Chapter 12
"What are we going to do?" Paul asked the pack. "He's been like this for a week." The pack was standing around a sorrowful Jacob who was now staring emptily at a blank television screen. The only thing keeping him alive was the pack's daily visits where they forcefully shoved food down his throat.
"I don't think there's anything we can do. The boy's been rejected by his imprint and unless we can change Hermione's mind, Jake's always going to be like this." Leah replied, shaking her head pityingly.
Seth gasped. "What if Jake sings Hermione a song?" The group groaned. "What?"
"Seth," Sam stated while putting an arm around his shoulder. "We're trying to think of ways in which Jacob can get his imprint back. We're not attempting to achieve the perfect high school promposal."
"No! Seth's right." Jake said as he suddenly shot up from the couch.
"I am?" The youngest wolf inquired.
"Yeah!" Jacob replied, now with a large grin plastered on his face. "I mean, that's how all of the guys in movies get the girl, right? Through the love and beauty portrayed in song."
Embry stared at Jacob incredulously. "Dude, what the fuck."
"You know what, Jake may be onto something." Leah added. "And I know just who to ask to help us."
"Who?" Jacob questioned while hurriedly putting on a pair of pants.
"Who are the sappiest and most disgustingly romantic people we know?" Leah said with a smirk.
"So let me get this straight, you came to us to ask for help in winning Hermione back?" Rosalie asked in a shocked voice. Jacob nodded in reply.
"Oh! We'll be happy to help! I'm so excited! What ideas do you have in mind?" Alice said, practically jumping in place.
"Well, I was thinking of singing her a song."
Suddenly Emmett burst into laughter. "Dude, that's a new low, even for you." The comment earned him a slap across the head from Alice.
"I think it's a wonderful idea." Alice exclaimed. "Oh, I can see it now. You in a crisp tux, surprising Hermione in her living room which will be decorated in candles and rose pedals. You will play the background music to your song of choice and your song will move her to tears. You two will embrace in what will be a new stepping stone in your relationship." The Cullens and the now frightened Jacob stared at the tiny vampire.
"Um, ok? So when should we do it?" Jacob asked somewhat hesitantly.
"Why, tonight of course!" Alice yelled excitedly while pushing Jacob up the stairs, having Rosalie follow.
"I sometimes wonder if the girl is crazy." Edward whispered to Jasper.
"I heard that!" The high-pitched voice of said girl replied.
Hermione stepped in front of her front door, already feeling as though something were unusual. She had just come back from a library visit and had been hoping for a peaceful night after an altercation she had with the substitute librarian. She flicked her wrist, her wand automatically coming to her hand. Well, I might as well get over with it, Hermione thought to herself. In one swift movement, she flung open the door and looked around the living room. She was met with an interesting sight… and stench. Recognizing it as Jacob's, Hermione swiftly flicked her wand back into her holster in her sleeve. The room was laden with rose pedals and about fifty candles, making Hermione wonder if her house was going to be set on fire. Jacob stood in the middle of the beautiful mess with his back facing her. Suddenly, a jazzy tune played from a stereo Hermione did not even know she had and with the song, Jacob turned, sighing happily yet wistfully at the sight of his imprint. He took a moment to take everything in, appreciating every single thing he missed about her, like her freckles that glowed in the candlelight, like the wisps of hair that framed her face, like her alluring eyes that told an entire story all on its own. Jacob opened his mouth to begin the song that he had practiced all day to perfect for Hermione, but before he could, he was met with a pillow to the head.
"Jacob Black, get out of my house!" Hermione yelled furiously, fire burning behind her deep blue eyes. Jacob, who stood in shock at the so prepared for moment that had just been ruined, made no move to leave prompting Hermione to continuously fling pillows at his face. Snapping out of his reverie, he deftly caught the next pillow. Hermione, who had run out of pillows, was frantically searching for something else to throw at the shape shifter. Before she could find her next weapon, Jake ran over to her and grabbed her wrists.
