I AM STILL ALIVE! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! please, I never meant to keep you guys waiting this long for an update, but I have had one of the worst bouts of writer's block in the world and for that, I hope you all enjoy this chapter that I could come up with.

as always, i own nothing, my brain has been trying to come up with my own masterpiece, but i am not quite there yet. JKR and SM are the queens that have published works and a global following, not me... yet :D

Chapter 21 – Vampires and Witches

Bella's P.O.V.

I woke up early the next morning, luxuriating in the feel of Edward's fingers draw patterns on my cheek for a few seconds before he said my name.

I let my eyes flutter open to meet his honey colored ones.

"Good morning. Love," he said kissing my forehead.

"I'm not awake yet," I mumbled, closing my eyes and burying my nose into his t-shirt. "I'm having an amazing dream."

"Well," he said pulling back slightly. "I could change your mind." With that he kissed my eyelids, my cheeks, the tip of my nose, and, finally, my lips.

I reveled in the feeling of him, feeling the way that he held me gently, but lovingly.

He pulled back after a minute, smirking. "Awake now?"

I pouted and stretched my arms as I sat up in bed, lengthening my hair so that I could play with it today.

"I don't think I will ever get used to that," he murmured, smiling as he watched me get out of bed and walk over to the rucksack Alice had packed last night.

I reached onto my bedside table and grabbed my wand, charming all the clothing so that they folded themselves up and returned to the dresser. "Can you tell me why Alice thinks that I would need to have three different outfits for formal occasions on the trip?"

"It's Alice," was his only response.

I laughed with him as I packed a pair of jeans and a blouse into a small rucksack, charmed the mountain of cloth back into my closet, and gathered my clothes for today.

"Mandrake Roots," I said to the door of the bathroom.

The teacher's bathroom was definitely one of my favorite places in the castle. The gilt framed mirrors, the jewel encrusted faucets; it made the prefects' bathroom look like a public restroom.

By the time I'd decided I'd avoided Alice long enough, there was no inch of un-wrinkled skin on my hands or feet.

When I arrived at the back at my office, Carlisle and Alice were already there, talking over my desk with Edward.

"Ready to go, Love?" Edward asked, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I nodded. "Just let me grab my bag," I said, kissing his cheek.

I ran into my bedroom for a minute before returning to my office, receiving death glares from Alice when she noticed I'd repacked.

I ignored her, and we headed out of my office.

"I still don't see why you didn't just take the bag I packed for you," I heard Alice mutter as I passed her.

"Because," I said, "I want to have some clean clothes when I get back."

Edward laughed and kissed my forehead.

XxX

When we reached the gates around the castle I saw Professor Dumbledore waiting for us.

"Good morning, Isabella," he said as we approached. "I didn't expect for you to join the Cullens on this trip."

I smiled, "Change of plans."

He smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. "Well then, you'll have to tell me all about it at another time. When you return, send Professor McGonagall a Patronus and she will let you back into the grounds."

I nodded as he opened the barrier.

"Here, Isabella," Dumbledore said as he pulled an object from his pocket, and offered the dented metal soda can to me. "I assume you know how to use a Portkey."

"Of course," I said as I accepted it from him.

"Good," he said with a smile. "Well, I'd best be getting on. I will see you four when you return." With that, Professor Dumbledore turned and strode back into the grounds and began to seal the gates once more.

"Goodbye, Professor," I called to him before offering the can to the others. "You just need to touch it, your grip doesn't matter much. Quickly now," I said as the can began to glow a faint blue light.

The others grabbed on just before I felt the familiar tug on the back of my spine. Then we were flying, spinning out of control. Edward kept one hand around my waist so I wouldn't slam into Alice's marble hard body.

We landed on a grassy plain. In the distance, I could see a large city.

"Where are we?" Carlisle asked.

"About ten miles east of Volterra," Alice supplied, calmly reaching over to brush her hand over my hair, which must have looked crazy.

"Great," said Edward sarcastically as he helped me up onto his back. I knew he wasn't looking forward to my meeting the Volturi and wanted more than anything to run with me in the other direction. Keep me safe from any type of harm.

It took us about a minute to get into the city and locate the entrance to the castle.

"Welcome to Volterra," Carlisle said grimly as Edward set me down on the cobblestone street.

"I guess you guys have the same taste in real estate," I said as I looked up at the tall tower above me. The castle had nothing on Hogwarts in size or grandeur, but the outside façade was an elegant and slightly more modern style than the school's thousand-year-old character. I dated it back to maybe 1500 A.D.

As we approached the door of the castle, a hooded figure appeared from the shadows beneath the tower.

I saw the muscles in Edward's neck tense as the figure approached us. I slipped one hand into my pocket, keeping a firm grip on my wand, just in case.

