CHAPTER FORTY:
Hermione's POV:
Bella didn't talk on the drive home from La Push, just sat in the passenger seat with her arms and legs crossed so tightly it seemed unlikely she would unravel them for several years. Above her tightly knotted limbs, her face was pale and drawn. She looked fragile. So fragile that I was afraid even touching her would cause her tightly wound composure to shatter into billions of pieces that I wouldn't be able to pick up. Dammit, I sighed internally- I needed Edward.
I pressed down harder on the accelerator, wanting to get back to Charlie's house as soon as possible. My fingers were crossed that Alice had had a vision of some kind and Edward would be waiting.
I sighed in relief as I rounded the corner, and the car's headlights swam over the front of the house, revealing a pale figure, waiting still as stone. Edward's face was tight, and I could see an underlying panic in his eyes. Whatever this night held emotionally for Bella, I could tell from his expression that it wasn't going to be good.
I parked the car and stepped out, jerking my head towards Bella in a not-so subtle cue for Edward to go help her. He instantly blurred to her side, handling her as if she was made of fine crystal. The way my sister deserved to be treated.
I watched as he carefully undid her seatbelt, then unpeeled her limbs. I watched as he lifted her up into his arms and she slumped in his hold, her head leaning against his chest. Edward rubbed soothing circles on her back as he talked to her, softly, gently, as if she were a horse he was trying not to spook. "We just have to get past Charlie, love, then you can let go." He murmured. Bella nodded, woodenly, and I watched, impressed, as he balanced her on her feet, hugging her and pressing his lips to her forehead. "I'll be upstairs, love." He told her before vanishing.
I walked over and clasped onto her hand, entwining our fingers together. She looked across to me and gave me a wobbly smile, even as her eyes glittered with unshed tears.
I didn't bother grabbing my keys, just muttered a quick unlocking charm, and the door swung open. Hopefully Charlie's unusual need to chat had finished and I could get Bella straight up to her room where her vampire was waiting.
Entering the house, I headed straight for the stairs, dragging Bella behind me. "Girls?" Charlie called from his usual place on the sofa as we walked by, and I resisted the urge to groan and swear under my breath.
Should have cast a bloody notice-me not charm, I cursed to myself, before turning with Bella to face my birth father.
Upon seeing the expression on Bella's face, Charlie's eyes bugged wide and he lurched to his feet. "What happened?" he demanded, "is Jacob...?"
"Merlin, no!" I gasped out, as Bella shook her head furiously, looking like she was trying to find her voice. "He's perfectly fine."
"But what happened?" Charlie demanded, eyes still anxious and wide. "What happened?"
"Nothing, dad. I... just had to talk to Jacob about... some things that were hard." Bella's voice was low and husky, and I could practically hear the sobs that were choking up in her throat.
I watched as Charlie's face calmed from anxious to disapproving. "Was this really the best time?" he asked. There's never a good time to tell someone you don't want to be with them, I sighed. Merlin, this is all reminding me- I'm going to have to talk to Ron soon.
"Probably not, dad, but I didn't have any alternatives. It just got to the point where I had to choose... sometimes there isn't any way to compromise." Bella answered Charlie's half-rhetorical question, and he shook his head slowly.
"How did he handle it?" Bella's silence, the way her head and shoulders droop, is answer enough. An anger is bubbling inside of me, and anger that wants me to go back and curse Jacob Black's stupid hide, but I calm that anger. This isn't something I can get involved in. I couldn't tell him not to love my sister, and I couldn't tell her not to love him. It had happened. And now they had to deal with it.
"I hope you didn't mess up his recovery." Charlie noted. I decide now's a good time to speak up.
"He's a quick healer," I said, with a small smile that doesn't consist of any humor, before turning to Bella. "You get the blankets, I'll get the ice-cream." I tell her, releasing my grip on her hand and giving her a little push. She gave me a grateful look for getting her an out, and hurried off up the stairs.
I watched her leave, before making my way over to the kitchen. Charlie followed me, watching as I pulled out two cartons of Ben&Jerry's. "Sure you can eat all that?" he asked, doubtfully, as I fished in the drawer for two spoons.
"We're teenage girls in distress. We can go through six of these in under an hour." I tell him, with a wry smile. Charlie chuckled.
"I'm glad you're here taking good care of her." He tells me, "She needs her sister." A warmth spread through me, as I looked up into a pair of eyes the exact same shade of chocolate as my own.
"And I need her." I tell my father, smiling at him, "just like I need you."
