A/N: Hello again! So I'm back with the sequel like I promised. First, I'd like to thank all of you who read, alerted and even reviewed my first story and I hope you'll like this one too. I have no idea how long this one's going to be, but I can promise that there will be a battle in the end :)

Now, enjoy!

Chapter one

"ISABELLA MARIE SWAN!" Renee squeeled into the phone so I had to hold it away from my ear. "I can't believe you didn't tell me before! How long has it been going on?"

"It's pretty new, Mom," I said with a sigh, rolling my eyes.

"How new is pretty new? Does your father know? And why didn't you tell me before? I'm your mother, I have the right to know these things!"

I knew why I had been putting off telling my mom about my relationship with Edward Cullen. I'd never had a boyfriend before and Renee had spent a rather big part of our month together in August encouraging me to finally find someone and that surely every girl my age had a boyfriend already. I was sure she also hoped that finding someone here will keep me from ever wanting to go back to Britain, not that I'd ever told her that I wanted to do exactly that at some point anyway.

"Um." I hesitated, preparing myself for yet another one of Renee's outbursts. I saw Edward snicker on the bed, where he was writing his English essay, and I threw him an annoyed glare. He grinned widely but quickly turned his eyes back to the paper in front of him. It didn't make me feel much better though since he could still perfectly hear the whole conversation from both sides of the phone. I gritted my teeth and turned my attention back to my mother, who was huffing impatiently. "About a month?" I admitted, closing my eyes, expecting the worst.

Renee didn't disappoint.

"A MONTH? You have been dating a boy for a month without telling me? Why would you do this to me, Bella?"

"I'm sorry, Mom." I took a deep breath before I said what at least somehow resembled the truth. "But I was just too busy with school and stuff and then you were busy with taking care of Phil so I was waiting for the right time to tell you."

Well, she'd always cut our calls short these last few weeks while her new husband was in the hospital with a broken arm and I was busy with school but not in the sense she thought. I didn't go to school anymore. Instead I learned most of the things I needed to know at home, having a sort of a private tutor who came to see me a few times a week. But I couldn't tell her that because these were things she didn't need to know since I was sure she would overreact.

"But does Charlie know?" she asked again impatiently.

"Um… yes."

"Why didn't he tell me anything? I'll have to talk to him about it," she said and I quickly decided to warn my dad as soon as this phone call was over. "But now, tell me all about this boy of yours. What's his name? How old is he? Is he from Forks? Is he good looking?"

I groaned, letting my head drop on my knees, which were bent in front of me on the couch. I felt my face going red. The booming laughter I heard from downstairs didn't help either. Why I had chosen to make this call in a house full of vampires with superhearing was beyond me.

"Um… his name's Edward and he's… seventeen, like me," I stammered out, tightly closing my eyes against my knees. "And yes, he lives in Forks." I felt the surface of the couch next to me bend slightly and a pair of strong cold arms snaked around my shoulders. Edward gently kissed my temple and I leaned into him with a sigh. As usual, his presence had a strange, calming effect on me, even now when I was talking to my mother about him.

"And?" Renee apparently wasn't ready to give up her questioning any time soon. "What does he look like? Is he handsome?"

I turned my head to look at Edward's face. Handsome didn't really describe his looks. I would go with gorgeous, hot, attractive, charming and probably many more adjectives but I had to remind myself that I was talking to my mother and that I was actually too shy to say these things aloud. "Yes, very," I finally said. Edward chuckled softly in my ear, causing my whole body to tremble slightly.

"Really?" Renee squeeled again and I closed my eyes tightly, trying to ignore Edward's lips that were currently nibbling at my earlobe. "You so have to send me a picture, Bella!"

"Um… yeah." I nearly gasped as Edward started tracing his lips along my jawline and down my throat. I had to concentrate on my breathing because I really didn't want to start panting into the phone right now. "Mom, I have to go. Um… someone's at the door."

Edward chuckled at my quickly made up excuse and I only hoped Renee wouldn't suspect that something's going on. She could be surprisingly perceptive sometimes. Fortunatelly she didn't seem to notice anything off and only quickly reminded me to really send her a picture of my boyfriend.

