[Twilight][EW/HP]Enigma (end) by:Linnay

Author:Linnay
Website:http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1768386/Linnay
Email:linnay@hotmail.com
Permission：
Hi there!

I'm happy you liked my story and I'm flattered that you want to post it on a Chinese BBS. It's no problem at all! Feel free to post it as long as you give me the full credit for the story itself, like you said in your email.  

Btw, let me know if you're interested in any other story. ^.~

Best wishes /Lin







Disclaimers: I do not own any of the characters, except for the dimensional beings which is just a voice really but whatever, Harry Potter or the Twilight Saga. They all belong to their respective author, J. and Stephenie Meyer. I make no money from this story as it is purely written for my own enjoyment. Though I hope others will like it too. *grin*

Summary: HP/Twilight Crossover. During the final battle with Voldemort Harry is met with a difficult choice that could save his world but in the process send him to another.

Pairings: Edward/Harry, Carlisle/Esme, Emmet/Rosalie and Jasper/Alice.

Warnings: There will be a future SLASH relationship in this story but also, obviously, HET relationships too. The story will only takes place in the HP world in the first chapter and then only mentioned later in the rest. The world of the Twilight Saga will be the scene for the rest of the chapters. I’m kind of leaving out major happenings from the 6th and 7th HP books. There is no horcruxes in this story or deaths of characters like in the last book. I’m also slightly altering the Twilight Saga timeline. The story will start, when in the Twilight world, almost nearly at the end of the fourth last book with major changes to the original plot. IMPORTANT: There is NO Isabella Swan in this story, obviously, since Edward is paired up with Harry. I love Bella to death (The fourth book Rocked!) but I can’t fit her into the story as I would have like it. Since I’m kind of stealing the whole idea of Edward not being able to read Harry’s mind (because of intense occlumency training) from the original plot, and I want Harry to feel special, there’s just no way for her to appear in this story! Sorry!

Author’s Note: I’ve just finished reading the last book in the Twilight Saga and I’ve read all the Harry Potter books(in both Swedish and English). I’m a slash fan so expect some action but I’m also a romantic so don’t expect any action right away. Lol. I’m new here on so please be kind to me as I work my way through the site’s functions. Reviews, yes please!

~Enigma~

Chapter 1

”Running away now, are you Harry?”

The Dark Lord, He-Must-Not-Be-Named, stood tauntingly tall and stiff and arrogantly looking down on a huge boulder of stone. His loyal (or would brainwashed be a better word?) Deatheaters formed a half moon circle behind his back ready to jump to their Master’s aid at any given moment. Though at this time they stood their ground afraid of having the Dark Lord’s anger directed at any one of them for breaking his orders. It was a known fact, almost counted as common sense, that the boy called Harry Potter was for the Dark Lord and the Dark Lord only to defeat (again murder would be a more fitting word). Ridiculous really how obsessed one could be about a mere boy, but then again not just any boy had a certain prophecy hovering above their head. A prophecy that said that one of them must be killed for the other one to live, and then there was also the problem with the unknown powers this boy was supposed to have that Voldemort did not know of. So considering this maybe it really was not that ridiculous? At least for the parties involved.

Pressing his dirty and ragged clothed back to the stone’s cold surface Harry James Potter tried to catch some of his lost breath from the last wayward Cruciatus curse flung at him. The unforgivable curse’s remains still burned through the fibers of his body and the pain caused by it was something no one could imagine if you did not have the unfortunate luck to encounter it yourself. It was even more unfortunate that Harry was a veteran when it came to being put through the Cruciatus curse on more than a few occasions. Harry still found himself bewildered that he had not yet lost his mind, a result caused from overuse of the curse, like what had happened to Neville Longbottom’s parents. They were still alive but no hope of ever regaining their sanity and destined to live out their lives at St. Mungos wizard hospital. Their eyes ever imprinted with an indescribable emptiness.

“Oh, come now, Harry! Would you dishonor your parent’s, heroic, memory by running away like a coward? Are you nothing but a whelp without your mother’s protective magic to keep you safe from the monsters under your bed?” Voldemort gave a light chuckle at his own wording and received tentative responses from his followers. He hushed them with a light wave of his hand. “With Dumbledore gone there is nothing that can help you. Now, show yourself and face me like a proper duelist, just like your father did before his death.”

Realizing that it was no other way around the problem at hand, Harry gripped his holly wand firmly between his cut (courtesy of a cutting curse from an overexcited Deatheater) and bloody fingers. Trying to still his, now not so, violent shaking to a light tremble he pulled himself onto wobbly legs and locked his knees into a straight line to let his balance settle down. Damn he was a mess. Guess the adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going and moving. He could vaguely sense the unconsciousness tugging at his somewhat still conscious mind although the blackness was ghosting around his vision. Willing the lightless void back to the corner of his mind he used his left arm to rub off some of the blood, from a cut above his left eyebrow, threatening to block half of his eyesight that he clearly needed right now.

Deciding not to keep Voldemort waiting more than what was absolutely necessary, he could do without an impatient and irritated Dark Lord, he warily stepped out of his refuge letting his eyes fly over the row of Deatheaters finally resting them on his prophesized nemesis, arch enemy, rival or whatever you would like to call their, uh, relationship.

“How is the dark side for you Riddle? Got enough spare time and people to curse? Driving them into insanity and robbing their free will from them? Killing them!” That last statement came out in rushed shout leaving Harry’s eyes blazing with undulated rage. He was past worrying about his own safety, focusing fully on bringing Voldemort his all too late and postponed death. Screw predetermined prophesies and powers that the Dark Lord knows not, he would throw himself at Voldemort with his bare hands if it would come down to that.

“Harry, is that what you think of me? Do you not see the necessity of my actions to bring back the glory to the wizarding world? To cleanse it from this filth that courses through it, the ones undeserving of the gift of magic and polluting the very essence of our magic. It is, a necessity, dear Harry.” Voldemort wore that self-righteous smile, he seemed to have been born with, with such ease it made Harry’s stomach cringe uncomfortably even in his fit of rage.

“What does that make you then?” He stared straight into the cold, red glowing eyes. “If I’m not mistaken your father was a non-magical person, a mere muggle.”

The Dark Lord narrowed his blistering eyes and raised his twin wand in a swift movement of the arm positioning himself into a relaxed, traditional fighting stance. His wand arm was raised slightly coming up to the level of his crazed eyes while his other swung forward to point his palm in Harry’s direction. His pale skin glistened sickly in the light from the torches spread around the graveyard where Harry had met Voldemort in his fourth year during the Triwizard Tournament. The choice of the location confused Harry but he could somewhat guess that Voldemort maybe wanted to finish what he had started here the last time they met face to face.

Just a few minutes ago they had been in the middle of the, assumed, final battle between the light and the dark in the Hogwarts grounds. The Deatheaters had managed to break the wards protecting the castle which was thought to be nearly impossible, the key here being nearly impossible, not impossible leaving a minor chance of success that the enemy had found. Nothing is impossible after all. Improbable, yes, but not impossible.

Distracted by three Deatheaters in the middle of dueling Harry had failed to notice the small animagus rat, Peter Pettigrew, as the wizard weaved through trampling feet belonging to Aurors, students, teachers and friends to launch his furry body and grasping the hem of Harry’s trousers. The next thing Harry knew, a familiar pull on his belly button sent him whirling upwards in circles to fall down again and landing on his abused behind in the graveyard where Cedric Diggory had met his maker two years earlier. Fast-forwarding past the annual torture the Dark Lord saw fit we are now back to where we last left off.

Harry mustered up a manic grin that to his delight caused some of the gathered inner circle Deatheaters to take a hesitant step back. Okay, so the prophesy had some benefits mentioning some unknown powers of his excluding that ‘one must die for the other to live’ crap. At least it made his enemy wary of his actions and gave him a minor advantage, however minor that advantage turned out to be Harry had yet to see. Hopefully he could at least play on the sudden surprise act he was currently planning.

Voldemort’s abrupt cry of “Crucio!” whipped Harry back into action and he answered to this threat out of pure instincts with a fervent shout of “Expelliarmus!”. They do say that habits die hard. It was with a feeling of déjà vú that Harry witnessed his and Voldemort’s magical beams connect in the space between them two. He was unable to stop the small spark of anticipation when he remembered what had taken place the last time this happened and that he might see his parents again even if it would be in astral form. Like what happened before a dimly white, see through, shield rose to encapsulate them shaping it like a dome. The anxious Deatheaters called to their master in desperation, obviously they also remembered what had happened the last time this phenomena had occurred. The-Boy-Who-Lived had managed to escape the clutches of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named eluding his presumed destiny decided by Voldemort yet again with unexpected extra help.

The Dark Lord lost his smile clearly showing that his memory, despite his insanity, had not left him. He frowned nastily at Harry that turned into a grimace that of which exact emotion Harry could not pinpoint. A scream erupted next from the Dark Wizard’s throat alerting Harry that the grimace had been one of pain. Was this really supposed to happen? Still holding his wand tightly in his hand Harry started fidgeting when he felt small points of pricks all over his skull almost like testing his mental defense. He immediately raised his occlumency shields to their maximum level assuming Voldemort was trying to invade his mind to make him drop his wand cutting off the connection. Straining himself for more vicious probing he was not mildly surprised when the anticipated probing turned out to me more like a soft piece of cloth molding itself to his skull. It was in no way ill meaning rather it sent a feeling of well being starting from the outer layering of his skull venturing from there into his brain and traveling through his veins to the rest of his body. He couldn’t help a contented sigh to escape his lips as he closed his eyes now fully welcoming the alien touch. Against his better judgment he dropped his mental shield and the feeling enveloped him like in silky waves all around his being. The simple thought of ‘this is right’ entered his mind and he was utterly astonished as a light laugh floated to the surface in his mind like it had been a thought of his own. Had it not been for the obvious difference in tone and the thickness of the voice he could have sworn the voice was his own. Harry inclined his head to the side as he carefully voiced his question in his head. Oh come on, what would you have done?

‘Uh, is there someone here…? Or has my mind finally decided to go on strike, ‘cause I really wouldn’t blame it if it did, I mean, any other head would have exploded by now with all the craziness I put it through and that is going on-’ He was interrupted by that same light laugh again and he realized that he been rambling.

‘Sorry.’

‘That is perfectly alright, young one.’

Harry shivered as the voice swept through his mind soothingly. How did it do that?

‘We find it much easier to enter a mind this way.’

‘We?’

‘We. I. You. We are you as much as I am we.’

‘Uh, is it okay I refer to, whatever this is, as you then? I haven’t really address anythi-anyone in my mind before…’

‘Most certainly, young one.’

‘Right.’ Harry scrunched his eyebrows together. The weirdness of this whole situation was starting to get to him regardless of the good sensation he was receiving from this alien person or creature. One usually didn’t exactly hear strange, however nice they sounded, voices in their head if they weren’t going insane and that thought did nothing for his growing uneasiness. Unless this really was a trick…

‘We assure you, little one, we mean no harm to you or your close ones. We purely came and entered this mind of yours because you called to us.’

‘I called you to me?’

‘Yes, young one.’

‘Exactly how did I do that?’

‘Even we are unsure as to the specific details of this event. It is something that we have always done. Tell me, little one, what is it that bothers you?’

‘Except that I’m hearing voices in my head when I’m sure I’m not supposed to do that if I’m completely sane?’ The voice chuckled lightly. ‘Well, I was-I am’ He corrected himself. ‘In the middle of a duel with the Dark Lord, Voldemort, which I have to win. The whole wizarding world depends on me whether I defeat him or not. ’

‘Such immense responsibility for a young one. Why is this?’ The voice totally bypassed the fact that wizards was something that people usually referred to in connection to bedtime stories but maybe this was not so strange to them? Seriously, Harry didn’t know anything about these, beings or being, that had come into his mind so suddenly. They had said that they meant no harm and he believed them, strange enough. But Harry was a trusting guy in nature so he decided to humor this alien being and tell it all about the things bothering him. He was not a Gryffindor for nothing.

‘Some prophecy was made before my birth that said something along the line of me; supposedly, being the destined one to have powers that the Dark Lord, Voldemort, knows not and that one of us would have to die for the other one to live. About it I think more or less.’

‘Immense responsibility indeed.’ The soft voice mused with a hint of wonder. ‘And how do you feel about this young one? Will you fulfill this prophesy?’

‘Of course. I may not like it but I have friends, family that I need to protect. If not I then who will stand up to Voldemort? I owe it to my friends that made me feel welcome in this unknown world to defend it for them.’ It was all true, even though he had never said it directly to Ron and Hermione, he considered them a close part of his family. Ron’s brothers were as much his brothers if he would have a say in things, Sirius had in the short time he’d known him become almost like a father to him and Remus, as well, was very much a parental figure to him. Who would not want to protect the world that held one’s family?

‘Yes, who would not.’ Warmth spread into Harry and he smiled to himself unconsciously. ‘You have showed us something valuable, little one. A truly enormous task you have been given, however you have been bestowed equal potential. We will help you unfold this potential but on one condition.’

‘On one condition? Uh, and just what might that be?’ Harry wasn’t exactly sure he liked where this, mind, conversation was going. He had been through this many times before and that one condition always ended up being something he was greatly displeased with. Why should this occasion be any different? Granted that the conditions were usually set in all well meaning, Harry admitted to being, a bit, adventurous but that was simply him. Nothing he could help really and mysteries and danger seemed to be drawn to him in some weird ‘matter of fact’ way.

‘We are sure you noticed that things did not go as they did the last time you fought with this, Voldemort?’

‘Yes, eh, he seemed to be in some sort of pain before you guys bumped in. You don’t happen to know why?’

‘We do not know much of how we are called, although we do know that those who do call us can only be those of a pure mind for us to be capable of entering said mind. Those who do not possess purity in their self will only experience agony as they cannot handle our presence.’

‘Oh.’

That was good, right? It proved to Harry that he hadn’t been slipping away from his path or was inclined to the dark magic that had seemed to cleave their way into his sub consciousness ever since the discovery of the connection between him and the Dark Lord. The relief washed over him like a spring breeze and only served to strengthen his self-confidence further knowing that his doubts as to his own motivations for defeating Voldemort had not been for his own personal gain.

‘Never doubt yourself, young one. I assure you we can only see light in you, though keep in mind that where there is light there is shadows. Do not fear them, as they will surely pull you down into the abyss if you do. Make sure you face them without delay and you will fear nothing.’

Harry nodded and then replied an affirmative when he wasn’t sure that this being could see if he nodded or not. He was getting accustomed to having this being in his head.

‘On to the matter at hand then, yes, we require one condition from you little one for us to give you our help. We are inter-dimensional beings and we see to not only your world but also others like this one and some other not quite like it. It is what we have always done for as long as we can remember and what makes us we. You and I. I will ask one thing of you, only ask, since we do not claim anything from another free being. The choice is yours. Our preposition is as follows. We will help you in defeating this entity you are bound to in order for you to fulfill this prophesy and be free of it. We will send it into a dimension we see appropriate where it can do no harm. Unfortunately, we cannot make this happen without an exchange for our services as we are bound by our own laws imprinted to the very core of our existence. We can only send one to another dimension if another one from that same realm gives us their permission to send them to another where we believe they can help and make a difference. Do you understand what we are proposing to you, little one?’

To say Harry was surprised would be putting it mildly. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement and to say that he was past comprehension would be an insult. He did, all too well, understand the implications these or this being was presenting to him. It was just so enormous that he didn’t know where to begin. Here he had a fool proof way of finally defeating the Dark Lord without risking the lives and safety of his loved ones. It was almost too good to be true and it kind of was, too good to be true. It came with a hefty price. They would somehow dispose of Voldemort and the dark wizard would never bother his family or this world ever again but he would also not ever be part of this world ever again. The fact that Harry and the dark wizard would be going to different dimensions was a small joy but-

‘Wait. A different dimension? If Voldemort is sent to a different dimension wouldn’t he still be alive? If not some miracle happened and he got killed the instant he got there. The prophesy said specifically that one of us needed to die for the other one to live. So how is that possible?’

‘Calm down, young one. Again I assure you. Everything will be perfectly alright. Although we are peaceful beings, and never have we taken the life of another, we promise you the prophesy will be valid and completely fulfilled. The meaning of a being sent to another dimension from its original is the equivalent of death of that being, as it is no longer part of it. Unfortunately this applies to you too little one.’

The voice sounded sad now. Just as sad as Harry was beginning to feel. Dead? He would be dead to his world, never see his family and his friends ever again. The impact of it all struck him so suddenly that he was sure that he was sobbing now. Was that tears he felt faintly streaming down his cheeks? The emotion pushed its way to the front and would have overwhelmed him had it not been for the soothing touches of cloth molding itself more firmly but gently around his form.

‘Do not cry, little one. It is all going to be alright. Trust your heart and you will find what you are searching for.’

He willed the tears away and tried to focus on the comforting touches. Eventually he had significantly calmed down.

‘It saddens me to rush you, young one, but we are in need of an answer within the immediate future. We feel the connection between us and you are growing weaker and soon we will be unable to carry out what we have promised you. Tell us your answer.’

He was torn. Harry was utterly torn between the idea of finally letting his family be safe and the fact that, if he made that choice, he would also never see them again. When hit with something like this so suddenly one couldn’t really blame Harry for the slight hesitation before he came to the right conclusion. Oh, screw hero complex! It was the right thing to do. End of story.

‘Alright. Do what you have to do.’ His voice never wavered and he was proud of himself that he was able to pull himself together during such short notice.

‘Very well. So let it be.’

Harry failed to detect the tint of affection as the voice tuned out and he opened his eyes to take in the scene of the connected twin wands, Voldemort, himself and the Deatheaters. He wasn’t sure how long he had been wrapped up with his mind conversation and wasn’t given any time to ponder more about this as he was abruptly startled to see a vortex like wormhole appearing behind the still screaming Dark Lord. The sight was so strange as it made no sound what so ever and it seemed like that the Deatheaters was incapable of seeing it too. Only he could watch as the vortex grew larger and larger by the second and in next to no time it stood as tall as Voldemort himself. It looked to have the same color and texture as the dome like shield created from the connection of the two wands.

Meanwhile the Deatheaters were in an uproar. They could not understand why their master was screaming and howling in agony as The-Boy-Who-Lived just stood there seemingly unhurt. Was it perhaps his doing but how? Was it the connection between the wands? They suspected that something had gone terribly wrong when the two spells had met and linked the two wands to each other. Several Deatheaters had tried to breech the shield but failed miserably. Nothing seemed to make it budge and they could only watch as their master tore at his wand arm with his other as in trying to break it away from Potter’s but in vain. It would not, simply would not relent. It was just as much of a surprise then when all of a sudden the Dark Lord’s screams snapped shut, like the strings on a violin snapping, and he began to softly fall backwards the wand easily slipping through his fingers. The Dark Lord was falling but instead of hitting the ground his body gradually vanished as if falling through an invisible wall. He was there and the next moment he was gone. Shock settled all over the faces of the Deatheaters. What had just happened? They turned still shocked faces on Harry as he as well looked oddly surprised but not in the least shocked.

Harry, on the other hand, had his own hands full with his own swirling thoughts. He was stunned. Voldemort was gone. Voldemort was gone from this world to never return again. He couldn’t grasp it even though he knew it was going to happen as he had made his choice. He felt intense happiness as the thought finally settled and he couldn’t help the huge smile that spread over his visage. He stood there smiling like an idiot until he noticed that Voldemort’s wand was still hovering where the Dark Lord’s fingers had left it, keeping the connection active.

Whispers in his head informed him of what was going to take place next and what he should do. He stepped around to look behind himself and wasn’t really that surprised to see an equally large vortex of the same material as the one that Voldemort had fallen through. His smile caught a hint of sadness now as he realized that this was the moment, the last time he stood on the ground of his own world, his own dimension he added as an afterthought. He still had troubles grasping all of this.

Without looking back he let go of his wand, it was needed to stay in this world to keep the connection up as it was linked to his connection to the inter-dimensional beings. He would have to leave it here, he didn’t want to, but the beings had assured him that he wouldn’t need it. Said that it had been merely a blockade and not the key to his true potential, whatever that meant. He shrugged to himself, took a deep breath and took one step forward in to vortex. He felt himself fall as his leg didn’t found any ground to stand on before he was hit in the back with a mighty push of wind like energy sending him flying forward. He desperately closed his eyes and braced himself for impact.

AN: Whoa it's 4am in the morning here right now...ch 2 of this will probable be out sometime within the next 24 hours depending on how long I'm gonna sleep in. I would love reviews since this is my first attempt at multi-chapter fanfic. I've only written oneshots before this (which was unfortunately lost when my old comp decided to go haywire on me and crash. Whopee.). Reviews please!! I don't care if it's about a misspelling or something which reminds me that if anyone is interested I would love someone to be my Beta reader and check my word order especially. I'm a 20 years old University student and I tend to mix the Swedish word order with the English one when I get too much into a text. . Anyway, I hope someone enjoys this and I can't wait to write about Harry's and Edward's first meeting in the next chappie~ *grin*




Chapter 2

It was weird. As humans we grow up learning how the world is composed and how everything works. You might even say that we developed prejudices. Scientist discovered and wrote their thesis describing the world we lived in informing us of what was possible and what was not. What was fact and what was imagination. How many laws had he broken in the matter of a few passing minutes Harry wondered fleetingly? He seriously considered throwing away all common sense he’d ever acquired. At least that way he would spare his poor tortured and mangled mind from some unnecessary thinking and pondering from his side. So yes, it was no doubt really weird that when he certainly could feel the wind strangely flapping against his face, it was at the same time blowing and pushing against his back in the opposite direction. Like the two forces didn’t affect each other what so ever. Did he mention that he couldn’t hear it too? Just like with the pair of vortexes he was incapable of hearing even the faintest peep of sound, or whishing maybe in this case?

It had taken him a while to muster up the courage to open up his eyes to try and take in- That was it. He didn’t know how to describe it. He was sure he was still in the vortex, he could feel the wind in his hair and on his tarnished clothing, but how did you describe wind? What did wind look like? It was somewhat hilarious. Oh, what wouldn’t he give to show all those muggle scientists this, ‘sight?’, and literally pull the rug from under their feet.

Okay so he was seeing wind. It really was no other way of putting it. What next?

He sighed as he actually started getting bored. How you managed that in an inter-dimensional vortex being sent to another world, universe, from your old one was a whole different matter. But then again, he was Harry Potter and miracle maker extraordinaire. Why start trying to make sense of everything now when he had gone through seven years of this craziness already?

So he left his earlier train of thought and went over to think about what that being had said to him. Help him unfold his potential? Hadn’t he heard that one before? They all wanted to unfold his potential, he thought a bit bitterly. Oh, he didn’t hold any grudges or anything against them for trying. It just got real old after a while, like his cousin Dudley’s crocodile tears. They had mentioned something else too, something about his wand being a blockade to his true potential? How did that work? For all he knew the wand was supposed to be used as a tool to channel his magic making it easier to point it and focus it on doing a certain thing. Otherwise the magic would just go in different directions with no apparent goal. He had heard of wand less magic, witnessed it on some occasions even, but it had always been in small scales, nothing more than lighting a candle or the like. You were always in the need of a wand if you needed to perform fundamental charms and the more complicated ones. Would he be unable to use his magic in this other dimension? What other thing did he have that he could unfold his potential in? Development in brains? He immediately shoved that idea out the window. He was a fast thinker on his feet when the need arose in dangerous situations but he never showed that ability anywhere else. He figured it was more dumb luck than a sign of higher intelligence.

Here he was bored out of his mind. Being sent somewhere unknown he knew nothing about, unable of conjuring any reasonable enough idea and still bored out of his mind. He was sure of it now, totally positive, he had really lost his mind. No sane person with their sanity intact would be at ease, calm and bored in an inter-dimensional portal. Could you blame Harry that when something else did happen to break him out of his boredom he was actually quite excited about it?

The strange energy like wind had started picking up speed and he was vaguely aware of his eyes tearing up from the dryness created by the wind. He remembered bracing himself for the impact that hadn’t come right away when he had initially fell through the vortex and tried to twist his body so that he wouldn’t fall on his face when he finally arrived at his destination. Easier said than done and it was more like twisting his upper body sideways. Shit, he had completely forgotten about the state of mess his body was in after the meeting with Voldemort. He noticed his legs were actually hanging limply, poised in middle air, like a ragdoll. As if on cue he acknowledged the pain coming back to the forefront from its earlier stage of numbness. He wrapped his arms around his body to keep them from being bent in an abnormal angle if his fall or landing would prove itself to be of violent nature.

The force at his back seemed to pick up its last speed upgrade as he felt a sudden show of invisible force literally sling shooting him forward and the pressure on his back vanished. He dimly thought, ‘This is SO going to hurt.’ , as the next think he knew he seemed to fall down into a hole imagining his earlier wish of not landing flat on his face crumble to pieces. The logical thought of falling vertically down was rapidly replaced by the feeling of horizontal levitation as his eyes picked up the forest view in corner of his eye. Logic demanded revenge as he slowly started losing altitude and saw the ground coming rushing up to him alarmingly fast. Frantically closing his eyes Harry gave a startled ‘ugh’ as his left shoulder struck the ground and his arm went limp. His body spun and started rolling sideways to eventually settle on soft grass.

Panting strenuously his earthly senses starting coming back to him one by one starting first with his feeling, hearing, smell, taste (he had the misfortune of getting a bit of dirt between his lips and he spit out) and his vision was blurry but regaining focus fast enough. Struggling to a sitting position he clasped his, he grumbled, dislocated left shoulder with his right hand and finally got the chance to fully take in the new scene.

Harry thought himself to be in a kind of large open clearing surrounded by trees and greenery. The sky was clouded but it was apparently still in the middle of the day. Heh, at least he didn’t have to worry about jetlag. An eerie sensation popped into his stomach and he craned his neck shifting his body patiently while doing a one-eighty. He spotted three strange looking statues over fifty feet away from his current location. Wait a minute. Narrowing his eyes he readjusted his glasses, which was somehow still intact, and focused on the statues again. Since when did marble statues wear fashionable clothing and wigs? They seemed to be of a high standard and quality from his distance, quite beautiful actually especially the one with a bronze colored wig. Must be some evolutional (crazy more like it) artist or something that had put them there, but in the middle of nowhere? Who in their right mind would travel so far out into woods just to look at some statues no matter how beautiful they looked?

Sliding his head to the side a bit, still appraising the pieces of artwork, he froze. Was it just him or was the statues looking straight at him? No, no there was no way that was possible. Harry closed his eyes, shook his head roughly and opened them again. They were still staring straight at him. He got the shock of his life, heart skipping a beat, when the statue a bit separate from the other two sporting a dark hair wig actually changed his facial expression from one of silent contemplation to open hostile. And growled at him. What the hell was going on? Since when did statues growl at you? The statue’s eyes pinned him down and the predatory gleam in its eyes turned his bones into stiff ice. Harry hastily pulled his feet under him attempting to get on his feet however a dislocated shoulder and weak as jelly legs wasn’t really helpful. Not one bit. A wind dust blew past Harry and the statue sniffed the air changing his expression again, this time into a feral grin. Harry began trembling again and try as he might his eyes would not tear themselves away from those now glowing red tinted orbs boring into him.

The dark haired creature, he was past believing them to be mere statues, pulled his lip over his teeth. Scratch that. Pulled his lip over his fangs. It suddenly clicked. The pale marble like skin, red tinted eyes and the fangs. He had seen these creatures before in his Defense Against the Dark Arts school books, even met one fleetingly in his third year though it had been a disguised Boggart.

