CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
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: 9
Thursday 6th August 1998
"Hermione, it's time to get up," Alec spoke softly, but the teasing in his voice wasn't hard to miss.
"Don't want to," she mumbled, pulling the blanket over her head tightly and burrowing under the covers.
"You've already missed breakfast and your lunch should be here in an hour, you need to get up and get ready. Didn't you say you wanted to get some uninterrupted time in your lab today?"
"Not anymore, I'm tired," she grumbled.
"And whose fault is that?"
"Yours," she grouched. "Let me sleep," she all but whined and a scowl pulled at her face when she heard him laughing at her and the mattress dipped beside her.
She had half a mind to hex him, after all, he was the reason she was so tired. She'd barely gotten any sleep over the last few days since Alec was sure to keep her up all night. When she fell asleep, he'd wake her up an hour later and her traitorous body would always succumb to his touch.
She'd been so tired that when walking around the castle she'd bump into doors and walls, she would trip on the uneven stone floor or even over her own feet. She'd kept herself away from her potions lab, not trusting herself to brew any potions for her own safety as well as everyone else's in the castle.
Those that she passed in the corridors would give her nods of respect and looks of amusement, knowing exactly why she was so tired and grumpy. Although the corridor leading to her rooms had a permanent Silencing Charm to protect their privacy, it was easy to know the cause of her exhaustion. Whilst she was tired and grumpy, Alec was calm and quiet as usual, but now a smile always seemed to be pulling at his mouth and he all but skipped when he walked, much to the amusement of everyone but Hermione. The three Lords were the worst of the lot of them. Aro was pleased, Marcus amused and Caius would make innocent remarks when she was nearby, suggesting that she really should get some rest. Alec had to escort her from the room to prevent her from hexing Caius, and his laughter as she was all but dragged from the room only infuriated her more. Some day she was going to get him back for it.
"If I let you sleep, you'll miss the entire day," Alec said.
"I wasn't referring to now."
"I didn't hear you complaining last night," he replied, and she didn't need to look at him to know he was smirking. She shifted under the covers so she could kick him and he laughed at her. "You can't blame me for taking advantage of us being alone, Demetri will be back soon and your attention will be divided once more."
She sighed at hearing his words and she slowly pulled the blanket back from her face, his angelic features being the first sight that greeted her.
"Alec, I do not love you more than I love Demetri, and I do not love him more than I love you. Sometimes you and I will have the opportunity to be together, like we have this week, and sometimes the roles will be reversed with Demetri. I know having to vie for my attention must be difficult for you, but I do my best to treat you both equally."
"And it can't be easy for you, having to constantly be the mediator between Demetri and I," he commented, lifting his hand to push her hair out of her face.
"It's not, it's really not, but any relationship is going to require effort and hard work, our circumstances are only more difficult as there is three of us. But, we seem to be doing well given the small amount of time we've been together, and the longer we are together, I imagine the easier it will be for us. So when Demetri returns, he will likely want my attention to be on him, given that we've been without him for almost a week, and he will want the same opportunity at some point, too."
"I know," Alec nodded. "Which is why I'll tend to Teddy when he gets back, so you can have some time together."
"And it's also why you've been disturbing my sleep," she said knowingly.
"Partially," he admitted. "But even if it weren't, I've been waiting for you for over a thousand years and now you're here and I know I can't hurt you. I don't have to worry; I can just be with you."
She sighed and shuffled closer to him, looping her arm over his waist and he pulled her into him, wrapping her up in his arms.
"Well, as much as I love you, if you keep disturbing my sleep, I'm going to hex you so badly you'll wish it was Jane using her ability on you, as it would be considerably less painful."
He snorted at her. "Alright, I've witnessed how grumpy you are when you don't get your sleep. I'll try to keep my hands to myself."
She rolled her eyes at his words, not that he would keep his hands to himself but that he would try. The both of them knew that wasn't going to happen.
