In This Life

Chapter 47

A Christmas present from ME to YOU ALL thanks for taking the time to read my stories. Merry Christmas everyone and just in case you don't read my other stories Happy New Year! Enjoy!

The Meetings, shocking discovery's and disbelief

"I have to say Lupin did rather well," said Severus grudgingly, a smirk marking his face. For Severus to admit it, Harry realized that he must have been rather good. He was suddenly really glad Edward could read thoughts, so at least he really knew who to trust and whom not to. He had meant what he said to Draco all those weeks ago, he would stand aside and let Voldemort win. He knew he'd cut his own nose off to spite his face, in other words die before he becomes a servant to anyone else. He knew that killing Voldemort would only be the beginning, before they were asking more and more from him. He refused to let that happen, he wanted to live his own life. They had abandoned him why should he help him? It just wasn't fair at all.

"It was an Oscar performance as Lily used to say," said Sirius grimace slightly. "Although I've never really understood what it meant." Lily had said it to them, when they got in trouble, but managed to wangle themselves out. Lily had always been scowling when she said it, it had been well before James and she began dating.

"Oscars are statues gifted to people who have been really good in films, acting their parts," said Harry "They are voted as best actor's, actresses, supporting casts, you know things like that."

"She was commending us on our acting abilities that much I understood," said Sirius nodding in understanding.

"So how did it go?" asked Rosalie sitting down comfortably, it said a lot because it always took Rosalie a long time to like someone. Then again it took someone a helluva lot more time to like her, and her well…sarcastic, head biting ways.

And so they explained.

-Flash Back Earlier That Day -

"I shall wake Remus up so we can head over there," said Dumbledore getting up stretching his legs as he did so. This had been harder than he had anticipated; he had expected Harry to have some Muggle family. One that he could coax the boy away from, with the promise of magical training, knowing his family. Instead he'd found him with a family of vampires, and wizards to boot. He was without about very protected, but he was secure in the knowledge that he, Albus Dumbledore, could get the better of them. He just had to be patient, grab Harry at the opportune moment. Once he was back there, he'd stun him and look for the best spell to tie him to himself or Hogwarts.

If only he knew exactly what he was up against.

Knocking on the door he waited rather impatiently for a reply.

"Just a minute," said Remus Lupin's voice from inside the room.

"Is it time?" asked Remus opening the door, clearing the sleep from his tired amber eyes. He had not gotten much sleep; he kept on thinking over some things. They weren't adding up and he was rather worried, he had to talk to Sirius and Remus fast.

"Lily has some lunch out for you, we leave in five minutes," said Dumbledore.

"Good, I'm rather hungry!" said Remus spelling his clothes clean and straight - he had nothing else here. He had some muggle clothes at Black Manor, but he couldn't very well wear them, not without arousing suspicion anyway.

"Hey, Uncle Remus!" grinned Eric bread crumbs falling out of the slightly open orifice.

"Hello Eric," said Remus as he took his own seat in the small kitchen/living room. It was small; the place he had was bigger. Although it would have been smaller had Sirius not helped him pay for a house.

"Can you believe Sirius, Remus?" asked James shaking his head in dismay.

"What exactly is going on?" asked Remus after swallowing a piece of his sandwich. Cheese and pickle, not his favourite combination - he had not had such food for years. He liked working in the Muggle world, since the Werewolf legislation, he found it extremely impossible to find a job. He wasn't able to keep the muggle jobs too long either, too many absences that couldn't be explained properly. He found inventive ways, but eventually they did tend to run out. Part time jobs worked best, unfortunately that didn't give him enough money to get by. He refused to keep taking from Sirius or James and so it was he was always on the hunt for a job. Now he got money for being in the Order, enough to keep him going so for now he was alright.

"I don't know much myself," sighed James sadly, his brown eyes staring at his friends miserably. "We found a lead on Harry, so we came here, hoping to speak to him. We want to get to know him, plus there's the prophecy as well, so the shop keeper told us he was in Black Manor. When we went to see him, Snape of all people was there with Sirius and Harry along with vampires!"

If Remus hadn't known any better he would have thought James was devastated, at the fact his son didn't want anything to do with him. As it was though, he did know and he couldn't help but be impressed with his er, ex best friends acting. Then again James had always been rather good at that, especially when it came to getting out of trouble.

"Vampires?" stuttered Remus his amber eyes huge, his jaw hanging open in apparent shock.

"I know," whined James sounding more like his son right now.

