Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Beta'd by Jcat5507 and Thir13enth of the Project Team Beta.

In Apnea

Hermione got out of the cab and stretched. Despite there being only three miles between the two cities, it had still been a long, dull ride from Cambridge to Boston. She glanced at the building in front of her.

The red-bricked, Federal-styled rowhouse was centred on Acorn Street in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Boston. It was reputedly known as the most photographed street in the USA. Hermione had to admit that the red-bricked rowhouses lining both sides of the narrow, cobblestone lane had charm. She walked up the front steps of number 10 Acorn Street.

Edward had invited Hermione to stay the weekend in Boston. She was currently standing in front of the house of Edward's older brother, Emmett, and his wife, Rosalie. The latter was incidentally Edward's stepsister as well as well as his sister-in-law. Moreover, Rosalie's twin brother, Jasper, was the fiancée of Edward's younger sister.

Yeah, they were strange like that.

It was strange how easily and quickly her friendship with Edward had grown. The fact that they were currently attending their sophomore year at Harvard University and that the both of them were following the same coursework at the Harvard Law School had definitely helped.

She'd seen Edward with his brother, Emmett, around the campus but strangely, they had never been formally introduced. So, now that she was about to be introduced to the two members of his family living on the Atlantic side of the country, she was nervous. It wasn't as if they were dating or anything like that. They were only roommates after all.

Edward's fiancée, Bella, was currently attending Yale University, and by extreme coincidence, so was Jacob, Hermione's boyfriend. Bella, Jacob and Edward had grown up together in a little town named Forks, and it was apparent to anyone paying attention that Jacob and Edward had a long-standing rivalry. Although, the reason for said rivalry was never fully explained to Hermione.

Jacob had been unable to visit her as planned because he had to hand in an assignment that he had worked extensively on in order to qualify for an exclusive internship program. So, as last resort, Edward had only invited her because he didn't want her to be alone on the long Columbus Day weekend. Hermione knocked on the front door of Edward's brother, Emmett's 10 Acorn Street home and waited patiently.

Meanwhile, inside the row house, Edward Cullen was trying to bargain with Rosalie about Emmett, and the conversation wasn't going his way.

"So, let me get this straight, Edward," Rosalie said in a deceptively low voice. "You've invited your roommate for the weekend here without consulting with Emmett or me in advance, and you dare ask me to keep Emmett in check?"

"I did ask, Rosalie. I told Emmett that Hermione would be joining us this weekend. He said, and I quote 'Sure, bro. The more, the merrier. Bring the chick.' So you can't tell me that I didn't tell either of you," Edward argued.

"All right, I'll bite. But, I don't understand what you mean when you say that I need to keep Emmett under control. He's not a badly behaved dog. He's your older brother, Edward!" Rosalie hissed back at him.

"I know that, Rose. Do you think that I don't know Emmett's my older brother? I've grown up with him, remember? I'd always admired Emmett growing up because he was someone every kid in school strived to become. He was my role model," Edward snapped back.

True, Emmett had been every boy's role model growing up. He was the fun, caring, athletic guy everyone looked up to in school. Moreover, Emmett wasn't just the stereotypical jock. He had been the valedictorian at his graduating high school class and was in his final year at Harvard Law School. It was Emmett's final year. He had always been what Edward was not. He was the fun, laid-back sporty guy while Edward had always been very focused on his studies—musical and academic studies.

However, there was the public Emmett—the one loved by everyone—and the private Emmett—the one people weren't aware of. Emmett had a goofy side that sometimes endangered him and others. Like the time, he'd set the kitchen of their old house in Chicago on fire. That was incidentally one of Edward's last memories of his mother. His mother had hugged all three of them tightly, dismissing the ruined kitchen entirely. She was only happy that Emmett, Alice and Edward were safe and not injured in the slightest.

To better illustrate Emmett's goofy side, Edward knew that while he was arguing with Rosalie, Emmett was currently entertaining himself in the bathroom, working on improving his apnea skills apparently. Still, Edward loved his brother endlessly. But, despite all this love for his older brother, Edward needed Rosalie to keep Emmett under control. Edward did not want his friendship with Hermione to be soured if she thought his brother to be an oddball.

"You know how Emmett is around strangers. He has no filter between his mouth and his brain. If it was only between us, I would let it slide. But there's no knowing how Hermione is gonna react," Edward added.

"What's it to you anyway? It's not as if it's a date between you two." Rosalie slyly said.

"Of course not!" Edward exclaimed. "We're just friends and I'm engaged to... to..." Edward spluttered.

"Bella!" Rosalie finished, with a smirk. "I'm so glad you remember the name of your fiancée, Edward." Rosalie mocked.

"Rose, whatever you're insinuating is wrong. Hermione and I are only friends," he repeated with conviction.

"Fair enough. It seems to me that that you're the one trying to convince yourself of that, Edward," Rosalie commented.

The pair of them would have continued bickering back and forth if it wasn't for Emmett's voice breaking through.

"Look, I don't want to sound impolite. but who the fuck are you, anyway?" They heard Emmett ask.

"Looks like your guest has already met Emmett," Rosalie said.

Yeah, it seemed like it, and Edward did not know what to expect as he made his way to the entrance hall.

A few minutes earlier, Emmett could be found in the bathroom. He had an experiment to conduct, and as the tub was filled with hot water, he turned off the faucet. Like he'd told Edward and Rosalie, Emmett wanted to improve his apnea skills and he wasn't going to do that in cold water. It was October, after all.

He stripped and pulled on his swimming trunks and grabbed the snorkel from the cupboard near the sink. He had slipped into the water, resting for a few seconds and was going to go under the surface when he heard someone knock at the door. He stilled.

"Why do people always bother you at the most inconvenient times?" Emmett grumbled.

