Jasper was ready to burst the next morning, Edward was due to arrive back soon and part of him wanted to stay to make sure Edward knew just how angry Jasper still was with him.
A bigger part of him was excited to go pick up Harry.
He pulled on his helmet, he still needed to cover his luminescent hair until he could convince Harry he was penitent.
He kicked his stand up and was speeding down the lane and out on to the main road in seconds. He'd be a little early but that just meant Jasper might get to spend some time with Harry whilst he bullied himself consciousness with caffeine.
Sleepy Harry was adorable.
Jasper grinned into the wind.
He didn't have to pause for any confusion at the entrance to Harry's road so Jasper assumed that meant Harry had taken some of his protections down.
He was reassured, it felt like a sign that Harry really would be staying.
And if Harry wasn't staying at least he had his phone number now, he might be able to convince Harry to take Jasper with him.
He pulled in and was immediately off his bike and knocking politely at Harry's door.
The door creaked open, and a distant shout lead him through into the kitchen where he was greeted with a tired blink and a smile.
Harry was perched on a stool in his usual uniform of jeans and a graphic tee, mug of tea clutched in his hands.
Today's offering appeared to be advertising holidays to Arrakis. Jasper smiled at Harry, "Didn't know you were a Sci-Fi fan."
Harry murmured something tired and non-committal before continuing to wave his wand in a complicated motion at a large jar in his sink.
Jasper looked closer and realised the jar was filled with tiny blue creatures, each of them looking like they were filled with enough rage to at least destroy a family sized car, collectively they looked terrifying. "What on earth are those?"
Harry was glaring blearily at them. "Pixies." He paused and took another sip of his tea. "I've shrunk them about as small as it is safe to shrink them, and I am trying to decide who I post them to."
Jasper watched, fascinated as one of them tried to use another one's head to break through the glass. "Why would you post them to someone?"
Harry glared at the jar. "Crookshanks released them in the house as joke and it was great fun but I really don't want to have to deal with a recurring pixie problem. I could ward them from my property but then they'd just head out and cause chaos in Forks." He sighed. "They aren't native to America so I'm a bit confused about how they got here."
Jasper examined the jar; he reached over and tightened the lid. If even Harry said they were chaotic then Jasper really didn't want to risk any of them getting free.
"On the other hand it would be a great prank if I could work out how to actually post them to someone." Harry mused, lightly tapping the glass.
"Is that a good idea?"
"Probably not" Harry sighed like the weight of the world had been put on his shoulders. "Listen here you blue buggers, either we come to an agreement, or I pop you on an owl all the way back to England via the Artic circle."
Owl? Jasper was deeply confused but the threat seemed to work. The creatures in the jar had settled down and were now fixing their large beetle black eyes up at Harry.
They almost looked like fairies? With little gremlin faces?
"If you agree to stay away from my house, my plants and to only play a small number of minor pranks on any visitors I will give you free reign on my property." There was some excitable chittering which Harry interrupted. "But! If you break any of these rules I will round you back up and send you to friend of mine who lives in Norway."
The blue creatures gathered into small groups chittering away at each other.
Jasper used the impromptu treaty negotiations as a cover to question the grumpy looking wizard.
"Norway?" Jasper asked.
"They hate the cold."
"And the owl threat?"
"What?" Harry looked at him blankly for a couple of moments before his eyes lit up with comprehension. "Oh that's how we do post, to do that I'd have to go out an actually buy an owl which I really cannot be bothered to do. I've already got Crookshanks to look at me disapprovingly." Harry seemed to think this answered every possible question Jasper could have and turned back to the jar.
The pixies appeared to have nominated a leader, Jasper recognised the creature that had been using his friend as a battering ram. Apparently, politics really was the same everywhere.
The pixie gave a serious little nod which Harry returned.
Harry opened the kitchen window and threw the jar out before immediately closing the window. He paused waiting for the sound of the jar smashing.
He answered Jasper's unspoken question with a shrug. "I figure there is no reason to risk them deciding to destroy my living room again." He pulled out his wand and made another set of complicated motions. "Just making sure they can't get back in the cabin, or within 10 foot. Want to make sure I have a buffer zone."
Jasper just nodded, completely out of his depth. He waited a moment until the angry buzzing from outside had dispersed. "Did you want to head over soon?"
Harry nodded and shrugged on his jumper, grabbing a book satchel from where it was propped up on the counter. "Sounds good to me." He seemed more awake now, pitching tiny blue creatures through windows clearly gave him an energy boost. "Did you bring your bike?"
Harry's grin felt like sunshine and Jasper felt his new favourite energy injection wash over him. "I did." Jasper smiled back but couldn't hold back the warning that pushed through his teeth, "Edward will be there by the time we arrive."
Harry shrugged and patted his bag. "Don't worry, I have a plan for that."
It clinked ominously and Jasper was momentarily distracted by how effortlessly threatening Harry could be with such a small motion.
"I've talked over the important bits with you aready." Harry stopped him before they clambered on to the Triumph, "Are you still happy for me to take lead with Edward?"
Jasper shrugged, passing Harry his spare helmet. "You're the person he hurt. I'll support any action from you short of murdering him."
"Aw you spoilsport." Harry grinned at him.
"Imp." Jasper nudged him with his own helmet. Jasper caught the reflection of something in the polished top of his helmet and his eyes widened. "Speaking of your impish nature. I am very sorry that I implied you were anything other than a perfect height. Which you obviously are. The perfect height that is."
Harry sighed dramatically. "Fiiiine. You can have your boring, non-glowing hair back." Jasper sighed in relief as he watched the additional light source in his helmet/mirror go out.
"Oh, thank you great and kind benefactor." Jasper dipped into a mock bow.
"That is quite alright peasant." Harry waved his hand in a regal way that was completely undercut by his wide smile. Harry's eyes softened when he made eye contact with Jasper, and he reached out to smooth a piece of hair back behind Jasper's ear. "I much prefer your natural colour anyway."
They probably spent too long just smiling at each other over the bike but there was no one around to care.
Even if they did have a jeering gallery of pixies. Harry just made a rude gesture.
Jasper swung onto the bike and treasured how right it felt when Harry wrapped his hands around Jasper's waist. Harry sat on the bike with a natural ease the indicated some familiarity. "Have you ridden before?"
Before he even finished the sentence Jasper felt like blushing and Harry's wicked grin only made him gladder that blushing was impossible for him. Although Harry seemed to be taking that as a challenge.
He would have thought that living with Emmett would mean he would be better at not saying the suggestive thing in the first place.
So far that was not the case.
Maybe give it another couple of decades.
"Once or twice." Harry winked, "Just as happy to be the passenger as I am driving."
Jasper choked and tried to use starting the engine as a distraction, but it just made Harry settle in closer.
In the pause before Jasper revved up to leave Harry pressed himself flush against Jaspers back, eliciting an immediate shiver, and purred in his ear. "I've always preferred the older models, found they hold up for longer."
Jasper hit the road too fast, wheels spinning, chased by Harry's exhilarated cackle.
Harry had become very comfortable with Jasper's touch over the last two days. It was probably moving slightly too quick but Harry was happy to pretend otherwise.
Harry was very aware he was touch starved, so he was ignoring any speed warnings and instead focusing on soaking up as much affection as Jasper was willing to give him.
Hermione had gotten him half a library of books on dealing with childhood neglect and he had spent many a long night trying to work out if he was actually depressed or if he just needed a hug. His assumption was that it was possibly, maybe, both.
But he needed evidence to draw any firm conclusions and Crookshanks was very unwilling to be a part of that experiment.
Now he was sat behind Jasper with his chest pressed against the revenant's back and he felt like purring. Maybe he could convince Jasper to drive him to school every day.
Teasing Jasper was also giving him too much joy, the vamp might not be able to blush but his embarrassed face was still adorable.
Jasper rode his motorcycle with a calm, easy familiarity that Harry loved. They synchronised their leans into every turn, and it didn't take long for Jasper to get comfortable with the new weight on the back of his bike.
They were going fast; Jasper used his reaction times to his advantage to cut very tight lines. Harry couldn't wait to take him up on his Firebolt, Jasper seemed like he would get the same kick out of flying that Harry did.
He had newer, faster brooms but his Firebolt would always be his favourite. Plus the cornering was still the best on the market.
The ride to the Cullens was too short, Harry glanced up at the large modern building at the end of a long drive. It was about as opposite as to Harry's cabin you could get.
Harry had never been a massive fan of modern architecture, growing up in a medieval castle tended to bias you towards styles that were a little rounder and rougher around the edges. One thing he could always appreciate however was massive windows.
Maybe it was another hangover from the cupboard but the thought of being able to see outside from anywhere in the house made him seriously consider transfiguring one of his cabin walls into glass. It was beautiful.