“Vampire…” Of course. It was so obvious now.

The dark haired vampire tilted his head in amusement for less of a half second and then he was gone. Harry blinked as he stared as the vampire struck an invisible wall just barely ten inches away from his face. He hadn’t seen him move at all! The vampire was thrown backwards although he agilely landed on the heels of his feet. Harry’s shell shocked complexion watched as the vampire threw him a vicious snarl before he cast a glance at the other two and he was gone again. Only the slight movement of the leaves of a bush at the opposite side of the clearing nearly 100 feet away let Harry know that the vampire had probably run away. The sudden retreat triggered his mind and he wondered briefly what that thing stopping that vampire from tearing him apart had come from.

Harry heaved a relieved sigh and was slightly perplexed when his eyes caught a sliver of something silvery flicker before it disappeared. Birdsong fluttered into his ears. It was the purest of sounds he had ever heard. In spite of his earlier reaction he spun his vision across the open space trying to locate its source. They stopped at the other two, vampires he told himself, getting perplexed yet again. How many emotions and expressions had he been through already today?

The thrilling sound was abruptly brought to an end. The bronze haired one moved like he was made out of smooth water as he leveled his deep honey gold eyes on Harry. He thinned his eyes as he scrutinized the, no doubt, human. A fine crease showed on his forehead as his golden wells locked with Harry’s. The young inter-dimensional traveler stared awestruck at the creature totally forgetting about his human need of simple breathing. He was astounding. Harry had never seen such a beautiful creature in his short life of 17 years. Not until those molten eyes deserted his own did he draw a ragged breath, feeling all funny inside his stomach tingling strangely.

“Excuse me.” The other fair blonde one spoke up in a sing song voice. “Just who might you be?”

The blonde vampire took a few cautious silky steps towards Harry as he smiled politely. When he had crossed half the distance between himself and Harry he halted and waited expectantly for Harry to give him an answer to his question.

Harry eyed the two warily one by one arguing with himself if he should give them his real name. Maybe a fake one would be the safest way to go here? It wasn’t like that other dark haired vampire from earlier on had showed him any kind of hospitality or anything (he had tried to attack him for crying out loud!) so why should he trust them? His hesitation had obviously been apparent on his face as the older vampire, yes he seemed older than the other bronze haired one, changed it into a warm almost comforting smile. It reminded him dimly of the Headmaster. Well if he could trust mysterious dimension creatures then why couldn’t he trust friendly looking vampires? From what he had read in his school books about these creatures they never really stopped to ask you your name before feeding of your blood, so why not take a leap of faith and trust the vampire, though keeping a watchful eye or two open at all times during the talk. You didn’t live through years under a constant death threat to your life for nothing.

“Harry Potter.”

The vampire gave a dazzling smile showing two rows of brilliantly white teeth.

“Ah, a pleasure meeting you Mr. Potter. Considering your accent I would suppose you are British? Awfully long way from home, are you not?”

Harry’s face furrowed.

“I suppose you could say that.” He was in a whole new world but it seemed to be achingly similar to his own so far. The vampire had asked him if he was British meaning that there must be a country like England in this world too, right? But had he really traveled to another dimension? Maybe he took a wrong turn and just ended up somewhere else in his own world? “Where exactly am I?”

“You are in the town of Forks, Washington in the US. I’m curious Mr. Potter. How is it that you came to arrive here? If my eyes were not deceiving me I would think you just popped out of thin air.”

Okay, how to get out of this without sounding like a total lunatic. How you do you explain to someone that you ‘popped’ out of a dimensional vortex? He still had his doubts if he really had arrived in a new world and came to the conclusion that there was no other way of finding out if he was still in his own world and that he should simply, ‘spill it’, as the muggles so nicely put it. In his old world vampires were a part of the magical world knowing all about wizards and witches after all.

“I kind of did just that.”

Harry observed the vampire for any reactions to his statement but the vampire gave him none keeping his smile still in place.

“ Interesting. How did you do that?”

Now the vampire was REALLY reminding him of his old Headmaster. Only Dumbledore could have replied to a statement like that in that way.

“Uh, I came through this vortex like thing… I was hypothetically supposed to arrive in another dimension, another world if you will. I was involved in a battle with an enemy when this voice came into my head and gave me a sort of choice. They would send my enemy to another dimension but I would have to go to another dimension too for it to work.”

“Fascinating. And then you ended up here? How intriguing!”

Was this vampire of his rocker or something? Did he actually believe all this just like that? Without any proof or anything, well he had ‘popped out of thin air’, but that still shouldn’t be enough evidence. Harry found himself to some extent annoyed at the vampire’s foolishness for believing everything he had said so far without a second asking as to the validness of the story.

“Do you have a habit of trusting perfect strangers and believing everything they say? Just like that?” Harry questioned disbelievingly.

“Why shouldn’t I? Are you saying that your words spoken were false?”

The vampire still had that, now very annoying, smile. Definitively a Dumbledore impersonator.

“No…” Harry replied indignantly.

He could just imagine himself sitting in the Headmaster’s office right now having their usual strange conversation concerning Harry’s fate. Only he was not. He was sitting in the middle of nowhere having a Q & A with a vampire, aiming for a Dumbledore look-a-like, no less. The incredulity of it all just appeared so funny, taken right out of the blue as it was, that he couldn’t help bursting out into heartfelt laughter.

A minute later he was still chuckling but managed to compose himself sufficiently enough, clearing his throat with a tint of redness to his cheeks.

“Sorry. That was really rude of me. I don’t usually start laughing like that.”

“Nothing to worry about, Mr. Potter.”

The vampire seemed amused by Harry’s reaction and not at all insulted or anything.

“Could you please not do that?”

“Do what, Mr. Potter?”

“That. The formalities. It makes me feel like I’m about to be scolded by my old Headmaster.” Harry grimaced slightly. “It’s fine with just Harry.”

An understanding smile grazed the blond vampire’s features.

“Very well, Harry. My name is Carlisle Cullen but you may call me Carlisle. Oh, and before I forget myself again, it is truly fascinating this, my son, Edward.” He gestured to the bronze haired younger vampire still standing stiff as a statue with unreadable eyes staring at Harry. The young human tried to ignore the shiver that ran through him.

“Ah, pleased to meet you.” Harry rasped out. The young vampire looked at him silently before inclining his head at him briefly. He kept his golden eyes fixed on Harry making him fidget where he still sat on the ground.

Harry ventured a try to get up on his feet stopping immediately wincing as he clutched at his left arm. An ice cool hand placed on his right shoulder made him up look into the worried eyes of Carlisle.

“Please accept my apologies for not acting on your injuries until now. I was merely being cautious on behalf of my family.”

Carlisle reached down, voicing a silent request and receiving Harry’s approval, lifted Harry gently up into his arms making sure not to jostle his dislocated shoulder too much. Realizing the need of being carried maid style, though not happy about, Harry buried his male pride. His injuries were catching up on him with a vengeance and he zoned out temporarily, coming to again later acutely aware of the scenery rushing past them all too fast for a normal human being. He had to remind himself that it was not a normal human carrying him but a vampire, recalling that that dark haired one had moved with astonishing speed, so he shouldn’t be that disturbed by it. Faintly he mused on what his friends would think if he told them that he had befriended a pair of vampires. Probably stare disbelievingly at him and then say that he needed to go get his head checked by Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing. He hated to admit it, but he actually missed the cold stone walls and wet smell now when he knew that he would never return to that again.

“Hold on tight, Harry.”

Carlisle’s voice broke through his memory clouds as the vampire pushed off the ground and leaped across a, over fifty yards, wide river to land so graciously and softly on the other side making Harry think his warning quite unnecessary. He didn’t even feel the impact except for the rushing of air. They were off running swiftly again and Harry caught a quick glance of Edward ten feet away on Carlisle’s right hand side seemingly in deep thought. The bronze haired vampire sensing he was being watched turned his golden eyes to Harry with a hint of question in them like he couldn’t make sense of Harry’s existence. The young vampire held his green eyes for a short second before he broke of his stare glancing ahead instead. Harry followed his directive and was awed at the old mansion coming into view rapidly. This was their home? It was almost like a miniature castle causing Harry to instantly feel at home.

“It’s beautiful.” He uttered softly, aching slightly in remembrance of Hogwarts Castle, not really intending for anyone to hear him and had it not been for the two vampire’s highly developed hearing and heightened senses it would have gone unnoticed. Edward glanced at Harry again for a fraction of a second taking in the worn young man wearing a pair of tarnished black trousers and torn red-brown sweater. His near black colored bangs clung to his bloody left side forehead. His eyes travelled to the strange lightning shaped scar above the young man’s right eye. It apparently triggered his curiosity.

The group slowed down as they came up on the driveway. Making short practice of the front steps and Edward swung open the doors. Immediately a small girl bounded and danced up to them, her dark, short length, spiky hair bouncing along. She stopped in front of Carlisle and Harry peering up at the youth making said youth squirm a bit beneath her inspection. Her blinding smile coaxed a reply and he smiled shyly back at her. What was it with him and girls, except for Hermione and Ginny, that made him feel kind of awkward? The girl tipped on her toes putting her arms behind her back and looked up at Carlisle.

“I like him! It was a good thing you were there to bring him back here. I would have called you if you hadn’t already been conveniently situated at the right location. Nice to meet you Harry, I’m Alice!”

She smiled sweetly at him and he was just about to say hi to her too when he remembered that he had never given her his name.

“How do you know my name?” He asked bewildered.

“I know everything.” She said while getting a smug look on her cute face. Behind her back Edward snorted. She pouted. “Okay, maybe not everything but enough to know that you came shooting out of thin air interrupting the show down between Demetri and Edward here.” She glared at Edward who valiantly met her head on.

“Demetri? That’s the name of the vampire trying to rip my head off?”

“Yes! He is the best tracker the Volturi has.” She frowned suddenly. “Carlisle, what should we do if he comes back for Harry? I don’t see anything right now but-” She cut herself off as four other vampires entered the entrance hall. Two males and two beautiful females floated along the ground. A caramel haired female broke away from the newly arrived group and strode up to Edward.

“I’m so glad you are fine” She gave Edward a kiss on the cheek, and then went over to Harry and Carlisle. She reached up and gave Carlisle a swift kiss making Harry’s own cheeks tint slightly feeling awfully misplaced at the moment at the show of affection from the obvious couple. She swept her eyes over Harry and her face took on a saddened expression. “Oh, what dreadful things have been done to you, dear? Carlisle you must treat to him this instant.”

“Yes, dearest. I was just on my way to my office when Alice here came to greet us. Harry, this is my wife Esme.” She smiled warmly down at Harry. “And the other three over there is my other son Emmet; he’s the real tall one.” Emmet grinned at Harry who was oddly reminded of the Weasley twin’s trademark grin. “Jasper is the cousin of Edward, Emmet and Alice along with Rosalie over there.” Rosalie didn’t spare Harry a glance. Jasper nodded at Harry, ruffling his honey blond locks in the process, trying hard not to stare at Harry’s bloodied forehead. He had a faintly pained expression on his visage as he seemed to struggle silently with himself.

“Alice,” Carlisle spoke up. “Maybe it would be best if you and Jasper retired to your room for the while being while I treat to Harry?”

Alice nodded and danced over to Jasper grabbing his arm and dragging him up the vast stairs. The faint thud of a door closing shut the only noise of their retreat.

Harry suddenly aware of a lot of gazes placed on him grimaced slightly as unwanted memories popped into his mind before he pushed them back. Carlisle noticing his distress walked lightly toward a side corridor while Edward was straying after them noiselessly. The older vampire stopped before a massive oak door, leaving some space for Edward to slip through and open the door leading into his office. Harry took in the sparsely furnished room before he was taken into a side room that looked very much like an examination room at a prestigious hospital. Or so he guessed since he had never really been to one.

“You will have to excuse Jasper, Harry. He has yet to get fully acquainted with our way of living.”

Carlisle moved forward to an examination bed where he gently laid him down on his back.

“Now about that dislocated shoulder of yours. I’m afraid there’s no other way around it than to simply pop it right into place again. This will hurt Harry but if you wish I can give you some tablets for the pain though then we would have to wait for them to start working.”

The vampire looked down at Harry before he moved over to a medicine cabinet. Harry’s solid voice stopped him in his tracks though.

“I don’t need them, besides I’ve been through worse pain than this.” The teen shrugged his only working shoulder. “Let’s get it over with.”

Carlisle appeared hesitant for a mere second before he nodded his head firmly respecting Harry’s wish. He motioned for Edward to take hold of Harry as he set his shoulder. Harry shivered slightly as the cool almost ice cold hands took a steady hold of his right arm and pressed down on his right shoulder. Carlisle seized his left arm placing one of his icy hands over the joint.

“Brace yourself.” Was the only thing he said before he began guiding the bone back to its socket.

Harry hissed under his breath, wincing and whimpering softly as the bone was tediously and slowly righted, the tendons stretched and a somewhat, for Harry, nauseating ‘click’ signaled that the shoulder had been set into place again. Harry took a shuddering breath feeling the cold sweat beading on his face. He was more exhausted than he had anticipated. Carlisle wrapped his shoulder tightly with some bandage to keep the joint from moving too much.

“Now, for the bruises and cuts then.”

Harry contemplated and twisted his thoughts around in his head as Carlisle strode around the room gathering band aids, salves and disinfectant. He wasn’t sure if he could still use magic but he could really use it now to heal his minor injuries. He knew of some lesser healing spells, courtesy of some late and rushed training from Madam Pomfrey, that he could use now, however if he didn’t have his wand- Wait a minute. His wand had been a blockade to his true potential meaning that he didn’t need it? But you needed it to focus your magic through since wand less magic- Where had that wall that had protected him from that vampire, Demetri, come from? He hadn’t realized it until now but he had surely thought of a shielding spell the moment the vampire disappeared from his vision as basic survival instincts kicked in. No that’s impossible. Not impossible but improbable…

Hope rose to the surface as Harry struggled to sit up. Edward raised a helping cool hand on his back and got him into a steady sitting position.

“Harry, I really think you should lay down-” Carlisle began before Harry interrupted him.

“I want to try something, please? A way to heal some of my injuries. It might even help save you some material if I’m right.”

Harry looked imploringly at an uncertain Carlisle. The vampire conferred with himself after which he reluctantly answered.

“Very well. May I ask though what it is that you want to try? I don’t know of any other method of healing injuries than the traditional way, if you don’t know of another?”

“I sort of do... Although I’m not sure whether it’ll work or not, but I think I did it back when that vampire attacked me.” Harry’s bright eyes shone with a sliver of hope in their depth.

“So you did do something back then.”

Edward’s musical tone caressed the younger teen’s ears gloriously as he was temporarily stunned. It was the first time the other young vampire had spoken and it shook Harry all the way into the deepest corners of his body. Could a voice really be that wonderful? Shaking his head he tried to clear it enough to be able to answer the bronze haired vampire.

“Yes, I believe I did. It’s possible I managed to cast a shielding spell which would explain why he was flung backwards like that.”

“’Managed to cast a shielding spell’? What do you mean?” Edward looked confused but interested.

“Right, this is going to sound crazy, but I promise you that it’s all true what I’m about to say. Please let me finish before you ask me any questions, okay?”

Harry eyed the two vampires expectantly. Edward if he was not interested earlier on was all ears now as he fastened his golden orbs on Harry with a look of abnormal silent interest that seemed to strangely fit him. Carlisle glanced at his son looking mildly amused.

“You have our attention, Harry.” The Doctor pulled up a chair, as Edward did the same, to sit down in.

Feeling awfully aware of himself now that he had both vampires full attention he harked and cleared his throat before speaking up.

“I’m a wizard. Meaning I can use magic or at least I could back in my world. For example I could use spells to make them levitate or other various things. Earlier I think I used a repelling shielding spell judging from the results; however I shouldn’t have been able to do that as I did not have my wand.” He caught Edward’s look when he mentioned the word wand. “I know it sounds achingly similar to a fairytale… that was my first thought too when I learnt that I was a wizard when I was eleven years old. There’s just no way, I thought, but it was. Anyway, So I think I might be able to use some minor healing spells to speed up the healing process or heal some cuts and bruises completely.”

Harry eyed the pair of vampires again this time warily as he waited for their responses to his short though precise explanation. Carlisle was the first to react.

“Truly fascinating! The whole idea is so intriguing.”

Yes, Dumbledore impersonator indeed. Harry relaxed as they seemed to accept the whole thing easily enough. Weird as it was. Edward still sported that interest though it only showed in his eyes.

“Are you going to try it now then?” He asked.

“Yes, but I’m still not quite sure of what do to…” Harry crinkled his forehead in thought.

“What did you do last time?”

“I just imagined the effect of the shielding spell in my head and then it just sort of…happened.”

“Perhaps this is the way to go this time as well?” Carlisle broke into their conversation. Starting to become quite excited. Oh great, Harry had created a monster.

“Right… Here goes nothing.”

Harry took a deep inhaling of air as he tried to focus his magic on the basic cut healing spell. He was aiming for the cut in his forehead as he reached for his magical core and the magic that was hidden there. It was with pure joy he felt the familiar feeling of his magic building up inside him and he painted the mental image if his cut being healed. Two soft gasps brought him back down to mother earth again as he opened his eyes he didn’t remember closing. He slowly raised his right arm to feel tentatively at his forehead and felt his face spread into a happy smile as he could not feel the cut anymore.

“I did it…I actually did it without my wand.” He sounded totally awestruck.

“Fascinating!” Didn’t the vampire know of any other words? “I have never seen anything quite like this in my existence.”

“Wow.” Harry almost laughed at the astonished expression Edward had. He got the feeling the vampire seldom showed his inner feelings. “Try it again on the others.”

Harry focused his magic again and this time tried to aim at a larger area. He happily felt the cuts on his fingers closing and sealing up. A cool hand gingerly picked up his right hand to stroke icy fingertips across his knuckles. A soft thrilling voice spoke.

“I have never seen anything like this except for my own genetic healing.” Edward mused.

“I have to agree with you there son.” Carlisle had a thoughtful look in his eyes. He began going through the slow work of cleaning away the blood from Harry’s face and limbs. After five minutes or so he noticed Harry’s eyes start fluttering.

“I do believe our guest is starting to feel the strains his body has been put through today. You sleep now Harry and we can talk more on a later occasion. Come now Edward.”The doctor rose to his feet and walked graciously out of the examination room.

Harry started swaying where he sat and he vaguely felt cool hands lower his body carefully down onto the bed. A blanket, he think, was tucked around him and the last thing he remembered before he drifted away into a dreamless slumber was the cool sensation of a marble like hand on his forehead.




Chapter 3

He was floating around in fluffiness. His body soaring in an illuminated endless space, bathing in feathers caressing his naked skin, akin to a mother’s loving embrace, everything peaceful and warm. Tendrils of bright threads wounding and looping themselves around his sore and abused limbs, in the midst of work of softening and soothing them from their distressed state.

Rocking his body carefully his fingertips sensed something firm and cold but, nevertheless, as much comforting as the feathery touches from earlier on. He tugged at the hard surface delighted to feel it open up a shallow indention to trace his fingers along. Clasping and gripping tightly at it he wished devoutly he could stay right there, where his senses knew nothing only solitary comfort. A chirping giggle ruined the foggy mood and he struggled as the feathery sensations starting slipping away from him. He held nearly desperately at the cold that seemed to be the only thing not slipping away from him. The brightness dimmed and was replaced by darkness.

He frowned. Was someone calling his name?

‘rry…Harry…’

No, he didn’t want to go back to full consciousness just yet. It had felt just so good. Just a little more please. He was dimly aware that the cold object was still tightly clasped between his fingers and palm.

“Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead!”

That same chirping voice called to him and it was with not so slight annoyance that he trippingly untied his eyelids from each other to peer from underneath his lashes. A familiar head of spiky dark hair filled his vision.

“Alice…?” He frowned again at his croaking and hoarse voice.

The small vampire squealed in delight.

“He remembers my name! But, of course, I knew that he would.” She smiled hugely. “Do you remember gloomy’s name over there?” She pointed to the opposite side of her.

Harry craned his neck to follow her direction and blinked when golden eyes met his surprised ones. They held a tint of well hidden amusement barely recognizable as the rest of the face held no emotion at all.

“Edward.” He said a bit dazed ignoring the chirping giggle behind his back.

The bronze haired vampire looked down at him before his eyes strayed to something beside Harry on the bed. Again following the direction Harry locked his eyes on his hand clasped snugly around Edward’s cold marble one. Again that chirping giggle as he felt his face flush. He was doing that way too much around the young vampire. What was going on with him? He achingly slowly unwound his fingers from his grip on the cold hand, flexing them as they had become a bit stiff from the iciness.

The vampire retracted his hand like nothing out of the ordinary had happened straightening and folding his fingers. He ignored the pointed look he got from the smaller vampire the whole exchange going unnoticed by the young human.

“Carlisle said to bring you to the dining room when you eventually woke up.” Edward spoke up.

“Okay.”

Without really thinking about what he was doing Harry swung his legs from underneath the blanket and stood easily enough up on his feet earning him a slightly surprised look from Edward. Harry looked quizzically back at the vampire. What had he done now? Did he have something on his face or something? He searched his face for any abnormalities in his complexion. The vampire seemed to catch on to what Harry was thinking, as his expression was changed into one of mild amazement.

“I thought your body was in no condition to walk around in just yet.” He said in that gloriously musical tone of his. Seriously Harry could listen to it all day if he had the opportunity to. Then the vampire’s question brought him back again and he now in turn took on a feature of surprise.

“I shouldn’t.” He said in a matter of fact tone.

“Then why are you standing up?”

“I am?”

“Yes.” Edward’s amusement was getting clearer in his eyes. “Rather steady actually.”

“Oh.”

Well, imagine that, something unexplainable happening to Harry. Again. What a shocker! Though, still, why?

“Hmm, something must have occurred when you were asleep. You didn’t notice anything different from your usual sleeping patterns?”

“No… well, yes.”

Harry scratched his head trying to remember the images but they kept slipping through his fingers. A phantom memory of sensations smoothing his limbs crawled its way into his consciousness.

“Something was touching my legs, arms…”

He strayed off while he reached up to grab at his left shoulder. It didn’t feel stiff at all. He hesitated for a second before he deliberately raised and then rolled his shoulder joint in precise unhindered circles. Feeling braver he loosened the bandages removing them completely testing the tendons at which point the forgotten little vampire decided to make her presence known once more by flitting over to stand next to Harry. She had a bundle of highly fashionable articles of clothing in her petite arms.

“I guess, unfortunately, that this means that you won’t need any help with getting dressed?” She blinked up at him with an air of well hidden faked innocence that would make the most accomplished Hollywood actress green with jealousy. Her eyes twinkled. “Aw, isn’t that just too bad Edward.” Still the perfect image of an innocent angel.

Edward had the decency to look slightly uncomfortable with that statement sending a silent threat, unnoticed by Harry, under his breath to Alice.

Harry now agonizingly self-aware of his own body and flushed skin, not at all used to this kind of situation, wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there for the remainder of the day, as far away from that devil-in-disguise creature. She had that ‘I know something you don’t know’ look now. Whatever that was he was sure not going to ask her, as that would most probably just make it worse, and he couldn’t even dream of asking Edward whom was now glaring daggers with his eyes at his sister. It did nothing to her as she seemed to be immune to it.

Alice dropped the clothes on the bed and with a last mysterious glance at Harry glided out the door with a small smile.

“I’ve been wondering.”

Harry looked up at the taller vampire and gulped as the molten eyes searched his dark green eyes.

“Yes?” His voice came out way to squeaky for his own comfort.

“Why is it that I don’t know what you’re thinking?”

Harry blinked.

“Uh, isn’t that natural?”

“Not for me.” The cryptic remark was said with a hint of irritation.

Edward let the emotion fall away from his marble face, appraising him for what seemed like an eternity, except it lasted only for a fraction of a second, until the vampire uttered something in a low voice.

“I’ll wait outside.”

He left Harry to ponder upon his words who didn’t quite understand the problem. Of course the vampire wouldn’t know what he was thinking. No one did. Well, maybe Dumbledore was an exception but that was just the Headmaster knowing him too well when it came to certain things. Same thing with Ron and Hermione considering they were his best friends and close family. Though they didn’t know his exact thoughts. During his Occlumency training with Snape, the Potions Professor hadn’t really read his mind but seen his memories instead. Hold on. He had seen his memories and not read his mind… No, could it? He shook his head. He was a wizard, granted that that in itself should make him open for ideas like this, but he had never heard of a spell that could read one’s thoughts. Then again he wasn’t the most knowledgeable wizard either. It might exist a spell like that only he hadn’t personally heard of it. Except Edward was a vampire and was incapable of using magic, unless he had some other ability? Ugh, he didn’t have time for this. He needed to get out of his old tarnished clothes.

As he pulled the red-brown sweater of his frame he got a bit depressed at seeing the sweater he had gotten from Mrs. Weasley during last Christmas all torn and splotched with dried blood. Although he didn’t want to, the shirt was no good to him now, he searched for a trash bin or something to throw it in. Finding none except for a bin for medical leftovers where he was sure the shirt didn’t really belong he threw a furtive glance at the sweater and then back to the bed. He hadn’t noticed that a note rested on top of the new clothes. Picking the small slip of paper up he read the short message printed there in a, extremely, neat style.

‘I figured you could really use a shower to get that last dirt off of you. There’s a bathroom connected to this room that you can use. I’ve already made sure to bring everything you might need. I would hate for your new clothing to get dirty because of lack of hygiene! Oh, and there’s a plastic bag for you to leave your old clothing in. Nothing worth salvaging I’m afraid but I’m sure you’ll love your new clothes!

Alice’

Harry raised an eyebrow as he finished reading the note. So she thought he needed a shower, eh? Not that he protested the fact but one didn’t exactly appreciate being told that they needed a cleaning up. It wasn’t like he had rolled around on the ground or got himself bloodied because he had enjoyed it or wanted to, and how many people got out of a fight without a blemish to their appearance? None that he knew of did.

He moved his eyes along the room and sure enough he noticed a carved wooden door that seemed awfully out of place in the white and antiseptic examination room. He got the feeling that Carlisle hadn’t been the one to choose it for the room, if his office was anything to judge from. Collecting the new clothes he treaded over to it and opened it. Yes, definitively not a furnishing idea from Carlisle. The bathroom was extensively and lavishly decorated with elfin white tiles, a humongous Jacuzzi, a spacious shower (room for almost five people), a toilet and not more than three marble sinks with detailed, steel polished, faucets.

A wooden table stood in a corner with white fluffy towels piled on top of it and various hygiene and beauty products including the usual like shampoo, conditioner and body soap but also many other things Harry didn’t even recognize. He sullenly noticed that Alice had neglected the need of a razor and even more so knowing that he didn’t have a need of one yet. His face was still soft though slim as he was in his late teenage years. A black plastic bag lay on top of a small grass basket. He moved the bag to the table and put his new clothes on the basket instead. Stripping down he threw his old clothes mournfully into the plastic bag and leaned it against one of the table’s legs. His glasses were placed gently on the table. He examined the various sized bottles with a bewildered look. He didn’t even know the use for half of these! Discarding a pink colored bottle with ill disguised disgust he grabbed a beige colored shampoo container and to his dread a strawberry scented body gel, as he couldn’t decipher the text on the other bottles. At least it would get the dirt off of him, though he wasn’t really comforted by the thought. Lastly a large fluffy towel was grabbed, hung on a hook by the shower and the rest put on a shelf inside the shower cabinet.

