Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Harry Potter and am making no monetary profit from the use of their characters.

Someday

Chapter Five

I woke up the next morning feeling like a train wreck. When I had come back the night before, Esme had already finished cutting the roast and was filling up plates. There had been two normal sized servings and one plate that was piled so high my eyes had bugged. Jacob had eaten all of it and gone back for seconds once he was assured that Lavender and I had had our fill. I figured it was a wolf thing and filed the information away, hoping he'd be able to tell me more soon.

After dinner I had gone up to Lavender's and my temporary room and set things up for our stay. I had the bed split and transfigured into four posters complete with curtains. It was more convenient to have boundaries to attach my silencing spells to. I had known it was going to be a rough night and if the way I felt this morning was anything to go by it certainly was. It felt like I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.

Being in a house full of vampires with special gifts had me more on edge than usual. In addition to my silencing spells I had layered on all the protective enchantments I had used to surround the campsites when Harry, Ron and I had been on the run. I had sat on the bed to write a letter to the boys when both Edward and Jasper had rushed into the room. I had poked my head out of my curtains to find out what was going on. Apparently I completely disappeared from almost all of their senses. They could smell me still but everything else was blocked off. I was pleased it even protected me from their extra abilities. I would consider finding a spell to cut off my smell as well. Even though witches and wizards don't smell as tempting as muggles, I thought it still might make things easier for them. They left once I explained the wards, shrugging and just saying it was a habit of mine. They exchanged looks before leaving which made me nervous.

It only took me twenty minutes to shower, fix my hair, and get dressed. I was downstairs by seven. Esme had breakfast laid out for me and I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't normally eat breakfast. Hell, three weeks ago I was lucky to even have a meal once a day. I wasn't used to eating anymore. Giving her a tight smile I sat at the table and tried to eat a few bites. I told her it was delicious and thanked her. It was lucky for me that Edward wasn't there to call me on it. I'm sure he would have noticed in my mind that I was vanishing the majority of it as soon as it was in my mouth.

The morning was spent quietly for the most part. Lavender was apparently having a lie in and most of the Cullens had immersed themselves in the books I had let them borrow. I could only assume that Edward and his little family were at the cottage still. Grabbing a book on Healing, I settled into the couch to brush up a bit on my knowledge.

Around 10 a.m. Jacob came in looking disturbed. He asked for Bella and Alice told him they hadn't stopped by yet. He nodded and distractedly sat down on the sofa.

"Is everything all right, Jacob?" I thought it only polite to enquire.

"Huh? Oh yea. It's fine." He had looked up as if just realizing I was there. My presence seemed to make him nervous so I got up to go check on Lavender. I had no idea what his issue was but I'd rather not make waves.

As it happened, Lavender was just starting to wake up when I walked into our room. "Good morning."

She glanced over at me and rubbed at her face. "Morning. What time is it?"

"It's a bit after ten. Did you sleep well?" I put my book on my bedside table and took a seat on my bed. With the curtains pulled back, the enchantments were in stasis for the moment.

"Yes, fine, thanks. You?"

"Well, thank you." We both shifted a bit uncomfortably and I thought now would be a good time to bring up my earlier conversation with Rosalie.

"Have you thought any more on what you plan to do about the baby?"

She grimaced, "It's all I've thought about. Not likely to forgot about it anytime soon what with how big I am." She huffed out a laugh that sounded bitter and fake to my ears.

"Rosalie brought up a few things about it while you were napping yesterday. She and the family are more than willing to take responsibility for the child. Since they are vampires and have already dealt with a dhampyr before, it seems like a good idea." I paused to gauge her expression. She appeared thoughtful and I continued, "After everything we've learned on the subject recently, I think it would be for the best. She also said that you would be welcome to keep in contact and remain in the child's life if you were so inclined."

