Disclaimer: Don't own HP or Twilight. Obviously.
AN: I have discovered that setting up an arranged schedule for posting is like signing the death warrant on stories. First my computer charger burst, then I was just super mega busy and away from my apartment for two weeks, and then I got even more super busy and addicted to Dragon Quest IX. Then my job was getting changed and re-arranged and I never really knew when I would have to work and when I wouldn't, and then I got another story idea I simply HAD to start writing down as well, so… I am still working on this fic and having a lot of fun with it, it's just going slower than I thought.
Originally, mapped out this wasn't a particular long story. I estimated it being around 8 or 10 chapters. But the chapters are moving at a more relaxed pace - not slow, just relaxed. Maybe things will pick up and everything will still fit into my original outline, but I'm not going to be very rigid. Basically, I peck away at the story. I've got little scenes I write out whenever they pop in my head, and write towards those scenes.
I have no Beta, or w/e. So sorry for any of the grammar/spelling mistakes I'm sure I've made and not caught. I hope it doesn't ruin the story too much for you all.
Chapter Two: The Cullens
It was Esme who spotted them first.
It was a very bright, sunny day in Forks, Washington. The type of day most occupants tried to sneak away from their responsibilities to enjoy. The high school students sighed, and procrastinated, and waited until the warning bells sounded before shuffling into class to stare longingly out the windows. And then they'd remember the mysterious and quiet Cullens whose parents – even if they were incredibly young and odd – allowed their children to stay home from school to enjoy days like this. And they'd grumble and huff and whisper to themselves about where the Cullens were and what they were doing.
The Cullens, of course, were hunting.
Emmett, a firm-believer in playing with ones food, was trying to convince Edward and Jasper to play a game with him. It involved flipping their prey over their head backwards and seeing which could throw their poor animal the farthest. Edward caved first. If only to stop Emmett's incessant heckling that he was doing both out loud and in his mind.
Jasper was contemplating the rules.
"It would be more interesting if there were ways to get bonus points."
Emmett laughed, "Sounds good! How about extra points for any type of spin or flair to the throw?"
"And the size of the animal." Alice called out from the sidelines, where she and Rosalie were standing. The smallest of the vampires was bouncing on her heels with amusement.
"This is completely juvenielle," Rosalie huffed. Then, with a long deliberate blink, "Emmett's going to win anyway."
Edward and Jasper immediately put up the necessary token retort that while Emmett might be the strongest it didn't make him as creative, and then the three men were racing to grab their recent kills to prove their point when they heard the popping noises.
Carlisle, who had been walking the perimeter and keeping one eye on his children and one eye on the woods where Esme was still finishing up, was gone in a flash. Edward soon hot on his heels.
So while they all heard the strange and loud popping noises had the same time, it was only Esme, still in the forest, who actually saw them as they arrived.
Startled into complete rigid shock, still in the process of wiping the blood off her lips and chin from the deer at her feet, she only remembered to flinch away when one of the hooded figures spotted her and shot a brightly colored bulb of light at her. From a stick.
It missed her by a hair's breadth, but then she was running at top speed towards Carlisle and Edward. The others were close behind.
"Esme, what happened?" Carlisle crushing her against his chest.
"These men… Carlisle, they appeared out of thin air!"
Carlisle handed her to Rosalie and Alice, ordering them to stay behind him and for Emmett and Jasper to stay back.
"They shot a light at you...?" Edward trailed off, while Esme could only shrug in confusion.
"I'm not sure what it was they did."
Edward frowned, but even as he went over the image he had snagged from his mother's memories a second and then a third time, he couldn't make sense of it. Carlisle, however, tensed further. With the sun striking his skin and setting it aflame with shimmering light, a deep and heavy scowl on his face, he seemed more dangerous than they had ever seen him look before.
"Everyone, stay alert. Be prepared to run at a moment's notice. If I say we are going home, I want no arguments, understood?" He set his tone incredibly low, and his speech fast. The sounds of people running towards them were getting louder.