Was there really a need for such a huge shower, Harry wondered, unless you didn’t plan on sharing it- He broke off that thought quickly enough ignoring his initial, youthful reaction and turned on the hot water. Drenched from top to bottom he calmly squirted some of the liquid out of the shampoo bottle into his hand and started to vigilantly work on the tresses of raven black hair. He struggled a bit with the blood in his bangs, until he deemed his hair dirt and blood free, and rinsed it with the hot water. He grimaced slightly before grabbing the body gel deciding to just get it over and done with. He did want to get thoroughly clean after all. The dirt and grime eventually came all off and was washed away down the drain. Turning off the water he reached out of the glass cabinet for the towel and began drying his skin. Wrapping the towel around his waist he went over to the wooden table again to grab another smaller one to dry his hair with. He slipped his glasses back on his nose. Harry scanned his reflection in the, way too big; mirror over the sinks taking in his strangely refreshed appearance. That last rest must have really been something for him to recover this quickly.

Removing the towel from his hair he noted that Alice had taken the liberty of putting out a toothbrush and mint flavored toothpaste for him to use and all new. He suspected that Alice had been out shopping while he was asleep as he dimly remembered that both she and Carlisle had sported perfectly white teeth which the others probably did too and where in no need of brushing their teeth. Kind of convenient. He gratefully brushed his teeth and rinsed his mouth feeling much fresher mouth wise. A blue little box caught his eye as he picked it up and discovered that they were eye contacts. So she obviously didn’t appreciate his several times broken and out of date glasses. It was only because he had been fed up with them himself for these last few months too that he removed them and gingerly put on the contacts. He blinked as they settled and realized that he really had outgrown his old glasses, now acutely more aware of his surroundings and the details of the bathroom. She had somehow managed to get them just right for him.

Discarding the other towel he quickly got dressed submitting himself for Alice’s fashion sense. He recognized one of the brands as one of the top brands in America. So they had it here as well? This world really was almost like a photocopy of his own, truly another dimension, though if wizards existed here he had yet to find out.

Underwear put on he pulled on a pair of black designer jeans (that fitted maybe a bit too snugly to his legs), a white silk shirt and a black jacket completing the outfit. Glancing sideways in the mirror he was momentarily stunned by his reflection. Was that really him? He wasn’t aware that the removal of his old glasses and a change of clothes could change one’s appearance this much. He quite liked this new Harry but it would be long before he admitted it to the smaller vampire.

With a last look at the black plastic bag he stepped out of the bathroom and made his way to the door leading to Carlisle’s office. Edward stood waiting by the window with an unreadable expression watching the evening scenery outside. How long had he been asleep?

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s fine.”

Edward turned to him and his face was stunned for a moment as he took in Harry’s appearance. He was strikingly handsome. Harry flushed under his gaze. Shaking himself out of his stupor the vampire forced his eyes away from Harry.

The vampire started for the door and Harry followed him. They made their way through the corridor, out into the main entrance and through another set of wooden carved doors leading into the mansion’s dining room. Though it had the title of being the dining room, Harry could not see a dining table, it only had two sets of couches and a glass coffee table. A tray containing what looked to be a cheese sandwich and some fruits decked out on it. Spread around the room was Carlisle, Esme and the others except for Rosalie. Jasper was huddled up in the farthest corner.

“I knew it! I had my slim concerns if it would be too much black but as I anticipated with your looks you can pull it off.”

Alice leaped and spun around Harry taking in his whole appearance from every possible angle with glee.

“I had to do some emergency shopping as we didn’t have anything in your size at home and, besides, I couldn’t possibly ignore the chance of bettering your obviously lacking wardrobe. No offense Harry, but your fashion sense is equal to zero.”

“It wasn’t like I had time for that, you know, with the war going on and all.” He said slightly hurt. Too late he realized the slip of the tongue. He clamped his mouth shut.

Jasper’s ears twitched.

“What war is that?”

Carlisle’s gentle voice carried over the room.

“It’s of no importance now. When I and Voldemort disappeared his force’s morale should have been drastically depleted with their leader gone, leaving my friends the chance to overtake them. I hope they’re all safe…”

Harry bunched his eyebrows together in apparent concern. He didn’t like being left in the dark when it came to what had happened to his friends and family after his departure from his old world. Though knowing them they would be fine. He had faith in them.

Sensing the heavy mood Esme spoke up.

“It may not be much Harry but do have something to eat. I will go grocery shopping right away tomorrow morning. Is there anything particular that you would like dear?”

“That’s not really necessary. I’ve been imposing on you for far too long already. I do appreciate it! But I gotta get going.”

“Where will you go? This is not your world anymore and you don’t know anyone here. Besides us.”

Jasper looked Harry in the eye, tilting his head.

“Well, that’s… hold on. How did you know I came from another world? I don’t remember telling anyone but Edward and Carlisle.” He stared suspiciously at the blond vampire in question as said vampire actually fidgeted looking embarrassed and would have blushed slightly if he had been capable of that human gesture.

“As I said earlier, although I do find all this very fascinating, I merely acted on behalf of my family’s safety feeling it essential that they know of our new guest’s background. They were all quite accepting, I assure you, and will not harm you in any way during your stay here.”

“’During my stay here…?’”

“Of course you will be staying here Harry.” Carlisle said in a no-nonsense tone.

“But I couldn’t-”

“No, I insist you do Harry.” Carlisle cut him off mid-sentence. “We cannot let you leave with a wandering vampire out there with all the intentions of killing you as soon as you step out of this building and get far away enough from us. A world-class tracker at that too.”

“A tracker?”

“A tracker is a vampire that is able to track a vampire, or in your case human, from their scent. We can all do that to some extent but trackers excel in this area hence their name.” Jasper supplied carrying on.”Problem with this tracker is that he is able to track someone based on their mind signature making him, in essence, impossible to hide from leaving you the only choice of being on the run until you make a mistake and get caught. Or killed.”

“So you’re saying that I have a bloodthirsty vampire somewhere out there,” He gestured in the direction of the forest. “Just waiting to sink his teeth into me?” Harry asked incrediously, no pun intended.

“Pretty much. Having decided a vampire won’t let anything get between them and their prey.”

“Oh, shit…so I’m prey now.” Harry looked nauseated by the thought of being someone else’s food. What next? He asked himself weakly. He never should have tempted fate like that…

“We still have another problem.” Jasper looked pointedly at Carlisle. “What do we do if he runs back to the Volturi and lets them know about Harry? As a human knowing the secret he can’t be allowed to live.”

“Yes, that is truly a dilemma.” Carlisle replied worriedly.

“We could go out there right now and hunt down his sorry ass!” Emmet grinned excitedly.

“That wouldn’t work. He’d caught our scents and run away before we even got close to him.” Jasper again.

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Emmet answered grumpily acting like a kid that had been denied his candy.

“We wait.”

“We what? But that’s no fun at all!” Emmet whined.

Harry was too preoccupied with his shock to feel even remotely annoyed at Emmet’s lack of consideration for his life in this life threatening situation.

“Don’t be ridiculous now, Emmet.” Esme told her son very sternly. “We have to think about what is best for Harry and his own safety.”

“I think I need to sit down.”

Harry’s weak voice tingling in the air. Somehow the idea of a blood drinking vampire chasing after him scared him more than what Voldemort and his Deatheaters had ever done. The thought of getting his blood sucked dry out of him was repulsive.

Esme was immediately at his side as she ushered him quickly but cautiously to sit down in one of the plush couches. She reached him the glass of water accompanied with the food and he drank it greedily his throat parched.

“There, there, dear.” She said motherly then leveling her eyes on Jasper. “I believe a change in subject would be appropriate.”

Jasper nodded and went back to silently observing.

Putting the glass back down on the glass table Harry drew a deep breath. He pulled his hand through his damp bangs revealing his pale forehead.

“What’s that?” Emmet piped up already having forgotten the previous conversation.

Harry blinked.

“Huh?”

“That scar on your forehead.”

“Oh. That.”

He ventured no further but the demanding look he got from Emmet said that if he couldn’t go out hunting a vampire he should at least get his curiosity satisfied or there would be hell to pay. He twisted in his seat under the stare. He noted the other occupant’s attention turned on him now and he sighed in defeat.

“I got it from my parent’s murderer.”

It got eerily quiet and that was saying something as vampires could certainly be quiet, almost none existent.

“Oh.”

Now it was Emmet’s turn to look defeated and he got a triple glare from Edward, Esme and Alice, a fraction more heated from Edward. He shrugged his shoulders apologetically at them.

“Sorry.” He said to Harry.

“No, it’s fine. It happened a long time ago anyway and I was only one year old then so I don’t really remember them that well, though I’ve seen pictures of them given to me from their friends and my godfather. They say I got my mother’s eyes, my father’s looks and heroic streak or prankster streak depending on who you ask.” He smiled sadly. “I grew up with my uncle and aunt and their son, my cousin.” He frowned at the memory of the Dursleys. That was people he certainly wouldn’t miss. “Dreadful muggles.”

“Muggles?”

“Oh, that’s what we call non-magical people.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. When he was met with a blank stare from Emmet he turned to Carlisle.

“You didn’t tell them I was a wizard?” Harry ignored the extremely excited, stunned look he got from Emmet at that revelation. Jasper looked openly shocked while Esme was interested and Alice just grinned like she was in on a very good secret.

“Ah, my bad, I didn’t quite put it like that when I informed them. I said that you were gifted which is a trait amongst us vampires. Maybe we could take this opportunity to get to know a little more about you Harry?” Carlisle asked politely not trying to hide his interest in getting to know more about what Harry was and his history.

“I guess…” Harry said hesitantly.

He always felt self-conscious when talking about himself as he really didn’t like to stand in the lime light preferring to stay out of it at all times if he could. However having his life, and being who he was, that was seldom respected by the terrorizing press. Damn that reporter Rita Skeeter had been annoying.

“I don’t know where to start. In my old dimension, there was the regular world, the one that the muggles knew of, and then there was the magical world. The muggles were totally unaware of the wizarding community’s existence except for some of the higher ups in the muggle government. The regular muggles that accidentally found out about us were always obliviated by the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic.”

“Obliviated?” Jasper queered having gotten over his initial shock.

“Memory tampering. Varying on the case the person in question would either get their memory changed, removing any memory of magic use, or simply removed completely leaving a blank space in their memory when the Aurors where short on time.”

“What’s Aurors?” Emmet questioned.

“You could say Aurors is like the magic community’s police force.”

Taking in what Harry was saying Carlisle pondered it for a while before voicing his own question.

“I wonder, how did they manage to keep the two worlds separate?”

“Oh, there are charms and wards that you can cast and place that will hinder any muggle from entering a magical area or make them think they want to go somewhere else. My old school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had several charms and wards placed on it. To me the school would look like a gigantic castle but a muggle would only be able to see ruins and a warning sign that said ‘no trespassing allowed’.”

“How interesting!”

“However the wards were broken during my final battle with Voldemort, The Dark Lord or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, allowing his followers, the Deatheaters, to enter the grounds. We were barely able to keep them from entering the castle and I was in the midst of dueling the Deatheaters when I was whisked away by a port key attached to a transformed wizard in the appearance of a rat. It sent me directly to Voldemort, who was prepared for me and continued with using the Cruciatus curse on me, ‘for old time’s sake’ he said that sadistic bastard.” Harry glowered at the memory.

“The Cruciatus curse?” Edward came to stand by the end of the couch where Harry was sitting.

“It’s a curse designed to inflict immense pain throughout your whole body. An overuse of the curse on a person can drive that person to insanity. I’m amazed that I haven’t gone bonkers yet for the amount of times it has been used on me.”

Edward growled menacingly golden eyes blistering. Esme looked horrified as did Alice and Carlisle. Emmet and Jasper looked furious.

“I guess I was lucky he didn’t decide to use the killing curse, like he did to my parents, right at the moment I got there or the war would have come to a whole different end.”

Edward snapped his teeth shut.

“Voldemort was the one who killed your parents?”

“Yes, the Avada Kedavra, or killing curse, was what took my parent’s life. He tried to use it on me-” Edward growled again. “-but it backfired on him, caused by old blood magic performed by my mother to protect me before she died. The curse sent his soul wandering the earth from his destroyed body and leaving me this scar earning me the title of The-Boy-Who-Lived.” He raised his bangs and showed them the lightning bolt shaped scar he had right above his right eye. “He later regained his body, at the end of my fourth year in school when I was fourteen, by sacrificing his father’s remains, a servant’s limb and my blood, in turn removing the protection my mother gave me. He couldn’t hurt me before, you see, or touch without getting burned.”

“We dueled, casting our spells and a connection was made between our wands, who shared two feathers left by the same phoenix bird. This is where I apparently called on these creatures, inter-dimensional beings they called themselves, offering me the choice of leaving my own world for another in exchange for sending Voldemort away, he also sent to another dimension. So next thing I find myself hurling through a vortex to land in your dimension meeting up with Edward, Carlisle and…that other vampire.” He shivered glancing up at his company not realizing that he had been staring into the floor during his tale.

Harry waited patiently for them to respond and he saw many emotions played out on the vampires’ pale faces. Sympathy, understanding and respect being some of them. They were all awfully aware that he had been through a horrible war, him standing at the front lines, and it wasn’t just Edward that saw him in another light now. Jasper had lost his distant look he had sported when Harry first stepped into the room, now clearly having a newfound understanding and respect for the young man as it was similar to his own background. The others having the same feelings and Edward felt himself unexplainable drawn to Harry. It was like invisible strings had been formed between them pulling them tighter and tighter together the longer they were together.

“Well, that’s my miserable life story I guess. Nothing spectacular.”

Harry tried a light laugh that came out sounding rather forced and empty. The group of vampires noticed him trying to lift the mood and chose not to ask him about the last mentioned part. Instead Edward remembered his past inquiry from earlier this evening.

“How is it that I can’t hear what you’re thinking?”

Astonished gasps filled the room.

Harry frowned.

“Hear what I’m thinking?”

“Are you saying you really can’t hear his thoughts Edward? Truly?” Carlisle asked his son expectantly.

“Yes.” Edward replied. “It seems to be something blocking them from me.”

“Edward has the gift of hearing others’ thoughts Harry; however this is the first time that he has been unable to. Am I right son?” Edward nodded and stared at Harry.

“You’re saying you’ve been trying to hear my thoughts ever since I arrived but been incapable of doing so?” Again the vampire nodded. “Oh, I think I know why that is.”

That earned him more gasps and Edward pierced his eyes with his own demanding to know exactly what that was.

“Do pray tell Harry.” Carlisle said.

“There’s this thing called Occlumency. It enables you to shield your mind from outer forces and probing so that your enemy won’t get into your head and mess with it. I’ve had extensive training in Occlumency and I’ve been told by my old Headmaster to always have my shields up so that it became natural for me to even have them working in my sleep.”

“Interesting. You’re shielding your mind right now?”

“Yes, though I have them set on low as not to exhaust myself. I still can’t keep them at full power for very long. 15 to 20 minutes tops.”

“That is truly impressive!”

Again he felt their outlook on him changing but hopefully still for the better. Seriously, any other would have called the mental ward by now. But then, since they were vampires, they really weren’t the ones to talk.

“Can you remove your shields?”

Edward was now very interested in making sure that he would be able to hear Harry’s thoughts, so that he could rule out any dysfunction that he suspected his talent was having. Harry seemed apprehensive at this and he hurriedly made to reassure the raven haired youth.

“I solemnly swear that I will not reveal any of your thoughts I might hear. I just want to test that it truthfully is this, Occlumency you speak of, that is blocking me.” He spoke softly and honesty grazed the tenor of his voice.

“Alright.” Harry pushed his hesitation away and sighed.

He reached inside of his mind where he could feel the walls shielding it. He slowly made to remove them one by one until the last one faded away. An inhale of unnecessary air drew his eyes back to Edward. The vampire looked down on him sympathetically.

“Yes, I can hear his thoughts now.”

He furrowed his marble forehead as he witnessed the last thoughts Harry had had with Voldemort and he winced when he actually felt the phantom pain from the torturing Harry had been put through by Voldemort. The pain vanished instantly as Harry’s thoughts became a white sheet again. He had replaced his shields.

Harry seemed anything but content now, not happy with having someone hearing his thoughts about that last meeting with The Dark Lord. Even if it had been Edward he still didn’t like the intrusion to his privacy for whatever short while it lasted. He leaned back into the couch and rested his head on the backrest closing his eyelids.

He dearly hoped Edward wouldn’t take pity on him and start treating him like something that ran the possibility of breaking at the slightest of touches. He wouldn’t be able to stand it.



Chapter 4

A week later after his brief walk through of his life with the Cullens, Harry thought that everything was way too normal and that everyone was acting way to care free. The only last serious thing that had been said in the mansion had been from Carlisle as the vampire said to him to not, under any circumstances, take a step out of it. All because of the threat from the loose vampire, Demetri, and that they were unsure as to whether he was still in the area. Later Alice had told them that the tracker had left, probably for Volterra Italy, but that didn’t do anything for Harry’s situation. He was literally grounded by the fatherly vampire. He couldn’t help but feel like the times he had been locked up in Grimmauld Place, the Order of the Phoenix’s headquarters. Somehow the change of dimension did nothing for his knack of getting people to worry too much about him.

He had been put through playing Alice’s live dress-up doll up to hours and hours, and was only saved from her debates as to whether his ‘glorious eyes matched best with velvet emerald or satin black’ when Esme decided to have him try, yet another, dish of food she had made for him. The caramel haired vampire had taken up on cooking since Harry had made his entry into their household and she was utterly thrilled at having the opportunity to practice her mother skills. Harry was no picky eater; rather he could eat practically anything if hungry enough as long as the food didn’t have eyes or something, but getting six meals a day (including snacks!) was just plain ridiculous. Did she actually expect him to be able to eat that entire massive amount of food? Not to mention that he wasn’t even getting rid of the excess energy he got from it by moving around like he used to do. He was seriously considering going on a food strike however Esme’s smiling eyes always made him shut up and will the food down his throat. He was too kind for his own good… and his stomach’s endurance.

Two clingy persons he could possibly manage but three? Carlisle, although not dressing him up all the time or filling his stomach to the brim of near exploding, wasn’t really that better either. The vampire didn’t seem to get enough of Harry’s little stories of magic from his old world. He was always pulled away into the vampire’s office for some ‘calm and quiet tea time’ that turned out to be not that calm or quiet. He really did have troubles grasping that the vampire was over 300 years old and still managed to act like a little kid begging his parents to tell him another bedtime story.

The rest of the Cullen family was more reasonable even if one of them, he thought, hated his guts. Rosalie had made her opinion clear when she had stated that she was not at all happy with him staying with them, no matter what psychotic vampire was out there to get him. He had brought that on him himself she had said. He was a human and as a human he shouldn’t be here as he was not one of them. End of discussion. Emmet, her mate he had later learned, acted like the total opposite of his mate. He was a very open, nice and honest guy for one that liked to smash things into tiny little smithereens, which he had opted to show Harry on more than a few occasions. The huge vampire appeared to get a kick out of Harry’s amazed face every time he did that, probably only adding to boost the vampire’s silly ego. But he didn’t make Harry do anything troubling, except for this, so he let the vampire have his fun at his expense. Somehow the boulders of stone (or victims?) always got bigger each time and Harry was perplexed as to where he got them all from. Was there a mountain he got them from nearby? Maybe he even went to the Himalayas to get them as he did now know that the vampire’s stamina were an athlete’s biggest out-of-reach dream.

Jasper and Edward on the other hand was two individuals he wanted to get to know better just for the simple fact that they didn’t impose themselves on him 24/7, though his motivations for doing so was of a slightly less innocent nature towards one of them. He couldn’t help it. He was drawn to mysteries. Hadn’t he proved that during his many excursions during his school years? He briefly wondered if had he ignored these impulses maybe he wouldn’t have landed himself in all those dangerous situations and maybe spared a few lives… Like Cedric Diggory. Why hadn’t he just been selfish that one moment and grabbed the cup when he had the chance and when Cedric had offered it to him fair and square. What meaning did saving him have when you just ended up killing him by having him thrown at Voldemort’s feet and being noble?

Jasper was the calming point in his new life, someone he could just be in the same room with and he would be at ease straight away, not really having the need to talk. They were already; felt they were already at the same level not needing to ask the other of anything, having the air of two that had known each other from kindergarten. He didn’t know why, but it just was that immediate connection of understanding that would usually take several years to construct. He was like Ron without the flaming red hair or the temper that came with it. Only a week and they had already progressed to this state. Yes. It was nice knowing he had a friend in this world too.

Edward and Harry hadn’t said much to each other, but they had had that compensated in the many stares and looks they caught each other giving themselves. Although not unfriendly or anything, the vampire didn’t talk to the wizard, he didn’t venture into any conversations with Harry. Harry swore those eyes were becoming more piercingly every single day that passed by, piercing in a very exhilarating; heart thumping way that was absolutely addictive to the human teenager. As much as Harry seemed to never want to let those eyes go, the vampire seemed equally unable to pull them away from him. They only ended when one of the other vampires interrupted them. He didn’t know what exactly what he should call their relationship. Did he want it to be, you know, more than friendly? Perhaps it was only a physical attraction to the vampire’s, obvious, gorgeous looks. Would he want it to evolve into something more, and what did he do if one of their stares never got interrupted? Probably die a very happy death starving to death, but then again wouldn’t he be unhappy because he couldn’t see those golden eyes again after he was dead? Damn that addictive and confusing vampire.

Harry sighed mentally. Or at least he thought he had as an amused chuckle woke him from his reverie of Edward. Jasper sat opposite him, looking up at him with faint amusement grazing his pale features. They had been taking a break from Jasper’s crash course in the Cullens, other vampires, their habits, diet, traditions and what not the vampire thought could be useful for Harry to know. Harry was proud to count himself as one of the most knowledgeable humans about the vampires now. He surely wouldn’t have gotten as much information from his school books, which authors he doubted even had met an authentic vampire, as the information had been way off target. Or maybe it was because they were part of another dimension? Armed with new information Harry and Jasper had discussed and come to the conclusion that at least, since Edward’s gift worked similarly, Demetri’s gift of tracking one’s mind signature wouldn’t work on Harry. This made things easier but they still couldn’t relax fully. Harry was still traceable by his scent alone. Jasper had wanted to try his own gift at Harry and they could easily say that it worked on him. He had successfully made Harry go from laughing, to crying, to back laughing again during a short time, by influencing his emotions with his gift. Emmet had laughed his ass off at this display at the wizard’s expense. Harry still grumbled a bit at the memory.

“What are you thinking about?”

Harry turned his eyes to Jasper.

“Just things.” Like Edward. “And how much irritated I still am at Emmet for laughing at me like that. He doesn’t have any manner s to save his life. Oh wait, he’s technically already dead so does that make him think he doesn’t need them?”

Chuckling again Jasper replied.

“Maybe. I think you might be right on that point. He IS the strongest in this family after all. No one capable here of teaching him a lesson, though I think he’s still too thick headed to acquire them anyway.” Jasper smiled thoughtfully.

“Aaah… I wish Fred and George was here now. They would have a fool proof way of getting back at him.”

Harry slumped back into his seat.

“Fred and George?”

“Sorry, they’re two older twins to my old best friend. They owned a magical prank shop, always developing new ways of getting out of class or just simple prank items.” He scratched his nose sighing again.

“Hmm.”

Jasper had his hand to his chin as he tilted his head. He sat like that for a while thinking until he asked Harry again.

“Have you’ve been practicing your magic lately?”

Harry scrunched his eyebrows together.

“Yes, I have. I’ve tried doing the more difficult ones I know of but I don’t seem to have enough magical energy yet, but I can feel it coming back to me slowly. I’m starting to get the hang of this wand less magic but it’s only small things, like levitating a cup and the like. I did manage to change its color too. What?”

Harry looked suspiciously at Jasper as the vampire was starting to grin ominously.

“I think I might have an idea how to get back at him for you.”

“Huh?”

“Care for another accomplice?” Said a musical voice to the side of him. “Emmet had it coming to him eventually and this idea is very intriguing.”

Harry twisted his head to see Edward standing in the doorway imitating Jasper’s expression with a bit more fervor. He tried to ignore his wildly beating heart at the sight.

“What idea?”

“I heard Jasper.”

He tore his eyes from Edward to glance at a smug looking Jasper.

“You said you could change things’ color right?”

“Yes, I did say that but what does that have- Oh. Oooh.”

Harry began to grin manically revealing his father’s inherited prankster side snickering in delight to himself. Of course, why didn’t he think of that himself? He could be so blind sometimes.

The three huddled up together, Harry blushing slightly at the close proximity to the bronze haired vampire, while they drew up the plan. Emmet was going to regret ever making fun of Harry ever again for the rest of his eternal immortal life.

Alice bounced past Emmet casting him a mysterious look during which she started humming lightly under artificial breath. He peered curiously at her before shrugging it off as Alice just being her usual self, although she kept sending him glances all the time like waiting for something to happen…

He narrowed his eyes as he was too late to evade Edward as the vampire lunged himself at him from behind grabbing the muscled vampire. He got distracted by Jasper grabbing his other side while the honey blond vampire sent calming waves of emotion at him so he wouldn’t get the chance to work himself up and try to throw them off of him. Emmet could see Alice smiling a huge toothy smile at him not attempting to help at all. She had known this was going to happen but what exactly? That little devious- His attention was brought to Harry as the young wizard waltzed up to him having the most alarming grin he had ever seen. He was so not going to like this. The wizard came up to him and took one final step before stopping.

“Payback time.” The wizard grinned and Emmet gulped involuntarily before he felt a tingling feeling spreading on his scalp.

At hearing several snarling growls and shouting, Carlisle, Esme and even Rosalie came hastily down from their upstairs rooms to see Edward and Jasper flashing by them laughing loudly. Tenth of a second later a pink streak passed them and they stopped dead in their tracks. They managed to catch a furious and fuming Emmet with what looked like neon pink hair adorning his head as he chased the two vampires out into the mansion grounds. A ringing heartfelt laughter called to them and they stepped into the kitchen where they saw Harry bending over holding the kitchen bench and an arm slung over his stomach as he struggled to breathe through the chunks of laugh attacks. Alice was grinning like the Cheshire cat and winked at them when they entered. She was obviously enjoying herself too at this event. Carlisle and Esme couldn’t help a few chuckles to escape their throats as they took in the glowing young wizard. Rosalie just stared at them blankly debating to herself if she should be angry for seeing her mate in that condition or not, even if it had been a bit amusing to see the massive vampire get some of his own medicine.

Emmet had opted for chasing the other two vampires, venting his anger at them and not the human teenager, as Alice had threatened to tell Esme if he laid his hands on the wizard. Bit disgruntled by this Emmet had just glared at Harry and then chased after the other two swearing all the while thinking of the worst curses he knew to throw at the laughing vampires.

“What happened?” Carlisle asked them.

Harry was still clutching at his midsection unable to answer the question so Alice spoke up for him in his stead.

“Harry, Jasper and Edward decided to get back at Emmet for that little testing incident with Harry. Apparently Harry wasn’t happy about being laughed at and hearing this Jasper came up with a splendid idea which Edward heard and simply asked to join in on the fun. I saw this but decided that it was just too bad to stand in their way. Sorry Rosalie, I think your boyfriend is going to be stuck with that pink hair for a while. But don’t worry it’ll be gone within a few days.”

Eventually calming down enough Harry pulled himself up straight again but he was still snickering under his breath.

“That. Was. So. Worth. It.”

