HPOV

I bend over Jasper, muttering spells and reading the results. All seems well - there's no indication of magic present, and there're no major health troubles; other than he seems to have some teeth troubles, probably because of the diet he would have lived on. I fix that, and then step back. His breathing is very slow and even, and his eyelids are fluttering gently. There is a warm flush to his cheeks and he has a golden, olive tone to his skin. Finally, his eyelids lift and I'm met with a pair of beautiful steel grey eyes.

JPOV

I can hear my heart beating in my ears. It's so strange. I didn't know it at first, but at first there was only blinding pain. All I knew was that I wasn't allowed to scream. Esme and Hermione would hate hearing me scream. So I stop myself screaming, and I could feel everything. It wasn't the fire of my first transformation, it was burning, burning ice. I imagined I'd smash into a thousand frozen fragments like a rose dipped into liquid nitrogen. And then I could feel my heart spluttering and coughing and I felt so, so ill. I remembered being human and I remembered having influenza as a child, and how awful I felt. How worried my mother was, because then influenza could so easily have been a death sentence.

My mother. I remember my mother. I'd almost forgotten her entirely. The vampiric change took that from me, the memories of my mother. She was beautiful. She was blonde and she had green eyes. I have my mother's hair - curly and wild. I have my father's eyes, and his height and build. But facially, I am the image of my mother. I remember her, a tiny woman with a fiery passion for life and everything she believed in. She stood a good foot and a half shorter than my father, and I was already taller than her on the day I joined up. She was so worried then, too. Because I don't want to think about the burn, I think about her. She used to sing to me when I was a child and scared, scared of the monsters under the bed and the monsters in the cupboard. She was wonderful. A month after I "disappeared", I read in the local newspaper that she'd died. My father couldn't survive without her, and a week later, his obituary appeared in the papers and they buried him with my mother. Every year on my birthday, I go back to their grave and put flowers there. I hope they knew I did my best to remember them. I hope they know that now I can remember properly, I'll remember them all the time.

Gradually, I started to feel less like I was dying. I could hear my heartbeat getting steadier, and I was aware of the fact that there were people in the room with me. There was a man and a woman, and someone put something cold on my chest. Cold. I could feel cold. They were talking, and the woman sounded so worried. I wanted to tell her not to be, that I was OK. Something was happening too quickly. I was changing too fast. I want to tell her that it's alright, that I'm alright, but I know if I open my mouth, I won't be able to speak, I'll just scream. And I can't let her hear that. But slowly, something begins to numb the pain, until there is just an electric tingle along my veins, and I can think without being blinded.

Suddenly, one person leaves and the door shuts behind them. A gentle hand strokes my hair and face.

"Jasper, I don't know if you can hear me. It's me, Hermione. I think you're close now, just stay strong for me. I hope the morphine works, I hope you don't suffer too much. I'm going to look after you now, I promise. I wish you could tell me how you are. I'll do everything I can to help you." Warm breath is against my cheek, and she drops her voice to a whisper. "I love you." I wish now I could say something to her, but now I can't move at all. Whatever they gave me has paralysed me completely and I can't respond.

I don't know how long it is, but eventually the numb electric tingle recedes and the pain isn't there any longer. It isn't like before. Outside the window, I can hear a bird. Inside the room, I can hear someone moving around. They're very close to me, whoever they are. In fact, I think they're bending over me. I can hear her - it's definitely a woman - muttering. The same gentle hand strokes my hair again, and then they seem to retreat. Finally, I can allow my eyelids to lift. I open my eyes and immediately have to close them again. The light's so bright and immediate. I'd forgotten what it was like to open your eyes after being in darkness, and see light. I've forgotten so much. As my eyes adjust, they figure above me resolves itself into the familiar form of Hermione. My Hermione. I feel an overpowering rush of love for this girl. I remember her.

"Jasper," she breathes. "Jasper."

"Hermione," I say, slowly, adjusting to the need to breath to speak and stuff. I swallow, feeling moisture in my mouth.

"You know me, then?"

"Yes."

"OK. I need to ask you a couple of questions, is that OK?"

"Yeah," I say, listening to my voice.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm - I'm - I'm not sure. In here," I say, putting my hand to my tummy, "I feel a bit empty."

"I think that's hunger. We'll get you something to eat. Do you want blood?"

"No."

"OK. Are you in any pain?"

"No. I don't think so."

"Were you?"

"Yes, but I couldn't scream. It'd upset you and it'd cause Esme pain."

"You angel," she whispers, putting her hand to my face. I lean into her palm and she smiles at me. "You're warm. So warm."

"I feel it."

"You'll adjust. You don't feel feverish or anything. And I checked you over, you were in remarkably good shape for a Civil War boy. I fixed your teeth though, they were not great." I reach out a hesitant hand and touch her face.

"You don't feel so fragile now."

"That's because you aren't a vampire now," she murmurs, taking my hand and placing it on my own chest, taking the other and placing it on hers. "Our hearts are beating. We're the same now. Are you happy?"

"Yes. Yes, I am. Thank you."

"It's OK. It's OK. Well, I can pass you fit and well. I checked for the bonding. We don't have it."

