Renesmee Cullen and the Volturi's Protection
Chapter 8: Not-So-Festive News
Christmas was getting really close as November came and went. Gryffindor had beat Hufflepuff in their second Qudditch match of the year by forty points. Gryffindor had 295 points and Hufflepuff had 255 points. For a while, it seemed Hufflepuff was going to win with 255 points while Gryffindor had 145, but Renesmee grabbed the Snitch at the last minute and gained Gryffindor the lead by forty points. Ravenclaw was twenty points below them on team standings according to Annabelle Weasley.
Since Christmas was coming, the Hogwarts staff decorated the castle until every banister was covered in holly, mistletoe was hung under every doorway and the the knights around the castle were singing Christmas carols. Even Peeves was festive this year and it was a shock to hear him yell 'Merry Christmas' at the top of his voice so everyone could hear him.
Renesmee loved the Christmas season and Kreacher came to visit her in the common room the night before she left to go back to her parents. The aged house-elf appeared at her feet bearing a large basket of food. "Hello, Kreacher," she said and hugged him. "This is very nice of you. I didn't get you anything."
"Kreacher asks for nothing in return, miss," said Harry's house-elf in his deep bull-frog voice. Kreacher was ordered by Master Harry to escort miss home and Kreacher obeys his master."
"Okay, sure," said Renesmee. "Let me get my trunk packed first. Wait here!" Kreacher waited in the common room for at least twenty minutes while she packed her trunk and finally returned to his side. "I've never Apparated before, so this is going to be new to me." Kreacher took her hand, asked her to close her eyes. Once her eyes were closed, Renesmee felt as though she were being pressed by invisible bands and couldn't breathe for a few minutes. She smelled fresh air and opened her eyes to see that she was in front of her house. "That wasn't so bad."
Kreacher Disapparated after promising to return later that evening with the family and Renesmee walked inside. Jasper and Alice were sitting with Bella, Edward and Jacob Black in front of the fifty-inch flat screen television. They were watching the news. "Renesmee!" Bella cried and ran to hug her. "I'm so glad you're home! Grandpa Charlie's on his way over now and I wanted to make sure you were home before he got here."
"Dad, stop!" Renesmee grumbled as her father gave her a squeeze. "Uncle Jake!" Jacob smiled and hugged her tightly. "What's new with everyone?"
"Nothing really," said Jake. "Your mom and dad took me out so I could get everyone something for Christmas. We went to Diagon Alley just last week. Also, with everything that's going on at Hogwarts, Harry Potter asked me to help protect it." Renesmee's eyes lit up like Christmas lights. "Also, we got a visit from Lucius Malfoy; he said that he, his wife, Draco and Scorpius are going to spend Christmas with us and everyone else. Even Hagrid's coming!" This really made Renesmee's day. Christmas with Hagrid and all of her friends? What more could a twelve-year-old ask for?
Later that night, the Malfoys, Potters and Weasleys arrived and got settled into their guest rooms for the night. Lily and Rose were sharing a room with Renesmee, Albus, Scorpius, James, Fred Weasley and Hugo were sharing James's room and Hagrid was going to set up a tent in the yard because he was so big. Renesmee always pictured Lucius Malfoy as an older man with wrinkled skin but she was wrong. He looked younger than he actually was and he was really nice. Lucius wore long, black robes that clashed with his white-blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail and he held a black walking stick with a silver snake head handle that concealed his elm and dragon heartstring wand. "A pleasure to meet you, Renesmee," he said smiling at her as everyone started to make conversation. "Young Scorpius tells me you are a magnificent Seeker for Gryffindor. Just like Mr. Potter, I daresay."
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," Renesmee said blushing, "but Harry's the youngest Seeker in a century. I just have a few built-in abilities that help the team." Harry grinned from his seat in the kitchen and gave her a thumbs-up. "Scorpius is really good, too, you know. Almost beat me in our first match. He's kinda the reason I caught the Snitch in the first place." Lucius raised his eyebrows with a grin playing on his thin lips. "Scorpius knocked me sideways and I landed on the ground with the Snitch in my hand!"