Charlie started blushing slightly, and he gave me a quick, slightly awkward hug, before hurrying back over to the game. I can hear the sound of crying, and, balancing the cartons of ice-cream that are more of an alibi then anything else, I grabbed my wand with the other, carefully shielding it from view as I hurried upstairs.
I don't go in Bella's room- I can hear Edward in there already. I just cast a silencing charm, then mutter aloud to Edward what I did, knowing he'd be able to hear, for him to relay back to Bella. She deserved some privacy to grieve.
Leaving her, I took my ice-cream to my bedroom, and jumped up onto the bed, propping up the pillows so I could lean back and start digging into the delicious yumminess, while letting my mind stray over the last forty-eight hours.
The army was gone, and that was a good thing. Victoria was gone too. The Volturi was even gone, despite the fact I'd managed to seriously piss off that little clot of a guard.
But, and here my stomach churned, not everything had gone to plan. Victoria had figured out a majority of our plan, and if it hadn't been for the fact I was a witch and Harry was a wizard, then all of us up on that mountain would be dead.
As it was, Leah's condition was unknown, and possibly fatal. I knew Harry and Poppy would be working to the best of their abilities to save her, but her injuries had been... well, severe was an understatement.
And then Bella, beautiful, idiotic Bella had saved her vampire's life, by risking her own. And then I'd been Bitten. I lift my hand, touching the raised flesh of the bite mark, on my left shoulder- I hated the thought that a vampire other then Alice had marked me in any way. As opposed to muggle literature, vampires didn't Bite each other to mark that they were mates or anything, but it still felt symbolic enough that I wished it was Alice's teeth that had left this scar.
Almost as if she'd been summoned by my thoughts, my window slid open and the love of my life effortlessly slipped through the gap, into my room.
She was beautiful, she always was of course, but dressed in a long blue dress and a pair of heels, her dark locks windswept, and her eyes wide and bright, she looked stunning.
She glided over to me, kicking off her heels and jumping up on the bed beside me. She wrapped her arm around my waist and curled into my side, and I leaned into her embrace, even though the chill of her touch was causing goosebumps to rise up over my flesh. "Missed you." I heared her say, her voice muffled by the fact her face was buried in my neck.
"Missed you too, sweetheart." I tell her, tightening my arms around her. We stayed like that for several long moments, just enjoying it. We were safe. We were alive. Yes, there are uncertainties, but right now I had to just cling to hope, to the stubborn belief, that Leah was not going to let a vampire keep her down.
Alice smiled at me and then leaned up and pressed her lips against mine. I kissed her back, with no urgency. Charlie's downstairs and happy watching his game, Bella's with Edward who's comforting her the way I can't, there's nothing I can do for Leah right now, and there's a silencing charm on my room.
There's no rush. Nothing that can or needs to be done. Nobody that needs to be taken care of. Right now we have all the time in the world to just be with each other, enjoy each other's company.
And I planned on doing just that.
-
When I woke the next morning, the bed beside me was empty, but there was a note on the pillow. Yawning and rubbing my eyes, I grabbed the note and read it through bleary eyes.
To my beautiful bride-to-be,
Sorry about my absence- I have some very important business to attend to, but I'll be back by lunch time. I would have woken you to say goodbye, but I've never seen you sleep in before, so I didn't want to.
I love you more then anything in the world, Hermione.
Your bride-to-be,
Alice
Surprised, I looked around for the clock and realized she was right- it's nearly ten thirty in the morning. I can't even remember the last time I slept in past nine. Though Alice did wear me out last night, I think, with a grin that Emmett would be proud of- I hadn't realized that ice cream could be used like that. And I wasn't likely to forget any time soon.
Leaving Alice's note on my pillow, I go shower, rubbing away the slight stickiness left by the ice cream on my skin, before dressing and going down to the kitchen to eat. I haven't heard or seen Charlie or Bella, so I assume they're already gone- it is ten thirty, after all.
Pulling out a book, I sit down on the couch, stealing Charlie's favorite seat, and prepare to spend the rest of the morning relaxing. The loud crack of someone apparating into the lounge room, however, interrupted my plans and made me leap up from the couch, hand diving for my wand, as I search to see who'd just appeared in my living room. Upon seeing who it is, I relaxed my stance, letting my wand slide back into my pocket.
"Harry!" I greeted my best friend happily. "Are you okay? How's Leah?" I asked. Harry's looking a touch disheveled and tired, but the smile he gives me is equal parts relieved and triumphant.
"She's going to be fine, Hermione," he announced, "Leah's going to be fine." I let out a relieved groan of relief, and run towards Harry. He meets me halfway, pulling me up into his arms and spinning us around.
