AN: Chronology: shift Harry Potter two years forward and Twilight five years backward and it should fit.
Anything written here about Quileutes is a lie. They aren't shape-shifters and they aren't in contact with some kind of a secret magical world. In fact, most of them probably haven't read TW at all and they don't make any money on their name being used while people of Forks are getting rich on organising tour-buses to La Push. How would you like it if you were in their place, huh? At least do them a favour and never write anything that would portray them in bad light.
We shall begin our tale in 1872 on an edge of a small Greek village. There lived a very old man and his wife. They had an orchard behind their cottage which provided them with a small income.
One day, the old man returned from the orchard with a basket. His wife was preparing a dinner.
"Look dear, a whole basket!" said the man.
The old woman looked and saw that the basket was full of juicy lemons.
"Oh, these will sell great at the market tomorrow," she said.
However, that wasn't a very good time and place to begin the story. Why? Well, because neither the old Greek couple nor any lemons have any relation to it, for example. So, let's move to...
England, 1980:
Sirius Black pounded on a door. After some time, a beautiful black haired woman opened. That is, beautiful from some points of view. The profoundness of every feature of her face betrayed that she came from a narrow gene-pool. Her youth and magical cosmetics helped a lot but it was obvious that she would become an ugly hag in time. As a matter of fact, the same could be said about Sirius.
"Well, well. If it isn't my favourite cousin," she greeted him.
"Bella," breathed Sirius out.
"May I ask why are you battering at my door?"
"I would apparate or floo right inside but it seems that I'm not on your privacy filters."
"Indeed. Maybe I didn't want to speak with you," replied Bellatrix and leaned on the door-frame.
Sirius sighed and said, "Bella, we need to talk."
She waited for a while and it seemed that she was contemplating his request. Then she said, "Very well, since you're already here. Come in, Rodolphus isn't at home."
Sirius entered and took his cloak off. Bellatrix clapped and a house-elf appeared with a tea tray.
"Sugar?" asked Bellatrix after she poured two cups.
"Yes, please."
Sirius waited till his hostess drank. She was his favorite cousin but he couldn't trust her. Little did he know that the tea actually was spiked - with something that Bellatrix wasn't afraid to imbibe.
Sirius waited for his cousin to say something. When she remained silent, he repeated, "Bella, we need to talk."
"Talk away."
"It's about the people you are involved with."
"Which people?" asked Bellatrix with a smile.
"Death Eaters, dammit!" exclaimed Sirius. Little did he know that his cousin was working directly for Voldemort.
Bellatrix kept her mask and opposed, "There is nothing wrong with them and their goals are noble! Did somebody from that senile fool Dumbledore sent you?" Of course, she already knew that her cousin was working with the headmaster himself.
"No, nobody sent me!" retorted Sirius. He wanted to add that nobody actually knew that he was there but he caught himself in time.
After that, they started a very heated discussion about the ethics and nobility of their viewpoints. Bellatrix moved from her seat and joined Sirius on the sofa he was sitting on. Sirius loosened his robe, it started to get hot in the room.
After some time, Bellatrix put her hand on Sirius's cheek and said, "Please, can't we just agree to disagree? You are with Dumbledore, I'm with the pure-bloods and the Ministry will follow whoever wins. When this ends, one of us can take care of the other."
"Bella, you know how dear you are to me and that I'll do everything to keep you safe. But I don't think it's that simple. This can end badly."
"I'll be careful. We'll pull through this, like always. Do you remember the time when we were little and I accidentally broke a jar of Floo powder?"
"I do," confirmed Sirius and laughed softly.
"My father wanted to beat me when you suddenly appeared. You didn't say or do anything, you were just looking at him..."
"Yes, I remember that," interrupted her Sirius. He thought for a moment and then asked, "You hated him, am I right?"
"That's an understatement. I was under impression that you shared my sentiment."
"That I did. However, I wanted to ask: was he the reason why have you gotten involved with Death Eaters?"
Something about the recent and still unexplained disappearance (or death) of Cygnus Black nagged him. Sometimes, he was quite sure that he had been murdered by Bella. The idea excited him actually.
Bellatrix concluded, "Everything will be all right, I promise."
Sirius was lost in her eyes and they started to lean to each other. As the drug took effect, everything became unclear. Suddenly, he was kissing his cousin and didn't want to stop. The word "incest" had no chance of making it to the forefront of Sirius's mind.
Little did he know that his sweetheart would immediately run with the secrets pried from him during their escapade to her master Voldemort and that he would loose a great deal of his credibility in the Order of the Phoenix as a result which would cost him their support when he would need it the most. Little did he know that he and his childhood crush would be mortal enemies in several months, when the violences would escalate. And he had absolutely no idea that he would be killed by his cousin sixteen years later.
