CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Summary: Sent to Volterra in order to negotiate terms of an alliance to end the war, Hermione's life is turned upside down as she is brought into the world of the Volturi, better known as the Vampire Kings. There she is made a part of a new kind of family and a most trusted member of the guard, whether she likes it or not, and surprisingly, she does. Rated M for language, violence and sexual content.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters, they belong to J.K Rowling and Stephenie Myers. I am not making a profit from writing and posting this fanfic. As for the descriptions of appearances for the Twilight characters, all my research is based on the books and not the movies, but I may have changed a few things regarding Alec's height and age.
Page count: 6
Sunday 19th July 1998
Two months had passed since Hermione's move to Volterra and it had passed quickly. She had a routine that she followed every day and it kept her more than busy.
After waking, she would have breakfast before tending to Teddy and once they were both ready for the day, she would head to the library to get some time in with her research of which she had barely made a dent in due to the amount of documentation she had to read over and analyse before she could even begin to contemplate new laws.
At lunchtime, she would return to her rooms, where food would be waiting for her and after eating her lunch, she would head to her training room, and it had become somewhat of a regular occurrence that Marcus be waiting outside the room for her where he would take Teddy and keep him occupied for an hour whilst Hermione exercised her magic. Usually, she would never have allowed someone to be left on their own with him, let alone a vampire, but she had come to trust Marcus with Teddy, just as much as she trusted Alec and Demetri with him.
She knew Marcus wouldn't harm him, he always looked his happiest when Teddy was nearby and to add to Marcus' growing list of friends, Midnight had taken to following him around, only returning to her rooms when Crookshanks brought her back dangling from his mouth
After finishing in her training room, Marcus and Hermione would head to the library where they would sit in silence as they read through a book of their choice, and Aro would sometimes join them. It was a strange camaraderie but Hermione had learned to be comfortable in their presence.
An hour before dinner, Hermione would leave the library and take a walk through the castle, mapping out the corridors in her head. Sometimes she would come across others and sometimes she didn't. She had met several members of the coven who had introduced themselves to her, Chelsea, Corin and much to her surprise, Sulpicia and Athendora who were Aro's and Caius' wives. They were friendly with her and often asked how she was settling in at the castle but other than that there wasn't much interaction.
During her walks, Jane would sometimes accompany her and Hermione took the time to encourage Jane to open up to her. It had taken a while but Hermione had discovered that Jane wasn't as frightening or as cold as others believed her to be. She was actually quite smart, and although Hermione still had to encourage her to hold Teddy, she was always tender and gentle with him, as though she were afraid he would break in her hold. Jane had an interest in the magical creatures that existed in the Wizarding World, and on more than one occasion, they had taken a detour in their walk and moved to Hermione's library where she would present Jane with another tome on magical creatures. Hermione liked Jane, she was more than aware of the strange looks she received when she was spotted with Jane in the corridors but Hermione believed Jane to be seriously misunderstood.
When Jane wasn't with her, she would sometimes run into Felix during her travels and he would accompany her on her walks. The friendly atmosphere was easy to identify when they were seen together walking in the corridors as they joked and laughed with each other. And Felix had taken a liking to Teddy, especially once he had witnessed Teddy's hair flashing from blonde to blue, and after that, he had started threatening to wrestle Hermione if she didn't allow him to hold Teddy which she was more than fine with.
She didn't know what the castle had been like before her arrival but she had gotten glimpses of it during her first visit, and she could already see a change in the Volturi Guards with hers and Teddy's presence.
When dinnertime rolled around, Hermione would take Teddy back to her rooms and have her dinner whilst Alec and Demetri would sit with her after carrying out their duties. Once dinner was over, either Alec or Demetri would watch over Teddy whilst Hermione spent some time in her potions lab with the other accompanying her and they would switch their roles every day, so they both spent equal amounts of time with her, watching her work and learning more about the field of potions since Hermione was now completing her masters.
It had been difficult to convince the Italian Ministry to allow her to do so without a mentor but with her celebrity status, as well as the British Minister of Magic, or better known as Kingsley Shacklebolt, helping to push through the paperwork, Hermione was allowed to work independently whilst sending off any assignments to be marked by her assigned assessor.
When she returned to her rooms, Alec and Demetri would leave to allow her time to tend to Teddy, bathe him and put him to bed, and afterwards, she would have a relaxing bath and ready for bed herself, only for her to wake with her nightmares during the night, where she would find Alec and Demetri comforting her and tending to Teddy when it was needed.