Showing them an equal toothy grin at them, like Alice was doing at the moment, Harry took another deep breath and started explaining what exactly he had done to the bigger muscular vampire.

“He had it coming.” Harry ended when he received a raised eyebrow from Carlisle.

After that Emmet always kept a cautious eye out for Harry if the wizard ever got the temptation to try anything like that again to him. His hair had gone back to normal in little to no time without too much trouble except for the slight grin or snicker the three accomplices would give him when they saw him.

A month passed and everything went back to normal, as much as it could in a house filled with vampires, and Harry started getting bored again having the rush from the little stunt diminished. Often he would find himself sitting in the window of the room he had been given as his own private room and just stare out at the forest and sky up ahead. He kept wondering what he should do next. Maybe stay with the Cullens or find his own place? That was out of the question at the moment but things must calm down eventually. He couldn’t possibly stay in the mansion for the rest of his life for Merlin’s sake! The interest of learning something new, like about the vampires, only lasted that long and he was bummed out having to be quarantined here.

Bringing his knees up to his chest and huffing he pouted.

“I take it you’re bored?”

Edward stood leaning on the door frame appraising him.

“Yes. Utterly ‘Bored-Out-Of-My-Skull- And- Ready-To-Torture-Anybody-If-They-Didn’t-Have-Supernatural-Strength’ bored.”

Harry looked pointedly at Edward who raised his hands in defense.

“I’m not the one keeping you prisoner here. You’ll have to go to the Lord and Mistress of this house if you want to put down a complaint. You could try but I doubt they would listen. Esme can be very protective.”

“I haven’t noticed.” Harry grumbled and shivered at the silvery chuckle from Edward.

He moved slightly opening up more space on the window sill for Edward to sit down. The vampire strode silently and leaned down on it. They sat there for ten minutes or so just watching the outside scenery while Harry was enjoying Edward’s company. It was interesting how you could have a silent conversation between each other without the need of simple words to keep it going, air and body language speaking for themselves. Harry often spent his holidays in Hogwarts this way feeling comfort in the solitude the action brought.

He hadn’t really thought that much about his situation. He was a little scared, he admitted that. Being in a new world often did that to you. His life could have gotten a drastic end the instance he got here but again his magic had saved him from his impending death. Although he had tried to perform the spell again he could never do it. Maybe it was because of the life threatening situation he had been in.

The habit of his wand arm raising, like he still had his wand in his hand, hadn’t left him though. He still raised and added pushing his palm out trying to direct the magic through his arm using it as a focus point. It was going tediously slowly but he was getting better. He could now levitate objects more than a few seconds and minor helping charms, the color change of Emmet’s hair being one of the improvements since he arrived here. Jasper was a willing training partner and helped him keep his attention and concentration from slipping and keeping his frustration at bay. The vampire had surprised his mate and the others by telling Harry a bit about his past before his turning into a vampire furthering their forming bond and friendship. Despite her surprise Alice was ecstatic at Jasper confiding in someone outside their family and never went to intrude on the time they spent together. However she was for some unknown reason even more excited about the few occasions the young wizard and Edward had stumbled upon each other or sat down to just enjoy each other’s company as they did now.

“A penny for your thoughts.”

“Huh?”

“Can’t read your thoughts remember?”

“Oh, right. No, just thinking about what I should do now. I can’t stay here for forever intruding on your hospitality. Not that I don’t appreciate it, believe me I do. I’m just restless, that’s all.” He sighed.

“How so?”

“I’m not exactly used to just sitting around doing nothing. I’ve always been out there, you know, doing things to help others. I just feel so helpless sometimes, like I can’t help them anymore, and not knowing what they’re doing now. Are they okay? Are they safe? Did Ron finally ask Hermione out on a date?”

“Must be hard.”

“Yeah…”

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Thanks.” Harry turned to give a small smile. “Still I wonder though.”

“You have to have faith in them.”

“I’ve told myself that too. I do have faith in them. It’s not their actions I’m worried about; it’s what others might do them that make me anxious.”

“You’re going to grow old and grey, before you know it, if you keep thinking like that.” Edward grinned at him.

“Ha ha, very funny. So says the immortal vampire worrying about his own family all the time.”

Edward look stunned for a moment before he regained his footing again.

“You noticed?”

“Not that hard really, I mean, everyone in your family are totally obvious of it, even Emmet.”

Harry said smiling slightly. The vampire shook his head, eyes glistening with amusement.

“Maybe I have to go back to acting school to rectify that.”

“Acting school?”

Edward grimaced a bit at the mention of that.

“Alice made me go once, thinking I didn’t need another degree from a medical school.”

Harry blinked.

“You have more than one?”

“Several in fact.”

“This might be rude, but, how old are you really?”

“How old do you think I am?”

Harry pushed himself forward a bit inspecting Edward’s features. He looked very serious.

“Hmm… A millennia?”

Edward chocked getting a comical expression in his face which was replaced by light irritation as Harry couldn’t hold his serious face anymore and burst out laughing.

“I take my question back. That really is rude.”

“Sorry, sorry. Couldn’t help myself.”

Harry wiped the tears away from his eyes from laughing too much.

“Obviously.”

Edward was smiling again a little wider than the last one.

“For your information I’m only a bit over a century.” He informed Harry.

“You sure? Perhaps you didn’t notice a few years extra pass?” Harry grinned at him.

“Yes. Quite sure.”

Edward tried a half glare directed at Harry but it didn’t work that well on the wizard. He changed his expression back into being thoughtful and just stared at Harry. The young human’s cheeks tingled. The response was becoming second nature to him. He froze suddenly as a cool hand came up and stroked his left cheek. The heat in his face clashed deliciously against the iciness of the vampire’s hand. He looked straight into piercing molten eyes searching his own.

“Truly an enigma.” At Harry’s confused complexion Edward added. “Without your thoughts I’m entirely lost. I can’t figure you out. When I think I have, it always slips through my fingers again. I never imagined not hearing anyone’s thoughts, taking it for granted I always would be able to.”

“That’s not true. You can hear my thoughts.”

“But you won’t let me.” Edward said.

Harry lowered his eyes but not moving his face away from Edward’s hand. He seemed so small and vulnerable suddenly that Edward almost didn’t hear the young man’s reply.

“It’s too complicated. You won’t like what you’ll see.”

“Why won’t I like it? How can you be so sure of that? Have you ever tried?”

Edward saw how Harry winced and made to move away from Edward but the vampire reached forward and grabbed Harry’s right wrist with his free hand. He held it steadily in his, not really tightening it uncomfortably but still tight enough so that the teen couldn’t pull it away.

“Let go.” The soft words whispered.

“No.”

“Edward, let me go.” The voice had a pleading hint in it.

“No.”

Harry flared up and glared blazingly into Edward’s golden ones.

“I said let me go!” He said forcefully tugging at his unmoving wrist.

“What are you afraid of?” The vampire’s tone was soft and gentle.

“I’m not afraid!”

“You are.”

“Piss off Edward! That’s none of your business!”

“Then make it my business!”

Letting go of Harry’s wrist Edward swiftly took hold of the wizard’s face in both of his hands. He leaned forward and bumped his pale cool forehead against the heated flesh feeling the tremors racking throughout Harry’s body. Wetness grazed his icy limbs and he let the smaller one cry his silent tears. A rasped voice broke the silence.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Edward sighed and smiled.

“I’m a vampire, remember? Pretty hard to hurt us, comes with the trade. And you’re forgetting something else. You’re not in your old world anymore. Whatever you’re thinking about, it can’t hurt me here.”

Harry stilled at that statement. He really had forgotten about that. But still… He didn’t want Edward finding out what he had been through. Didn’t want the vampire to recoil back from him, god the coolness was heavenly, when he was in on the secrets of his life. What people he had killed, even if it was in self defense, and what he had done. He had told the Cullens about his life but far away from everything, only the basics and the last happenings. Telling them about his parent’s murder had been unintentional; although he had left out that that he actually had required a memory of that night later in his life. How he had heard his father shout at his mother to get her and him to safety, heard his mother plead for his life while Voldemort raised his wand, sneering at her and uttering those horrible words. His mother’s screams echoing in his mind. He felt himself sink into the memory as it raised itself over his form beginning to drown out the outside world.

“No…no…don’t…mom…dad…!”

He hiccupped as the tears took a turn for the worse. Remembering his parent’s death during his emotional outburst was not a very good idea. The control was fading and he raised his hands to clutch at Edward’s hard arms desperately, almost hurting himself, ignoring Edward calling his name.

“Harry.”

“Harry, you’re safe here. Calm down.”

Edward tried to get Harry to focus on him but the young man’s eyes weren’t seeing Edward or his surroundings anymore, only clinging to him like he was his life line. The vampire debated on going to get Jasper for a tenth of a second before he recalled the vampire in question being out on a hunting trip with the rest of his family. What perfect timing he grumbled mentally. He even wished for Rosalie to be there so he could call on her to go get Jasper. She would do it for him, albeit unwillingly.

The teen in his hands starting shaking violently as the obvious reliving of a painful memory had begun to drown him slowly under the pressure of the repressed emotions. Fingers clawing at his arms harshly made him worried of the wizard hurting them on his marble like arms.

“…no… …stop!”

“Harry! It’s only a memory. It’s not real. Focus on my voice, Harry. It’s not real.”

His sentences was met with deaf ears as the teen just kept trembling and shaking, tears coursing down his cheeks. Edward started panicking himself. He was unable to contact Harry in his distressed state.

At this time he didn’t care anymore how cliché it would look to an outsider as he made a hasty decision. He bent forward and captured the quivering lips with his own willing them to calm down. They sat like that, Edward still having his hands at either side of Harry’s face kissing him gently with the young man’s hands still attached to his arms, for an indescribable amount of time as he felt Harry bit by bit coming back to reality.

In his wild mind Harry felt it begin to gain order again as his eyes also began to lose the horrible image of his parent’s being killed before his eyes. He tried to blink the last remnants away and his green orbs centered on golden ones. Impossibly close molten ones. He felt his hands loosen their death grip on something hard as they fell limply to his sides. The cool sensation to his face and lips came last and it took him some time to realize that the vampire was actually kissing him. Edward was kissing him. His thoughts swirled again for a whole new reason as the agony was replaced by something fiery and heated. Pushing back on those chiseled lips his hands came back into action as they reached up and clutched the front of the silk shirt Edward was wearing. The vampire responded to Harry’s actions as he deepened the kiss, shoving the teen’s backside against the side of the window.

A passion filled moan rumbled in Harry’s throat and this seemed to make the vampire come back to his momentary lost senses. The cold lips left his bruised ones and he caught Edward staring intently into his green eyes.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Was the vampire stuttering? Wait, what did he say?

“You’re sorry?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what crossed my mind. I shouldn’t have forced myself on you like that in the state you were in.”

“State?”

Harry’s brain was refusing to cooperate with him as he tried to take in what Edward was saying to him. The last minutes surfaced from his foggy mind and he couldn’t help himself as he blushed brightly red, tracing his lips with his fingertips. The vampire’s eyes traced his actions with his molten wells while expressing clear longing in them.

The retreating movement of Edward’s hands and body made him start to stand up with the vampire. Edward interrupted him.

“I need time to think. I’m going to go and meet up with Carlisle and the others. Don’t worry.”With that he was out of the room in a flash leaving Harry bewildered before he could even move a finger.

He sat there just staring at the door Edward had left through collecting his thoughts. He got confused at his actions but the touch hadn’t been unwanted nonetheless. This was the first time he had found himself strongly attracted to another male (and a vampire at that!) and also liking him. But this was another ‘like’. He compared it to him liking Jasper but the two things were so totally different they could have existed on the opposite side of the planet. He realized what he saw in Jasper what was he had seen in Ron only stronger with the underlying understanding they shared. What he felt for Edward was something he never had felt before. He had been in the middle of kissing him just a moment ago for crying out loud! That certainly wasn’t something that friends did, he was sure of that at least. Maybe…

It struck him over the head like a frying pan. He liked Edward like other guys liked girls, possibly more, only they were the same gender. He wasn’t troubled about that though. What had him troubled did the fact that Edward had ran out of the room without saying anything, except for that that he was sorry. Sorry for what? Sorry for liking him as another male or for kissing him?

He swung his legs to stand on the floor and rushed out of the room in pursuit of the vampire. Hadn’t Edward said something earlier this day about the family hunting in an area southeast from the mansion? He had said he was going to meet up with them. Said not to worry but Harry couldn’t leave it at this and not do anything about it. He had to tell Edward he liked him, possibly more than that even.

High tailing through the upstairs corridor he took the stair two at a time, almost tripping in the process, landing at the bottom and speedily picking up his steps again. Pushing the front doors open he stumbled onto the driveway, spanning his eyes along the starting line of the forest wondering in what direction southeast was. He chose a random direction in his haste and hoped it was the right one starting up running at full speed again.

Harry must have been running for more than twenty minutes before his senses started coming back to him with a force. What the hell was he doing? He could have been running in the total opposite direction of Edward for all he knew and was he not allowed outside of the manor because of the threat from that vampire? Pausing in his tracks he tried to take some deep breathes of air calming his racing nerves and adrenaline rush.

“Fuck, get yourself together stupid.”

He breathe in and breathe out while his breathing returned to normal. Harry put his forehead in his hand grimacing at his own forcefulness. Why couldn’t he just have waited for them to get back from their hunting trip? It wasn’t like he, as a human, was able to catch up with Edward. He was such an idiot sometimes!

Shaking his head he turned around to retrace his steps back to the mansion, hopefully he would be able to arrive back there before Edward and the others noticed that he was gone and sent out a search party for him. He couldn’t imagine the telling-off he would get if they did.

“Hello there pretty.”

Harry stopped dead in his tracks. Ice cold shills started racing through his body as the blood red eyes of the vampire Demetri bore into his. His breath hitched in his throat as he watched the dark haired vampire walking up to him gradually, smiling wickedly all the while.

His mind racing, head wracking with questions as to why the vampire was here, he stood frozen to the ground unable to move a single muscle. He trembled as fear began to set in showing in his widespread green eyes.

“How… why are you here…”

He managed to croak out in a hoarse and fear laden voice. The vampire sniffed his fear and seemed to gloat in it grinning menacingly.

“For you.”

The vampire licked his lips and flashed Harry his sparkling white fangs. The teen made to take a step backwards as his torso was enveloped by stone cold arms preventing him from doing so.

“We’re going on a little trip pretty.”

As a final and last resort Harry immediately dropped his mental shields and sent a frightened and frantic thought hoping Edward would hear it wherever he was.

A sudden pressure to his neck made his eyes lose their vision as he blacked out and slumped limply into the dark haired vampire’s arms.

AN: Yeah, a cliffy. Sorry guys but I couldn’t find a better way to end the chapter. . I hope you won’t hurt me too bad for it. *puppy eyes* I promise to get the next chapter out as fast as I can! Pinky swear!!



Chapter 5

’Ugh… my head’

A raven haired teen had been swimming between unconsciousness and consciousness for hours now to what amount he was unaware of. His head had a sore patch to the side of his forehead, probably from hitting a hard surface when he had fallen down or bumped into something. His clothes were damp and dirty like they had been drenched in water and just left to dry on their own, shills all over his body. The teenager was wracking his brain for clues that had put him in this predicament and dimly noticed the stone walls of the small room, lit with a few torches hung across the room. He was lying on a simple cot, placed in one of the corners dressed in a graying white fabric, smelling a bit of moldy moss. Actually the whole room smelt moldy but it wasn’t overwhelmingly doing so.

The young man, Harry, sat up stiff as a wood plank as the recent memory holes began to fill in and he shifted his eyes taking in his surroundings with a new eye. He let himself relax a bit when he couldn’t see the vampire Demetri anywhere lurking in the shadows of the, now that he could see more clearly, dungeon cell not very much unlike those that Hogwarts had had except those had been more welcoming than this one. No matter how weird that sounded he had to agree with that argument.

‘Shit…me and my big head. Why does this always happen to me? Well done Potter. Now let’s see how you get yourself out of this mess.’

Of course, first he would have to figure out exactly where he was and then also address the point of how to get out of here. Piece of cake! ‘Yeah right…’ He grumbled at his own stupidity yet again and thought that maybe he should lay off and stop his one man show of mental scolding. You know for now.

Letting out a whoosh of air he attempted to get himself together and weigh his advantages and disadvantages. Big or huge disadvantage was that he didn’t know where here was and what the vampire was planning to do with him. He faintly hoped the vampire had decided on not to kill him, as he was still alive, but then again the vampire might have wanted to get him far away from the Cullens so that he wouldn’t be disturb during his feeding time. Harry swallowed convulsively on the word. Harry’s advantage was that the vampire was not aware of his inheritance, meaning him being a wizard capable of performing magic, although it wasn’t really helpful right now as it was still pretty weak. But it had still protected him against the vampire when they first met so why hadn’t it done the same this time around? Was it because the vampire hadn’t had the intention of killing him? He was obviously alive if this wasn’t some real strange afterlife he was experiencing. However that would be assuming that his magic could actually differ between a life threatening situation to ones that weren’t and that was an utterly outrageous thought. But then again, why start getting surprised at what was and what had been happening to him. Really, where were his popcorn and his feet recliner? At least they could offer him some relaxations while he leaned back and just watched the show.

Digging his face in his hands he groaned loudly not caring if anyone heard him accidently while his frustration over his rotten luck danced around his head, teased him and pointed its finger at him laughing loudly. The sound of dripping water reached his ears and was that a soft thudding noise hidden beneath it? His green orbs sought out the only door in the small room and heard with trepidation that the sound was getting closer and closer. Was he finally going to kill him? Harry raised his hand as he tried to think about the shielding spell he had first accomplished on his entry to the new world, his forehead beading a bit with the effort, but only a vague silvery shimmer was the result he received. The next second the door opened and the hinges screeched in the stagnant air making Harry wince.

The teen crawled in on himself as another pair of familiar blood red eyes focused on him and the vampire mixed a sneer with a grin at him. This vampire though was of a much larger build than the tracker had been and he wore simple but formal clothing. He wasted no time as he strode forward to grab hold of one of Harry’s forearms and dragged him out of the cellar into a dimly lit stone corridor and walked swiftly but briskly down it. He offered no words to the wizard and the wizard was in no way inclined of asking any questions in fear of angering the vampire. The hold on his arm was tight enough to leave ugly bruises, which he could, when he had the chance, heal but doing it in the vampire’s presence was not really a good idea so he put that aside for now.

They rounded a corner and the corridor came to an abrupt halt as they took a staircase flying up it with Harry tripping once, only to get hauled up on his feet again with a low growl from the vampire. Well, excuse him for being human and not having the power of speed. Walking through another corridor, Harry jogging along, they eventually came to an open doorway and passage, leading them into a huge dome like room. Shoved out into the open space Harry stumbled on his feet before he was able to straighten himself and take in the new scenery. The room was more like a hall, and the hall was in turn more like throne hall with its high ceiling and open stone windows near the ceiling.

He would have continued appraising the throne hall if it wasn’t for the sudden shills streaking down his back as he finally noticed its other occupants. He was taken aback by the number of vampires in the hall and he definitively didn’t fail to notice the hungry eyes he got from some of them, outright glares and grins mixed in the expressions. Only one vampire seemed to be disinterested in him and just kept looking sideways seemingly bored out of his mind. Harry could see the party revolving around a male vampire, who had very long jet black hair similar to another male vampire standing beside him and a third with shoulder length white hair. All three were very pale, almost translucent, and also the obvious leaders of the group. The other vampires all looked to be adults except for two, twins he realized, that stood out from the rest with their pale and childlike complexions looking to be barely thirteen or even less. The female of the two glared threateningly at him with her angelic face while her twin brother had an expression of very mild interest.

“Hello again pretty.”

Harry’s eyes strayed to the lithe tracker as the vampire smiled in a sinister way at him with almost a smug look on his pale face. He began to pace backwards from the vampire until a velvet voice brought his actions to an arrest. The middle vampire of the leader group floated up a few steps giving him a polite smile that seemed very political to the teen.

“We brought you here because you have piqued our interest with your unique ability and we would like you to share it with us. I am Aro and these are Marcus and Caius. We are the heads of the Volturi clan residing here in the city of Volterra, Italy.”

The teen remembered Jasper mentioning them and that they kind of acted like the law upholding force amongst vampires. The vampire smiled eerily again and continued when Harry just stared at him keeping silent.

“We have had the pleasure of hearing your story from Demetri and I must say it’s quite interesting, a human able to repel outer force with a physical shield and not to mention blocking Demetri’s gift. How is this?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders going for the ignorant attitude and tried to calm his racing nerves. So he was in Italy, Europe and a whole different continent. That vampire Demetri must have brought him here after knocking him out cold, which also explained his last line uttered to the wizard. Considering what this Aro had said the only things part of him they knew of had been what Demetri had seen him do. The math was easy to do here, Demetri had gone back to these vampires, told them about him and then apparently been told to go and get him for them. Harry didn’t like the looks he was getting from Aro, which was achingly similar to someone who looked at an object they dearly wanted for their own collection. A collection he had no intentions of becoming part of mind you.

“Truthfully? I think it unlikely that you have been completely unaware of these gifts you have. Surely you must have noticed this before this incident?”

Harry opted for the shrugging of his shoulders again refusing to give the vampire any more information they already had about him.

“I see. Unwilling to contribute to your case are you? I wonder.”

The vampire began closing the distance between them, waving off some slightly apprehensive looks from the party, and placed his milky red eyes on the young human. Realizing that he couldn’t really outrun the vampire he stood his ground looking up defiantly at the vampire just willing him to try whatever the Volturi leader had up his sleeve. The vampire seemed to appreciate this burst of defiance from the human tilting his head to side and looking decidedly more interested now in the fragile human.

Harry stiffened when the vampire placed icy fingertips to his temples and he could immediately feel the mental probing erupting from the two points. He hurried to strengthen his mental walls and the vampire got a marveling expression. The probing continued for a few seconds before the icy points was removed and the vampire spoke up again.

“Indeed a power mental block, or maybe shield would be a better word? A human with the gift of both a physical and mental shield, ah, just think about the possibilities your gifts would present, but first, Jane dear, if you would please? ”

Harry got an ominous sensation in his stomach as he saw the little female vampire grin wider showcasing him her brilliant white fangs at him in vindictive glee. His mental shields were assaulted next by a multitude of tries of entering his mind, this time hammering away at his defenses but they were still holding. He didn’t recognize the feeling as simple mind probing, this was more vicious in nature and he certainly didn’t plan on letting that get into his mind. Who knew what would happen to him if he did? The short dismissal from Aro interrupted the attack and Harry, breathing slightly harder from the onslaught, got strangely delighted at the furious glare Jane was throwing his way, obviously despising his very existence.

“Marvelous!”

The Volturi vampire clasped his hands together in front of him ignoring his subordinate’s great displeasure.

“Before we move on, I would like to have your name.”

Harry pointedly ignored the vampire yet again and held his tongue. He refused to offer the vampire any information if he had anything to say about the matter.

“Still unwilling to speak I see. I feel sad at this knowing from Demetri firsthand what a lovely voice you have.”

The young human stared shocked into those sickly, milky red eyes with the question clear in the green orbs. How did the vampire know how his voice sounded? Was it because of this vampire’s gift? So he had read the trackers mind like he had tried to read his. Harry’s eyes switched to Demetri and back to the Volturi. The vampire showed him an annoyingly polite smile.

“Truly a fine specimen, just imagine how you would shine grazed with the touch of immortality. The beauty you would exude. ” Harry’s incredulous facial expression made Aro give him a light laugh. “You seem to be unacquainted with your own beauty. How endearing.”

The vampire traced a finger along Harry’s jaw making the teen skip back. Aro sighed dramatically at Harry’s reaction to his touch but let it slip for this time.

“Felix, before we invite our guest to join us, would you be as kind as to check the potency of his protective shield? Oh yes, why not test how he will manage with both his shields active? How useful indeed that would be. Jane dear, if you would, please?”

Aro floated to join the other Volturi leaders taking up his position in the middle. Caius had his eyes on Harry with obvious interest now, while Marcus still looked to the side with a bored expression. The vampires zeroed in on the teen and before Harry could make another move his mental shields were assaulted by the same viciousness from earlier. He pinpointed the smaller vampire and glared heatedly for all he was worth at her. She seemed a bit perturbed by this but the hammering only increased in strength and force. Abruptly remembering what Aro had said he searched the room finding that same vampire that had brought him from the dungeon cellar grinning fiercely at him. He staggered under the aura of killing intent practically oozing from the largely built vampire. Alarm bells went off in his head and he vaguely noticed that the vampires that were not involved, backed away to leave more room for what was going to take place.

‘Oh Merlin, please let this work!’

The wizard desperately called upon his magic and the loud bang of something close to his right brought his eyes to see the huge vampire slung away in the air from him. The delighted cries of Aro could be heard above the soft amazed gasps from the other occupants of the throne hall. An equal earsplitting crash came from his other side and he relieved saw the vampire flung away again. Harry desperately hoped the Volturi leader would lose his interest in the testing of his shields before his energy ran out, his concentration slipped and his mental shields would come crashing down. How long had it been since he raised them to full strength? He had done that ever since the vampire tried to enter his mind but exactly how long since then was that?

A frontal attack to his repelling shield brought him down to one knee from the massive pulse shaking it. His breathing was labored and he didn’t seem to get enough air no matter how large gulps of air he took. The strain from the full speed running before his kidnapping and the lack of nutrients since the last time he had had a meal at the Cullens was starting to show. His body beading with sweat from the exertion he was being forced through against his will, just because a vampire lord wanted to satisfy his curiosity. Damn that arrogant, sadistic shit of a vampire! A crazy idiotic bastard was what he was. Merlin, he wished he could shut him up for good! He was so furious now despite his exhaustion and the adrenaline kept flowing rapidly in his veins.

Then Harry did something that even made the Volturi vampire Marcus pull his eyes to the young human. The teen leveled his blazing green eyes at the jet black haired leader and growled forebodingly, the air around him crackling and snapping. The vampires stared uncertainly at him looking from Harry to Aro in question who himself frowned at the display. God, he wanted to rip the vampire into tiny little pieces for even thinking about turning him into vampire without his consent!

Harry heaved himself up to both of his feet again and snarling softly under his breath he took a step forward towards the vampire. Several vampires immediately stepped in his path protecting their leader. One vampire rushed at him but he pierced the vampire with his eyes sending the vampire flying way farther away from him than the other vampires Felix and Demetri had.

Inside his body he felt something give way and he was completely overwhelmed as an immense power wave radiated through his body making him lose his focus and his mental shields came crashing down on him. He howled in pain as unexplainable agony ripped and cut at his core. Dropping to the ground he twisted sporadically while shifting between wheezing and screaming to and fro. His body was burning as if surrounded by liquid fire not much unlike the Cruciatus curse and he lay there on the cold stone floor twitching and rolling as the pain kept coursing through his flesh.

The onslaught came to an end and he stayed on the ground gasping strenuously for air. He felt a numbing pain in his abdomen and traced it with his hand trying to sooth it but was met with wetness. He brought his hand up to his slit eyes and saw only redness covering his hand. He stared dumbly in amazement at it. As if only now realizing he was hurt, his body started protesting the blood loss wheezing and coughing up smears of blood on the floor. He heard hisses from around and above him as the vampires leaned towards him but no one made to attack him, probably from orders of Aro. Coughing roughly he somehow made a hero effort and struggled up to his knees, his foggy eyes trying to refocus on the vampire.