"Good morning, Carlisle," the figure said as he approached us, his English slightly accented.

"Hello, Demetri ," Carlisle replied smoothly, but Edward never relaxed. I was sorely tempted to hit him with a jinx just to get him to calm down. We would get nowhere fast if he was this wound up before we even met these vampires.

We followed Demetri through the imposing castle doors.

I pushed my long, red hair out of my eyes and surveyed the area. The front hall of the castle looked as if it had been transformed into what looked like a museum lobby. I was disappointed at that fact. I guess all castles around couldn't be as completely Muggle free as Hogwarts was.

Demetri led us to an elevator behind one of the desks, never saying a word the whole time in the elevator, or on the long walk through office space and into a dark, medieval hallway lit by torches. The walk down this corridor reminded me of my travels through the dungeons of Hogwarts to get to the Potions classroom. We followed Demetri through one final door and we stepped out into a round, open room. I was surprised to see the sunshine flowing freely through the east windows, but my attention was quickly diverted to the group of people gathered around three throne-like chairs in the center of the room.

"Carlisle," one of the men said, standing up and raising his arms in welcome. "Greetings, my dear friend." He was about the same height as Carlisle, with dark black hair and bright red eyes.

"Hello, Aro," Carlisle said, bowing his head respectfully in towards the man.

Aro turned to face us. "And you brought Alice and Edward, splendid!"

"Hi," Alice chirruped, Edward merely nodded stiffly.

Aro turned to me. "And who might you be?"

"Izzy Tonks," I said, not knowing what else to say. I saw Aro's eyes tighten slightly at the corners as a whisper spread through the members of his entourage.

"Edward," Aro said calmly, but it was clear that this was only the calm before the storm. "Would you care to explain yourself?"

"There is no reason to be upset, Aro," Edward said calmly, but I could still feel his hand tense on my waist. "We didn't tell her anything about us."

"Then care to explain her presence here?"

I was tired of the growing animosity on the part of the Volturi. I didn't want anyone to get hurt or anything so I spoke up. "The Cullens didn't tell me what you all were. I've known about vampires since I was a kid."

"What?" the word was hissed by the white-blond man sitting in the chair to Aro's right.

"I mean that I have grown up knowing that vampires are real."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes. These people really needed to get out more.

"Maybe you should let it sink in a little, Bella," said Edward, sensing my growing impatience.

"Ahh, so this is the infamous Bella," Aro said surprised. "Victoria's memories of you are quite different."

I could feel a growl rise in Edward's chest as Aro spoke her name.

"Why?" I asked innocently. "Because I'm supposed to look like this?" with that I screwed up my eyes, focusing on the image of myself I'd used in Forks.

Opening my eyes, I heard gasps all around the room. All the vampires, apart from Edward, Alice, and Carlisle, were staring at me with a dumbstruck look on their faces. I barely managed to keep a straight face, but somehow managed.

Smiling Carlisle turned to the front of the room. "I would love to hear your thoughts on this, Aro."

"What…? How…?" he stuttered. I was shocked. I'd never seen a vampire stutter before. "Carlisle, what is she?"

"I'm a Metamorphmagus. I can do that at will." I didn't know why, but I had the sudden urge to have a little fun with these vampires.

I pushed Edward's hand off my waist, and smiled at him, felt my way into nothingness.

Edward's P.O.V.

I watched as Bella Disapparated.

Every mind in the room, apart from my family's, became a confused mess, all wondering what she was, how she got out of the room so quickly, etcetera, etcetera…. What surprised me most were Demetri's thoughts on the matter. He seemed to know what Bella was, almost immediately. I knew that he had understood some of what Bella had said about herself previously, but he wasn't sure until now.

A second later I heard small feet strike wood somewhere above me as Bella's heartbeat returned to the room.

"You do know you have bats up here, right?" she called down from her perch on a rafter about eighty feet off the ground.

"Bella!" I called up to her, slightly alarmed at her precarious position upon the rotting beam. "Get down before you get yourself hurt!"

"You're such a killjoy, Edward," she said in response, entailing a giggle from my sister.

Bella stood up, and, spreading her hands as if to fly, dove head-first off of the rafter.

"Edward, calm down," Alice said, grabbing my arm before I jumped up to where Bella was.

When she was about fifty feet off of the ground she twisted violently and disappeared.

After a second I heard her heart next to where Alice was standing. "You should really have more faith in Alice," Bella said, her arm through my sister's and a smug smile on both of their faces.

I raked my hand across my face. Sometimes I really missed the fragile Bella who could only perform human miracles.

"You know me, Edward," she said walking back towards me and wrapping her arms around my waist. "And I promised you I would be safe."

"You never said you would do something like that," I mumbled into her hair.

"I've had to do it before, I wasn't about to let myself get hurt."