Alice made a frustrated huff, "Everything I see is a little hazy, but one thing I can make out is that we have a long talk and they don't like our final decision."
Edward glanced at his sister, dipping into her mind to see what she meant. The images were hazy, like they were being viewed through a fog. The voices were muffled, and angry. Alice glanced towards him.
'I'm nervous. I've never had this happen to me.'
"They can't hurt us." Edward said. But Alice didn't seem convinced.
And then the strangers were there, in front of them. The leader held up his hands in the sign for peace. Edward focused, trying to read his thoughts. But the words and images moved around like water and seemed to pinch at the area right behind his eyes, so he stopped. From some of the men and women he caught clearer snatches, mostly fearful muttering about vampires. 'They can't hurt us,' he repeated to himself, but it didn't make the worry go away.
"Please, vampires. Forgive my man who threatened you. We were caught by surprise and reacted on instinct." Long, pale fingers moved to push the hood of his cloak back. It revealed a handsome, naturally pale - humanly pale – face, and calculating grey eyes, and long blonde hair. "My name is Lucius Malfoy, and we only wish to talk to your Sire."
Carlisle took a step forward, and signaled for Emmett and Edward to stay back. Jasper shifted uneasily, moving closer to Alice.
'They're so confident.' He thought towards Edward.
"I am the Sire of this family. You know what we are. How?" Carlisle asked.
Lucius smiled. "Because we are wizards."
Emmett gave a snort of laughter.
Carlisle nodded. "I see. From what I've been told, you don't normally like to associate with our kind."
Lucius nodded back. "This is correct. But circumstances have led us to make strange alliances. There was a war amongst our kind recently, in Britain. A war about standards and traditions. We are a secretive group, like yourselves, and our side was fighting to ensure that our traditions held and we would not have to endure our secret being revealed and spread and our way of life destroyed. We've come to ask for aid, and to speak to the three vampires with special talents that we hear are a part of a local coven."
"We are the only coven in these parts, and none of us match your description. I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to either move on, or stay away from our territory."
Lucius frowned, but did not seem particularly surprised by the dismissal. Edward focused as hard as he could, but whenever he tried to enter the blonde's mind he felt like something was pushing him back and away. Blue eyes flicked towards him briefly, and Edward watched Lucius smile knowingly at him.
"You may not think you match our description, but I can assure you that you match the descriptions we were given. Especially this one," Lucius made a vague gesture towards Jasper. "Some former war veterans were convinced an empath lived here by his description."
Jasper let out a sharp hiss, and suddenly several things happened at once. Carlisle barked out, "Home, now!" and so the Cullens all turned to dash away. Two of the strangers shouted out, "Incindeo!" and something else, and a wall of flame blocked their path. Alice, who had been reaching for Jasper, got hit with a streak of light from Lucius, which caused a deep angry cut along the length of her arm. This sent her screaming to ground, and they all changed to charge at the wizards only to find themselves running into an invisible wall. Their pounding caused three of the five wizards to grunt in pain and crumble to their knees, but it not make the invisible wall disappear.
"I suppose I should have warned you that we weren't really asking." Lucius smiled at them. "Now, it's only really the three we must have come with us. If you would like to keep the rest of your coven alive, Sire Carlisle, I would recommend handing them over quickly and quietly."
"What the hell-" Emmett pounded against the wall, and another wizard wavered. But the three who had seemed hurt were back up and then-
And then the wizards all seemed to suck in a deep breath of air and the wall of fire flickered and lessened, and Jasper was was shouting, "Move, now!"
And even though the fire ripped at the bare skin they dashed through the weaker areas and picked up all the speed they could and were thankful that all the noise behind them faded away - the curses, more popping noises, and the shouts which had doubled in number.
"What the hell was that?"