"I'm so glad she's okay." I choked out.
"Want to go visit her?" Harry asked, setting me back down on my feet. I nodded, wiping at my eyes with the back of my hand- they'd gotten suspiciously wet.
"I do. Where is she?"
"At the Cullens." He replied. My jaw dropped.
"Poppy actually let her out of the Hospital Wing already? You left her at the Cullens? And she let you?" I demanded, incredulously, not sure which of my three questions shocked me the most.
"Leah wanted to come back to Forks. And what's wrong about her staying at the Cullens? I thought having a doctor on standby would be good." Harry said, his face carefully innocent. I gave him a look.
"Truth. Now."
"Fine. I'm sick of prejudice." Harry stated, bluntly, "this is an act of defiance against the stupid bias the Cullens and the shifters have against each other."
"Believe me, I'm so bloody sick of the prejudice too, Harry." I half laughed, half groaned. Harry leaned forwards and kissed my forehead.
"Go see Leah."
"Okay." I agreed, then he strolled out of the room, presumably towards the kitchen- that's just the way boys work.
-
I apparated over to the Cullen mansion, and Esme greeted me in the foyer. "Hermione!" she beamed, blurring over and wrapping her arms around me. I relaxed into her motherly embrace, enjoying the feeling of been held.
"Good morning Esme." I smiled, as we stepped apart.
"Good morning, honey," she replied, happily, "are you hungry? I've got food- I've been baking all morning!" she said, proudly.
"Despite the fact that Leah's not allowed to eat solids for another forty-eight hours at least." Emmett said, his face amused, as he appeared next to me. I jumped slightly, and scowled at him.
"Don't scare me like that." I grumbled. He laughed, the sound booming.
"Love you too witchy-poo." I rolled my eyes and turned back to Esme, half wondering where Alice was.
"Thanks Esme, but I'm not that hungry." I tell her. Her face creased slightly in disappointment.
"Do you think you could just taste it?" she asked, her eyes worried, "I'm practicing for Leah when she can eat again, but I don't know if I'm doing it right or not." I can't help but smile at Esme- you just have to smile. She's just so... Mrs. Weasley-y. And yes, that's an adjective. Definitely an adjective.
"I'll taste it after I go see Leah." I gave in, with good grace. Esme beamed at me again.
"She's up in the spare bedroom- Emmett, can you show her the way?"
"She knows the way, mom." Emmett grumbled, pouting, but a stern look from Esme has him leaping to attention.
"How did Leah react when she arrived here?" I asked, as we walk up the stairs. Emmett grinned.
"When she woke up she swore up a storm about how much pain she was in, then realized where she and grumbled about the smell for a few moments, very half-heartedly mind you, before passing out again."
I snorted as we make our way down the hall. "Sounds like Leah. Mouth like a sailor, that one."
Emmett stopped outside the bedroom Leah was staying in, and gave an exaggerated bow. "I shall now go down and inform the tyrant that her ladyship has been escorted to the quarters." He announced, in a terrible imitation of a British accent. I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed, then wandered off, leaving me to talk to Leah in privacy.
I opened the door, gently, not wanting to wake her up if she's sleeping. It's a nice room Esme's put her in, with a fireplace in the corner and all. I wonder if Harry purposely asked for one? I thought, as I peered into the room- Esme would definitely have gone out of her way to prepare the room, no matter who it was for, and if Harry had given her enough notice, she'd have figured out a way to get a fireplace of sorts. Really, Harry could have asked for the moon and stars and Esme would have figured out a way to get them.
A tired pair of dark eyes meet mine and I smiled gently, stepping into the room, closing the door behind me and casting a quick silencing charm, before speaking.
"How are you feeling, love?" I asked the tired looking shifter, taking a good, long look at her. Leah was slumped on the bed, rather ungracefully, half propped up by pillows, dressed in what looked like one of Esme's shirts, her hair hanging limp around her ashen colored face.
"Like a vampire shoved its hand in my stomach and ripped out a handful of my intestine." Leah answered me, dryly. She sounded like her normal self- confident, sarcastic, but her eyes told a different story. They're scared. She almost died yesterday, and if Harry hadn't been there, she would have. Without magic, she'd be in a box right now, not lying on the spare bed at the Cullen's house. "Know how long I'm going to be stuck here?" Leah asked- well, rasped is probably a better word. Her voice has always been husky, but in her pain it's deeper then usual.
"By here do you mean in the Cullen's house, or do you mean stuck in bed?" I asked. She grimaced.
"Either. Both."
"Well, technically Harry could have taken you back to La Push." I admitted.
