A/N: Hi. I have to admit that I'm not very happy with this chapter. I spent many hours thinking about some of the dialogs but I couldn't think of any other way how to write it. So enjoy if you can :)
And as usual, thank you for reading and reviewing.
EDIT: 09/03/2018 Minor editing made.
Chapter thirteen
"Who is it?" I asked, squinting at the driver of the dark red car. I could only see the outlines of two people inside.
"I think the car belongs to the priest, Mr. Weber," Edward said, his tone a bit strained. "But there are two women inside, one of them is Angela. I can't hear the other." There was a hint of frustration in his voice.
"Angela's mum?" I suggested.
"Maybe." He shrugged.
I sat there, wondering what could Angela want. And Edward couldn't hear the other woman's mind so that could mean only one thing. I felt a thrilling sensation in my stomach at the possibility of another magical person in Forks, but I was also very nervous.
"I'm going inside," I decided, unfastening the seatbelt.
"Be careful," he whispered, his voice urgent. "Though I have an idea what they might want. I can hear Angela's feelings and she is nervous and determined. Now she's also relieved because she can see you're all right."
So Angela wanted to make sure Edward hadn't hurt me. I felt touched by her concern and I promised myself to convince her that the Cullens weren't dangerous.
"Bella?" Edward suddenly said as I was about to open the door.
"Yes?"
"I'd like to know for sure what this is about, but I don't think it would be the best idea if I went to meet them with you," he said. I nodded, waiting for him to go on. "So since I can't hear the thoughts of any of you, would it be alright if I stayed outside to listen?"
This surprised me. I knew he'd stayed outside of our house sometimes to watch over me, he'd said it before. But he'd never asked my permission.
"Um, sure," I said, smiling weakly.
I got out of the car then, carefully closing the door behind me. Edward started the car and drove away. I threw a surprised look after him but then I realised that he probably didn't want Angela to know he would be staying nearby. I took a deep breath and started walking to the front door. I noticed Charlie still wasn't home because his cruiser wasn't there.
The doors of the other car opened at that moment and Angela and the other woman stepped out. The woman was tall, slim and had the same light brown hair as Angela but shorter. She looked about forty years old.
"Hello," I greeted them, trying to make my smile look pleasantly surprised. "My dad has gone fishing, I'm afraid." I was pretty sure they wanted to talk to me but I felt it was better pointing it out anyway.
"Hi, Bella," said Angela tentatively.
"Miss Swan, I'm Amelia Weber, Angela's mother," the woman introduced herself, offering her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Weber." I shook her hand and then looked at her questioningly. "Like I said, my dad isn't home yet so if there is anything I could - "
"We're here to talk to you, if you wouldn't mind," Mrs. Weber interrupted me.
"Oh, okay," I said, gesturing toward the house. "Let's go inside, then."
When we were inside, I offered them the chairs in the kitchen and asked if they wanted something for drink. They both refused but they took off their coats and sat down.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, sitting down as well. I looked directly into Mrs. Weber's eyes, trying to hide my nerves.
"Angela told me that you are forming a relationship with one of the Cullens," she said, glancing toward her daughter, who lowered her eyes.
I didn't say anything, wondering if „relationship" was the right word. I hadn't talked about us with Edward, I realised, though he did hold my hand. I slightly shook my head, trying to focus on Mrs. Weber.
"Angela also told me that she'd warned you to avoid them," Mrs. Weber continued when I didn't speak.
I felt it would be good to finally say something. "Yes, she did." I glanced at Angela, who was now staring at her hands.
"But still, you went out with him today." Mrs. Weber gave me a disapproving look. "So I thought it would be better to tell you something about the Cullen family."
"I know enough about them." I had no idea what she was about to tell me. As far as I knew, she didn't know that I was a witch and therefore had the knowledge about the existence of vampires.
"All right." She pressed her lips together, looking stern. "What do you think you know, then?"
I hesitated. I suddenly wasn't a hundred percent sure that Mrs. Weber was a witch. What if there was some other reason why Edward couldn't read her mind? What if, by telling her, I accidentally revealed the truth about the wizarding world to a muggle? But if she weren't a witch, how else would she know the truth about the Cullens? Or did she know they were vampires? What if she thought they were just criminals or something like that?
"I know what they are," I said slowly, watching closely her reaction. "I know you think they are dangerous, and to some extent you are right, but they are different from others of their kind. They wouldn't hurt anyone. They try to be like us."
