A/N: There's another Author's note at the end of the chapter. I feel like I need to explain something to you about the chapter.

Chapter nineteen

After the exhausting study session, during which Edward had decided to stuff my brain with as many mathematical nonsense as possible, I made a quick chicken salad for lunch and started to eat. Just then, for the second time in three weeks, my enchanted galleon started to burn in my pocket. I gasped in surprise and dropped the fork that fell on the plate.

"Bella? What's wrong?" asked Edward when he saw my expression.

I just shook my head and reached into my pocket to take out the golden coin. It didn't burn anymore but it was still shining brightly, making the tiny description on the bottom of the galleon visible.

Radio. 3 short taps. Pswrd: Lightning. Now.

I squinted at it, the letters were even tinier than last time, and then showed it to Edward. "Could you -" I started asking but he was already gone. He was back with my small radio about five seconds later. "Thanks." I smiled weakly at him, and he placed the radio on the table in front of me. Then he pulled his chair next to me and put an arm around my shoulders.

I pulled out my wand and with a slightly shaking hand tapped shortly three times on the radio, murmuring the password. At first, nothing happened. Then there was a slight cracking noise coming out of the speaker of the radio. The cracking got louder, and I could hear distant voices in between. One of the voices, a male one, got louder and much clearer.

"… you think I got through?" There was a pause and again a distant voice was heard, probably answering the question. "All right, let's try and hope we've got through."

I gaped at the radio. The voice was familiar, though I hadn't heard it for more than a year so I couldn't be a hundred percent sure. But it did sound like Lee Jordan, our former Quidditch commentator.

"Dear listeners, welcome to our brand-new radio programme, which we decided to call the Potterwatch. My name is River and I'll be the main presenter, though there will be others, who will regularly contribute to our programme. But we'll get to them later."

There was a short pause. I could feel Edward's eyes on my face, but I didn't look at him.

"So, what is the Potterwatch?" Lee continued. "I think you all heard or read the official news given to us by the Ministry. Interesting, wasn't it?" I could hear a sneer in his voice. "I believe there are people who did find it interesting but, as one of my good friends said, it's a pile of rubbish. That's why we decided that you need to hear the truth about what's really been happening here.

And why the Potterwatch, you may ask? Well, among other news we will try to keep track with no other than the infamous "Undesirable No. One", as they call him. Or the Chosen One, as we call him. In other words: Harry Potter. But before our first correspondent informs us about the doings of Mr. Potter, let me tell you a few other details about our programme.

First: It's not regular. We don't know when there will be another broadcast and there's always the possibility that we will be caught. But we will try to get to you every time we'll feel you need to know some important piece of information.

Second: We are constantly on the move so the code and the password you need to tune us in will be changing. I'll tell you the next password at the end of our programme, but the code will be known just before the next broadcast begins. Some of you received our message with the details about our programme so if you know someone trustworthy, who craves for true information, please let them know."

So it was Lee who had sent me the message. I smiled a little. It was good to know that Hermione's Galleons had been put to use again. I wondered if Harry knew about this. I liked to think that he did.

Lee went on.

"Now it's time to introduce our first regular contributor. Good evening, Royal."

Another familiar voice came out of the radio, this time I had no trouble identifying him.

"Good evening, River," said Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep, measured voice.

"So, Royal, tell us the latest news about Harry Potter. Do you know where he is?"

"I don't and even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you in case someone untrustworthy was listening. But I feel the need to inform you what really happened during the famous Ministry break-in at the beginning of September." I leaned even closer to the tiny radio. "The truth is, we don't really know what made Harry go to the lion's den, as you may call it, but we do know that he got there in disguise as a Ministry worker, and he wasn't alone." There was a short silence. "Anyway, they broke into one of the courtrooms, where the Muggle-born Commission was interrogating muggle-born witches and wizards. According to an eyewitness, they seemed to take something from Umbridge and then, on their way out, they saved at least a dozen muggle-borns who had been waiting for their turn in the interrogation."

I was listening intently, aware that my mouth was hanging open.

"Of course the official news forgot to mention this little detail," Lee stepped in.

"Yes," Kingsley went on. "After that, Harry and his companions vanished, and he hasn't been heard of ever since. But it's good news, because had he been caught, it would have been the news number one in Daily Prophet and other Ministry controlled media."

"I know you have other news for us. And not that optimistic," said Lee.

"Unfortunately, yes," Kingsley's voice turned grave. "A hunt for those, who refused to present themselves for the interrogation, has started. Families of those muggle-borns were forced to go into hiding but some of them didn't make it. Muggles Ellen and Paul Creevey were found dead in their home last night. There have been traces of torture on their bodies. Their two sons, who both had been attending Hogwarts school in previous years but were not given their blood status, were not found so we believe they've managed to hide."

