Title: Family bonds

Summary: A small baby appears in the woods of Denali, Alaska. This young emerald eyed boy grows up in the loving embrace of the Cullen family. Voldemort has disappeared and the wizarding world is at a loss of what to do or expect next.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight, they belong to JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer respectively.

IMPORTANT AN: Just to clear things up, the Horcrux is completely gone now, Anthony had unconsciously been holding it back all these years and though I haven't made it clear yet, what happened with Anthony in the previous Chapter was a Magical inheritance, he reached his magical majority and the influx of power gave him the boost needed to get rid of the Horcrux once and for all.

Thank you everyone for your lovely reviews and comments, it is much appreciated!

Chapter 8

Anthony dragged his sisters from shop to shop in search of something to wear to the birthday party the following night. Although he didn't like Isabella, he was not going to miss the chance to get new clothes just because he didn't want to attend her party.

Rosalie and Alice laughed delightedly as Anthony pulled another set of designer jeans from the rack and quickly turned to find some shirts that matched.

"Try this one Anthony, it would really enhance those gorgeous eyes of yours." Rosalie said as she handed him a wine red shirt that would also fit very nicely with the black denims he had chosen.

Grabbing the shirt his sister held out, Anthony turned and made his way to the fitting rooms. He could already tell that the clothes would make him look fantastic so he just had to make sure to get the right sizes. The denims fit well but Anthony thought he might be able to squeeze into a smaller size and so asked Alice to fetch him one size smaller.

Perfect! It was a tight fit but enhanced his form in all the right places.

Whistling and laughter met him as he paraded his ensemble for his sisters. Anthony blushed a bit but since he already knew that he looked good, he squashed the embarrassment down.

"Do you think I should get her a gift?" The tone of the question and the frown on his face let Rosalie and Alice know exactly how he felt about the subject.

Alice was just about to answer when Rosalie cut her off. She knew that Alice liked Bella and would most likely be in favour of Anthony getting the girl something. Rosalie on the other hand felt very differently.

"No Anthony, she is not your friend, you don't even really know her all that well and she has never made any effort to get to know you. Edward, as her boyfriend, could get her something as well as anyone else who is a friend." She sneered a bit in Alice's direction at this but then continued.

"I have not bought her a gift and don't intend to, neither did anyone else except Edward, Alice and Esme. Esme can be forgiven since she is always nice to everyone." Rosalie sniffed a bit at the end and Anthony laughed at her haughtiness as he linked his arm with hers. He felt a bit bad at badmouthing a friend of Alice but he honestly couldn't help it.

"Are any of her other friends from school coming?"

"No. Carlisle has no problem with her coming but he drew the line there, knowing that any more humans in the house would be testing Jasper's control beyond his limits." Rosalie answered as they climbed into the car.

"Hmmm, that's something at least. I really don't know what she sees in Jessica and that lot, but then, this is Isabella we're talking about…" Anthony sneered and Rosalie smirked at the implied insult.

"Yes well, I know for a fact that you will be the best dressed and most handsome, attractive human in attendance."

Edward looked down at Bella fondly as she opened her gift. He was glad that she was sitting so near him and that her smell permeated the air so thoroughly. The past month Edward had noticed a change in their house, especially regarding Anthony and it had been driving him to distraction. Having Bella practically in his arms, provided him with a much needed reprieve from his confusing emotions.

Ever since Anthony had woken up from what they now knew were a magical inheritance, his brother's smell had changed. What had once been a slightly muted sweetness, was now almost overwhelming for Edward and he had to stop himself on numerous occasions from accosting his brother.

Edward also knew that Jasper was similarly struggling as Anthony's scent had always been on the stronger side of 'normal human sweetness'. He was worried that Jasper would snap one of these days. It had been years since his brother last lost control because of Anthony but this new temptation would soon drive him to the brink.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Edward helped Bella to put the necklace he bought her on.

"It's beautiful Edward! Thank you!" Edward smiled at her and kissed her forehead before she quickly stood and went off to show Alice her gift.

Looking around the room, Edward frowned as he realised that Anthony wasn't there. In fact, he hadn't seen Anthony at all that evening.

Just as a sharp cry of pain filled the air and the scent of blood filled his senses, Edward found that he could not look around to see what happened to Bella. He couldn't take his eyes off the vision his brother made as he descended the stairs. Anthony looked like a model from a magazine and Edward swallowed hard as venom pooled in his mouth.

A blur running passed him shook him from his stupor and Edward looked on in horror as Jasper raced towards Anthony. The scent of blood was thick in the air and although it came from the opposite side of the room, the closest human, the closest prey, was Anthony.