"Do not worry, between us I think we can resolve the situation," said Dumbledore in his normal soothing voice.

"Hopefully, I rather want to get home," said Lily, her son was doing her head in wanting to go home all the time. Plus she didn't belong or feel comfortable in the muggle world anymore. The wizarding world had been her home since she was eleven, she knew that world better. The muggle world was so different from when she was a child, all the electronic devices, changed foods, money it was all different. It was foreign to her now she felt out of place. Although she could blend in much better than Dumbledore, James or Eric as the wizarding world was all they knew.

"Me too!" said Eric immediately.

"I can understand that, but we cannot let the order down," said Dumbledore despondently.

"No we can't," said James "So what do we do if he won't come willingly?"

"We take him by force," said Dumbledore unsympathetically.

"And if he tries to get away?" asked Remus curiously. "What then?"

"He won't succeed, I will bind him to me if necessary," said Dumbledore austerely.

"Bind him? Is that possible without it being permanent?" asked Remus sombrely. Remus was fighting with every atom of his being, from lashing out at Dumbledore. He couldn't believe what he was sitting here, talking about, or letting Dumbledore talk to him about. It was a good job he was spying; they would have a rough idea of what they were going to do. What they were capable of doing and it looked as if they were willing to go the whole nine yards.

"If permanent what it takes then we shall have to do it," said Dumbledore grimly "Voldemort must be defeated; he must step up and do what has been foretold."

"But to permanently bind someone could land them in Azkaban Albus!" said Lily looking worried.

"If we do not do this, the wizarding world never mind Azkaban won't exist," explained Albus patiently, "We all must do things we don't like, especially for the greater good."

"Then I suggest we get looking at binding spells," suggested James "Then we can do it here, the boy will then have no choice to come."

"The boy? I thought you wanted to get to know him?" asked Remus sounding a little shocked.

"We do Remus," replied Lily, putting a hand over James, a broken-hearted look on her face "It's him that doesn't want to give us a chance, he's trying to be tough, distance himself but it's not really working."

"Oh," said Remus as if the light was finally clicking into place.

"Come we really must get going," said Dumbledore standing up really wanting this over with. Black had custody of the boy, so that meant Black could take the boy back to England. What Black didn't know wouldn't hurt him; he couldn't let the man know what he planned. It was much too risky, because Black obviously held some affection for the teenager. He had high hopes that Remus could talk some sense into his best friend.

"So how are we getting there?" asked Remus standing up having already finished his lunch. If one could call it that, Esme made beautiful lunches; he only wished he could have enjoyed more of them. Mostly every lunch and dinner time she would come over with cooked food for them all, she enjoyed it. She knew thanks to Alice, if and when they were going to make their meals, so she could beat them at it.

"Walking, it's a five minute walk from here," said Dumbledore joyfully.

"Edward's informed us that they're coming," said Sirius as he hung the banner up.

"Conceal everything, he cannot know about this," said Severus coming into the living room. "We do not know what he will do if he knows they are this far into their relationship. He did not react well to the news that they were mates."

"No problem," said Sirius concealing everything "We will just use the study, no need to even bring him in here."

"Indeed," said Severus smoothly.

Not a second later there was loud banging on the door indicating the unwelcome visitors had finally arrived.

"Well let's get this bloody show on the road," groaned Sirius, as they both headed out of the living room, closing the door behind them.

Severus said nothing as they both went to answer the door; they were surprised to see the entire family. They had expected Dumbledore and Remus, but not the Potter's as well. Severus already had the expression on his face that stated something foul smelt under his nose.

"Sirius! Can we talk?" said Dumbledore joyfully.

"Come in," said Sirius curtly, opening the door for them "We will talk in the study,"

Once they were all seated (bar Severus who was standing at the corner of the room) Remus started the show.

"Sirius what on earth are you doing? For months I didn't hear from you! Only to be told by Albus! Albus that you had adopted Harry? Why didn't you ever tell me?" asked Remus looking irritated and betrayed all in one go.

"You would have brought them all here; you're too loyal to the wizarding world and Dumbledore for me to ever tell you safely. Harry means more than anything else in this world to me Remus." said Sirius as if he was simply stating the weather findings.

"That's not true," replied Remus but the hesitance in his voice was for all to hear.

Severus snorted bitterly in the corner.

"No? So you'd have come here without telling them?" asked Sirius looking bitterly in the Potter's direction before landing on Remus once more.

"Well, I um, I don't know," said Remus feeling a little put on the spot as one could ever become.