London, 1999, July:
Two Aurors weaved among throngs of people at an airport. Neither of them was quite comfortable among so many muggles and neither of them knew much about them. As a result, they stood out like sore thumbs in their ridiculous garments.
They were trying to track their target who seemed to be getting away. They were quite aware what would happen to the girl should they arrest her and bring her back to the ministry. That is, unless Scrimgeour interceded - which wasn't going to happen because he wasn't leaving his office any more. They also knew that their actions would ensure their careers after Scrimgeour's death.
They passed a guard who noticed them and after a moment of hesitation reported the unusual individuals to the staff in the central who found them on the camera system quickly. In the meantime, the Aurors caught a sight of their target again. She slipped through a door near a conveyor belt (not that they knew what it was). They broke into jog and followed after her.
"What a hell?" exclaimed a guard watching the two of them on a screen and summoned his supervisor.
"Some idiot must have left the door opened," said the supervisor. "Send security staff to get them out of there before they hurt themselves or damage anything."
The two Aurors were chasing after the girl. However, every time they saw her, she was already disappearing behind a corner. They encountered a maintenance guy who started shouting at them but a quick confusing charm silenced him.
They run into three guards after about ten minutes of the merry chase. The guards were armed with Tasers. Of course, the Aurors had no idea what those were. "Freeze!" shouted one of the guards.
The Aurors looked at each other and started to dispense stunning hexes. Two guards went down immediately but the third managed to pull the trigger. One of the Aurors got electrocuted and sank to the floor while the other stunned the remaining guard. He growled when he processed what happened and regretted that he didn't use a more drastic spell.
Suddenly, he felt sharp pain in his lower back. He looked down a saw a tip of a dagger protruding from his belly. He feebly waved with his left arm in an attempt to reach behind himself. He also tried to twist his right arm to point his wand in that direction but the wand started to slip from his fingers.
"I'll take that," whispered a voice in his ear and a woman's hand took his wand before it could fall. The wand of the second Auror flew into the air and was collected by the very same hand.
The second Auror started to come to himself. Suddenly, he received another shock, albeit a shorter one. He made a motion to remove the needles from his chest.
"Don't," warned him a voice. He looked up to see a wand being pointed at him.
"You bitch!" snarled the Auror when he saw his dead partner. He received another shock.
"On whose orders are you operating?" asked the "bitch".
"The Ministry of Magic!" growled the Auror in what he hoped was a threatening manner.
The girl pressed the trigger and kept it pressed until the Auror nearly lost his consciousness. He was still aware enough to notice when his throat was cut.
USA, Washington, August:
The young girl stared at a screen of an old computer. There wasn't anything interesting in there, just an empty desktop. Nevertheless, the girl's face had a tortured expression.
Then she said to the two men behind her, "I don't know. This is so... so..."
"Don't worry, you'll get used to working with them in no time," laughed Henry. He was a friend of Billy's and an owner of a decent computer.
"I don't know," snorted Billy Black. "I've never really understood these infernal machines."
Henry rolled his eyes and said, "Well, Bella, we'll let you to play with it alone for a while, that's the best way to learn to work with a computer. Try to practice the things I've shown you - it will help you to blend in better."
Then he turned to Billy and asked, "Want a beer?"
"Sure," replied Billy and they left.
When she was alone, Bella turned her attention to the computer again and prodded the mouse. Why did she have to push that piece of plastic around when it would be so much better to touch the screen directly? Henry had said something about mouses being cheaper and better.
Bella remembered that she was supposed to practice sending and receiving of mail and creating of documents. Unfortunately, she couldn't recollect how was she supposed to do that. She pushed the mouse around the table and watched as its counterpart on the screen moved. She knew that she was supposed to push a button on the mouse when the arrow was over the right icon. She couldn't remember which icon was the right one though. She thought what a stupid electrical contraption it was and ruffled her hair.
As Bella searched the desktop, she saw an icon which was different from the others. She moved the mouse over it and pushed the left button. When nothing happened, she remembered that she had to push it twice.
What happened next startled her a little - the desktop disappeared and the screen went black. After a while though, something began to happen and the boxes beside the screen started to make sounds. Bella understood that what she saw on the screen was some kind of a film. She knew what a motion picture was, though she never went to see one herself. Bella leaned back in the chair comfortably and folded her arms on her chest. She didn't understand fully what was a film doing on a computer but it was better than creating documents.