After I finally ended the call, I quickly texted Charlie to warn him of Renee's impending call and then I threw the phone on the couch next to me. I moved even closer to Edward and tilted my head slightly to give him a better access to my throat. "What are you doing?" I asked, stifling a moan.

"Calming you down," he murmured against my throat, making me shiver. "You seemed stressed."

"Mmm," was all I could manage. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the very nice feeling of Edward's lips on my throat. He'd become increasingly bolder lately as he'd been getting used to my scent. I definitely didn't complain.

Edward groaned softly and pulled back, keeping his arms around me. I opened my eyes and looked at him curiously. "Toby's going to be here in five minutes," he explained with a sigh.

Tobias Jackson was the tutor that came here to teach me things that couldn't be taught at an ordinary school. He taught me magic, or more specifically, advanced defensive and offensive spells I could use in a fight. It might come handy if I was ever summoned back to Britain to help my friends against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, who'd taken over the wizarding Britain a couple of months ago.

I sighed as well and Edward let go of me so I could get up off the couch to get ready for the practice session. I was feeling quite excited. A few days ago, I'd finally managed my first non-verbal spell. Sure, it was just a simple Levitation charm, but after nearly a month of practising emptying my mind and nearly two weeks of failed attempts it truly felt amazing.

"Come in, Alice," Edward mumbled at the same time as his pixie-like sister burst into the room. I just managed to turn to her when she grabbed my arm and dragged me toward Edward's bathroom. He smiled at me apologetically and left the room.

"Alice, what - "

"I need to do your hair before you start your lesson, of course!" she explained and I shook my head but let her lead me to the bathroom where she pointed at the stool in front of the mirror. I sat down obediently and let her work.

It was a compromise we'd agreed on. I had reluctantly agreed with her buying me new clothes as long as it was nothing extravagant but she had no right to tell me what to wear until I specifically asked for it. On the other hand I was only happy to let her do my hair whenever she wanted. She'd admitted that she rarely had the chance to do it before, since her own hair was too short and Rosalie never let anyone touch hers. Only Esme allowed it sometimes but only on special occasions.

Alice combed my long hair and in a few more seconds created a perfect French braid. She turned me around to face her and eyed me criticaly.

"Bella," she started slowly. "The pale blue shirt I bought for you would - "

"Stop!" I put up my hand and she stopped talking, looking at me like she was being tortured. "There's nothing wrong with this t-shirt, Alice. And it's a practice session, not a fashion show."

"I know, I know," she said with an exaggerated sigh. "I had to try."

A few minutes later we entered the living room just as Toby was stepping out of the fireplace with a smile on his face. He quickly cleaned the ash off his clothes while I sat down in one of the armchairs, pulling my wand out of the pocket of my jeans. The Cullens had gathered in there too, as usual – they loved watching me learn new spells – though they always gave us space and stayed in the corners or sat on the stairs.

Sometimes, Charlie joined the Cullens to watch me too, but today he'd gone fishing with one of his friends from La Push, the small Indian reservation near Forks.

"So, Bella," started Toby after he'd sat down on the couch, while pulling a small old-looking book out of his bag. "Did you practice the spells I'd told you about?"

"Yes," I said, nodding. After I'd managed my first non-verbal spell, Toby had given me a short list of simple spells I was supposed to try non-verbally on my own.

"And?"

"Um." I hesitated, scratching the back of my head. "I think I can do the Summoning spell and Engorgement charm…"

He nodded, putting the book on the coffee table. I glanced at the title. It said: Apparating Handbook – Everything You Need To Know.

My eyes popped out. "Really? You think I'm ready to apparate?"

Toby smiled, slowly shaking his head. "I'm not saying you're ready to start now. But I think you should know everything there is about it. You find everything important in this book." He tapped his finger on the fragile looking cover. "Read it and if you have any questions, you can ask me in our next meeting."

I nodded, taking the Handbook in my hand and lightly carressing the front cover. "Before you're ready though, you have to work hard at the non-verbal magic, Bella," Toby said and I looked up at him. "Continue with the list I gave you until you can do all the spells on your first try. Then we can start with apparating."

I felt excited but scared at the same time. Apparating was something I'd always wanted to learn but ever since I'd had the experience of side-along apparation I'd been a little more aprehensive about it. Toby must have noticed my expression because he tilted his head and frowned.

"I thought you were looking forward to it."