Hearing this made me want to lock her up in a tower somewhere, someplace she would be completely safe from everything, even herself. I couldn't understand why she loved tempting fate so much.

…Amazing, she's completely unharmed. No broken bones, or bruises…, Aro's thoughts cut in on mine. "What are you, my dear?" he asked Bella in a calm voice that belied his immense curiosity.

"I'm a witch."

"Interesting…," Aro said, contemplatively, but. "And what else can you do?"

Bella's P.O.V.

"Name it," I said twisting in Edward's arms to face Aro.

"Read minds?"

"Yes."

"Fly?"

"Yes," I smiled. "The fastest broom in the world is just as fast as Edward can run."

"Can you control minds?"

"It's illegal, but yes you can, if the mind it weak enough to succumb to the spell."

"What kind of creatures live in your world?"

"All kinds," I replied. "Werewolves, Vampires, Unicorns, Shapeshifters, etcetera."

"How does your world work?" the other man with black hair asked in a voice that managed to sound both completely bored and completely interested. "How have you managed to keep yourselves hidden from the normal human world?"

"The Ministry of Magic, that's the magical government in England. They are the ones who dole out punishment for the people who break Wizarding laws and wipe the memories of the Muggles who find out about us. One of the laws is to keep the secret from Muggles, there are some exceptions to this law but it is mostly adhered to with passion, and I am sure you have something similar."

"Muggles? What do you mean by that?" Aro asked.

"A 'Muggle' is what we call a normal human who is born to human parents and has no magical talent."

"And these 'exceptions' what do you mean by that?"

"Sometimes, no one is really sure why, but sometimes a person is born to both Muggle parents and they have magical talents. In these cases, a representative from Hogwarts, the school of magic that I teach at, will go to the family and tell them about the school that their child can begin attending at age eleven. That is the only time a Muggle is allowed to know of us without having his mind wiped clean of it almost immediately after."

I thought to myself about what Professor Dumbledore said to me last night, when I'd asked him to allow me to come here with the Cullens. "I wonder…." I began before my voice faltered. What would happen if they refused to help. "Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts has asked me to ask you for help.

"There is a great threat looming over innocent people, both magic and non-magic alike. The Cullen family has already agreed to help protect Hogwarts, Dumbledore has sent envoys to the giants in France pleading for their help, but the giants refused. Giants would be a great asset, but a group of vampires would be better. Giants aren't good at strategizing. They focus more on being the strongest and biggest of all the rest, while I know that vampires would be better in terms of strategy and hidden strength."

I stopped for a second, gauging the expression on Aro's face. "Will you help us? Please?"

Aro hesitated, looking from me to Edward. "How do I know you aren't lying about all of this? That it's all not just a big hoax?" as he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand to me. "I need to see the truth."

I looked quizzically from his hand to Edward's face.

Edward smiled down at me and bent to whisper in my ear. "Aro has a gift similar to mine, except he needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, all of the thoughts you've ever had."

I looked up at Edward shocked. "Edward I can't do that. I have to keep certain secrets from everyone in the world, even you. I'm sorry, but I'm part of a Fidelius Charm. If he hears what secrets I know, I don't know what will happen to me, or him, for that matter. I'm not the secret keeper."

Edward looked deep into my eyes for a long moment before turning to Aro and stretching out his hand. "I hope I can ease your worries, Aro. After all, I have been closest to Bella since the beginning." Alice looked annoyed at this but let the statement go.

Aro gazed quizzically at the two of us for a long moment. I thought that he would refuse the offer and deny us any other options, but he accepted Edward's hand quietly.

Closing his eyes, he bent his head over their locked hands, and for four agonizingly long minutes, he looked into Edward's mind.

"Incredible," he murmured, looking up into Edward's eyes, awe in his own. "This is absolutely incredible."

"What is it, Aro?" asked the white haired vampire, who was starting to remind me of my dear Uncle Lucius.

"All they have said is true," Aro replied in a distant voice. "This Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts… all of it is true."

"So will you help us?" I asked, almost pleading.

Aro paused, contemplating.

"Let's stop the pretenses, Aro," Edward said, suddenly. "You already know that you want to know more about the Wizarding world and you know that the only way to really get into it would be to work with Bella and Professor Dumbledore."

"That may be one way…," Aro said, contemplating.

"I am sorry," said Edward, his voice colder than ice. "But Bella will be returning to Hogwarts with us, you will not, and can not keep her locked up here as a prisoner."

"What kind of monsters do you take us to be, Edward?" asked Aro, sounding slightly offended.

"I know exactly what you are, and I know exactly what you are capable of." Edward was tensed, ready to pounce. I could tell that tension was running high among the Volturi. There was something that was keeping them on edge, and that, in turn, made Edward on edge. Carlisle looked warily around at the surrounding vampires, but Alice was the only one who truly looked comfortable in this room.