"No!" I gasped in shock, staring in horror at the radio. I felt my eyes brimming with tears. Edward's grip around my shoulders tightened. I distantly heard Kingsley speaking about other deaths and missing people, but I couldn't concentrate anymore. There weren't more names I knew, at least.

Poor Colin and Dennis. I'd never met their parents, but I felt really sorry for them. They didn't deserve this terrible fate. No one did. I didn't even want to think about what they had gone through.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and forced myself to listen again. Kingsley had apparently finished his list of deaths, thankfully it wasn't too long, and now it was Lee speaking again.

"Thank you, Royal," he said. "Now let me introduce our second regular contributor. Good evening, Romulus."

"Good evening, River," said yet another familiar voice. I felt my eyes widen when I recognized our former Defence teacher, Remus Lupin. I had to smile a little at the choice of his nickname.

"Romulus is here for our feature, which we decided to call Pals of Potter. As you might know, there are many people, who are known as Harry's friends or at least his supporters, who are trying to do everything in their power to fight You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. So, Romulus, what's new in the world of Harry's supporters?"

"Like you've already said, River, they try and fight with all means possible. For example, Xenophilius Lovegood, the editor of The Quibbler, openly admits his support of Harry Potter by printing exalting articles in his magazine." I felt a sudden urge of gratitude for the slightly eccentric man I'd met at the wedding. But Lupin went on, "I'm not sure, how long will You-Know-Who tolerate this, though. I heard rumours that he's trying to silence him. Let's hope Mr. Lovegood knows what he's doing."

"Yes," said Lee, "Old Xeno's intentions are undoubtedly good, but we fear there might be quite serious consequences."

"You're right," agreed Lupin, "and if by any chance Xeno's listening to our programme, I would like to warn him and ask to not overdo it, no matter how commendable his actions are."

"What about the students and teachers of Hogwarts?" Lee now asked the question I had been anxiously awaiting. "We all know that there are lots of Harry's friends and supporters among them."

Now I grabbed the tiny radio with both hands.

"Unfortunately, we don't have much information about what is now happening at Hogwarts," said Lupin with a sigh. I closed my eyes, feeling a sting of disappointment. "There are two new teachers, who are in fact Death Eaters. Alecto Carrow and her brother Amycus are, we assume, in charge of discipline. They wouldn't hesitate to punish everyone who would disobey them. And then there is Severus Snape, the new Headmaster, who, as we believe, would report everything directly to You-Know-Who."

Edward had to pull my fingers off the radio. They were in danger of getting hurt by squeezing the radio too tightly.

"But" Lupin went on, "we don't think the students are in any danger of being killed. Since there are only students that were given their blood status, You-Know-Who wouldn't want the precious magical blood spilled."

"That doesn't mean he wouldn't have them tortured, though," said Lee.

"You're right. I said that we didn't have much information about Hogwarts, but we do know that the students are trying to make the life of the Carrows difficult. Sadly, I have no more details about that."

"And this rather disturbing piece of information brings us to an end of the very first Potterwatch," said Lee. "But don't worry, we will be back again. We don't know when but keep trying various combinations of the code. We'll try to at least keep it at the same hour. The next password is Fawkes. Be safe and keep faith. Good night."

Then I heard another cracking sound and then there was silence. I turned off the radio and continued staring at it. My head was spinning so I put it into my hands.

"Bella?" Edward's voice was full of worry. "Are you alright?"

I just nodded but didn't raise my head. Faces of Colin and Dennis Creevey were in the front of my mind when I closed my eyes. What chances did they have? Colin was younger than me, so neither he nor his fourteen years old brother could use magic. It was just a matter of time before they were caught.

I sobbed. I didn't want to cry in front of Edward, but I just couldn't help it. I felt his hands turning me to him and pressing me against his chest. He murmured soothing words in my ear and gently stroked my back. After a while I slowly began to calm down until I wasn't sobbing anymore, but tears were still running down my face.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, pulling slightly away from his chest. I wiped the tears from my face and frowned. "I didn't mean to break down like that."

"It's alright, Bella," he said, clearly fighting the urge to roll his eyes at me. "I'm here for you whenever you need me."

"Thank you." I really felt grateful for his presence right now, no matter how embarrassed I felt.

He just smiled and glanced at the radio on the table. "You looked like you knew the people on the radio," he said hesitantly.

"Yes." I sighed and took the radio in my hand. "The presenter was Lee Jordan. He used to be the commentator of Quidditch when he was at school." I smiled slightly. "I didn't know him that well, but he was a friend of Ginny's older brothers."

Edward frowned slightly. "He was a member of the Dumbledore's Army, wasn't he? I remember you saying his name."