“Felix, I said for you to check his shield not his body.” The voice had finally lost its polite tone and was threatening low and menacing. “But no matter, I suppose this makes the turning easier as he will not have as much blood in his veins when the venom enters his circulation.”

‘No way, this isn’t happening…’

“How interesting though, it seems he does have a limit on how long he can uphold both of his shields. However, I’m sure that will be fixed after he is turned. Chelsea, please do be ready to bind him to us when his transformation is complete.” The vampire turned to the weak human. “You should consider this an honor to be invited to join the Volturi.”

Harry tried to get back on his feet but his body had taken too much toll and damage at this point to be able to go through with his wishes and his body shook from the chock it was going into. The teen coughed violently again creating a pool of blood in front of him which slithered down between the cracks of the stones, making the throne hall’s occupants hiss louder. The icy growl from Aro however kept them at bay and some moved to the farthest reaches of the space as far away from the bloodied young human as possible. They wouldn’t risk having the wrath of their leader turned on them for risk of perishing themselves.

He was dying. He knew as much of what had happened to be able to come with terms with that. One didn’t suffer from a deep gash in one’s abdomen, coughing up blood probably from bad internal bleeding, without realizing this. Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, was going to die from simple bleeding to death in front of a bunch of bloodthirsty vampires, who’s leader though wouldn’t let that happen as he wanted to turn Harry into one of them. He’d much rather prefer bleeding to death than stay with the Volturi vampires as he was sure that Aro’s only reason for keeping him was for his abilities alone and prospects if used in battle. Not to mention, if he had interpreted it right, he wasn’t going to have a free will either and be bound to them for the rest of his immortal life. Bloody brilliant! He thought sarcastically and to top it off the fucking vampire had the nerve to say it was an honor to do so!

He was on his own now with no chances of ever making it out of here alive, at least not as a human being, that was for sure. So the best he could hope for was becoming an undead, a vampire which under different circumstances he might have been able to manage. Living in immortality and forever eternal with Edward was appealing but would the bronze god accept him for what he had become? They had parted with so many unanswered questions he couldn’t be totally sure of that. What if they began to see him as a threat? Would they try and kill him (yes you could technically kill a vampire if done correctly, courtesy of Jasper’s crash course) because they knew of his background and the dangers it would pose to them if he had been turned and under the control of the Volturi? And worse, what if they found out what he really was? He absolutely refused to let them get a hold of his magic and use it on his family! But then again he didn’t exactly know what would happen to his magic when he turned into something else, although he did know that werewolves, like Remus, were still able to use their magic after they were turned. Although they were only ever in their werewolf form once a month during the full moon, Harry would permanently be in this state and hadn’t he learnt that newborns was out of control the first year or two? In worst case, he would go berserk and ravage the whole city of Volterra, country, the humans and maybe vampires too if his magic would stay intact and his shields would be impenetrable. He started shivering for a whole new reason now. No, he didn’t want more human lives put on his conscious. No, he couldn’t live through that again, there was only one way out of this…

Harry moved his wavering and shaking hand to his stomach, it would be morbid and absolutely repulsive, but he would dig his hand into his abdomen and rip out, crush, his own organs to cause his own death before the vampire ever got the chance to bite him, inject the venom and start the transformation. His fingers barely made contact with his exposed flesh as a hard and icy hand closed over his wrist and stopped the action before he could give his body the last strike. Harry raised his head and fiercely leveled a hated glare on Aro as the Volturi clasped the imprisoned hand.

“Let. Go.”

Harry’s low, menacing voice, despite being of human descent, sent strange shills down the vampires’ back and Aro looked taken aback for a mere second before the vampire took on a fascinated expression.

“What spirit and such devotion! Never before have I seen anyone so desperate in taking their own life before they were turned, don’t you agree Marcus?”

“Indeed.” The less prominent Volturi leader spoke softly his eyes taking in Harry like he was seeing him for the first time, which he technically was, and his blood red eyes widened in shock.

“What is it Marcus?”

The white haired vampire, Caius, noticed the other and asked slightly alarmed at the usual stoic vampire, causing Aro to turn his head to them and ask the vampire what he saw.

“It’s incredible.” Marcus spoke. “I can clearly see the ties of loyalty and bonds linking from him and stretching into various directions from his body into the unseen distance.”

“Impossible!” Caius shouted vehemently.

“Do you doubt me, brother?” Marcus glanced coldly at the Volturi vampire.

“Of course we don’t Marcus.”

Aro spoke up instead of Caius. He swung around back to Harry and gasped. The vampire’s milky red eyes glazed over as he witnessed something from far away. When they cleared the vampire stared at Harry with something aching to stunned awe. He had seen what Harry really was, a wizard and a capable one at that too. He had seen all of Harry’s memories up to this point the moment Harry’s weak try at a makeshift mind shield, pushed up in hurry; fell not long after when the vampire had grabbed his wrist. Harry glared defiantly and furiously at the bastard vampire.

“Most incredible, to be sure.”

A smug smile actually stole away the polite smile and Harry’s insides cringed in fear, not only because of his internal damage but also for what the vampire would do with his newfound information.

“It would seem our guest is farther away from home than we had initially suspected. A whole dimension far away in fact.”

“What?! You can’t be serious Aro. That’s preposterous! ” Caius exclaimed incrediously.

“I am quite serious Caius. Not only that, he calls himself a wizard, a human capable of wielding magic. That is how he has been able to protect his mind and body from us but it seems his powers are still weak after the transmission from his and our dimension, though growing stronger by the minute, hour and day.” Aro’s eyebrows drew together. “He is unsure what the venom will do to his magic when he is turned, possibly even lose it. I regret getting him hurt, though he won’t be able to survive with his injuries without the vampire’s innate healing abilities now.”

“Get the bloody, fucking hell away from me... I won’t let you use me for your sick business.”

Harry snarled and abruptly started up another coughing fit, a bit delighted to see Aro’s clothes get stained by his blood. He swayed on his knees as his green eyes became half lidded and his last strength was drained from him. His body slumped together and the only thing holding him up was the Volturi leader who addressed the others with a hurried voice.

“He has no more than a few minutes left. I want you all to be ready to restrain him during his turning. We have to make sure he is put under our control before he enters the wild mind of a newborn. Chelsea.”

The vampire gave his orders not expecting any reply to them and wasted no time in raising the young human’s neck intending to bite into the larger vein there pulsing weakly and irregularly. The teen was completely limp in his hands. Fangs dripping from the venom the vampire but down into the soft skin and the boy despite his near unconsciousness went rigid and struggled by trying to twist his weak body but it was already too late. Making sure the young human got enough venom into him Aro stayed still for a short moment keeping the flailing body in position. When he was satisfied he stood up fluently and left the body on the ground to witness the first signs of the venom taking effect.

Harry’s eyes shot open as burning pain started racing through his veins, reaching into his limbs, his chest and his heart. An awful guttural sound erupted from his throat blocked by the blood there and his body went into spasms from the pure agony he was being put through. His flesh was alight and drowned in molten lava as every fiber of his body seemed to be burned away and die. His mind knew no words as the excruciating sensations overtook his being and very existence.

The vampires stared as the teen twisted and flailed violently on the ground, all the while making almost wild animalistic noises and Aro frowned as he had not ever seen a turning this fierce before. It made the vampire wary and wondered if it had something to do with the young man’s magic. They would have to see as the turning usually took a few days up to a maximum of a week to complete, under which Aro would assign his guard to watch over him.

The wizard’s body was reaching its peak as he could feel his abdomen closing up and the misplaced blood started drying or rather evaporating from the heat coursing through his form, his veins hardening. For how long later he didn’t know the fire finally started withdrawing, although very slowly, he could feel his limbs going dead as the feeling reached closer and closer to his heart. His brain though began to get clearer and clearer the closer the last burning closed in on his wild and uneven beating heart. He was suddenly able to think again even though the burning heightened as it pooled in the recesses of his heart. His eyes blinked as the burning dimmed and his heart gave its last frantic beats before it silenced for forever.

Harry’s thought was swirling as he got his first taste of immortality and he could feel his strength thrumming under his skin. Working his jaw he could feel the thirst in his throat burning and he instantly wanted to satisfy it. A familiar source of energy made itself known as it started streaming throughout his body molding itself to his immortal body, its bones and cool flesh. It swept through like windy water taking his thirst with it and the burning in his throat stopped. He laid there expecting something else to happen but nothing came making him scrunch his eyebrows together. Harry stared at the ceiling as he amazed took in all of the tiny little details he had been totally unaware of as a human. Everything was so damn clear it was overwhelming to his senses which he noticed had never been this good, no matter how high of an adrenaline rush he had had.

Eventually the curiosity go the better of him and he leaped graciously on his feet almost shocking himself with the ease he did it. Astonished voices pulled his eyes to the Volturi vampires he had forgotten about until now and he couldn’t help the tilt of the head he did as he really took in their appearances properly for the first time. Not that he liked them any better after that, but still.

“How is that possible? He shouldn’t be fully turned yet, it hasn’t even been ten minutes!” A female vampire seemed absolutely shocked and he could sense the fear in her voice.

As a response to what she had said several, if not all, vampires crouched into defensive stances.

“Doesn’t his thirst bother him at all? He’s a newborn!” Another voice, this time male, asked.

Harry focused on the three Volturi leaders and Aro as said vampire looked at him with ill disguised shock on his pale, translucent, features.

“How?” Aro narrowed his eyes at Harry.

“How should I know? You tell me.” Harry answered him haughtily in a musical tone. “You’re the mighty vampire leader right?”

At a signal from Caius, who was the fastest to snap out of his stupor, Felix, Demetri and several others from the guard rushed towards Harry intending to take him down. The familiar energy tingled in his body as he saw a silvery, see through, bubble envelope him and the first two vampires was pushed into the air buried into thrown rooms wall, crumbling around the impact points. This certainly made the others stop in their tracks and Aro shouted at Chelsea and the twins.

His mind instinctively closed itself with his mental shields and the viciousness of the hammering from Jane’s mental attack had lowered slightly. He could sense another kind of probing demanding entrance but it wasn’t as strong as Jane’s.

“Alec.”

Aro’s demanding voice brought Harry back from his mild amazement at having gotten the repelling shield up without too much trouble or time delay. He watched the male twin look at him as misty fog started rising from the small, lithe figure creeping slowly across the stone floor. He didn’t like that mist for some reason that made him start to look for an escape route. Something in his head said that he wasn’t strong enough yet to fight it off. He stepped back to avoid the mist from reaching him as he noticed Aro starting to gain his usual confident smile. Harry grinned cheekily at him and waved a perfect pale hand in his direction before disappearing from the vampire’s sight without a sound, leaving the vampires stunned and confused.

(AN: I thought about ending the chapter here, but then I painfully remembered the last time I did this, also remembering a few that I wouldn’t do that EVER again, so I decided to continue on for my own safety. ^___^)

Harry landed graciously on his feet after apparating out of the ancient building and found himself smothered by a small bundle of pure energy. He looked down into the smug and happy face of Alice and he couldn’t help answering it, showing off his equally shiny and sparkly teeth. The small vampire let go off him and took in his appearance and grimaced at him.

“Look at your clothes, they’re ruined!” She said in a mock voice.

“Oh, I am SO sorry for doing that; after all, it was my entire fault for getting mortally wounded and not to mention ruining them in the process.” He deadpanned.

“I’m happy you’re reflecting over your mistakes and if you promise you won’t ever do it again. Understand?”

“Yes, your highness. I promise to never do it again.”

Harry rolled his eyes at her and she giggled at him. He could see little more than half of his family standing around them all with a look of slight amazement and he couldn’t really blame them, I mean the last time they had seen him he had still been human.

He felt a pair of eyes staring at him and he turned his to meet golden, molten eyes watching him with pain in them, and was that guilt? Harry sobered up from his teasing with Alice and stood to face Edward fully. He became uneasy as the silence between them stretched, however he was unable to form a reasonable enough sentence. He hit himself mentally and forced himself to open his mouth.

“Edward, I’m so sorry for running after you like that when I knew perfectly well that it was possibly very dangerous for me outside the mansion, which it was.”

Harry scratched his head, ruffling his raven locks and almost fell on his back as Edward practically threw himself at Harry and would probably have crushed his human body in the process if not for his transformed state. Momentarily stunned it took him a while before he wrapped his arms around Edward and hugged him back fervently. The embrace was frantic and desperate and Harry found himself trying to sooth the taller vampire, stroking his bronze hair in slow, caring strokes.

“Edward, it’s fine. I’m alright.”

“It’s all my fault.” A muffled voice came from Harry’s shoulder.

“What?” Harry answered surprised.

“I left you all alone just because I couldn’t control myself. What if you had been…”

The vampire couldn’t bring himself to utter the last words but Harry was pretty sure what those were.

“But I wasn’t. It’s alright.”

“No! You were my responsibility and I just left you to that disgusting vampire and what if he had-”

Harry promptly shut the vampire up by crushing his lips to Edward’s, totally ignoring their audience and frankly not caring either, as he ravished the soft but firm lips against his own. It took a stunned moment but Edward was quick enough to push back with his own and it would have gone further, if it wasn’t for a slight cough that broke them apart. They were still in each other’s arms though, Edward refusing to let go of the shorter one.

“It’s wonderful to see that you are safe Harry but we need to get going before the Volturi notices where we are.”

Carlisle smiled at him though he was still serious at the same time. Emmet grinned at them where he stood beside Carlisle while Jasper was snickering and Alice just kept smiling smugly. If Harry could have blushed now he would have done so, fiercely, when his brain caught up with him. He had grabbed and kissed Edward directly in front of the others! Ah, he would have died from the embarrassment if he wasn’t immortal now.

“We have flight to catch. We need to get going now.”

Jasper spoke up and broke Harry out of his embarrassment.

“Do you think you can keep up?” Jasper asked him.

Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, stupid question. Let’s go!”

And they were off running for the nearest airport to take them back to the United States.

AN: Yay! Harry’s safe and Edward got another kiss! Mwuhahaha~ As I mentioned earlier a lot of the questions raised in this chapter will be answered in the next when Harry explains to his family what happened to him while in Volterra and with the Volturi. I’ll see you next time everyone!! *hugs*



Chapter 6

“What the hell were you thinking?!”

Harry hurried and scurried over to hide himself behind Jasper who had an amused expression on his pale face. Since they had safely arrived at the Cullen’s mansion again, Edward had abruptly spun around and had started scolding the newborn vampire and new family member. Harry understood perfectly well why Edward was angry at him; he had just hoped the vampire wouldn’t get over his relief at Harry being safe so soon. He had quite enjoyed himself being cuddled up with Edward on the flight back from Italy, earning them many stares that were quickly muted when Edward had glared icily at the other passengers. The rest of the family had been protective of him before the Volturi incident, but had backed down considerably after his transformation. They figured he could hold his own in a fight now after what Alice had told them. However this seemed to have had the opposite effect on the bronze haired vampire, as he had never let go off Harry ever since he had latched onto Harry outside the City walls of Volterra. Harry’s near death experience hadn’t done nothing to ease Edward’s anxiety. Harry grimaced slightly when Edward just went on and on, and he didn’t dare try the same method on the vampire like he had the last time the vampire babbled. It was tempting though.

Alice appeared to have finally gotten enough of Edward’s over protectiveness as she bounced over and whacked him, not too kindly, in the back of the head. Hadn’t he been a vampire his head and the rest of his body most probably wouldn’t have been a one piece set anymore. Edward got a lightly hurtful but mostly irritated look in his face which only earned him a roll of her eyes and an exasperated sigh.

“I said he was going to be okay. Every scenario I saw he was, actually, going to be fine! Jeez, brother, what a mother hen you’ve become.”

She giggled and a few light chuckles could be heard, except for Emmet who was outright laughing his ass off until Rosalie hit him in the side to shut him up. Harry thought it was really fascinating to see Edward stand there with his mouth opening and closing reflexively, apparently lost for words. He tried not to snicker at him but it was really hard and he hid his face further behind Jasper, hoping Edward wouldn’t notice him.

“I don’t have to read your thoughts to CLEARLY see that you’re laughing at me.”

Harry winced involuntarily and peeked up, an apologetic face turned to Edward which turned into a puppy look. The vampire sighed.

“Okay, I admit that I…overreacted a little bit.”

Edward pointedly ignored the snort he got from Emmet.

“I did say I was alright, Edward.”

Harry smiled at him, happy to see Edward loosening his tense shoulders and calming down.

“Yes, you did but…the moment I realized he had taken you…what he might have…”

The vampire obviously didn’t want to go in that direction, so it was thankfully dropped by Harry as he stepped out from his refuge and slumped on the sofa in a silly manner. He fell backwards into the couch from behind, ending up with his knees bent at the backrest with his upper body upside down and back to the sitting area. He blinked at the weird upside down stares he received before he caught on.

“Ah, I actually enjoy resting like this. It’s rather relaxing really. Two twins that I knew back where I come from forced me to try sitting like this once and, well, it just kind of stuck with me.”

(AN: This really IS comfortable if you have a real big and plushy couch. XP Be careful with evil minded younger siblings though…they might think you’re a cushion to sit on or something.)

He shrugged as well as he could from his position. He was used to being the slightly strange and weird one. He heard a ‘flop’ and then another on both of his sides as Edward and Jasper joined him.

“Not that bad, I guess.” Jasper grinned at him.

“We really need to clean that ceiling though.” Edward deadpanned and Harry couldn’t help his burst of laughter as he clutched his stomach in mirth.

They could hear Esme’s affronted huff and that only served to set off the other two as well. She smiled after a while however and the other watched in amusement as the trio had started to try and push each other off the couch. Harry had the upper hand as he was wedged between the two taller vampires and he got an evil glint in his green eyes. Two startled yelps could be heard as two vampires were lifted and dumped from the air onto the floor in a heap. Harry’s legs slid off the backrest as he lay down on the couch laughing even harder than before.

“That’s cheating Harry.” Jasper grumbled as he got back to his feet with Edward.

“Hm? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Harry blinked his large innocent eyes at them.

Edward raised a delicate eyebrow at him before his eyes widened slightly. Harry stared at him perplexed.

“What?”

“Your eyes… they’re…green. I didn’t notice until now. Emerald green.” He added as an afterthought and turned to Carlisle with the question clear in his eyes.

Harry stared from the other vampire to the other before he got confused. He hurried to his feet.

“Wait, they’re still green? Shouldn’t I have red eyes or something? I am a vampire right? So, why?”

“I don’t know Harry. I wanted to wait till we got home to ask you that in fact.” Carlisle answered him concern lazing his voice but then it got lighter again. “Perhaps it has something to do with your magic Harry? You can obviously still use it, considering we just saw you levitate Edward and Jasper and I’ve been wondering since we met up with you Harry. How exactly did you escape and how is it that you’re lucid?”

That certainly got the others attention, well everyone except for Alice who just smiled smugly like she always did. Harry was dying to someday have the opportunity of surprising the little devil incarnated. Surely he could think of something, but back at the matter at hand again. He squirmed slightly under their amazed and confused stares, not really appreciating the flashbacks he got from the old Hogwarts student’s stares piercing into him like he was some kind of alien or something equal rare.

“Uh…I really don’t know more than you guys…” He trailed off in a soft voice. He perked up. “Alice, didn’t you say that you had seen every possible scenario? I really don’t remember much after I got bitten by Aro.”

Edward froze. Then he growled and Harry found himself in the secure arms of the other vampire with his back snuggly to Edward’s chest. The hold he had on Harry was possessive and Harry fought with the delighted feelings he got from this gesture and the urge to roll his eyes at Edward’s protectiveness. Alice grinned and spoke up in her chirping voice.

“I did see what happened to you but except for your turning just lasting merely ten minutes-” She received baffled looks at this. “-I didn’t see anything strange. Although I really enjoyed the show you put on for the Volturi.” She winked at him.

Edward winced at her thoughts, tightening his hold, but still snickered when she got to the good part of the vision. Aro’s face really was priceless. He would certainly remember the face the Volturi leader had had when Harry disappeared into thin air.

“Harry, you didn’t sense anything that was off from what you’ve heard from Jasper? Anything at all?” Carlisle asked.

Harry scrunched his eyebrows together trying to recall the really painful turning, but since it was hard to tell if something even had been different, he stayed quiet for a long time before replying in a tentative voice.

“After the pain had gone away I did feel something fami-” He cut himself off and gasped softly.

“What did you feel?” Jasper asked him imploringly.

“I swear I felt my magic just when I started feeling the thirst in my throat, but then it just disappeared. The blood thirst I mean.”

Carlisle was looking at Harry thoughtfully while he pondered on his words.

“You don’t think?” Edward said in response to Carlisle.

“I think I do. Seeing it from Harry’s perspective and what he told us right now, I can’t see it any other way. Somehow his magic is keeping him sane and as a consequence to that, his features have been slightly altered than that to a normal vampire.”

“So my eyes are the same?”

“No. They’re pure emerald.”

Edward sounded fascinated and extremely happy by this simple fact, almost purring as he placed his head on Harry’s shoulder. The emerald eyed vampire had an invisible blush at the obvious approval.

“Down boy! I didn’t know you were the clingy type brother.”

Emmet laughed as Harry flushed in his mind thinking the big vampire really hadn’t learned his lesson after all. He gripped Edward’s arms to keep him from springing up and tackle Emmet as he smiled sweetly that was awkwardly evil in its own way.

“Don’t you think pink hair really suited Emmet, Edward?”

“Yes, it did.”

Harry could feel the other vampire start leering at Emmet and Emmet was wise enough to snap his mouth shut before he could get his ass into trouble again. Harry smiled proudly and Emmet cast him a sour glance. Oh, it was so fun to put the larger vampire in place!

“Rose…they’re being mean to me. I’m your lover; you need to stand up for me!” Emmet whined.

“It’s your own fault. Deal with it.” Rosalie huffed.

“Whaaat?”

She ignored his outburst. He would quiet down eventually anyway if she just left him alone. Rosalie gave a brief nod in Harry’s and the others direction before she left for her room. Emmet followed her, whining all the way and Harry was surprised she didn’t strangle him or something. Guess that was love for you, eh?

“Yes, well, maybe we all should rest our minds for a bit? It has been busy the last days and maybe some talking would be appropriate?”

Carlisle eyed the newly formed pair with fondness and fatherly concern grazing his features. Taking Esme by the arm he led her to their quarters and Alice grabbed hold of Jasper and pulled him along with her. Jasper seemed unwilling at first, protesting that he wanted to get the information about Harry’s turning, but a confirmation from Harry that he would tell him later appeased him.

The seconds ticked by and Harry stood firmly planted to the ground as any attempts at going to his room failed miserably when Edward wouldn’t let him go.

“Uh…not that I don’t…appreciate the…attention, but Edward it really is easier to move to my room if I had full mobility and was restraint free.”

Edward was excruciatingly slow when he eased his grip on the shorter one and he clasped his hand with Harry’s as he started leading the raven haired up the stairs and down the side corridor. They came up to Harry’s door but Edward pulled him past it.

“Edward, we just passed my room.”

“I know.”

“Okay…mind releasing my hand so I can go to it?”

“No.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“A bit.”

They stopped outside a door at the end of the long corridor. Edward pushed the handle and the door swung open. The room was real modern despite the mansion’s age and Harry could see an entire wall cluttered with bookcases and CD racks. There was no bed in the room and Harry was just about to ask Edward about this until he remembered that vampire’s don’t need sleep. Guess he was still caught in his old human thoughts and behavior. He did have a white silk divan however which he forced Harry to sit down in while he took a seat beside him. Another human gesture as you would easily sit down when you wanted to have a lengthy conversation or talk with someone. Of course Harry noticed this and he braced himself for the question that was sure to come now that the vampire had gotten him alone and away from the rest of the family. Their family. Harry smiled at the thought.

“What happened after…Demetri took you away?” The vampire sneered at the trackers name.

Edward still had his hand in his and refused to let it go. Probably thinking Harry would run away if he did and Harry grudgingly had to agree on that precaution.

“He knocked me out and took me to, Volterra was it? I was taken to the Volturi after I had woken up, we talked, or rather Aro talked, and then he decided turn me. I managed to apparate out of there after he had turned me and then I met up with you.”

Harry quickly went through his short speech.

“I want the whole story, Harry, not the cliff notes. Please?”

Edward’s voice was imploring and had an edge of fear, probably from knowing what had really happened. But he needed to know. Both for his own and Harry’s sake.

He didn’t want to tell him. Harry really didn’t want to. He was sure that the vampire wasn’t going to enjoy it and Harry wasn’t one to tell everyone he knew about his feelings. He didn’t want pity that was often inevitable.

“Why?”

Harry stared into golden eyes and his heart clenched at the vision before him. Edward certainly didn’t have the eyes of someone who gave you their pity. Edward was still angry. But he was angry at himself. Harry could see the inner turmoil in his eyes and Harry realized that it was not only so that Harry couldn’t escape from him that he had taken hold of his hand. It was to keep himself too from running away from Harry.

“I…” The vampire faltered but Harry pushed on. He needed to know.

“Why, Edward?” His voice tinted with slight desperation and he gripped the soft hand firmer. “Tell me.”

The vampire tensed at first but leaned forward, the low rustle from the fabric and clothing ringing in the air. The other hand slid to cover Harry’s cheek and his chin was guided to meet Edward’s lips with his own in a short and yet gentle touch. The grip on Harry’s hand tightened even more as Edward’s lips hovered a mere inch from his own. He felt the vague movement of the vampire’s mouth as the vampire spoke in a mere whisper.

“I…love you.”

“…what?” Harry’s dazed and subdued tenor spoke up.

“I love you. These feelings…it can’t be anything else. It can’t be.”

Edward swept his lips over Harry’s again.

“Please, tell me what happened. I need to know. It’s killing me not knowing what they did to you. I swear, I’m going to make them regret ever laying their disgusting eyes on you.”

“I can’t talk about it.” Edward pushed forward again but Harry interrupted him. “Let me…let me show you.”

The vampire stilled in his movements. His eyes sought out Harry’s and they clouded with uncertainty and worry.

“Are you sure? Isn’t it easier to talk about it? Seeing those images again…”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m going to remember them anyway. At least…this way I won’t have to explain anything a second time if I forget anything.”

“I understand.”

Harry took an unnecessary breath of air as he trembled slightly. It took him a while to lower his mental shields, although it was more from a case of nervousness than inability. His thoughts was racing, feeling immediately vulnerable and he so immensely wanted to put the shields back up again.

“It’s okay. It’s only me here. Only me who can hear and touch you.”

The vampire spoke softly and gently rubbed his thumb along the back of Harry’s hand. It was hard, so hard, when the first memory image flickered in his mind as he pulled it from the recesses of his brain. Hard to keep the fear at bay when the emotions of the memories grasped him, and the only thing keeping him anchored was Edward’s arms that had wound around his slim figure. It was both so easy and difficult at the same time to just let the images rise to the surface and let them act out on their own. Hard to have the pictures splayed across his inner eye like blood, tearing them up and dripping out from the crevices it created. Burning his eyes under the closed eyelids but unable to let a single lone drop of tear form and escape across his skin.

Letting your tears fall is a way of letting go. It is a way to succumb to the feelings and get them out of your system. It is an emotional release that empties the bottled up depth of your inflicted trauma. But what do you do when you can’t cry? What do you do when the racing fire can’t find any escape out of your body and it just keeps on going past your veins and flesh? Perhaps you need something to hold onto. Someone that will, no matter what, never let your fingers slip between their grip. A person that will, no matter what, let go of you and never let you drown in yourself. Never let you bury what makes you, you, and to never let you lose that golden path. Never lose that golden thread that forever keeps your cores linked together. Is it not this what they call destiny? Is this what they call faith? Belief and conviction? But you need to trust it. You need to trust it. And then, let yourself, be free.

