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Chapter Text

Harry wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing. 

Well, okay, that’s not true, he was aware that he was hopping in place like some kind of neurotic bunny and breathing weirdly. It reminded him of the Rocky movie. 

He kept doing it though, trying to psyche himself up and wake himself up. He was early as all fuck and he was trying to remember why he and his dads had agreed this was a good idea. So he was during his Rocky thing, throwing in some pretend punches as he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. 

Christ, I look fucking ridiculous . That thought stopped the neurotic bunny-ing. His hair was sticking up in odd directions from sleeping and he still had pillow lines on his face. The bags under his eyes made him look like a zombie– which funnily enough was what the book she stayed up till one am reading was about. His dad really shouldn’t give him new material on a school night. 

At any rate, Harry scrubbed a hand over his face and set about getting ready– washing his teeth and brushing his face. 

With that done, he slipped back into his room and got dressed. He had his jeans half way on when he realized that it was his first day of school and he should probably wear something… good, right?

With that thought in mind, he pulled his jeans up, buttoned them, and pulled out a white collared shirt from his closet. When he got socks on he almost slipped on the hardwood floor and ate shit, trying to find the docs Sirius had given him for his birthday. Hopping and trying to get the boots on proved to be an Olympic sport, and Harry did actually eat shit. 

Looking around his room, he decided to let the floor claim him and used the opportunity to get his other boot on and tie the laces. 

Springing back up, he hazarded a look in his mirror and found his shirt wrinkled and hair somehow wilder, glasses somehow askew. It made him chuckle a little bit. He reached for a chunky black sweater and pulled it on, covering most of the wrinkles, and tying the outfit together much better. Harry felt good about it. 

He went downstairs, not bothering to be quiet, and landed on the main floor excitedly, following the smell of coffee into the kitchen. His dads were puttering around but both looked up when he arrived. 

Remus looked up from the toast he was spreading peanut butter on and smiled crookedly, “Excited, pup?”

Harry smiled back, “Just a little.” He shrugged nonchalantly and Sirius snickered before coming forward to stand in front of Harry. 

“Your hair,” he frowned and pulled out a brush from the void and began dragging it through the birds nest. Once he hummed in approval he hooked a hair tie onto Harry’s list and went back to watching the kettle boil. 

“Was it really that bad?” Harry asked Remus. The man shrugged. 

“It’s part of your charm.”

“Merlin,” Harry said under his breath and put himself into the middle of things. Pouring himself tea when the water was ready and eating a spoonful of peanut butter before pouring himself some cereal as well. He ate quickly out of habit after years of running late and was ready to go before Sirius seemed to really be functioning. 

As he took care of his dishes, Remus asked, “Do you want us to take you?”

“Can I take my bike? The weather is supposed to be good today.” Harry asked instead. He watched Sirius and Remus share a look. 

“Sure, take your helmet and your jacket,” Sirius said easily since he was the one who had taught Harry how to ride in the first place. 

“Thanks,” Harry threw over his shoulder as he dashed off. He flew about the house gathering his things. The school supplies that hadn’t made it into his backpack, his lunch and water bottle from the kitchen, his jacket and helmet were thrown precariously into the hall closet. 

Once all his things are assembled next to the front door, Harry ducks back into the kitchen to find his dads. They both perk up when they sense Harry and it breaks his heart just a little bit. 

“I love you guys,” he says and quickly hauls them both into a hug. 

“Love you too, pup,” Remus says fondly and ruffles Harry’s hair. 

“Oi, I just fixed that,” Sirius cried dramatically but let the act drop when he and Harry made eye contact. 

“I’m proud of you, Haz,” he says softly. He tucks Harry’s hair back behind his ears, “Tell us all about it when you get home, yeah.”

“Course,” Harry agrees and smiles before catching sight of the clock on the microwave. “Oh shit, I’m gonna be late!”

He dashes off again, thankful for the tread on his boots keeping him from dying on the floors again. “Don’t go ten over!” Sirius calls after him and Harry grins like a maniac. He gathers his things and rushes out of his house and to the barn where the motorbikes and Jeep are. He zips his jacket up and ties his hair into a bun before fastening his backpack and helmet on. 

The sound of the engine revving made Harry feel like every cell in his body wanted him to cause some trouble, but instead, just just peeled out of the barn.