They were all anxiously standing around in their spotless and empty kitchen staring, because it hadn't been Emmett shouting out the question and curse, but Esme. And if her blood was still flowing, even a tiny bit, they would have seen her flush crimson.
"Sorry. I mean, Alice, are you alright? And Carlisle, dear, please explain what just happened."
Carlisle looked up from where he had been examining the deep cut in Alice's arm. Sluggish blood, already dry had only managed one or two weak dribbles. The area of skin right next to the wound seemed blackened, and spiderwebbed out making a pattern of cracked marble on her arm. Alice gave a pained smile to Esme. Jasper clasped a hand on her shoulder tightly.
"You all know my father had me and others on witch hunts. And during one of those raids I was turned, and I eventually ended up with the Volturi for a small amount of time. Well, they would sometimes talk about witches and wizards, real ones, but I had never actually seen one during my stay with them. It was the type of thing I had mixed feelings about, because my human self would have recoiled in fear, but my vampire self couldn't seem to care about a threat it had never seen. I just," Carlisle shrugged and paced the length of the kitchen faster than any normal eye could follow, "I just sort of pushed the information to the back of my mind and forgot about it."
They didn't need Edwards mind-reading or Jasper's empathy to know that their father was feeling horribly guilty, especially as he disappeared and reappeared with his medical supplies.
"I'm so sorry, Alice. I'm not really sure how to treat a magical wound."
"It's alright, Carlisle. I'm sure you'll figure something out." Alice smiled, her small pixie-like face pinched with a little pain - a foreign expression for many of the Cullens - but still showed her sincerity in forgiving Carlisle of any blame.
"Even if they can somehow block Alice and I, it seems they couldn't block Jasper." Edward grimaced at how he hadn't been able to get a clear read on Lucius' mind.
Jasper, eyes blazing with fury, nodded tightly. "I twisted their adrenaline towards fear instead of excitement."
"You think you could that again. Maybe we can go back and pummel those magicians." Emmett growled.
"You most certainly will try no such thing!" Esme said. Rosalie, who had been quietly seething, moved forward to pull her mother into a hug. She glared at her husband.
"Of course we're not going to go back to those horrible people. We need to…" Rosalie winced, hating her next words, "We need to move again. Get away from here. At least until we know a bit more about them."
They all fell silent, knowing that what Rosalie had said was probably the right course of action. But it didn't make it any easier.
"But, they can disappear and reappear at will. How do we know they simply can't find us again?" Esme asked.
"Alice, any idea on what we should do?" Carlisle finished wrapping bandages around her arm. His smallest daughter hummed, her eyes taking on a faraway look, but she only grimaced. "I still can't get anything substantial. We're too undecided right now."
There was nothing they could say about that. In each of them was the same war going on - fight or flight?
Carlisle nodded, a human trait many of them had never dropped.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that staying in the house will probably be a bit too dangerous. They saw us heading in this direction. We should split up and head to hotels. Emmett, Jasper and I will keep an eye on the surroundings while the rest of you pack, then we'll switch."
Jasper and Emmett were heading towards the front door when a small series of POPs sounded nearby. Their heightened senses catching the noise, they all rushed to the backyard. The POPs sounded again, and then again, coming closer. Alice was ordered to stay in the back with Esme. The others all formed a protective half circle around Esme and Alice.
But the people who popped into existence in front of them were nothing like the ones they had fought. They also appeared quite a ways away, to the point where the wizards and witches thought they needed to shout in order to be heard. If the Cullens weren't vampires, they would have had to.
There was three of them. One was young looking, but bulky, remarkably similar in size and shape to Emmet. He was dressed in deep scarlet robes, and strange looking leathers. When he shifted nervously they could see he held his wand in his hand, and on a belt there appeared to be a sheathed dagger. There was another in the same robes, but it was a tall woman, who's hair shifted from blue to bright pink after she coughed.
The Cullens stared wide-eyed when it happened.
The third was a tall, old man. Emmett muttered, "Fuck. It's Merlin," under his breath. This made Alice snicker, and the others to smile tightly.
