Note: I've had this story in my head for so long, I just had to write it. It's sort of an anti to all of the Twilight crossover stories I've seen about the Cullen's adopting Harry and Harry later finding out that Edward is his mate. I intend to have it go off in a different direction a couple chapters in, so if that is what you are looking for, this might not be for you. This is a love story, but probably not in the way you would expect. I hope you like it.

The Gemini

Chapter 1

The Cullen family had had a difficult five years. They had moved three times. After everything that had happened, the Cullen's found that they couldn't stay in Astoria, Oregon any longer. They'd lived there too long already, nearly nine years. All of the children had already graduated high school and attempted to blend is as young adults, in their early twenties. This had worked surprisingly well so far, they had gotten by attributing their youthfulness to good genes, luck, but it was suspicious to the locals that so many talented and attractive young adults would choose to stay so long in the town they went to high school in, that they wouldn't want to go away for higher education. Even further, the lack of aging in their adoptive parents, Carlisle and Esme was starting to be unbelievable. Carlisle's coworkers commented on it daily. They were starting to rouse suspicion. They'd outstayed their welcome. Leaving was difficult, though, it was emotionally devastating for the Cullen's to leave the last place they'd seen him, his childhood home that he'd loved so much. To box up his room and pack up his clothing, to finally move the last things he'd touched. The task had left Esme sobbing tearlessly. And if he were, somehow, okay… Then how would he ever find them again? How lost he'd be if he came looking and they weren't there…

But they had had no choice. Their first attempt had been Fairbanks, Alaska, where the animal populations had become so depleted that the town was starting to suspect illegal hunting, suspicions had fallen on the curious new family. After that, the Cullen's had given Vancouver a shot but the population density had proven too much for Jasper, who was the newest, well, second newest, addition to the Cullen family. Jasper couldn't handle the temptation of so many living in such close proximity, he unfortunately snapped and had killed a young man. After this incident Jasper had disappeared with his partner, Alice, for nearly a year.

By the time Jasper and Alice had returned the rest of the family had settled in Forks, Washington. With a population of fewer than 4,000, even smaller than Astoria, isolation was easily obtained. The near constant cover of rain was the perfect hiding place for a coven of vampires. Actually, everything about Forks would have been perfect if it weren't for Isabella Swan. The girl was Edward's singer, the lure of her blood nearly too enticing, it had taken every ounce of will power he had not to attack her. Edward had inadvertently revealed some of his power to Bella after saving her from a near fatal car accident and since then she had taken to following the family around like a lost pet. She'd eventually approached them with enough close guesses, (touting her sources as Native American literature) that Rosalie, beautiful, statuesque, and protective above all else, had suggested they tear her throat out. Her persistence proved enough to wear Alice down, however, and she took pity on the girl, befriending her.

"Haven't we learned our lesson?" Rosalie had said, "Shouldn't we know better than to let humans in to our lives? After everything that happened to hi-"

"Shut up, Rosalie." Edward had interrupted, "Don't talk about him."

Rosalie had made a huffing noise of disbelief, "Oh you are one to talk. If it hadn't been for you, if you hadn't pressured him he may still be here! He might've still been alive!"

"Enough," Jasper had said with enough force to shock Rosalie in to silence.

"You don't know that he isn't, Rose." Alice said this softly.

"Neither do you," this was said with resentment as Rosalie glared daggers at Alice.

"That's not her fault, Rosalie!" Edward had fumed.

"She can't help that she can't see him-," Jasper was interrupted as Carlisle entered the room and raised his hand to silence them.

"That is certainly enough," Carlisle said sternly, "You all appear to be acting your physical age." This cowed the group, they looked at their hands as Carlisle continued, "It's too late now to ignore this Isabella girl, she knows what we are, we'll have to keep tabs on her if we want to stay here."

"But Carlisle we don't have to stay here!" Rosalie had insisted, desperately.