"Yeah." I nodded. "The other man, the one with the deep voice, was Kingsley Shacklebolt. He was an Auror and thanks to him I was able to escape in the summer."

"Then I'm grateful to him too. And who was the last one?"

"Remus Lupin. He was our Defence teacher in my second year. One of the best teachers we ever had." I decided not to tell him about the reason why Lupin had to leave the school. I didn't want to bring out Edward's overprotective nature just now.

We sat in silence for the next few minutes. Edward looked lost in thoughts, and I was wondering what he was thinking about. Undoubtedly it was something to keep me safe. I wanted to grimace, but I managed to control my expression. After what we'd heard, he couldn't think he would manage to keep me from fighting. It was impossible.

"Let's go to your house to look up the meditation," I suggested, trying to bring his mind back to the present. And to think of something else myself.

We got back to Charlie's around five. I got out of Edward's car, clutching several sheets of paper in my hand. Esme had been thrilled to see me again but left us alone while we'd been looking up all about meditation on Edward's expensive looking computer.

Edward promised to come back later tonight to spend the night in my room again. Then he drove away. Charlie's cruiser was parked in front of the house, so he was already home.

I found Charlie sitting at the table in the kitchen. There was a bottle of beer in front of him, but it wasn't even open. He looked angry and ashamed about something.

"Hi, Dad," I said hesitantly, stopping in the doorframe. "Is everything okay?"

Charlie looked up at me. "Where have you been?" he asked grumpily.

"At the Cullens. I needed to look up something on their computer."

He grumbled something unintelligible. I took a deep breath and went to sit down opposite him. "What happened, Dad?" I finally asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.

"I was at your school today," he started, playing idly with the beer bottle. "The principal had asked me to come when I called to excuse you this morning."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to know why he still hadn't received papers about your transfer from Britain."

"Oh," was all I could think of. At least it wasn't anything tragic. I always wondered how Charlie had managed to get me to the school, but I had never thought to ask him.

"He said he wanted the papers by the end of the next week, or you would have to leave the school."

That didn't seem like bad news. I didn't want to go to the school anyway. "Well, what did you tell him in the summer anyway? How did you even convince him to let me in the school in the first place?"

Charlie dropped his eyes. "I told him to wait for the papers. That it might be delayed because it was an intercontinental transfer. He agreed to wait for a month."

"And why didn't you tell me? You must have known he would want the papers again." I was angry now. I could have been spared the high school altogether, or we could have thought of something together, if he'd told me.

"I – I guess I forgot," he admitted, his face going red.

"Well, it doesn't matter, really." I shrugged. "I don't really need to go to school. It has been all about appearances after all. I know people now who help me with what I need." It was a relief actually.

"But you didn't know anyone before. People would have been curious why you were here. I didn't know what else to do," he said defensively.

"I know and I don't blame you. If it hadn't been for the school, I would have never met Angela's mum." Or Edward.

Charlie was quiet for a moment, thinking. "What are we going to tell people?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "They'll find about the missing papers anyway. It's a small school and a small town."

"So is that what you want?" he asked, finally opening the bottle. He seemed calmer now. "To drop the school? Maybe I could do something. Try to persuade the principal to let you stay."

"No, Dad." I shook my head. "It's a relief, actually. I always felt like I was wasting my time there."

"But we have to think of something to say to people. You have to have an education," he pressed on.

"We will," I assured him. I knew it would be a shame for him to have a seemingly uneducated daughter. Even though he knew it wasn't true, other people didn't. And on top of that, he was a public figure, so it was important what others thought. "I'm going to make dinner."

"But there must be something we can do," said Edward exasperatedly, pacing in my room. It was late evening and I had just told him the news about the school. He didn't take it so well. "You can do magic, Bella, you or Mrs. Webber could just conjure the papers. Or…" he stopped pacing and his face suddenly brightened. "… we could ask Jasper. He takes care of our identities so he could easily forge the papers for you. Maybe even hack into a British school computer system so it would look authentic."

I rolled my eyes. "I told you I didn't want to go to the school anymore. It's a waste of my time." It was true I could persuade the principal to let me stay by confounding him so he wouldn't remember I didn't give him the papers. But I just didn't want to. It was easier this way.

"But…" he started saying something, but I put my palm on his mouth.

"No buts," I said firmly. "I'm leaving the school."

A/N: Okay, so Bella's leaving the school. And it's a relief not just for her but for me as well. I didn't like writing about her time at school mainly because it was slowing the story down and also because I'm not familiar with the American high school system so I couldn't go into too much details anyway. Also I'm glad I got rid of a few characters. I'm finding it quite hard writing about so many of them. So if you like Mike or Jessica, then I'm sorry to disappoint you but they won't appear in this story anymore.

Thank you for reading.