The old man could certainly be Merlin. He had a long white beard and hair. His robes were bright purple robes with little green and yellow dragons flying along the hem line and up and down his sleeves. His eyes were bright blue and shimmered with power. He was smiling kindly at them.
"Good afternoon, dear coven. We mean you no harm or anything of that nature. We realize you've just been in contact with a formidable group of Death Eaters and come hoping to help you if they've… well, undoubtedly they assaulted you since evidence points to you dismissing their offer."
This caused them all to tense again, but Carlisle sent them all warning signs against attacking.
Emmett just bit out, "What the hell is a death eater?"
The wizards, feeling that things were well enough to move forward a bit, were able to catch Emmett's question.
"Ah, a Death Eater is a wizard devoted to dark magic and destruction, leftover terrorists from a terrible war." The old man answered.
"A war?" Carlisle said.
"Yes. It was quite terrible, and has been going on for a long time. These two," the old man gestured towards the two in scarlet robes, "are Aurors. Police officers, if you will. El Frolock and Nymphadora Tonks."
The woman winced, and sent the old man a small glare.
"It's just Tonks, thank you." Tonks gave them all a big wink. Despite themselves, it did a world of good towards making the Cullens all relax. Alice giggled much more openly this time.
"Nymphadora is a pretty name, though." She said.
Tonks just sighed, "You wouldn't be saying that if it was your name."
The old man was smiling widely.
"My name is Albus Dumbledore. Impressive for you all to have escaped the Death Eaters unharmed."
The Cullens watched Carlisle sigh and beckon to Alice, who moved surely into her fathers arms. After the light hug he tore the bandages off.
"We did not escape completely unscathed." He said.
The three wizards all hummed in sympathy. Dumbledore motioned to El, who took out a small match-box sized pack from a hidden pocket. He tapped his wand on it twice, and it grew into a much larger packet. Dumbledore took it from him and smiled at the Cullens.
"Perhaps we can go inside and discuss things further. Also, this will help with the wound."
Edward focused his mind. Once again he grew frustrated, getting nothing from Albus. But when he let his powers wander towards El and Tonks he got the same watery senses as some of the Death Eaters. They both seemed to be thinking about the battle that had just happened, and whether or not they should return to the comrades they left behind scouting the area.
Edward noticed Carlisle looking at him. Edward nodded his head, only a little uncertainly. It would appear, at the very least, that these wizards meant them no immediate harm. And they said they could help Alice.
"Please, come in." Carlisle said.
"Excellent!" The old wizard beamed happily.
They were all gathered in the kitchen. Rosalie had stationed herself in a corner and was glaring mistrustfully. Jasper wasn't doing much better, as he hovered near Alice. Carlisle was in his element as he watched El apply a liberal amount of a pungent, purple cream to the cut on Alice's arm.
"This is going to feel very odd. And it might tingle a little painfully for a while. It's turning the area into live flesh and knitting things back together and then it's all turning back into dea-well, vampire flesh. The cut's mighty bigger than I thought at first look so it will need to be applied a couple more times."
The muscled man seemed to be only slightly nervous working on a vampire and being surrounded by her coven. Though he only once glanced back towards the old wizard, and his presence seemed to calm both Aurors greatly. This was not lost on the Cullens, especially Emmett, who had watched every bit of magic the old man had done and joked constantly about Merlin and King Arthur.
Auror Tonks found this hilarious.
"He might as well be Merlin. Headmaster Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard alive for almost a hundred years."
Dumbeldore was sipping tea from a conjured tea set. Tonks was stirring in liberal amounts of conjured sugar and honey into her own cup. Emmett held one of the cups in his hands and was eyeing it like any moment it would either disappear or turn into a giant bear.
"Was? Almost?" Edward questioned.
Tonks faltered for a bit. Even El looked up from his explanations to Alice and Carlisle to stare at the old wizard.