Lavender sighed with a pained look on her face. "No. It's just…God I feel like a horrible person for saying this but, thinking about giving it up," She scrubbed her hands over her face and I could tell she was trying to hold back tears. "It doesn't feel like I'm giving up my child. It feels more like I have a parasite and they are just taking it off my hands for me. I mean, I haven't had time to come to terms with any of this. It doesn't seem real in a way, and of course I am so not prepared to handle a child. Especially not one that has 'special needs' in a way." She chuffed out a little hysterical laugh.

"That doesn't make you a horrible person." I told her quietly. "It makes you human and realistic. Most woman are able to decide when they want to get pregnant, they plan for it. And even the ones who don't still have nine months to get used to the idea. You haven't had that, and on top of the lack of time, is the fact that it's a completely different species. I think you are handling this rather well. You've been so brave and I admire that you are even willing to see the pregnancy through after Carlisle gave you a choice."

She looked up at me with watery eyes, "R-really?"

"Really." I gave her a smile and got up to go give her a hug.

I couldn't imagine what she was going through and there was no telling how crazy her hormones were with such an accelerated gestation period. I let her cry on my shoulder as I sat there rubbing her back. I knew that this was about more than just the pregnancy or hormones. This was a release of so much built up tension and stress and grief. I briefly considered asking if she wanted to talk about the war but realized that I probably wouldn't be able to handle it. I knew she had to talk to someone about it, just like I did, but I doubt I'd be able to hold back my bitterness. While I knew what she had gone through was horrible, it didn't even compare to what I had been through. There was no way I could listen to her and not want to yell that she should be thankful she wasn't in my shoes. I was past the point of caring if that made me a bad person or not.

When she was finally all cried out for the moment I told her I would get an early lunch going while she grabbed a shower and got ready for the day. I took my book with me as I went back downstairs and made my way to the kitchen. Apparently Edward, Bella and Renesmee had shown up while I had been upstairs. The former two were sitting on the sofa talking with Jake in a hushed conversation. Renesmee was in the kitchen sitting at the island as Esme handed her a sandwich. When she sat two more plates down I realized she had made one for Lavender and me as well. I could only come to one conclusion. Esme was determined to put some meat on my bones, whether I liked it or not.

Since I had eaten just a few hours ago though, I thought I'd say something this time. No need for her to waste food, even if she was a vampire. Jacob seemed to be over here a lot either way and he ate like a pig. She'd need all the food she could stash with him around. I thought I heard someone laughing in the living room but ignored it

"Ah, I appreciate the lunch Esme, but I don't really eat that much. I'm sorry to be a bother, perhaps Jacob is hungry though?"

Her face fell for a moment before perking back up, "Oh no bother. It has only been a couple of hours after all. I should have realized." She eyed my waist for a moment before adding, "If you'd like I can save it for you for later."

"Oh, no, thank you. I doubt I'll eat again until dinner." I could see where this was going and it made me a bit nervous. It wasn't my fault I couldn't stomach more than a few bites of food a day. After not knowing when my next meal would be for months on end, my stomach had shrunk. It was quite normal and I just had to take it slowly.

I sat down to wait for Lavender and smiled awkwardly over at Renesmee. She grinned back at me.

"What was it like growing up in the magical world?" She asked.

I panicked for a split second before I pulled my thoughts together and answered carefully. "Actually I didn't grow up there. My parent's were muggles, dentists, so I didn't know about magic until I got my Hogwarts letter when I was eleven."

She nodded and asked another question, "What was it like at Hogwarts, then?"

I tried to remember back to those first few years, before the war. It was difficult to find any memory that wasn't tainted by Voldemort but I tried for her sake. "Well, it was magical." I offered with a laugh, "Hogwarts was a beautiful castle and absolutely huge. I had never seen the like. The staircases were constantly moving which almost made me late to class several times when they switched to a different landing than the one I needed. The paintings moved and talked as if they were actual people." I went on and told her about all the magical things I had discovered as a first year. She was riveted.