Following their little driveway through the forest that surrounded their house was as easy as tracing the lines on his palm. Once he was on asphalt, he gunned it, enjoying the feeling of air rushing around him.  

— — — — —

Harry hadn’t considered that the roar of the bike’s engine would attract stares, but the instinct to curl in on himself surprisingly passed quickly. He steered his bike into one of the spots near the back so he could leave easily. 

As he walked across the parking lot, he took his helmet off and looked around a bit now that he had his peripheral vision back. The stares hadn’t lessened, but Harry just straightened his spine and walked in. 

He wasn’t bombarded per se, but he could see when someone stepped forward to try and catch him on his way to the office, but that’s the beauty of dressing in all black and avoiding eye contact. 

He found the office easily, thank Merlin, and got his schedule from the secretary there without much fuss. He and the Dads had “toured” the school just a few days ago while the student body and faculty were on winter holiday. 

Schedule in hand, he found his first class– Spanish 3– fairly easily. It was a small school after all. He introduced himself to the teacher, who was horrifically young and tried not to wince when she blushed furiously and stuttered. 

She directed him to an empty seat next to a blonde boy whose head was buried in his notebook. 

Harry dumped his backpack and helmet next to his seat before shucking his jacket off. Before he could sit down though, the boy looked up and made eye contact with Harry. The world seemed like it froze for that moment and Harry felt like he was standing on a stage alone under a burning spotlight. 

Then it was over. 

The boy turned back to his notebook and began to furiously take notes even though their teacher hadn’t started lecturing yet. Harry was left standing dumbstruck before his brain rebooted and he sat down too. 

As class moved on, Harry struggled to pay attention. He didn’t quite need help with Spanish, but he was taking the class because he needed to refresh his memory a little bit. He took notes absentmindedly, trying to work through the steps of conjugating in a way that actually made sense. It always seemed to get scrambled in his mind after the fact. 

Toward the end of class, Harry glanced over at the boy’s notebook and couldn’t help but doubletake. He was translating the sentences the teacher had given them to translate into Spanish and then into Arabic on one side of the page and translating them from English directly into Arabic on the other. 

What in the actual fuck nuggets?

— — — — — 

After the mindfuck that was his next class, Harry decided to find his locker and drop his helmet and jacket off as a little break. He took his schedule back out, found the student information, and began walking, tracking the numbers on the metal lockers with his eyes. The peace didn’t last. 

“Hey, you’re the new guy right?” A voice interrupted Harry’s thoughts with far too much energy for this early in the morning. Harry looked up to find the living embodiment of Chad looking at him expectantly. 

“Uh, yeah,” Harry said neutrally, unsure about how to do this. It seemed he didn’t have to figure it out because the boy brightened. 

“Oh, cool. I’m Mike, by the way,” he held his hand out and Harry shook it, taking a little pride in the wince the boy tried to cover at Harry’s grip.

“Nice to meet you,” he offered and saw the exact moment “Mike” clocked his accent. 

“Wow, where are you from?” He asked eagerly. 

“Forks,” Harry answered flatly and took great pleasure in stressing his accent even more before walking away. The passing periods weren’t terribly long. 

“Hang on! Where you headed? I can show you.” Harry rolled his eyes and was about to brush the guy off again when he remembered what Sirius had said about making friends. Groaning internally, he faced “Mike.”

“I’m trying to find my locker,” He said and waved his helmet for emphasis. 

“Oh, what’s the number?”

“125,” Harry didn’t have to look at the paper, he’d been staring at the paper for long enough. 

“That’s that way,” he said pointing behind them, “Farther into the language hallway.”

“Thanks,” Harry said and took off. He pretended he didn’t hear when “Mike” called out asking for his name. That wasn’t his problem. 

He found his locker and struggled with the combination for a couple of minutes before he got it and the metal door swung open. He shoved the helmet in without remorse and dumped his jacket on top of it before slamming it closed and starting off for his next class. 

As he was pressing through the throng of bodies, a thought struck him, no one knew who he was. No one had to know who he was. He could just exist here and no one was none the wiser for it. 

It was strangely comforting. 

He had AP French Lit next and was actually really excited. Apparently, it was the first time the class had enough interested students and the teacher actually had a PhD in the area. Sirius had made a big fuss about it, mostly just to watch the principal have a heart attack thinking they were some flavor of royalty.

When he walked into the classroom– on time, mind you, he was met with a scathing glare. French women could make a person fall apart completely like no other, but he found it a little unnecessary in a public secondary school. 