The phantom pain echoed in his mind and body. He was clinging onto the only firm and steady body of mass which was the only thing he could do at the moment. Not until the images stopped flowing past his irises would he calm down and ease the beating of his phantom heart. Seeing flashes of red eyes and then searing pain as something pricked his neck. He experienced the agony that went throughout his whole body, as it wracked and tore at the seams that somehow did not break. Then he welcomed the stilling of his beating heart as the agony disappeared with it and clarity took its place. Happiness engulfed him as he recognized the golden hues that had welcomed him and taken him into its embrace.

Harry rested his forehead against Edward’s shoulder as he still kept his eyes closed. The air had been filled with serenity as the last flickers of his memories passed out and stillness filled the void in its stead. They seemed like only dreams now that kept fading the longer you had been awake. He twisted his body slightly to get a better position and the movement stirred the taller vampire.

“Are you alright?”

Edward’s voice tickled Harry’s ear and he mumbled the answer into the vampire’s neck.

“Yeah, I feel…strangely refreshed actually.” Harry chuckled.

“Good.”

He just knew the vampire was smiling as Harry went on.

“Me too.”

“What?”

“Love you.”

Hands left their place from Harry’s lower back and, gripping his face, brought his lips crushing down on Edward’s. He felt the force of the action almost bruising them despite his newfound strength, but he didn’t care as he looped his arms around the vampire’s neck. A questing warmth made him open up and he couldn’t help the moan erupting from his throat. Edward growled in approval and pushed him into the backrest of the divan. Silky hands roamed his lithe figure from hip, stomach and chest to bury themselves into his raven locks. Hips ground together and Harry’s hands never stopped their exploring of the sculpted body above him. Edward pulled away from him and Harry opened his dazed emerald eyes. The vampire looked deeply down into his eyes with his own filled with heat and happiness.

“You’re beautiful.”

Harry laughed.

“Thanks, though I would appreciate being called handsome or hot instead.”

Edward tilted his head to the side and said in a teasingly tone.

“That too. But I still think you’re utterly beautiful.”

Harry groaned at the retort.

“You’re incurable.”

“It’s called being romantic.”

“Oh.”

Harry looked into Edward’s eyes and he shook his head as he sighed softly.

“I still prefer handsome…I have my male pride to think about.”

The sound of Edward’s laughter could be heard bouncing off the walls of the room as Harry scrunched his eyebrows together irritably. Though he gave up on that eventually as the vampire didn’t seem to be deterred by the mild glare he was sending him. He tried to sit up but Edward wouldn’t budge. The vampire leaned down resting half of his body on the newborn as he snuggled up to put his head in the nook of Harry’s neck. Smiling, being defeated, Harry put his arms around the bronze haired vampire.

“Promise me.”

“Huh?”

“Promise me you won’t go off like that again. I couldn’t bear loosing you now.”

Harry groaned again but was understanding at the same time. He tightened his arms around Edward and put his chin to the top of his head.

“Edward! I’m not some helpless human anymore and even before that I was able to take perfectly good care of myself.” Edward eyed Harry with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, except for that kidnapping thing earlier. Oh, fine! If it makes you happy…-”

“It does.”

“-Then yes, I promise.”

“Great.” The vampire grinned.

You could hear Harry muttering unintelligible things under his breath, softly cursing overprotective vampires and what not he felt appropriate to complain about in that moment. They couldn’t sleep but that didn’t stop them from spending some quality alone time as the hours ticked by as the evening night came out and placed her veil over the occupants. The mansion was eerily quiet, even for vampire ears, but they didn’t care much about that as they knew of no immediate threat to their persons.

A silent rule of calm had fallen over them all, as neither interrupted or disturbed the other in their thinking and wondering over past events in both lives. It was strange, Harry thought, really strange. Even in his wildest imagination he could never have guessed he would be travelling to another dimension of his own and meet the most amazing creature from both worlds. He had had crushes before, at least in that department he wasn’t new at but the whole love thing was still a whole new territory to him. He knew for a fact that he had had a small crush on Cho Chang (the kiss had despite being wet been kind of nice) in his fourth year and now that he thought about, that crush had probably passed over to Cedric somewhere in the middle of the Triwizard Tournament. But then Cedric had died and his crush was replaced with guilt over what predicament he had caused the older student and Hufflepuff. About Ginny though, he wasn’t so sure if it had been a crush or a need to simply take care of her. He had felt a connection with her but that might just be with their shared history in the Chamber of Secrets, but then again who knew? During his early school years he hadn’t been the brightest when it came to the affairs of the heart. The only thing he could be totally sure of was that he had felt absolutely nothing for his two best friends, because they had been exactly that. His two best friends. Perhaps extraordinarily best friends although that again had come from growing up and having been through a LOT together.

Now that he thought about he was probably attracted to both sexes. That was basing it on his short history with the female kind of his former species, and his obvious feelings of attraction and love towards one bronze haired vampire. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what had pulled him towards Edward. But the connection had been instantly there when he first laid his eyes on him. It was just a matter of giving him time to figure out that his fascination with the vampire had been the prelude of love. While it hadn’t been love at first sight it had for sure, no doubts about that, been attraction at first sight. Their relationship had started off slowly but had gotten a huge push when Harry had been taken away by the tracker and the ordeal he had been out through by the Volturi. Harry had still been caught up in the rush of his actions what had taken place at first. However Edward’s show of affection after the trauma had only served to strengthen it and made Harry even more aware of his growing and existent feelings towards him. It was incredible but he could still feel them growing for each passing second he spent with the vampire and he was only too happy to accept them.

It was all new and kind of weird to him. He had thought he had had what they call a family with the Weasleys, and he had had that, however it hadn’t been his true family if you could describe it like that. He still counted them as family but the core family had definitively become the Cullens. Amazing how one’s life could change so drastically yet wonderfully in the matter of a mere month and a few days to add.

He was aware that the Volturi probably wouldn’t let him off the hook that easily and he wouldn’t have expected anything else from them either. Aro scared him, but angered him even more and he ached at the mere thought and chance of putting the vampire out of action for good. The vampire was a bit similar to Voldemort in that he thought he was almighty and was so high on himself. Oh, and they both had red eyes and pale complexions. He laughed at that remark. He had gotten rid of one before, with a little extra help, so why couldn’t he do the same thing this time around? At least he could try and intimidate the Volturi vampire enough to leave him and his family alone for the rest of their future and eternity. Thinking about it, if he had any say in things, he would very much like to eradicate the vampire and his infuriating existence from the very face of the earth itself. Maybe he should start plotting the various ways you could dismember a vampire with the use of magic. He was sure Hermione had mentioned some supposedly effective and possible procedures at one point during one of their study sessions in Defense Against the Dark Arts. However he wasn’t sure how well those would work on this dimension’s vampires and if they were even remotely the same in their workings. He certainly hadn’t heard of gifted vampire’s before meeting his family, but as he had said earlier. The vampire’s in his old world most probably wasn’t that open with sharing their secrets and how to destroy them to the wizarding community. It was a matter of survival after all which he could perfectly understand.

He laid there on the divan with Edward now curled up around his figure and he couldn’t help thinking the vampire adorable at the cute display. It was kind of nice knowing that the vampire had this side to him too. It gave a really nice and heartwarming feeling tingling in his body that was very much enticing. Who would have imagined that Harry himself was very much all for cuddling? Aaah, he could just see Malfoy’s expression if the idiotic blonde had found out about that fact. He couldn’t help the snicker as he shook lightly with the image clear in his head.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Ah, sorry, I just imagined the face on an annoying ex rival from my old school. He thought he was all that, only to end up with ass on whipped. Served him right with that attitude of his. He really was too dumb and ignorant for his own good.”

“Only that?”

“What?”

“Are you sure you were only thinking about that. You were really tense earlier.”

“Only some minor planning for the future.” Harry shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re not going after the Volturi Harry.”

“But I think that I could really-”

“Absolutely not. Don’t even think about it.”

“Edward…”

“No Harry.”

Harry sighed and put his head back on the backrest.

“You are aware that you’re being extremely childish, right?”

Edward spluttered which set off Harry as the emerald eyed vampire started laughing heartily while trying to avoid Edward pinching him in the sides.

“I resent that comment! I am only concerned for your well being and safety.”

“Yeah, sure! Keep telling yourself that you disillusioned vampire.”

“Why, you little!”

Harry tried to break free but the taller vampire would have nothing of that as he mercilessly nudged and pinched at Harry making him squirm helplessly on the furniture. He laughed and struggled with Edward and realizing that he had no chance of overpowering the other vampire he first tried to beg for mercy.

“Please! Have mercy on my poor soul!”

“I’ll stop. But only if you promise not to confront the Volturi on your own.”

“Fine! I’ll bring Jasper and Emmet with me then.”

Edward growled at him and Harry decided that a strategic retreat was a very good idea now. He lifted Edward up in the air and the vampire growled menacingly (not in a death threatening way mind you) and promised various uncomfortable punishments for his actions. Harry just grinned sheepishly at him and decided to flee the room to seek reinforcements from the overprotective wrath of his mate (yes, you heard right, his mate). Halfway down the corridor he decided to give Edward a fair chance of catching him as he let go the magic holding the vampire in the air and the taller vampire was quickly catching up to him. He laughed as he raced into Jasper’s and Alice’s room without knocking, temporarily happy that they hadn’t been up to something else at the moment, and dived in between them on the huge queen sized bed. Alice had already moved to leave some space between her and Jasper as Harry had lunged himself and landed in a soft thud on the bed linens. He barely managed to pull the blanked over his body as Edward stormed into the room with all the intention of punishing the errant, emerald eyed vampire.

Edward advanced on them but was stopped as Alice spoke up in a lilting tone.

“Don’t even think about ripping my expensive and new French silk linens Edward.”

“Harry…come out of there. Now. We need to talk about this.”

Edward strained to make his voice sound calm but it did nothing for his situation. Harry snuggled up to Jasper, who in turn couldn’t help the mile long grin on his face at the situation, and whined in a childish voice.

“No! Jasper, Edward is being mean to me.”

“Harry…”

You could clearly see the dark shadows around Edward as he spoke his name. Oh shit, he was obviously not happy about this. Okay, how to avert this dangerous situation?

“Edward, uh, okay, will you back off if I do promise not to go after the Volturi? However if they do come here, on the pursuit after me I reserve the right to kick their pale asses of this planet.”

Jasper sniggered at the term but sobered up at the glare he was receiving form Edward. He tried to look serious, even if it was only for show. Edward glared at Jasper again but left it at that. The teller vampire sighed.

“Yes, but also only if promise you won’t take them on on your own. Even if you have regained a lot of your, magic, and gotten more powerful than most of the Volturi, it’s still not safe to face them all alone. I’m just worried about you, Harry.”

The vampire spoke softly and Harry melted at the tone. He crawled out of his hiding, hopped off the bed and gave Edward a tight embrace.

“Okay, sorry for pissing you off but I keep telling you, I’m not that weak you think I am.”

“I know.”

Edward smiled at him and gave him a small peck on the lips.

“I got the dibs on their stupid, good-for-nothing, leader!”

Edward rolled his eyes but smiled as he chuckled at Harry, while Jasper and Alice laughed heartily at the even more stupid couple standing in front of them.

AN: See???! No cliffys!! Haha~ I’m so proud of myself. *smug look* Ah, I’m off taking care of my overdue laundry, dishes and cleaning up of my apartment now. O.o Reviews please!! Pretty please!



Chapter 7

Harry side stepped and turned on his right foot as his body swung around to avoid Jasper’s hand reaching and grabbing for him. The honey blonde vampire wasn’t far after and launched another attack on the emerald eyed one as Harry sprinted to put some distance between them. The vampire was high on his heels and he stopped to push himself sideways, barely evading the vampire again. While his mind was on Jasper another body slammed into his midsection and they both crashed into the ground heavily.

“Bloody hell!”

Harry swore as Edward got to his feet again and offered a hand to help him up, all the while smiling, and was gingerly pulled up to stand beside the bronze haired vampire. Jasper came up to them with a huge grin plastered on his face.

“You’re doing great Harry!”

Harry raised a doubtful eyebrow at him.

“How am I doing great when Edward managed to take me down that easily?”

Jasper rolled his eyes exasperatedly at Harry before he huffed.

“Well, I think it’s pretty amazing for you to be able to evade me, who has a lot more experience than you, after just a few days of training. And besides, hadn’t you been so occupied with looking for where I was, in turn forgetting about Edward, you probably would have dodged him too.”

“I do have experience!”

“Not as much as a vampire, Harry.” Jasper pointed out.

Harry grumbled and the other two snickered at his reaction. They had been at it for hours now and Harry had been developing with an incredible speed, shocking Jasper, considering the fact that Harry hadn’t have any real training in physical hand-to-hand combat. He was sufficiently capable of evasion but had drastically improved himself in that area too after the training sessions with Jasper and lately now also Edward.

“Yeah, well, I’m getting tired of being pummeled to the ground and then facing the wrath of your demon when she lays eyes on my dirtied clothes. How come she never scolds you when you’re the one getting them dirt in the first place?”

“Patience, little one, patience.”

Harry’s eyebrow ticked at the recently new nickname he had earned from Edward after one of their, more interesting, sessions with each other.

“I thought I told you not to call me that! I may be small in height but I assure you that the rest are in no means small.”

“Like your temper.” Jasper murmured.

A surprised yelp was heard as Jasper was very unceremoniously flung across the clearing which they’d been training in. He regained his balance midair without complications and landed softly on the balls of his feet. Shooting Harry an amused grin he quickly raised his hands in surrender as Harry glared at him threateningly again.

Edward rubbed his chin thoughtfully while he eyed Harry from top to bottom.

“Technically speaking, you are shorter than me so the nickname is still valid. Little one.”

“Don’t you get me started, Edward. If you weren’t already dead, I’d promise you a slow and painful death for even calling me that.”

“I thought you loved me?” Edward blinked his golden eyes playing the role of a puppy to the level of high expertise.

Harry lost his focus as the memory of his confession popped into his head and he shifted his body uncomfortably and tried a weak glare at Jasper again, who was enjoying Harry’s situation way too much for his own good.

“Do we have to bring that up now?” Harry pleaded with Edward while still eyeing the other errant vampire.

“I understand. If that is how you feel then…” His voice cracked like in emotional pain.

Edward cast a sideways glance at Harry and literally saw the other crumble beneath it.

“Edward! You know that I…that I…” Harry stumbled over the words feeling flustered.

“Yes? You do what Harry?”

“You know what!” He exclaimed exasperated and felt himself blush terribly even if it couldn’t be physically seen.

“No, I don’t.”

The vampire wore a perfect poker mask.

“If you’re unwilling to say it then I’ll just retire to my room…” Edward trailed off.

“Fine! I love you, you torture loving vampire! Happy?”

“Immensely.”

Harry was taken by surprise as Edward swooped down for a passionate kiss and he could feel the vampire smiling against his lips, and Harry was irritably aware that the vampire had played and teased with him. Again.

“Harry!”

They turned to see Jasper waving at them and grinning. The vampire sobered up as he called to them again.

“Harry, I want to test your magical strength. Could you try using it and see if you’ve gotten stronger and more control over it?”

“Yeah… sure.” He said still a bit stunned by the kiss. Edward smiled at him.

Even though Harry didn’t believe in wasting his magic to do every little thing for him, he still enjoyed using it whenever he got the chance to. The sense of freedom and exhilaration his magic always brought him really was rare gift of peace to his tarnished soul. He pinpointed Jasper with his gaze and raised his hand in a controlled manner as he thought of the simple body lock spell. His face split into a smile as Jasper’s limbs was slammed tightly to his body after which he promptly fell over on his face. Harry let him lay there on the clearing floor for a few seconds before he undid the spell with a twist of his hand. Jasper easily enough jumped back into a standing position with a disgruntled look coloring his features.

“That wasn’t as fun as I’d imagined it to be…” He pouted at them. “What was that?”

“That was a body lock spell I used. It locks, or rather petrifies actually, your whole body so that you won’t be able to move.” He explained to the other two vampires.

“That’s useful.” Edward commented.

“Very.” Jasper nodded. “Do you know of any other, spells, like this one?”

“There are many different spells for many different things. These in turn can be curses, hexes and charms among others.”

“Didn’t you mention curses before?” Jasper enquired.

“Yeah, for cursing people you know.” Harry supplied.

“Like what?” Responded the honey blonde vampire.

“Uh, from minor things like a tooth ache to…more gruesome things.” Harry fidgeted lightly.

“Gruesome?”

Edward spoke softly, noticing the tenseness in Harry’s body at the subject. Then he froze, as he remembered the first thing he had seen from Harry’s mind and Harry had told them about a certain curse. Edward’s eyes clouded darkly and he growled slightly.

“Like that torture curse he used on you.” It was a statement and not a question.

“Yes, that one is one nasty curse and an illegal one at that too, I might add.”

“So there are spells or curses that you weren’t allowed to use?” Jasper asked him again and Harry sighed.

“Yes, The Unforgivables.”

Edward hesitated at first.

“I presume the killing curse is one of those too?”

“Correct.”

“How many are there? Are there more than those two?”

Jasper seemed insatiable with all his marathon questions and Harry braced himself as his memories decided to rear their ugly heads at him. Oh, all the dreadful things those curses had caused. They had NO idea how horrific and frightful magic in fact could be. While it could seem innocent at first glance, Harry knew better than that. He had scars and a sheet full of many different experiences to prove that point if need be.

“There is one more except for the Cruciatus and Killing curse I’ve already mentioned, which is the Imperius curse. It causes the victim to be thrown into a trance-like state and will do everything the caster bids them to do. At that I mean everything.”

Harry took an unnecessary breath and pierced the two vampires with his now cold emerald eyes.

“It once made a father kill his own family, after which he was then left alone to face his own horrible and disgusting actions. He finally ended up committing suicide just mere minutes after the deaths of his family when he realized what he had done.”

The air was heavy as the sentences slipped from Harry’s lips. He knew he had more than thoroughly shocked the other two vampires but he wasn’t about to wrap his words with soft cotton, just to avoid upsetting them. And he most certainly didn’t have the intention of making the curses seem any less dangerous and horrifying than they really were. He shook his head ruefully.

“Let’s leave this conversation. There won’t be anyone here to use them anyway, and neither will I.” Harry added even as Jasper had opened his mouth to ask yet another question. The vampire looked affronted and hurt.

“I wasn’t going to ask something like that Harry. I perfectly understand why you won’t use them and I respect that.”

Jasper was deadly serious and Harry immediately felt ashamed for his too rushed assumption.

“I’m sorry, Jasper! I didn’t mean…”

“It’s okay. I know you didn’t.” The other interrupted his beginning tirade.

Jasper gave him a small, warm smile that was gladly returned by Harry tenfold and he couldn’t help the relief that washed through him. The last thing he wanted was for distance to form between them just because of a misunderstanding, but of course he had underestimated Jasper and he mentally berated himself for it.

Harry switched his observation back to Edward and he cursed softly when he noticed the blackened eyes.

“Edward. When was the last time you fed? And don’t tell me it was last week or something I can see it in your eyes that it has been longer than that.”

Scolding the vampire he took a good at the dark circles under Edward’s eyes and he sighed artistically.

“When are you going to learn? You need to go hunting!”

“I am fully capable of going without blood for an extended period of time.” Edward sounded offended.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to test your limit every time, until you finally snap and lose your control, now does it?”

“It’s not like that Harry!” Edward exclaimed slightly, raising his voice.

“It’s true, Harry, he just doesn’t want to leave your side that’s all.” Jasper added his part to the argument, grinning smugly and Harry lost his next stream of words.

Edward glared at Jasper and the vampire was intelligent enough to see that this was his cue to take his leave and exited the scene without further ado and a wink at the two. The twigs and leaves on the other side of the clearing ruffled slightly as he passed between them and made for the mansion.

An awkward silence permeated the air as the two last occupants didn’t know where to start. Eventually Harry sighed yet again and decided to be the first to speak up.

“Why didn’t you just say so from the start?”

“I didn’t want to trouble you with my, special, needs.”

“Edward. All of your needs matters to me as well. Did it ever enter your thick skull that you could just ask me to come with you? Problem solved!”

Harry shook his head good naturedly and gave Edward a small smile.

“So…will you come with me?” Edward asked with a smile of his own and Harry gave a jingling laugh.

“Of course, Edward. You just had to ask.”

~*~

Running through the woods and the wild, dense forest was truly an exhilarating and, at the same time, peaceful pastime to devote yourself to. This was especially when you had good company to enjoy it with.

Harry weaved through the trees while he followed Edward’s back, who was a bit faster than him when it came to sheer speed and running. Edward had taken the front and was the one to lead the hunt, since Harry didn’t really need to hunt after all. Harry still had some reservations against killing animals to only get their blood, but then again that would make him a hypocrite as he had eaten them while he was still a human. Hesitations and refusal to take another living being’s life had always been present in his mind, although he had talked himself into believing that he would have to kill Voldemort to save his family. This determinations had somehow transferred into him wanting to wipe out Aro and he had no inhibitions whatsoever towards the Volturi vampire when it came down to that.

He crouched low on a branch on a nearby tree and watched with morbid fascination as Edward brought down an elk without as much of a struggle from both parts. Probably due to breaking the poor animal’s neck and sparing it the fear and pain it would otherwise receive in such a situation.

Drinking his fill, cleaning his hands and rinsing his mouth in a close by stream, Edward retreated back to where Harry was now sitting and sat down on the branch beside him. He kept their bodies close together and reveled in the emerald eyed vampire’s presence.

“It’s strange.”

Edward turned to see Harry looking into the distance with a vacant expression.

“What is?”

“How much it feels like you know about me, even though I haven’t really told you that much. I mean, personally wise speaking here.”

He tilted his head to rest on Edward’s shoulder and, just as he suspected, instantly felt more at ease and could feel the comfort wafting from the bronze haired sitting next to him. Why did it do that?

“Its’ both comforting and scary at the same time and it makes me feel… vulnerable, but, it’s okay with you.” He adjusted his body to look straight into Edward’s eyes. “I want you to know all about me. Need to but…I’m scared of exposing myself and life like that.” He ducked his head and leaned heavily on the supporting shoulder.

Edward brought a hand up to caress Harry’s soft cheek.

“Although it’s a decision I won’t force you to make, I want you to know that I will always be here for you. Nothing would make me happier than to be a part of your whole life.”

That was all he said, leaving no obligations for Harry to fulfill but still showing his appreciation. It only made Harry’s choice a fact and he wrapped his arms firmly around Edward’s torso.

“This is my life.”

He whispered the words and in that moment made his mind an open book for Edward to read, a picture to behold, and started from the first memories he had had as a child, letting the images unfold one by one. He never let go of Edward and only tightened his hold when he came to the hard parts. He displayed relief when Edward tenor flew over the memories with assurances and urged him to keep going. He would have if he could let out a few tears here and there but his eyes only burned underneath his eyelids.

Transmitting his life through his mind surprisingly only took a few minutes and Harry threw in his first and tender moments with Edward in it too. The vampire kissed him soulfully at the silent declaration of love they had professed to each other on an earlier occasion. They stayed in each other’s arms for a little more time.

“I can’t describe how much you means to me, your life, your personality, how much I love you.” Edward’s voice enveloped him like in a warm cocoon.

Harry reached forward and kissed the vampire tenderly on the lips again.

“You’re too good for me.”

“I think it’s the other way around.”

Edward returned the touch and ended with a kiss on Harry’s forehead that made Harry chuckle at the gesture.

“I’m not a child Edward.” He said irritably but the humor and gentleness was all there in his voice.

“Who said you were? I wouldn’t have done this if you were a child.”

Edward gave his forehead a last fleeting touch before he dived in and claimed Harry’s lips as his rightful property. The kiss started out slow and tender but got more passionate and rough as more than just lips came into play. Harry moaned at the loss of lips as Edward broke off, but the vampire just grinned and grabbed Harry around the waist as he jumped from the branch to the ground below it.

Pushing him down on the ground beneath him, Edward started up his ministrations where he left off. The vampire traced his hand and fingers through the raven locks while he smoothed his hand down the other’s chest.

“I want you. Will you let me?”

The raw voice that erupted from the bronze haired vampire’s throat sent shivers all over Harry’s body and he groaned as Edward’s hand sneaked inside his shirt.

Harry’s answer lingered in his throat and the vampire softened his expression.

“First time?”

“Yeah…well, in this department, I mean.”

“This department?” Edward couldn’t help the escaping chuckle and Harry was delighted by the vibrations going through the vampire’s form as they tickled his skin. “The male department?”

“Yes.”

His eyes were glued to Edward’s as the other vampire leaned down to steal another tender kiss. Edward’s strands of bronze brushed his cheek as he whispered into Harry’s ear making him shudder slightly.

“Don’t worry. Just trust your instincts. It’ll be fine.”

Edward stroked the inside of his waist, shifting between passing palm movements and ghosting his fingertips along the smooth planes.

Harry moaned aloud as Edward nibbled at his neck and earlobe, eliciting an equal feverish moan in return. A particular sensitive spot made him squirm and hiss as a hot tongue flicked the flesh between two ruby red lips.

The rest of the buttons on his shirt was popped open, one by one, and Edward’s hands were free to roam all over Harry’s sweet and soft skin he found there. Delicious sensations raced through their bodies and Harry made short work of Edward’s silk shirt as he tugged it off impatiently the vampire’s shoulders and growled when it wouldn’t come all off. Chuckling again Edward shrugged his way out of the rest of it easily enough and it landed somewhere near them, immediately forgotten when body clashed back together.

Placing feathery kisses his way down Harry’s light muscled chest; Edward kissed and licked his way down Harry’s torso, catching another certain patch of skin above Harry’s bellybutton that seemed extra sensitive to his touches. The raven haired squirmed and whimpered hoarsely when Edward tortured his poor skin with heated touches.

“Haah!”

A strangled cry tore its way from Harry as Edward wormed his way into his more personal area. Unconsciously he began to take ragged breaths as he submitted his body into the knowing hands of the love of his life.

“I’m glad both of you like me.” Edward’s teasing voice floated up to Harry’s ears.

Harry made to laugh and send him comment in return, but a hand closing on his manhood made him arch his back and buck his hips alternatively. Forcing down air into his lungs Harry spoke in a hitching voice.

“You’re pure evil Edward Cullen.”

“Oh?” Edward tightened his grip for a second, a grin grazing his features.

“Yeees.” Harry hissed.

He fumbled with his hand until it found bronze locks and pulled the vampire, rather forcefully, up to ravish the plump lips.

The idea of payback was suddenly very enticing to the emerald eyed vampire as he mimicked the others touches on Edward’s upper body. All the while keeping Edward’s mouth busy with his own, he brought his jean clad knee up between Edward’s legs and rubbed against the bulge there.

Harry moaned when he let Edward take back the control he had momentarily stolen from him.

Strong arms and hands wound themselves around Harry’s frame as Edward embraced him and then tugged his remaining clothing off in a flourish. He divested himself of his clothes and molded his body to the raven haired one’s underneath. Edward’s lips found his ear again and his voice sounded hurried.

“I want you so much. I need to have you. To take you… Can you handle it? I won’t force you but...”

The longing shone through the tenor of Edward’s voice and the molten eyes dug deeply into Harry’s eyes and soul. Who was he to refuse such a heartfelt request?

“Anything. Just release me. Release the burning fire in my body.”

“Everything. I’ll do everything for you. You’re mine.”

