Chapter 6: Should I Stay or Should I Go

My bad! It's been so long since I've updated. Sadly, I have no excuse. Although I did have a mean case of writer's block, and a lot of homework, and in the summer I am almost never in an area with a computer. Anyway! Without any further ado, I present chapter 6. =)

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter and Twilight.

"You're a vampire."

In all honesty, the idea of bluntly stating that I knew what Edward was had been very appealing up until three seconds ago. In my mind, a whole wonderful scenario had played out. It involved Edward embracing me and telling me how happy he was that I wasn't afraid of him. It also involved me telling him that I was a witch, followed by his complete understanding.

Unfortunately, fantasy and reality are two very different things.

Edward was frozen. His face was a shocked, motionless mask. I glanced over his shoulder to see that his siblings were all staring at me with similar expressions.

"Er – Edward?" I said timidly.

He still hadn't moved a muscle. I sighed and buried my face in my hands.

"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea…" I muttered.

I looked up wearily.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosalie jump out of her seat and stalk over to us, absolutely radiating fury. I fingered my wand in my pocket fleetingly, but decided this wasn't worth exposing myself over.

She walked right up to me and grabbed my arm. With ease, she pulled me out of my seat and practically dragged me across the cafeteria. Despite my vehement exclamations, she dragged me all the way into the parking lot. Suddenly, wind was blowing past us at an alarming speed. The next thing I knew, we were standing in the forest near the school. She threw me to the ground. I gasped in pain as a tree root dug into my back.

I looked up in shock at the enraged creature. Her teeth were bared, and snarling sounds were ripping from her throat.

Suddenly, Edward was crouched in front of me, his body taut and ready to lunge. He growled right back at Rosalie.

Edward's family was with him too. Emmett wrapped his massive arms around Rosalie, restraining her. Jasper put his hand on her shoulder, and she stopped growling, but still glared at me.

"Have you completely lost it?" Edward raged at Rosalie.

"Your precious little human is endangering us all!" she screamed right back. Then she glared over Edward's shoulder at me. "If you tell one soul about us, I will kill you myself."

Edward snarled menacingly.

"Everyone calm the hell down," said Emmett, rolling his eyes.

"I agree with Emmett," said Alice, who was standing just off to the side of everyone else. "Let's do this rationally, shall we?"

Edward turned around and knelt by my side.

"Are you okay, Jenna?" he asked quietly, his voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine," I said automatically. It was a well-practiced answer.

He helped me get to my feet, and held me tightly to his chest. Rosalie snarled at his protective manner. I pushed away from him though; I didn't need or want his protection. I could damn well take care of myself, thank you very much.

"Rose," Alice chastised.

Edward looked down at me. "How did you find out about us?" he asked gently.

"It's a long story." I turned to Rosalie. "I won't tell anyone, Rosalie, I swear."

She growled. "Empty words."

"In case you've forgotten, I'm hiding something too," I said defensively.

"I don't give a shit. You should not be interfering in our world, you pathetic little human."

I bristled. "Who's interfering? You're the one who just kidnapped me out of the school."

She growled again.

"C'mon, Rosie, don't be like that," said Emmett, rubbing her shoulders. "Let's go back to the school." Emmett seemed to be the only person Rosalie would listen to, because at his words she stopped glaring at me and stalked away. Emmett gave me an easy grin. "See you around, Jenna."

He followed after Rosalie. And that left Edward, Alice and Jasper, who were still all staring at me with varying degrees of shock and curiosity on their faces.

"Seriously Jenna, how did you find out about us?" asked Alice. She was staring at me with frustration; similar to how Edward always looked at me.

I sighed. "I've known about vampires for a long time. I just didn't realize that you guys were all vampires until I overheard your conversation with Rosalie the other day though," I said sheepishly to Edward. "It shouldn't have taken me this long to figure it out actually."

"I don't understand," said Edward incredulously. "We were talking very quietly. You shouldn't have been able to hear that."

"There's a lot about me that you don't understand, Edward," I said cryptically.

"What are you, Jenna?" asked Alice quietly.

"I don't think now is the right time to tell you."

"Why is that?" she asked.