In the low-quality animation, Bella saw a young woman attacking and killing some vampires (or what people believed vampires were to be more precise). She watched the rest of the sequence and when she heard the word "dhampir" and explanation of its meaning, she raised an eyebrow. However, the animation ended then and some kind of a new desktop appeared. She knew it was a desktop because there was a mouse pointer. It was different though.
Suddenly, the door to the kitchen opened and Henry came back. He looked at the screen and sneered, "Well, well. What have we here?"
"I just..." started Bella and trailed off.
"I was afraid that you might have troubles with understanding computers but if you have managed to start a game then you obviously know more than enough," continued Henry.
"What's that?" asked Billy and nodded towards the screen which was at the time dominated by a motive of blood and teeth.
"That's not what it seems to be!" defended Henry himself. He knew that Billy didn't like vampires.
"It's about a dhampir actually," said Bella.
"What?" exclaimed Billy.
"An offspring of a..." wanted to explain Bella.
"It's my computer and I can do whatever I want on it. Now get out!" interrupted her Henry.
Bella and Billy returned back to Billy's. Jacob was in front of the house, tinkering with the truck.
"Is it going to be finished today?" asked Billy.
"Yeah, I'm almost done," called Jacob from under the hood.
Billy and Bella went inside. Billy took an envelope from a drawer and tossed it to Bella.
"This is your driver's license," he said.
Bella opened it and asked, "Isabella Swan?"
"You can keep going by Bella that way. Remember that you are now officially almost a year younger to match the age you should have. You'll be in a junior grade."
"Uh huh."
"Listen, Bella. This license is your ID but it also says that you can drive a car. That crap about computers isn't important since there is a lot of people who can't use them. However, if you get in a car accident which would clearly show that you can't drive, it would be suspicious. So pay attention to Jacob when he teaches you."
"OK."
"And remain in the area. You aren't prepared for highways or city traffic."
Bella drank a glass of water and they went outside. Jacob closed the hood and wiped his hands with a rag.
Billy turned to Bella once again and said, "One more thing. It's an old truck so it's not full of electronics like the modern cars. However, the plugs, lights and wipers are still electrical so be careful. Well, and the radio too."
Bella nodded.
"She is all yours, son," said Billy and returned inside the house. A baseball match was about to start in TV soon.
Jacob smiled and asked, "Have you ever been in a car?"
"Uhm, yes."
"Splendid, that saves me a lot of explaining. Let's get started."
They spent the rest of the day driving around. Bella managed to bump into something a few times but the truck was so sturdy that it wasn't even noticeable on it. Jacob said that the car was perfect for Bella. Overall, she did quite good but she agreed with him. It seemed that she was going to be able to make a trip to Forks and back soon enough.
When the evening came, they returned home and made a dinner. After the meal, they started to make plans for the next week.
"So, what about this: Harry Clearwater will give you a lift to the airport and then Charlie Swan can pick you up," proposed Billy. "It will look like you came by plane and was waiting for him."
Bella made a face and asked, "Can't you just tell him that you've picked me up for him? And that you've took me here and gave me the truck?" The idea of the two long trips and of a crowded airport wasn't appealing to her.
"Well, that would require quite a convoluted explanation and it would still look weird. I think he'll want to pick his daughter himself so I'm afraid we'll have to do it as I've said."
Bella rolled her eyes and sighed. Then she remembered something and told Billy, "Hey, this Charlie Swan. I hope he isn't some kind of a creep or something like that."
"Oh come on, he was my friend since we were kids. I trust him. Can't cook to save his life though."
"Well, it isn't you who is going to live with him. I'm warning you - if he lays one finger on me, he's dead. And by dead I mean literally dead, like not breathing and starting to rot."
"Don't worry, there won't be any troubles. He is a man of honour and he loves his daughter. I mean you."
Bella sneered and retorted, "And that's supposed to calm me? It's weird. Can't I just stay here?"
"A white girl living with a bunch of natives in a reservation and with no explanation why? Now that would be strange. Unless you married in or was in a relationship with somebody from here."
Bella made a sick face.
Before they went to sleep, Billy approached Bella one more time and told her, "One last thing. You're going to encounter them at the school..."
Charlie Swan walked around the airport and looked for his daughter. Bella watched him from afar, comparing him to a photo from Billy.
"Yes, it should be him," she murmured to herself and approached him from behind.
"Char... dad?" she called him with faked enthusiasm.
Charlie turned around.
"Bella?" he whispered and stared at her in amazement.
"Hi," greeted him Bella and then added, "It's raining."
Charlie regained his composure and replied in his normal tone, "Yeah. Don't tell me you're surprised."
Bella laughed and replied, "I guess I'm not."