The whole Cullen family were arranged on the drive as they pulled up; Harry was glad Jasper had warned him that Edward had made it back in time. It meant he could settle for glaring rather than immediately cursing his stupid face into pieces.
Two unfamiliar faces with the familiar colouring and eye colour were stood closest to Mr. Mind Rape, the rest of the Cullens were clearly not interested in standing that close.
Interestingly Bella was stood with Alice.
"Hello." Harry waved awkwardly as he dismounted the bike, taking a steadying hand from Jasper. He didn't need it, the skills he'd developed in Quidditch weren't about to disappear any time soon but that wasn't going to stop him for holding Jasper's hand if given the chance.
The slightly older looking man next to Edward started forward, every movement was calm and relaxed. This guy actually looked human, incredibly handsome of course but human. If Harry had met this guy on the first day of school, he wouldn't have set off any alarm bells.
Well he was clearly beautiful, but no warning supernatural creature alarm bells.
"Hi Harrison, thank you so much for coming over." The guy's smile reminded him of Lockhart's, it was very shiny just with 1000% less ego. Less immediately punchable. "I'm Jasper's father, Carlisle. I regret the reasons for this meeting, but I am glad to finally meet you."
Carlisle looked genuinely happy to see him as he shook Harry's hand, if Harry hadn't been sure Jasper was the one with the empathy powers the revenant in front of him would have been his first bet.
He just looked so sympathetic.
Though how anyone was buying that he was old enough to even be the adoptive father of 5 was another mark against the general observation skills of the entire town of Forks.
A woman Harry presumed was Carlisle's wife stepped alongside him and smiled at Harry.
Abruptly Harry understood why Jasper was so comfortable referring to his coven as his family.
She was a small brunette woman; her face was pleasantly rounded in places where the other Cullen's were all angles. She was beautiful and whilst Harry was sure she shared the same base surface temperature as the other revenants, she seemed so much warmer.
"Welcome to our home Harrison." She smiled at him, and Harry felt immediately more comfortable. He returned her smile genuinely. "I'm Esme. We've heard so much about you."
Harry glanced at Jasper who was making his blushing whilst not actually blushing face and grinned. "All awful I'm sure."
Jasper stepped up next to him. "Maybe we should step inside?"
Harry smirked at him teasingly before turning back to his parents. "Thank you for inviting me into your home." His face turned more serious. "We should probably get some things out of the way early; I have a lot that I need to fill you in on."
Jasper had let them know that Harry had some news about their origins and apparently, they had quietly freaked out. Well, most of them. Rosalie and Emmett had quite loudly freaked out.
By the look on Rosalie's face she seemed torn between murdering her brother right now so she could get the information faster or just torturing it out of Harry.
Harry had the feeling they were going to get on fine.
They all got settled in the living room and Esme bustled away to the kitchen after promising some tea. They called it a living room, it really looked more like a space station with all the steel and glass and vaguely uncomfortable looking surfaces.
Harry hoped Esme knew how much of his opinion of her was going to be formed by the tea she presented him with. Sometimes being British was really inconvenient because he really wanted to like Esme. Even if she made terrible tea.
He would use this time productively, however.
He would see if he could set Edward on fire just through the power of glaring. Who knows, maybe spontaneous combustion was a thing when it came to muggle vampires.
Edward was far more interested in frowning at Jasper.
"Stop it." Jasper's voice cracked across the cavernous room just as Esme returned to the room with a tray filled with a full tea service and mini sandwiches.
Harry was torn between checking in with Jasper and admiring the beautiful sight in front of him. Even the crusts were cut off.
After a couple of seconds staring lovingly at the salmon and cream cheese sandwiches in front of him, he rejoined Jasper in glaring at Edward.
"Edward, I told you to stop." Jasper looked murderous and it took a couple of seconds for Harry to realise what was happening.
"If you're trying to read Jasper's mind, I would recommend you reconsider attacking someone under my protection." Harry spat across the space.
Esme gasped. Her face looked devastated and disappointed as she turned to Edward.
"Edward." Carlisle spoke sharply and loud enough that Alice subtly flinched, and Edward recoiled. "I expected better after our conversation."
Harry could see Jasper minutely relax. Edward had proved that he clearly hadn't learned anything from Monday, but he had backed off for now.
"Yes Carlisle." Edward looked contrite but Harry wasn't going to trust the words of anyone who was so used to being all-knowing.
Harry had a plan for dealing with Edward, but he would need some other things in place first.
Sooner they got this bit over with the sooner he could eat some sandwiches.
"On that fantastic note, I am going to get started." Harry clapped his hands on his thighs and pulled out a couple of piles of paper from his bag. His time in the aurors hadn't just been filled with dark wizard hunting, he had done a huge amount of paperwork and presentations.
Ron had been horrified that law enforcement could be boring.
The upshot was Harry was always prepared with handouts.
"We obviously have some quite pressing business to take care of." Harry didn't have to pause to glare at Edward because he was already glaring at Edward. No pause needed. "But before we move on to that I have a couple of other things I need to cover. Here is a copy of the most recent treaty between my community and the Volturi." He twitched a finger and the handouts distributed themselves around the room.
Harry tried not to grin at the awestruck faces but based on Jasper's raised eyebrow he was not particularly successful at hiding his amusement.
"As you can see my community is aware of your kind, when the Volturi took over in 500AD they ratified the already established treaty with wizarding leadership. We updated the treaty in 1840 to take into account the fact that our community went into hiding." Harry glanced at Jasper who was looking at each of his family members in turn, monitoring how they were taking the treaty document. Edward was starting to look pale. "Obviously you only have my word that this treaty exists as your ruling body has decided not to share it with you. Jasper let me know that checking this with the Volturi would likely result in some heavy consequences."
Carlisle winced but nodded, the rest of the coven was still looking slightly bewildered by the knowledge that the Volturi knew about magic. Carlisle cleared his throat and immediately the whole family were listening.
Harry couldn't help but be impressed, he's seen Arthur Weasley attempt that a couple of times to no success. But then again, Carlisle didn't have to deal with the Weasley twins.
"Ah, I think I can confirm the treaties' existence, the amendament was signed after my time with the Volturi but there were always rumours of a secret community the Volturi were nervous of." Carlisle looked apologetic for not letting his family know sooner. "The rumours were never confirmed in my presence, but I can easily believe the Volturi would sign something like this and keep it secret."
So, Carlisle had some experience up close and personal with the Volturi? That could make things interesting.
"Are you willing to accept this treaty at face value? I could request confirmation from my own government but that would only get me magical proof that would mean nothing to you and also have the potential to remind my government that your people still exist which could be-." Harry paused. It could be- not terrible? But it definitely risked being terrible. Harry just shrugged. They could finish that sentence any way they wanted.
Carlisle glanced around the room before nodding. "I'm willing to accept it on face value for the sake of this meeting."
Harry nodded. "Well then, as you can probably see this treaty is extremely not in your favour. I am mostly showing it to you because it is sensible to have an idea of what existing treaties say before messing with them and to also illustrate just how seriously my kind take secrecy."
Jasper nodded at him, Harry continued. "It will likely come as no surprise to you that in order to have any further discussion about my community or to share any of the information I have discovered about your species I will need to put certain assurances in place to ensure that secrets I share go no further."
Most of the Cullens were nodding. Rosalie looked frustrated but from Harry had heard that was more of a state of being for her than a reaction. Edward looked angry. Harry could not give less of a shit.
Bella was the first to ask a question. She was hesitant but her voice firmed when Alice nodded at her encouragingly. "What kind of assurances would you need from us?"
Harry smiled gently at her. Jasper had let him know how aggressively she had responded to Edward's attack on him. The confirmation that she wasn't an alien aside, she clearly hadn't known anything about Edward's plans before he attacked.
The amount of patience he had for the only actual teenager in the group had increased dramatically.
"Just the question I was hoping for." Harry produced another set of papers from his bag. "Usually, I would ask for vows but as you are not magical I am unsure how long those would hold so I've come up with an alternative." He passed them out and almost laughed when Emmett waved his hand above and below the sheet of paper before taking it out of the air. "These are secrecy contracts; the quick summary is that you agree to treat anything I tell you about the wixen world or myself as a secret that cannot be discussed with anyone who hasn't also signed the contract. If you do-"
"So you will withhold information about our species from us?" Edward interrupted, glaring angrily back at Harry.
Harry found himself flinching away from the direct eye contact. Fuck.
Jasper growled and Harry cursed at himself for showing any reaction to the bastard. He straightened his shoulders, focusing on controlling the involuntary flinch, and glared back at Edward. "And why should I share anything with you?"
Edward stayed silent but glared back at Harry.
"Not tempted to try and force it out of me again?" Harry leaned forward. "I can promise you I'm better prepared this time. Not so easy to attack a wizard when he's expecting it."
"Edward." The voice was cold and hard, and completely alien coming from Esme.
