finally found him in the Potions section. He glanced up and smiled when he saw me, quickly returning his attention to the book.
I approached him from behind and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my face between his shoulder blades. "Potions, huh?" I mumbled into his shirt.
I could hear the grin in his voice. "Yeah, it's interesting. It's also something I could do, you know, since I can't perform magic."
I nodded my head against his back. "You should also get some books on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. You could make a lot of advancements in those fields as well."
He hummed his agreement and continued reading. He picked out a few Potions tombs and made his way to the Arithmancy and Ancient Runes sections with me still attached to his back.
After everyone made their purchases, we left for the pet store. Now, most animals shy away from vampires instinctively, even magical ones. I was very grateful that Caelen didn't seem to mind that I was no longer human. He didn't shy away from me at all. But he's a special case. Or at least, that's what I thought before we walked into the pet shop. It turns out that there are a few more animals willing to become a vampire's familiar.
The only vampires that entered the store were me, Edward, Alice, Esme and Carlisle. The rest weren't interested in looking at the animals. We followed Alice to the cat section. She wanted one so badly, but I wasn't very optimistic. Imagine my surprise when two cats approached our group rather than immediately cowering away with the rest.
The cutest little ragdoll kitten you've ever seen in your whole life walked determinately to Alice. Alice slowly reached her hand to the kitten and picked her up gently, bringing the little thing up to her chest. The kitten purred contentedly and burrowed her little face into Alice's neck. The absolute elation that I felt from Alice made me feel giddy. I wish Jasper had come in with us. He would have loved to feel this emotion coming from his wife. She was smiling happily while stroking her new friend. "I'm going to name her Callie!" Callie purred in contentment at her new name.
I smiled at her and turned my attention back to the other cat. She was staring at Esme who seemed buoyed by Callie's reaction to Alice. Esme bent down and picked up the little leopard. She was young, but magically bred to stay small. Esme lifted the cat to her face the leopard nuzzled her nose into Esme's cheek. I now felt Esme's elation at finding the bond of a familiar and sent the feeling to Carlisle. He smiled at me, silently thanking me for allowing him to share in his wife's happiness. "What do you think of Nani, little one?" She opened her jaws wide letting out a fierce little triumphant roar. It was more like a croak, really. It was absolutely adorable. We all chuckled while Esme cuddled with her new familiar. "Nani it is."
Carlisle was interested in the owls so we made our way to their section, where he had a similar experience to Alice and Esme. A beautiful snowy owl with bright blue eyes flew to Carlisle and landed softly on his shoulder. He nipped Carlisle's ear gently, as to not break his own beak. Everyone chuckled while Carlisle stared wonderingly at the animal that so readily landed on the shoulder of a vampire. He stroked the beautiful bird's chest and asked him he wanted to join our family. The bird hooted happily. "How about Galen for you?" The owl gave another hoot, which we assumed meant he was happy with Carlisle's suggestion.
We were gathering supplies for the three new Cullens when we had the biggest surprise of all. Suddenly a beautiful phoenix came out of nowhere and landed on Edward's shoulder. We all looked to the beautifully majestic bird in awe. He was all white except about five inches at the tips of his wings. They started out blue and changed into a fiery orange toward the wingtips. Just like a flame. He was absolutely breath-taking. The emotions coming from Edward were all over the place. He was shocked beyond speech, but also very honored and excited that this rare bird seemed to have chosen him. He stroked the bird's head, and it started trilling a beautiful phoenix song that filled us all with contentment.
"Do you want to join our family?" The bird rubbed his face on Edward's cheek giving a clear affirmative. Edward's smile lit up his face. "How do you feel about Aden, then? It means fire."
Aden trilled again, and we all knew he was content with his new name. The store owner was both thrilled and astonished. This bird was going to be expensive, so she was going to make a nice sale. "I can't believe he came to you like that. He usually refuses to even see customers."