Carlisle had looked at Rosalie with some sympathy, "Rose, do you really think it's a good idea for this family to move again? I don't know that we have the strength." As he said this, Carlisle looked to the left, towards the hall, which leads to the room where all of his things were stored, his room if he ever came back to them.

Rosalie had followed his line of sight and bitten her lip, and then she took a deep, albeit unnecessary breath and calmed herself.

Edward was less inclined to agree, "Carlisle, I don't want anything to do with the human. Please, I can't…"

Carlisle had nodded to his son, "You don't have to love her, Edward. She isn't joining our coven. It is safer for us to have her near. Let Alice be her friend, let her feel close to us. It will be safer this way, I promise you."

Edward returned the nod, "Fine, Carlisle, if you think it's best."

This was how Bella had ended up as a common fixture in the Cullen household. They'd lived in Forks for nearly a year now and it appeared that everything was going smoothly, the "children" had adapted to school and Carlisle to the hospital where he worked as a doctor. Even Esme, who had become so closed off, so silent, was beginning to open up again. She had even finished a few paintings. The human girl still followed the family around, much to the ire of Rosalie and Edward. The girl's crush on Edward was painfully obvious and Edward could barely stomach it. Aside from Alice, the Cullen's as a whole attempted to stay as far from Bella as they could. Jasper was somehow more silent that he would usually be around a human, avoiding almost all contact with the girl. Even Emmett, who at one point would have been excited at the prospect of having a human to impress and harass was less than enthused. The last human they'd all learned to love had left enough of a mark on the Cullen clan; they didn't want to be reminded of him, they didn't want to replace him. It was a difficult dichotomy.

Alice invited Bella to the Cullen household one afternoon in late December, in an attempt to cheer up. The holidays were a somber time for the Cullen family, something that reminded them too much of the past. When he had been with them he'd always loved Christmas, it was always such a happy time. Even when he'd been away at school, he'd return and it would be like he'd never left at all. They had doted on him especially at Christmastime, even as a teenager they spoiled him like a toddler. Rather than be faced with constant reminders of times they couldn't get back, the Cullen's preferred to ignore the holidays all together. No indication of Christmas could be seen in the Cullen household.

The Cullen's could all hear Bella's old truck as it rumbled in to their driveway. As she approached the door all but Esme and Alice cleared out, heading to their own rooms.

"Good evening, Isabella," said Esme as she answered the door, greeting their guest welcomingly.

"Esme!" Bella was happy to see her, as she so rarely was able to interact with any Cullen other than Alice.

"Please come in, Alice is waiting for you."

Bella entered the house and Alice greeted her with a hug, which made Bella shiver from cold.

"Sorry Bella," Alice had apologized, grinning still.

"No don't worry about it," Bella smiled back at her and turned to speak again to Esme, "I always forget how beautiful your house is."

Esme smiled at Bella in return, "That's kind of you, Bella."

Bella looked back to Alice and reached in to her purse to retrieve a collection of DVDs. Alice looked on eagerly, she always did love human movies, even if they reminded her of him, sometimes. Upon noticing the theme of red and green cases, however, she became less excited.

"I figured since it's nearly Christmas-"

"I'm going to head upstairs to interrupt whatever Carlisle's working on," Esme cut the human off as her smile dropped, "Have a nice night, girls." She turned abruptly and fled up the stairs.

Bella blinked at the spot where Esme had just been, "I'm sorry…" She said to Alice, confused, "Did I do something wrong?"

Alice wasn't smiling anymore either, "No, no Bella, it's fine, we just don't ah… Celebrate Christmas."

"Oh God, I didn't even think," she looked around and seem to notice the lack of any kind of decoration, "Are you guys um… Jewish? I don't have any Hanukkah movies but I'm sure we-"

"No Bella," Alice had a small smile as she said this, "Let's just watch something else. I think that new romantic comedy is on cable."

Bella rolled her eyes but seemed relieved, "Alice, you know I hate cheesy movies like that."

"Yes, but I love them," Alice was grinning again as she guided Bella to the sofa and started fiddling with a remote.