Edward glanced at Esme before completely melting. "Sorry."
Clearly Esme knew what she was doing, Harry had only ever heard that tone from McGonagall.
Edward, at least, looked cowed.
Harry decided to ignore him and continue as if he hadn't been interrupted, he looked back at Bella. "If you come close to breaking the terms of the contract it will remind you, usually it is a buzzing feeling. You will get multiple warnings and the buzzing will intensify if you continuing to ignore the warnings. If you fully break the terms of the contract, it will immobilise you and let me know where you are. I will find out what the breach was and if I deem it necessary, I will remove the memory of my secrets from you and anyone you spoke them to."
The silence was deafening. Harry had discussed the terms with Jasper, and this was a lot less harsh than the contract Muggleborn's parents usually had to sign but a lot harsher than a paper treaty.
Edward surged to his feet. "Why are we allowing this stranger to come and dictate terms to us?!"
Before Harry could even react, Jasper was up and hissing in Edward's face. "That stranger is my mate who you have already attacked once." His violent jab with his finger towards Edward's chest sent his brother stuttering backwards. "He is here to discuss options to bring us into his world with my family."
Edward recoiled, and looked at the rest of the Cullens for support. Rosalie and Emmett were staring at him with similarly stony expressions, Esme and Alice looked uneasy, Carlisle looked disappointed.
Harry could only imagine what they were thinking at Edward but whatever it was it was clearly not what Edward had been hoping for.
The last remaining potential avenue of support was the only human in the room.
And Bella looked pissed. "Stop behaving like a kid." She gestured around the room. "This whole situation is your fault, accept it or go away so the rest of us can actually talk about this."
Edward looked devastated and for a moment Harry even felt sorry for him. And then he reminded himself of how much of a dickhead Edward was, and he was immediately cured of that sentiment.
Edward went to pace in a corner of the room, hands worrying together.
Harry decided to ignore the moody immortal teenager, again, and focused back on the contracts. "These are the absolute bare minimum my world requires before I tell a muggle anything." He noticed the glances towards Jasper, "Jasper is allowed to be told because I would be willing to vouch for him with my government, any actions he takes against the statute of secrecy would also be my crimes." He glanced at the rest of the group. "I don't know the rest of you. Technically I should have already obliviated you of the incident on Monday but I wanted to give you a choice."
"So if we don't sign this you'll wipe our memories?" Rosalie interjected.
"Nope, you'll keep your memories of what happened I just won't be telling you anything else." Harry shrugged. It mostly depended on if they could live without knowing something this big. Edward had already proved he couldn't resist any knowledge that wasn't immediately available, so he knew he had one vampire in the bag.
"And neither will I." Jasper confirmed before anyone could even try to look at him. He glared fiercely out at his family but quickly relaxed when he realised everyone in the room was reading the contacts in front of them.
Alice nodded quickly to herself before she pulled a pen out of her pocket and signed. She passed the pen to Bella who immediately did the same.
Carlisle seemed taken aback but he glanced at Jasper before smiling and accepting the pen. Esme followed. Rosalie found her own pen and Emmett collected up the signed contracts to hand over to Harry.
Harry smiled as he accepted them. "Thanks."
Edward abruptly moved towards the table, grabbing Rosalie's pen, which she ceded to him with a huff, and scribbling his signature before thrusting the signed contract at Harry.
Harry summoned it, unwilling to get any closer to the prick.
Harry slipped the signed contracts back into his bag and decided to swiftly move on to discussing the elephant in the room.
"Jasper has left the consequences for Monday up to me." Harry ignored Edward's horrified face, he was desperately tempted to taunt him but ultimately he didn't want to upset Esme more than he had to.
The rest of the Cullens seemed to have been expecting this. What did Edward think the punishment was going to be if Jasper was in control, washing up duty? If anything Harry was being incredibly merciful here.
Jasper had been pro-banishing the fucker. Brother or not, Jasper was ready to throw the whole bookcase at him.
"I have no intention of breaking up your family or physically punishing Edward, as much as I personally might want to punch him."
Carlisle nodded gratefully at him, and Esme smiled. Edward, for once, remained silent. Emmett looked like he might want to punch his brother anyway just for fun.
Harry was momentarily distracted by just how punchable Edward's face was.
Harry flicked his familiar phoenix feather wand into his palm and summoned his pensieve from his bag. As the pensieve was at least twice the size of the bag at his feet he was suddenly receiving a very considering look from Alice. It was a look that was familiar to him.
He sighed.
"Give me one of your bags later and I will do one expansion and featherlight charm on it." Harry wagged his finger at Alice. "One."
He looked up at the rest of the Cullens and sighed. He knew Alice wasn't going to be the only one to ask, she was just the quickest. "One bag each."
Well, that was one afternoon of enchanting committed already.
But Bella looked more cheerful so that was a positive. Maybe?
He tossed the pensieve to hover above the coffee table and conjured water into it with a quick Aquamenti.
"This is a pensieve, it allows you to view memories. Usually, you view a memory from outside, you don't really experience it. It's mostly used as a memory aid or as a way you can submit a memory to prove you're telling the truth." Harry took a deep breath. "A couple of decades ago someone managed to tweak the spell to allow a user to truly experience a memory from the rememberer's point of view without risking any actual injury."
Harry looked at Edward who was staring at the pensieve with fascination. "I don't think Edward is evil, or even a truly malicious person but I don't think he understands what he did to me and why it was wrong." Jasper had always spoken about Edward with a sort of bewildered fondness, a sibling you loved but never really understood. "I propose that Edward lives through exactly what he did to me, feels what I felt."
Edward's face was frozen, Harry couldn't tell what he thought about it. The rest of the Cullens however were nodding.
Eye for an eye always seemed fair.
Jasper nodded at him, they had discussed this part extensively. "I have a couple of other measures I would like to take afterwards to make sure this never happens again but those will be purely voluntary."
Carlisle was staring at the man he considered his first-born son. "That sounds more than reasonable."
Edward nodded shortly.
Harry put his wand to his temple and with a complicated twist he pulled a black stream of memory from his mind. This kind of memory, because it was so focused on the internal, took a lot longer to live through in a pensieve than it did to initially experience. Edward would feel everything Harry had felt, every experience Edward's attack forced him to recall, the pain of shattering shields, everything.
Harry wasn't sure this was the right thing to do, and it was certainly less personally satisfying than just beating Edward to a pulp. Or shattering him to a pulp? Difficult to think of anything satisfying you could actually, reasonably do to a being made out of marble.
Still, Harry was sure he knew the right spell to be able to punch a revenant without breaking his hand. Just in case.
But after the whole keeping a journalist in a jar for a month incident, he, Ron and Hermione had promised each other that they would try to avoid future war crimes. Pocket Geneva convention and pop quizzes were a less fun part of the camping trip from hell.
So he couldn't just pulverise Edward. However, much Edward deserved to be turned into a beetle.
Harry let the memory drop into the water and watched it settle in. The black strands lingering across the surface, "Edward." Harry looked up. "I need you to know that the attack on Monday technically breached the treaty between your people and mine." He needed to make sure Edward understood what a mercy this was. "You read the treaty, the consequences if I handed you over to my people or the Volturi would be harsh." Edward was already pale, but he was starting to look paler. "Beyond that I have special dispensation from the international wizarding community to respond with deadly force to any attack on my person. I need you to understand that what you did could have caused your death on Monday, as well as the deaths of everyone else there if I had responded in kind."
He really tried not to use it but considering how many people had tried to kill him over the years it certainly hadn't gone unused.
And it was built for this kind of situation.
He needed to make sure everyone here had one thing clear. Harry leaned in, his voice low and deadly. "If you ever attack me again, I will kill you."
Edward nodded shakily.
Harry leant back and summoned his cup of tea.
He gestured at the pensieve, "Just stick your finger in to get started."
Edward looked down hesitantly and slowly lowered his whole hand into the water. Immediately he went stiff, eyes staring straight ahead.
The Cullens looked concerned but still gathered around to watch Edward's adventure into Harry's mind.
Harry took his first sip of tea and felt tension melt out of him. He felt his eyes close involuntarily. "Merlin's beard Esme, I think I love you." He summoned the plate of sandwiches. "This is the best tea I've had in months."
Jasper watched his brother as he submerged his hand in the strange pool of water Harry had placed on the table.
Jasper had been struggling to picture what a memory would look like but the fluid string of something black that Harry had pulled from his head with his wand had been nothing like he expected.
Edward's eyes were open but unseeing.
Harry was happily distracting Esme with questions about where she bought her tea and her philosophies on brewing time.
Jasper wasn't aware you could have enough of an opinion on sticking leaves into hot water to have one philosophy on it, let alone multiple. He had a feeling that he would be asking Esme for some lessons if her tea could make Harry this obviously happy.