"It's good to see you, Bella," said Charlie and wanted to give her a one-armed hug but then he just awkwardly patted her shoulder.
As they walked to the cruiser parked outside, Bella thought, "Good, at least he isn't a fan of physical displays of affection."
When they reached the car, she asked "Do I get handcuffs too?"
"Don't worry, you'll survive it for once. And I've found a car for you for afterwards," replied Charlie as they were getting inside.
"Oh. How much is it going to cost me?"
"Nothing. Do you remember the Blacks from La Push?" replied Charlie and started the car.
"Hmm. Daughters Rachel and Rebecca?"
"Yeah. So, Billy Black lent it to me since he's in a wheelchair. I was willing to pay for it as a sort of homecoming present but Billy said that..." Charlie broke off there, swallowed and continued, "...that it isn't sure how long are you going to tolerate the local weather."
Bella chuckled and said, "Well, he sounds like a smart guy. But don't worry, I'm quite stubborn and a few raindrops won't freak me out."
As they drove the rain got stronger and Bella added after a quick contemplation, "But a whole sea dropped on us might."
They remained mostly silent for the rest of the ride because Bella reached the end of her willingness to play-act. Charlie had a few very careful questions about Renee and Bella's life with her. Bella gave him equally careful answers.
In the end, he decided to stick to something neutral. "Nice haircut," he said. Bella had black and relatively shortly cropped hair. It wasn't something that he would describe as beautiful but it definitely looked practical. She just grunted a thanks.
They arrived at Charlie's and he took her suitcase inside. Then he led her upstairs to her room. When he opened the door and Bella peeked inside, she saw a nursery room. It seemed that it was never used.
"Sorry about that," said Charlie. "Somehow, I didn't get around to remove the old stuff. But I have your bed and desk prepared downstairs already."
"That's OK," Bella calmed him down.
They cleared the space a little and moved the furniture upstairs together. Charlie then left Bella to unpack.
About an hour later, Charlie returned and told her, "Billy and Jake are coming with the truck. Jake said that he'd like to explain the truck to you personally."
"Explain the truck?" asked Bella and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. It's old and he was maintaining it himself, so..." answered Charlie. He was uneasy with it, afraid that it might displease Bella.
"OK, sounds great," she said. It was only a few hours but she missed the Quileutes already. Well, to be more precise, she already preferred their company against Charlie's.
When they arrived, Charlie introduced them to each other. Billy and Jake shook Bella's hand dutifully. Jake had a hard time dealing with the surrealism of the situation but he didn't blow it.
Bella and Jake went to ride the truck around the neighbourhood. Charlie and Billy watched TV. Charlie stood up after a while and took out a few cans from the pantry and a can opener.
"What are you doing?" asked him Billy.
"I just thought that I'll make her something to eat while she's out."
Billy held out his hands with palms forward and objected, "I don't think that Bella would appreciate if you tried to poison her on her first day here."
Charlie agreed after a while and put the cans back. In the meantime, Jacob and Bella stopped at a grocery to complement Charlie's pantry.
When they returned and Bella parked, Jacob told her, "Well, drive carefully and you might avoid any accidents."
"Well, thanks."
"And don't forget to drive on the right side. Not left."
"I know."
They returned to the house, carrying a few bags of groceries.
"Dad? We stopped at a store, you had no vegetables here," shouted Bella.
Charlie shrugged slightly and Billy laughed, "Look at it this way: you'll live longer on healthier food."
Bella walked in the room and asked, "Dad? Can Jake and Billy stay for dinner?"
Charlie quickly straightened up and replied, "Sure." Then he stood up and continued, "I wanted to fix you something when you were away..."
Bella interrupted him, "Oh. But isn't it true that you wouldn't be able to boil a kettle of water? Leave the kitchen to me for the time being."
When she left, Billy sheepishly grinned and apologized, "Yeah, Jake probably told her..."
They continued to watch the TV. After some time, they were joined by Jake, who finished peeling potatoes and explaining what some of the items in the kitchen were for. After some more time, Bella served them fish and chips.
"I noticed that the fridge is full of fish. You caught them yourself?" she asked Charlie.
"Yeah, we go fishing all the time," he answered.
When the dinner was over and dishes were washed, Bella offered to take Billy and Jake back to reservation. However, Charlie told her that she needed to settle down and rest and he took them himself in his cruiser.
Bella was already prepared for bed when Charlie returned. She listened as he moved around the house. Then he visited her room and wished her good night before going to bed himself.
When she was alone again, she thought about locking her door. Was it something that girls her age usually did? What if he wanted to check on her? Was it normal there? Wouldn't he find it weird that she had locked herself? In the end, she just placed a chair near the door.