Harry groaned as ghosting fingers traced his back and while questing lower and founding what they were looking for. He hissed slightly in pain as he felt the first and initial intrusion of soft digits. Soothing words whispered softly in his ear made him relax a little and the tension began to ease.

Edward brushed against something inside him that made him arch his back and craning his neck backwards emerald eyes shot open. His mouth unfastened to let out a throaty moan, but he had no air to produce the sound with his vocal chords. Fists clenched and unclenched as they tore at the silky strands grass their passionate bodies lay in.

Soft digits left him making him moan at the loss. Edward grinned against Harry’s lips and dampened the moan with his mouth.

“I got something better for you.” A strained voice came from Edward.

Harry groaned and opted for answering by pushing back up against Edward’s lips, digging his hands in the vampire’s satin like locks.

Edward hooked one of Harry’s legs in the crevice of his arm and guided his flaming passion to the other’s entrance. Harry grunted at the intrusion and bit his lip from crying out. A gentle hand caressed his cheek and pushed some stray locks away from Harry’s forehead. He opened eyes he wasn’t aware of having been shut and drowned in the world shattering love he found in Edward’s glowing wells.

His flickering thoughts stopped at the memory of their mutual love’s confession and he cleared any blocks to his mind. He left his emotions of their embracing be displayed for all to see if they had the ability and felt the fevered lips that sucked at his like a drowning man.

“I love you more than anything else Edward.” Harry forced all of his feelings into this one sentence and mixed it with the other images he was sending the other vampire.

“Harry…”

Edward crumbled under the many emotional onslaughts and pushed himself frantically the rest of the way inside the emerald eyed vampire. A near howl rushed from within Harry and his arms slammed around Edward, fingernails’ scraping at the bronze haired’s skin.

Edward’s free hand drew one of Harry’s hands to his and clasped them together beside the raven haired’s face. Lips found each other and Harry’s forgotten arms looped around Edward’s neck and pulled him closer to Harry.

Harry gasped and broke the kissing session when Edward moved his hips and started up a series of slow motions. The initial pain had passed quickly and his body shook with the waves of raw pleasure and heat washed and wafted of their joined bodies. His back rasped against the grassy ground and he found himself flexing both his fingers and toes in response to the repeated movement of Edward.

His moans blended in with the occasional whimper when Edward struck and nudged that special place inside him. Edward speeded up the tempo and rhythm and felt himself nearing the end with a grunt. The now loud whimpers of his lover alerted him to the other’s also impending need to let go.

Deposing Harry’s leg, he had hooked on his arm, onto his shoulder he took hold of Harry’s manhood and began to stroke the other to completion with fervor. Harry let out a passionate scream as he toppled over that last hurdle and clamped down on Edward, in turn making Edward follow him mere seconds after the other, the wails and shouts of the lover’s union echoing through the dense vegetation of the forest.

The minutes passed and they kept clinging to each other, refusing to let the other go and feeling the comfort from the skin to skin touch. Eventually though, Harry felt the necessity of cleaning themselves up really becoming a high priority on his list. He nudged Edward to make him move away from the slumped position he had over Harry. The vampire’s response was to dig his face into his neck and press their bodies even more closely together. He sighed.

“Edward…would you mind moving so that I can clean myself up?”

“Just a little bit more…”

The mumbled reply he got came from soft moving lips against the juncture of his throat. Harry shook his head.

“I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t plan on getting seen in this condition by Jasper or anyone else in the family that might come looking for us.” He poked Edward in the head with his index finger to coax Edward into moving again.

“Ngh...”

It was with utmost unwillingness that the vampire detangled himself from his lover and came to sit on his heels with an annoyed expression on his face. Harry ignored him and quickly enough located his discarded clothing and chucking Edward’s clothing at him while he was at it. The afterglow of their actions still lingered in his eyes.

“Wasn’t there a stream nearby here somewhere?”

Harry turned his eyes to Edward again and rolled them when he saw his, still fixed in the same emotion, face.

“Edward…” He let out an exasperated sigh.

“Fine.” Edward pulled himself up on his bare feet. “But I demand some serious snuggling on a later occasion.” He said staring at Harry with a stubborn look, quite unhappy with the sudden interruption on Harry’s behalf.

“Yes, whatever.”

Edward frowned.

“How am I supposed to be able to woe and be romantic with you when you have an attitude like that?”

“Uh, sorry, Edward, but I don’t really do romantic, you know? Though, perhaps it’s more like strange and unknown territory for me? It’s new and all…” Harry shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ll have to remedy that then, starting with my earlier demand as soon as possible.”

Edward brushed past him however stopped temporarily to give Harry a fleeting kiss before he started off in one direction.

“Where are you going?” Harry asked.

“To clean up, remember? That stream you wondered about is just through here.”

“Oh.”

Catching up with him Harry fell into step with Edward as they flew through the forest and in no time at all landed at the brink of the pouring water.

He left his clothes at the side and wasted no time in getting himself wet from top to bottom. The water would have been chilly on his pale skin had it not been for his condition, as it was the water was only smooth against his skin. Cupping some water in his hands he let the tendrils of water fall over his chest and abdomen, then running his hands to rid himself the mess on his body. In the corner of his eye he saw Edward copy his actions and politely enough avoided eyeing the vampire too much, in case of gauging another bodily reaction. Not that he minded but he really didn’t want to worry his family too much either.

Stepping out of the stream he halted.

“Damn, I forgot we don’t actually have anything to dry ourselves with, if we don’t use our clothes.”

Edward stepped up to him and glanced at him before picking up his clothes.

“I don’t really know what wizards are capable of but-”

“Of course, you’re brilliant Edward! Why didn’t I think of that? How stupid can you get?”

With a small wave of his hand he efficiently used a drying charm on first him, then on Edward. The bronze haired vampire blinked and the smiled hugely.

“Well, that’s definitely convenient.”

“Thank you very much.” Harry grinned cheekily at him.

“I learned this charm from Hermione, a friend that always complained about me being late to class. She thought this would help me get faster with my morning routines, I guess. Too bad it only made me think I had more time in the morning because of it.” He laughed at the memory of Hermione’s agitated look.

“I can imagine. You did take a pretty long time in the bathroom when you first came here when I think about it.”

Edward expertly ducked when a large piece of rock suddenly flew at him and it missed him with a few inches to spare. Raising an eyebrow he stared at Harry who just huffed in response.

“It’s rude to comment on such things Edward.”

“I thought throwing pieces of rocks at people was rude?” Edward seemed truly perplexed at this and it earned him a dirty look from Harry. “But what do I know, right?” He smiled sweetly and Harry moaned in frustration.

“I give up. You win. Okay, I was rude too. I apologize for my actions.” Harry drawled.

“I’m happy we understand each other.” Edward offered him a polite smile in return before snickering self satisfactory to himself.

“Whatever. Get dressed, stupid.”

Harry pulled on his trousers and complimentary silk shirt. He neglected the socks and shoes deciding to go back to the mansion barefoot, thinking it would be nice to feel the forest floor under his feet.

“Harry.”

Harry’s brown crinkled at the strange tone of Edward’s voice and swiveled on his feet to look at the other vampire. Edward blinked and stared worriedly at him before his expression turned feral and he growled at something in the distance. Fully dressed Edward strode forward and grabbed Harry’s arm before dragging him along in a thundering speed back home.

“Edward, what is it?” Harry struggled to keep up with Edward as the vampire used almost his fullest speed capacity.

“It’s Alice.” Edward grounded the words out through his tight lipped mouth.

“What about Alice?” Harry asked furrowing his forehead at Edward’s behavior.

“We have to get back home. Now.” He ignored Harry’s question.

“Edward! What the bloody hell is it?”

Harry’s raised seemed to snap Edward back to reality from his heavy thoughts and he glanced sideways at the emerald eyed vampire with a mixed expression grazing his features. He looked both furious and very nervous all at once. He hesitated for a fraction of a second before Harry’s demanding glare made him give an answer.

“The Volturi.” He said in a clipped tone.

“What?” Harry exclaimed surprised.

“It’s the Volturi.”

“Yeah, I got that, but what about them?” Harry sounded irritated.

“They’re coming here.” Edward frowned darkly.

“Coming here? What for? You don’t think it’s because Aro is still pissed off at me for escaping from them?”

“We don’t know. It’s possible. Although she couldn’t see anything but them wanting to meet up with us, I’m sure it’s not just for some friendly conversation.”

“It’s because of me.”

Edward pierced his eyes with Harry’s.

“I swore that I wouldn’t let them lay their eyes on you ever again.”

“Edward-”

“We’ll talk when we get back to the others.” Edward cut him off before Harry could finish his sentence.

Harry forced down his retort when the anxious and worried face replaced Edward’s earlier facial expression. An unsettling feeling of foreboding dug its way into his gut. What was the Volturi up to? And Aro, was he planning something? Maybe he should have expected this from the very start when he had gotten away from them. Of course, Aro wouldn’t let him go just like that. He wasn’t that na?ve to even believe that for the faintest of moments.

Glancing at Edward again his stomach contracted on itself uncomfortably. Would the Volturi try something on Edward and the rest of his family? Use them as bait or hostages? No, no way. He won’t let them.

His eyes zeroed in on the mansion as it came into their view and Harry could see Alice standing on the driveway awaiting their return. Slowing down when they too landed on the driveway Edward nodded at Alice and they entered the building, Harry’s arm still clasped tightly in Edward’s grip.

Alice led the way through the entrance hall to the dining room or conference room or whatever else you would call it. The rest of his family stood camped around the room frozen and rigid. Jasper hurried up to him hugged him tightly. Letting go of Harry he watched Edward gravely and the two nodded to each other before Jasper returned to Alice’s side and wrapped an arm around her. The others observed Harry and Edward with various degrees of worry and apprehension switching to look at Alice at even intervals. However no one opted to speak up their concerns.

The silence was slowly driving Harry insane and it was not with mild annoyance and irritation that he exclaimed in a highly frustrated voice.

“Would someone please tell me what is going on here?” Harry flailed his arms in the air in a aggravated manner, shaking off Edward’s hand on his arm.

When no one answered him he turned his emerald eyes on Alice and said with a threateningly glare in them.

“Alice, you better tell me what you saw. And I mean ALL of it. No omitting of any information, do you understand?”

She looked at him then threw Edward a watchful glance before deciding that Harry was scarier than Edward when he was mad at her.

“I saw the Volturi coming here and they’re coming here in less than a week from this day.”

Esme got a worried and anxious expression and looked at a frowning Carlisle.

“Less than a week? How is it that you couldn’t see this earlier Alice?”

“They must have decided on it just recently.” Jasper spoke up, still with his arm around Alice.

“Yes, I couldn’t see anything before today, though I don’t see anything except for one thing.”

“Which is?”

Harry asked but unconsciously thinking that he already knew the answer. Edward tensed beside him when Alice eyed him again.

“They’re coming for you, Harry. Aro has decided that you are too dangerous to be left alone. According to him you have two choices. Either you join the Volturi or you perish at their hands.”

“I refuse to join that slimy bastard! He can go and rot in hell for all I care, in fact, I would be delighted to send him there myself.” His eyes glistened dangerously.

The room’s occupants shivered unconsciously when the air got thicker around them but it disappeared almost immediately as it had appeared.

“I won’t let them.” Edward embraced Harry from behind and glared defiantly at the others. “I’m going to stand up to them. By myself if I have to.”

“No you won’t.” Harry said to him and interrupted Edward’s protest. “Remember I have dibs on their stupid leader, right?”

“I can’t let you go and face them when it is you that they are after Harry!” Edward replied vehemently.

“What do you suppose you could do Edward? As far as I know, most of their gifts and powers don’t work on me, like they do to you. I’m the most suitable for this.”

“ Harry…” The emerald eyed vampire glared at him and Edward uncharacteristically chewed on his bottom lip before he continued. “Fine, but you’re not going alone. I’m coming with you.”

Harry was just about to protest this when Jasper silenced him.

“Count me in.”

“Me too.” Emmet piped in.

The others voiced their agreement. Harry looked from the both of them to the rest with clear exasperation displayed in his glowing eyes.

“It’s me that’s the problem. Not you. I can’ let them hurt you.”

“We don’t abandon family.” Rosalie eyed him stoically before offering him a small smile. A very small one, but a smile nonetheless.

Recovering from the initial chock he had gotten from Rosalie’s comment, Harry tried to force them to back down with his glaring eyes but it was a battle he was doomed to lose. He slumped into Edward’s arms and made a dramatic wave with his arm and hand.

“Whole family is insane.”

He caught their eyes and gave a real heartwarming smile.

“Thank you.”

AN: Yes. I’ll have to end here. I have to think about keeping the chapter reasonably equal in length after all. Until next time! *kisses and hugs*



Chapter 8

“I sing now, for all of you

With no one to hold on to

For all the broken hearts out there,

Waiting for someone to be near.

Hold on”

Neverstore feat. Lazee – Hold on.

~*~

The nervousness and tension was eating away at Harry’s abused nerves. Although he was grateful for the much needed support from his family he was still against the whole idea of them going into battle just for him.

He noticed Esme looking at him anxiously along with the rest of her family and he knew that she, too, wasn’t that happy with the whole idea either. But, of course, who wasn’t?

Edward shifted abnormally on his feet and tightened the arms he had loped around the slim figure of Harry’s transformed body. He was on edge as his mind took in all of the other individuals’ streaming and flickering thoughts. He tried to tune them out but only managed to dampen them somewhat. However he pictured Jasper having a much harder time dealing with everyone’s’ raging emotions, if his strained and pinched facial expression was anything to judge from.

Harry took in Jasper’s appearance and felt with him. He felt burdened enough by his own emotional turmoil but imagining what Jasper was going through was vague at best. He felt a small wave of calm settle over them in an attempt to slow everyone down from the inner war going on in all of them. Though since pretty much all of them was in the same state as Harry it only served to lighten the tension in the room a few notches. The effect was only minimal but everyone still sent Jasper appreciating looks and glances. They also made an effort to calm themselves down further.

“Thanks everyone.” Jasper breathed a relieved sigh.

The rest gave him a short nod in return. Smiling tensely Harry grabbed a hold of Edward and fled the room for the sanctuary of his room after a slight pause. He needed to gather his thoughts before he could be of any help. Jasper was probably already going through various scenarios with the support of Alice. Technically they should have the advantage in this situation with her foresight, but the Volturi was in possession of the knowledge of how subjective Alice’s gift in fact was.

~*~

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, at least as okay as I can get in this type situation I guess.”

Edward sent Harry a sympathetic look.

Sighing Harry settled into his habitual spot at the large window, glancing out at the scenery. His emerald orbs scanning the surrounding vicinity and spying into the far distance. They strayed involuntarily to a specific direction and his heart clenched, the silence stretching between them.

“One would think…” He leaned the back of his head against the window frame, closing his eyes in apparent fatigue.

Edward turned his bronze eyes to Harry again and waited patiently for him to continue. Minutes later he was just about to give up and turn his attention back to the view watching, when Harry’s soft voice brought his focus back to him again.

“One would think, that I’ve gotten used to these things. It’s not like I’ve never been in danger before this either. But…” He bit his lip. “It’s different somehow. You know?”

“What is?”

“You. Jasper. Alice. The others.” He scrunched his eyebrows. “I was never this worried for my old friends and family. My heart never stopped beating, figuratively speaking.” He laughed softly before his expression turned anxious. “Does that make me a horrible person?”

“What? How could you think like that?”

“Aren’t I though? I did sort of abandon them going here after all.”

“Of course not! How can you even think like that? You did not abandon them and I know they know that you cared for them immensely. Just looking into your eyes now I can see it, even though you try to act tough it’s all there. All there in your eyes.” Edward forced Harry’s eyes to his, piercing them and taking a solid hold on his shoulder, a pale hand tracing, caressing, the curve of his cheek and chin. “You are the most wonderful thing that has happened to me. You are caring and unselfish. You, Harry James Potter, are the love of my life. Probably always has even before I met you, and always will. A horrible person you are not. Don’t you ever dare doubt that.” He said with as much conviction he could muster into his voice.

“Edward…”

Harry’s eyes throbbed, redness creeping into them, as he fisted his hands together in his lap.

“You know, you really are too good for me, but-” He met Edward’s eyes with a steady gaze. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.” He smiled.

“Happy to be of service.” Edward grinned.

Edward leaned over and gave Harry a peck on the cheek and finishing with one on the ruby lips. Their noses brushed together.

“I love you.”

Edward smiled against Harry’s lips and whispered faintly before engaging in a urgent yet sweet make-out session.

“I know silly. Me too.”

~*~

“No! Absolutely not!”

“But Harry-”

“No, you will be totally unprotected. There just is no way. I agreed to you coming halfway with me, but it can only be me that meets them face to face. I can’t put you into that kind of situation. Can’t you see the reasoning in that Jasper?”

Jasper hesitated before answering in a reluctant voice.

“Yes, I do. I realize the odds are not on our side and that our presence might actually prove to be a disadvantage to you. However, at the same time, there is no guarantee that you will be fine on your own. There must be another way to do this Harry!”

“Jasper, you said it yourself, there is no other known method of eluding Jane’s gift. Except me.”

“We could use another approach, and you forget Alec. What about his gift?”

“You know they won’t be happy if I don’t personally show up, and I’ll work something out concerning Alec. I could always avoid that mist of his if I have to. It’s not very fast moving now is it? That will work to my advantage.”

“You don’t know that for sure. You only witnessed it one time and one time is not enough to establish a certain fact.”

Harry couldn’t help the exasperated glare he sent Jasper’s way, but the other vampire was unrelenting in his arguing. He pulled a hand through his unruly raven fringe, closing his eyes briefly.

“I, too, realize that Jasper. But you’re the experienced strategist here and you can’t deny that the best strategy is this one. I go in alone, which I’m really not since I got Edward to contact if it gets ugly enough. You will keep your distance so the Volturi won’t get the initial temptation to involve you too in this matter. At least not before I’m finished with them.” He added darkly.

Jasper made a frustrated motion with his hands and turned to Edward with an accusing glare.

“Why aren’t you helping to convince him otherwise and to not go through with this insanity? He’s your mate for Christ’s sake!”

“That’s why.”

“Huh?”

Edward dislodged himself from the shadows of one of the corners of the room.

“I trust him. I don’t like it, I assure you that, nevertheless I trust him to keep himself sufficiently safe or call for help when he needs it.”

Edward pierced his eyes with Harry’s making it crystal clear that Harry better abide by these rules, or the promise Harry forced out of him earlier on would be void. No exceptions acceptable.

“Still…”

“Don’t over think it too much brother!” Emmet said sounding like his usual carefree self. “It won’t do you any good.”

“Yes, it has obviously done nothing for you.” Rosalie appraised her perfectly manicured nails.

“Hey! That’s mean Rosie.” Emmet whined at her.

Rosalie only rolled her eyes and continued with what she was doing, mainly inspecting her nails.

Harry muffled his snickers discreetly by moving his hand over his mouth in a thoughtful manner. Slight coughing caught his attention to the eldest of the group.

“Now is not the time for that Emmet.” Carlisle eyed the bigger vampire. “I hear what you say Harry. Jasper, can you agree with him?”

“With the reasoning and strategy yes though, as I’ve already said, I don’t agree on him going alone. It’s just not right!”

“It isn’t right for me to protect my family when I have the power to do so? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I…that’s not…” Jasper faltered.

Harry’s expression softened at Jasper’s crestfallen look.

“Jasper, I respect where you’re coming from, but I trust you to see the outcome from after close consideration of all aspects and factors too and being able to make a judgment unbiased.”

“Yes. I understand that.” He kept quiet for a small moment before continuing. “Fine then, but I’ll hold you responsible to that promise too, alright?”

“Of course.”

Giving a short nod of his head in confirmation Harry couldn’t help the grin that plastered itself on his features as Emmet chose this moment to pipe up.

“Awesome! Time to plan some vampire ass beating!”

His outburst was greeted with various exasperated shakes of the head and verbal sighs.

~*~

The amount of time Alice had provided them with was something that was not overly appreciated. Jasper because he still kept trying at finding another course of action, despite him conceding Harry’s point, that would enable them to accompany Harry when he met up with the Volturi. Emmet because, being simply Emmet, he couldn’t wait for something exciting to happen although he uncharacteristically went serious and showed that he fully understood the graveness when Harry commented on his behavior at one time. The others let out their nervousness and anxiousness in different levels, and while Rosalie wasn’t much for expressing herself verbally on her feelings she did however picture it quite clearly in her body language whether she was aware of that or not, probably the latter.

Edward was acting mostly like usual, for Harry’s benefit no doubt, though a bit more possessive if that was even possible at this stage of their relationship. Harry was, as you would expect of someone before an impending and most probably violent encounter, edgy and uptight despite what he tried to put into his outer appearance to try and appease his family.

It was on the third day of Alice’s announcement that they noticed Harry’s demeanor cracking slightly despite what he tried to tell them to prove them otherwise.

“I hate this!”

Harry’s sudden exclamation brought everyone to a halt as they happened to be situated in the living room at this time of the day. They were aiming to keep up some normalcy to ease the tension that had been slowly but surely building up and why not a common family gathering to serve that purpose.

“What is it sweetie?”

Esme being the first to collect herself spoke gently.

“I don’t know.” Harry frowned.

“It’s perfectly understandable to be feeling anxiousness before something of this sort Harry.” Carlisle said soothingly.

“I know that. I just don’t like walking around and just waiting for the Volturi to make their appearance and actually having the first move at my disposal for once. Strange, I know, but since I’ve never really had the benefit of that with the enemy before, I was almost always left in the dark until the last second. I was told by my nearest, old friends that my instincts worked better in those conditions anyway and not to ponder too much on it. That it’s better than sitting around waiting for the time to come around and I’m beginning to believe them. This waiting is driving me bonkers to put it mildly!”

“It’s just pre battle nerves spooking you Harry. Take it like a man!”

Emmet slapped a hand on Harry’s back making him stumble and take a step forward to steady himself again. Emmet really was a demanding fellow and the strongest out of the group physically.

“Don’t you mean vampire?”

“That too!” Emmet laughed.

Harry rolled his eyes and grinned at the bigger vampire, earning him a playful swat to his head that he expertly dodged. Emmet tried to get at him again but it was in vain as Harry just moved farther away from him. He eventually gave up realizing the ridiculousness in it, or rather his inability to succeed in this feat.

“I’m actually starting to want the Volturi to just get here already so we can get it over with.” Harry mumbled to himself and he valiantly ignored the incredulous looks sent his direction.

“Are you serious?” Rosalie huffed and made it obvious to everybody present in the room she thought the emerald eyed vampire was truly insane, or well on his way down there.

Harry just grinned again at her, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

“No, I’m not Sirius, my godfather was.”

“What?” She frowned at him, her complexion a display of confusion.

“It’s a play on words Rosalie.” Edward supplied.

An annoyed look entered her features and she elected to ignore Harry and Edward for that retort and for making fun of her. She had her reputation and outer appearance to think about after all.

“So, what do you figure Aro has to say before he tries to brainwash or off me? I imagine he will have a speech memorized to celebrate this occasion.” Harry said conversationally.

“I suppose he would offer you a cup of tea.” Jasper drawled playing along with Harry.

“Don’t forget the biscuits. You gotta have biscuits with tea.” Alice put in.

“Yes, it would be very rude not to.” Edward stated in a matter of fact tone.

“I do hope it will be chocolate flavored biscuits. I couldn’t possibly stand my biscuits ginger flavored. The mere thought of it makes me cringe.” Harry added a theatrical shudder to emphasize his point.

“Not to mention using one of those multi producing manufacturers’ tea.” Edward spoke.

“Oh, I know exactly what you mean. It just has to be Earl Grey, don’t you agree Jasper?”

“Of course, dear.”

“He wouldn’t dare using anything else on an Englishman. If he does, I’ll make sure to cut our little get together short and proceed with obliterating him from the face of the earth for insulting my British pride.” Harry still had his conversational voice but his eyes were practically glowing from mirth and amusement.

“Amazing.” Carlisle smiled. “I guess there is a first time for everything even for something like, belittling the Volturi. However make belief isn’t going to help us, no matter how amusing this little show is.” He pointed out to them.

They smiled sheepishly although Alice gave Carlisle a playful wink, very characteristic for her, and clung to Jasper’s arm.

“Well, I think it’s pretty clear we’re done here.” Carlisle continued calmly′. “I suggest we all make the utmost to use this time left to prepare ourselves and relax as much as we can.”

“Relax? As in take it easy??” Emmet asked.

“Yes, Emmet.” Carlisle smiled at him.

He groaned at his father.

~*~

“They’re on their way here. Five hours and give or take a few minutes.”

Alice’s voice cut through the air as Harry gave an involuntarily gulp and Edward gave her a grave nod.

She turned to Edward and looked him in the eyes.

“He hasn’t spared a single vampire. He’s bringing all of his forces and-” She cut herself off for a while before going on. “It’s not looking good Edward.” She sent a meaningful glance at Harry.

Edward narrowed his eyes at Alice and got a furious expression bordering on fearful. He sent her another nod and wound his arms around himself in determination.

“What is it?” Harry was annoyed at the silent exchange he had been totally left out of.

“Carlisle says to meet downstairs and make sure everyone is clear on what they should each do.” She spoke.

“Understood.” Edward answered in a clipped tone. Avoiding the demanding stare from Harry he walked out of the room, his steps echoing hollowly along the corridor.

“Alice.”

Harry’s voice held a dangerous tint in it now but Alice just shook her head.

“It’s not in my right to say. I’m sorry Harry.”

“Fine!” Harry bit out and stormed past her and followed Edward’s trail.

With a pained and worrisome face Alice turned on her heels and followed them, trepidation slowly building up in her gut.

~*~

“Everyone clear on their positions?” Jasper’s voice rang out.

“It’s not like it’s any hard to remember.” Rosalie drawled but her usual edge was slightly off today, and it was apparent that she was affected by it all despite her haughty expression.

“We will go ahead and wait for Aro and the Volturi to make their appearance.” He indicated himself and then Edward and Harry. “You will stay back on a safe distance but not too far. We will wait, Harry shows himself to the Volturi and then we go from there.”

“Right!” Emmet said and grinned reassuringly to the rest of his family.

“Let’s go.”

Harry made for the entrance and he, Edward and Jasper was on their way, rushing across the mansion’s property.

~*~

They reached the beginning of the forest within no time, their feet flying and barely touching the ground as their bodies wound between the tree trunks.

The lump he had in his throat grew as the tension in his body grew with it. The eerie silence around them was deafening and he could only hear the soft footfalls of his lover and best friend, the wind against his ears and the occasional snapping of a twig.

It troubled him, the lack of movement from the inhabitants of the forest. The nature of animals was that they avoided lethal danger when they sensed it and it didn’t forebode well with their situation. Although he hadn’t expected anything else it still nagged at him. It added to his growing nervousness and anxiety, but he put a cork on his feelings and pushed them back letting his fighting and survival instincts take its place instead. He needed his brain and mind free from any interfering apprehensions. His logic had to be stain free and able to act without any hindrances.

Jumping over the river he barely made contact with the ground before he was off again and he couldn’t help the increase in speed in his pace. He vaguely noted the distance between him and the other two widen before they closed it swiftly again, adjusting to him without a word.

The wind blew his raven black bangs wildly around and against his pale face, his eyes cold devoid of their usual warmth. His hand closed abruptly around a tree branch, pulling it off in his rapidity and he flung it away from him violently, the sounds of it crashing against the other trees in the background echoing in his ears.