"That says it all," said Sirius shaking his head a gleam of triumph in his eyes.

"That's not fair Sirius, I wont ever know what I would have done!" snapped Remus "Because of you I didn't even get the chance to do it, and how could you trust Snape? He's as much in Dumbledore's pocket as me!"

"Considering we were here months before Dumbledore arrived here I think not," said Sirius.

"You've always hated him! Why did you trust him?" asked Remus that was a very true question he was asking. He still didn't understand how Severus had become part of all this, no matter who he asked he received a glare. It was as if it was something they refused to talk about or hate him bringing up. Eventually he had stopped asking, ironically enough every time he thought about it; Edward would growl at him something fierce.

"That is none of your business," sneered Severus speaking for the first time.

"I just want to understand!" said Remus raising his voice slightly.

"Look it doesn't really change anything," said Sirius before anyone could start shouting.

"Harry needs Hogwarts, he needs to train," said Remus passionately.

"Why? He's barely magical Remus, he can do the disarming charm but anything more than that - it's impossible for him. Unfortunately his spells are weak, his magic is weak, you should see his Lumos spell…the muggle matches light more than the spell." sighed Sirius sadly as if he hadn't wanted to say so much.

"What?" chorused four voices hoarsely.

"He's a squib?" asked Eric incredulously unable to believe his good fortune.

"No just not very magical…" protested Sirius hotly.

"If we can take him to Hogwarts…perhaps we could help," said Dumbledore his heart beating erratically. He believed they were telling the truth now; his plans were crumbling down around him. He wasn't sure what to feel, without Harry the prophecy boy, they were doomed. Perhaps Eric truly was meant to be the boy who lived; perhaps both boys had a part to play. Maybe Harry had already played his and it was now Eric's turn, their magic should have been similar enough. Maybe Eric absorbed Harry and Voldemort's magic? Now he knew he was getting desperate.

"Why do you think I was here?" sneered Severus arching a perfectly sculptured eyebrow in their direction.

"Squib or not a squib we want to get to know our son, maybe Hogwarts would be best for him. It will give him protection from Voldemort…now that he thinks Harry is the boy who lived. It's obviously clearly Eric if Harry doesn't have the magic," said Lily a little smugly.

"He's not going anywhere, he has school to finish," said Sirius adamantly.

"I can help him, give him magic," said Dumbledore.

"Without the darkest of arts that's impossible, it requires death and virgin sacrifices," said Severus curling his lip in disgust, what Dumbledore suggested was no better than Voldemort.

"As I've said before we must do things we wouldn't normally during wars, for the greater good of the world." said Dumbledore, wondering if he should have kept his thoughts to himself. Even James looked utterly shocked by his words.

"Why can't you do that for me? Then I could kill Voldemort I'd have the power!" asked Eric indigintly that Dumbledore hadn't thought of it before. If he killed Voldemort, everyone would bow down to him again. Apologize for the way they were being, he'd have hundreds of friends, parties, admirers. Constantly in the paper, stared at, people wanting autographs or people wanting their pictures taken with him. It's all he knew and he hated being without it all, this was his chance of fame once more.

Sirius, Remus and Severus all looked ready to be sick, Lily and James turned a pasty white colour. They couldn't believe what had just come out of this teenagers mouth, even Voldemort hadn't gone down that route. Sure he was extremely powerful, he admired power but he'd never actually gone that far to steal other people's magic. What made their sickness worse was the contemplation they could practically feel, in Dumbledore's eyes.

"I want you out of my manor now!" snarled Sirius furiously.

"Sirius please, I just want to know Harry!" pleaded Remus.

"Get out," sneered Severus.

"Leave, Remus can stay if Harry wants to know him fair enough, if not he can sling his hook." said Sirius surprised at what came out of his mouth. He had been spending far too much time with the teenagers. Harry said it a few times, and it stuck in Sirius' head now he was saying it too.

"He goes!" said Severus looking furious, fury radiating off him in waves.

"He stays, don't worry he cannot hurt Harry, I wont allow it," said Sirius warningly.

"You will regret this Black," said Severus emotionlessly gaining control of his anger and shutting it off.

"I won't let anything happen to Harry," repeated Sirius, "Now move the lot of you, I don't want to see you up here again."

-End of Flashback Earlier That Day -

"He really said that?" asked Harry his stomach jerking and quivery ominously. He found it hard to digest that this…this disgusting boy was his twin brother.