Darkness came quick that night and the girls were in Renesmee's room preparing for bed. Lily, the youngest of Harry Potter's children, started talking to Renesmee. "I can't wait for Hogwarts next year! What's it like?" Lily asked excitedly. It was surprising that Lily was the only redhead in the family besides Ginny.
"It's actually fun," Renesmee told her. "You get some hard classes and the teachers can be a bit strict at times, but you will love Buffy's Defense Against the Dark Arts classes! She's brilliant when it comes to fighting vampires and demons! We were supposed to be learning about Cornish Pixies for the first lesson, but she decided to show us the different types of vampires and used Spike as a visual aid. Even Professor Rosenberg's classes are fun; she had us try different types of Wiccan magic instead of our usual kind and I learned a lot." Renesmee closed her eyes for a second, held out her hands with the palms facing upwards and a ball of blue light formed in each hand. She concentrated harder and the balls of light grew bigger and brighter. When she closed her eyes, they vanished. "See? You just need to concentrate on what you're doing."
"Excellent!" Lily said grinning. "Will you help me with my homework if I'm having trouble?"
"Of course, Lily," said Rose smiling at her cousin. "That's what we're there for once we're done with our own work. If you have trouble in History of Magic, you can always find help at Hogwarts. Your dad told me that, while he was in limbo during the final battle against Voldemort that Professor Dumbledore said a few words. He said 'help will be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.' Of course, Professor Dumbledore changed the words to 'help will be given at Hogwarts to those who deserve it' but they're both the same, really." Lily laughed and crawled into bed. "I really hope you're in Gryffindor, though." Without another word, the three girls went straight to sleep, Lily dreaming about Hogwarts.
Christmas morning came and Renesmee was up at the crack of dawn. She dressed quickly and, once she got downstairs, she saw that everyone who stayed at the house was already awake and handing out gifts. Harry handed her a square package wrapped in red and gold paper. It felt oddly light. Renesmee opened it carefully and found what looked like a blank piece of parchment. "You're giving me a blank piece of parchment?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is this a joke?"
"No, it's not a blank piece of parchment," said Harry. He tapped the parchment with the tip of his wand and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," and writing started to appear. "Read it."
Renesmee looked at the parchment and smiled. "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map!" She looked at Harry and said, "What's this all about?"
"This is an enchanted map of Hogwarts. It shows everyone at Hogwarts and what they're doing at all times. You could use this for late-night wandrings or whatever tickles your fancy." Harry explained. "Fred and George gave this to me in my third year at Hogwarts so I could get into Hogsmeade Village at first, but I kept the map because it helped me out a few times such as when Peter Pettigrew, the man who betrayed my parents, was masquerading as Ron's old rat Scabbers and when Professor Malfoy was heading to the seventh floor away from any of his friends. Trust me, this map will help you at all times.
"Also, when you're done using it, just tap the map again and say, 'mischief managed' otherwise anyone can read it." Harry tapped the map again and the writing vanished. "Merry Christmas, Renesmee." She hugged Harry tightly and then placed the Marauder's Map in her pants pocket. Lucius Malfoy got her a set of new dragon-hide boots with gold buckles and a nice set of plum purple dress robes. "Thanks, Mr. Malfoy. Very nice."
"You're very welcome, my dear," said Lucius grinning. "As a matter of fact, I believe you'll find your Potions teacher's gift really interesting. Draco handed over a box wrapped in green wrapping paper with a pattern of potion bottles on it. Renesmee opened the box and saw what looked like a spinning glass top. "That, my dear, is a pocket Sneakoscope, a very fine invention that alerts its owner of any wrong-doings or mistrust." She hugged both of them and went back to her seat.