The Cullens watched curiously, as the old wizard merely smiled.
"Yes. There is a younger wizard now that probably could give me a very good run for my money. Probably win too, if he really wanted. In fact, this is a good time to tell you a bit more about the war and the Death Eaters. And, of course, why they are after you."
Dumbledore took a long breath.
"In the fifties a child came to Hogwarts. He had a most depressing childhood and it, unfortunately, made him cruel. This anger and hatred was well masked from most people, but it grew inside of him until he disappeared after graduation to study the Dark Arts. Dark magic is needed just as much as light magic, balance is important in our world. But the type of Dark magic this person studied was the darkest and worst of them all, I'm afraid. And he grew into a powerful dark wizard named Voldemort."
The Cullens saw El wince, and Tonks did too. Though she concealed it much better. Dumbledore sent the two a small frown, but continued.
"Almost nineteen years ago, at the height of his power, he attacked a family to kill a baby that was prophesized to have the power to defeat him. The spell he used, called Avada Kedavra, or The Killing Curse, has no counter. But when he turned it on the baby it backfired for the first time in history and it banished Voldemort's soul from his body. He disappeared for many years, weakened. The baby lived and grew up, and when Voldemort found a way to gain a new body and started the war again with his Death Eaters, eventually the child did, finally, truly defeat Voldemort. Three years ago. The rogue Death Eaters are now hopping around the world, trying to find allies to continue the war effort. It's why they are after your family."
Silence fell as everyone in the room took in the story and thought about it. Esme turned worried topaz eyes towards her husband and mate. Carlisle tried to smile, but he could only think about the wound on Alice's arm and the fact that for the first time they had hunters after them they might not be able to beat.
"Now, I think it's a good time to talk about protections. After all, the Death Eaters will return. Our sources state they are very interested in three of your members." Dumbledore banished the empty tea cups with a flick of his wrist. Emmett gave a small yelp when the one in his hands disappeared.
"Crazy." Emmett grinned.
"We don't need protection. We'll run and hide." Edward argued. His voice was sharp with frustration, and he was descending into one of his darker moods. Carlisle, knowing the temperament of his family members more than anyone could see how quickly both Edward and Rosalie were descending into anger. Esme had moved towards Alice and Jasper, as though seeking to comfort the two who had been wounded the most by the circumstances.
"You could. But they might find you again. They feel they would need to find you. And we might not be able to get to you fast enough the next time."
Dumbledore's words practically cut through the vampires. Rage was beginning to spread through most of them, and if they hadn't only just eaten Carlisle would be doubly concerned that Jasper would lose control and attack the wizards.
"We can't stop you from leaving and doing what you think is best. But please, hear me out first." Dumbledore never once lost the kind twinkle in his eyes, or the small understanding smile on his face.
"Of course." Carlisle said.
"Now, this is a wonderful opportunity to cut out the heart of the Death Eater resistance. Many of the most influential were in the group you encountered. We would have a team of Aurors come in, to shadow you as you go through your days. We'll be sweeping the area, as well. Meanwhile, your home will be put under very strong protective wards. We'll try to make it as large as possible, to get a good amount of the forest in it for smaller hunts."
"So you're going babysit us and use us as bait?" Rosalie snapped.
"Rosalie." Carlisle warned.
"That's quite alright. And I suppose that is one way to look at things. But in this scenario you don't need to leave your home. I assure that that when I say you'll have people shadowing you, they won't be influencing your day in any way beyond making it safer. This may change if the situation escalates, but for now we're going to try and keep things simple but efficient until we catch the Death Eaters or they run off."
Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and Edward all hissed at being thought of as victims. Like they were someone's prey. Only now were they realizing what being vampires had truly done to the way they perceived themselves in the grand scheme of the world. Now that their superiority was being so soundly tested. It made for some very disgruntled vampires and lots of glaring.
Esme and Carlisle, however, wanted to do whatever they could to remove the threat against their children.