She was staring at me with narrowed eyes, taking her time to speak. "You know what they are," she repeated slowly after at least a minute. "How? Did he tell you?" Her voice sounded sceptical.
"I knew already. But he confirmed it," I said, now folding my arms across my chest in a defensive position.
"You knew," she said but it seemed she spoke mostly to herself. Suddenly she opened her handbag and pulled out something that looked like a business card. She handed it to me. I stared at her with raised eyebrows, but when her face grew impatient I took the card and looked at it. It actually was a business card, though instead of plastic it was made of a very thin piece of wood. There were letters carved in it in shining gold colour and it read:
Amelia C. Weber
Head Healer
Magical Hospital of the United States of America
Seattle
I stared at it for several seconds, feeling relieved. So she was a witch. I looked back at her, hundreds of questions swirling around in my head, not knowing what to say first. She was watching me, her face expectant.
"You are a healer?" I said the first thing that came to my mind.
"Good," she smiled slightly and she too looked relieved. She took her card back, completely ignoring my question. "I'm glad we've cleared this up." When she saw my confused expression, she went on. "It was a test. Had you been a no-maj, you would have seen different words, suitable for non-magical people."
"Oh," said Angela, looking at me with a sudden smile. She had been watching the two of us for the whole time. "That explains a lot."
"Yeah, I could say the same." I grinned at her. For the first time in months I felt elated. I found someone who could understand me, who could maybe even help me. Someone who was like me. "But you are not a witch?" I asked Angela, realising that she propably wouldn't have attended a muggle school.
"No, I'm a squib," she said with a slight smile. "But I don't really mind. At least I know about all the cool magical stuff." She sounded cheerful but I felt a bit sorry for her. It must have been hard growing up surrounded by magic and knowing she would never be able to do any of it.
"So did you guess what I am?" I asked her, curious.
"Not at first," said Angela. "But I grew suspicious, when you didn't seem to be intimidated by the Cullens like the rest of us. And then when you met Edward in Port Angeles and went for dinner with him, I panicked. I knew what he was and I didn't trust him," she admitted with a sheepish smile. "Then when I heard about your date and tried to warn you, you said you knew what they were. I didn't know what you'd thought you knew so I told mom and she decided it would be better to talk to you."
"MACUSA has been monitoring the Cullens since the day they moved in Forks," said Mrs Weber. "I was chosen to keep an eye on them although I don't work at MACUSA, but I live here so it was only logical. We couldn't contact them directly because vampires usually don't know about us, as you probably know." I nodded and she went on. "We went through a few very anxious days when their leader started working at the hospital, with all the blood around. We stationed two of our people to work there, in case it got out of control. But it never happened. He turned out to be exceptionally well-controlled." There was a hint of admiration in her voice. "Of course we couldn't know for sure that all members of his coven would have the same discipline so we had to continue watching over them."
"Do you watch other vampires, too?" I asked, curious.
"We know about most of them but they are usually nomads and tend to avoid populated areas. If any of them gets out of hand, the Volturi take care of it. The Cullens are a special case because they live among humans so it's a bigger risk of exposure. It would take a lot of work to clear the mess and the Volturi don't have the means to do it. Speaking of which," she suddenly looked sternly into my eyes. "What do they know?"
It was clear what she meant and I hesitated. Would she think that I had breached the Statute of Secrecy?
"Well, Edward sort of guessed," I said carefully. "But he already knew about our existence. Carlisle – I mean Dr. Cullen – he's very old. He remembers the times before the Statute of Secrecy."
"And he told the others?" Mrs. Weber's face turned furious. "He's not allowed to do that. We made sure that all vampires at that time knew that they weren't allowed to tell anyone."
"He didn't," I said quickly. I didn't want her to hold Carlisle responsible for that. "You know, Edward has a Gift. He can read minds." I hoped Edward wouldn't mind me saying this. I bit my lip nervously, glancing at the window.
"A mind-reader?" Her face softened a bit. "Well, it that case I can see that it was impossible to keep it a secret. Does anyone else from the coven have a Gift?"
"Alice can predict future," I admitted. Angela looked at me with wide eyes.
"Hm," said Mrs. Weber shortly. "I would very much like to talk to them. Do you think you could arrange that?"
"Well, actually - " I started to speak but at the moment the door bell rang. I had an idea who that might be. And I was right.
"May I join you?" Edward asked with an innocent expression, when I opened the door.