There was a pair of vampires I was most interested in. They looked like they had been brother and sister in another life, but something else about them seemed off. Maybe it was their obvious youth, or it might have been the cunning stare the girl was focusing on me, or the watchful gaze of the brother, but it caused me more concern then all the other vampires in the room put together. Alice and Edward had some powers that weren't common amongst vampires, but I wondered if these two had a gift with a more offensive nature than the others I had encountered.

Edward suddenly threw himself between me and the little girl. Then, without warning, dropped to the ground, twitching like people from my nightmares.

It took me about one second to realize what was happening to him. I looked from Edward to Aro, and finally to the girl. I didn't understand how she had managed that spell without a wand or an incantation, but that thought was shoved to the back of my mind. Edward was in pain. I had to help him.

My wand moved without my conscious decision, taking aim at the girl's chest as the words spilled from my mouth. "Crucio!"

Immediately the girl started screaming, terrifying, blood-curdling screams. I didn't look down at Edward. I couldn't think what I would do if he was being hurt.

The girl was writhing on the ground now, still shrieking. I felt a cold, strong hand touch my wrist, pulling my wand down, away from her.

The screaming had stopped, even the echoes had died out, but tears coursed down my face.

I sunk to the ground, shaking. My face was frozen in shock, my breath coming in quick, shallow gasps. I felt strong arms wrap around me. I turned and flung my arms around Edward's neck, sobbing in earnest. "What… have… I… done…? What… have… I… done…?" I muttered hysterically into his shoulder.

"Shh," Edward whispered, stroking my hair soothingly. "Everything's fine, Bella. Jane needed a taste of her own medicine. There was nothing else you could have done."

"No, you don't get it!" I shouted, tearing myself away from him. "That spell's illegal! To do that t-to another h-human earns you a p-permanent home in Azkaban! I c-can't go there, Edward; I j-just can't live the r-rest of my l-life with the d-d-Dementors."

Suddenly Alice was in front of me, holding my shoulders. "Bella," she said sternly, turning my head to meet my eyes. "I will not let you go there, nor will Edward, understand? You won't die in a cell in Azkaban, I won't allow it." She pulled me to my feet, wiping my face with a handkerchief that appeared out of nowhere. "Pull yourself together, Izzy. I want to see the strong woman who jumped off that rafter again."

I took a deep breath, then another. Once I was steady, Alice dropped her hand to take mine.

I looked around at the others in the room. Aro was staring at me with interest. The girl and her brother were watching me with wary eyes. Edward was gazing at me with a worried glance. Carlisle's eyes were flitting between the faces of the others, gauging their reactions to my little performance. I noticed his eyes kept flickering to Demetri, who had a calculating look. The room was stiller than a graveyard. The tension was mounting.

"Maybe it's time we took our leave, Aro," said Carlisle as he and Edward stepped towards me and Alice. Edward slipped something small into my hand. I saw that it was a piece of an old tire, about the size of my hand. I nodded in understanding, looking up into his dark gold eyes.

"Leave?" Aro asked in an offended tone. "You can't leave just yet."

"I can tell when we are intruding," Carlisle replied politely. "We have not broken any laws. We have not harmed you in any lasting way. I can see no reason why we should not be able to leave."

Carlisle was standing in front of me, blocking me from Aro's view, Edward behind me, Alice on my side, still holding my hand. I saw Carlisle's hand reach behind his back towards me at the same instant that Edward's reached over my shoulder. I lifted the Portkey to the point where Carlisle could touch it.

"There are rules against harming the Volturi," Aro said as if this settled the matter.

"And if it was only done by a woman protecting the man she loves? Or a father protecting his son?" Carlisle asked. "We look out for our own, Aro, just as you do. Jane attacked Edward, and Bella was merely acting as anyone would have done. There is nothing wrong with that is there?"

"Three…," I said, starting the countdown.

"What Jane did was nothing more than self defense," Aro said, offhandedly.

"Two…."

Edward and Alice's hands joined mine and Carlisle's on the Portkey.

"Edward was protecting Bella from Jane when he attacked."

"A matter of perspective," Aro said stubbornly.

"One."

I felt the sensation of being pulled along as the circular room disappeared around me. I felt Edward's arm wrapped around my waist.

My feet landed on a hard packed dirt road, as the sign on the Hog's Head Inn came into focus.

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so am i forgiven?

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i was also wondering, How many of you would, if it actually happened, read a book i wrote?

i am working on one right now and i think it would be killer, but i would like to know,

based on my style of writing on this site, would you be willing to give it a try?

it would be a completely original story, no ideas or characters from other people's work

Please think about it and leave me a message

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xx Minna xx