"Hermione, I know you're angry but please, give me a chance to make everything up to you, to win you back." Hermione shook his hands off and pushed Jacob away.
"Why should I? All of this time you have been keeping this secret that our relationship wasn't real at all, letting me harbor these feeling for you that are now too big to stop. You're pathetic, Jacob, and I never want to see you again."
Hermione began blowing out all of the candles nearest to her. "No, you're wrong, Hermione. My feelings for you are as genuine as can be. Every single hand hold, hug, kiss, it has all meant the world to me. Why can't you understand that?" Hermione swiveled angrily to face Jacob and rushed over to him.
"Why can't I understand that? Are you kidding me? I understand everything that is going on, it's you who don't. Maybe your feelings feel true to you, but guess what, they're all just made up due to your stupid shape shifter abilities. Without this dumb imprint thing we wouldn't have even spoken to each other. You would have still been pining over Bella Swan. So I see no point in continuing any of this. I don't think we should speak to each other anymore." Hermione had stopped yelling now and sighed heavily, returning to blowing out the candles.
"Oh, is that what you think? Well, I'm not going to stop speaking to you. I will come here every day and even endure a beating just to see your face. I would walk through miles of glass just to hear you laugh. I would even leave my pack to spend an eternity with you. Do you know why? Because I love you." Hearing those words, Hermione froze, eyes widened with shock. Had she heard correctly? "That's right, I love Hermione Granger. Go ahead, universe, spite me! I don't care for nothing will end my love for her." Hermione turned to face Jacob. The man was now staring at his love with tears in his eyes as he neared her. Now universe, I know I said that you can spite me, but if somewhere in this beautiful woman before me is a requited love, let us spend an eternity together." Hermione stared at the eyes that held so much love and passion for her and couldn't help but smile.
"I love you too."
"Remind me why I'm here again." Hermione said as Jacob squeezed her hand tightly. The pair walked to the group in the middle of the forest consisting of the pack, the Cullens, and Bella hiding behind Edward. Upon noticing their linked hands, Bella glared at Hermione.
"Because," Jacob began, "I want you to see us in our primal nature. What you don't know is there is a crazy bitch of a vampire named Victoria." The couple had now reached the group and all of the attention was on Jacob as he began explaining the situation. "She's created an army of newborns and these newborn vampires, not being able to easily control themselves, have been wreaking havoc on Seattle; and by havoc I mean killing, a lot of killing. Alice, being able to see into the future, has found out that Victoria is coming after Bella with her army as revenge against Edward. You see, Edward had killed her mate, so she wants Eddy here to experience the same thing."
"Don't call me that." Edward stated through gritted teeth. Jacob rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we're here to prepare for the battle that's to come." Hermione nodded as she took in the information, and there was a lot of it.
"Ok, and so what do you expect me to do while you do your thing?" Jacob laughed at Hermione's calm reaction to it all.
"Well, you can sit and watch." It was now Hermione's turn to roll her eyes.
"That sounds incredibly boring. I could be reading a book right now."
Alice giggled. "Trust me, you won't think it's boring when we begin. Maybe you can practice fighting with us, Hermione. I'd be willing to fight you."
At this, Jacob growled and pulled Hermione behind him. "No one's fighting my Hermione. She's to never be put in danger."
Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's actions. She seemed to be doing that a lot today. "I'm not a fragile doll, Jacob, unlike some people here." Hermione eyed Bella disapprovingly, earning her a glare from the latter.
"Are you trying to imply something here?" Bella huffed as she crossed her arms and glared at the unflinching Hermione.
"Obviously. The only thing you know how to do is hide uselessly behind your boyfriend." The pack began to snicker at Bella's shocked face and even Rosalie and Emmett were attempting to hold back a laugh.
"Oh yeah?" Bella said as she stepped forward to meet Hermione. "Then why don't you fight me? I'll show you that I'm so much stronger than a stupid human like you."
