The Witch and Her Vampire

Eight

A month later, I scowled at Dudley as he wolfed down his mound of food. I had thought when Jake ate it was disgusting—but, no, this boy ate like he hadn't been taught any manners. My cousin would have shared all that food with us had he been here now, or already lost his temper with the Dursleys and gotten in trouble.

Oh, how I missed him. We fought some, sure, but I know Jake better than anyone and we would defend each other to our last breath—Harry, too. I compared everyone and everything here to the people I had known, and to my home before. I couldn't help it. It was all so...different.

My stomach growled.

Harry and I had been practically starved the past week, while Dudley was allowed to hog all the food. I had protested a good few times already, but had  learned quickly to keep my mouth shut—Vernon was a hitter, and my poor brother normally took the brunt of his rough smacks.

Harry nudged me, and I glanced over at him, frowning as he broke his biscuit in half, grabbed a piece of bacon from his plate, and handed them to me.

He'd been doing this lately, and I didn't like it one bit.

I stuffed the small portion of biscuit in my mouth and passed the bacon back to him, before swallowing, watching Dudley carefully. His attention was on the tv at the moment, as were his parents. Quickly, my hand shot out and I snatched up one of his many biscuits, tearing it in half and passing one to Harry. This was more than we usually got and I just couldn't help myself.

I could never help myself when I did this. We needed it more than he did, after all. He was far too fat.

Hastily, we excused ourselves and hurried to our room once we were finished.
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I sat down heavily on the bed and rifled through my bag, an ache in my chest as I pulled out a photograph. It was of my father, laughing merrily as Jacob sat on his chest, Harry sprawled across his legs, and me laying cross his stomach.

"How many more days do we have left?" I asked Harry desperately.

He checked the calendar.

"Five days until we get our things," Harry told me, a glint in his eyes as he earnestly grabbed my hands and jerked me up. "A week until we leave. Isn't it great? Only a week more!"

I couldn't resist laughing as he forced me to spin around and dance with him, grinning goofily at me as his dark fringe fell into his eyes. "It is great, Har. We'll be able to get new clothes, and food, and our wands, and...." I suddenly remembered something. "Owls!" A grin worked it's way into my face. "We can get owls and write to Jake, Alice, Emmett, and Rose—"

"—and Edward, Jasper, Carlisle, and Esme!" Harry's grin widened. "Maybe they can take us!"

I furrowed my brows at him in confusion. "Aren't they somewhere across the world, though? I doubt anyone would let us leave the country now, and then there's....."

His shoulders slumped, his grin faded, and he finished my sentence for me yet again. "Padfoot."

I nodded, falling back onto the bed as he threw himself onto it next to me. "Yeah. Dad. We have to wait for him, and if we're gone, we'll never get to see him."

"Right." He let out a breath, but his hopeful tone returned. "But we can still write to the others, and that'll be nice, won't it?"

"Yeah." I sighed wistfully. "It will."

He grabbed my hand and poked me in the side. I jerked away with wide eyes, trying to muffle the shriek I had just emitted.

Quickly, I glanced toward the door to be sure Vernon wouldn't come thundering up; when there was no sound, I shoved Harry, snickering when he fell from the bed and into the floor.

"Hey!" He gave me a mock reproachful look, before simply flopping onto the bed again, and this time, I grabbed his hand, and smiled a little.