"Oh, yes we do," I murmur to her. She smiles at me with wonderful softness, and she leans forward and kisses me gently. I slide my hands into her hair and feel her go into my embrace so easily. For the first time since I met her, I know that she's not going to break if I hold her too hard, or kiss her too much. I can hold her in my arms, and not worry about shattering her like glass.

"You ready to see the others? They're practically chomping at the damn bit down there."

"That's fine. We'll have our time later."

"Yes, we will," she promises. "Alright," she says, raising her voice a fraction. "You can all come in now." I swear I hear a muffled shriek from downstairs, and then the room is full. I shrink back a bit. It's actually quite alarming, all of them just appearing. "Guys, new human. Go easy," Hermione warns.

After a brief pause, Esme steps forward. She approaches pretty slowly, and then holds her arms out. She's waiting for me to accept the hug. I smile at her and she practically hurls herself at me. I just about manage to steady her weight, and I realise with a jolt how cold she is. There're goosebumps rising on my skin. Apparently, she feels this, because she steps away.

"I'm so pleased you're OK. We were so worried." She steps aside and takes my hand in hers. Carlisle smiles at me.

"Tomorrow, I'll check you over. But you look fine to me."

"Hey, bro," Emmett says, grinning widely. "What's it like being all alive?"

"You make that sound like a dirty word," I return rapidly.

"It is, you're a breather. Urgh, a breather."

"You don't smell massively appealing," Alice comments, sniffing the air.

"You really don't. I mean you smell good - but I don't want to chow down on your jugular."

"That is a very great comfort, Edward, thank you."

"Indeed it is," Hermione say dryly. "He smells perfectly acceptable to me."

"You smell pretty good too," I say to her softly, and she smirks at me. She tucks herself into my side and I anchor a arm around her waist. She snuggles close and plants a soft kiss on my lips, and I feel her smile curve as I respond.

"Oh, good lord. You're in company," Rose protests, smiling at us both.

"But he's so soft and warm," Hermione protests, smiling. Alice comes over to us and prods my arm.

"So he is." She pokes a little too hard, and the slight dart of pain makes me exclaim a little. "Sorry, " she apologizes. "Plenty of give to you."

"What do you want to do first?" Hermione asks, taking my hand in hers.

"There's something I want to show you," I say to her, looking at Esme and Alice, who both wear identical grins.

"OK," Hermione says, looking slightly uncertain. "I guess we could do that." Esme and Alice dart from the room and I blink at the suddenness.

"Did I use to move that fast? That's weird."

"Now you know how disorientating it is. Get someone to carry you at some point, you'll understand why I wanted to walk back from the clearing."

"OK, I'll do that later," Emmett says, fidgeting with excitement. "Come on, you two!"

"Emmett, chill," Hermione says, laughing. "OK, take it slow getting up, you're going to have to get used to moving as a human again. You might find it a bit unsteady at first." Carlisle comes to us and he steadies me as I slide down from the bed. Black spots cloud my vision for a moment, and I grab at Carlisle.

"What the hell was that."

"Blood rushing round you, getting used to standing after a long time of lying down. It's totally normal, don't worry. You feeling better?"

"Yeah. OK." I take a few tentative steps. It's so strange. I haven't got any shoes on, and the cool chill of the laminate floor strikes up through my socks. This floor feels smooth under my feet, but before, I remember the slight imperfections that I was so aware of. Edward is holding out a pair of shoes to me, and I put them on and lace them up. Before, I would have done this in a fraction of a second, and now I can feel that it takes longer, and I have to move more slowly to get it right. "Everything feels so different."

"You'll get used to it. Most of the actions will become familiar to you," Hermione says, reassuringly. "Stand up slowly." I heed her advice this time, and there's not return of the light-headedness. Suddenly, my stomach makes a very strange noise, and she lets out a merry peal of laughter. "Someone's hungry."

"There's food waiting. Come on, let's go."

We lead Hermione away from the house, and her smile increases all the while. I never knew the cottage was so far from the house. It seems to take quite a long time, but I don't think it does, because Hermione doesn't make any comment on it. Just before we reach the line of trees that hide the cottage, I turn to her.

"Do you trust me?" I ask her.

"Yes."

"OK." I cover her eyes with my hands, and we carry on walking. Everyone but Carlisle is standing outside the cottage, and Alice is practically dancing on the spot with excitement. "You ready?" I ask her, and she nods. I can feel her eyelashes fluttering on my palms, and it tickles. I uncover her eyes and she gasps.

"It's so pretty!"

"Yeah, it's ours."

"It's ours?"

"Yeah, it's ours. I mean, if you want it to be."

"Normally, we'd go on some dates before we moved in together, but I think me granting your lifelong wish counts as a fair few dates."

"We can still go on dates. I could buy you dinner."

"You could."

"So, do you like it?" Alice half shrieks. Clearly couldn't bear the tension any more.

"Yes, I do, I like it a lot. Can I see inside?"

"Jasper can do the tour. There are sandwiches and stuff in the kitchen. Take your time and everything, just come join us when you're ready. They melt away, and they leave Hermione and I standing in the pretty front garden together.

"Shall we eat first?" she proposes, taking my hand in hers. "And then you can show me our new house."

"Our new house," I repeat, kissing her smile. I lead her up our front path and open up our front door. This is my beginning. This is our beginning together, and this is what I wanted. I have never been so happy.