"You guys are all in shock, Rosalie is ready to kill me, and class is about to start."

The latter was just an excuse; I couldn't care less about biology. In fact, skipping was starting to sound very appealing. I didn't know if I could handle Edward's stares the entire class.

Edward sighed. "She's right, Alice. Let's just let it go for now."

Alice huffed. "Fine. But we are having a chat very soon!"

She turned around and walked out of the forest. Jasper stared at me for a few more seconds, but eventually he followed after her.

I let out a breath of air I had been holding in.

"Well, that went well. I don't think your family likes me very much. Except for Emmett. He's cool."

Edward groaned. "Jenna, what were you thinking? You have no idea of the danger you were just in. Surprising a vampire is one thing, but purposely provoking one? You must be out of your mind!"

"Excuse me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Rosalie was about to kill you, Jenna. But then when you talked back to her… If Emmett hadn't have been holding her back, she would have attacked."

"So what are you saying?" I huffed angrily. "I should just let her walk all over me because I'm a 'pathetic little human'? I'm sorry Edward, but that is complete bullshit."

Edward's eyes widened. "Jenna, please, just try to understand. Vampires are extremely dangerous; we can kill in the blink of an eye. I'm just asking you to be more careful about your actions. Rosalie is right in a way; you are a weak human. It would kill me if you got hurt."

I stared up at him, unsuccessfully trying to mask the anger I felt bubbling inside me.

"Don't ever call me weak again, Edward. You don't know anything."

With that, I turned on my heel and walking away from Edward's baffled expression. I walked right to my car, hopped in, and drove home as fast as I could.

I kicked open the door to my house and threw myself into my favourite armchair. All I could hear reverberating through my head was echoes of my past.

"You're just a pathetic, weak girl! You'll never be able to conquer the Dark Lord!"

"Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked so easily – weak people, in other words – they stand no chance against his powers!"

"I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little girl, can never hope to compete."

"You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this girl could ever have been stronger than me. But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Jenna Potter escaped me by a lucky chance."

I clutched at my head and willed the voices to go away. Even in death, they still reached out to torment me through my memories.

All my life, I had been told how weak I was. I had spent the greater part of my time at Hogwarts trying to assert myself among fellow witches and wizards. No one expected a scrawny little girl to be able to take down one of the darkest wizards in history. Wizarding society constantly scoffed at my attempts to fulfill the prophecy. Needless to say, I had some serious trust issues.

And to think, I had actually started to trust Edward.

I really needed to get out of this town.

But I couldn't just leave. The Cullen's would still be suspicious, and it had been so much work to set myself up here...

No, I was staying. I refused to run from my problems again.

I made a spur-of-the-moment decision. I was calling Hermione and telling her everything. I needed my friend.

"Jenna, will you please tell me what's going on?"

I had been on the phone with Hermione now for at least ten minutes, and I still hadn't been able to spit it out.

"Okay, okay," I muttered, "this is just really hard to say. I can practically hear your overreaction already."

There was a pause.

"I don't like the sound of this," said Hermione weakly.

"It's not that bad, Mione! Really, once you get over the shock, I don't think it's a big deal at all."

"Okay. I'm ready," she said.

"Okay, so you remember that guy I told you about? The one from biology who stares at me?"

"Yes…"

"Well – er… I've kind of gotten closer to him lately, and um…"

"Jenna, you've always been blunt before. Just tell me and stop sugar-coating it."

Ah, and there it was. I knew there was a reason I had decided to tell Hermione; she knew when to let things go, but she also knew when to demand information.

"Alright. Here goes." I took a deep breath. "Edward and I were getting closer but then I accidentally did magic in front of Edward's family so they suspect that I'm not normal but then I overheard Edward talking to his sister and I found out that they are all vampires but when I told them I knew what they were Edward's sister almost killed me and now I'm really upset with Edward for calling me a weak human."

I stopped talking and took deep, panting breaths to make up for my lack of air after that extremely long run-on sentence.

"Holy shit," said Hermione.

I laughed. "Hermione Granger, did you actually just swear? I'm impressed."

"Jenna, you are hanging around with vampires? Are you INSANE?"