He was munching on a sandwich gleefully. Though Jasper noticed he was still keeping an eye on the pensieve.
Jasper hadn't thought this was harsh enough. He had wanted Harry to show Edward exactly what having his mind forcibly invaded felt like with a practical demonstration. Harry's pale, nauseous face when he suggested it made him reconsider rapidly.
Harry had made it clear that this wasn't him forgiving Edward, this was him teaching him a lesson in empathy which Jasper couldn't help but support.
It still didn't feel like enough.
Alice gasped and Jasper turned back to the central scene to see Edward's face no longer frozen in neutral. He was cringing, his whole body recoiling away from where his hand was submerged in the pool of water. Quiet ripples spread out from where Edward was attached to the memory, but the connection remained.
Edward's face contorted into fear. A low moan pushing out from his throat.
Edward's second hand pressed over his mouth as he panted deep, harsh breaths that shook his whole body.
Jasper was starting to think this wasn't the light punishment he'd accused Harry of choosing. Harry's face was grim, but the only clear emotion Jasper could read from him was sympathy.
The rest of the room was filled with concern, surprise and a vicious kind of satisfaction from Rosalie. Jasper knew he hadn't been the only one to think that this punishment was too light.
Edward contorted again and this time Jasper could see the beginnings of a crack forming along Edward's wrist and he tried to free himself. After a couple more seconds Edward dropped to his knees, his eyes still staring unseeing into the middle distance, the rest of his body slumping on to the floor.
His body was contorting with what looked like pain, his face now twisted into agony.
Carlisle looked at Harry who answered Carlisle's unasked question. "I can promise you all he is feeling is a reproduction of pain, nothing that will physically harm him or have any lingering effects." Harry glanced at the crack in Edward's wrist. "Any physical pain he causes himself I will heal."
Bella looked grim, her eyes were full of tears which were now freely streaming down her face. She pressed her fist into her trembling lips to hold in a sob.
Carlisle nodded, he was projecting a lot of concern for Edward but there was an underlying steel. Carlisle had been just as shocked as everyone else when Edward had attacked Harry, to now see the level of suffering he had caused was sobering even for those who'd been there to witness the attack in the first place.
Finally, Edward's hand came loose with a gasp and Esme immediately left her post by Harry to gather him up. His whole body was shaking, and his eyes were screwed shut, she held him close and rocked him gently, whispering soothing sounds.
Jasper glanced at Harry who nodded before he reached out to send pulses of gentle calm into the room. The shaking subsided and Edward moved back to a seated position, Esme still hovering over him anxiously.
The room was probably silent for everyone else but the rolling mass feelings everyone was projecting made it incredibly loud and way too close for Jasper. He reached out to touch Harry, reassured by his quiet emotions, concentrating on the way his fingers made contact with the now incredibly familiar texture of Harry's woollen pullover. Or as he called them jumpers.
It was adorable.
It had been a long time since he had been to the UK, but he definitely didn't remember finding all British people this cute. Even if they all wore jumpers.
He drowned out the excess noises lightly pushing out a steadying calm, more for his own benefit than anything else. He still carefully excluded Harry from the aura, a brief spike of gratefulness telling him he was doing the right thing.
He pouted slightly when Harry got up to make his way over to Edward but Alice was the only one who caught it. She rolled her eyes at him, so he stuck out his tongue. Esme was distracted, so there was no one to tell him to be nice to his sister.
Harry crouched down next to Edward who flinched and moved closer to Esme, Harry held out his hand and Edward looked at it bemused.
Jasper refused to dig into Edward's emotions, they were a rolling mess and Jasper didn't want to sink into them for the length of time he'd need to in order to make sense of them. The dominant feeling was fear.
"Give me your wrist." Harry's voice was flat and toneless.
A glance from Carlisle had Edward extending his arm towards Harry, the crack along his wrist had widened, close to detaching the entire hand.
Usually with that kind of injury they would use their venom as a glue, it would reseal the crack but would leave behind an ache for weeks. It was familiar after long repetition but still very uncomfortable.
Harry tapped Edward's wrist lightly with his wand, "Episkey."
The wrist reattached and sealed instantly, Edward gaped at it, immediately rolling his wrist, and pulling on it to test the seal.
Jasper was pretty sure he looked smug, Rosalie at least was smirking at him. His mate was magical.
Edward looked up at Harry, something close awe in his eyes. "Thank you."
Harry just returned to his seat; Jasper could tell he felt uncomfortable with the attention. As much as Harry enjoyed making things dramatic, he had clearly never actually become used to having people look at him. Jasper wanted to tuck him in his pocket again and that was weird and unhelpful impulse.
Maybe Harry could shrink himself?
No Jasper.
Focus.
The awkward silence was back.
Harry coughed and looked at Jasper.
Esme coughed and looked at Edward.
"Harry has some suggestions-" Jasper started.
"I'm sorry." Edward blurted out.
Jasper just glared at him. "What for?"
Edward stared down at his newly healed wrist. "I shouldn't have tried to read Harry's mind. I know how much pain I caused now, and I am so, so sorry." Edward finally made eye contact with Harry. "I'm so sorry."
Harry nodded at him. "I know you are."
Edward looked relived.
Harry's expression didn't change. "What you did was wrong, but it wasn't just wrong because you hurt me. Even if it had been completely painless it still would have been a shitty thing to do."
Edward looked at Harry blankly.
"Look, I don't know how your gift works exactly but in the wixen world we call a power like yours Legilimency. It's different, you need a wand and eye contact for it to work but natural legilimens, those born with the power, naturally read the surface thoughts of those around them unless you do something to prevent them from doing so." Harry glanced up to check Edward was listening and minutely flinched away from how intensely Edward was staring at him.
Jasper wanted to go back to the pocket idea. Cotton wool might be involved.
Certainly keeping him away from his idiot of a brother.
"You would have seen a man called Tom Riddle, or Voldemort as he called himself, in my memory. He was a natural legilimens. He constantly read people's surface thoughts, he could tell if they were lying even without eye contact and would pick up on anything someone too close to him was actively thinking." Jasper already had a healthy hatred of the self-styled Lord Voldemort; he hadn't realised that the man who had tortured and abused Harry over and over again had also been a mind reader.
The more he found out about Harry's life the more he was surprised that he had made it through the last 40 years at all. Let alone make it through with all the life he still brought to everything.
Harry was the most alive person Jasper had ever met.
"It is similar to what you did the first time you tried to read my mind." Harry shugged. "Just a lot more subtle usually." Harry glared at the floor. "It still hurts when it's that heavy handed but it's easy enough to shrug off with training."
Edward at least had the grace to feel embarrassed, even if Jasper was sure the embarrassment was more focused on Harry's clear derision for his brother's skills rather than the revelation that Monday wasn't the first time he had hurt Harry.
"But that isn't what you tried to do the second time; it wasn't a press against my defences, you threw your whole mind at me. If you had succeeded in getting through my shields you would have been entirely in my mind, no connection left with your body. In my world we call that possession and even attempting it would put you in prison for the rest of your life, however long that might be, and that's the best possible outcome." Harry paused and looked at Edward who was looking nervous. "If you'd been successful, I would have been like a puppet for you, the memory you saw of Voldemort torturing me was him trying to do exactly that. I would have ceased to exist, shunted off to a corner of my own mind whilst you took over."
Edward looked sick.
Harry's face was impassive, and Jasper was frustrated that Harry's emotions were currently completely opaque to him.
Harry continued to stare at Edward who was having trouble making eye contact. "The other thing about possession is it is extremely difficult to do safely. Most Legillimens wouldn't risk it even if it was legal because if you're not well practiced you can get stuck. Stuck in someone else's mind with no way back, or stuck outside of your body. If I hadn't pushed you back it is unlikely you would have found your way back on your own."
Edward coughed, "Er. Thank you."
Harry waved away the clearly unwelcome thanks. "That was more of a side effect, I wasn't trying to help you." Harry glanced at Jasper, a mischievous flash of green that sent shivers down Jasper's spine. "Was more interested in throwing you through a window."
"Yes, well." Edward sounded shaky. "Thank you in any case."
"Don't thank me yet," Harry warned as he reached back into his bag. "I may have saved you from a worse punishment but that doesn't mean that I am happy with what you did, or willing to trust you not to do it again."
He pulled out a small book. "Jasper told me that you can't help constantly listening to the thoughts of the people around you."
Edward nodded, hesitantly. "Yes." He glanced at Jasper, and Jasper found himself nodding encouragingly. "It is like being in a room with lots of people talking simultaneously. I can drown people out by focusing on something specific but I still register it subconsciously."
Jasper had some sympathy for that at least.
Harry winced. "No wonder you're unhinged." Edward seemed to want to challenge that but a look from Esme made him keep it to himself. "When you tried to read my mind, it was an active effort?"
Edward looked ashamed at least. "Yes."