Hermione smirked. "In case you haven't noticed, you're human too. And you know what, I will fight you, and I think it's already clear who the winner is going to be."
Bella snottily flicked her hair across Hermione's face as she turned and walked towards Edward. "We'll see about that."
The fights were interesting enough to keep Hermione occupied, but she could not stop thinking about her coming fight with Bella. The girl had been incredibly rude to her since Hermione first came here and it was time for her to be put in her place. As Jasper and Sam prepared to fight, Edward leaned in towards Bella.
"Bella, are you sure you want to fight Hermione? You know that she's strong. We saw that during our dinner with her. I don't want you to get hurt." Bella turned to glare at her boyfriend.
"Yes, Eddy, I'm sure. I can take her down, but it seems like you don't think I'm capable." At that moment, Jasper had picked up the black wolf from behind but not wanting to cause any damage, put him back down.
"Seems like you need a bit of work." Jasper said to the wolf who growled in reply. "Hermione, Bella, you're our last fighters." Bella and Hermione both stepped up to where Jasper was standing in the middle of the field, meeting glares. "Ok ladies, the rules are as follows. The first to give up or be knocked out of the ring loses. And please, refrain from killing each other."
Hermione looked around at the field, or "ring", that was surrounded by trees on all sides to form a circular shape. She turned back to Bella and smirked. "I'll try." Bella scoffed as Jasper stepped to the group standing away from the ring, indicating that Bella and Hermione should start. Immediately, Bella threw a punch at Hermione. The latter, with incredible vision and speed, was able to see the movement practically in slow motion and dodged the hit. However, Bella was not one to give up as she continued to throw punch after punch, all of which Hermione had dodged.
Bella knew she couldn't win the fight like this and began to think of ways in which she could have the upper hand. Upon arriving on an idea, Bella smirked at her ingenuity. "What a coward. The only thing you can do is dodge." She said as she continued her attempt to hit Hermione, the latter rolling her eyes. "I wonder where you get it from. Probably from your parents." The group that had been cheering only a second ago grew silent at Bella's words. "I mean, they have to be pretty pathetic to make you." Hermione stood furious and shocked at the nonsense spilling from Bella's mouth. Bella, seeing this as the perfect chance, threw a punch at Hermione, hitting her square in the jaw. This only succeeded in angering Hermione even more. She roughly kicked Bella into the air and as she came down screaming, Hermione punched her in the stomach, sending her flying into a tree. Her back hit the tree with great force and she fell to the floor, dramatically coughing into the ground. The Cullens and the pack quickly ran toward Bella who was now attempting to get up, rejecting the help of anyone who offered. Hermione reluctantly followed, rolling her eyes at Bella's stubbornness.
Upon reaching the group, Bella fixed Hermione with a glare which, frankly, the latter was tired of seeing. "That was a little harsh." Hermione scoffed at her comment.
"Are you kidding me? You continuously insult me and my parents yet you have the nerve to say I was harsh?" Hermione spat at Bella who flinched and revealed what seemed to be a regretful expression before quickly masking it with a glare. However, Hermione did not miss her look of shame. Turning to the others, Hermione said, "Can I talk to Bella alone for a minute? And go far away. I know you all can hear what we're saying from a mile away." The pack nodded their head and ran off into the trees followed by the Cullens. However, Edward, hesitant to leave, stayed and crossed his arms, indicating that he was not leaving. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Edward, I won't hurt her." Edward was unmoving, not believing Hermione. Hermione sighed loudly and turned to Bella, giving her a look telling her to talk to her boyfriend.
Bella, understanding that Hermione wished to talk seriously, turned to Edward. "It's fine. You can go." Edward gave Bella a looked that seemed to say, are you sure. With another look from Bella, Edward turned and ran into the trees. Bella turned back to Hermione and cautiously neared her. "What did you-," Bella was quickly cut off by Hermione who lifted a finger to keep her quiet. She listened towards the direction that Edward and the others ran off to before turning to the other girl once confirming the others could not hear.