"You really should get up."
"Why?" She sighed, her eyes closed and she could feel herself dosing off.
"I received word that Jane and Felix will be here in no less than thirty minutes." She sprung back from him and her eyes flew open, feeling her exhaustion take a back seat. "Relax, Demetri is fine and there were no injuries. Jane and Felix left a day before the others, they stayed behind to track the final vampire. Demetri should be here no later than tomorrow lunchtime."
A look of relief crossed her face and she nodded before reluctantly climbing out of bed and heading into the bathroom, more than aware of the fact that Alec's gaze was locked on her arse, covered only by the shirt she had stolen from him.
She quickly washed and readied for the day and she emerged from the bathroom, Alec's appreciative smile greeting her. She had dressed in a pale yellow sundress that had thin straps and a sweetheart neckline. The dress was cinched in at the waist and flowed out in pleats until it reached her mid-thigh. On her feet, she had a pair of white ballet pumps and she left her hair down, spilling over her shoulders and down her back, but she clipped it back and out of her face.
She summoned an Invigoration Draught and downed the entire vial, knowing she was going to need it to keep her from falling asleep. She left her rooms with Alec and she headed towards Marcus' rooms in order to collect Teddy, and Alec made his way to the chambers in order to be present for the debriefing from Jane and Felix.
Hermione was slowly making her way through the corridors of the castle when she bumped into Felix, who had just arrived and was on his way to greet the Lords. A smile pulled at his face when he saw her approaching and he picked up his steps to meet her halfway.
"Hermione, you look lovely as always," he greeted, giving her a bow.
"Demetri is not here, Felix," she said amusedly. "As such, your intentions to wind him up with comments such as that are pointless."
He shrugged and his smile remained on his face. "I may like to get under his skin, but that does not mean that my words to you are untrue."
She rolled her eyes at him and she turned to look at the giggling child perched on her hip as he tugged on her hair. She winced and was able to get him to release his tight grip, but he just took a hold of another section of her hair.
"I never had the opportunity to thank you."
"Thank me?" He questioned, looking confused.
"Yes, for protecting Teddy when I was unable to."
His face softened and his eyes fell to the giggling child before returning to her face.
"You don't need to thank me," he said sincerely. "I have become rather fond of him. He's a funny little being," he said, his mouth twitching when Teddy tugged at her hair again and she winced and untangled her hair from his fingers once more.
Felix was quick to take Teddy from her when she handed him over, he sat the now five-month-old on his hip and Teddy's hands immediately went to tugging at his Guard robes.
"You're not the one that's losing their hair to his grabby hands," she replied and he snorted at her whilst she pushed her hair over her shoulder. "Anyway, I wanted to give you something," she said.
He watched curiously as her wand appeared in her hand and she muttered under her breath. A few moments later, a box came whizzing around the corner and Hermione caught it before it slammed into the wall. She removed the lid and showed Felix the differently coloured, sized and shaped packages that sat inside the box.
"I've told you of my twin brothers, right?"
"Fred and George, pranksters that create their own products and sell them," he confirmed.
She nodded. "Well, this is for you. They've asked that I test these for them before they can be signed off and sold to the public. I thought you might have more fun with this than I."
A mischievous smile appeared on his face and it reminded Hermione so much of the twins that it was frightening.
"What do they do?"
"No idea, they never told me," she shrugged, "So I'm going to need your feedback so I may record the data and later send it to the twins." His smile grew wider and he happily took the box from her as she took Teddy from him. "Right, I don't want to take up any more of your time, so I'll let you be on your way to the Lords, and I suppose I'll see you later."
He nodded and took a step down the corridor before stopping and turning to face her.
"You seem different," he observed.
She grumbled under her breath and he raised an eyebrow, not recognising the language.
"You'll figure it out the moment you see Alec and Lord Caius."