"And these wards? What would they do?" Esme asked.
Dumbledore's expression turned at once from serious and calm to bright and cheery. "Ah yes, the wards! Why, to make permanent and lasting wards, the strongest, would be incredibly expensive and time consuming. The Ministry has rather, unyielding feelings towards vampires so it would probably not be approved. Instead, we'll place some temporary runic stones and circles to be charged and maintained by a powerful, and experienced wizard."
Tonks gave a bark of a laugh. "Sorry, it's just, if you're talking about Harry you'll never convince him."
Dumbledore waved a hand, as though banishing her words like he had done the tea cups. "Nonsense. First of all, I did not specifically say I meant for Harry to be the one. Though he is my first choice. I'm sure, given the circumstances and with a little persuasion he'll come around."
"You can't be seriously saying you're going to have some prejudiced wizard staying in our house!" Rosalie snapped.
Tonks flushed bright red, and Jasper shifted nervously at the sudden and powerful surge of anger he felt.
"Harry is the least prejudiced wizard there is!" She snapped.
Dumbledore hurried to stop the looming threat of a fight.
"I assure you, Tonks speaks the truth. Harry has friends from many walks of life, including goblins, elves, and werewolves. He will not think any less of you for what you are. It's merely that Harry has… had a very hard life. Very hard. And after defeating Voldemort, he has mostly sworn off fighting."
The Cullens all made the connection between what Dumbledore had just said and the story about the war. They remembered clearly the secretive way Dumbledore has spoke of the defeater of Voldemort's power.
"Are you sure this will be safe?" Esme asked.
"I can assure you, Harry and a very experienced team will be setting up these wards. They will protect your home. The Aurors will be working diligently to capture the Death Eaters, so your lives may return to normal."
"Man, having a magician living with us. Come on, babe, it could be fun." Emmett tugged Rosalie into a stiff hug. The blonde huffed, put she could already tell from the look in Esme and Carlisle's eyes that the plan was going to be approved.
"If you're certain…" Carlisle said slowly.
"Excellent! Now, you're all in some way a bit magical yourselves so an Unbreakable vow will be able to smooth many worries out." Dumbledore, with Tonks interjecting, explained what an Unbreakable Vow was.
"Harry will undoubtedly refuse to come without Lily, so I just need to all to swear you shall do no harm to either Harry or Lily Potter. Like so," Dumbledore showed them all how to hold their hands up, and to truly express their intent with the magic of their vampirism. It took a few tries, but they all eventually did feel a sort of solemn pull to their words. As though their was a small coil wrapped comfortably around their hearts.
"Now I must be off. El and Tonks shall remain to act as guard, while I set things up. Expect Harry and Lily," at a look from Tonks Dumbeldore corrected himself. "Expect your guard or guards to be arriving within the next few days. Until then, do ask Tonks and El about anything you'd like."
With a POP, Dumbledore disappeared.
Emmett laughed, "Just like Merlin."
Esme fluttered about the kitchen like a confused dove. Having never entertained guests before, and being vampires, she had nothing to really offer them. Carlisle and Alice were quizzing Tonks and El on the nutritional aspect of conjured food. El was warming up on the subject, describing at length that conjured food was filling, but lacking in almost everything truly nutritional. This made Esme more determined than ever to acquire actual food, which is how Edward, Emmett and El found themselves sent shopping, and Tonks found herself nervously fiddling under the intense stare of five vampires.
"So, Tonks, do tell us about yourself." Esme smiled warmly.
Tonk shrugged, "Well, I don't have much against vampires. I mean, I could hardly date a werewolf and then turn around and denounce vampires."
This was, apparently, the wrong way to start. Rosalie sneered, "Werewolves."
Tonks immediately went on the defensive, warm memories of Remus flooding her mind as well as last night's love making. And here this person was sneering at that. Bright red with a hex burning on her tongue, Tonks fumed. Esme and Carlisle quickly tried to salvage the situation.