"Couldn't you just wait until I told them you were outside?" I hissed at him. He just smiled and walked past me inside. I sighed, closed the door and followed after him.
"How convenient," I heard Mrs. Weber say suspiciously, just before I entered the kitchen. She threw me a knowing look. "I suppose it's not a coincidence that Mr. Cullen is here?" She was standing behind her chair now, her arms folded across her chest. Edward was standing opposite her in the same position.
"I needed to know what this was about," he said. "Thanks to my abilities I often serve as a lookout for my family. With you, I had no other option but to listen outside the house."
"A lookout?" I frowned, confused. I leaned against the wall so it was only Angela sitting. I didn't like the tense atmosphere that had emerged with Edward's arrival.
"Yes. Me and Alice always watch out for potential danger of exposure," he explained, not taking his eyes off Mrs. Weber. "Now, you said you wanted to talk to me."
"I'd rather talk to your leader," said Mrs. Weber, though she relaxed her position.
"I'm the second oldest in our family," Edward said firmly. "I can assure you that I will tell Carlisle everything you'll tell me."
Mrs. Weber thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "Very well. Let's sit down then." She gestured to the chairs and we all sat down. "So," Mrs. Weber began, "do all members of your family know about us?"
Edward looked at her with narrowed eyes, then said, "No. Only me, Carlisle and Alice." He paused for a second. "But I'd like to ask you for a permission to tell the others. We're not used to keep secrets from each other and it's already very hard for them to not tell their mates."
Mrs. Weber considered it for a few moments. "All right," she finally said. "But I'll have to inform MACUSA."
At that moment Edward turned his head to the window, frowning. "Your father is coming," he said, turning his head back to us.
"Does your father know?" asked Mrs. Weber quickly.
"He knows about me."
"Of course. But about the Cullens?" She rolled her eyes impatiently.
"No."
"What are we going to tell him?" piped Angela. I'd completely forgotten her presence. "I mean, why are we here?" I, too, could hear Charlie's cruiser pulling up now. We all fell silent, trying to come up with an excuse for our little meeting.
"We're going to tell him that you had a suspicion that Bella was a witch and wanted to confirm it," said Edward, whose mind was the fastest. We all nodded just as we heard the front door open.
"Bella?" Charlie called from the hall, his voice confused. "Are you home?"
"Yes, Dad!" I called, hurrying to the hall to meet him. "We have visitors," I informed him.
"I saw the car, it looked like Mr. Weber's," he said, taking off his jacket. He handed me a bag, which, by the smell, was full of fish. "Could you put it into the fridge?"
"It's Angela and her mum," I said, peering into the bag. There was enough fish for at least a few months.
"What do they want?" asked Charlie, heading for the kitchen. At that moment, Edward appeared in the kitchen doorway. Charlie stopped, surprised. "Edward, right? I didn't see your car."
"Yes, sir. I parked down the street so I wouldn't block your driveway," Edward said with a pleasant smile. He shook hands with Charlie, who flinched slightly at the coldness of Edward's palm. Charlie didn't question Edward's presence for which I was grateful.
"Mrs. Weber," he said, entering the kitchen, "What a pleasant surprise! I don't think we ever met properly." He shook hands with Mrs. Weber and smiled at Angela. While they were exchanging formalities I put the bag with the fish into the fridge and walked to Edward, who had been standing behind his chair. He smiled at me and gently stroked the back of my hand. I looked at the others but only Angela seemed to notice us. She quickly looked away.
"So, to what do we owe the pleasure?" asked Charlie maybe too politely. He gestured to us to sit down and went to the living room to get another chair.
"Actually, we came to see your daughter," said Mrs. Weber, as Charlie finally sat down. Then she told him what we had agreed to tell him. Charlie wasn't as surprised as I'd thought.
"I've always wondered if there was someone magical around here," he said, surprising us all. "I thought it would be great for Bella – wait!" He said suddenly, pointing his finger at Edward. "Are you magical too?"
"No, sir. But Bella told me, though I'd already suspected the truth."
"I thought it was a secret. You told me it was against the law to tell anyone what you are, Bella." Charlie looked at me with raised eyebrows. Fortunatelly I was saved from answering by Mrs. Weber.
"The Cullen family is an exception. They cooperate with us quite often but I'm afraid I can't tell you more."
I tried not to look that this was news to me and nodded. Edward's face, on the other hand, looked utterly convincing. I smiled gratefully at Mrs. Weber and she secretly winked at me.
