I had everything I ever wanted.
Edward and I were both vampires, together for all eternity.
Our daughter was safe and happy and growing up healthy.
I had Jacob, my personal sun, by my side.
It was my perfect piece of forever.
And then we went to England.
It started when a letter arrived at the front door. Emmett being Emmett decided that, as it was addressed to Edward, he had every right to read it to the world. Jacob agreed. But of course Edward's faster than the others.
I was standing in the living room, the weak rays of the setting sun giving the room a pinky haze, with Renesmee in my arms. She was getting so big. Her legs wrapped around my waist, her arms round my neck, watching the sun play off my skin. I watched Emmett and Jacob's attempt to gang up on Edward with a smile on my lips, my big brother and my best friend wrestling with my husband. Then Edward got Emmett in a head lock at the same time as kneeling on Jacob's back, so that Edward and Emmett's combined weights kept him down. Edward ripped the letter out of Emmett's hands. Renesmee giggled and sleepily clapped her hands together from round my neck. Edward was laughing right up until he looked at the letter properly.
From where I was standing I could see the letter was made of proper parchment, a bit like what our wedding invitations were made from. I could see the address as Edward turned it over in his hands, "Edward Cullen, Cullen House, Forks, Washington, America."
It wasn't our normal address, Only someone from Forks would have been able to deliver it properly, and even then, finding the obscure turning off the main road was no easy task. It didn't even have a postage stamp.
"Daddy, who's that letter from?"
Edward looked up, some emotion I didn't recognise already leaving his eyes. "Some old friends, Nessie."
Renesmee crunched her eyebrows together in a frown, turned her head up to me and pressed her hand to my head. She sent me "Is Daddy okay?"
I smiled down at her, poking my tongue out and tickling her stomach. "Just because he doesn't tell you absolutely everything doesn't mean he's sick. He is allowed to have some privacy you know."
But I was worried.
That evening after we had put Renesmee to bed he asked me if we could go away for a while.
We were lying on the deck chairs Jasper had made us out of some of the trees surrounding our cottage. It was our very own star gazing spot. We were leaning back, hand in hand staring at the sky.
"Bella, I need to go somewhere tomorrow. I cant tell you why I'm going, but I don't want to lie to you."
Edward shifted in his seat to stare into my eyes.
"So I want you to come with me."
Straight away I opened my mouth to ask the hundred questions that were fighting to burst through, and quick as a flash Edward put a finger on my lips, a smile playing across his.
"Don't ask any questions, Bella love. I cant answer them. So I'm just going to take you and Renesmee with me."
Edward lent forward, his finger still pressed against my lips. Those pools of liquid Bronze were hard to resist, and against my better judgement I felt my self accepting what he was saying. I was almost annoyed at my lack of resistance.
"I want you to know that I wont leave your side, I'm not running off to have an affair, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'm simply going to see an old friend and then we're going to have a nice family holiday."
He moved his hand to stroke my check. Edwards face was all soft smiles and reassurances, but in his eyes I could see he was afraid. Afraid I was going to be upset or demand answers or ban him and force him to sneak off.
Instead I smiled and kissed him. And then a few hours later I said I would go with him, and just trust him on this one.
So we found ourselves, under a Gray and lifeless sky, in Devon, in the tiny village of Ottery St. Catchpole. And we were hiding in a tree. Of course Renesmee loved it. She had started to make a nest of her own in the upper branches, while I held Edwards hand as he looked down on the funeral taking place in the rambling graveyard bellow.
The coffin had been lowered into the ground, and the mourners were leaving. I could read the gravestone from the tree and was trying to ignore the jumbled mutterings of the mourners. One tall, slightly portly, old man with fading red hair put his arm around his wife, who was blowing her nose into a handkerchief. His voice carried on the wind to Edward and I.
"Goodbye Amos my old friend. Your with your boy now, give him my best."
His wife looked up at him, her face was turned away from me but it sounded like there was a smile in her voice.
"Come-on my love, we've got a wake to host."
The old man snorted as he turned away from the grave. "Wake... Do you know the abuse Amos would give us for calling it a "wake"! He would demand an epic party at least!"
They walked off, presumably to their home, and once the mourners had all left the graveyard Edward squeezed my hand and jumped down from the tree. I whispered, so that only Renesmee would here, for her to stay in the tree and play safely, then I jumped down after my husband.
We walked across the graveyard to the hole in the ground. Edward stood there at the foot of the grave and just stared at the final resting place of Amos who was loved by his friends, and had lost his son. I looked up at Edward, intertwining my fingers with his. His face was blank, but in his eyes were pain.
"Who was he, sweetheart?"
Edward smiled at me timidly. "Someone I knew from another life. He was my... he was a good man. I miss him."
I squeezed his hand and we stood like that for a while.
And that's when it happened.
Edward jerked, his whole body reacting to something I hadn't sensed. He flung my hand away from him as he spun to face behind us, his body stiff. Instantly I reacted, spinning to face our attacker, moving to put my self between him and my daughter, a snarl building in my throat.
The man was around 30, average hight, with a shock of untidy black hair that stuck up at the back. We was wearing jeans under a long black coat of cotton, a green knitted jumper and glasses. He stood with the average confidence of a man who has gone through life and beaten every problem. On the ground at his feet was a white rose. I could smell that he was human, so of course the fact that my husband and I had just moved quicker than the eye could trace worried me a little bit. But my worry was unfounded. The man was so stunned at what he was seeing that my reaction had seemed to have gone unnoticed. He was staring at Edward's face.
Several emotions blurred across his face at once; sock, joy, grief, confusion. All finally settling into rage.
Before either of us could react, which in it self is down right impressive, the man had punched Edward in the face with enough force to knock him to the ground. Again, impressive.
He snarled and moved forward, as if to kick Edward but I was there first. I grabbed him from behind and spun him away, causing him to hit the ground rolling as I crouched between him and Edward.
The man staggered to his feet, nursing the hand he'd hit Edward with, his face still contorted with rage.
"You... You bastard! You've been alive this whole time!? Do you know what I... how much pain I... how much pain we all went through!? Where the bloody hell have you been!?"
Behind me, Edward slowly got to his feet. He placed his hand on my shoulder, pulling me to mine. Slipping his fingers around my hand he moved me away from the gaping hole of Amos Diggory's grave
"Bella love, this is an old friend of mine. Harry, I would like you to meet my wife Bella Swan. Sweetheart, this is Harry Potter."