"What's wrong with you?"
Bella's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What?"
"What. Is. Wrong. With. You?" Hermione said, enunciating every word. "Ever since I've come to Forks you've been a pain in the arse. I don't know why you're so mean to me but I have a feeling that it's not because you hate me. Now fess up, why are you doing this?"
Bella fixed her expression with her typical glare. "Maybe you're wrong and I really do hate you."
"Oh, but you see, I'm not wrong. I'm what they call an insufferable know-it-all and I just happen to know that you're lying." Silence ensued as Bella realized she was caught. She removed the glare from her face and sighed in a defeated way.
"I just don't want the others to forget about me. I'm not like them, I don't have supernatural powers; I'm just a boring human. And with you being the shiny new toy, they're bound to forget me eventually. I know I've been mean to you, but I was hoping it would drive you away." Hermione looked to Bella and recognized a familiar look. She felt alone, a feeling Hermione was very acquainted with.
"And by 'the others'," Hermione began, gathering the other girl's attention, "you mean Edward and Jacob." It wasn't a question but more a statement. Bella nodded in response. "Well, you don't have to worry about Edward. The boy is crazy in love with you, his eyes tell it all. Jacob, however, isn't. He and I love each other and we have an imprinting bond, one that lasts for lifetime. So you'll have to deal with it."
Bella sighed. "I know. I'm just going to miss Jacob as a friend."
"Whoa there, I'm not telling you to completely remove yourself from his life. A friendship is a connection that can never be replaced. I'm not going to be the bitchy girlfriend who takes her boyfriend away from his friends." Hermione said as she remembered her friends who were back at the Burrow. She missed the group even though they were here just a few weeks ago. Many times she thinks of returning to England but her guilt of leaving Jacob snaps her back to reality. It was at moments like this where Hermione wondered how she was going to spend an eternity with Jacob. Hermione had always wished to continue impacting the Wizarding World for the better after the War, but tied to Jacob who will most likely be tied to the reservation, his home, that isn't possible. Hermione knew that she would have to face this predicament sooner or later, but at the moment, she wanted to leave it as far away as possible.
Bella smiled, the first genuine one she had ever given to Hermione. "You're right. Thank you."
Hermione returned the smile and laughed. "Well of course I'm right. I'm an insufferable know-it-all."
Hermione walked to the door of the Cullen house and knocked with one hand. Almost instantaneously, Alice opened the door and seeing Hermione, she grinned. "Hermione, what brings you here?"
Hermione entered as Alice indicated toward her to come in. "Well, I had been home all day reading Hogwa-," Hermione paused as she remembered how Alice knew nothing about Hogwarts: A History. "I mean, I've been reading Catcher in the Rye for what seems to be the millionth time and I thought I could use some human connection. Seeing as none of my friends here are really human, I thought the Cullen family would suffice. Are you busy?"
Alice led Hermione to the living room where, to Hermione's surprise, sat the Cullen family, the pack and Bella. "Actually," Alice began. "We were planning our battle strategy for when we go against the newborns and Victoria. You can join us if you'd like." Hermione nodded and automatically moved to Jacob, sitting next to him on the sofa. He placed his arm around her shoulder and brought her in to kiss her head, causing some mock disgusted looks among the pack.
"Oh stop it. You're acting like children." Hermione said as she swatted at Seth who was making a kissy face at the couple. There was a diagram drawn on the table of the forest where the pack and Cullens planned to have the battle.
Carlisle indicated to the drawing. "Now, what I think we should do is lure the army and Victoria to this," He pointed to a large open space. "field with Bella's scent. There we will attempt to negotiate with the group and leave this battle peacefully."
Edward shook his head. "You can't expect to make peace with them. They're the ones who began the fight and they're the ones who are coming after us. Not to mention the fact that Victoria is seeking revenge for James and she has a pack of rabid newborns following her. They aren't exactly in their right minds." The group unanimously nodded in agreement.
