Y'all...I feel so bad. I posted that authors note and intended to post this next chapter but life just doesn't like to work with me!

The night I posted that note my grandmother passed, so I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting!

Thank you all for being so understanding about everything and for the reviews showering me in your thoughts and proving just how wonderful you all are!

I hope you all are staying safe and doing the best you can in this world today

Beta love to Starkiss666

All characters you recognize belong to their respective authors, unfortunately including she-who-must-not-be-named ;)

As always please review and feel free to check out my pinterest that has outfits, makeup and my fancastings for both stories on it!

www dot pinterest dot com slash darkerthanthedarksideofthemoon

Enjoy!

Hermione was pacing in her room; she'd been ready to head to the Cullen's with Bella for about two hours. She'd worked herself into a frenzy worrying about meeting these vampires even though logically she knew nothing would happen. She'd met Edward and she knew that Dr. Cullen had impeccable control of himself seeing as he was a top-rated surgeon. It was the rest of their 'family' that had her worried, they were all wild cards and Bella hadn't told her much about them.

Wiping her hand down her face she was so happy for the sticking charm keeping her makeup from being smudged by her actions. She glanced at the clock and noted Bella should be arriving soon, taking a final glance in her mirror to make sure nothing was out of place. She had donned a black wide legged and sleeveless v-neck romper, pairing it with her white gold earrings and a white gold neckless with a large moonstone pendant, finishing the look with her white Chanel handbag and white Louboutins with silver spikes on them. She had pulled the top half of her wild curls back and secured them with a simple silver circle hair pin, letting her hair tumble down her back. She'd kept her makeup light for the day sweeping a nice champagne shadow on her lids, a thin line of black liner along her top lashes ending in sharp flick, and just a hint of mascara to finish the look. She'd put on some chapstick and a swipe of clear gloss and deemed herself ready.

She'd just made it downstairs when Bella pulled up the drive, Hermione was going to be driving them to the Cullen's house, she didn't trust Bella's old pickup, it worried her that her cousin was driving something so unreliable but Bella had put her foot down when Hermione had brought it up. She bid her goodbyes to her father and Remus before she swept out the door, unlocking her car so Bella could get in before she got there. Once Hermione was in the driver's seat they took off down the road, Bella had brought some mixed cd she had made and they were currently listening to some Matchbox 20 song, at least that's what Bella had told her.

Hermione had a white-knuckle grip on her steering wheel as she sped down the road, she had kicked her heels off to drive, and as she wiggled her toes against the gas pedal, she thought she needed a good pedicure soon, she wondered if Bella would be willing to go along, they could make it a girls day before school started. She glanced at Bella who was typing away on her phone with a small smile on her face. Hermione couldn't deny that Bella had a happy glow about her that hadn't dimmed since she started seeing Edward, she actually took her appearance into account more often than not, today was no different, she'd chose an outfit Hermione had bought her earlier in the summer, she'd even applied a bit of light makeup, making her eyes pop. Hermione smiled softly and relaxed a bit, so long as her cousin was happy and healthy, she could deal with the vampires being in their lives.

She steeled herself as they pulled into the long drive Bella had pointed out, parking in front of the beautiful modern house she quickly slid her heels back on and jumped when her door was opened from the outside, she glanced back at Bella and was surprised to see she was already out of the car and had Edwards arm around her. She turned to face her door and saw a pale hand extended towards her, she followed the arm up and came face to face with who could only be Carlisle Cullen. She gave herself a second to glance over him, his eyes were a warm gold and he had an easy, knowing smile on his face. It made her pause, wondering exactly what he thought he knew, she pushed that to the back of her mind and placed her hand in his letting him help her out of the vehicle.

She noticed the rest of his 'family' was standing on the front stoop, she made sure to catalogue their faces to make sure she remembered them all. She gave a snort when the beautiful blonde whispered to the pixie looking one, "well, she at least has style". She pulled her hand from Carlisle's and gave him a nod of thanks as he shut her door, Bella had come around the side of the car and gave her a small smile that was meant to be encouraging.

"Edward" Carlisle's voice broke her out of her nervous stupor, "Please show your guests into the house."

Hermione couldn't help the chuckle when Edward mumbled something about Bella being his only guest but he shut his mouth with an audible snap when one of the others gave him a look. This one had beautiful brown hair that made her golden eyes look almost human, she also looked a bit older than the rest of them so Hermione assumed this must have been Carlisle's mate, Esme. Edward turned his head towards Hermione and jerked his head towards the house causing her to roll her eyes after him.

Carlisle gave her an apologetic smile and held out his arm to escort her into the house, he had told all of his family to be on their best behavior, he wanted to impress this girl, mainly because he had an idea of what she was and he didn't need her opposing them in any way. She could wipe them all out with a snap of her fingers if she so chose, well, if he was right that is.

He nodded minutely to his family as Hermione laced her arm through his, he placed his free hand on hers before addressing her.

"I am very happy you've decided to meet with my family Ms. Black. Your presence has been...alarming, for some of my family members. You're a wild card for them and I feel it would make them much more comfortable to know you're not a threat to us, just as I'm sure you'll feel better knowing the same of us."