"That's the second time my sanity has been questioned today," I muttered.

"Jenna, do you not realize how dangerous they are?" Hermione spluttered. "There's a reason they have been banished from the magical community! Did you not listen to anything Professor Binns said?"

I nearly rolled my eyes. Trust Hermione to bring up my lack of attention in history class at a time like this.

"Just as I predicted, you are overreacting."

"You need to get out of there now!" Hermione practically shouted. "This is how any sane witch or wizard would react to this news! If they find out what you are… Oh merlin, what if they find out what wizards have done to them?"

"Are you talking about the fact that wizards put memory charms on them way back when?" I asked, completely unconcerned.

"Of course that's what I'm talking about! Vampires are taboo, Jenna! Wizards fought them for years before they finally conquered them. The war was horrible! Thousands of wizards were killed – drained completely of blood. The wizards knew they could never rid the world of vampires, because of course, magic always finds a way, so they decided to remove their memories instead. But Jenna, if your vampires discover that our kind has basically crucified them, can you imagine how angry they would be? Vampires are comfortable thinking they are unbeatable. If they were to discover that there are forces out there that could destroy them… It could lead to the dawn of a new war between our species. You must not let them find out about magic!"

"I never knew it was that bad," Jenna murmured.

"I'm glad you're beginning to appreciate the gravity of the situation," said Hermione heavily. "Wizards and vampires are not meant to exist together. When vampires drink magical blood, it makes them stronger for a short time. But after many years of drinking magical blood, they've evolved to the point that they are physically invincible to any other organism on Earth. Vampires knew they had many advantages over us; if they bite us, their venom will not only turn us into one of them, but it will also destroy our magic. Just think about it Jenna. These creatures get stronger and stronger the more they drink from us, and they can remove us from our powers. Vampires are nothing but power-hungry, blood-sucking, magically-draining monsters. Do you understand now why I'm 'overreacting'?"

I didn't answer right away. Could Hermione be right? If Edward found out the history between our species, would he try to kill me to gain some power? I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it. If there was one thing I knew for certain, it was that Edward cared about me.

"Jenna," said Hermione timidly, "you still there?"

"I'm here."

She sighed in relief. "So when are you coming back home then? I can arrange a portkey for you for tomorrow, or would you rather use the floo network?"

"I'm not going home yet."

"Wh—what? Jenna, have I not given you reason enough to leave that place far behind?" she spluttered.

"I want you to think about Hagrid, Hermione," I said calmly.

"Hagrid?" said Hermione, baffled. "Jenna, what—?"

"Think about Hagrid. Hagrid is a half giant. Giants are stereotypically nasty creatures, yet Hagrid is the most caring person I've ever met. He wouldn't hurt a fly. In the most relevant terms to you Hermione, we shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

"That's different. Hagrid is only half giant!"

"Hermione, listen to yourself. You're saying that if Hagrid had been born to two homozygous giants, that he would be a complete savage?"

"N—no… I didn't—"

"Of course he wouldn't be! Hermione, just because giants are thought to be vicious, killing monsters, doesn't mean that all giants are like that! The same goes for vampires. Edward and his family are different. I promise you, I have nothing to fear from them."

That wasn't exactly true. I knew Rosalie had it in for me, but that was only because she wanted to protect her family.

"Jenna, history speaks for itself. If wizards hadn't have gone to war against them, they would have killed all of us for their own personal gain. We would never have been born. Please, grasp that."

"Hermione, I'm not disputing the fact that some vampires are like that, but I'm telling you, the Cullen's are different."

"Just how many Cullen's are there?" she asked wearily.

"…Seven."

And the explosion would start in 3…2…1…

"WHAT?"

Sigh.

"Hermione, it's not a big deal!"

"Let me get this straight," she said, remarkably calm. "You are choosing to live in a town with seven deadly vampires who are well on their way to discovering what you are, just because you're friends with Edward."

"Er – yeah," I said lamely.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?"

"Last time I checked, no."

"Okay, that's it!" Hermione raged. "I am marching over there right now and dragging you out of that—"

"Their eyes are gold."

"—horrible little town and you are never – wait, what?"