“Qui es-tu?” The teacher snapped from where she was standing behind her desk. Harry didn’t have to look to know that they had the attention of the entire class. 

“Harrison Black, madame,” Harry responded easily, falling into the language as easily as breathing. 

“Vous n'êtes pas dans la bonne classe, Monsieur Black.”

“En fait, je suis un nouvel étudiant. Je me suis inscrit à ce cours avant le début du semestre,” Harry kept his voice calm. He knew that there was nothing she could actually do to him, but he’d prefer not to have a sour relationship with her so early on. He watched her lean over her desk and pick up a clipboard, scanning her class roster. Harry took the opportunity to glance at the class, it was a small one with most of the students sitting near the front. Two girls caught his eye, but his attention was pulled away again. 

“Je vois votre nom ici, mais c'est un cours avancé.”

“Oui,” Harry agreed, frowning slightly. He wasn’t sure where she was going with this. 

“Si vous échouez, votre moyenne générale diminue considérablement.”

Harry made an ah expression and spoke easily, “J'apprécie votre inquiétude, mais je ne suis pas inquiet. Mon père est français et je parle cette langue depuis que je suis enfant.” Even though he had tried to be respectful, he could visibly see her feathers ruffling.

“Je ne savais pas qu'il y avait une autre famille française ici. Quel est votre nom de famille?” She asked and seemed to be trying to regain her high ground. 

“Black,” Harry reminded her, not willing to point out that it was on the list in her hand. Nevertheless, he watched her pale. 

“Prendre place,” she snapped and it was a clear dismissal. Harry turned back to the class and saw that the two girls that had been sitting side by side in the desk rows had shifted. The blonde one, who didn’t look too dissimilar from the boy from Spanish, was now sitting behind the smaller one who had wild, spiky hair. 

“You can sit with us if you like,” the smaller one offered, smiling. Harry saw the mischief glinting in her eyes and couldn’t help but grin in response. 

“En français!” Their teacher interrupted, scolding them. 

The girl’s smile only brightened and she spoke quickly, “Monsieur Black, nous serions très honorés si vous nous rendiez le grand service de rester à nos côtés.”

She was on her way to being Harry’s favorite. 

“Tout l’honneur serait pour moi, mademoiselle,” he said and pressed a hand to his chest, giving her a mock bow before collapsing into the desk. 

The teacher got the class started and introduced a reading assignment, which Harry wasn’t upset to find was poetry. When she gave them an assignment to do in the last twenty minutes of class before lunch in a group of three, they all quickly turned to each other, making Harry smile. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Harrison, I’m Alice,” she held a hand out. When Harry shook it, he was delighted to find her grip firm and hand a little rough. 

“‘Harry’ is fine, it’s nice to meet you too,” he found this time, he actually meant it. 

“Harry then, this is my sister, Rosalie,” Alice gestured to the blonde girl. 

“Hi,” Harry said easily and held out his hand to Rosalie who took it gently. Harry got the odd sense she wasn’t expecting a handshake so instead he pressed a barely there kiss into her knuckles. Harry vaguely remembered Sirius telling him that was how fancy ladies liked to be greeted. 

“What brings you to Forks, Harry?” Rosalie asked, kindly, receiving a weird look from her sister. 

“I’ve grown up here actually, I was just homeschooled,” Harry chose to think that she was asking because of his accent and not the color of his skin. 

“Really? I’m surprised we haven’t seen you around,” Alice butt in awkwardly. 

Harry just shrugged and decided to take the focus off of him, “How long have you two lived here?”

That seemed to be a step over some invisible line, the girls shared looks before they seemed to decide on something. 

“On and off for a few years,” Alice says. 

“Just means we know all the fun spots,” Rosalie smiled, back to whatever mood she had been in before Harry’s question. “I could show you sometime,” she offered as the bell rang for lunch. 

“We’ll see,” Harry said mischievously before leaving the classroom without looking back. 

He got to the tiny cafeteria before the majority of the student body and set up camp at an out-of-the-way table. He pulled out his lunch, water bottle, and book. He settled in to ignore the world, but it was then that he realized he had left his phone at home. He didn’t really need one, he fried them all the time anyway, but he liked using it for music at least. 

Harry didn’t pay much attention to anything apart from the words on the page as the cafeteria filled in and progressively got noisier and noisier. He was debating actually eating his lunch when the room suddenly went quiet. He realized why when he looked up and saw Rosalie approaching his table with a guy. 