"Is there anyone else you struggle to read?" Edward glanced at Bella who started back at him impassively.
"I can't read Bella's mind." It was unspoken that he'd tried. "The wolves are difficult to read and Charlie, Bella's father, is quite murky too."
"Right." Harry flipped the book in his hands over nodding to himself slightly. "This book is on occlumency, it is what I use to protect my mind from you. The fact that my shields work to prevent your power, however it works, tells me that your gift shares at least some elements with legilimency. One of the protections I would like to put into place is a commitment from you to learn to control your power."
Edward nodded eagerly, reaching for the book which Harry kept in hand. He levelled a glare at Edward which stopped him from moving any closer. A human wouldn't usually be intimidating to a vampire but Jasper was delighted to see how cautious Edward was around his mate. "You will attend a weekly session with me to test your progress, the aim of this is to allow you to stop the constant monitoring of people around you. When you use it, use it deliberately."
Edward nodded. Sat so straight in his chair it looked like he was ready for some kind of interview. Jasper mused, in some ways that was exactly what was happening.
"Checking on your progress will involve me entering your mind." Harry stated firmly, ignoring Edward's immediate flinch. "It will not be painful and I am willing to take a vow that I will reveal nothing I discover in your mind to anyone else."
It went without saying that this was far more than Edward had ever offered anyone, he often responded to people's thoughts out loud. Even if he didn't say exactly what the original thought had been it was usually pretty clear what the other person had been thinking.
Edward looked wildly uncomfortable but Carlisle was nodding. "That sounds reasonable."
"Carlisle-" Edward started to protest.
"Don't be ridiculous Edward." Bella cut him off. "Harry obviously can't trust you but he's being very fair."
By the swell of emotion in the room Jasper had a feeling that it wasn't just Harry who didn't trust Edward.
Edward looked at Bella for a couple of moments, golden eyes meeting hazel. One fiery with resentment, the other filled with regret.
Well at least he regretted some of the consequences of his actions even if he didn't regret the attack itself.
Harry handed over the book, "It will take time and meditation to master, usually it is helped by sleep so the process may be quite slow for you."
Jasper narrowed his eyes at Edward, he seemed too happy at the news that this process might take time.
He would need to warn Harry if Edward planned on drawing out the process.
"Once you have control, I will expect you to be far more restrained in the way you use your powers," Harry glanced at Carlisle. "I know you use Edward and Alice's gifts to help you keep your secrets and I certainly can't criticise that, the way my government uses our power to protect the statute of secrecy is extreme as well."
Carlisle nodded. "We have relied on Edward and Alice in the past to be a sort of early warning system."
Harry nodded, "I don't expect Edward to stop using his powers but there is no reason for him to be invading hundreds of minds constantly."
Edward scoffed but a glare from Harry quickly shut him up.
"Jasper said you were interested in signing a treaty with me individually. A core part of any treaty I'd be willing to sign would need to include a commitment to avoid invading people's privacy without provocation." Harry's eyes flicked to Jasper. "I understand Alice mostly sees futures that impact your family so her gifts would already fall under this category. I have met a couple of seers and I know of no way to control what you're shown of the future. You also can't help overhearing things with your hearing as enhanced as it is."
Harry focused on Edward briefly before turning back to Carlisle. "I don't need a commitment now, not until a treaty is hammered out between us but you would need to be willing to agree to only read minds if you have been given reasonable suspicion that they are a potential threat."
Carlisle cringed and even Rosalie looked worried, any limitation on Edward could seriously curtail their ability to react to threats. His family were tense, anxiety pouring off them in waves.
Well, Alice seemed unconcerned.
And Emmett was still staring at Harry's bag with narrowed eyes.
They were anxious but Jasper could feel them considering Harry's proposal at least. It would be stupid to dismiss a treaty with an unknown without at least finding out more.
"Why on earth would we agree to that?" Edward was, of course, an idiot.
Harry ignored him and continued to talk to Carlisle. "I would obviously offer some concessions in return. I don't expect you to restrict yourselves just to keep me happy."
"Oh well then, if the mighty wizard is willing to offer concessions then-" Edward was halfway poised to go storming across the room.
Harry was still calm but Jasper wasn't the only one to notice his wand slip into his hand. For all that Harry had proved he didn't need to have a wand out to be dangerous, the message was clear. He was ready to defend himself.
"Listen here mate." Harry's voice was harsh, the last consonant was almost spat out. A friendly label turned violent. "You are on thin fucking ice. I know you think I am just another teenager you can push around, magic or not, but if you continue to push me you will find out very quickly how hard I can push back."
Harry's eyes were sparking a vicious green. "I am not here to negotiate with you and I have dealt with enough of your superior bullshit today, sit down and listen or fuck off."
Edward had frozen halfway out of his chair. The crackling energy that was starting to surround Harry spread a wave of something across the room. His family were all tense but Jasper only felt delight, little shivers ran through him as Harry's magic washed over him.
Edward sat back down, speechless.
Jasper was going to have to get that reaction under control before any of his family noticed how much Harry's magic made Jasper want to ravish him.
He was deeply grateful that Edward was no longer able to make fun of him for these kinds of thoughts. He'd just used ravish in a sentence.
Harry looked at him, ignoring the rest of his family who were still frozen, he smiled hesitantly at Jasper.
Jasper smiled back helplessly.
The tension bled out of him and even through their tenuous connection Jasper could feel Harry's anger dissipate completely.
Jasper glanced at the rest of his family before looking back at Harry eyebrow raised.
Harry shrugged at him and sat back, easy and calm in the awkward silence he'd left behind.
Harry ate another sandwich and Jasper couldn't help the smile on his face. This was obviously not the circumstances he had hoped for when he had pictured introducing his mate to his family.
But having Harry here was still wonderful.
Jasper was smiling at him softly, he had a cup of tea in his hand and a substantial supply of sandwiches.
Despite the echoes of the rage he felt towards Edward.
Despite the frustration he felt that Jasper was far too far away to hold hands.
Despite how soppy that last thought was.
This was nowhere near the worst way to spend a day.
He settled into the surprisingly comfortable armchair and look another sip of Esme's excellent tea.
The Cullens were silent. Harry had never thought his breath would be this audible in a room with 9 people in it. At least he had Bella as another breather in the room.
He leaned forward to pour himself another cup from the very new looking tea pot. It was a deep blue with delicate white flowers painted in a repeating pattern, it had been a long time since he had drunk tea that wasn't just the result of water poured over a teabag in a mug. He had forgotten how much he loved the slow intensifying of the flavour that came when you brewed a whole pot.
It was probably time to save the muggle vampires from asphyxiating on their curiosity.
He waved a hand. "We can talk treaty later, for now just know that I think everyone has a right to privacy and that right will be a central aspect of any treaty I would be willing to sign."
His pulse was back down to normal levels but he decided he wasn't going to look at Edward for a while.
His face just made Harry unreasonably angry at this point. Edward could probably offer him a chocolate frog right now and Harry would want to curse him to oblivion.
He had enough experience with Draco at school to know that not looking at Edward was his best bet at this point if he wanted to avoid his more violent tendencies.
He sipped his tea one last time before he summoned another set of papers from his bag and sent them winging around the room.
He made sure Edward's pile hovered just far enough away that he would have to lean forward to grab it.
He had never claimed to be perfectly mature.
"Right. So I suppose now is when I tell you all that you are not Vampires."
The Cullens actually gasped.
Jasper was giving him an exasperated look but Harry just grinned. This was going to be fun.
"So we're not actually dead?"
"Nope, I would describe you as more petrified? As in turned to stone. It's probably the Basilisk thing although usually it's their eyes and not their blood that turn people to stone."
"Huh."
"Wait, wait. Your vampires actually die in daylight?"
"Yep, completely disintegrate to ash, it's super unpleasant to watch."
"I always figured that was a myth to cover up the whole sparkly thing."
"…sparkly thing?"
"You know. In sunlight. We sparkle."
"..."
"…"
"JASPER COME SPARKLE FOR ME."
"So this Horcrux thing. What kind of object do wizards use?"
"Usually something dramatic and linked to their backstory."
"Weird."
"Yeah."
"You'd think one of them would just go with a pebble and then throw it in the ocean. Or burying a tin can at a landfill. Or jettisoning it into space. Make it less easy to find."
"You'd think wouldn't you?"
"So we aren't magic enough to join your club?"
"You aren't magical at all as far as I can tell."
"So there is no way for me to get a wand? Just sneak into somewhere and steal one."
"I mean you could? Technically? Might as well just pick up a stick and wave it around though."
Emmett still looked like he was considering it and Harry tucked his wand firmly into his holster.
"Harrison, would you be able to share the text that covers interactions with the Denali clan?"
"Did you say that you see them as cousins?"
"Yes, we're known them a long time, they were the first coven we found that share our diet choices."
