Written for the 2019 Hermione's Haven Bingo challenge
Square: G4 - Prompt: Mistaken Identity

The Company We Keep

Mistaken Identity (Chapter 1 of 4)

"C...Cedric?"

Edward heard the shocked and hesitant voice behind him and slowly turned around to see the speaker. Bella? was his very first thought. However, it only took him a fraction of a second to realize that the pretty and lively-haired woman who stood there bore only a superficial resemblance to the girl he had once known and loved. She had the same pale skin and dark hair, at any rate. However, he quickly noticed that her eyes held an intensity that Bella's never had.

…

Even though several years had passed since Edward had last seen Bella Swan...and he knew that his feelings for her had finally faded away...he still felt a very slight twinge of regret when he saw the unknown woman and thought about his first love. However, even though it had hurt at the time, he knew it was definitely the best thing for everyone involved when that dog…Jacob Black…imprinted on her after he came into his tribal creature inheritance. Ironically, the two of them were apparently meant to be together after all.

Bella is happy…and safe…with him. That's all that really matters, Edward reminded himself sternly. After all, he was the one who had practically hand delivered her to the mongrel's bed when he had sacrificed his own happiness to leave her in Forks in order to protect her from the dangers of associating with him and his family. In addition to that, through Alice, who still kept in discreet contact with Bella over the years, he had seen the pictures of her children with the wolf. If that was not definitive proof that she had moved on from him, then he did not know what was.

…

Edward had never gone back to Forks after that, either, even though the rest of the Cullens occasionally visited for whatever reason. Instead, he had traveled the world until time and distance had healed the residual wounds and his non-beating heart had finally felt whole again. At that point, he felt that he was able to move on, as well.

For him, ironically, that meant that he was ready to settle down. Consequently, he purchased a small cottage on a large isolated piece of game land in the perpetually drizzly English countryside. He found that it was the perfect place to keep his secret and to live his life – so to speak. It was a peaceful location and the entire Cullen family had already visited and had given the place their approval…except for Rosalie, of course. It was to be expected, however, so Edward was not surprised or offended at all when she declared his new quiet and cozy home to be much too primitive for her tastes. He liked it though, and that was what really counted. However, other than the visiting Cullens, Edward usually kept to himself. He spent most of his time playing music, reading books, and taking long drives in his fast car. All in all, it was a slow kind of life…but Edward was in no hurry.

One surprising reason for his contentment was that he was also adopted by a cat soon after he moved into his cottage. Even though most animals instinctively avoided his kind as apex predators, the feline with the intelligent eyes just did not seem to care about what he was. The odd-looking creature, who was practically all ears and spots, had simply pushed his way through the partially-open door one day…and never really left. Edward found that he did not really mind the intrusion because, against all expectations, he actually became quite fond of his new housemate.

Afterwards, Dickens - so named for the author of the first book he sat on upon his arrival - could often be found curled up on Edward's lap while he read or on the bench next to him when he played the piano. This unexpected company during his self-imposed isolation brought comfort to Edward and kept him from getting too lonely. At least once a week, though, he did make a point to visit the closest town in order to stock up on basic supplies. He obviously did not need to buy groceries for himself, but the cat needed to eat…and he did feel it necessary to visit the bookstore there on a regular basis, as well.

…

In fact, it was on one such visit to town when he was browsing in Written Treasures, as usual, that he heard the soft gasp and the murmured name from the woman-who-was-not-Bella as she stood beside him holding a large bag of books that she had just purchased for herself. He felt her eyes on him, but when he turned to meet her warm brown gaze with his own golden one, she stared at him in even further shock for a moment. Her scrutiny was brief, but so intense that Edward could not help but to wonder what she saw when she looked at him.

To be sure she does not know what I am, he started to think with a bit of alarm before he was interrupted by her apology.

"I am so sorry," she said earnestly as she shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. She then gave him a small charming smile which immediately soothed his doubts before she continued. "I didn't mean to be rude, but I thought that you were someone else for just a moment. Your profile is just so similar to his that it simply took me by surprise. I should have known better, of course, because…well…he has been…gone…for quite some time now." The woman paused to search his eyes again and nodded before her tone grew much quieter as to not be overheard by the other patrons when she dropped her next bombshell of a statement. "Then again, I can see that apparently you have, too." At his stunned silence following that very telling remark, she blushed when she realized exactly what she had said without thinking. She then stammered another apology and immediately left the store before he could even find his voice.