“Hi, Harry,” she said, smiling with feigned ease. It put Harry a bit on edge. 

“Hi, Rosalie, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to introduce you to my boyfriend, Emmett.” She gestured to the guy at her side who Harry thought was built like a rugby player’s scary brother. 

“Oh, nice to meet you,” Harry said confidently and stood, holding his hand out for him to shake. He definitely did not feel something pop when Emmett did. 

“Do you mind if we sit? Rose was telling me that you have French with her and Alice,” he said kindly. Harry decided that he liked him. 

“Go ahead, and yeah. Alice and Rosalie were nice enough to tolerate me,” he joked. They all sat and Harry took his backpack off the table so they could all chat together easily. 

“Rose has been tolerating me every day for years now, I know the feeling.” Harry laughed, liking Emmett even more. He barely caught the pleased look on Rosalie’s face, but didn’t have time to decipher it before the conversation moved on. 

“I was wondering, are you planning to study French in college?” Rosalie asked, “Most of the kids in that class are just interested in bolstering their applications.”

“I enjoy languages, yes, my Dad is French and has always tried to share as much of that culture with me as I was willing to take,” Harry laughed lightly. “But I grew up multilingual and getting to see the connections between people that others want you to believe are wildly different is fantastic.” He realized he got carried away with himself, but when he looked back at Emmett and Rosalie, they were both just listening.

“Me personally, my skull is too thick for anything other than English to stick,” Emmet paused and looked fondly at Rosalie. “Rose has tried to teach me French a few times, but only bits and pieces have stuck.”

“It’s a hard thing to pick up compared to being raised with it,” Harry acknowledged. 

“I know you said that you’ve grown in Forks, I was curious if you could show us anywhere off the beaten path,” Rosalie said, changing the subject. “We could grab something to eat first,” she tacked on. 

“Ah, maybe.” Harry smiled awkwardly, “I'd have to check with my parents.”

“Here,” she made grabby hands toward him and Harry looked around first before just stretching over the table closer. Rosalie pulled out a sharpie and wrote a string of numbers neatly on the back of Harry’s hand. “Let me know,” she smiled again and stood, Emmett following her. 

“Nice meeting you, man,” Emmett said as they walked away. 

Harry sat back down, more than a little dazed about what had just happened. 

— — — — —

The rest of Harry’s classes were blessedly boring and only filled with muggles he could scare off, which was fairly easy. 

He accredited Sirius with that skill. He was far more extroverted than Harry, but he also knew how to play people, and Harry was a fast learner. 

When the last bell finally rang and Harry was free, the fresh air on his face in the parking lot was a relief. He had put his jacket on before stepping outside and walked over to his bike, hopping on with practiced ease. He sat his helmet down on the gas tank and zipped his jacket up before looking around. He saw a few people who were glancing at him curiously but attributed that to the guy on a motorbike effect, what was really strange was the five sets of golden eyes that were boring into him. 

It was Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, the guy from Spanish, and one other boy standing around a silver volvo– objectively the ugliest of cars. 

Harry’s heartbeat tripped, but he didn’t let his movements stutter. He made sure his bun was secure before putting his helmet on and fastening it. Seeing them all together… bothered Harry. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he used the advantage his blacked-out visor provided and looked them all up and down. They all seemed to have the same eyes and skin, their hair colors were slightly different, and their facial structure even more so. It could be written off as being siblings, but something wasn’t right. 

With the chin strap on his helmet tightened he started up his bike, revving it just this side of obnoxious before pulling out and riding away. He didn’t feel their collective gaze leave him until he was on the main road, blocked by the trees, and out of sight. 

The ride home seemed too fast, not that Harry could take the long way to give himself more time to think. Every way in Forks was the long way. Pulling up to his house helped though, and seeing the smoke rising out of the chimney, meaning that the temperature had dropped marginally and Sirius had decreed it to be freezing. 

Harry took his bike back into the barn and hauled the doors closed before heading toward the house. He dumped his stuff and his sweater on the porch, before heading around the back. He found Remus leaning over one of their vegetable patches and poking at something intermittently with a tiny shovel. 

“Dad, can I run something by you?” Harry asked without preamble. Remus had gotten used to Harry just popping out of the void and didn’t flinch, just looked over his shoulder and eyed his son curiously. 