"That is true. So what's your plan?" Carlisle stated.
"Well, I suggest we lure them to the field with Bella's scent but instead of attempting to make a truce, we'll be hiding and spring out in an ambush." Edward suggested, others acknowledging the plan. However, Sam interrupted in disagreement.
"But the vampires will smell our scent." Sam pointed out, indicating to the pack. "They can smell us from a mile away so I'm pretty sure an ambush is out of the question."
"Sam's right." Jasper said. "I say we use the pack to our advantage and have them waiting for the army when they're lured to the field, this way they can mask our scent as we hide. Then, we, as in the vampires, can come out of hiding at the right moments to attack the army and Victoria." The group considered the plan before agreeing to it.
"Not to overstep my boundaries or anything but, can I make a suggestion?" Hermione interrupted, her war instincts showing through. The others nodded and prompted her to speak, however, Jasper looked quite hesitant. "Well, you're all forgetting the most important aspect of this battle: Bella." Everyone looked at Hermione in surprise and confusion. Hermione began to explain, "You guys said before that Victoria is seeking revenge for Edward killing James by going after Bella, right? If that's so then I don't think it would be the best idea to have Bella in the middle of the action, especially when she has no means of protecting herself against freaking vampires as a human."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Alice inquired.
"We'll lure the army and Victoria to the field with Bella's scent where the Cullens will be waiting to fight. Having the pack hide and attack in surprise will work because they won't be expecting the werewolves and they'll be so engrossed in their own bloodthirsty thoughts and fighting that they won't even notice your scent. Now, before the army and Victoria come, Jacob will carry Bella to the top of the mountain where you two can camp out amidst the fight. This way, Jacob can mask Bella's scent and Victoria will be unable to track them." At this, Edward shot up from his seat.
"No way! There is no way I'm going to let Bella be alone with that little-,"
"Edward, stop!" Bella exclaimed as she gripped her boyfriend's arm.
"No, I can't allow it. I'm going with them." Edward declared, daring anyone to challenge him. Hermione, of course, was willing to do just that.
"No."
Everyone looked to her in shock and then returned their gaze to Edward, anticipating his reaction.
"What?" Edward stated as he was unable to process Hermione simple statement.
"I said no. Victoria will catch your scent and follow it to track Bella. If you want to protect Bella, you will stay and fight."
Edward scoffed. "Oh? And how do you know that? In fact, what do you know about this battle anyway? You're not even a part of it."
Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "Bloody hell. Fine, if you want to screw yourself over, go right ahead but don't you say I'm not a part of this battle. I am going to fight." Now, it was Jacob's turn to shoot up from his seat.
"No, Hermione, you're not. You're not going to get yourself hurt, or worse, killed. Besides, you just talked about how Bella won't be able to protect herself as a human, so how will you?" Hermione recognized the fault in her plan and realized she would not be able to fight properly without admitting her secret to the group.
"You're right." Hermione admitted in defeat.
"Now," Jacob stated as he grabbed Hermione's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Are you sure you're okay with me going with Bella during the battle? I can switch with another pack member if you'd like."
Hermione turned to look at Bella and smiled, the latter returning the smile. The two had come to a mutual, unspoken understanding. "It's fine. You know Bella the best which means you will be most capable of protecting her." Edward fumed silently in the corner and Hermione couldn't help but laugh internally at his grim expression.
"Ok, now that that's taken care of, let's begin our training again." Jasper said, the others heading to the forest at his words. Hermione was one the last to walk out the door when Jasper called to her. "Hermione," She turned to look at him, the others already gone into the shadows of the trees behind her. She raised an eyebrow in question. "That was a great plan you made back there. You seem as though you're built for war."
Hermione was a bit taken aback by Jasper's comment. How can he tell? Is it that obvious? "You seem so sure of yourself," Hermione interjected. "As if you should know." Jasper chuckled.
"I guess you can say that."
Hermione looked at Jasper curiously. "Really? Why is that?"