After the gifts were unwrapped, everyone had some hot chocolate, all except for the older Cullens. Harry, Ron and Hermione began telling stories of their own adventures in Hogwarts and even told about their funniest moments they remembered. "Remember our first year after meeting Hagrid's three-headed dog Fluffy, Harry?" Ron asked Harry with a laugh. "Hermione told us that she was going to bed before either of us got us killed or expelled?" Harry laughed and nodded. "After she went to bed and closed the door, I said, 'She needs to sort out her priorities!' and after that, the three of us became really good friends!"
"Yeah," Hermione said with a snigger, "after you two saved me from a mountain troll!" Renesmee raised her eyebrows at her. "Oh, I'm not joking. Our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Quirrell let a troll into Hogwarts and I was in the girls' bathroom crying because Ron said that I was really annoying. I looked up after smelling something foul and there was the troll. Harry and Ron came in moments later and threw pipes, bits of wood and whatever they could find at it until Harry ended up ramming his wand up its nose!"
"Ugh!" Rose groaned with a grimace. "Troll bogies!" Harry nodded. "What happened after that?"
"I pretty much saved your mum's life, Rose," Ron said seriously. "It's better if we show you in Renesmee's Pensieve, though." Renesmee grabbed her Pensieve and had Bella and Edward join Rose, Albus, and herself as Ron extracted and threw the memory into the basin and they were sucked in. "Okay, here we are finally taking down the troll and there's McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell." Ron said pointing everyone out.
"Good heavens!" McGonagall gasped. "What happened?" Harry and Ron tried to speak but no words could come out of their mouths. It was Hermione who spoke.
"It was my fault, Professor," she said. "I read about trolls and I wanted to see what one looked like up close so I came in here. If those two hadn't came, I wouldn't be here to tell the tale."
McGonagall looked shocked, but not as shocked as Harry and Ron because Hermione was lying through her teeth to a teacher. "Very well," said McGonagall finally after a few moments, "twenty points will be taken away for serious miscalculation, Miss Granger." She turned to Harry and Ron, who were nervous now. "As for you two...twenty points will be awarded..." Harry and Ron smiled, "...for sheer, dumb luck!" With that, she and Snape walked away and the memory ended.
"You see?" Ron said laughing as they sat back down in their seats. "We got twenty points each for luck!" Renesmee couldn't stop laughing at that. "Oh, just wait until you hear about when Hagrid's hippogriff Buckbeak was supposed to be executed! Hermione got Draco really good. Remember, Draco?"
Draco looked slightly disgruntled at this but he said, "How could I forget?" Harry asked him to tell the story, so Draco sat up straight and started the story. "Crabbe, Goyle and I were standing by the wooden bridge as Harry, Ron and Hermione ran past us wanting to go visit Hagrid. I said, 'Look who's come to see the show!' and that's when Hermione got hacked. She called me a foul, loathesome, evil little cockroach and punched me in the face." Jake laughed then looked at Bella, who glared at him. "Go on, Black, what's your story?"
"A few years ago, I was supposed to be protecting Bella while her dear husband here went off to try and find a vampire who was after her. I ticked her off somehow, she punched me in the face and broke her hand. Charlie came up and asked what happened after he was called to the hospital and I told him. I said, 'Bella broke her hand...punching my face.' Of course, he wasn't too happy about that." Renesmee's laughter turned into a raucus fit of giggles and nearly fell off her seat. "Oh, that's not as funny as the conversation your mom had with Charlie before that, Nessie. Go on, Bella, tell them. Charlie, you remember this one, right?"
Charlie grimaced but he was laughing too as Bella told the story. "Well, I told Dad that Edward and I were back together and he decided to have his version of 'the talk' with me. He warned me to be careful if Edward and I ever got intimate and I started getting embarrassed. After almost ten minutes I said, 'Dad, I'm a virgin, okay?' and ran up the stairs." The whole house was full of laughter which didn't stop until the doorbell rang. Bella was the first to the door and her eyes widened as she saw Maria back. "Maria? What are you doing here?"