Alice landed on a channel and leaned back to watch as Bella looked around the room. Bella looked at Alice for a moment biting her lip, she seemed to come to a decision and opened her mouth, "Alice, just wondering…"

Alice had a smile on her face as she said, "Yes?" Without looking away from the television.

"Where is everyone else?"

Alice continued to look at the screen, "You mean Edward." She didn't say this as a question.

"No!" Bella sputtered, "No, not at all. I mean like Jasper and Emmett, uh, where are they?"

Alice hummed and said in a sing song voice, "They're busy, Bella, don't worry about them."

Bella made a displeased sound and started to watch the movie. After a few beats she spoke again, "It's just-"

Alice sighed and turned to Bella, weary, but not angry, "What is it Bella?"

"It's just that it seems like he doesn't- I mean they don't like me… What did I ever do to him- I mean them, damnit, them. I just want to get to know them."

Alice paused for a long moment, looking at Bella.

Bella suddenly seemed very nervous, "I-I just…"

Alice finally spoke, "They're just not that comfortable around humans."

Alice said this with finality, attempting to end the conversation on pleasant terms, but Bella persisted, "But Alice, they spend all day with humans and Carlisle is a doctor he's with human patients all day! Why don't they want to get to know me? Why doesn't he like-?"

"Bella," Alice was being far sterner than Bella had ever seen her, "Please. Just let it go. I'm sorry that Edward doesn't want to spend time with you. None of us have had the best encounters with humans. It takes some getting used to. We aren't used to having humans around who know so much about us."

Alice was holding a lot back, of course, but did her best to be kind. She could see Bella fighting the urge to continue with her barrage of questions, so Alice spoke again, "Please Bella, don't push them. It won't help anything. Can we just watch the movie please?"

Bella seemed to want to nothing more than to stubbornly persist but she managed to restrain herself and sighed, "Fine Alice. Let's watch the movie."

When the movie ended Alice and Bella continued to sit on the sofa and chat amicably for a time, until Rosalie entered the room. Bella stopped mid sentence as Rosalie stood behind the sofa, glaring at Bella over Alice's shoulder.

"Alice." Rosalie said flatly, "Come in to the kitchen, I have to talk to you."

Alice looked back and smiled, "Can't it wait, Rose?"

Rosalie did not seem amused, "No."

Alice stood as Emmett appeared behind Rosalie. He tried to smile at Bella, though it came out as more of a grimace.

"Sorry Bella, I'll be right back. Wait here okay? Do you want me to get you a cup of tea or hot chocolate or something?" said Alice as she made to head to the kitchen.

"Uh sure, tea would be good." Bella remained seated and looked at bit uncomfortable at the idea of being left alone in the Cullen house.

As the three entered the kitchen Alice spoke, "Alright, Rosalie, what do you want?"

Rosalie stared dead eyed at Alice as Emmett pretended to poke through some cupboards.

"What, Rose?"

"Alice, can you please get your pet human out of my living room. Some of us would like to use the television too, you know."

Alice stared back at Rosalie for a moment before looking back at Emmett, who was opening and closing the refrigerator. She smiled then, "Does Emmett want to play his video games?"

Emmett looked at Alice but didn't speak. Instead he eyed Rosalie, who said, "That's not the point! It's a shared space and some of us don't want to have to sit next to the human."

"Rose, come on, she isn't hurting anyone, let's just all sit together and pretend to be civilized."

Rosalie's eyes doubled in size and she looked about ready to scream at Alice but before she could Emmett interrupted, "Okay! Okay! Rose, calm down. Jesus. It's not that bad, let's just try to play nice okay?"

Rosalie spun around and glared at Emmett, who rolled his eyes, "You can be mad all you want, but I'm gonna go set up my Xbox and try to be nice to the little human."

If they were in a cartoon, steam would be coming out of Rosalie's ears.

Emmett lovingly smiled at her and said, "Maybe you can whoop her ass in street fighter. Might relieve some tension, babe."

They heard a laugh from upstairs, Edward, obviously eavesdropping.