Despite his great speed, however, she was nowhere to be seen by the time he was able to gather his wits and actually try to follow her. It was only afterwards, as he stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, completely confused by the encounter, that he realized he had not been able to hear her thoughts…nor had she smelled like just any other ordinary human to him. Strangely enough, her blood did not call to him at all, either…and he wondered what that meant. At that point, he did the only reasonable thing that he could do. He went back to his cottage and called Alice.

For her part, as soon as she left the book shop, Hermione immediately turned into a side alley and apparated straight back to her office in the Ministry. At her urging, Kingsley's less prejudiced administration had split the old Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures into two separate units – one for the creatures and one for the sentient beings. As the Head of the newly formed Magical Beings Liaison Department, Hermione now had the privilege of being able to apparate straight in and out of the Ministry itself. It was one of the reasons that she had felt comfortable moving so far away from London after her breakup with Ron a couple of years earlier. Not only did the move give her the physical and emotional distance that she desperately needed after that turbulent event, but she also knew that, even with the distance, she would not have any trouble traveling back and forth to work with such a special benefit.

Ron, however, was not the one who was on her mind at the moment. In fact, Hermione knew without a doubt that she had been completely over him for quite a while. Now she thought only of the man in the bookstore who, according to the gossipy owner, had been Hermione's newest and closest neighbor for the last several months. Due to the fact that she lived near a Muggle town, but still needed to keep her magical secret, Hermione tended to keep to herself in her own little cottage on the far side of the private game lands. Since she did most of her shopping in London, however, she only occasionally went to the village. That is why she had not seen the newest resident before…or even knew that there was a new resident in the first place – not until he had been specifically pointed out to her by old Mrs. Figgleston as being "quite the yummy young dish!"

…

Upon arrival at her destination in the Ministry, Hermione went straight to the row of old fashioned filing cabinets on the far wall in her office. All of the files in her department were spelled to update automatically with the current status of all of the magical beings located in her jurisdiction. Therefore, she knew without a doubt that she would find the information for which she was looking.

With just a flick of her wand, a magically expanded drawer opened in the last cabinet and a similarly expanded file folder labeled Being: Vampire levitated out onto her desk. Hermione sat down to peruse it and soon found out what she wanted to know – especially since her expertise and knowledge about the meaning of eye color also led her to quickly flip to the relevant subsection: Food Source: Animal Consumption. A few more page flips through locations in Britain soon brought her to the correct region - and the identity and picture of her unexpected new neighbor appeared at the top of the page in front of her. The one whom she had briefly confused for Cedric Diggory was actually named Edward Cullen…and in front of her was confirmation of her suspicion that he was indeed a vampire, albeit a "vegetarian" one…and that he lived just on the opposite side of the game lands from her. In fact, he now owned them.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she put away the file, though, since she knew that she would not have to worry about the safety of the Muggles in her village from him. In fact, the reason that he had purchased the game lands was blatantly obvious. However, that sigh soon turned into a one of embarrassment as she remembered exactly how she had reacted when they met. It was not even the fact that he was a vampire that had bothered her then – especially since he was a consumer of animal blood. After all, she had met several of them through her work and knew that they tended to be very pleasant and polite individuals…as opposed to the usually hot-tempered and volatile drinkers of human blood.

In reality, it was the shock of the unexpected combination of events. Seeing a vampire who looked so much like a long dead classmate standing in the middle of a bookstore in her quiet Muggle village and then her almost-involuntary loss of control as she outed her knowledge about him had temporarily flustered her so much that she thought it would just be better if she removed herself from the situation entirely while she collected all of the pertinent information.

The fact that he was simply gorgeous had not helped the situation, either, she thought – especially since she had been single for quite a long time. Hermione paused at that unexpected thought. She did not really know where it had come from or what it had to do with anything, but she knew that it did not excuse her unintentional rudeness. She then sighed again as she realized what she was going to have to do next to relieve her conscience over her unprofessional behavior. She would have to apologize to him again and explain the situation…in person. It was the right thing to do.