Edward's smile grew even wider. I lifted my hand to Aden and he leaned into it, allowing me to stroke his beautiful feathers. "He was just meant for Edward. What's the point of letting anyone else see him?"
We finished picking out everything we'd need to care for our new family members and made our way back out into the street. The others were waiting for us in varying states of impatience. They seemed ready to air their grievances when they took sight of the new Cullens. Aden seemed to draw the most attention. Edward, Carlisle, Esme and Alice introduced their new familiars to the others, and the animals were soon being cooed over by the rest of our party.
Caelen, being the intelligent owl that he is, landed on my shoulder while the others were engrossed in the new animals. "You knew I needed you, didn't you boy?" He hooted a response and nuzzled his face into my cheek. I stroked his chest and cuddled him back. "Such a smart boy."
I cleared my throat to gather our group's attention. "Caelen, this is Callie, Nani, Galen and Aden." Caelen nodded his head and hooted in greeting. The others made similar actions. I smiled. I think everyone will get along just fine.
"Now, I can glamour Nani to appear like a regular muggle cat, but Aden and Galen will not be able to stay in the muggle hotel with us." I turned my attention to Caelen. "Would you mind guiding them to the Forks house and helping them get situated?"
Caelen gave an affirmative hoot and affectionately nipped my ear. He then flew away with Galen and Aden following behind.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the various shops. Emmett, the wolves and I went crazy in the joke shop. We all also enjoyed to sweets shop. All the vampires loved the blood pops. They liked that they could do something as normal as suck on a lollypop. The girls spent most of their remaining time in the clothing stores.
When the wolves were ready to get some sleep we made our way back to Toils for your Troubles. Jared and Quil flooed back to Charlie's and the rest of us waited for Sam and Paul to show up. Once they emerged from the fireplace our group left the wizard hotel and made our way into Times Square. Alice and I had already seen the hotel we'd be staying in, so we knew exactly where to go.
The wolves and humans grabbed some hotdogs from a street vendor on the way. They were just about dead on their feet by the time we checked into the hotel. The vampires decided to head out to a club and get our dance on while the sleepers got their beauty rest.
While we were walking to the club Edward made a suggestion for the next day. "Why don't you ladies go shopping in muggle New York tomorrow? I know that you all want to spend a fare few hours in the clothing boutiques. The men can take Sam and Paul on their tour of the wizarding community. I know I wouldn't mind a second run through."
I didn't have to peek into Edward's mind to know what he was thinking. He had eyed the jewelry store every time we passed it feeling excited before looking to Charlie and becoming anxious. Now I wasn't too thrilled about spending the day clothes shopping, with Alice no less, but I wasn't going to deny Edward his time alone with Charlie and to look for rings. Edward was going to propose. I just know it. His last step after his day with Charlie would be to talk to Sirius.
I smiled at him and agreed to suffer through the torture of shopping with Alice. Said vampire squealed in delight, much to my horror. It was going to be a long day. It would be worth it, though.
The line outside Kiss & Fly was staggering. It is one of the hottest night clubs in NYC, but Alice and I had seen our group walking right in. Vampire looks can definitely come in handy. The place was completely packed. The music was loud, and I could feel the vibrations on my skin. The crowd was having a lot of fun. The excitement and lust permeating throughout the main room was a bit distracting. I looked to Edward and noticed him wince. The internal voices must be difficult to block out in a place like this.
I eyed him speculatively and wondered if I could extend my shield over him. I planned to teach him Occlumency after we settle in at Grimmauld, but perhaps I would be able to help him out tonight. I concentrated on creating a wall around Edward's mind blocking out the voices. I knew the moment it worked as his head whipped down to me. I lifted my face to his and asked in his ear, "Do you want me to shield you tonight?"
I could feel his relief and gratitude as he nodded his head affirmatively. "Thank you, baby. This place is loud enough without all the mental voices." He was looking at me like he could hardly believe I was real, let alone that I was his. Well, get used to it, Edward.