Maria's eyes took in the whole group but stopped at Jasper, who stood up. "It's the Molochs!" she gasped. "They're getting ready to do something very dangerous!"
"What are you talking about, Maria?" Jasper demanded. "You said that the Molochs were getting ready for a war with us, and that never happened yet!" Maria glared at him. "Well, what are they planninng now?"
"They're planning on ressurrecting another master but I don't remember which one yet...it was one of the other bloodlines. I was eavesdropping on Master Moloch's conversation with his minions and...well, he said something about a new recruit that was willing to lead his army to Hogawrts sometime soon. I don't know who it is, either." Angel and Spike walked through the door laughing and drinking some licquor and, when they saw Maria, their laughter stopped immediately. "Angel...oh, God! You're not going to believe what's going on now!"
"Well, I see you're still around, so it can't be too bad, right?" Angel said coldly. "What's the news this time?"
"She says Master Moloch is recruiting a new commander for his army," Edward said grimly and he looked at Maria. "According to her thoughts the vampire in question is thin, blonde and none too bright. Anyone know a girl by that description?" Spike dropped his drink and fell to the floor laughing. "What's so funny?"
Spike stood up again clutching the doorway to support him while he laughed. "Oh, the stupid bugger's gonna have a bloody hard time with this one! I can't believe he's recruiting Harmony!" Angel stared at Spike for a second then joined in on the laughter. "I dated that brainless bottle-blonde for almost a bloody year after Dru dumped me for a slime demon. Trust me, Harmony's nothing to worry about. If it was Dru that they were ressurrecting, then I'd be worried because that vampire is as cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs if you ask me." The door opened once more and Buffy came in. "Oh, Buffy, you've got to hear this one! Master Moloch is recruiting Harmony to lead his army to Hogwarts! What a joke, right?"
"Huh?" Buffy said, her eyes wide with fear. "An army of Molochs are going to attack Hogwarts? When?" Then the thought of Harmony actually leading the Moloch army caught up to her and she started laughing with Spike. "Who in their right mind would hire Harmony to lead the Molochs into battle?" She couldn't even lead her own minions to my death!"
Renesmee glanced at Buffy and Spike and shouted, her voice echoing through the whole room, "HEY!" Buffy and Spike fell silent and looked at her. "Who's Harmony?"
"She's this vampire I dated a while back," Spike said. "She may have less than a full sack of Galleons, but that makes her powerful and the most dangerous. Trust me, Harm can really do some damage when she wants to." He laughed a little and said, "I still can't believe she actually worked for Angel when he was CEO of Wolfram & Hart a few years back. His secretary, she was."
Angel chuckled. "Yeah, she really took the 'working for Angel' thing seriously. Kept calling me boss all the time, it was so annoying." He reached into his pocket and handed Renesmee something. "This is for you. Took me a few days to get it, but you'll love it."
Renesmee opened the gift and gasped. It was a box full of small bottles filled with different kinds of blood like dragon, deer, cow, pig, and even mountain lion. "How did you get the blood from these animals? They're fresh!"
"Wasn't easy, to tell you the truth," Angel said showing her his arm. "The mountain lion nearly took a chunk of my arm when I drew its blood, I shot a dragon with a crossbow to get its blood and that was a Hungarian Horntail..." Harry, who was talking to Carlisle about something turned around at the mention of the same dragon he faced at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament. "I got a few burns and maybe a gash or two on the gut, but nothing too serious. The deer, cow and pig were the easier ones." He tapped the bottle labled Dragon Blood with his finger and said, "You should try that one. Might be a bit strong, but it'll quench your thirst for at least a week so you don't have to hunt with all the Moloch problems going on."
"Thanks, Angel," Renesmee said hugging him. "You're very sweet." She raised her voice and said, "Kreacher!" Harry's ancient house-elf appeared at her side instantly and bowed to her. "Could you take this blood upstairs and put it in my trunk?" Kreacher nodded, took the case of blood-filled bottles and vanished into thin air.
