A/N: Hello! This is my first fan fiction. I'm a total newb. If you don't enjoy both Twilight and Harry Potter I recommend that you don't read this. I enjoy both in equal measure, hence the crossover. I've had to mess around with the timelines in the book to help them fit together properly. I don't think there's anything big enough though that would damage the story. Hope you like it, anyway.
Disclaimer: Also, I unfortunately do not own either Twilight or Harry Potter.
I was walking towards the island in the middle of the Cullens' ridiculously large kitchen with my salad in hand when it happened. With everything that had kicked off in the last year, including the danger brought about by James and his revenge-seeking mate, the departure and return of my adopted vampire family, and the realisation that I was living only miles from a tribe of shape-shifters, this was the last thing I had been expecting. A loud crash echoed through the room as the plate hit the floor, the food spilling across the surface whilst the fractured pieces of china clinked against one another on the polished wood. I stood frozen, fully aware that four pairs of ochre eyes were focused completely on me. Finally, when it became obvious that I was not presently able to move, I was addressed by a deep, musical voice to my right.
"Bella?" he asked cautiously.
I gave no response. Two rock hard, muscular arms snaked around my torso, pulling me until my back was pressed against a cold, stony chest. I could feel icy breath tickling my ear as he attempted to rouse me from my paralysis.
"Bella, what's wrong? Are you alright?"
Edward rotated my body and tilted my head up to better see my eyes. Other than my drumming heart, they were the best indicators of my emotional state. They must have revealed some evidence of the raging fear which had suddenly gripped me, for the crease between his eyes deepened and his own eyes hardened. Maybe it was more to do with the fact that Jasper was stood only five feet away and he had undoubtedly picked up on my swift mood change.
"Why are you so terrified, Bella?" asked Jasper as he stepped around his concerned-looking wife to move closer to me.
Emmett stood silently with his back against the fridge—always the picture of ease, regardless of circumstances.
Edward stroked my face with his right hand, his left placed securely on the small of my back. When his hand moved down to grip mine, he gasped as his finger brushed the bracelet circling my wrist. My eyes flitted to it, as did Edward's.
The band was made of black leather, both ends connecting to a peculiar centre-piece. It was a large gold coin. Anyone observing it would probably just assume it be a souvenir of some kind, for it certainly did not resemble anything from the accepted forms of currency existing throughout the world. On the side that was visible, there was a picture of something bearing a resemblance to that of a dragon, and the words Unum Galleon were embossed around the rim.
"Bella," Edward said calmly, though there was a definite undercurrent of some strong emotion, which he was evidently attempting to conceal, "would you please explain to me why your bracelet has suddenly started burning."
I averted my eyes from the galleon as I began unfastening the leather strap, instead turning my gaze on Alice, who had just been joined by the three remaining Cullens, each wearing a slightly puzzled expression. Alice's eyes turned glassy and her face lost its stiffness, only to be replaced with what was clearly frustration.
"I don't understand," she declared, her eyes meeting Edward's for a second before settling back on me. "It doesn't make sense. What's going on, Bella?"
I ignored her, turning the bracelet over once it had come loose in order to see the underside. There, on the rim of the coin, where the word Gringotts should have been clearly marked, was written: Harry at Hogwarts. Fight. Apparate Hog's Head.
I had hoped that whatever Alice had seen had not been related to anything to do with Hogwarts, but I had been fairly certain that the likelihood of that was slim. This, naturally, confirmed it. She'd seen me at my old school. What else could it have been? The vision hadn't even waited for me to consciously decide to return, for I had resolved long ago that should revolution occur in the wizarding world, I would be there to help my friends. What kind of Gryffindor would I be, after all, if I turned chicken at the most crucial moment?
"I have to go," I whispered, afraid to meet the eyes of my fiancé, despite knowing full well that I had to. When I looked up, I was relieved to see that he was staring off in the opposite direction. Then, of course, I realised that his eyes were directed at Alice. They were communicating silently, their expressions stern, and any imminent departure on my part suddenly seemed unlikely
"Until you explain exactly what the hell is going on, Bella, you're going nowhere." Edward shifted his stunningly penetrating gaze to me.
Damn.
"Nothing Alice sees right now is comprehensible. She sees you running around some place, pointing a stick and throwing light everywhere. If I didn't know you so well, I would have guessed that you were off to play some unusual game of laser quest!"
"Edward," I said, pleadingly, "I'm sorry but I really can't explain right now. I have to go, and you have to let me."
"Not until you explain."
The rest of the Cullens looked on expectantly. I gave a heavy sigh. I'd always known I would have to tell them someday, and I had fully intended to, but I'd been waiting for the right moment.