She had settled into her life in Volterra rather nicely and she had half expected for Alec and Demetri to pull away from her, but they didn't and she was grateful for it. If anything, they made it a point to visit with her daily. They had spent days helping her to understand the history of the Volturi, as well as helping her to familiarise herself with each member, in regards to their names, appearances and gifts, so knew what she was up against if one of them were to try and harm her. She hadn't met or been introduced to everyone yet but she knew who they were which give her an advantage.
They had explained more about their lives, mainly about their time with the Volturi and what they could remember of their lives before they were turned and it wasn't much, but she appreciated it all the same.
She knew she could rely on them and she didn't know why, but her magic always seemed to hum and sing when they were close by, and it only intensified when they touched and she did her best to ignore it. But it was getting harder to; it was as if her magic was responding to them whilst trying to tell her something important, but she couldn't understand what it was.
She more than trusted them, she cared for them and if she were being honest with herself, over the last few months her feelings towards them had changed and she was convinced she was falling in love with them and she couldn't deny her reasoning.
They were kind to her, they never treated her as though she were a weak, fragile human, despite the fact she crumbled in on herself when waking from a nightmare. They never assumed she couldn't do something simply because she was human, or that she was weaker than them for the same reason. They didn't get angry or insult her when she went off on a rant about equal rights for all beings, nor did they when she went off topic and gave a lecture about something completely different to what they had been discussing. In fact, more often than not, they found it amusing and they sat and listened, asking questions when they needed clarification or wished for more information. Their presence helped to calm her if she was feeling homesick or stressed. They made her feel safe. Cared for. Appreciated.
Alec was the serious one, as far as she could tell, it wasn't often he laughed or smiled in public but he did so in her presence. He was protective of her, very protective of her, and she had come to realise he was worse than how she had been back in England when defending them against the Order. He would constantly ask her if there was anything she required, if anyone had upset her or said something to make her feel uncomfortable.
She had discovered he was a bit of a bookworm like herself, and he had promised to show her his own collection of books in the future. He loved to tease his sister, which she had witnessed on a few occasions and Jane had always looked as though she wanted to put him through a wall. He had a passion for sketching and drawing, which had come as a surprise when he'd revealed it about himself but it was a pleasant surprise.
Demetri, he was the light-hearted one. He was always smiling and laughing and she had seen the friendship between him and Felix, which she suspected was one of the reasons she liked Felix so much. The way they interacted you with would think they were brothers and not friends and she loved seeing them teasing each other and laughing. Just like Alec, Demetri was protective of her and she suspected he had Selena, the receptionist, spying on her to make sure she ate every meal that was brought to her. He went out of his way to make sure she was comfortable and that she felt at home in Volterra.
She had discovered that Demetri had a passion for music, he was able to play several instruments but his favourite was the piano, and he loved driving fast cars; he'd named several of his favourites and Hermione having no clue what he was talking about, often just sat there and blinked at him dumbly and he would laugh at her.
When it came to them spending time with Teddy, Hermione had noticed that although Alec was comfortable with him, Demetri was the one that spent more time with him, whereas Alec would always be a little reluctant to do so. Demetri would talk to Teddy in what she had dubbed as his 'baby voice' and it always amused her, but it also made her stomach flutter when he would have a wide smile on his face as he interacted with her Godson.
Alec didn't so much as 'talk' to Teddy, he preferred to read books aloud when he was with him, and every so often, Teddy would make a sound and Alec would stop in his reading to look down at Teddy amused and his mouth would twitch into a smile, and just like with Demetri, her stomach would flutter at the sight.
And Teddy, he had grown remarkably since moving to Volterra as he was now almost four months old. His Metamorphmagus abilities were beginning to make themselves known more often than previously, although his hair would only flash from blonde to blue, it was happening a couple of times a day. Along with his Metamorphmagus abilities came the regular child development, of which Hermione had been reading about through several child-rearing books, both muggle and wizarding as she wanted to be prepared and be the mother Teddy deserved.
At his age of four months, he was now laughing, squealing and smiling, more so than he did crying and it was clear to her that Teddy would be a happy child. He was able to hold his own head up, which made manoeuvring him a lot easier, he was able to push himself up onto his forearms when laid on his stomach and he was bearing his weight on his legs. He was growing so fast and before she knew it, he would be walking and talking and she dreaded when that time came as she didn't doubt he would be a mischievous child with his father being a Marauder.
She didn't doubt Teddy had already stolen the hearts of a few members of the Coven, and she knew that should it be needed, he would have himself several protectors with herself, Alec and Demetri, but she knew Felix and Marcus would protect him, too, as would Jane, and she couldn't have been any more grateful than she already was. They hadn't verbalised their agreements, but they didn't have to.