"Rose, darling. Don't be rude." Esme scolded.
"Remus is a brilliant man, werewolf or not. And he's got nothing against vampires either. Saved one from death not too many years ago, at his own personal risk." Tonks sniffed.
"He sounds very kind." Esme said.
Rosalie flipped her blonde hair and stormed into the living room to show her displeasure. She did, however, still want to be able to clearly hear the conversation. Jasper, as a precaution, sent of wave of calm through the room.
Alice moved closer to Tonks.
"Can all wizards change their hair like you can?"
One pixy face grinned at another.
"First off, I'm a witch not a wizard. Though there's really not much of difference, just the gender. And no, I'm a metamorphus. It's a rare trait I inherited from my mother's side of the family. And I can change more than just my hair."
To demonstrate, Tonks slowly morphed into the shape of Albus Dumbledore and than back.
Alice and Esme were delighted, and even Rosalie was impressed enough to walk back into the kitchen.
"What's the wizardry world like?" Alice asked.
Tonk spent the better part of an hour telling the five all about her mother and father, how their marriage was considered impure to some, about the Ministry and its corruption and how it was only now starting to pick up the pieces after the war, about Hogwarts - Tonks lovely described the lake and the castle and the ghosts, and she may have exaggerated a tiny bit about the Hufflepuff house - she was just starting to talk about the many different magical creatures when the El and the others returned.
Esme insisted that she and Jasper would cook dinner for the two wizards. Tonks and El exchanged hesitant looks, after all these were vampires offering to cook for them, but when they saw the eagerness in Esme's soft features it would have been trying to refuse Molly Weasley's third helpings.
Esme and Jasper turned out to be amazing cooks.
"What is this again?" El asked around a mouthful of chicken.
"Spiced chicken. Southern style, the only style worth remembering even after all these years." Jasper said, and his family was shocked by the almost carefree and gentle way he said it.
"Bloody amazing!" Tonks gushed, spearing another one for herself.
"So, what are the Potter's like?" Carlisle asked.
Edward caught a blast of noise from the witch and wizard before their minds quieted down into the fog he was used to. They had both been worried about what they could say and what they couldn't, and he had snagged onto a slightly blurred image of a slender male figure with messy black hair from Tonks.
"Oh, Harry is a right chap. You'll see. He's kind of quiet and shy. He used to have a bit of a temper, at least for a year or two while he was in school. Then again he had a psychotic killer out for his blood." Tonks shrugged, starting to look a little uncomfortable.
"I've only met him once or twice, personally, but he was very polite. Hell of a dueler. I saw him practicing once with the trainees for kicks. Beat them all, and the trainers too." El supplied.
"Well, he had to get good, didn't he? But it was a fun sight. Especially when he ended the duel with Kingsley with a tickle spell."
The two Aurors smiled at the memory.
Then Tonks grew sad and sighed, "It's just not right the type of luck the poor guy has. Just when he started to relax he loses Luna."
"Luna?" Esme pressed, when the Aurors had picked silently at their food for a few minutes.
Tonks immediately backed off the subject, "Sorry. Mind wanders off without my brain sometimes. Best to let Harry be the one to share the story, if it's to be shared at all."
El nodded in agreement.
The Cullens knew when not to press.
"And Lily Potter?" Alice asked.
Tonks brightened, "Well, she's just about the cutest thing ever! So tiny! She's got Luna's looks for sure."
"Tiny?" Rosalie asked, a little sharply at that.
Tonks stiffened, still a little miffed about the werewolf comment.
"Yeah. Cutest little baby there is."
After a few seconds of shocked silence, Esme and Alice let out loud squeals.
"Baby!"
Esme and Alice were delighted. The others all had varying looks of shock on their faces. Rosalie was strangely quiet, staring off in the distance with an unreadable look in her eyes. By the time Edward realized and tried to read her mind to know what she was thinking, she was already hiding her thoughts behind the catchy songs on the radio.