He knew that neither Edward nor his Rosie had heard the door. They were probably busy arguing about this and that. Most probably about something Emmett had done recently. He'd been good these last days, at least, as far as he remembered.

Not bothering to grab a bathrobe, Emmett went out of the bathroom into the entrance hall and opened the door. A young woman, around Edward's age, was standing on the front step.

She didn't need to wait long as someone energetically opened the door. However, Hermione wasn't sure that the first thing to blurt out at the guy, Emmett, standing in front of her was necessary as greeting.

"Um, what are you doing in your swimming trunks?" she asked.

He was, after all, shirtless, dripping wet in his navy-blue swimming trunk. Emmett was very tall, very burly. An athlete, most likely. He was also very handsome with dimples and slightly curly, dark brown hair. He would have been intimidating if not for his easy smile and the crinkles around his cobalt-blue eyes.

"I was practising my apnea skills in my bathtub before you interrupted me," he replied, somewhat defensively.

Maybe she'd been caught off-guard by the dripping wet, handsome man standing in front of her, but Hermione could not stop herself from blurting the next question on her mind.

"So, why the snorkel, then?" she questioned.

"That's because I don't want to drown, silly," was Emmett's reply.

"Okay," Hermione trailed off.

Her eyes darted to the deserted street behind her. Would she be able to run away from this? She glanced again at the young man in front of her. As she'd noted previously, Emmett was very tall. He'd probably catch her in no less than three long strides.

"Look, I don't want to sound impolite, but who the fuck are you, anyway?" the man asked, apparently fed up with the silence and not knowing who she was.

"I'm Hermione," she answered.

"Oh, you're Edward's roommate, right?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes, I am. And you are?" she asked, in return. Just to be polite.

"I'm Emmett," he simply said.

"Let her come in, Emmett. It's rather cold outside," a female voice called from behind Emmett.

Emmett shifted, and Hermione hesitantly stepped inside.

"Don't worry, he's well trained," smirked the beautiful blonde woman who'd been hidden behind Emmett's tall frame. Hermione supposed she was Rosalie.

The blonde turned to Edward who joined them in the entrance hall, and the two of them laughed at what was probably an inside joke.

"Emmett, will you put on something?" the blonde suggested as she looked at him.

"I'm not naked, Rosie," Emmett replied.

"No, you aren't, and that's a great improvement from yesterday when you've been giving the old McGonagall next door an eyeful," commented Rosalie.

"Well, it's not as if the batty old lady complained about it. Plus, she has Alzheimer. I don't think she'll remember anything," Emmett explained.

"Illness or not, I don't think she'll be able to forget what she saw, Emmett. Anyway, dinner is nearly ready, and I would rather not have you treading water from here to the dining room," Rosalie said.

"'Kay," Emmett mumbled, defeated as he trudged past them up the stairs.

"I'm Rosalie, by the way. It's so nice to meet you finally. Heard a lot about you," Rosalie introduced herself before she glanced and realized that a trail of water had followed Emmett from the bathroom into the entrance and up the stairs.

"Emmett!" she groaned.

"What?" They heard Emmett yell from upstairs.

"I'm sorry, but sometimes I feel like I'm the mother to an overgrown child. Make yourself at home while I try to knock some common sense into my husband's thick skull," Rosalie said before darting up the stairs.

Hermione was left in the hallway with Edward as she looked around.

"I'm surprised you didn't run for the hills." Edward said as greeting.

"Yeah, the thought did cross my mind. But, I reckoned your brother would have caught up with me before I even made it to the pavement," Hermione explained.

"Um, quite true. So, what do you think?" Edward anxiously asked.

"He's eccentric, but I'm British, so I shouldn't judge, right?" Hermione pointed out.

He laughed.

"Wait till you meet Hurricane Alice!" Edward ominously said.

Author note:

Yeah, I know. It's been a while. First things first, sorry for the long absence but that can't be helped. That's just how life is.

To make up for the long absence, I've decided to gift to your viewing pleasure and as a treat this little one-shot. It's actually an outtake from an upcoming story that would normally be titled 'What Happens in Vegas'. The basic plotline is the classic one 'Waking up drunk and married.' That's been done and overdone, but I'll give it a twist and spin of mine for the occasion.

Originally, instead of Hermione and Edward being roommates at Harvard, they would have been together at West Point Military Academy. But, that turned out to be too complicated for me. When I'll start the story, this OS will be inserted into a bigger chapter, probably with a lot more changes. But, I'll leave the OS standing as it is.

I'd like to start this story as soon as possible, but first I'll need to finish those that are still in progress, and that might take some time. But we'll get there.

I'd also like to share some of my new fanfiction projects with you. My mind's literally been buzzing with projects and yet, I've had so little time. So, for your information, I have some new projects in addition of the five others. The titles are only provisional and are subject to change to the author's—me—artistic inspiration of the moment.

For My Daughter: A father/daughter relationship between Hermione and Carlisle. The pairing remains to be decided.
Dawn of My Life: With my favorite Edward/Hermione pairing. Because of a mistake, Edward is killed and Hermione sent to Azkaban.
Family: It's still a little unclear what I want for this story but what I'm absolutely sure about is that Hermione, Edward, Emmett and Alice will be siblings in it as well as being wizards and witches.
And If: An Hermione/Edward pairing again. Wouldn't it be strange if out of the blue, Edward start hearing the thoughts of someone who isn't even around and that the same someone was also able to hear his own thoughts and see what he was seeing?

Please, rest assured that I haven't abandonned my other stories and I will be updating these soon.

I'll take this opportunity to thank my faithful reviewers, followers and of course, all of you readers for your extraordinary patience with me.

As always, thanks and take care.

Love,

Ludo