“What’s up, pup?” He asked as he rocked back on his heels and twisted to face Harry. 

“What types of creatures live in groups, like packs or clans?” Remus blinked for a minute, Harry realizing that this probably wasn’t what his dad was expecting after his first day of school. 

“Werewolves obviously, but so do vampires and centaurs. Pixies I suppose as well,” He hummed, looking away from Harry and into the middle distance. “There are probably others, but I’d have to poke through the library. Why do you ask?”

“I think there might be a group of creatures attending the high school.” Harry chewed on his bottom lip, turning over what he’d observed during his day, trying to find a new angle and a new perspective. 

Remus frowned, “It wasn’t any guys from the tribe?”

“No, I wouldn’t be asking you if it was,” Harry said bluntly, but it was the truth. 

“Strange.” Remus’s frown deepened. “If they’re not causing any trouble we have time to do some research later,” he pointed out and Harry nodded. “For now, let’s help Sirius with dinner, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed and held a hand out to help Remus up. They both heard his joints click and crack, but both of them ignored it. Remus wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulders. 

“How was your day other than that, fy nghariad bach?” He asked. 

“Roedd yn iawn. Ond efallai bod fy athro Ffrangeg yn fy nghasáu.” Remus laughed at that, ruffling Harry’s hair, making the flyaways stick straight up with static. 

“Beth wnaethoch chi?” There was no judgement in Remus’s voice when he asked and Harry loved him for it. 

“Dim byd,” Harry insisted, “Rwy'n addo.” Harry thought about that class for a moment, “Dim byd ar bwrpas,” he added. Remus laughed again. “Rwy'n meddwl nad oedd hi'n hoffi bod plentyn brown yn siarad Ffrangeg fel brodor.”

Remus reached his hand up to Harry’s head again, but instead of ruffling his hair, he pressed Harry’s head closer to his face and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Rwy'n dy garu di.”

“Rwyf wrth fy modd i chi hefyd, Tad,” Harry says easily and sighs. He doesn’t want to sit in moments like these, they’re hard to swallow. Thankfully it was over quickly with the immediate crash of pans coming from the kitchen when they stepped foot inside. 

“Sirius?” Remus shouted, concern evident in his voice. 

“It’s fine!” Was called back to them and Harry snorted. He followed behind Remus as the man strode into the kitchen. Harry was only a little shorter than Remus in his platform boots so he peeked around his dad’s shoulder to find Sirius spraying water from the sink faucet on a steaming pot he must’ve dropped in there. 

“Tout va bien, papa?” Harry asked, smirking. 

“I wanted to make that jam you like for croissants for your first day, but I got distracted and it started burning.”

“It’s alright,” Harry said at the same time that Remus asked if Sirius burned himself. 

“I’m fine, but that isn’t,” he pointed at the steaming pot distastefully. 

“Was that all we were having for dinner?” Harry asked, staring at the steam that was still rising out of the sink. 

“It was all I had gotten started on,” Sirius said quietly. They were all silent for a minute before Harry broke in. 

“Pizza?” He suggested. 

“Yes,” Remus and Sirius agreed in unison. 

— — — — — 

After the pizza had come, they sat on the floor of the living room around the coffee table, eating, and finally started speaking. 

“What’s on your hand?” Sirius asked, making Harry pause confused. He looked down at both hands, the one holding a slice still marked with Rosalie’s phone number. 

“Oh!” Harry realized and swallowed the bite he had taken, “I think I was propositioned for a three way today.”

“What?” Sirius practically screeched while Remus started choking. Harry frowned and slammed his palm into Remus’s back, trying to dislodge whatever was caught. Once Remus was fine and waved Harry off, Harry looked back to Sirius.

“What do you mean ‘what’?” 

“You can’t just say that and not elaborate.” He seemed to speak enthusiastically and scandalized at the same time. 

Harry shrugged, “I met this girl and her sister in my French class and they seemed nice, and then she introduced her boyfriend to me at lunch and was all strangely very flirty.”

Remus started cackling, Sirius having clamped a hand over his own mouth, making Harry’s face heat. 

“Oh my god,” Remus managed to wheeze out, clutching his stomach. “Not even a full day and you’re being propositioned!”

“Don’t say that like it happens often !” Harry defended, turning on Remus. 

“Oh, of course not, this is the only time anyone has ever found you attractive,” Remus waved his hand dismissively and Harry scowled. 