He knew even before he started to move that he would be too late. A feeling unlike any other overcame him then, it felt as if his heart was constricting, shrivelling and dying. The thought of losing Anthony was more than he could take. Not just the thought of losing his brother but Anthony, Anthony was so much more.

Sound and feeling were foreign concepts to him. There was a shrill ringing in his ears but his mind felt as if it was filled with cotton. When his brain at last processed what his eyes were seeing, Edward felt that he could move again. There was a bright shield surrounding his brother who, although scared, was looking at Jasper with sympathy and regret.

As he reached Anthony, Edward found that he could not reach beyond the shield and so he turned his attention toward Jasper. It really was not a funny situation and Edward was certain that it was the adrenalin causing it but he could not keep from laughing as he grabbed Jaspers arms and pinned them behind his back. Every single member of his family was there with them, Emmett was now pulling on both Jasper and himself to get them moving away from Anthony. Rosalie and Esme were hovering and flittering around Anthony while Carlisle and Alice were standing close by, keeping an eye on the whole situation.

The thing that Edward found funny was that everyone had apparently forgotten about Bella. The scent of blood was still in the air but not as potent as before and as Edward passed his hold on Jasper over to Carlisle, he made his way over to his girlfriend to make sure her wound was covered and then escorted her to his car.

No matter how well the wound was wrapped, the smell of blood would still escape the bandage and that was something that they could not afford.

"Wh… what was that? What did Anthony do?"

The quiver in her voice, the fear and uncertainty was something that Edward had expected the very first time Bella found out that he was a vampire. Knowing what he did now, that she had never feared him or what he was, Edward could not help but wonder why Anthony's gift was inducing this reaction from her.

If there was ever a time he truly wished he could read Bella's mind, this was it.

"I… I mean… That, it looked like…. Magic" The last word was whispered and Bella looked around herself as if fearing someone else would hear her say a forbidden word.

Edward frowned at her and carefully considered his options. On the one hand, there really was only one logical explanation, the truth! Anything else would just not explain how that shimmering barrier had kept vampires from touching Anthony. On the other hand, the way that Bella said magic, the way she was looking around as if waiting for lightning to strike her down, Edward thought that she might not be able to handle the truth.

"Is Anthony, did he…. Is….." Bella floundered for a while but before Edward could form any kind of response, she started again.

"You being a vampire, I can understand. It is, it's something that is out of your control. You didn't choose to be one, you don't actively practice at being one and you eat animals, not humans. But…. but if what Anthony did…. if that is magic, I, that, no….. no, no, no. Magic is evil, the bible says, "do not suffer a witch to live", in Deuteronomy 21:21 it says "Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid". You… Your brother….."

Edward looked at Bella and found that he had no reply, no response to what she had just said. That she thought his brother, his little Anthony was evil, was a monster worse than what he was…. It just didn't bare thinking of. One thing he knew for certain though, Bella could not be trusted with this information. As soon as she got home, she would tell her father about Anthony and who knew what would happen then?

Luckily, whatever answer Edward could have given was interrupted by familiar sounding cracks. Bella gasped as two men materialized in front of them.

"Good evening." Edward greeted them politely.

He knew from what he read in the wizards minds the last time someone came to talk about Anthony's education that it was possible to change people's memories. He never thought he would actually ask any of them to do this but now, knowing what he did about Bella's viewpoint on magic, Edward found himself actually considering the idea.

"Mr Cullen, Ms….."

"Swan, this is my girlfriend, Isabella Swan." Edward introduced but as Bella just continued to look at the men in horror, Edward found himself at a bit of a loss.

"Er, well, she had a bit of a shock tonight. She saw my brother conjure a shield and she needs a bit more time to process everything."

"I… no, no need to process anything. That is, he is abnormal! Evil! We must do something Edward. Get the people together and plan the best way to deal with it."

Edward lowered his head and had to bite back an angry retort. The wizards who had just joined them were running various scenarios and outcomes through their minds but the most prominent one was to obliviate Bella and change her memories so that she would forget everything that happened tonight.

Any lingering doubt he might have had about messing with Bella's mind was taken away as she kept on muttering about exorcism and stoning and various other methods to deal with Anthony.

"Obliviate her." His request was directed at the two wizards and they looked at him in surprise before turning their attention back to Bella and one of them aimed their wand at her.

"Obliviate!"

Anthony could tell that something had shifted in Edward and Isabella's relationship. Isabella was still her usual, normal self, but Edward was acting strangely toward her and seemed to analyse each and every sentence, as if looking for hidden meanings.

He could tell that Isabella was getting a bit frustrated with Edward but didn't know how to deal with whatever was bothering him.