He leaned down and kissed me soundly before leading me out into the dance floor. The other vampires had already made their way down. Kate, Tanya and Irina already had human partners. I had placed a warming and cushioning charm around everyone so that we wouldn't seem so hard and cold when people inevitably bumped into us. It freed the sisters up to dance with the humans.
Edward spun me around so my back was to his chest. He molded himself around and let his hands guide my hips as we danced to the music. I started to get lost in him when I noticed Alice and Jasper dancing a few feet away. Jasper looked so blissfully content. He noticed that my attention was on him and he smiled, raising his eyebrow. I cocked my head to the side and entered his thoughts.
Thank you, Bella. I never would have been able to handle a place like this before taking the potion. You've made my wife one happy vampire. I can never thank you enough.
I grinned back at him and turned my attention back to my happy vampire. We spent the rest of the night getting lost in each other. No one else in the world existed.
Around three a.m. we were brought out of our secluded little bubble by Carlisle informing us we were leaving. The club would still be open for another hour or so, but Carlisle thought it would be best to leave while it was still a bit crowded.
We made our way back to the hotel where all the couples split off into their own rooms. Edward and I laid together, lost in each other's presence. It was so calming just to be held by him. Our reverie was interrupted the next morning when the wolves were up and ready to do some more exploring.
The pack agreed with Edward's idea to split based on gender for the day, so Kim, Emily and Sarah joined the female vampires on our way to NYC's fashion district. All the girls, except Kate and I, spent the day trying on every garment in New York. I was surprised but pleased that Sarah had lost her hesitancy to allow me to spend money on her. I guess seeing the massive vault at my disposal eased her mind a bit.
Kate wasn't really a shopper either, so we just told Alice to get us whatever she wanted. I knew we'd probably regret it later, but it saved us the torture today. We spent the day chatting, and I was surprised at how easily we got along. She was intelligent and funny, and had a million questions about all the different magical creatures. She was especially interested in hippogriffs. I told her my dad has one at Grimmauld that she could meet. She was ecstatic at that.
She told me that she and her sisters had been turned about a thousand years ago. I was completely shocked. My mind can't really fathom living that long. I asked her about the most fascinating things she'd witnessed, and she regaled me with her life's adventures.
"You know, I have to thank you. After living for a thousand years it's very difficult to bring anything new into my life. I thought I'd seen everything, but you proven me wrong. The world you come from is truly amazing, Bella. It opens up so many opportunities for us. You've truly given us all a precious gift. Thank you for bringing us into your family."
Her emotions were causing me to choke up a bit. She was so sincere. So grateful to have been included. I smiled back at her, emotion clear in my face. "I'm honored that you feel like I am a part of your family, Kate. Truly."
We shared a hug and she continued telling me about what I'd missed over the last millennium.
When the rest of the girls were satisfied with their purchases, Alice pulled out her black American Express. Of course she has one of those. She smirked at me and asked the sales clerk to have the clothes delivered to our hotel. I would then be able to shrink them down to a manageable size for the return trip.
The boys were already back at the hotel when we arrived. Embry had switched out with Jared, and the imprinted wolves were taking their mates out to a nice dinner and night on the town. Alice, Rosalie and Tanya made quick work of readying the girls. They looked absolutely fantastic. The look on the men's faces gave the three girls an added confidence boost as they met up in the lobby. Alice and I saw that they would all have a magical night, even in the muggle world.
That just left Charlie and Paul with the thirteen vampires. They had a quick dinner at the hotel, before we all made our way back out into the city. We'd decided to head over to the Comedy Cellar. With Voldemort back we could all use a night of laughs. The comics did not disappoint and the fifteen of us left the club feeling relaxed from our night of fun.