“Moony makes an excellent point, there were never any muggles checking you out at the shop,” Sirius manages to say serenely. 

“You guys suck!” Harry declares and shoves more pizza in his mouth. 

“Wait,” Remus said a moment later, his brain catching up. “Were these the people you suspect are creatures?” 

Sirius froze, watching the interaction with interest. 

“Yeah,” Harry said, voice quiet but not insecure. 

“Oh, that’s even better!” Sirius yelled and crashed to the floor, overtaken by his own giggles. 

Harry faked annoyance for the rest of the meal but gave it up after a while. He knew they didn’t mean it, and honestly, the whole situation was kind of funny. He didn’t think any more of it for the rest of the night, he definitely didn’t expect it to get worse.

Chapter Text

In hindsight, Harry probably should’ve expected that it was going to go to shit but sue him for wanting to stay delusional.

Pulling into the school parking lot was all it took. 

Harry had just shut his bike off when an old truck came roaring onto the asphalt. He watched it pull in almost like a trainwreck, something about it reminded him of something, but he couldn’t put a finger on what. He decided he’d spent enough time staring into space and pulled his helmet off, letting his hair fall out of the loose bun he’d put it in for the ride. 

He was dressed much more casually today, he had woken up cold and hadn’t really cared much about what he’d pulled out of his closet as long as it was warm and soft. He’d ended up in a pair of worn-out jeans that had acquired paint stains at some point and a chunky knit cardigan he’d buttoned over a t-shirt with mismatched patterns that might’ve started out as Remus’s. He’d also chosen his older, brown leather jacket for the ride over, it was made of dragonhide, and perfectly worn in. 

Harry barely noticed the small girl who got out of the truck and was walking behind him apart from when she was immediately swarmed by guys. He had a bit of pity for how that would play out but was ultimately glad it wasn’t him. He figured she must’ve been new which was a bit of a relief. The muggles could focus on her. 

After a little trial and error, and wandering, Harry found his comparative government class. He introduced himself to the teacher who was thankfully normal about it, and took an open seat near the back. 

The lecture started up and Harry half heartedly paid attention. It wasn’t really that he was uninterested in the content, just that he was a little distracted. 

Without meaning to, he activated his magic. The sensation of its energy pulsing out in waves was something Harry would never get used to, it was terribly relaxing, and Harry couldn’t help slumping in his seat a bit. 

He paid close attention as the magic moved through the air, through the soil under the school’s foundation, and even his classmates’ life forces. 

He had almost spread out to cover the entire school when he came up against something that was fucking freezing . Harry couldn’t help but flinch and pull away, drawing completely back into himself. 

Blinking, his mind came back to him and he began to process the lecture happening in front of him again. 

There was something here, and he couldn’t ignore it anymore. 

— — — — — 

His last class before lunch was math with the new girl and Harry learned that she was horrifically, painfully, awkward. When she turned and practically ran him down trying to sit down after the teacher made her introduce herself, Harry felt a piece of himself die inside. 

His went much smoother but was no less odd.

“Would you introduce yourself as well, young man?” The teacher had asked. He was a nice older guy and Harry immediately forgot his name, instead calling him ‘grandpa’ in his head. 

“Sure, I’m Harry. I’m from here, but my parents homeschooled me.” He shrugged and looked away from his nosy classmates, making eye contact with the teacher to see if he wanted anything else. 

“And where were you from before that?”

“My mother’s womb?” Harry asked, playing up his confusion before detouring, “Can I sit down?”

“Oh, right, of course, Mr. Black.” Grandpa seemed to be sweating a bit which is what Harry was going for, so he considered it a win. 

The only available seat left was next to the new girl, but Harry was optimistic that it wouldn’t be as bad as he thought. Then she leaned over way too close to him to try to whisper in his ear. 

“Are you related to Jacob and Billy Black?” Harry just about jumped a foot feeling her breath on his neck. 

“Uh, yeah, why do you ask?” He glanced at her without turning away from the front where the teacher was subjecting them all to a timeline of his own winter holiday. 

“I grew up with Jacob, Billy, and my dad are friends,” New girl– Bella explained. 

“Oh… cool.” Harry wasn’t sure what the point of this interaction was. Thankfully, the weirdness subsided and she didn’t speak to him again until the end of class. 

They were the last two coming out of the room when she spoke up, “Could I eat with you? I don’t really know anyone else.”