Bella tucked herself in the bed. As she was falling asleep, she thought about the school she was about to start attending next week.
London, The Ministry of Magic, September 2nd:
"Wands only choose witches or wizards. You are not a witch." Umbridge's screeching voice filled the courtroom.
Harry's blood was boiling as he witnessed the scene and something snapped in him. His gaze shifted to Hermione. He noticed that she wasn't looking down in her papers in an ill-concealed fury or piercing the pure-blood bitch with her eyes. She wasn't even looking at Mrs. Cattermole. Instead, she was looking at Umbridge's chest.
Harry moved and saw what they came for. It was time to end the charade. He moved a little bit more, careful to stay shielded from the Dementors by the cat patronus. Umbridge and Yaxley were both lined up in front of him.
"Sectumsempra. Sectumsempra!"
USA, Washington:
Charlie's alarm started to beep. He grunted and turned it off, then he got up. When he started to move in his room, Bella stirred and woke up. She didn't bolt from the bed like she had that first morning but she still moved rather spryly. She quickly dressed and went to brush her teeth.
When Charlie arrived in the kitchen, Bella was already preparing breakfast, just like the day before. Smell of mushrooms, sausages, eggs, tomatoes and other things filled the house.
"I see you are up early again," he remarked with a smile. Bella's care was heart-warming but he wondered how long was it going to last. He considered possible ways of reciprocating.
"It's normal for me," she replied. She wanted to add something like that she was accustomed to seeing her mother to work but that would lead to more questions.
After they ate, Charlie put on his gun belt and told Bella, "Well, I've got to go. Have a nice day."
He felt bad about going to work when his daughter was home. Next day was going to be even worse because it was going to be Saturday and he was scheduled for work. At least he could spend the Sunday with her because he had planned to go fishing with Harry (those plans were cancelled).
Bella didn't have school that day yet even though it was Friday - Labour Day fell on September sixth that year. The first day of school had been scheduled for seventh. Jacob's schedule was similar. Hence, Bella started the red beast and slowly rode to La Push.
Jacob was reviewing some study material from the previous year but when Bella came, he decided to practice manoeuvring on a parking lot with her. They prepared a small training ground complete with dummies representing other parked cars. They repeated the training the next day. In the end, they agreed that Bella should arrive early to school that Tuesday and leave before lunch.
Sunday was rather awkward. Charlie and Bella spent most of it sitting around and trying to find something to talk about. Bella noticed that Charlie started to completely avoid any questions concerning Renee. It didn't seem like he was afraid or unwilling to talk about it, it actually looked like he was avoiding the topic on a subconscious level without even realizing it himself.
In the end, they found a topic which was rather obvious in hindsight: La Push and their Quileute friends. Bella knew them all already of course but Charlie shared a lot of childhood stories with her. It was somewhat difficult for her to imagine Billy and Harry as little boys, running around with Charlie.
Charlie worked on the Labour Day. Bella didn't drive to La Push for a driving lesson with Jacob that day. Instead, one of the other boys (who already had got his driver's ID) drove to Forks on his motorbike and practised driving in a town traffic with her. They drove to a gas station at the end of the session. Bella gave him some banknotes and he demonstrated the process of buying gas for her.
The first day of school arrived.
"Have a nice day," said Charlie after breakfast. "I hope you make some friends at school," he wished her.
When he drove off in his cruiser, Bella hung around the house for a while. Then she prepared her school bag and got in the truck. Parking lot was still almost empty when she arrived, just like she hoped.
It was sunny that day. She glanced at the sky and came to a conclusion that cloud cover was unlikely to form that morning. She wondered what kind of excuse Mr. and Mrs. Cullen made for their children.
Bella made a brief visit to the office. Mrs. Cope had been made aware of her arrival but she still eyed her curiously. Then the other students began to arrive. Bella walked to her homeroom. Somebody said hello to her and asked her if she was Isabella Swan.
"Just Bella," replied Bella neutrally and went to find a seat for herself. Some girl named Jessica sat next to her and was apparently decided to stick to her.
Bella tried to pay attention to what the teacher had to say so she wouldn't be conspicuous later. Still, she failed to understand many of the things that were being said.
Jessica talked to her during breaks. She was trying to weasel her way to Bella by pretending to be nice and friendly, probably so she could get some juicy gossip about her. She was evidently very good at pretending but Bella saw through her right away nevertheless.