"I said, their eyes are gold, Hermione," I repeated.

"Preposterous. All vampires have red eyes."

"I'm not blind, Hermione."

"Well, they must be using contacts then," she said, as if that solved everything.

"Nope. I've been watching Edward's eyes. They get darker every day. I assume after he's fed they turn back to gold."

"That's… I need to go to the library."

I grinned. "You haven't changed one bit, Hermione."

"I've never heard of a vampire having golden eyes before…" she muttered.

"See? I told you they're different," I said smugly.

"I'm going to do some research. In the meantime, you stay away from them! Or I'll tell everyone that you're hanging out with vampires!"

I narrowed my eyes. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would. I'm calling you tomorrow, okay? Try to stay alive till then."

"Yes, mother."

"See you. And are you sure you don't want me to set up a portkey?"

"GoodBYE, Hermione."

I heard her laughing as I hung up.

It was then that I realized I hadn't even talked to Hermione about my main problem: my feelings for Edward. I cared for him, that was for sure. But I was so damn pissed off that he thought I was weak. He had seen what I had done to that van, for merlin's sake! I shook my head and decided to go for a run. Hopefully that would clear my mind.

I had to admit, seeing Edward and his family now made me a little nervous. With one bite from either of them, I would lose all my magic. Sure, I didn't use magic very often anymore, but it would ruin me if I lost it. I needed magic. It made me who I was. One bite from Edward, and I would never play Quidditch again. Hell, I'd never ride a broom again. My wand would become a useless piece of wood to me. Even the bloody Elder wand would be useless. Maybe what Edward said had some merit to it. I would be a little more careful around Rosalie. I would kill that bitch if she changed me into a vampire and took away my magic.

Edward walked up to me when I was heading to my first class.

"Jenna, I want to apologize for yesterday," he said sincerely. "You just took my whole family so off guard. Nothing like this has ever happened to us."

"I'm sorry too, Edward," I sighed. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. I've just had a lot of experience with people calling me weak. It gets old after a while."

"I wanted you to understand," he said apologetically. "Vampires are extremely strong and extremely fast compared to all other species."

"I know. It's okay, Edward; I get it. You were just concerned about me."

He nodded. "I was very concerned. I just cannot understand you, Jenna. How are you doing this?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

"This," he said, gesturing between us. He lowered his voice. "Calmly walking down the hall with a vampire."

I shrugged. "Well, it's quite simple, Edward. My motor cortex sends a message through my spinal cord and nerves which tells the muscles that I want to move, and because of my musculoskeletal system and cerebellum, I am able to place one foot in front of the other, thus allowing myself to walk down the hall."

"So much for not being interested in Biology," Edward muttered. "And you know what I meant. You should be screaming and running for the hills."

I rolled my eyes. "You're really not that scary. Sorry to burst your bubble."

I had reached my classroom at this point. I smiled at Edward and walked into the room, satisfied with the annoyed expression on his face.

"Oh, Jenna?" Edward called.

I turned around.

He beckoned me over with his finger.

I rolled my eyes and stepped out into the hall again.

"Yes, Edward, is there something you wanted?" I asked in a falsely sweet voice.

His eyes had a mischievous gleam to them. What was he up to?

"Esme has heard all about you, and she really wants to meet you. So my family has invited you over to the house tonight. You wouldn't disappoint them by saying no, would you?"

My jaw dropped. Oh my god, they were going to question me and make me tell them what I was and then when they found out they were going to kill me in extremely painful ways and share my blood between them all and—

Edward interrupted my inner panic by leaning down and whispering in my ear.

"…Are you scared now?"

He straightened up, smirked at me, and walked away.

Why, that little – I'd show him. No one mocks Jenna Potter and gets away with it. No one.

Not even a gorgeous, deadly vampire.

A smirk of my own graced my lips as I watched Edward walk away.

Edward Cullen, I thought, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into.

Yay :)

I finally finished this chapter! I've had a quarter of it done, just sitting on my hard drive for the past however-many months. Today I woke up and decided that I wanted to write! And voila! I honestly had no idea what to do with this story up until today. It's amazing what a bit of motivation can do.

Cheers everyone