It was times like these that Edward wished his mind reading was also a type of telepathy. As much as he and Roaslie fought at times, he knew that she was probably struggling with a lot of strong emotions. If he could project his thoughts into her mind he could comfort her privately. As it was, it didn't appear they'd get any time alone until they received word back from Dumbledore.
"Yes. She'd be about… well four or five months I think. Adorable little thing. It's why I don't think Dumbledore will get Harry to agree. He's very protective of her," Tonks said. "Though we'll know by tonight at the latest. Dumbledore doesn't like to waste time, and once he clears everything with the Ministry he'll head straight to the Burrow to ask Harry."
"To give Dumbledore a little credit, Harry's magic will make the wards incredibly powerful. He's got very strong protective instincts, so the wards will like that. His help really would be the best in lieu of more expensive and permanent fixtures." Tonks said after a moment of contemplation.
Alice and Esme, and occasionally Rosalie when the two women could rope the third into participating, were planning out where their future house guest would be staying. They decided to make the downstairs study, normally Esme's workspace, into the new guest bedroom. Despite Tonks warnings that Harry and Lily might not be coming, Alice and Esme were having a hard time planning like the room wouldn't also be housing a baby.
"Oh, but we don't have any of the necessary baby things! Like a crib." Esme fretted.
The Cullens were gutting the study and storing Esme's art supplies and paintings into boxes to put in the attic. In the hallway a clock went off, signally the hour was now noon.
Tonks and El shrugged.
"If Lily really is coming, we can transfigure one of the paper weights into a crib." El said. When he was met with blank stares he took out his wand and showed them.
Tonks burst into giggles.
"Oh, that's the ugliest crib I've ever seen!" Tonks clutched at her side. El blushed a bit, but shrugged as though to say, 'I'm male, and I don't have any kids, so what?'
It really was ugly. The wood was a dull brown, and the whole thing was much squatter than a more modern crib would be. El had tried to include a little parasol type thing for decoration, but it loomed over the crip like a dark, flimsy bat wing. Tonks slashed her wand at it. The crib stood up much straighter, and the wood was shinier. The parasol was gone, and she had managed to include a lumpy looking mattress and bright pink sheets.
"Well, maybe we should let Harry transfigure the crib," Tonks blushed, when El feigned blindness because of the sheets.
Emmett and Jasper were poking the crib, Emmett's enthusiasm for anything magical infecting his normally stoic brother.
Then two loud pops had the Aurors spinning around, curses on their lips.
"Hello again," beamed Dumbledore. At his side was a tall, black wizard. Tonks and El immediately nodded respectively and bid welcome to their boss. Kingsley Shacklebolt grinned, shaking his head as he looked critically at the Cullens.
"You must be Sire Cullen," Kingsley said, as he shook Carlisle's hand.
"Just Carlisle, will be fine."
"Fair enough." Kingsley looked bemusedly at the crib. Tonks immediately cancelled the spell and turned it back into a paperweight. Emmett picked it up and slowly packed it into one of the boxes. "I'm Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. It's a pleasure. I'm here to talk to you about the team of Aurors and concerned citizens who will be making up your guard. Albus will be answering any questions you have about the living arrangement concerning Harry Potter and his daughter."
"Wotcher, you actually weaseled Harry into agreeing." Tonks said. Then blushed when she realized how it sounded.
"Harry was concerned, but is also ready for these messy loose ends to be tied up." Dumbledore replied.
If the bright looks in Esme and Alice's eyes were anything to go by, the Cullens would have little against the plan.
AN2: I debated long and hard with whether or not I wanted to Carlisle to have any knowledge of magic. I decided in the long run it didn't really matter that much. Even with hearing magic is real, without ever having seen it he probably would have suspected the Volturi were mostly jesting with him. I'm trying to be fairly true to canon up until the 6th HP book, but it's been a long time since I've re-read the series so spell names, and whatnot might not be completely accurate.