Lavender had come in at some point and started laughing as I was talking about one of Fred and George's escapades. "I remember that. You blew up on them for it, gave them quite an earful, not that it stopped them."

I huffed and rolled my eyes. "Yes, well…" Then I realized I'd never be able to give them an earful again. Fred was dead and George only had one ear left. My thoughts turned sour and I abruptly stood. "I think I'll go for a walk." If Lavender needed anything I'm sure someone else would be able to help her. Esme seemed to be as much of a mother hen as Mrs. Weasley. That thought made me more depressed and I started walking faster. I didn't notice the concerned and wary eyes following my rush out the door.

"Edward," My brother looked at a loss for words for a moment. His thoughts were focus on Hermione and a crazy swirl of emotion. "I don't know what she's been through but it was bad. Her emotions have been laced with sorrow and wariness since she got here, but she just took a nosedive into manically depressed. It's more than just losing someone. It's like her entire world was shattered and all the happiness in the world was sucked out of it."

Jasper shook his head, like he was trying to shake off the feeling. I nodded and frowned. "I know what you mean. Her thoughts aren't much better. From what I can tell she was starved recently, for a period of months. She can't eat more than a few bites of food a day without getting sick."

Bella and Jacob looked at me with wide eyes and I could tell by the sudden drop in noise that the entire family was listening. "She keeps picturing different people in her head and there is always this sense of loss that accompanies them. When she was talking to Nessie earlier about Hogwarts, I saw part of the building destroyed and bodies and blood everywhere." My brow furrowed as I thought about it. "Carlisle, we need to do some research but I'm pretty sure she's gone through a war, a battle at the very least. I can tell she's trying to hide it though so we won't get any information out of her directly."

Jasper nodded, "And all those protective spells and enchantments around here bed. I'd bet she has nightmares too. She might have even been on the run for a while or tortured. It would explain the starvation and why it's a 'habit' to put up so many layers of protection around herself." The thought was grim but it did make sense.

The girl, Lavender, came into the room then and I dropped the subject. I knew my family was still thinking about it and Alice was frustrated that she couldn't just see the answers to her questions. It might not be a first for her at this point but it never failed to frustrate her. If it was about anything else I might have been amused by it.

Jacob seemed even more disturbed by the new information. He had gone to his pack earlier to discuss the new development. While they weren't happy that another dhampyr was going to be born, and most likely join our family, they seemed more concerned about the witches. Sam had asked Jacob to make sure neither of them crossed into their territory and wanted nothing to do with them. Once he heard of Hermione's interest in the pack he became even more wary of them.

While the wolves weren't planning on attacking the girls, they were stepping up patrols just in case. They didn't like strange new comers, with powers that could do just about anything, coming so close to them. Normally I would agree with them. From what I'd heard of the wizarding world, they seemed like an intolerant bunch, but these two seemed different. Lavender was actually willing to give birth to a dhampyr and Hermione was helping her. They put themselves under our roof, giving us a certain amount of trust, and were perfectly polite houseguests. I hadn't picked up a single malicious thought toward my family from either one of them.

If anything, they were getting along rather well, Lavender more so than Hermione. The latter seemed rather distant and caught in her own pain. Apparently whatever had happened hadn't hit the other girl nearly so deep. She seemed sad but it wasn't as soul crushing as Hermione's emotions. Still, I had seen all the things Hermione had held back for Renesmee's sake and I could only be thankful for her sparing my daughter that. I gave another shudder as the image of a Dementor flew through my head.

Author's Notes:

Thank you EagleHawk for the review!

If anyone is interested in being a beta for this story please send me a pm.

Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far, what you like, what could be improved, what you hope to see happen in the future. Who do you think she ends up getting closest with?

And just to clarify, while Hermione IS trying to hide her thoughts from Edward, she can't help some of the things that pop in her head and she is a bit of an emotional wreck right now. Between Edward and Jasper and their decades of experience they are able to piece things together relatively quickly.