Bella found Jessica to be annoying but she could appreciate the girl's skills. Even though her best friends from back "home" always carried their hearts openly, she didn't sneeze at the opportunity to have somebody around to keep herself sharp. In fact, the whole town was probably a goldmine of dirty small-town secrets, ready to be discovered by her - she could feel that much just from a cursory glance. It always warned her to see how the so called "civilized people" were rotten under the surface. Moreover, she wanted to keep a low profile and understanding her environment was the first step to achieve that.
Before too long, all the organization stuff was done and they were released. Jessica took her arm and led her towards the mess-hall. When it was time for Bella to derive from Jessica's course, she stopped and extricated her arm. She excused herself and wanted to leave.
"Aren't you going to have a lunch?" asked Jessica.
"I need to hurry. I'll eat with you tomorrow."
The girl wasn't about to be deterred though and asked, "Hey, would you like to hang with a bunch of us later today so we would get to know you?"
"I've been invited to La Push already - that's why I need to hurry. See you tomorrow."
Jessica was irritated but she hid it masterfully. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow," she sang with a smile on her lips.
Bella managed to leave the school grounds without crashing into other cars. She drove to La Push and visited Sam Uley - they had some things to talk about. She hung around with Jacob and his friends at the beach for a while afterwards. After all, that's what she had told Jessica.
The second day of school came and the actual classes with it. Some of Bella's classes were a little difficult for her but she was sure that she would catch up soon enough.
During lunch, Bella saw them - the Cullens. Billy had told her about them but she would recognize them at first sight nevertheless. She thought how stupid her classmates were, not being able to see what was right in front of them. Bella just briefly glanced at them and then turned back to her food. She didn't want to be caught watching them.
Jessica saw her though and immediately started to jabber, "Those are the Cullens. They..."
Bella was listening only partially. Half of her brain was focusing on the Cullens.
At the other table, Edward and his family were silently discussing the newest addition to the school. Then he attempted to listen to her thoughts. Billy told Bella to expect something like that so she never broke her carefree and relaxed expression.
"What have we here?" she thought and quickly glanced at the Cullens. The bronze haired one was looking at her. Bella knew what she had to do to avoid suspicion. She created a dummy trail of thoughts outside of the boundaries of her actual mind. Then, as Jessica kept going on about the Cullens, she put there a casually tuned thought, "What do I have next, biology?"
At the other table, Edward silently told the others, "She seems bored. It's almost like her mind was sleeping." His tone was uninterested and as bored as the thoughts he heard from Bella. He noticed though that her thoughts didn't mirror Jessica's gossip which, as he assumed, meant that Bella wasn't paying attention to it.
The others gave him their mental responses. If Jasper concentrated, he would be able to tell the discrepancy between Edwards's words and Bella's actual mood but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was just counting minutes until it was time to go home.
"She's going to be in biology with me next period," remarked Edward. His siblings didn't even react this time. They finished playing with their food, dumped their trays and headed for the classes.
Edward was prepared for another boring lesson, only minimally spiced with his new desk neighbour. Instead, he found himself with his thirst raving as soon as the fan brought Bella's scent to him.
Bella looked at him and thought, "You gotta be kidding me. Billy said that they were supposed to be safe!"
She sat down next him and prepared herself. As she was arranging her things on the desk, she remembered herself and released a dummy thought, "Why is he staring with such a hate on me? Is that jerk angry that I'm not trying to flirt with him like all the local girls?"
In the sea of Edward's thirst, a pang of anger appeared. He found it infuriating that the stupid girl was thinking about such things when he was preparing to murder her.
When the attack didn't come immediately, Bella shifted in such a way that her hand was under the desk. There was a short springy sound combined with an equally short sound of friction of something against cloth. It was very silent but Edward would hear it - if he was able to concentrate on anything else than killing everybody in vicinity.
Bella redirected a copy of what Mr. Banner was saying to her dummy mind trail and waited for Edward's action. When nothing happened for the next ten minutes, she realized that her tactic was too risky and decided to make the first move. She slowly started to put a sick expression on her face. She raised her hand after a while.
"Yes?" asked the teacher.
"Mr. Banner, I don't feel well. I think I ate something bad at lunch."
Seeing her face and hearing her voice, Mr. Banner decided not to risk interruption of his class by a vomiting girl and said, "Could somebody please take Miss Swan to the nurse?"
Bella expected Edward to volunteer but some other guy (Mike, as she learned later), jumped up to escort her. Outside the classroom, he wanted to put an arm around Bella and support her but one glare from her changed his mind.
When they reached the nurse, Bella sent Mike back. The nurse asked Bella what she needed.
"The lunch probably didn't agree with me," replied Bella.
"Oh. Do you need to go home?" asked the nurse.