Just as Harry was trying to formulate an excuse for why it would be a hard pass for him, something– or someone– crashed into Bella. 

“Yo, Arizona!” Chad from yesterday said too loudly for how close they were walking together. 

Harry saw his window though, and tried to make an escape to no avail. 

“Harry! Why are you showing Bella around? You’ve only been here a day, man.” Harry found it deeply disturbing that Chad knew his name.

“No actually, we just had math together, Matt.” He said, trying to defuse whatever was happening right now. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say though. 

“Oh, that’s weird that you didn’t end up in algebra with the rest of our class,” he said, brow furrowed. 

“Why would we be in algebra?” Harry couldn’t stop himself from asking. 

“Sophomores are supposed to take algebra,” Bella said and managed a tentative smile. “We’re a year ahead.”

They had walked through the threshold of the cafeteria and Harry was about done with this shit. 

“Actually, I’m a junior,” he clarified and broke off from their haphazard group. He took the same table from yesterday and sat down heavily. Thoroughly ready to be left the fuck alone. 

He was about halfway through his meal when Rosalie and Emmett walked in with the rest of their family. 

Going on a hunch, Harry put an earbud in one ear but didn’t play anything, and instead placed an enhanced hearing charm on himself. 

“Who are they?” Bella was asking a girl sitting next to her. He looked at that table out of the corner of his eye but resisted the urge to look around to find who they were talking about. 

“The Cullens.”

“They’re Dr. and Mrs. Cullen’s foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska a few years ago,” Harry frowned as he took a bite of his sandwich. 

“They kinda keep to themselves.”

“It’s not like that’s a problem,” one girl said and the other snorted. 

“What do you mean?” Bella asked.

“They’re all kind of dating each other.”

“Really?”

“The blonde girl, Rosalie, is dating the big dark haired guy, Emmett. Alice, the weird short girl, is dating Jasper, the blonde guy who looks constipated.” 

Ah, so his Spanish guy was in the middle of this too . 

He looked at the Cullens then and saw most of them had constipated looks on their faces. If they were magical creatures, they probably had heard what Mcbitchy had said to the new girl. 

“Anyway, tell us about that guy you and Mike were hanging out with.” Harry stiffened. 

“Who? Harry?”

“That’s his name?” the one girl asked and sounded like she was swooning. Harry found this deeply disturbing. 

“Yeah?”

“I heard from someone that he’s fluent in French,”

The other girl groaned in a way that Harry found very unnecessary. “I bet his accent is so hot.”

“Actually he doesn’t have a French accent,” Bella said and Harry really hated that they were bonding over him . 

“Really?”

“No, he sounds British, but it’s a little off. I’m not sure why.” Harry really wasn’t interested in Bella’s interpretation of who he was. 

He didn’t catch if one of the other girls responded, because he looked around– just to be casual– and made eye contact with Rosalie. She raised an eyebrow and Harry could see the mischief in her eyes. His expression must have been questioning because she smiled and crooked a finger in his direction, beckoning him closer. Harry smirked and stood. 

“Oh my god, what’s he doing?” Harry heard one of Bella’s pseudo-friends practically screech. 

“Harry,” Rosalie greeted him when he arrived. 

“Hi Rosie,” he said a little jokingly. 

“Christ, you two are going to be nothing but trouble.” Alice declared, making all three of them chuckle. 

“You’ve wounded me, mademoiselle,” Harry said dramatically and clapped a hand over his heart. 

“You’ll live, I think,” Alice teased and then cocked her head to the side consideringly. “I like your sweater, it looks very cozy.”

“Thank you, it was my dad’s at one point.”

“I can’t imagine a Frenchman would wear that,” the other dark-haired boy spoke up suddenly. Harry glanced at him to find venom in his eyes. It was a little disappointing really, that they all couldn’t be as entertaining as Rosalie and Alice. 

“My other dad likes sweaters,” Harry said. He tried to make his tone neutral but evidently failed as the blonde boy–Jasper? –looked up at him, eyes alight. 

The boy who had spoken hesitated for a moment, and Harry wouldn’t be lying if he said he hoped the guy was just an asshole enough for Harry to burn him for being homophobic. He didn’t know what the guy’s problem was, but he was definitely making himself one. 

“These are our brothers, Edward,” Rosalie said, gesturing to the bitchy one, “And Jasper.” 

“Nice to actually meet you,” Harry nodded at him. 