Alice chuckled as well, happy to hear her family joking for once.

Rosalie huffed for a moment before speaking, "Fine! Just go in there and watch her, I can hear her rummaging through our things. The little spy."

Emmett stepped forward and kissed Rosalie on the cheek, "Deep breaths honey." And he disappeared into the living room.

Rosalie was calmed, her irritation more prickly now than outright furious. Alice smiled. She was relieved to have Rosalie in a more manageable mood.

They heard a door creak open from the other room and Rosalie guffawed, "I mean really, can't she respect our privacy? Was she raised in a barn?"

"What do you think you're doing?"

When they heard Emmett's furious voice from the other room they ran at breakneck speeds, in a split second they stood at the entrance of the hallway to the left of the living room. Suddenly, Jasper, Edward, Esme, and Carlisle were at their backs. Emmett stood in front of his room, fury radiating from every pore of his being.

The door was open and the bedside lamp had been flicked on. None of them had looked in here, not since they'd moved and put his things back as they were, exactly how he'd left them. His bed was in one corner with its expensive blue bedding and goose feather pillows. In another corner an old arm chair sat with a plush throw strewn over it, the throw was red and gold, two colors he'd become so fond of after starting school, it had been his favorite and it still smelt a bit like him all this time later. In another corner was his desk, elegant mahogany, scattered with spiral notebooks full of his journaling and doodles, a few ballpoint pens were next to an old pot of ink with a quill still stuck in it. Rolls of parchment sat on the desk as well, some with half written letters composed on them. On his bedside table sat a few ancient looking tomes, one written in Latin was open and laid on his comforter.

Bella stood in front of his desk, she had obviously been peering at his writings, in one hand she held a stuffed animal, a wolf, and in the other a stick of wood, eleven inches, holly, they knew. It was the only thing anyone had been able to send the Cullen's when he'd disappeared.

Bella stood frozen, staring at them with wide eyes, and she whispered, seemingly without even meaning to, "Who-who's Harry?"

If the Cullen's hearts could beat they all would have skipped in that moment. Esme made a strangled sound and Rosalie lunged forward.

"Rosalie!" Alice called as Rosalie's fingers wrapped around Bella's throat.

Bella still clutched the stuffed animal and the wooden stick as she was lifted on to her toes by Rosalie's grasp.

"How dare you! How dare you enter this room and touch his things!" Rosalie howled as Bella gasped for breath, "This is not for you, you cow, you heinous bitch!" On her last word Rosalie threw Bella to the ground. As she fell, she dropped the items and Edward dashed forward and caught them before they hit the ground, he held them to his chest desperately. Bella stared at Edward from the floor as she caught her breath, his expression was murderous, "I-I'm so-"

"Isabella, it is time for you to leave." Carlisle's voice held no emotion as he spoke and he refused to meet Bella's eyes.

She stood, they could all hear her heart racing and her rasping breaths and she spoke "But I-I didn't mean- I'm so sor-"

Alice yanked Bella's arm nearly hard enough to dislocate her shoulder, and she yelped as she was dragged to the front door past the solemn faces of the Cullen clan. Alice spun her around and opened the door, pushing her through it.

Bella tried to speak, "Alice, I'm sorry I didn't know! I'm sorry!"

Alice was rigid, obviously restraining herself, as she said, "Just go, Bella. You're lucky Rosalie didn't kill you."

"Wait, Alice, no please! I'm sorry!"

"Go home, Bella." With that Alice closed the door.

Alice went back to his room. The other Cullen's were all still there, staring at his things. They could all feel the influence of Jasper's sadness on top of their own. Edward delicately, lovingly, set the wand back where it belonged, on his bedside table, and his stuffed wolf on the bed next to the pillows. They stood there a few moments longer, in silence.

Carlisle let out a long sigh and they exited the room, they all looked back as Carlisle closed the door. The last thing they saw was the old sign that he had taken down when he'd turned 11, the sign that they'd decide to hang over his bed like it did when he was small.

It read in blocky, childish letters, "HARRY"