She knew she had gotten his interest with those words but he nodded and turned, walking down the corridor. Hermione headed in the opposite direction and towards her rooms, knowing that her lunch was to be delivered shortly. As she navigated the corridors she had long since memorised, she caught sight of Jane who looked to have come from the direction of the chambers, making her believe she had arrived before Felix and had already debriefed the Lords.
Jane gave Hermione a smile in greeting and Hermione smiled back.
"I trust everything went as planned," Hermione spoke, falling into step with Jane.
"Of course," Jane nodded. "It rarely doesn't, and I know that you are worried about Demetri, I assure you he is fine. He is but a day behind us."
"Thank you," Hermione replied.
"I see that things with you and my brother are going well," she said knowingly, giving Hermione an amused smile.
Hermione refused to blush under the older-but-younger vampire's gaze. "Yes, our relationship is as good as it could possibly be."
"I know," she smirked. "He was very unlike his usual self, I caught him smiling and Master Caius was far too amused with the situation."
"Well, Lord Caius is incredibly lucky he still has his head attached to his neck," she grumbled.
Jane didn't look angry or as though she wanted to punish her, in fact, she looked as though she were trying to stop herself from laughing. She had long since grown use to Hermione's threats towards the Lords, and none of the Lords themselves ever took offence, they just endeavoured to wind her up further, enjoying the way they could ruffle her feathers until she was forced to leave to her training room so she could release her anger.
"And yes I know he can hear me and I hope he's listening."
"He is," Jane confirmed, sounding amused. "And I should inform you, he's laughing at you."
"I'm going to do so much worse than remove his bloody head from his neck," Hermione said darkly. She shook her head and sighed, gaining control of her annoyance. "Would you like to join me for lunch, I wish to give you something?"
Jane looked curious and she nodded in agreement, following Hermione to her rooms. When they stepped inside, Jane's eyes swept her surroundings despite the fact she'd been in the room before.
Hermione gestured to the couches and Jane took a seat, taking Teddy from Hermione as she passed him over, and Hermione turned and make her way over to her vanity, whilst the kittens bounded over to Jane to greet her, all of them coming out of their hiding places.
Once Hermione had found what she was looking for, she moved over to the couches, shooed the kittens away though Wheezer lingered a little longer, and she took a seat beside Jane. Jane's red eyes fell down to Hermione's hand as she held her closed fist out towards her expectantly. Jane lifted her hand towards Hermione's and Hermione opened her hand, revealing a thin silver chain with a simple silver heart for a pendant.
Jane lifted the chain up to her eye line as it dangled from her finger, swinging back and forth gently and Teddy reached out to grip it, so Jane moved it further away from him and her eyes turned to Hermione.
"I want you to have it," said Hermione. "It belonged to my mother, and I know she would've liked you if she had gotten the chance to meet you."
Jane blinked slowly, a slight frown pulling at her face in her confusion.
"I owe you a great deal, Jane. Not only have you been kind to me since my moving to Volterra and being made a member of the Coven, even if it was against my will," she grumbled and Jane's lip twitched at her tone. "You've been nothing but kind to me. I can only imagine how close you and Alec were before my arrival and if I'm being honest with you, I expected you to be a little hostile towards me, not only because I'm human, but because your brother now spends less time with you."
"That is a blessing in disguise," Jane responded, pulling a snort from Hermione.
"Well, regardless, you've still been kind to me and you protected Teddy when I couldn't, and I have no way to thank you for that."
"Well, I know how much Alec cares for him, I know that he sees Teddy as if he were his own son and in that case, it makes me his..."
"Aunt," Hermione finished with a smile. "I suppose it does. And it makes you my sister." Jane looked surprised by her words. "Alec and I will be together for as long as possible and I've come to terms with the fact that I'll someday be changed into a vampire. I know neither Alec nor Demetri would let me go and to be honest, I don't particularly want to be without them and I don't want them to be left without me. I don't know of their characters before meeting me, but I know I've changed them, Felix and Lord Marcus speak of it all the time, and I don't want them to return to who they once were."