He felt Hermione's heart skip, he knew she was nervous he could feel how tense she really was, what surprised him was the way she held herself. She didn't show any outward signs of nerves, she looked cool, calm and collected. Oh yes, she was definitely a wild card for them, he could only hope and pray to whatever god would listen to the undead that she would soon see them as allies. Fake breathing had become something so natural to him over the years that he didn't think when he inhaled through his nose, what caught him off guard was the fact that Hermione smelt of, nothing, she wasn't wearing perfume and she didn't have a natural scent permeating the area around her. 'how strange'.

Hermione let Carlisle lead her into their gorgeous modern house, she suppressed a snort at the hanging that she spied on the stairs. Hundreds of graduation caps made up a mural that was weird to the untrained eye but amused Hermione as she knew how long they'd been alive. Her eyes darted around the house taking everything in, making sure she could find her way out in a hurry if needed. She ignored the eyes that were trained on her as Carlisle motioned for her to take a seat in their living room, nodding her thanks she chose the white leather wingback that was closest to the door but kept her back to the wall so no one could stand behind her. She watched as the rest of the group filed in, the blond sat on the couch crossing her legs at the ankles and sweeping them to the side in a very lady like manor. She was flanked by the large brunette and the pixie. The brunette rivaled Sam in height but was much burlier than him, she watched as he tossed his arm on the back of the sofa behind the blonde and tugged her a bit closer to him. The other male in the room perched himself on the arm of the couch with his hand on the pixie's shoulder, she reached up and interlaced their fingers and grinned as the male pressed a kiss to the back of her hand before setting their interlocked hands on his knee.

Hermione filed that away as they all seemed to pair off, Carlisle must be like some sort of creator slash match maker if the pairings were anything to go by, it wasn't super common for vampires to actually find their mates let alone for so many to be from one coven. Hermione continued to just watch the others in the room as she got comfortable in the chair, she didn't know how she wanted to proceed so she was going to let them start the questioning she was sure was coming. Sure enough as soon are Carlisle and Esme were perched in their respective seats the pixie started bouncing.

"Why can't I see you in my visions?" The tiny vampire was practically shaking with nervous energy wanting to get her question answered.

Hermione smirked at the sight, "Well, I'm assuming it's partly because I'm linked to the Quileute pack."

All the eyes that were focused on her turned to Edward as if he could confirm or deny her statement, he just shrugged and continued playing with a strand of Bella's hair. The pixie turned back to her with a questioning look on her face.

"What do you mean 'linked' to the pack? How so? You're not a Quileute and you don't smell of wet dog like they do so you can't be one of the werewolves."

Hermione snorted indelicately at this, "They're not true werewolves anyhow, but you're right, I'm none of the above but I am linked to them in a way and I'm guessing being linked to them has caused a, block, on your sight."

She steepled her fingers and rested her chin upon them as she watched them consider her words.

"Okay, that could account for it, how long have you been linked with them and why don't you smell like any of them, in fact, why don't you smell at all?"

She grinned then, "A few weeks give or take, and that is not a question I'm willing to answer at this moment in time, I'm sure you understand."

Her grin turned more shark like at the looks everyone was giving her, besides Bella who was openly grinning at the way she was toying with her leech's family. A throat clearing brought her attention to Carlisle and she focused her eyes on him watching the way he squirmed under her gaze, the small dark part of her brain was delighted in the reactions she produced from the vampires, especially someone who was known for being calm and collected like Carlisle. The logical part of her brain was on alert though, the gears were turning in her head and it didn't take long to piece it together, Carlisle knew what she was, he was old, very old, and had once been a member of the Volturi, she should have known he'd come across wizard's in his life. Shutting her emotions down and plastering an expression of cool disinterest on her face she nodded minutely to Carlisle so he would go ahead and speak.

"As my family knows I was once a member of our...governing body, The Volturi, I didn't agree with their methods and after years of trying to convince them to change, I left. This was not before they struck a deal with another underground society, not unlike us vampires. In fact, a member of this society was turned and brought before the Volturi once they learned of his...talents. When he refused, he was held captive and starved and teased with blood for years. Five or so years later the Volturi acquired a new member, Chelsea. You see the Volturi, Aro in particular, like to collect vampires that have special abilities. Chelsea has the ability to manipulate relationships, causing people to become completely devoted to the Volturi. When they found her they immediately set her on Charles, the vampire they were trying to sway to their side, this is what caused his death you see, he was able to resist Chelsea's manipulation because of an ability he learned in his past life. An ability I believe you also have; you are able to block Edward's mind reading are you not?"

Hermione glanced at Bella who had gone paler than normal at this story, whether it was because Carlisle obviously knew what she was or if it was from the story of how the Volturi like to collect vampires with abilities she didn't know. Turning back to Carlisle she just nodded her head, not wanting to speak just yet as she honestly didn't know what to say. He smiled indulgently at her and nodded back, for some reason Hermione felt less anxious with his smile, she knew he wasn't compelling her as that didn't work with her, no this felt more like when Sirius or Remus gave her the same smile when she was nervous about something. She wrapped her arms around her middle and sat back in the chair, mentally preparing herself for him to complete his story.

"When Charles continued to refuse the place they offered him in the Volturi they had him killed, They knew he was too dangerous to keep alive as what he was before his change made him a wild card to the way vampires live now. One word and a flick of his wrist he could burn them to a crisp in seconds, he could read their minds, block all their abilities, he could disappear from one spot and be half way across the country in seconds. Vampires are fast but even we have limitations. The thing is Miss Black, I believe you're just like him, I believe you have the same magic running through your veins as he did."