When I'd first met Edward, I had been trying to get him to reveal his own secret. I'd had my suspicions as soon as I'd laid eyes on him—I'd learnt all about vampires in my Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, and the only thing that had thrown me off, in truth, was the uncharacteristic colouring of his eyes, which should have been, according to my studies, bright red—but I could hardly just come out with 'Hey, Edward! You're a vampire, right? What's up with that eye colour of yours? I'm only asking because I was told by my third year Defence teacher, Remus Lupin, who coincidentally happens to be a werewolf, that they're suppose to be the same colour as your food.' That would have gone down really well, I'm sure. Obviously, I couldn't bring up the fact that I knew he was a vampire without exposing myself in some way. Instead, I had waited to broach the subject until my theory had been confirmed by Jacob Black. I hadn't known that he would give me the excuse I needed beforehand, but once he did, I didn't waste any time. As we progressed in our relationship, I knew that I would be able to trust him with my own secret, but until the same could be said for his family, I wasn't about to reveal anything of my history. Then, when James came into the picture, any honesty on my part had to be put on hold. I had been working my way up to telling Edward the truth after the threat had been destroyed, only he left before I could come clean. And then, once I became aware of Aro and his abilities, I had settled on maintaining my secret until after my transformation and our next meeting with the Volturi. Yes, there were some vampires who happened to be aware of the existence of my world—the wizarding world—but the majority remained ignorant, and I was not prepared to be the one to change that. Maybe Aro was already in on it, maybe he wasn't; either way, I wasn't about to take that risk, and I certainly was not going to give him further reason to want me for his freaky, little club.
I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes, so that I could say what had to be said without the tempting distraction of Edward's face.
"Fine, I'll tell you, but none of it is going to make much sense because we have very little time, and even if it does, you're still going to think I'm crazy."
I peaked at him through the slits my eyelids formed. He stood as still as a statue, waiting, as did his baffled family. I reclosed my eyes and clenched my fist, before launching into what I'm sure was a very convoluted explanation.
"I have to go back to school—not Forks! The one I was at before I moved back to the States— because there's—"
"Wait. What?" Emmett interrupted. "You lived in Phoenix before you moved here."
"My mother did, but I was away at a school in the UK. I'd tell you where abouts, but I'm not entirely sure."
Edward moved to speak, but I placed a finger to his lips. "Let me finish. I know this sounds ridiculous, but you wanted the truth and I don't have much time." He nodded his head in response and the crease returned to the space between his eyes.
"You know how my mom is a little strange? Well, after I'd just turned ten, she got it into her head that she wanted to emigrate. We moved to a place called Dorset. I liked it there; it was kinda nice. Obviously, my mom's fascination didn't last—English weather isn't exactly amazing, and I could tell she was leaning towards moving back to Phoenix, but before she settled on it, we received a visit from a woman named Minerva McGonagall.
At first, we thought she was kind of loopy, because she began insisting that I had magical powers and that I was a witch. Then I started thinking back on all the unexplainable things that happened when I was younger. At the elementary school I attended, for instance, there was a girl who used to pick on me. She was about to start on me one day, only just before she could get a hit in, her can of soda exploded in her hand. She was screaming that it was burning her, but none of the teachers could explain how the cold soda had suddenly risen to boiling point. There were other things too, but I don't have time for that.
"Anyway, to cut the story short, it turned out that the woman wasn't actually batty. She took out a wand and did a number of various things to prove it, after which she gave me a list with all the supplies I'd need, and told me she'd look forward to seeing me in the new term. My mom and I followed her directions to a place called Diagon Alley, where I bought my stuff, including my wand, my owl, whom of course you have yet to meet, my spell books, my robes, my potion ingredients, as well as a number of other things, and I waited for the day when I would go off to school. The day came, I got on the train and, sure enough, discovered that the castle was real. I studied hard because magic, having always assumed that it was make-believe, was understandably fascinating to me.
My mom returned to Phoenix and I visited her each summer, but then come September, I always returned to Hogwarts to resume my magical education.
The wizarding-world has its problems, though, and big ones, which I discovered not long after my arrival. You see, there are bad wizards as well as good ones, and some of them put the monsters you know to shame. There's one, in particular, that my people are terrified of."
I then hastily fed the seven vampires the details of Voldemort, though I refrained from mentioning his name, along with story of Harry Potter, and the information which had been circulating and painting him as the Chosen One destined to defeat the Dark Lord. I also proceeded to inform them of the fake Galleon given to me by Hermione Granger when I had become a member of the DA, and the way in which we used it communicate secret messages during Umbridge's evil reign as High Inquisitor.
"So you see," I said, "I have to go back to Hogwarts. If Harry is back, then something is surely about to kick off and I need to be there. Me more than anyone! I'm Muggle-Born, as in I come from non-magical parents. People like me are persecuted by the Dark Lord's supporters. That's why I couldn't go back after Dumbledore, the Headmaster, was killed last year. It's not safe for my kind—Mudbloods, they call us—and how can I expect that to change if I don't go back and fight for my freedom?"
