A/N: I don't know if anyone is still with me, to be honest. If you are, then thanks!
BELLA
"You two are way weird," I roll my eyes at the twins.
"I think you mean that he is way weird," Fred and George both say at the same time.
"I'm pretty sure that she does not need to make a distinction," Draco smirks from the doorway.
"Says you," Fred sticks his tongue out at my boyfriend.
"Yea-h," George adds in.
"Great retort guys, really," I deadpan.
They act all huffy while Draco and I snicker. Amazingly enough the twins move on pretty fast. They are excited to show us the stuff they are working on for their shop. They pattern it after a joke shop, of the magical variety of course, but it really offers things that work out well in undercover situations. Some of those prank kits work better than professional spy kits. Well, they are more fun to use anyway. Even though he will never admit it, Draco agrees with me about that.
"Come on, even ye olde grouchy snake has to admit that this could be helpful," George sniffs.
"I'm sure you meant that as a compliment," Draco pretends to sneer.
"Of course we did," Fred replies in a fake soothing tone.
"Moving on," I giggle.
They go through an entire display case's worth of new things. Some of the items are not as far into development as I would like…in a rather explosive way. Draco humors the twins because he knows that I am friends with them. He does not understand it, but he is supportive of it nonetheless. Suddenly the doorbell rings again.
"Are you expecting other visitors?" Fred gasps.
"You asked more than just us to come?" George adds.
"Yes, we are and we did," I shake my head at them as I head for the door.
"Are you saying that we cannot handle this without needing more people?" Fred continues like I did not say anything.
"I can't believe how little faith you have in us," George pouts.
"I'm sure you will both get over it and live," sarcasm drips from Draco's words.
"Hey, can we talk?" Sarah greets me as soon as she sees that it is me that answers the door.
"Sure," I answer.
"Hey, Sarah!" the twins say in stereo.
"Hello to all! Bella, I meant in private," Sarah yells and then whispers.
"Hahaha, I figured," I lead the way to the back yard amid the three boys bickering over some name of a product.
"I feel really guilty," she barely waits for me to close the back door.
"About what?" I ask.
"I love Edward," she shrugs and won't meet my eyes.
"I know," I reply.
"You what?" she looks up in surprise.
"I know you love him. And I know that he loves you too. It's kind of obvious," I smile at her.
"You must think that I am completely awful," she sounds dejected.
"Yes. You are so awful. How could you fall in love with someone like I did," I roll my eyes.
"But Edward is your enemy," she explains that like I am a toddler learning the alphabet.
"Says who?" I don't get why she thinks that.
"Well…uh…he's a vampire and the ministry has pretty much declared war on the Volturi…" she falters.
"As far as I know, the Cullen family is not, in fact, associated with the Volturi. Also, the ministry is up to something, I just don't know what," I plop down on the grass.
"I don't follow," is all she says as she joins me on the lawn.
"The Cullen family is fine, but they are under watch by more than just us so we can't plot with them right now. You two are too cute together," I change the subject.
"Oh, so you really aren't mad at me for falling for a vampire?" she is hopeful.
"Of course not, there is no reason for you to feel guilty," I assure her.
"Wait, what? What about plotting with the Cullens?" she is the one to be confused again.
"Well, I know they are not a part of whatever is going on. The thing is, the ministry has more agents looking after what is going on with them. So, we can't tip our hand until we are as prepared as we can be for the fallout," I tell my friend.
"Fallout? You don't know there will be a fallout," she thinks I am being pessimistic.
"Oh, there will be a fallout," I say it like I really mean it, and I do.
ALICE
Deep breaths, Alice. Killing Edward will not actually be helpful, no matter how much better it might make you feel. Hopefully he is paying enough attention to know to just stay away for awhile. The idiot thinks that Sarah is dumping him because of her friendship to Bella. Get. Real. She is crazy about him. Also, I thought he was bad before. I would rather have him pestering me about their future together and whether or not he turns her into a vampire or not or whether he snaps and accidentally kills her or not. I mean, much rather. Edward, I know you can hear me. GET A GRIP ALREADY!
"Um, not to interrupt what seems like a lovely trip inside your own mind, but could you point me in the directions of the Cullen family?" a strange blonde girl interrupts my thoughts.
"Actually, I'm Alice Cullen. You must be confused because you are a witch and witches and vampires are not on the best of terms right now. Bella and Draco are over in her father's house, I can give you directions…" I inform her.
"No, no, I am looking for the Cullen family. I don't care what the Ministry says about vampires. Plus, they think I am crazy anyway. Just because my father writes for a magazine that exposes their conspiracies and the hidden things around us," she stops me mid-sentence.
"Okay, then you have come to the right place, I guess. Here, let me show you where we live," I have to be hospitable. Besides the fact that vampires and witches really need example of how they can coexist in peace, Esme would have my hide if I didn't invite this odd girl home.
"No worries, by the way. Bella knows I'm coming to this area. I'll drop by and visit her after a bit. It's the waiting that can kill you anyway," she looks a bit dazed and seems a bit flighty, but I think she is sane yet eccentric.
A/N: I'll give it a few more chapters, and believe me when I tell you I have many more, before I make the call to continue posting here or not. If you want more, please tell me.