Edward had explained to everyone when he got home that day that the wizards had changed Isabella's memories since she was an 'exposure risk' to the magical community. This was something that Anthony had not really thought about and found that he wanted to kick himself for risking not only his safely, but his whole family by doing magic in front of the girl.

There had been a moment, a couple of days after the party where Anthony had feared that they would all move again but Anthony, and strangely enough, Edward, begged Carlisle to stay and work everything out.

Edward had been the one who actually suggested that they move away from Forks and from Isabella after the birthday incident which was why Anthony found it strange that he was now begging to stay rather.

The fact that Edward was actively avoiding Isabella and treating her a bit 'coldly', made the whole thing even stranger. Anthony promised himself that he would get to the bottom of it all.

Gertrude was of course very glad that they weren't moving as she had taken quite a liking to Anthony and was always very excited about teaching him new things about his magic.

The shield he had conjured during the party was the topic of conversation for a few of their lessons as apparently, most shields that wizards and witches conjured were created to shield them from magic, from energy and not from physical objects or people. Anthony demonstrated his shield again and after quite some time and experimentation, Gertrude was finally able to duplicate his shield and promised him shared 'patent rights' on the creation of this new spell.

"New spell? But Gertrude, I thought shields has been around for centuries?"

"They have Anthony, but never has anyone been able to create a shield that would propel physical objects. Even wizards use umbrellas to shield them from rain as there is no spell that performs this function, well, until now that is."

After that, Anthony and Gertrude fell into a discussion about what was actually possible in the realm of magic and what was not. Years of indoctrinate beliefs were brought into question now and Gertrude felt that Anthony should not put any 'limits' on his magic. She explained that most wizards and witches learned from a young age all that their parents and teachers wanted them to know but she felt that this limited their beliefs on magic. If you believed that it was impossible to change a couch into a bed then you would never be able to do it, but if you believed that you could stop a speeding train in its tracks within one second, then you could do it.

Anthony felt that this explanation was taking it a bit far but since he had never actually endeavoured to stop a speeding train, he didn't know if it was in fact possible to do so. The logic behind her explanations was undisputable so Anthony promised that he would never say anything was impossible until he actually tried it.

One day, as Anthony moved through the halls of the school towards his next class, he overheard Edward and Isabella talking. It was clear to him that they were nearing the end of their debate, or argument rather, but he stopped and listened all the same.

"Why the sudden interest in my beliefs Edward? I have told you before that I don't care that you are what you are. You didn't choose to be this Edward, and you try your best to be 'normal', you're a vegetarian for lack of a better word!"

"Yes Bella, I know that and I'm grateful that you're so open minded but that does not answer my question! What are your beliefs regarding magic? Wizards and witches?"

Anthony held his breath, this would sort of explain Edward's behaviour as of late, although not hundred percent as Anthony still did not know why Edward was suddenly so interested in what Isabella thought of magic.

"Magic is the devil's tool! If someone practices magic, they should be put to death for their devil worshipping!"

Anthony felt something within his heart constrict at that. It wasn't that he cared what Isabella of all people thought of his talents, it was that she had such a profound influence on Edward that Anthony was scared of what her opinion would mean in regards to his relationship with Edward.

"Thank you Bella. That is all I needed to know. I can't say that I agree with you but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Now, if you would excuse me, I have some things that I need to take care of."

With that Edward left the bemused Isabella standing in the corridor and Anthony silently slid away from the wall and made his way towards his next class.

What on earth was that all about?

End Chapter 8

Just to make things clear, I needed Edward to come out and ask Bella about her thoughts on magic (even though he already knows about it), so that Bella and the rest of the Cullens could understand why he suddenly drew away from her – he did this on purpose so that his family would understand. Bella will still be bewildered about his reaction to her beliefs since she doesn't remember her encounter with Anthony but the rest of the Cullens will now better understand Edward's shift in emotions and actions.

EDIT:

I'll explain the whole 'shield creating' thing better in the next chapter or after that. The reason why she has rights to the shield is because even though Harry created it, the way in which he created it is not something that anyone else could just duplicate. They can't just look at his shield and say oh, I want to create one and then do it. Harry's magic works very differently from others as he does not need incantations or a wand.

Gertrude had to study Harry's shield for a long time and experiment with it's effects to eventually create one with wand movements and incantation. That is why she has rights to the patent and such. There will be more spell creation in the fic and most of them will be similar to this one.

Sorry that it wasn't explained very well yet in this chapter but Harry is still young and does not yet understand what exactly it means that he created a whole new spell and the financial benefits connected to it. Gertrude will definitely go about the registration of the new spell legally and will include Harry/Anthony's name in it so that he will receive his share of the profits.

Please review and let me know what you think!