Summary: Petunia and Dudley are killed in a car crash leaving Harry without the blood protection that he needs. Dumbledore is able to track down Harry's closest "living" relative, Jasper Whitlock Cullen. Harry finds more than just family… dare I say it… love. Angst with a side of Slash. Post-Order of the Phoenix. AbNaGbEyL Harry Potter/ Twilight 'Harry Whitlock' Challenge response. The title and story are also inspired by the song "Howl" by Florence and the Machine.

Pairings: HP/maybe Jacob but definitely one of the wolves, canon pairings for all others (maybe with the exception of Edward and Bella- I really hate Bella).

Rating: Eventually-M

Disclaimer: I do not own either Harry Potter or the Twilight series. However, it would be lovely if I did!

A/N: I wrote this quite a long time ago and lost my HP/Twi fascination. Let me know if you want me to write more!

Funerals are always bad. Always. If someone tells you that they were at a "nice" funeral it is because they didn't actually like the person who died. Or they didn't know them. Or they simply didn't care.

Harry Potter wasn't sure exactly what category he would fall under. He hadn't actually liked the people who died. He never really knew them and he couldn't find it within himself to care that they were dead. This was especially awkward because "they" were his Aunt Petunia and his cousin, Dudley.

He watched dispassionately as his uncle wailed, slumped over the coffin of his only son. Harry guessed, that if pressed, he would say that he did feel pity for his uncle—if Vernon Dursley could even be called that now that Petunia was dead. He knew what it was to lose everything in an instant.

Harry's life had been dominated by such moments. His losses were the things that defined him in the eyes of most of the world. On Privet Drive he had been known as the delinquent orphan that Petunia and Vernon had been so kind as to take in. In the Wizarding World, Harry was the hero whose life had been governed by tragedy. Loss was as much a part of his celebrity as Voldemort and his cursed scar.

Petunia would have liked her funeral, Harry decided. All the women from Privet Drive to Magnolia Crescent were all there and rambling endlessly about what a wonderful woman she was; what a beautiful home she kept; what a glorious garden she maintained. Petunia would have been pleased to know that, even in death, she got all the credit for Harry's hard work.

She had finally achieved perfection and was the paragon of the neighborhood—she only had to die young to do it!

Dudley was no longer the horrid bully either. Now everyone was nattering on about what a sportsman the large boy had been. If it could be considered sportsmanlike to have your mates hold down someone five years younger and more than a hundred pounds lighter while you beat and robbed them, then Dudley had been a champion sportsman.

It was amazing what dying does for one's reputation, Harry mused. To amuse himself he began composing headlines in his head, wondering just what would the Wizarding World say about Harry Potter after his death.

-0-0-0-0-

Thousands of miles away an unusual family was about to have an experience that was odd, even for them. The day began much like dozens of other days that they had experienced. Once again the members of the family were arriving at their new home. Unlike most families that have five children, there was no squabbling over who got what room. There were no harassed parents and no one complaining about the labor involved in unloading the large moving truck and unpacking all of their possessions.

They all moved efficiently in what would appear to be an almost choreographed ballet, each moving around the other with inhuman speed and grace.

Jasper Hale watched contentedly as his family glided about the house. Occasionally his eyes would settle on a dark-haired, young woman and they would fill with warmth. If someone had asked him one hundred years before if he thought he would achieve this kind of happiness he would have laughed… bitterly.

Finding his Alice, who led him to a life where love and laughter and companionship were the norm, was a miracle that he never could have anticipated. Jasper had initially questioned her decision to stay with the Cullens. To him they had been idealists with little grasp on the realities of life. The life of a vampire was one of intense passion. Blood and death is the way of the vampire. Their "vegetarian" lifestyle was a joke.

But as it turned out, it was no joke. The Cullens had proven that to Jasper. Carlisle worked day-after-day saving the lives of humans. He immersed himself in blood every day and was never tempted. Rosalie had never even tasted the blood of a human. The rest had fallen at times, but they too had found the strength to try again. They refused to give up. For that he admired them all tremendously.

Now he had family. Brothers and a sister who were as wonderful as they were exasperating and Carlisle and Esme took their role as parents very seriously. Jasper had seen too much of the horrors of life, even while human, to be able to accept them in such a capacity, but he appreciated the sentiment none the less. It made it easier for him to pretend, in his more light-hearted moments, that life could be kind.

He had learned to trust his mate. She had never led him wrong. And it was Alice who was the herald of change now, as she had been so many times before. All motion in the house halted when Alice froze and let out a loud gasp.

"They're coming." She whispered. "Stay calm."

There was a loud crack and a flash of bright light that faded to reveal two very different men. Both were tall and that was about the only thing that they had in common.

The older one was easily the oldest looking man that Jasper had ever seen. He had a long, wiry gray beard that was so long it was tucked into his belt to keep out of the way. While this was definitely notable, it was his clothing that drew the eye. Long, billowing purple robes swirled around his thin frame and if you looked closely you could see silver shooting stars flying around the bottom hem and on the sleeves at the wrist. On his head he wore a tall pointed hat that bent slightly in the middle. In one hand he carried a shiny stick and in the other was a glowing red crystal about the size of a baseball.