"Yes!" I said quickly. "It's just… um…" I stuttered, not sure what I wanted to say.

"Do you have any experience with apparating, Bella?" Toby asked, watching me closely.

"Well, yeah." I fidgeted in my seat and muttered, "I threw up after."

I should have known better than admitting something like that when Emmett was nearby. He let out another booming laughter which was followed by a smacking sound. I turned around and saw Edward standing next to him, glaring at him. I shook my head and turned back to Toby, who had been watching their exchange with amusement.

"I would be surprised if you didn't, Bella," Toby said, waving his hand. "Most people vomit the first time. I remember never wanting to do it again, and look at me now." He grinned.

I breathed out in relief and placed the Handbook back on the coffee table. Toby straightened up in his seat, looking at me curiously. "So, Bella. What do you know about duelling?"

"Um." I hesitated. "I know the basics. Our defence teacher in my first year tried to teach us but it never got past the first lesson and then Harry taught us a little about it in one of our DA meetings."

I had already told Toby about the Dumbledore's Army and at first he was somehow sceptical that at the time fifteen years old Harry Potter could know enough spells to actually teach us something. Only after I reminded him of Harry's involvement in the Triwizard Tournament, about which he had already heard, he seemed to accept it with a thoughtful nod.

"Good," Toby said, nodding his head. "So I don't have to explain the rules then. I'd like to try it with you today – " I frowned, confused, but before I could voice my objection he went on. "- even though I don't suppose there would be an actual duelling in a fight. I already know you have decent reflexes but I want to see your creativity and how quickly you are able to decide on which spell to use."

But before I had the chance to show him how fast my thinking was, I felt a sudden burning in my backside pocket. I jumped to my feet with a gasp, pulling the burning thing out of my jeans. It was my enchanted Galleon, a golden coin that was about the only means of communication with my friends in Britain. The burning meant that a secret message had been sent to me and I had to read it quickly, before it disappeared. It was only the third time it had happened since I arrived in Forks nearly two months ago. I squinted at it, trying to read what it said, aware of everyone watching me.

2 short taps. Pswrd: Fawkes.

I knew what it meant so I turned around, opening my mouth to say what I needed but Edward had already run upstairs and was back in three seconds, thrusting something in my hand. I smiled gratefully at him and at Alice, who winked at me, and then all the Cullens and Toby gathered around me to watch.

I placed the small radio on the coffee table and pulled out my wand. I had moved all my wizarding things into Edward's room shortly after I'd started my lessons with Toby – it was only logical since I'd been spending a lot of the time here lately anyway, being limited only to Charlie's house and the Cullens'.

I glanced around before raising my wand, pointing it at the radio. Everyone was watching me with curious expressions. Edward had been with me when I listened to the first Potterwatch broadcast three weeks ago and I knew he had told the others about it. The Potterwatch was a secret radio programme that had been set up by some people from the Order of the Phoenix – a group of wizards and witches who were trying to fight against Lord Voldemort back in Britain.

From the corner of my eye I could see Edward sitting on the arm of the chair. He started rubbing my back gently. I took a deep breath and followed the coin's instructions.

"…to our second Potterwatch," said the voice of Lee Jordan from the radio. He was my fellow Gryffindor and a former Quidditch commentator. "My name is River and I'd like to apologize for not reaching you sooner but it has become quite difficult to find a safe place that isn't infested by Snatchers or Death-Eaters."

I frowned. I didn't know what or who „Snatchers" were but I pushed the thought aside, concentrating on Lee's next words.

"To those of you who didn't catch our last broadcast I'm going to repeat in short what the Potterwatch is. We're trying to give you the real news about what is really happening in our country because the Ministry controlled media give us not quite truthful information. We have two regular correspondents who will tell you what the official media never will.

"I'm not sure how much time we have so let's move on quickly. Here is our first correspondent. Hello, Royal."

"Good evening, River," said Kingsley Shacklebolt, a man who'd always worked as an Auror and had a very prominent position at the Ministry but he was also a member of the Order so I had no idea what he did now.

"So, I mentioned the word Snatcher earlier. Can you tell our listeners, who haven't been lucky enough to run into them, who they are?"