And now, two months later, found Hermione waking up from a nightmare, but this nightmare had been different, it had been a memory of her destroying the Horcrux in the Chamber of Secrets and the vision the Horcrux had shown her of Alec and Demetri torn into a pile of limbs had been playing a loop.
When she opened her eyes it was to see Alec sat on the edge of the bed and looking at her worriedly. She didn't see Demetri in her room and it was because he had been sent to track a few rogue newborns and their creator, along with Felix and Jane. He had left that morning and would hopefully be back within a week's time, depending on how much hassle they had to deal with. It was likely the reason why her memory of that night had plagued her. Demetri wouldn't be nearby and she was worried about him, despite him being a thousand-year-old vampire who could more than take care of himself.
Hermione looked to Alec and when her eyes locked with his, he shifted on the bed until he was lying down beside her and they were facing each other, with him holding one of her hands between them.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked her softly.
She wiped away her tears and shook her head. "No, it was just a memory that's resurfaced due to worry."
"And why are you worried?"
She sighed. "During the battle, it was my responsibility to destroy one of the objects that gave Voldemort immortality, but they have a defence mechanism on them. It showed my biggest fear and it almost beat me, I almost gave in. The reveal of my biggest fear was a shock for me and since the battle, it's been in the back of my mind, not thought about but not forgotten, until it resurfaced."
"What's your fear?"
"It's silly," she waved him off.
"I doubt that, what's your fear?"
She turned her eyes downcast. "You'll think I'm being ridiculous," she muttered, but he heard perfectly.
"I could never think that of you," he vowed.
She sighed. "Not yet, I'm still coming to terms with it myself; my biggest fear changed and I didn't even know until it was shown to me. But one day I may tell you." She closed her eyes, feeling exhausted. "I'm so tired but I can't sleep for the memories and the feelings they bring up in me. I wish I was just numb to it all, at least for a little while," she said quietly.
Alec frowned, he had the ability to numb the senses but he couldn't numb a person's thoughts or feelings. He wished he could take her pain away, to protect her from it.
Her breathing was beginning to deepen, letting him know that soon she would be asleep and be vulnerable to her nightmares. He kept his eyes locked on her face; he had seen her use magic to make herself look healthy, which meant he knew that she was the covering dark bruises that lived under her eyes, even if others couldn't see them.
He frowned, even if he could help her, his ability wouldn't work on her due to her mental shields blocking him from infiltrating her mind. But if she lowered her shields, he may be able to help her in some way.
"Do you trust me?" He asked quietly.
"Yes," she mumbled tiredly, barely even taking a second to think about it, and he was amazed at the trust she held in him.
"Take down your mental shields."
"Done," she replied, not even bothering to ask why it was he had asked that of her.
He waited until her breathing had evened out and she was asleep, before he focused his attention on releasing the shimmering hazy mist and surrounding Hermione with it. He was attempting to do something he hadn't done before, he was pushing the boundaries of his limitations and he wouldn't stop until he had succeeded in his intentions.
He was unable to remove thoughts or block them, so he wished to numb her feelings so that when she was dreaming, all she would see is her memories but without the emotions and feelings that were attached to them, she would be numb to it all, and hopefully, she would sleep without interruption.
~000~000~000~
When Hermione next woke, the light was streaming through the windows and she was expecting to wake alone, yet she didn't. Alec was still lying beside her, only this time, Teddy was between them, laying on his back and laughing and squealing as Alec tickled his stomach with a small smile twitching as his mouth. It was a wonderful sight to wake up to and her heart all but melted.
Alec lifted his eyes and smiled at her.
"Thank you,"
"For what?" He questioned.
"For whatever it was you did last night, I don't know how, but I still relived my memories, only I didn't feel the pain and the terror and the grief."
"It worked?" He asked, a hopeful twinkle to his red irises.
"It worked, thank you," she said softly. Her eyes fell downcast and they widened before she bolted upright.
"What is it?" Alec asked with a frown at her reaction.
"Teddy," she whispered, and Alec looked down, too, his mouth twitching when he saw that Teddy was now on his stomach and holding his own weight up on his arms. "He just rolled over for the first time! Before I know it he'll be running around and I'll be pulling my hair out, chasing after him." Alec chuckled. "Demetri's going to be disappointed he missed this," she said sadly.
"He may have missed this development, but he'll be present for many more," Alec promised her. "He isn't going anywhere and neither am I."