"They're both different and for the better," Jane commented. "Particularly Alec; I have not seen him so happy, in both life and death. And even if you did not want to become one of us, I wouldn't allow Alec to suffer because of you; I'd change you myself and against your will."
"I'm not sure how I should respond to that," Hermione said honestly, before shaking her head. "Anyway, as I was saying, due to my relationship with Alec, it makes you my sister."
"I've never had a sister before," Jane said quietly.
"Well, now you do, an older-but-younger sister. And I want you to have this necklace so that you remember that. I don't want you to feel alone. I know I'm one of the very few people that don't fear you, and whilst I'm sure you like knowing that you are feared and respected by the Coven and Guard, I want you to know that I don't respect you for the fear you instil in people. I respect you because you're strong and smart, I respect you for the kindness that I know you have inside of you but you keep hidden. I respect you for the love that you have for your brother, for your loyalty to the Coven and for protecting Teddy. You are everything that I could wish to have in a sister."
The look on Jane's face gave the impression that if it were possible, she'd be crying. Jane held the necklace out to Hermione and she took it with a sad look on her face, feeling rejected, but Jane merely shifted in her seat and turned her back to Hermione. The sadness was pushed away and a smile crept onto Hermione's face and she moved closer to Jane and fastened the necklace in place. Jane turned back around and her free hand came up to the necklace, holding the pendant in her hand gently.
"Thank you," Jane said quietly, almost inhumanly quiet that she almost hadn't heard. "I have never been given such a gift."
"I have seen the jewels you have been gifted by the Lords," Hermione responded, her head tipping to the side.
"I have, but those were not gifts, they were rewards. You have given me something that is precious to you."
"Yes, I have," Hermione agreed. "But not as a reward, rather as appreciation and acceptance of you being my sister. And I would also like to give you something else."
Jane watched as Hermione stood from the couch and disappeared into Teddy's nursery, returning with a wriggling kitten in her hands. She placed the kitten on the couch and took Teddy from Jane, moving to sit on the couch opposite. Hermione watched in amusement at the way Wheezer clumsily climbed into Jane's lap and butted his head against her stomach, seeking affection. Jane looked to Hermione confused.
"Every witch needs a familiar and Wheezer seems to be yours. So, what do you say, Witch Twin, do you have space for a mischievous kitten in your rooms?"
"If my gift worked on you, I'd be using it right now," Jane replied but Hermione wasn't blind to the twitch of her lip, nor was she deaf to the way amusement laced her tone.
"If I wanted to feel such pain, I could easily give myself a paper cut," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Jane snorted and the knock at the door drew their attention. Hermione stood with Teddy perched on her hip as she moved to the door. When she opened it, Selena the receptionist was stood on the other side with a tray in her hand. The moment she saw Jane perched on the couch, she started shaking.
"Thank you, Selena, I can take it from here," Hermione said calmly, taking the tray from the frightened receptionist and shutting the door over with her foot, and Selena's breath of relief could be heard.
Hermione rolled her eyes and made her way back over to the couch, she placed the tray down on the table and made for Teddy's nursery until Jane stopped her.
"Where are you going?"
"Teddy is due his bottle, I'm going to prepare it and feed him," Hermione answered.
"And your lunch?"
"It will still be here after I've finished tending to Teddy. He comes first."
Hermione continued on her journey to Teddy's nursery and before she could step through the door, Jane stood before her and Hermione blinked in surprise.
"I can tend to Teddy whilst you take lunch." Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I have seen Alec prepare his bottle plenty enough times to know how to do it myself."
"Alright then," she replied, handing Teddy over to Jane, and whilst Jane disappeared into the nursery, Hermione returned to the couch and ate her lunch, listening to Jane's soft voice talking to Teddy as she fed him his bottle.