"Death-Eaters don't want to waste their time to do the dirty work so they hired outcasts and men who were in desperate need of money to do it for them. They're called Snatchers and are paid by the Ministry to catch the Muggle-borns and blood traitors. Officially, they are not among the Ministry employees and the media don't talk about them so people wouldn't be more careful about what they do or say. But the Snatchers are everywhere and have already caught many careless people."

"Speaking of carelessness," said Lee, "I know you have a warning for our listeners, Royal."

"You're right," Kingsley agreed in a grave voice. "Do not, under any circumstances, say You-Know-Who's real name aloud. A jinx has been put on the name, so whoever says it, will be caught immediately. A few people I know have been caught that way."

"I have to admit that it's very clever, though," said Lee thoughtfully. "He knows it's only the members of the Order who say his name so that way he gets the big names."

"Members of the Order and of course, Harry Potter," Kingsley said what I was thinking right now.

I knew Harry had no problem saying his name so I wondered how they still hadn't caught him. I listened to Lee and Kingsley talking about how it was possible and what could have made Harry stop saying Voldemort's name. They eventually concluded that he must have heard about the jinx and had been careful since then.

"But you have some good news for us as well, don't you, Royal?" asked Lee and I leaned closer to the radio so I wouldn't miss a word.

"Yes, I have. I'm very happy to say that the Creevey brothers, that had been missing since the death of their parents, were found alive and are now safe." He didn't say where they were but even knowing that Colin and his brother Dennis were alive and safe sent a huge wave of relief through my body. I leaned back against Edward's side, my eyes still on the radio, listening for more information.

"Sadly, not all people were that lucky," continued Kingsley and he went on announcing names of those who had gone missing or had been killed since the last broadcast. I went pale when he mentioned Dean Thomas and Ted Tonks among the missing people. Dean was another of my fellow Gryffindors though a year older than me. I'd gotten to know him a little better when he was dating my best friend Ginny about a year ago, and even though I'd never met Ted, I'd gotten to know his daughter who had been a frequent visitor to the Borrow during the times I'd spent there visiting Ginny.

"I'd like to remind you that many people in the missing list are actually in hiding," said Kingsley. "But since we have no information about them, we included them among the missing people. If you know where any of them are or if any of you are on the list, please try and contact your families if you can."

"Thank you, Royal," said Lee. "And now let's welcome our second correspondent, Romulus, and our feature called Pals of Potter. Good evening, Romulus."

"Hello, River," said the voice of Remus Lupin, our former Defence teacher. He sounded tired, exhausted even.

"So, do you have any new information about Harry Potter?"

"No," said Lupin. "There has been no sighting of him since the Ministry break-in in September. But we still think it's a good sign because I have no doubt we would have heard about it had he been captured."

"Even though we have no information about Harry Potter himself, I heard something big had happened at Hogwarts. Would you tell our listeners the details, Romulus?"

I was only dimly aware of Edward's fingers running down my arm soothingly, my whole attention was focused on the radio.

"Yes," Lupin said with sigh. "A report from Hogwarts was sent to some parents, informing them about an attempted robbery in the Headmaster's office. Apparently a small group of students tried to get to the office to steal a historic artefact that had been kept there. They were caught by the Headmaster himself and punished."

I gasped, gaping at the radio with horror, my head swirling with images of the torture they had undoubtedly gone through. I had to make some effort to listen to Lupin's next words.

"The full extent of their punishment remains unknown, but we heard it involved going into the Forest, which is now even more dangerous than ever before. As far as we know though, all students involved in the incident should be all right, or at least with no permanent injuries."

I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands, trying to get images of acromantulas, werewolves or other deadly things out of my head.

"It's surprising they were not expelled though," wondered Lee.

"I think Snape is under the instructions not to waste more ‚precious' pure blood than is absolutely necessary because You-Know-Who doesn't want the magical race to die out," pointed out Lupin.

"Yeah, especially with that new law that says that all students who get themselves expelled from Hogwarts would be considered blood traitors and their families hunted down and put to Azkaban."

"Exactly," agreed Lupin.

"Well, this is where we end tonight's Potterwatch. The next password is Moony but I can't tell you when we will be back. Those of you who received our little message, keep the little coin close, we'll try to contact you as soon as we can. Have a good night and keep faith."

With those words the radio went into static and after a few more seconds the room fell completely silent.