The other man was imposing. That is the kindest word Jasper could come up with in a pinch. He appeared to be in his late thirties and was dressed in black from head to toe, also in billowing robes. His was face was unattractive and scowling. Most startling was a distinct aura of menace that emanated from him which set all of the vampires on edge.

"Albus," he growled to the old man after breaking eye contact with Jasper and shifted to examine Alice with equal intensity. "You cannot possible mean for the boy to stay with them."

The old man, Albus, sighed tiredly. "If you have a better option, Severus, I am open to hearing it. Blood wards are still the strongest and most untraceable and Harry's options are extremely limited, at best."

"I thought that the ritual was to search out the closest living relative. If animated corpses are all you need, we should simply dig up the boy's useless father." Severus sneered—his eyes never leaving the motionless vampires. He had grown even more tense when the rest of the family had all but materialized behind Jasper and Alice. Seven vampires staring at you was an intimidating sight, even without the trademark blood-red eyes. Rosalie's rumbling growl certainly didn't help matters.

The old man looked at the dark man disapprovingly for a moment before turning to the gathered vampires.

"I apologize," he said "for my companion's comments and our unannounced intrusion into your home, but I am afraid that I am here to discuss a rather serious matter with one of you. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am headmaster of a boarding school in Scotland and my companion is Severus Snape, one of the school's professors."

"I am sure that you are wondering at the method of our arrival." Dumbledore continued, his genial tone was meant to be soothing. Conversely, the old man's blue eyes were razor sharp as they seemed to evaluate each of the vampires in turn. He lingered when examining Edward, Alice and most especially Jasper.

"What do you know if you don't mind my asking, about magic?" He asked gently.

Emmett snorted with laughter. Other than Rosalie's growl, it was the first sound that any of the vampires made since the arrival of their strange guests.

"What do you mean? Like pointy hats and magic… wands…?" His voice trailed away as he looked again at the men, both holding polished sticks and one was quite conspicuously donning a pointy hat.

Alice moved with exaggerated slowness to Emmett's side. She smiled and said "You might not want to talk for a while. It would be for the best."

Carlisle stepped forward and smiled and the wizards. "I have heard something of the Wizarding World. It was several centuries ago, however."

"Good, good." Dumbledore smiled brightly. "You'll find that in the Wizarding World change comes very slowly and would likely appear much the same today as it did several centuries ago. Our long lifespan (which in your eyes must seem to be quite short) ensures slow progress, for good or for ill."

"We are here on behalf of one of our students who, has recently lost the last of his known family and is in need of a place to stay for the duration of the summer holidays. My companion and I performed a ritual that would bring us to the nearest blood relation on his maternal line. It seems that you, sir," The old wizard said, smiling at Jasper, "are just who we were looking for."

Jasper didn't know exactly how to respond to the ancient looking man. He could feel the emotions of the two wizards and knew that despite his twinkling and happy façade, the old man was extremely worried. The darker wizard was feeling only disgust and impatience.

"I am this child's closest living relative?" Jasper asked incredulously. He wasn't sure what to think about the decline of his family line.

"Yes." The dark haired wizard sneered. "Although to call you 'living' is a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?"

"Severus." Dumbledore rebuked mildly. "We are not here to aggravate them, but to beg their assistance."

"How old is he?" Rosalie asked. Jasper could feel her hope and was surprised to feel it echoed by Alice. She had never expressed any longing for children the way Rosalie had. Even Esme's emotions became decidedly wistful at the mention of a child.

"Harry will be sixteen on the thirty-first of July." The elderly wizard's response dampened Rosalie's hopefulness, but did not seem to affect the other two.

"I must ask, I'm sure that you will understand, about the color of your eyes. They are most remarkable. I have never met a vampire with anything like." Jasper was almost overwhelmed by the curiosity emanating from the two wizards. He gasped when he felt a strange tingling feeling sweep over his skin. He heard Alice make a nearly inaudible choking sound and Edward was visibly startled.

"Oh dear." Albus said as he peered at them over the top of his glasses. "I apologize if that was at all uncomfortable for you. It would seem that several of you have some latent magical abilities." He paused before asking, "Were the three of you magical in your human lives?"

"Squibs, at best Albus." The dark one said sharply. "The change can magnify undeveloped abilities. It's rare, but not unheard of. Why aren't your eyes red?" He snapped the last question at the vampires.

Carlisle smiled lightly, ignoring the wizard's sneering hostility, and spoke in a soothing voice that Jasper imagined worked extraordinarily well on Carlisle's human patients. "We like to call ourselves vegetarians. We feed from animals exclusively. I can only surmise that the slight differences in the composition of the blood causes our eyes to differ from those of our kind who feed on human blood."

Albus broke into a wide grin. "Excellent." He said happily. "That demonstrates an admirable regard for human life, doesn't it Severus? I think that this could work out splendidly! Shall my companion and I give you a few moments to discuss this amongst your coven? I am afraid we have little time to spare. Harry cannot be left long with such limited protections…"