"Right, then no I won't share it with you."
"…"
"I promise you, you don't want it."
"Well, I-"
"It's basically porn Carlisle."
"Ah."
A couple of hours later the Vampires had run out of steam, moving into the processing part of the info dump.
Bella had to head off early to get to afternoon classes, the only actual teenager had a guardian who would notice if she randomly skipped an entire day of school.
Apparently, doctor's appointments with Carlisle only got you so far.
Harry didn't know how to feel about Bella, she had been quiet for the last couple of hours. Hovering close to Alice and avoiding eye contact except when she took breaks to glare at Edward.
A part of him wanted to cheer on the obvious drama between two people he didn't like much.
The part of him that wasn't a knob realised she was a 17-year-old girl who's first boyfriend had done something awful in front of her. A 17-year-old who was up to her neck in supernatural bullshit.
"Hey, Bella." He caught up with her just as she reached her truck.
She looked shocked when she saw who had called her back but awkwardly waved, hovering by her truck door.
The truck was awesome at least. It sounded like something dying every time it started up and growled whenever she went round bends.
Right, he probably should have had a plan for what he was going to say to her. Rather than just standing here awkwardly staring at her truck.
"I'm sorry about scaring you the other day." That seemed like a good place to start.
Bella bit her lip and looked like she wanted hide behind her hair. "It's fine, it wasn't your fault."
Harry shrugged; who she blamed didn't matter much when it was his magic that almost hurt her. "Doesn't stop it being shit."
Bella just stared at the truck key in her hand, "I'm sorry I dragged you over to the table."
"Eh, it would have happened at some point anyway. It was only a matter of time before Edward tried something, I tend to have that effect on people."
Bella was now looking at him like he was insane which was, at least, a familiar sensation.
"Why do you make it sound like it doesn't matter that he attacked you?" Some of the anger from earlier was coming back into her eyes.
Jasper was right, not an alien. They'd have to go back to the drawing board, maybe some kind of cryptid.
"It was shit and I hated it but it's not like he was trying to kill me. I'm not going to take it personally." Bella looked confused. "He wanted something and in the process of trying to get it he hurt me. He wasn't trying to hurt me it just didn't particularly matter to him that I got hurt."
Oh that sentence definitely made her angrier.
"I just figure the guy has had to pretend to be 17 for a couple of decades and is never allowed to exist in silence. Of course, he's going to be fucked up." Harry glanced back at the house. "But the rest of the family seems nice so I reckon it's probably fixable."
Bella didn't seem convinced. Harry wasn't surprised, his attitude towards self-preservation had always been questionable.
"I'm not going to hold it against him forever." Harry smiled winningly. "Just long enough to thoroughly frustrate him."
Bella hesitated and Harry sighed. "Look your boyfriend or whatever is a prick and I deeply dislike him but that's because he's a sanctimonious prat with terrible taste in cars." Harry shrugged again, he was briefly distracted by trying to work out when shrugging had become such an important part of his communication style.
He shrugged it off, he was a teenager now, it was expected.
"I don't know how you can be so chill about this."
"If I killed everyone who annoyed me there wouldn't be many people left and if Edward does it again I still have the option to kill him." There would be a lot fewer journalists left at the Daily Prophet for a start. Harry also realised from Bella's face that he had probably strayed into 'things a well adjusted teenager would never say' territory.
Time to abort.
"Look, you've had a rough couple of days too and I'm probably not the person to talk to about all that stuff." He waved his hand to try and encompass the abstract concept of all feelings. He wanted no deep meaningful conversations about emotions with Bella. "But if you have any questions about magic drop me a text."
Bella took his number hesitantly and Harry wished the two of them were capable of being less awkward, because it was becoming clear that they could never be actual friends. Harry's Englishness would clash with Bella's complete lack of social skills and cause some form of singularity.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Harry went back inside to discover that Esme had made him lunch and he felt like declaring his love all over again.
Jasper had come to slow realisation over the course of this morning that he was significantly angrier at Edward than Harry was.
He had figured Harry was just hiding it better but the didn't seem to the case.
Harry hadn't said anything but he seemed almost bemused when Jasper expressed his rage. Jasper didn't know what to think about the fact that Harry was so confused about someone being angry on his behalf.
Jasper was too in tune with his own emotions to be unaware that a big part of his anger at his brother was fuelled by guilt. Edward may have been the one to hurt Harry, but Jasper had done nothing to prevent it.
Edward had been using his gifts to keep them safe for years and Jasper had never questioned how he was using it.
Jasper had used his gift indiscriminately when he was twisted under the thumb of Maria, he had pushed aside any morality he had retained from his human life in order to please a woman he thought he loved. That he thought loved him.
It had taken decades with the Cullens before he was comfortable using his gifts again, even then he only used them to soothe, lending calm to heated discussions. Or using his read on people's emotions to give his family insight when they needed it.
He had tried so hard over the years to stop feeling the emotions of the people around him. When emotions were positive he found it soothing but when things went wrong the negativity was overwhelming. When Bella cut her finger the previous year it hadn't been just his thirst he was dealing with.
He hated being around Edward and Bella at the same time, the endless thirst Edward felt for her drove Jasper to the edge of his own still very tenuous control.
Thinking back, it was kind of ridiculous he hadn't realised Harry wasn't entirely normal. He had never met a human before who smelt so good but didn't make him thirsty in the slightest.
Edward had never been conflicted about his own gift. Even Alice had moments where she wished she could block out the visions, wished she could stay in the present more.
Jasper had always envied how comfortable Edward was with his gift.
Had never questioned it, if it kept them safe of course it was good.
Harry seemed determined to excuse the use of Edward's gift for the defence of their family, but the more Jasper thought about it the less sure he became.
Harry, the origin of his moral panic, was happily tucking into a bowl of chicken soup and chattering away with Esme. Apparently, his mother had a previously unknown passion for knitwear and Harry was happily showing off his pullover.
"My best friend's mum has made me one every Christmas since I was 11, the ones she gave me when I was younger always had my initial on front but now I get plain ones." Harry smiled softly down at his pullover, it was a deep forest green and it brought out his eyes. Jasper could vouch for it being unbearably soft. "I have so many at this point it seems like a shame not to wear them as much as I can."
Esme smiled at him but Jasper could feel the tendril of curiosity winding through her genuine enjoyment.
"Do you miss the initials?"
"Sometimes!" Harry laughed, "At least I knew if I ever forgot my name I'd have a hint on my chest. Usually in a bright colour to make sure you really felt like a superhero." Harry smile took on a slightly bitter twist, but he continued to eat.
Esme just smiled at him, and Jasper watched whatever twisted Harry's smile dissipate in the face of Esme's gentleness.
"Did she stop putting initials on everyone's jumpers when they got older?" Esme smiled. "It seems like such a shame to stop!"
"I think she initially started to do initials to help her tell apart all her kids!" Harry smiled briefly before his face fell into something more sombre. "That wasn't a problem later on."
Jasper remembered Harry choking out a name. One of the deaths he'd seen during the war. Fred had been a twin. He didn't want to think about why Mrs. Weasley had stopped needing to put initials on her jumpers anymore.
Jasper looked desperately at his mother, begging her to change the subject. Anything would be better than this.
"You must be a really good friend to her son if she makes you something so clearly full of love." Esme smiled sweetly but Jasper felt the stab of a feeling passing through Harry.
Looking at Harry's face he didn't have to guess what emotion that sudden feeling represented.
Harry looked devastated.
Jasper couldn't help staring at him but Harry just looked down at his fingers, bundled together in his lap.
"He was a great friend."
Suddenly Jasper knew why Harry sometimes wore jumpers with an R emblazoned over the chest.
Suddenly Jasper realised he had never asked what happened to Ron and Hermione.
Suddenly Jasper just wanted to hug Harry.
But he didn't have to worry about that because he had the best mother.
Esme reached out slowly, giving Harry every chance to move away, and pulled Harry into her arms. "I'm so sorry Harry."
And Harry sobbed. Jasper felt like he could feel the barely closed wound reopen when Harry sobbed like his heart was breaking.
Everywhere he looked in Harry's life he found tragedy and he didn't know how to fix it.
Jasper glared at every other member of his family until they got the hint and left.
And then he did the only thing he could. He went to make his first attempt at tea.
Fifteen minutes later, 4 failed attempts and many googled instructions later Jasper made his way back into the living room to find Esme and Harry sat together on the couch.
Harry's eyes were red rimmed, and Jasper concentrated very hard on not listening to the soothing murmur of Esme's comfort for Harry.
He presented the tea to Harry who smiled tremulously up at him, automatically taking a sip.
And promptly spat it out.
Jasper, Esme and Harry looked down at the pool of spit and tea now on the table.
Harry made it disappear somehow and then he was looking at Jasper, down at his tea and then back at Jasper.