Our group spent the next three days together. We did your average touristy things, exploring all the sights New York had to offer. We saw a couple of shows on Broadway and ran around FAO Schwartz like a bunch of overgrown kids. We stood outside the Today show and held up ridiculous signs. We took a ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and took in the city from atop the Empire State Building. We took pictures with our glamoured selves interacting with all the celebrities at Madame Tussaud's wax museum. We spent a night of fun on Coney Island and a day exploring Rockefeller Center. We even went to a Yankees game.
By the end of the week the wolves and humans were exhausted. We'd spent a lot of time running around the city, and we all had a blast. We returned to Forks for our last two days before heading off to London. We wanted to spend the time quietly enjoying our Forks family before heading off on our upcoming adventure.
The pack threw us a goodbye barbecue the night before we left. It was kind of funny considering that none of us actually ate. It made me wonder if I could create a potion to give us our human taste buds back. We'd never be able to digest the food, but I wouldn't mind a little upchucking if I was able to enjoy chocolate, baked ziti and hibachi style fried rice again. It's not like there'd be any stomach acid to mix with the food in our stomachs anyway. It wouldn't be so bad.
It would also make the blending in a bit easier. I could set our glamour daily to make us appear like we did as humans. We could actually make friends and go out without drawing attention to ourselves. I could even gradually age our glamour so that we could stay in the same place for longer periods of time. Hmmm…there are definitely some possibilities there. I'll have to look into it later.
We said our goodbyes at the party, as we were leaving early the next morning. It was definitely bittersweet, but we managed to have a good time with our extended family. Before leaving them for an undeterminable about of time I placed powerful protective wards over all their houses. They should not only be protected from vampires, but from wizards as well. If a wizard happened to make it past the wards, everyone would be alerted immediately. Even me. I'd then be able to apparate to them and make sure that no one harmed my family.
That night all the vampires went hunting. I was a bit nervous to see how the four of us who drank the potion would fare. I was afraid hunting might break through the effects of the potion and bring back the bloodlust.
It turns out my worries were unfounded. My instincts never overtook my mind. I knew where the prey was and I hunted it without feeling any sort of frenzy. I could have stopped at any point. Jasper, Edward and Eleazar had the same experience and they all beamed at me, excited to be free from their inner demons.
The next morning found the thirteen of us standing in front of the Cullen's fireplace, which we had connected to the floo network. We sent the birds ahead, asking them to meet us at Grimmauld Place. Esme and Alice secured Nani and Callie for their upcoming travel, and everyone had their shrunken belongings safely tucked away in their pockets. This was it. I was taking my vampire family to meet my magical one. I really hope my Dad doesn't give Edward too hard a time.
I took a deep unneeded breath and stepped into the fireplace with my fist full of floo powder. I smiled at my family before dropping the powder into the fire. "Number 12 Grimmauld Place."
A/N:
First off, my many thanks to my reviewers!
I'm going to give a special shout out to lunarwing for reviewing every chapter! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that means to me. :)
Of course I love all my reviewers, so big thanks go out to you all! I know there's a few of you who have been reviewing since I started. You all keep me motivated. :)
lunarwing, Lara, Nessa 671, BeautifulMidnighter, RiTuXa, ., People-Are-Crazy, aggy73, Kmilita, Brie'sImaginationRunAmuck, Silver Moonlight-81, lucia, CherryBlossoms016, Amerilia Lily Lotus, Dreamsb223, XxHelixRiderxX, bloody alana, Bookworm50210, Termia, DreamerHorse, Manaliac, vivx-chan, and Angel JJK!
You guys blew me away last chapter!
Okay, so this chapter was a bit difficult to write. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with them for the two weeks it took the Skirts to brew the potion. I decided on a bit of fun. I hope you all enjoyed it! I posted links to pictures of Callie, Nani and Galen on my profile. You'll have to use your imagination on Aden. Giving these animals names was probably the most difficult part. I'm so horrible at naming things.
Anywho, I'll see you all at Grimmauld!