Putting strength in his legs he sprung forth and they ran further through the woods until Jasper’s voice brought them to a halt.

“This is far enough.” The tension tingled in the tenor of his voice.

Harry stopped and stood up stiffly from the hunched running form. Edward inched closer to him but not close enough to touch him. He opted for being in Harry’s presence than putting any strain on his already high strung nerves.

Jasper took up a position a bit farther away from them and scanned his eyes to the now faint and desolate clearing. The clouds clung tightly together, not letting the tiniest rays of sunshine come through but a dim radiance like a lamp hidden beneath a piece of fabric. Oddly suiting for the mood if Harry could say so himself, and which he did eliciting a pair of grave chuckles from his company.

Hunched behind some green bushes was how they left Jasper to his own observations and look out, their minds going through the plan one last time just to have something to do other than to their nervousness get to them.

A mumble from Edward told them that Carlisle and the others had also gotten into position. However they only barely acknowledged it as Jasper tensed, causing Harry to pull his eyes to where Jasper was narrowing his own at. They didn’t need the confirmation they got from Edward the mere fraction of a second later as they could see in the far distance of the other side and the slight movement of green and bushes. Not to mention the cold feeling that settled itself in Harry’s stomach when he could see the Volturi tracker, Demetri cleave through the twigs with Felix high on his heels. They didn’t venture much farther than 22 yards where they stopped and waited. Not much later Harry could see the Volturi leaders come floating, poised with as arrogance they could muster and as much emotion of being regal in their posture.

From out of the woods came Aro accompanied by both Jane and Alec and another female vampire Harry hadn’t seen upon his ‘visit’ in Volterra. She kept close to Aro, her eyes scanning the surrounding vicinity all the time but oddly enough Harry realized that it was not out of any precaution she did that. It was out of fear, for lack of better words. She didn’t have the smallest bit of bloodlust or blood thirst noticeable that he could clearly sense from Jane. Her presence confused him and he narrowed his eyes further in response when he noticed the hand that she kept at Aro’s back at all times through the procession.

Caius strode forward flanked by two other vampires, his eyes icy cold but that is where the resemblance of ice stopped and the redness in them glinted ominously. His face a picture of pure evilness if you so willed to describe it. It was quite obvious he was not there for some calm and peaceful talking, that was for sure.

The ever disinterested Marcus kept to himself behind the other two and making it apparent he on the other hand had no intention of engaging in anything except for silent observations from his part.

Demetri sniffed at the air and although they were too far away to hear his exact words they could pretty much guess the context of them from the reaction from Aro. The prominent leader’s milky red eyes glinted and he got a pleasure filled expression on his ancient face.

He took a few steps forward, the female vampire mirroring his motions, and opened his arms like in a welcoming gesture.

“Why are you hiding yourselves my friends? Please, show yourselves so we can talk.”

The politeness shining in his voice did nothing to ease the tension in their muscles which, considering the situation, wasn’t that strange to begin with. It didn’t take much intelligence to understand it was only a fa?ade, an act to get what he wanted with his victims not knowing any better than to oblige.

Harry made to move when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked down into Edward’s bronze colored eyes and tried to smile reassuringly at the other vampire. Whether he succeeded in that or if it came out like a grimace, didn’t show on Edward’s features as the vampire only tightened his hold before releasing Harry unbearably slowly.

Straightening up Harry came by Jasper, receiving a reassuring touch on his arm too, and stepped through the bushes and out into the clearing.

The effect was instant and he almost hurled mentally at the look he was getting from Aro. It was gut wrenching to say the least and the raw want and disgusting lust coming off the Volturi leader was hard not to notice if you looked straight into his eyes. Or was the object of said before mentioned facts.

It was not with a small amount of relief from Harry’s side when Aro disguised them behind his polite fa?ade again. The vampire began to take a few steps closer to Harry in an attempt to close the long distance between them when Harry spoke up.

“Not one step closer you filthy bloodsucker.” He spat out the last words.

Aro’s only reaction to that was a slight narrowing of his milky red eyes and lowering of his arms.

“Now Harry, we do not have to resort to foul language when we are the same after all.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I meant ‘you filthy human bloodsucker’. My mistake.”

His disgust was obvious and he ignored the outraged cries from some of the Volturi guard. The vampires made to move forward but a hand wave form Aro stopped them in their tracks.

“Harry, I’m sure we can work on our past errors and come to terms and reason. Why not invite your family to join us?”

Aro’s eyes flickered past him to where Harry knew Jasper and Edward was huddled and hidden under the green shrouds. He growled menacingly at the Volturi leader and took a step to the left so that he was perfectly in between them and Aro.

“This is between you and me.”

“Very well.” The vampire sounded a bit put out by this but didn’t push any further.

“And tell your minions to stay off from my family or face the consequences.”

Harry glared at Demetri who had slowly been inching closer to where Edward and Jasper was. The vampire grinned at him and gave a small bow before he backed back to his original position. He noticed Caius getting an irritated expression and Harry gave the vampire a cold smile. Caius bared his teeth at him but stayed put, for now.

“Harry, we would very much like you to join us. Your presence would be most welcomed. Just imagine the possibilities a relationship like this could bring both parties. Of course, we would not involve your family if you so wishes and they could come visit anytime they want to.”

“Spare me the rose bud colored and childish dreams Aro. Both I and you know that I would never; even if hell freezes over, join your pathetic little kindergarten.” Harry huffed at him making a scene of sighing exasperatedly.

He was pleased to note that his words were getting at the still fake polite vampire and more amused at the thickness said vampire displayed. Was the vampire having problems understanding simple English or was he just stubborn? Either way, he thought, it was getting annoying and not to mention ridiculous.

Aro finally dropped the act and showed for the first time hostility since they had started speaking with each other.

“Come with us and we will let your family leave unharmed.”

“As if I would believe the word from a vampire of the Volturi. It’s not like I was transformed yesterday.” Harry snorted and patted himself on the back for the change of words in the last sentence. The twitch in Aro’s features was reward enough.

“The answer is no if you didn’t get that.” He added and cackled inwardly when he got another twitch from the vampire. He noted to himself that the best way to irritate and tick off a vampire is to insult their intelligence. It could prove very useful in the future.

The background growling had been going on for a while and Harry just tuned them out focusing on keeping his eyes open for any sudden moves and attempts at attacking. They were still vampires and as such they deserved the respect of possible threat.

Aro stood silently observing the emerald eyed vampire and seemed to be judging his options. The reason Harry had yet to be attacked was most probably due to that Aro wanted him alive and in his possession, but also because he was wary of Harry’s abilities. He hadn’t looked into Harry’s past history not to get a fundamental understanding of the much serious threat the young vampire posed to himself. Brute strength and force was not going to get the vampire to budge and didn’t seem to driven into rashness by the pressure put on him and his family. Although looks could be deceiving and he might not have pushed the correct button yet. Time was running thin however, strange thinking for a vampire who technically had all the time in the worlds, and he needed to get this over with before the Cullen family decided to act on their own. From the information he had received from Demetri the vampire could pick up on two other vampire’s hidden just on the other side of the field and five others about four miles away from here. Not that long a distance for a vampire, but considering they were also vampire it was ample distance to give them enough of time of they decided on a sudden ambush. The problem with that though was the fact of Harry’s abilities that were capable of protecting himself against their offense.

“I never imagined you capable of simple thinking Aro.” Harry drawled at the Volturi leader and successfully drawing the vampire back from his reflections. “Don’t you think it’s rude to leave your guest for daydreaming?” He raised an eyebrow at the vampire.

Aro frowned at him.

Harry grinned. Despite what he was portraying he was still very nervous and his eyes kept leaving Aro to look over to the other Volturi vampires. Jane was being her lovely hateful self with that nasty expression of hers and baring her teeth and sneering at him, a growl passing her lips at even intervals. Her brother was as always a blank sheet much like the Volturi leader Marcus, who was still standing in the back although he kept glancing at Harry every now and then. A drastic improvement you could say from his usual almost apathetic condition.

A move from his right made him growl at the vampire that had dared to move closer to him and his family. Felix stepped back but all the way back earning him a deeper growl from Harry.

Caius sneered at him and with one look at Aro growled at Harry in return. Demetri grinned sinisterly at him while Felix launched at him and they both were on him in no time.

It didn’t surprise anyone when they bounced of an invisible shield and being airborne a while before landing on their feet again.

Harry hunched into a crouching position and rushed forward at Aro, however he was stopped when several vampires stepped into his path. They too were flung away by his shield although the force of them all at once against it caused him to be almost equally pushed back by the near recoil like force.

Harry almost laughed at their stupidity when he senses the hammering on his mental shields. Haven’t they learned anything from their past mistakes? Seriously the other was dumber than the other.

“It’s not going to work.” He said with a teasing smile grazing his features. “Why not be a good vampire and go home?”

Caius bared his fangs at him with a feral frown.

The vampires kept coming but the result was, of course, the same. Keeping his distance, having backed up to avoid Harry’s forward rush and the bouncing off vampires, Aro motioned with his hand.

The vampires retreated back to their original backing up positions and Harry took a few steps in the other direction letting his eyes follow and pinpoint the location of every vampire.

The breeze of the wind sent his hair in waves and his shirt flapping. His fingers stretched and twitched, his body growing even stiffer from the extra tension and his thoughts going wild inside his head. He could hear the uneasiness in the involuntarily movements from both Edward and Jasper behind him but they still kept their promise. Harry had yet to be in any serious danger and he had warded everyone off so far, although the real test had yet to come.

Like knowing what Harry’s thoughts were Alec unwound himself from the area behind his master and came up beside his twin sister. The other vampires closed themselves around the smaller vampire as the mist erupted from ahead of Alec, coming ever so closer.

Raising his hand Harry waved with his hand in a sweeping gesture causing one of the vampires in front of Alec to be shoved out of the way. He grew irritated when he noticed he couldn’t pinpoint Alec with his magic and no matter how many times he made the guarding vampires go flying they always came back almost just as fast.

Narrowing his eyes he ignored Caius and Aro and focused fully on getting his path clear to hit Alec. He sent a stun at one vampire who started to slump to the ground but was caught by another and held like a shield in front of the other.

The disgusting grin on Caius face was nerve wracking and Harry sent of another stun only to be intercepted by the already stunned vampire’s body.

He growled and made the stunned vampire go sideways and aimed a new stunner against the next vampire. It hit the target and then made this vampire go the other way too. To his great annoyance both the stunned vampires’ bodies were intercepted and caught by two others of who threw themselves in front of their protective charge and in his path again. Why couldn’t they just realize that this it was futile and he would eventually have the entire guard stunned and out of action? Ah, he realized he began to hate them even more if that was possible just for their plain stupidity, though he had to applaud them for their perseverance.

He flung the stunned body of the first vampire he had stunned, adding much more force needed behind the action, and was delighted to see the body go way into the woods and too far away for any of the vampires to risk retrieving it.

Flinging the other motionless vampire and stunning another in the process he failed to notice the mist that had slowly crawled forward and was almost upon him.

Hearing the rush of wind of something coming up from behind him Harry swiveled on his feet, ready to get rid of any errant vampire had possibly missed , only to stop in his tracks and momentarily stunned to see Edward running at top speed at him. He scrunched his eyebrows together in the short second it took for Edward to close the distance between them.

A pair of hands grabbed hold of his torso and the sensation of being forcefully pulled forward clouded his mind. He saw Edward’s face come into close view and then out of as fast. His body was forced out of its previous position and replaced by Edward. Struggling from the shock Harry froze on the spot where his feet landed and he stared at back of the bronze haired vampire.

The time came to a stop as Harry kept staring Edward and then ice cold horror grasped his heart.

The mist that weaved through the vegetation had been just about to touch Harry’s feet when they had been ripped away. Creeping forward it had made contact with another pair of feet that it immediate grasped and started enveloping in its silvery fog.

In one blink of an eye Edward had been rushing forward, pulled his lover away from the danger he had been warned of from Alice and then lost himself to the darkness at encompassed him like a cocoon, his eyes becoming lifeless from the lack of activity and at being mindlessly lost in himself. Burning heat ran through the darkness and mixed with it.

Shocked to the core Harry saw Edward slump to a boneless heap with the sickly silvery mist devouring his lover. The heart wrenching screaming that came next sent Harry into convulsions and he screamed his agony when he realized what was happening.

“NOOOOO!!!”

He couldn’t grasp any thoughts they were whirling around and shouting at him and telling him different things that didn’t make any sense at all.

‘This isn’t happening, what’s going on, it can’t be, it just, I don’t know-’

Unbeknownst to Harry he dropped to his knees and clutched at the sides of his head as his eyes took in the writhing body of Edward.

Seeing his brother rush past him had had Jasper stunned and then terrified when he witnessed what happened next and how Harry seemed to break down from the inflicting shock of seeing his lover tortured in front of him. This had gone terribly wrong.

Panic set in and Jasper tried to reevaluate the situation to see how he should act but finding none that even fitted the factors presented he gave a cry mixed growl and launched himself into the fray.

Not daring to come any near the mist Jasper grabbed Harry and made to move away to escape the still advancing mist. He found himself unable of doing so as Harry dug himself to spot somehow transfixed by what he was seeing. He tugged again but still Harry wouldn’t budge.

Another pair of hands grasped at Harry and Jasper saw Emmet taking a hold of the other arm and together they managed to half pull and half drag the wild and thrashing emerald eyed vampire back to where the rest of their family were.

Carlisle bent down hastily and took a firm hold of Harry’s head.

“He’s in a shock.” He said.

“We know that Carlisle!! We have to do something, Edward-!” Jasper yelled at his father but he was unable to continue.

“Calm down Jasper. We need to stay focused. Time is of the essence now.”

Carlisle looked his son in the eye.

“I-I know!” Jasper rambled out.

His eyes went to Edward and he started in that direction but was stopped by both Alice and Rosalie before he could take a single step. He growled and screamed when wasn’t allowed to run to his brother.

“Rein in your emotions Jasper! Block out as much as you can, you are being strongly affected by Harry. You have to calm down!”

Carlisle’s voice rang out harshly and Jasper recoiled at it.

Below them on the ground Harry had stopped screaming and instead whimpered softly. His thrashing stilled and they could see his eyes flickering under the closed eyelids.

Emmet slowly let go of the hold he had had on raven haired vampire and looked enquiringly at the others.

“I can barely feel his emotions now.” Jasper’s voice made them all stare at the honey blonde vampire in stunned silence.

“How?”

Alice looped her arms around Jasper in support.

“I don’t know. They just suddenly stopped broadcasting themselves so strongly. It’s-” His eyes widened. “Peaceful.”

“What??” Rosalie exclaimed.

Jasper only shook his head in response to her outburst.

“We need to do something. Fast.” Alice piped in her voice cracking. Her eyes were focused on the writhing body of Edward.

“No…” Esme put her hands to her mouth in terror.

“I’ll-” Emmet began but Alice cut him off.

“Won’t work.”

“Alice, look closely, is there anything we can do save Edward?” Carlisle asked her imploringly.

Alice closed her eyes, going through the various futures. Her family trying to help her by thinking of as many things they could think of in the process. The images stopped abruptly when they came upon one certain future and she opened her eyes.

~*~

Wild, his body was going wild and let it do so. He let his mind hide itself in the farthest corner of itself. No, he didn’t want to see. Didn’t want to know what happened to Edward. He couldn’t.

Why had he done that? Hadn’t he promised not to intervene? What in the world did he think could possible make it any good if he jumped in like that?

No.

He let his senses dig themselves further into the crevices. It was safer there. Much safer. The pain and despair couldn’t get him there. He was protected there from the dangers outside.

Peacefulness.

Yes, it was peaceful here. He could stay here and never live through the horrors of life ever again. He deserved it didn’t he? Hadn’t he done enough and experienced enough to make up for some kind of reward? A place to keep his soul from being harmed and tortured, from being judged and shunned by people he didn’t even know. Peacefulness, didn’t he deserve that? He did. He must have.

He could just forget everything.

Everything.

‘Would you really like that?’

Yes, he did didn’t he? He didn’t want be hurt time and time over again, to be used by others and suffer at their expense.

‘And those willing to suffer for you then?’

There wasn’t anyone that did that for him. It hadn’t ever been anyone. There hasn’t been one… has there?

‘Oh, but it has and there are. Don’t you remember him?’

Remember? Remember who?

‘The one who loves you, little one.’

He stilled.

Yes, he did remember. Didn’t he? The image was blurry but there was someone there, right? Someone important. Very important.

‘You have to hold on for that special someone. You must not forget. He is in need of your help.’

Help? Someone needed his help? They didn’t want to use him for what he could do?

‘Deep in your heart, hasn’t there always been them that did not do that? That held you dear and loved you for you are. Both in that and this world.’

This world. Yes, he came from another world. He came here and then he met…

Edward.

‘Yes, little one.’

His special someone, it was Edward wasn’t it?

Yes.

Edward. He smiled at the name, his body filling with warmth just at the thought of this Edward. He began clawing at the walls that had been closing around him. The walls that had started to close him off from the outer world. Trapping him from those he cared about and those he loved. He couldn’t let those hearts be broken. He had to return to them.

He had to return to them ‘NOW’.

~*~

Harry snapped his eyes open and stared into several pairs of wide topaz colored eyes. He blinked and pulled himself into a sitting position.

He dimly noticed the shocked looks he was receiving but his eyes were focused on the Volturi way in front of him and the figure twisting on the ground at their feet. He growled and his emerald eyes saw red.

Jumping to his feet he ignored the protests from his family that was quieted down by a hyperactive Alice. Hands that had been reaching for him stopped in their tracks and returned to their rightful place beside their owner and they let him go.

Anger kept rising inside of him and he bared his teeth at the offending individuals threateningly. Hunching slightly he put force in his leg and sprung from the ground into a neck breaking sprint. The wind wisped against his features and he closed the distance under a second from start to beginning. He aimed for the figure, Edward, first and took a firm hold on the pain ridden vampire.

The darkness that closed around him scared him at first but a soothing voice in his head kept him from loosing himself in the abyss. It guided him to the entrance and exit of the lightless void.

His magic pulled at his limbs to be let free from their restraints and the sensation of utter freedom overwhelmed him for a short while before he got his bearings together again. Still keeping his hands firmly attached to the form clutched in his hands, he darted for the spot where he knew they would find their destination away from this desolate place filled with nothingness.

Harry drew a deep unnecessary breath of air as his eyes were flooded with light. His arms clutched at Edward’s body and he pulled him up with him. The utterly stunned looks from the Volturi had him grinning like a lunatic, causing several vampires to back up. He turned on his heels and bolted with Edward securely in his arms back to where the rest of his family was.

Stopping and putting Edward into the arms of an astounded Carlisle he sent him a softer smile.

“How?” The vampire trailed of unable to finish the question for lack of words.

“Honestly? I don’t know. Though I think I got a visit from an old friend.” Harry smiled secretively.

“Indeed.” Carlisle said with a shake of the head.

“I told you!” Alice voice chirped happily at them.

“Did you, now?” Harry teased her getting a playful swat to the arm for his efforts. Directing his attention back to Carlisle his voice turned serious. “You need to take Edward away from here. He’s badly injured mentally. I could tell when I touched him while inside of that…thing.”

“I understand.”

“Are you okay Jasper?”

The honey blonde vampire snapped his head back up from its slumped spot.

“Ah, yes, I’m better now.” He smiled lightly at Harry

“Good. Now for some promised vampire ass bashing.” Harry rubbed his hands together gleefully while grinning a mile long. “It’s time to show them what they get for pissing off a vampire and wizard.”

The others despite his sunny disposition seemed unwilling to let him go.

“Ah, don’t worry! I know his secret now. I won’t be trapped in that thing of his.”

“Secret?” Carlisle asked interested.

“Just mind games really, let’s just say that when it comes to mind discipline I’m a notch higher on the ability scale, nothing more than finding the light switch.”

“Still, be careful.”

“I will. You’re free to watch the show if you want to.” He winked at the younger members of the family.

“I will sure do! This has got to be good.” Emmet roared with an amused expression on his face.

“Be right back.” Harry mock saluted and turned his attention back to the panicking Volturi.

He took his time when he walked back over the clearing, taking much enjoyment in the uncharacteristic frenzied movement of the Volturi vampires. This must be the first time that happened. Or was it the second? Guess he had a strange way of affecting vampires in general.

Aro stared him straight in the eye, being ever the prideful one. Really, he was surprised the vampire hadn’t fled the battle field yet. But how was he to know how arrogant leader vampire minds worked. Not like he wanted to find out really. He’ll leave that for someone else to find out.

This had to come to an end though. He had to make sure they didn’t get the urge of attempting this little feat again. Would a slight power display be in order to show them how out of their league he really were?

“When are you going to learn Aro?” Harry smacked his tongue and wagged his finger at the vampire. “You don’t play with fire, now do you?”

“Harry, we can talk about this. I’m sure we would be able to understand each other if we-”

“The only thing you need to understand is that you should all leave me and my family alone. Or face the consequences.” He let the threat be evident in his tone. “I recommend leaving us alone. It’s better for your health.”

He let his eyes go over the surrounding vampires.

“Take your coven back to Italy and stay there. And a piece of advice, keep your nose out of other’s business.”

He grinned at Jane and Alec. They took a step backwards before they turned their eyes to their master.

Aro narrowed his milky red eyes. After a while he gave both Caius and Marcus a nod each before he slowly started to back away, wary of turning his back on Harry. The others followed suit and Harry kept watching them as they made their way back the way they came.

Harry didn’t start to relax before he couldn’t notice any lasting movement from any of the vampires. The placing of a hand on his shoulder alerted him to the others’ presence.

“Hopefully they’ll listen to reason and not bother us again. But you’ll never know.”

“Yeah.” Jasper said. He grinned deviously, raised his hand and ruffled Harry’s wild raven black hair.

“Hey!”

Harry reached for him but Jasper jumped out of his way and laughing all the while ran and skipped out of Harry’s reaching attempts at grasping at him.

Trailing after them Alice, Emmet and Rosalie displayed their various personal grin and smiles as they made their way back to their home.

~*~

“Will he be okay?”

Esme’s voice carried over the room after Harry had come rushing in through the front door after Jasper. Her eyes travelled over the unconscious body of her son Edward and she had a pale hand on his forehead in a motherly fashion.

“He will be.” Harry’s said. He was determined to.

Slipping across the room he came down on his knees beside the leather couch where Carlisle had put down Edward. Carlisle had turned to his other children to ask of what happened after they left and was informed of the earlier proceedings. He smiled amusedly at hearing the end although it turned grave when he focused his attention back the trio at the couch. It was obvious the family was extremely worried about Edward.

“I take it vampires don’t usually go out cold let alone go unconscious?”

“Yes.” Carlisle frowned. “You said he had been mentally injured?”

“Yeah, though I think it’s nothing I can’t fix. It seems he’s just been locked into himself, unable to get out on his own.”

“He’s trapped in his own consciousness?” Jasper asked.

“Exactly.” Harry replied.

He braced himself and then took one hand to Edward’s head. Letting his shields slip a bit he delved into the consciousness beneath his hand.

He traced along the lines of the memories he found inside and smiling at those he recognized and blushing mentally at another special one.

Going further he began to struggle a bit when he came upon a piece of dark mist that was keeping itself around a certain piece of Edward’s mind.

Putting his strength and force behind it he used his will to push it away from the single piece. It was instinctual how he knew what to do and how to act when the mist reluctantly let go of it and was about to flee deeper into crevices of Edward’s mind. His magic reached forward and wrapped itself around the silvery mist and banished it from existence.

Casting an eye around to make sure he had gotten every left residue from the trauma, Harry began retracing his steps back to where he had entered.

Opening his eyes he was stunned when golden eyes blinked sleepily at him. Rubbing at his eyes with one hand Edward stopped in his movements.

“Why am I sleepy?” He stared at the surrounding vampires. “Vampire’s don’t get sleepy. They don’t sleep.”

“It was bound to happen sometime.” Harry regaining his senses from the trip into Edward’s mind, grinned down at him.

“Harry.” Edward turned his eyes to the emerald colored ones looking down on him. “You’re okay. I’m so glad.”

“It’s you I’m worried about stupid.” Harry laughed. “Why in the name of God did you do that stupid stunt for? Didn’t we have an agreement?”

“I didn’t break my promise.”

“Oh?”

“No.”

The silence stretched.

“Care to evaluate why that is?”

“You were on danger.”

“Ah. And how did you figure that. I took take care of Alec just fine.”

“The second time, yes, but the not the first time.”

Harry frowned at him.

“What first time?”

“The one I saw. Where Edward didn’t jump in and pull you away from it.” Alice piped up.

“Oh.” Harry frowned harder. “Really?”

“Really.”

He grimaced.

“The point is that it didn’t happen and you didn’t get hurt.” Edward said to him.

“You mean I didn’t die?” Harry said.

Edward flinched at the words though he still replied.

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

Edward smiled tenderly at Harry and reached out a hand to him. Taking the hand in his Harry let himself be pulled up against Edward’s chest. Strong soft arms wound themselves around his torso and back, locking him on place.

“Thank you, everyone.” He mumbled against the crook of Edward’s neck.

Clinging to the safe body beneath his Harry let his face split into a heartwarming and goofy smile and silently thanking the faceless entities that had brought him to this world.

Thanking the beings that had brought him here to his family, and the love of his life.

FIN

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我家笨蛋

wah, so interesting, how come harry is in this story...is that the story about the love about harry and edward...i feel so happy that i can find this story in luvharry,because both of the characters is my love..that edward and harry... okay..thats right , thanks 4 yr sharing..

lkjhgfd7

崩溃，难道没有人觉得这二个很不搭吗？ew需要一个母性人物，hp自己也很需要family。。。

梓筝

i just took a short glance after seeing harry was turned into a vampire with his eye still green.....thanks for sharing,the whole fiction looks just very nice,but i think it's a little bit mary sue,no defence,i can't put up with it.....居然说回帖字数不足，那沙发上的童鞋是怎么回的……

oh my lalagaga!I cannot believe the author have such a fantastic idea to write the story between ED and harry!lol
u are too strong!!Of course~the harry and ed both need a lover or may be a partner,and they have the same place~hope they have a happiness further^
真是很好的创意耶，都是神秘世界的人物，构成了一个神奇的故事~哈利和爱德华也是蛮配的么~温柔型+小猫型，呵呵~

this cross is just awesome! nothin else really.... i huv never thought about that!!!!=OOOO ll finish it later....


字数补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁补丁再补丁。

iced_tea

uh.... I think it's sweet and the couple seems fine
it's really amazing to write crossovers because you have to make a lot of things up
and try to fit them together so that it somewhat makes sense
我觉得这个CP也挺不错的啊~~
作者写的还蛮有节奏的

jen

well thanks for posting this fic in the first place! i'm starting to read some HP/Twililght crossover and this pairing seems to be a fantastic idea! it takes a bit time to finish this novella. but usually i love it the longer the better :)

真的需要一点时间才能看完。。。我的目标是晚饭前！

qianqiuzhuge

挺长的，只肯了一半多，
话说E、H这个配对的文看的不算少，但是觉得这篇挺特别的..

悠树

seems that EW/HP is a hot pairing..XDD
not interested in twillight so dont know it very well
but edward----heehee,i 've seen a number of fics of cedric/harry.really brilliant(one of my friends likes cedric very much but no edward,she thinks that he is a bit..funny)
吸血鬼什么的暮光里面的浪漫过度啊接受无能啊XD
话说来若是爱德华穿到HP火焰杯那一部和塞德里克相识相遇相*。。。。开玩笑！