The Christmas celebration went on until late evening and by that time almost everyone had left except for the Malfoys. Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and Astoria were waiting outside for Scorpius as he said his goodbyes. "Thanks for a wonderful time, Renesmee," he said blushing slightly. "I had a great time." Renesmee grinned. "Oh, I almost forgot..." Scorpius took Renesmee into the empty hallway and whispered, "I wanted to save the best gift until now because it's not something I can wrap up."
"Scorpius, you don't have to..." Renesmee started to say but Scorpius shushed her as mistletoe materialized above them without the use of a wand. "You learned how to use Wiccan magic?"
"Yes, but look up," Scorpius muttered. Renesmee saw the mistletoe and froze. "May I?" She nodded and leaned in, her lips slightly parted for her very first kiss in her life. Their lips met and she felt as if it was only she and Scorpius standing in darkness. Nothing mattered to her except for him and nothing mattered to Scorpius except for Renesmee. He broke the kiss and went off to join his family as they ventured home leaving Renesmee standing frozen as if hit by a Stunning Spell. "See you at school, then." Scorpius called from the doorway and with a loud CRACK, the Malfoys Disapparated.
Bella and Edward were standing nearby having watched the whole scene and were now watching the mistletoe vanish from sight. Renesmee saw them and her face went crimson. Bella was grinning wickedly now, and Grandpa Charlie was behind her, shaking his head and trying not to laugh. "Don't say it, Bella," he muttered repeatedly. "Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it."
"Nessie's got a boyfriend!" Bella blurted out and covered her mouth in shock. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out!" Renesmee shook her head, hugged her parents then went to bed. "Sorry, honey!" She turned to Charlie and said, "Dad, please don't try and have 'the talk' with her! She's only twelve!"
"I'm not!" Charlie said indignantly while holding his hands in surrender. "I got to you a bit late but I'll talk to her about it sometime later. G'night!" Without another word, Charlie left the house and took off in his car.
Renesmee awoke the next morning to a light tapping sound on her bedroom window. Still dressed in her pajamas, she opened the window and a handsome eagle owl landed on her bedside table with a letter tied to its leg. Renesmee took the letter, unrolled it and began to read. Her eyes went from curious to surprised in a matter of minutes. "What does he think he's playing at?" she growled while grabbing a piece of parchment, an eagle feather quill and a bottle of ink from her school trunk and writing a reply to the letter she received. "I'm going to have a serious talk with dear Scorpius when we get back to school!" Renesmee rolled her letter and re-tied it to the owl's leg. "Take this to your owner immediately," she grumbled and sat on her bed as the eagle owl took off.
"Renesmee!" Bella called from the stairs. "Time for breakfast!"
"I'm not really hungry, Mom!" Renesmee called back and she heard her mother's footsteps coming up the stairs and stopping at her door. "Come in." Bella entered the room asked what was wrong. "Why don't you tell me!" She handed Bella the letter from Scorpius and folded her arms across her chest.
Bella's amber eyes narrowed at each sentence and gently put the letter on Renesmee's dresser. "What I think, honey, is that you and Scorpius are too young to date at the moment and it's better that you stay friends. You never know...there might be another boy at school you'd end up with. I tried a relationship with Jake even though I knew your father was the one I wanted to be with. I was human then, but I never stopped loving them both."
"But," Renesmee said, "I thought Scorpius and I really had something going on there. Sure, it was just a trial thing, but...I really thought it would work." She sighed. "I guess you're right, though. We are a bit young to date right now. Let's just wait it out and see where fate takes us. If we end up dating again, then we'll be okay, but if not...well, that's life, right?"
"Exactly," Bella said. "Come on, let's get you some breakfast. A growing girl like you needs to have her nourishment." When Renesmee still didn't move a muscle, she said in a sing-song voice, "You can try the dragon's blood Angel got you." That did it. Renesmee dressed quickly and bolted down the stairs, though she was still very upset. Bella came down moments later and they all had a good morning.