Then he laughed. Eyes still red and swollen, cheeks still damp, Harry looked at Jasper's offering and laughed.
"What did you add to this?" Jasper couldn't even be offended because Harry was smiling again. Granted he didn't think Harry was laughing with him in this case.
"Erm, the internet said lemon could be a nice addition." Jasper had never juiced a lemon before and it had taken him a couple of attempts not to just pulverise the fruit.
He suddenly decided it was imperative that Harry would never discover how many lemons were sacrificed to make him a cup of tea.
Harry looked down at the tea and then across at Esme. "Your son is a travesty."
Esme looked into the tea and then sighed. "Jasper, usually you strain the lemon juice. There shouldn't be seeds floating in the tea."
"Right." In retrospect that seemed obvious.
"And usually you make sure the water is hot when you add the tea bag."
"Right." He'd always had trouble judging temperature, everything just felt hotter than he was.
"You also meant to leave the tea bag intact."
Jasper looked down at the slightly chunky liquid he'd handed Harry and decided that the internet was full of lies and he should trust nothing.
Harry patted the couch next to him and as soon as he sat down Harry leaned into him. Well, this had worked out very well.
Maybe Jasper didn't need to work out how to make Harry good tea.
Harry disabused him of that notion immediately. "Esme, you have to promise me to teach Jasper your secrets otherwise we are not going to get very far at all."
Jasper had a feeling he was pouting.
Harry poked lightly at his lower lip and grinned at him. Jasper couldn't help but smile back.
Over the next half an hour Esme and Harry kept the conversation light, talking mostly about school and Harry's adventures in pop culture.
Jasper just basked.
Harry was trying very hard to ignore his still sore eyes. The steady presence of Jasper and Esme's soothing words were helping him ignore that he had just cried on someone he met a couple of hours ago.
He was reciting mantras in his head about emotions not being embarrassing in what sounded suspiciously like Hermione's voice.
Harry had never been so happy to ignore the elephant in the room, with their super hearing there was no way the entire Cullen family hadn't heard the entire embarrassing affair. Even ignoring the fact that they had all been in the room when he burst into tears.
Over the next hour the rest of the Cullen family floated in, Alice was happy to contribute films and tv series to Harry's list and Emmett rattled off a list of rock bands for Harry to check out. Rosalie objected to Kings of Leon being added to that list and Emmett defended them with all the virulence of a Tennessee native. Even Carlisle had a couple of book recommendations.
Harry was happily debating the cultural impact of Eminem when Edward finally came back.
"Look I get what you're saying, but ultimately it just sounds like noise to me. I am quite happy to admit he's important and rap is a thing that people enjoy, I just don't like it." Harry smiled winningly at Emmett who groaned loudly.
"Jasper said you like poetry, right?!" Emmett looked desperately over at Jasper and Jasper just smiled.
Harry just shrugged and winked. "Some poetry!"
Emmett just groaned in horror muttering something unflattering about English people.
Harry glanced over at Edward. "But now that we're all here I think it would be worth having some more discussions around a treaty."
Carlisle nodded and the atmosphere quickly went from teasing to serious. Even Emmett was concentrating. Or at least Harry thought he might be.
It was hard to tell, he wasn't staring at the bag anymore, but he had become weirdly fixated on Harry's sleeve.
Harry had so many enchantments on his holster, Emmett wouldn't be able to get his wand even if he killed Harry in the process of trying. And he didn't know about the calf holster.
It didn't stop him from twitching his sleeve slightly lower to make sure it was covered.
"We have a long-held treaty with the Quileute Tribal Council and are clearly held to some treaties we were previously unaware of through the Volturi. We would be quite willing to discuss a treaty with you as a new supernatural resident." Carlisle paused and frowned, glancing at Esme. "The only reason I would hesitate is your age, I understand that you are living independently but I would be more comfortable if you brought in someone of age from your community to represent your interests. We don't want to take advantage."
Harry couldn't help it. He laughed.
Then he looked up and saw that Cullens bar Jasper were looking at him like he was insane. And then he laughed again.
"Sorry," he gasped. "You'll get why that's funny in a moment I promise."
Another look from Jasper set him off again.
"Right, right. Sorry." Harry breathed in deep. "Okay so cribs notes on me. I spent a solid proportion of my life between 11 and 17 fighting a magical terrorist. Finally killed him when I was 17 but died in the process." Harry held up his hand to forestall any questions. "I came back and since then I haven't aged. The age of majority in the wixen world is 17 anyway but even without that I have spent most of the last 26 years of my life fighting dark wizards so I can assure you that I am perfectly capable of speaking for myself."
Harry grinned at Carlisle's shocked face. "I appreciate the concern though!"
Jasper looked exasperated but in a fond in a way that made Harry feel very warm.
"If you're 43 why are you pretending to be a teenager?"
They collectively turned to look at Edward the immortal idiot and he at least had the grace to look embarrassed.
Harry felt very charitable that he ignored Edward rather than pointing out all the different ways he managed to be a moron.
"Anyway, you already have some idea of what I want from you treaty wise but I am also very aware that you would probably not know where to begin asking me for things in return-"
Emmett's interruption was immediate, "I would like to request more lollipops."
Harry loved Emmett. Even as a vampire he was almost a food fixated as Ron.
"Easily done." Harry grinned at Jasper, glad he'd shared with his family. "I had plans to supply you guys with those anyway." He was happy to place himself as the new Cullen family sweet dealer.
Alice was eying his bag again and that seemed to remind Emmett. "Are the bags part of the treaty?"
"I am quite happy to supply you each with a bag." Harry glanced at the one at his feet. "I'll have to make some adjustments as you guys can't summon objects but that's independent of the treaty."
Rosalie narrowed her eyes and Harry tried to level an innocent smile back at her. "So what is it you're offering?"
"Well first off I have access through the wixen world to a reasonably extraordinary amount of blood." Harry relished how weird that sentence was to say out loud. "I won't be your constant supply, but I can help you get set up with a store of salamander blood as a fall-back option."
"Salamander blood?" Alice looked fascinated but horrified. Harry could relate, reptiles were not appetising on the whole.
"Yeah, it's what's in the blood pops, it's a relatively common potions ingredient so it's quite inexpensive. You probably wouldn't want to drink it in large quantities, but our vampires are certainly fans of it." Harry could set them up with a stasis box and a dozen gallons, it should help if they were ever in a situation where they needed to drink blood urgently. "It has restorative qualities, so you likely wouldn't need much to keep you going. Gives you a fall-back option at least."
Carlisle nodded and smiled. Clearly a good option.
The look on Emmett's face was familiar so Harry automatically pulled a blood pop out of his pocket and tossed it over.
When Jasper actually pouted at him, he passed him one too.
And then it felt rude not to offer one to everyone.
Edward was looking at the Blood pop like it would provide him with all the answers in the universe, clearly he had another convert.
He was going to have to double his order to Honeydukes. And work out if revenants could get the equivalent of a sugar rush.
Thirst seemed like a pretty permanent problem for them. It occurred to him that there was something he might be able to do to help. It wasn't on his list to offer but he figured he might as well sound them out.
"I could also get you some charmed necklaces or something that would filter out the smell of blood. You probably wouldn't want to wear them constantly, but it would stop you from smelling blood at school if you wanted that."
There was a collective drawing of breath. For a moment Harry thought they were all simultaneously trying to smell him again. He was ready to accuse them of being creepy, again.
Then he realised how wide their eyes were.
Even Jasper was looking at him in shock.
"You could stop us from smelling blood?" Edward's voice was low and urgent, and Harry realised how much he had underestimated how important this would be for them.
Presumably constantly smelling humans made them thirsty. Jasper had explained that Bella's blood was particularly attractive to Edward and Edward spent a lot of time with Bella. Presumably that made him unbearably thirsty a lot of the time.
Well shit, if they didn't agree to his treaty terms, he would probably still have to work out how to give this to them. Sounded like a basic precaution to avoid accidental deaths to him.
For now, he just nodded.
Edward looked speechless and Harry basked in that moment for a second before he decided to move on to other options.
"I also have access to these potions-"
"I will stop using my gift in any way you want me to if you can make me one of those charms." Edward voice was low and urgent and when Harry met his eyes, he could see Edward was completely and utterly serious.
Harry glanced at Carlisle who just nodded.
Now it was Harry who was speechless. He had clearly massively misjudged the Cullens.
And Edward.
"Erm okay." Harry glanced down at the numbered list he'd made of all the things he could offer the Cullens. This wasn't even on there and he had only gotten around to mentioning one of the actual list.
Well, he'd probably end up offering these anyway just not as part of the treaty.
"So standard mutual protection and respect treaty and in return for limiting the mind reading I make you these charms?"
Carlisle nodded, apparently, they were all feeling a bit speechless.