That would clash with Bella's plan. So she replied, "I would rather lie down for a while first, I don't want to drive right now. But I've got only gym remaining today so I could go home then if I feel well enough."
Later, Bella perched herself outside the school (downwind) and waited. When the class ended, a very distraught Edward came out and headed towards his car.
Bella intercepted him and barked at him, "Hey! What's your problem?"
Edward looked like he was about to explode. Somewhere in the school, Alice was mentally calling him but Edward wasn't paying attention.
"If you have something on your heart then we can sit down and talk about it," continued Bella and emitted thoughts that backed her words.
Edward mobilized all his strength, got in his car and drove away. After a moment, his cell began to ring. He took a few breaths and answered it. It was Alice.
"What's happening?" she asked. "My vision of your future sort of... fluctuated for a moment."
"I have to get out of here!" was his reply.
In the meantime, Bella drove to La Push, found Billy and told him what happened. He counselled with a few people and then proposed, "Why don't we simply call their leader?"
"Yeah, let's see him squirm. Do you have a contact to him to hospital?" agreed Bella.
"Sure," replied Billy and dialled.
Carlisle was still thinking about his son's abrupt departure when he was called from the hospital's central.
"Billy Black? What could he possibly want?" he thought and told the operator to redirect the call.
"Dr. Cullen speaking," he said.
"Well, Dr. Cullen, would you care to explain what's going on?" prodded Billy.
"What are you talking about?"
"About one of your coven, Edward. He was behaving very strangely today."
Carlisle was so surprised that he did not answer for a moment. Then he said, "He heard a subject matter today that he already... knew. He couldn't take it any more and left. How do you know about it anyway?"
Billy looked at Bella who nodded. Billy continued, "We have ears and eyes everywhere. We are always watching you. So don't insult me please. It was blood-lust, don't even try to deny it."
Bella scribbled something on the paper and showed it to Billy.
"If you have troubles with keeping your side of the treaty, you should leave," added Billy when he saw Bella's message.
"We haven't done anything to break it nor are we going to. And we expect the same from you," replied Carlisle.
Billy decided not to push him too much and told him, "Sure. We understand that your diet and lifestyle is putting you in a difficult situation among your... friends. So, we aren't going to cause your names and photos to appear in media. For now."
When he put the phone down, Bella squealed in delight.
Billy laughed and exclaimed, "I wanted to do something like that for a long time!"
Bella frowned on him and said, "But then you had to get all softy on him and tell him how understanding you are."
"I don't want him to snap or something."
Before leaving, Bella also told Billy about Edward's talent. They agreed that some kind of preventive preparation for a possible encounter with him should take place in future.
Bella quickly returned home and did the laundry. Then she started on a dinner. Charlie returned home when she was almost finished.
"So, how was the school?" he asked while they were preparing the table. He wondered whether his daughter had been raised to study diligently.
"There isn't much to tell. Girls at the school are stupid and boys there are creepy," replied Bella. "But there might be a few exceptions, like those Cullen kids."
While they ate, Bella tried to get some info about the Cullens from Charlie but he didn't tell her anything that she didn't know already. She noted that his tone was a little defensive though.
"I'll go to catch some fresh air before bed," she called at Charlie after the dinner.
"Bella, it's night."
"Don't worry, I'll just take a short walk around the house."
And so she did. Charlie was watching her through the windows. Bella made a perfect circle around the house and returned inside.
"What a hell?" thought Charlie but then he just shook his head and forgot about it.
Something strange happened that night before he went to sleep though. When he was setting his alarm (on a digital clock), he noticed that it was sort of malfunctioning. He tapped it a few times and when it didn't help, he decided not to trust it to wake him up the next day. He pulled out an old mechanical alarm clock from his closet, wound it up and set it for the next morning.
Bella tried to come up with some kind of a trick on Edward while she was driving to school the next day. In the end, she decided to keep it simple and just "accidentally" injure herself near him and then go to an empty WC. If he decided to follow her, it would prove his true intentions. But then again, he had not gone to her house the previous night.
Edward's car wasn't in the parking lot when she arrived. She went inside and loitered near a window where she would see him coming. He never did. His siblings arrived in two separate cars but Edward was nowhere to be seen.
During lunch, Rosalie glared at Bella. Bella just looked back at her and smirked. Rosalie seethed with anger.
Bella managed to catch Alice alone later and asked her, "Excuse me. It's probably none of my business but I've noticed that your brother Edward wasn't here today."
Alice looked at her with surprise and replied, "No, he wasn't. You are right though, it's none of your business."