"Thought so." Leah grumbled, before sighing slightly. "Guess Dr. Fang's not so bad, and your little girlfriend is-" she grimaced slightly at this, struggling to spit the word out, "nice." I gave a small laugh, walking over so I can sit on the side of the bed, being careful not to shift the mattress, before continuing to answer her question.
"And you'll be contained in bed for the next week, at least. Depends if your natural accelerated hearing interferes with the magic and causes... complications."
"Urgh," Leah made a face, "hate that word. Complications."
"It is a truly horrible word." I agreed.
"So how's Jake doing?" She inquired.
"Good enough to con Bella into making out with him." Leah whistled.
"Damn! How'd vampire boy take that?" I decided to leave out the part where I yelled at Jacob, threatened him with severe bodily harm, and then cursed him with a face of boils.
"Surprisingly well," I answered her question, "and a few hours later, Bella went back for some closure or something, and the two had a good heart to heart. She told him she'd made her choice- Edward, of course. I'm not sure what else they talked about, but she was in hysterics last night, she was so upset about the whole thing."
"Damn." Leah sighed, a pitying expression on her face. "Boys."
"Boys." I agreed, "Can't live with them, can live without them." Leah blinked. Twice.
"That... that's a bit of a mind fuck." I laughed.
"You're welcome."
Leah tried to turn slightly, but the movement obviously hurt her and she let out a yelp of pain. "Motherfucker!" she swore, fiercely blinking back tears.
"You okay?" I asked, concern coloring my tone, and she grimaced.
"The Marigold woman told me not to twist my upper body," she said, disgruntled, "and me, being the dumbass that I am, forgot."
"Marigold?" I frowned.
"Um, maybe it was Daisy? Or Pansy?" Leah suggested half-heartedly, not really caring.
"Oh, you mean Poppy!" I realized. "Has she come visited you here?" I asked, surprised. Poppy Pomfrey isn't usually one for house calls.
"Nah, haven't seen her since Harry took me here from the- what did he call it?- Hospital wing, or something. But her head did stick out of the fireplace at one point. Even after all the weird shit I've seen, it was real freaky. She an' Harry had this whole big conversation with her fucking head with no fucking body sticking out of a fucking fire- a fucking green fire at that! Thought I was going crazy." Leah grumbled.
"I've lost count of how many times Poppy's stitched up me, Ron and Harry." I mused, out loud, my mouth curving into a smile at Leah's mini-rant.
"And I thought I was stoned on pain meds and hallucinating." Leah gave a snorting laugh, "I mean- heads sticking out of green fire? How fucking crazy can you get?"
"It's called a Floo." I explained, "you can travel from fireplace to fireplace by stepping in the flames, or you can speak by just sticking your head in."
"That is some fucked up shit." Leah scoffed.
"Bella agrees with you." I nodded. Leah yawned slightly.
"So how did it go with the Italian bloodsuckers? That's where you went after you left me, Harry an' Bella, right? I'm pretty sure I was semi-conscious at some point around there." I shifted, uncomfortably, and Leah gave me an exasperated look. "Jesus fuck, girl, what did you do?"
"A bad thing." I admitted, "I may have traded harsh, mocking words with one of them. And by one of them, I mean one of the most feared and powerful of all the guard." Leah cracked up.
"Damn, girl! You have less sense of self-preservation then your sister!" She laughed.
"Oh do shut up." I grumbled. Leah takes a few minutes to stop laughing, then grimaces, rubbing her stomach lightly.
"Fuck." She complained, "ow."
"I'm getting married, by the way." I decided to mention- with the threat of the newborn army vanquished, now is as good a time as ever to announce my engagement. "Oh, and so is Bella. Except the ceremonies are going to be slightly different. As in, Bella's having a normal wedding and Alice and I are having a traditional Magical binding ceremony- you know, witch and wizard stuff."
"Sounds weird. I better be invited." She threatened. I pulled an indignant expression.
"Of course you are! Can you be a bridesmaid?" Leah's face turned thoughtful.
"If you make me wear an ugly dress, I'm going to hunt you down and kill you. Slowly." She warned and I laughed.
"Depends on your view of dress-robes." Leah pulled a face.
"They sound awful already."
"I take this as you're accepting?"
"Wild horses wouldn't keep me... you know what, screw that, they would. But yeah, if no wild horses turn up, then I'll come." Leah smiled, "I'll even let you dress me up and parade me about."
"Oh I'm not doing that," I snorted, "Alice is. I'm as much of a victim here as you." A wide smile spread over Leah's face.
"So damn true, girl."