He fished through his bag until he found his usual binder of partially written treaties. He'd written a lot of treaties over the years, it helped to start with something to edit rather than a blank page.
The first couple of pages were just filling in the names of the parties involved. He was scratching away with his quill, ignoring the weird looks that was garnering him from the Cullens.
The last time he'd submitted a contract in biro to the Goblins they had threatened not to file it, it was better to just fulfil the absurd wixen obsession with shitty writing implements from the start.
At least he knew how to write properly with one now. The lessons he and Hermione has taken after Hogwarts had made him resent every teacher he'd ever had who had watched him hold a quill wrong for years and never corrected him.
Ron had let them suffer too the bastard. At least Harry could believe that Ron had just never noticed. The rest of them had no excuse.
He scratched away until he'd sketched a rudimentary treaty, pleased with the lack of ink blots and the neat penmanship.
He really was getting old if he was starting to get proud of his handwriting. Either that or he'd mentally regressed to age 5.
Either was terrible.
"Right top level is I respect the territory immediately around your home, and you do the same to me. I plan on ignoring any territory agreements you have with the Quileute, so I just expect freedom of movement. We agree not to go murdering each other willy nilly and the only exceptions will be if I witness one of your coven's eyes turn red at which point, I demand the right to an investigation. If one of you bites someone without permission, I will consider the treaty void. In return if I cast any harmful magic on you without your permission that would also void the treaty."
Harry glanced up to see if they all seemed happy. Jasper was giving him a long-suffering look that told him that Jasper had spotted that Harry was still giving himself leeway for magic based pranks. It didn't look like Jasper planned on informing his family of that, so Harry just smiled back at him.
Carlisle looked at the rest of the family before nodding at Harry. "That all sounds reasonable."
"Good." Harry glanced down at the treaty in front of him. "I would additionally request that Edward work to control his gift, if he is capable of filtering out conversations that are not related to your family's safety, I will expect him to do so. If he is not capable, I will be responsible for finding an alternative option." Edward was tense but showed no sign of objecting. Harry couldn't help but marvel at the difference now he had something Edward actually wanted. "If I find out that he has attacked anyone the way he attacked me, outside of self-defence or war, he will have to bear the consequences my world lays out for unauthorised legilimency."
Edward flinched but nodded.
"In return I will supply the Cullen coven with charms to prevent them from smelling blood." The Cullens nodded happily, and Harry felt like he was getting away with something. "I will also supply an emergency supply of Salamander blood and the means to store it."
After that it was a matter of minutes to distribute copies of the treaty and for everyone to read, Carlisle was the first to finish.
"You want to open this to renegotiation every 5 years?"
"It's always good to revisit." Harry shrugged, "We don't have to change anything but as long as we are all living in the same area, we should work to keep it up to date. Means if either of us have any issues with it we can review it, make sure it still works for both of us."
This seemed to be a new concept to Carlisle and Harry was suddenly very concerned with the state of the Quileute treaty.
He would have to ask Jake.
He looked back at the table just in time to spot Carlisle signing his draft treaty.
Merlin, these vampires were terrible at this.
They were very lucky that Harry hadn't included too many joke clauses.
Harry accepted the treaty back to sign himself and made everyone copies before tucking the initial contract back into his bag.
"I'll get those charms done in the next couple of days. If you have any necklaces you'd prefer me to use grab them before I leave otherwise you will be subject to whatever I dig up at home." Alice and Rosalie immediately stood up to go to their rooms.
Esme just undid the delicate silver cross she was already wearing and handed it over to Harry with a smile.
Edward did the same and Harry suddenly had a lot of questions about muggle vampires and muggle religion.
He was quickly supplied with an assortment of necklaces, most of which had the same crest on them. Looked like it was something that represented their family. Jasper was the only one to leave him to find him something.
That was an extraordinary amount of trust considering Harry's usual level of bullshit but Harry was determined to not make him regret it. Too badly.
He still had one last thing to do and the thought of it made him grin.
"Just one last thing before I head off." Harry kept his face impassive which would be a giveaway to anyone who knew him but luckily most of the Cullens weren't there yet. And Jasper was just looking at him curiously. "A gift to say thank you for making this a painless process."
Emmett looked excited. Everyone else was cautious.
"Harry we couldn't possibly accept a gift from you." Esme was too good for this world, Harry would protect her with his life. Esme and her magical tea making hands were precious. "You have offered us something we have only dreamed of in exchange for something we are happy to give."
"It's nothing big I promise, and it will help with the treaty in some respects." That got him suspicious looks from Rosalie and Edward but Esme just patted his arm lightly.
"If you're sure dear." Harry smiled at her happily. Esme had been the best thing about today.
Harry pulled a box the length of his forearm out of his bag and it opened it on the table in front of him, it was filled with a variety of rings. He had spent the previous day digging out what he had brought with him from the Potter vaults, he didn't trust anything from the Black vaults without intensive testing.
"I want to offer you each a ring. They are from my family vaults but none of them are heirlooms." Jasper smiled down at the ring currently on his index finger and Harry bit back a smile. Happy to see how well the heavy gold suited him. "They have a couple of existing magical properties." He answered the next question before it could be asked. "They wouldn't be suitable for the same purpose of the necklaces; it is hard to add anything to an existing enchantment without breaking it and the kind of charm I will be adding to the necklaces will be taking advantage of being close to your heads."
Emmett was already sorting through and looked like he wanted to wear all of them. Alice and Esme looked intrigued and were starting to move closer to the box to get a better look.
"They resize to fit, are difficult to break without magic and they have a basic protection rune carved into them. They won't protect from anything big but could turn aside a weak spell if needed." The rest of the Cullens started to look over the options. Alice was already looking at a delicate silver ring whilst Rosalie had found a woven golden band that she was taking a closer look at.
Esme had picked up a thin ring made of rose gold. Harry smiled, fitting, that one had belonged to his mother.
Emmett was trying to decide between 3 very similar looking signet rings. They were all blank, but Harry could easily replicate the Cullen crest on them if Emmett wanted.
But time to try and annoy Edward again, Harry was foreseeing a lot of effort in the future towards that particular aim.
"They also have a lower strength version of what is on Jasper's ring. They give you a very low-level shield for your thoughts, it won't put up any kind of resistance but will let you know if someone tries to read your mind."
The Cullens all froze and looked towards Edward.
Edward also seemed frozen. Harry felt like clapping, the Edward at the beginning of the day would have launched into a rage the moment Harry suggested protecting his family's minds.
This Edward had already volunteered to control his gift usage on the people of Forks, he just probably hadn't planned on extending the courtesy to his family.
The best pranks had a positive benefit.
Edward stood up slowly and made his way to the table. He scooped up one of the signet rings Emmett had discarded and nodded at Harry.
Harry felt weirdly pleased that he wasn't getting the reaction he expected from Edward.
In the spirit of celebration, he might as well make an effort. He gestured for Edward to hand him the ring and with a quick glance at a necklace to double check the design he carefully manipulated the blank surface until the Cullen crest was standing proud.
Harry had always had a weakness for Lion imagery, it came with the whole Gryffindor territory. As much as he embraced his Slytherin side these days his home would always be with the lions.
He remembered telling Draco that his behaviour on the train that first day had been a deciding factor in Harry going to Gryffindor rather than Slytherin and Draco had begged him to never tell anyone else that fact.
Draco did not want to be known as the reason his house didn't get the Man-Who-Conquered as an Alumni.
Harry looked up at Edward and tried to imagine what he would have been like as a human. 17 was a young age to be frozen at, Harry was very familiar with how unfinished he felt sometimes.
Harry wordlessly handed the ring to Edward who slipped it on to his pinky finger, the ring resized to fit and the mind reader just stared down at it.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Harry was suddenly very tired; he was ready to head home. Maybe start a re-read of Lord of the Rings before his date on Saturday. Curl up with Crookshanks and try to avoid thinking about the pixies that were probably causing chaos in his cabbage patch.
He persevered through the next hour and helped the Cullens choose their rings, engraving what needed engraving and helping to push the magic to resize them until they fit perfectly.
Jasper kept sending him sympathetic looks and Harry was struggling to hide his yawns. He felt like a toddler who'd been kept up past his nap, his limbs were starting to feel uncoordinated and clumsy.
He haphazardly pushed the rest of the rings back into his box and slipped them back into his bag. He reached out to grab Jasper's hand. "See you Saturday?"
"Of course." Jasper swept his hand up to his mouth and lightly kissed Harry knuckles.
Harry felt like his face was about to spontaneously ignite.
"Yes well." Harry coughed, gathering his hand back to his chest. "Bye then."
He vaguely waved at the room, ignoring the not-so-subtle grins on some of the faces, and then he twisted on his heel and with a snap he apparated.
He was back at the cabin; his face was still burning, and he had definitely forgotten to put his shoes back on.