I ended my little speech here, and stared into each of their faces. Alice and Esme looked completely perplexed; Carlisle and Jasper looked worried, and it was obvious they were scared for my sanity; Emmett was trying to keep a straight face, and he clearly thought that this was some elaborate joke; Rosalie looked pissed; Edward, on the other hand, looked pained. There could be no doubt that he had concluded that I had completely lost my marbles. In fact, he was probably getting it into his head that my sudden outburst was all his fault—that he had finally succeeded in pushing me over the edge, simply through his seemingly impossible existence.
"You don't believe me," I stated matter-of-factly.
"Bella," he answered, "I think you're—"
"Ya know what?" I interrupted, tearing myself from his embrace and marching over into the living room to retrieve my bag. "I'm done explaining. There's only one way to prove it to you."
When I returned to the kitchen, not one of them had moved an inch, except Rosalie, who was staring at her reflection in the glass of the windows. I reached into my bag and pulled out my wand. It seemed so wrong not to keep it with me, so I had taken to concealing it in my tiny purse, upon which I had place an undetectable extension charm.
It was 11 inches and made from Yew and Unicorn hair. I pointed it at the mess I had made on the floor, and said "Reparo." Instantly, the cracked fragments reformed to make a plate that was as good as it had been originally. "Accio plate," I then said, causing it to fly through the air to my hands. I finally turned my wand to the spilled food. I could have performed the spell non-verbally, but I wanted to give a clear demonstration to the Cullens. "Evanesco." The lettuce leaves, onion, and tomatoes suddenly disappeared into thin air.
I turned to face my gawking family. Each had their eyes fixed on the spot where the spilled salad had been only a second ago, not one displaying any sign that they would ever move again. Just to ensure that the message was fully delivered, I did a graceful little pirouette—well, graceful for me anyway—and apparated from the kitchen. I felt my body stretching from the pressure, and as quickly as it had started, it was over. I was on the far side of the river behind the Cullen house, where they would still have a clear view of me.
"You-hoo!" I called. They all turned. I laughed at their gobsmacked expressions, before apparating back into the kitchen. If I had had time to waste enjoying the satisfaction of finally revealing that I was not as helpless as they had all initially believed, I would have been grinning like a Cheshire cat. The afternoon light glinted off the galleon, however, providing me with the sobering reminder that I needed to get to Hogwarts.
"So that's it," I announced. "I know it's absurd and I wish I had more time to explain it to you, but I don't. I honestly can't imagine that Harry would risk returning to the school now that it's fallen under the control of the Death Eaters unless he was preparing to fight."
"Death Eaters? What—but—" Esme's panic was made plain by her expression alone; her inability to form a proper coherent sentence now only enhanced everyone's awareness.
"Bella," Alice cut in, "I don't need to be a psychic to know that what you're planning on doing is going to be extremely dangerous. You could get—"
"Killed."
Edward's head whipped to me. He let out a low growl.
"Well, I was … actually going to say hurt."
"Look," I said, addressing them all—they needed to understand just how serious this was, and if there was a chance that I could die in the next twenty four hours, I had to be honest with them, "you are vampires. You can kill a human with a single touch. Wizards and witches, on the other hand, don't even need that much. All it takes is two simple words and a flick of a wand … and a person dies."
They all looked at me, horrified, even Rosalie.
"People die everyday simply for the sport of his sick followers. People like me." Now I turned my eyes on Edward, so that I could better communicate the inevitable, because I knew he would be the hardest to convince. "I am going back to Hogwarts now, and no amount of vampiric strength is going to change that fact."
"No!"
"Edward, I'm sorry, but you really don't have a say in this."
His jaw clenched for a second, and he accidentally crushed a section of the counter, which he had been gripping throughout our conversation.
"It would seem that I have no choice but to agree," he said after a moment's pause, surprising me slightly. He straightened himself and crossed his arms, showing no concern whatsoever for the now damaged worktop, "So if you're really set on this … then I'm coming with you."
I was about to protest, but stopped myself and considered the benefits of his involvement. His strength and speed would be undoubtedly assets in a fight.
"Actually, having you there would be a massive comfort. The likelihood of you getting hurt isn't that great. Vampire skin is hard and deflects spells. It would take dozens and dozens of simultaneous attacks to even stun you, probably even more than you would need to stun a dragon, and considering the fact that the enemy will have far too many opponents to focus on—"
"Dragons?" Emmett interrupted, disbelievingly. "You're kidding right?"
"No, I'm not," I answered automatically, noting the way his eyebrows seemed to rise halfway up his brow. "As I was saying, your skin will reflect magical attacks, so unless they have invited vampires to the castle recently, I don't think your presence will be damaging to your health."
"So we could cover you? Act as a shield, I mean," Jasper added.
"And the other students. That would definitely give us a slight advantage."
"It's decided then," concluded Alice. "We're all going."
The rest of the Cullens nodded in agreement. Emmett rubbed his hands together and muttered something I didn't fully catch, though I distinctly heard the words 'take on a dragon'.
"There's just one question," Carlisle said, looking at me curiously. "How do we get there?"