Alice turned to leave but Bella added, "It's just that his behaviour was quite rude and weird yesterday. We never met before so I don't understand why he was glaring at me with such a hate. And sometimes I would almost swear that he was also looking at me like I was something to eat."
Alice froze and said before walking away, "He just isn't feeling very well, so he stayed at home."
Bella called Billy that day. They kept their conversation obscure but Billy knew what was Bella talking about. Neither of them knew what a singer was so they were at loss about Edward's behaviour. He just said, "Hm, let's wait and see what he is up to."
Edward didn't appear for the rest of the week. Bella had two more conversations with Jessica, scared away two more boys and made acquaintance with Angela Weber. Angela was a nice girl and it was relaxing to talk to her.
At Friday, Bella told Charlie, "Dad? Billy Black called today."
"Huh?" asked Charlie.
"He invited us to visit them. There will be a little get-together tomorrow."
"Oh, that's nice of him. Maybe you'll meet some new friends."
"Maybe," murmured Bella as she was leaving the living room.
"Not to mention that Jacob will be there," added Charlie.
Bella turned back and firmly said, "Dad, please save yourself, me, Jacob and others a lot of embarrassment and don't even try to hook us together."
"OK, fine," agreed Charlie, suddenly feeling uneasy.
When the two of them arrived, Jacob and Sam were already preparing a grill. While Charlie joined Billy and Harry, Bella helped Emily and other girls to prepare salads. A few more people arrived and the barbecue started.
Charlie quickly found himself more content than ever before. He was surrounded by his friends, his daughter was back and she didn't seem unhappy - all things considered, life wasn't so bad after all. He looked at his daughter again. She was nibbling at her sausage and chatting with other young people who were present. He noticed that she was quite comfortable in La Push. In fact, more at ease than she was at home. He felt a pang of sadness when he realized that she might see him as a little more than a stranger and wasn't entirely comfortable living with him all alone.
When everybody had something to eat, Sam sought Bella and they went aside a little to talk.
"Will you come back tomorrow after school? We need to discuss things," asked Sam.
"Can't, it would be suspicious since I just met you guys today," replied Bella. "What about later this week? I can say that Leah or Emily invited me or something. But I think that Charlie wouldn't want me to be out for too long - he would probably go all daddy on me about school being the next day."
They agreed to make two shorter visits, in Tuesday and Thursday, and a long one next weekend. Sam also mentioned a place for Bella's lab. She told him, "It should be dry, this humidity isn't good. And it should be cool even when the sun is out. And shady. I wouldn't mind if it was well aired but it can't be drafty."
"OK, we'll come up with something," acknowledged Sam. Then he added, "Also, I've been thinking about our options if somebody came looking for you..."
"Then I'll leave," Bella cut him off.
"That's not necessary. I've got this idea..."
Sam fell silent because Charlie approached them. They changed topic to something else and didn't return to it again that evening. Sam just mouthed to Bella that they would talk later.
Towards the end of the barbecue, Bella sat with Leah behind the house. Leah was drinking a beer while Bella had a soda. The Quileute girl wasn't a very pleasant company but her outlook on life matched Bella's very much. Leah told Bella about the recently developed situation with her, Sam and Emily while Bella told her details about her problems back "home". Not that either girl had any wish to became friends with the other.
Charlie found them later and told Bella that it was time to go home.
"You know Ch... dad, I really liked being there," said Bella as they were driving back.
Charlie just replied, "Uhn-huh." He couldn't understand why she was so open to them while she was relatively reserved around him. He decided not to ponder on it.
The next day was very long for Bella because she had to spend it whole at home with Charlie. She spent most of the time doing homework and trying to catch up where she was behind her schoolmates. When she needed a break, she decided to go out for a small hike.
"Where are you going?" asked Charlie when she put her coat on.
"You are kidding, right?" thought Bella and then answered, "Out. For some fresh forest air."
"You are going to the woods?" pressed Charlie.
"Yes, I won't be far."
"You aren't in Phoenix Bells, you could get lost or be attacked by an animal."
"Oh come on."
"I'll come with you," stated Charlie resolutely and put his coat on as well.
"Fan-fucking-tastic," thought Bella and resigned.
While they were hiking, Bella tried to pull some information from Charlie. She wanted to know if there were any deaths or disappearances lately. However, Charlie claimed that there were only very few unnatural deaths in Forks, mainly traffic accidents and animal attacks. Bella inquired about the latter but she didn't learn anything suspicious.
Next day was school again. She went through her forenoon classes like usual. There was a boy who was starting to loose his fear from her which meant that he might become an annoyance later.
After lunch, she made her way to the biology. As soon as she entered, she froze in her steps - Edward Cullen was back.