"Okay," said Charlie. I could see that he was still curious but I knew he wouldn't ask any more questions about this subject.
"So, Bella." Mrs. Weber turned to me, her face suddenly full of concern. "Angela said you came from Britain."
"Yes," I said quietly.
"What is your situation? I suppose you are from a no-maj family." She glanced at Charlie.
I stared at her suddenly unsure what to say. What if she was a spy from the British Ministry and came to find me and take me back to Britain? How did I know that I could trust her? Don't be paranoid! I said to myself. She was expecting my answer.
"Um, yes," I murmured, lowering my eyes. I could feel Edward stroking my hand under the table. I calmed down a bit and looked up at Mrs. Weber. "I had to leave. They wanted to question me about my origin so I thought it would be better to go and live here with my dad for a while."
"That was a wise decision," she agreed. "But tell me, what is really going on in Britain? We have only offical news but some of us think it's not what's really been happening there."
"Well, I don't really know," I admitted. "I left a day after Scrimgeour was killed and You-Know-Who took over the Ministry so -"
"Killed?!" Mrs. Weber interrupted me. She was shocked and Angela looked surprised too. "We didn't know he was killed. They said he stepped down."
That didn't surprise me at all. "Well, he was murdered by Death Eaters. Or by You-Know-Who himself, I don't know the details."
"Who was this Scrimgeour?" asked Edward. Charlie didn't speak but he looked much paler than usual.
"The Minister for Magic," I explained. Edward lifted his eyebrows but didn't say anything else. "He was replaced by You-Know-Who's man but I don't remember his name. It's one of the few bits of information I got when I was listening to the radio."
"You've said that before," said Edward. "But how can you get information about your world on the radio?"
"I'm sure she means a wizarding radio," answered Mrs. Weber and then turned to me. "His name is Pius Thicknesse and we don't know much about him. What else did you hear?"
"I heard about the new Headmaster of Hogwarts." I gritted my teeth and went on without further explanation. "And about a Ministry break-in." I wondered how much I should say about Harry.
"Yes, we heard that too," Mrs. Weber said, nodding. "They try to put the blame on the Potter boy but I can't really imagine what he could have been doing there. It doesn't make sense. Why would he voluntarily walk into the one place where everyone has been looking for him?"
"Well, I thought it was strange too," I said. "But knowing Harry, I'm pretty sure that if it was something important, he would definitely do it." I still remembered very vividly his last visit to the Ministry and how it ended.
"Hang on," said Charlie, frowning. "The name rings a bell. Isn't he one of your friends, Bella?"
"Um, yes," I admitted. I'd never really told Charlie about Harry's part in the whole Voldemort business.
"Does he come from a non-magical family too?" asked Charlie. "Is he in hiding like you?"
"Well, Dad, no." I hesitated, looking at Mrs. Weber, who lifted her eyebrows. "Both his parents were magical. And yes, he is in hiding, too."
"Were?" Edward noticed the past tense.
I sighed. "It's a very long story. In short: You-Know-Who killed his parents when Harry was one year old. He tried to kill Harry, too, but failed and disappeared. Two years ago You-Know-Who returned and it is believed that Harry is the one who can beat him. No one knows where Harry is now or how he is supposed to kill You-Know-Who."
"But he's about your age, isn't he?" said Charlie, frowning.
"Yes." About six weeks older, I thought, but didn't say it aloud.
"So, you believe that a seventeen years old kid can beat, according to you, the worst dark wizard in history?" asked Charlie sceptically. It sounded crazy when he put it this way, I had to admit.
"He's done some great things," I tried to explain. "And we believe Dumbledore himself had taught him what to do."
"But you said he's dead, this Dumbledore," said Charlie. "So he's alone. I think you believe in a miracle."
"He's not alone," I said, a little more fervently than I intended. "His two best friends are with him."
"It doesn't make much of a difference," argued Charlie. "They're still kids."
I stared at him helplessly, not knowing what to say. I was beginning to realise that he might be right. That we really believed in a miracle and that the chance that Harry could beat Voldemort is extremely small.
"What will happen if he fails?" asked Edward quietly.
"The dark lord would probably easily suppress all the remaining resistence groups in Britain and then he would try to expand his power to other countries," said Mrs. Weber. "He would start with Europe, of course, but we can't rule out the possibility that he would try to reach power over here, too."
"But people would fight him, wouldn't they?" Edward said with a frown. "He can be killed."