"Well, it was during the Civil War when I became a vampire. I think that's enough to explain it." Jasper stated as he looked sadly at his forearms.
Hermione noticed the action. "But…"
Jasper was awoken from his reverie and stared at Hermione with the most intense gaze.
"But," he continued. "I was fighting a different war. A war of the immortals, and I was on the winning team." At this moment, Jasper revealed his forearms from under his sleeves, showing dozens of bite marks. "It was a vampire named Maria who turned me; she turned me to lead as second in command. Groups of vampires constantly rivaled for territory at the time, and Maria won all of the battles. She made me train and dispose of the newborns and with every kill, I could feel every single one of their emotions. I thought what Maria and I had was love, so I blindly followed, but I was just her puppet, and she was pulling the strings." Hermione gazed at the man in front of her sadly, not with pity, but with empathy. She understood the power of war and the things it can make a person do. Neither she nor Jasper were able to escape its power. What saddened her most was that Jasper and Bellatrix were nearly identical. They both followed a ruthless leader under the influence of their love for the person. However, what differentiated the two was the fact that while Bellatrix had pure evil in her heart. Jasper, on the other hand, was able to find the good within him to change. Hermione had grown a new-found respect for the vampire in front of her.
Hermione took a deep breath and hesitantly neared Jasper. With a silent spell, she removed the glamor on her scar and pulled up her left sleeve. Jasper's eyes widened at the word jaggedly etched into Hermione's skin. "What is that?"
Hermione chuckled darkly, still reluctant to remember the moment when she received the scar. "I guess you can say that's my own battle wound."
Jasper was still in a state of shock as his eyes still have not left her arm. "But, how on earth did that happen?"
Hermione quickly thought of a lie to cover up the sinister tale of how this had occurred. "My fellow peers were quite ruthless. There was this one bully named Bellatrix who most definitely seemed crazy. You see, I was different than the other students and she, not liking that, carved this into my skin. They often called me mudblood, saying my blood was impure." Jasper carefully took Hermione's arm, tracing each letter and line, wincing as his acute senses picked up every curvature.
"Now," Hermione continued. "I'm not showing this to you as some sort of scar show-and-tell. Trust me, the last thing I had ever expected to do was to show this scar to anyone. No, I'm allowing you to see this to show that every person has their own war, their own battles, and their own scars. Of course, yours were far more than many can even fathom, but you were able to escape your past habits and actions and become the person you are today, which is more than I can say for some people. I respect that about you, Jasper."
Jasper laughed. "You are wise, Hermione Granger."
"I prefer the term, insufferable know-it-all."
Hermione sat on the grass of the field with nothing to do but watch as the others engaged in a mock battle with one another. Bella sat next to her but the girl was too worried to even speak a word. Hermione couldn't blame her. The fight is to occur in three days' time and the people she care about are about to engage in violent battle. Hell, even Hermione felt nervous, especially since she couldn't be there to help.
Hermione was shocked out of her thoughts as a branch cracked in the distance. The fighting had stopped and everyone was now looking towards where the sound came from. Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared from the trees, making Hermione gasp. All eyes were now on her as she quickly got up and went to hug the current minister of the Ministry of Magic. "Kingsley, what a surprise! What are you doing here?"
"Hermione, who is that?" Jacob questioned, attempting to hide his jealousy.
"Hermione," Kingsley called with his deep voice, catching Hermione's attention. She turned to face the man, her grin immediately disappearing as she spotted his grim expression. "I come bearing news." Hermione stared curiously at the man, wondering what had led him to be in such a mood. Suddenly, she came to realize what had happened, her face slowly growing sad, angry, and heartbroken with each second.
"No, no, no! No, please, no. It can't be." She so wished that she was able to cry at this moment. She wanted to release every terrible feeling within her through her tears, but she couldn't.
"I'm sorry, Hermione."
Ohhhh, cliffhanger. What do you think Kingsley's news was? Also, what song do you think Jacob was going to sing to Hermione?