~000~000~000~
Hermione was walking through the corridors and making her way towards her potions lab. It was early evening and she had left Teddy with Jane in her library. Jane had offered to watch Teddy so she could spend some time working on her Masters, and Hermione had accepted gratefully.
The corridors were fairly quiet given that it was barely five o'clock in the evening, but as she rounded the corner, she caught sight of a familiar figure.
"Demetri?" She questioned in surprise; she wasn't expecting him to return until tomorrow.
His dazzling smile made her feel dizzy even from the distance of almost twenty feet away. He quickly made his way to her and she jumped into his arms, he caught her easily and pressed his nose against her neck, breathing in her comforting scent.
"They said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow," she said, her voice muffled due to the fact her face was pressed into his clothing and she breathed in his scent, having missed it.
"It didn't take as long to track the final vampire as I thought it would and once we were sure everything was taken care of, we came straight back. I've yet to debrief the Lords, I've only just arrived."
"I was so worried."
He chuckled. "There was nothing for you to worry about."
"Whenever you're not in my line of sight I'm going to worry, impenetrable skin, inhuman speed and strength and enhanced senses or not."
He breathed her in deeply and she sighed when he pressed a kiss against her neck before he pulled back with a slight frown on his face.
"What is it?" She questioned.
"You smell different," he answered, his eyes sweeping her from head to toe, and whilst she noticed the appreciative look in his eyes at her choice of clothing that day, she also noticed the confusion. "You smell like Alec."
"I imagine I always smell like him, just as I do you."
"No, this is different; you don't just smell like him, it's more than that," his brow furrowed deeper.
Hermione stepped back from him and her wand appeared in her hand as she cast a Silencing Charm around them, which only confused him more.
"It's best this comes from me rather than a member of the Coven, or even one of the Lords." He raised an eyebrow. "Alec and I, well, we're together."
"I'm aware," he tipped his head.
"No, Demetri, we're together." He looked confused and she pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed. "Demetri, we've had sex."
He was silent and stood rooted to the spot until she found herself being backed up until her back gently pressed against the wall and he took her upper arms in his hands as his eyes searched her for injuries.
"I'm going to kill him, he could've hurt you, he could've killed you," he muttered, but the anger in his voice wasn't hidden.
"He didn't hurt me, there's not a mark on me that I didn't already have," she said softly.
She could hear buzzing, meaning he was talking so quickly she couldn't understand him. She lifted her hands to his face and stood up on her tiptoes, bringing them closer together in height and forcing him to look into her eyes.
"Demetri, I am perfectly fine, well, aside from the fact I'm exhausted," she chuckled. "I have magical potions on my side. I took them before anything happened between Alec and I. My potions improve my endurance and my strength, meaning that I was protected. Well, my body was, my sleep on the other hand," she shook her head amused.
He didn't look convinced so she pulled back from him and with her wand, she summoned her potions from her lab, taking a sip from each and then she banished them back to her lab. She launched herself at Demetri, wrapping her arms around him tightly, so tightly that he actually winced against the pain. He drew back from her and stared at her with wide eyes and she gave him a soft smile.
"As I said, he didn't hurt me. We still had to be a little careful seeing as you're still stronger than me, but everything is and will be fine. Demetri, we can be together."
"I'm still going to kill him," he muttered before he ducked down and pulled her into him, pressing his mouth against hers. Only when she was breathless did she pull back from him. "I have to meet with the Lords," he spoke and she nodded in understanding. "Meet me in your rooms in thirty minutes. Where is Teddy?"
"With Jane in my library," she answered.
"I'll collect him on my way back. And be ready to take a trip." He pressed another kiss to her mouth and then turned and walked away down the corridor.
"Why, where are we going?" She called after him.
"Just be ready, glykó sýntrofo."
Hermione huffed and crossed her arms before a smile pulled at her face, feeling curious and excited at what exactly it was Demetri had planned. Rather than walking to her rooms, she turned on the spot and apparated.