We exchanged looks with Mrs. Weber but it was me who answered his question. "Well, he is very powerful. I don't know what really happened, but it is said, that when he'd tried to kill Harry and failed, the killing curse rebounded from Harry and hit him. Many people thought he'd died, but some didn't believe it. And they were right because he came back."
"How could the boy survive?" asked Charlie incredulously. This time, even Mrs. Weber and Angela were looking at me, curious. Apparently they didn't know either.
"His mum died to save him and it gave him the protection." I said simply. Actually, I didn't know much more either, Harry had never been very specific about it and I never really asked him.
"Oh," said Mrs. Weber and then she frowned thoughtfully. Then, she steered the conversation back to more important things. "So is that all you've heard about Britain?"
"Yes," I admitted. "I never tried to tune the radio again. I was afraid of what I might hear." It was stupid, I knew that, but I just couldn't make myself to do it again. At that moment Angela's phone beeped and she pulled it out of her pocket to read the message.
"It's Dad," she said to Mrs. Weber. "He wants to know when we'll be back." I looked at the kitchen clock. It was nearly seven thirty.
"I think you should know what's going on, even if you don't get the information you want," Mrs. Weber said to me and stood up, putting on her coat. We all stood up too and walked the Webers to the front door.
"You're probably right," I sighed, making a mental note to tune in the radio first thing tomorrow morning. Then I remembered why I wanted to find someone magical in the first place. "Mrs. Weber, do you think you can help me with something?"
"Sure, what do you need?"
"I need someone, who would teach me more advanced magic." I tried not to give away too much. I didn't think Charlie and Edward would be happy if I told them I actually wanted to learn how to fight. "And I'd also like to learn how to apparate."
Mrs. Weber lifted an eyebrow. "You don't have a licence yet?"
"Um, no," I admitted. "I was supposed to learn this year but…" I left the sentence unfinished and Mrs. Weber nodded in understanding. Charlie and Edward exchanged confused looks.
"Oh, of course. I'll see what I can do," she promised. They said goodbye to Charlie and Mrs. Weber then turned to Edward. "I would still like to talk to your family." She glanced at Charlie, who was watching them curiously, before she went on. "I want to discuss a few conditions of your earlier request."
"Of course," said Edward politely. "I'll tell my father about it and let you know when we can meet."
"Good." Mrs. Weber smiled slightly and then they left.
"I should go as well," said Edward.
"Do you have to?" I didn't feel like letting him go yet.
"Yes, it's dark outside and Esme would be worried." I was pretty sure he said that only because Charlie was standing next to me, but I couldn't resist lifting my eyebrows slightly.
"Actually, Edward," said Charlie and we both turned to look at him. "I don't think I ever thanked you for saving Bella's life in the van accident. So, thank you. It was very brave of you."
"It was nothing, sir," said Edward modestly. "I was just in the right place at the right time."
"Maybe, but still. If you or your family ever need anything from me, just let me know."
"Thank you, sir."
Charlie then returned to the kitchen so we were left alone. "I think he likes you," I said, nodding toward the kitchen. Edward just smiled and took my hand. We walked outside together. "So, I guess I'll see you at school," I said not very enthusiastically when we were standing on the porch, lowering my head.
He chuckled at my expression and gently lifted my head with his finger so I would look at him. "Won't I see you tomorrow?" he said softly, gazing into my eyes so intensely, that my head felt a bit dizzy.
"Um, you-you want to?" I finally managed to stammer out, feeling like an idiot. Of course my face went red.
"Well, I actually thought you might want to meet my family," he suggested, still speaking in a low voice. Our faces were now so close to each other that our foreheads almost touched. I had to remind myself how to breathe. It took me a while to realise what he had said.
"Tomorrow?!" I blurted out in an unusually high voice.
"Are you afraid?" He grinned wickedly.
"Of course not." I straightened myself and slightly pulled away so I could see his face properly. "I just thought we should wait until Mrs. Weber speaks with Carlisle first."
"It would be much easier if they all knew before the meeting. She can meet us all and tell us her conditions."
"Okay." I sighed. He was right, it would be easier for everyone if his family knew. Maybe even Rosalie would finally stop glaring at me as she had done every time I happened to look toward the Cullen table in the cafeteria the last few days.
"I'll pick you up around ten, if that's alright?" he said, leaning his head toward me again. I just nodded. He smiled gently and, after a short hesitation, lightly pressed his cold lips on my forehead. Before I could say or do anything, he turned around and walked away.