"Indeed, I think its best if we kept our eye on him," said Severus his face paler than normal.

"I have said repeatedly he's bitter, very much so, and mostly at Harry," said Edward.

"Dumbledore's also been talking about binding Harry to him, permanent or otherwise saying it's for the 'Greater good' its rather disturbing," admitted Remus, resting his head on the couch feeling exhausted.

"If he gets desperate enough he might try both options," said Severus grimly.

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius warily.

"Binding him and pulling off the rituals, I began believing that there was nothing Dumbledore wouldn't do to finish Voldemort off," said Severus "To fix the mistake he made nearly seventy years ago."

"Is there any way to stop him?" asked Edward his arms clutching Harry possessively. For once Harry didn't seem to mind, he seemed shocked by the means they want to go to control him. Why was it that people always seemed to want him subservient? Broken? Or to enslave him make him do their wishes? It just wasn't fair. Sometimes he wished he could go back in time, to when he was younger. When he was young and ignorant about this world, and adored by his adopted mother and father. He didn't know if he could do that though, because Severus, Draco, Sirius and Remus meant the world to him. So did the Cullen's and they were technically a part of the magical world. Vampires after all did not exist in the 'Muggle' world.

"No," said Severus, there was no bond would work on married/bonded people. It would have to be a magical marriage not a Muggle one. It wouldn't be hard to find a Magical officiator to do the marriage in the Muggle world. He wasn't about to suggest that, he wasn't going to have them marry out of fear. They would regret it in the long run, but Harry's safety did come first…but no he refused to allow himself to say the words. He wasn't going to manipulate them; they had only just gotten engaged. He wasn't about to become anything like Dumbledore.

Unfortunately with the worry his defences were slightly down allowing Edward to read quite a bit of his thoughts.

"There's a question I want answered, and I'm not going to take no for an answer…how did Severus get involved in all this?" asked Remus adamantly.

Harry unconsciously rubbed where there should be scars on his wrists. If what Dumbledore was planning happened, there would be no doubt he'd do it again. This time though he'd made sure there was no coming back.

"Remus just leave it alright," sighed Sirius tiredly "It's really not our story to tell and everyone's devastated enough by what happened."

"Then who's goddamned story is it?" sighed Remus.

Harry stood up abruptly, surprising even Edward "I tried to commit suicide alright? Happy?" shouted Harry before running up the stairs into his room. Magic flared slightly - everyone knew nobody was going to get into Harry's room anytime soon. Not even the Cullen's, Edward snarled viciously going for Remus but was stopped by Jasper and Emmett.

"We'll see you later, give Edward a text let him know Harry's alright," sighed Alice, already knowing when Harry would let the wards down. He'd only stay up there for a few hours, and then he'd be with Edward again. It was only because of that, that Emmett and Jasper were able to get Edward out of the door.

"Well done," snarled Severus furiously, he could only hope that this hadn't set Harry back. There had been a reason they weren't telling him, it was because Harry hated remembering what had become of him, the lowest he had ever been in his life. Everyone had a breaking point and Harry had met his. Severus had came close a few times, remembering those times now made him cringe, he could only imagine how Harry felt.

Even Sirius shook his head in abhorrence; he joined Severus in the living room sipping whiskey. Today hadn't really gone how they hoped; Sirius promptly banished the congratulation banners. Nobody was in the mood for celebrating now.

"Angela and Draco will be here soon expecting a party," groaned Sirius remembering Draco and his new girlfriend.

"I've told him it's been cancelled," said Severus.

"Good," sighed Sirius that was one less thing to worry about.

Remus meanwhile was still standing there, frozen on the spot. Unable to comprehend what could have driven Harry to try and kill himself. He completely forgot about the daunting news that he thought there might be a spy in the order working for Voldemort. Someone close to know very private information, that inlcuding where Dumbledore was.

What did you think? will Edward convince Harry to marry him? will harry ever find out why edward wants to marry him so quickly? or will he remain ignorant? will draco sirius or severus be his best man? ok by the way i need information on american weddings and THEIR traditions...unless i do it the registar way but i dont want tht i actually want it to be a proper wedding but from what i gather its a big thing and its big groups like for or five bride maids and maybe same best men... i'm not sure all films are different from watching things that are american weddings so if you have inform me id greatly appreciate it! will dumbledore grab harry or will the spy bring voldemort to harry's door in a months time? or will it be after harry's turned or will it be why Harry has to be turned? R&R PLEASE! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!