“You too. I was surprised to hear you were taking Spanish and French,” he spoke almost lazily, his voice laden with a southern accent that Harry had really only heard in movies but he managed to recover and shrugged. 

“They’re both romance languages but they’re insanely different. My parents raised me with Spanish too but neither of them were ever really fluent so we fell off at some point.” Harry smiled then, the kind of smile that he knew his dads hated to see, “I’m surprised you’re taking Spanish when you’re already fluent in it and Arabic.”

Jasper laughed, “Had to fill out my schedule.”

“Fair enough,” Harry chuckled. He looked back at his maybe-sort-of-friend, “Rosie, are they still watching?”

She glanced behind Harry and her eyes sharpened, “Yes.”

Harry hummed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Think we could scare them off?” 

“How?”

“Well I can guarantee that none of these people are as fluent in French as we are,” he said innocently. 

“Follow my lead?” She suggested. 

“You got it,” Harry agreed. 

“Pourquoi voudriez-vous retirer le ver de chez lui?” Rosalie cried suddenly. 

“A cause de l'inondation! Le déluge! Il allait se noyer!” Harry responded with just as much drama. 

Rosalie stood and let her chair screech as it flung out behind her, “Les vers ne peuvent pas se noyer!”

Harry dragged his hands through his hair, making his eyes widen, “Ma vie est un mensonge!”

“Qui vous a dit que les vers étaient si fragiles?” Rosalie flung an accusatory finger out toward him.

“Mon oncle le théoricien du complot!” Harry flung his arms out too, just for something to do. Spice things up, why not . 

“Ce n'est pas une source fiable, Harry. Que dirait votre professeur d'anglais?” Rosalie accused. 

“Probablement quelque chose de mauvais!” Harry made it seem like he was at his wits end rather easily. Go Forks High!  

“Dans cette école? Bien sûr!” Harry had to suppress a smile, Rosalie had moved closer to almost get in Harry’s face. 

“Ce lycée est une blague! Nous devrions partir,” Harry grabbed her shoulders and shook her imploringly. 

Rosalie shoved his arms away, “J'ai un cours ensuite, mais Jasper est libre.” She pointed again but this time away from Harry and to Jasper who looked like he was going to shit himself. Harry had to rein in a laugh that threatened to break free. 

“Fantastique!” Harry said with a groan at the ceiling. 

Rosalie made some sort of affronted noise, times perfectly with the lunch bell ringing. She stormed away with Emmett trailing behind her, looking confused but a bit entertained nonetheless. 

The room emptied out quickly, but Harry stayed standing there, almost in the middle of the room, hanging his head. Just because he could. And he was a bit of a dramatic arsehole on a good day. 

Only Jasper was left when Harry finally looked up. They looked at each other for a minute before Jasper started clapping slowly. Harry snickered and took a bow. 

“That was quite an act.”

“Thanks, I try,” Harry shrugged, faking humility. 

“I actually have AP Bio so I can’t skip with you,” Jasper said. He was leaning on the back two legs of his chair. 

“I have Bio next too,” Harry said, suddenly a little shy. 

“You planned that!” Jasper accused. 

How could I have?” Harry said innocently. He really hadn’t known, but it was funnier if Jasper thought he had. 

“Grab your stuff, we can walk together,” He said and let his chair slam down so he could stand. 

Harry walked back over to his table in a few quick strides. He gathered his stuff up and got his backpack squared away. When he turned around, Jasper was standing there, a step or two away from Harry, but still waiting. 

As they started walking, Jasper said, “I didn’t realize you saw me translating yesterday, are you familiar with Arabic too?”

“I guess,” Harry shrugged. “I mostly just recognize the alphabet style, I’ve never put any real time into learning.”

“Fair enough, it took me years to learn,” Jasper didn’t try to walk and face him– which Harry appreciated.

“Where are you from? If you don’t mind me asking,” Harry spoke kindly. Jasper looked over at him then, a smile quirking his lips. 

“The great state of Texas.”

“Oh,” was all Harry could seem to get out. 

“Nothing else to say? No jokes?” Jasper teased. 

“Well, I hear everything’s bigger there. Maybe your ego?” Harry suggests innocently. 

Jasper laughed, and it wasn’t a light breathy thing. He did it with his full chest and Harry thought it was the best thing he had ever heard. He just hoped the hearts in his eyes weren’t that visible. 

“That… among other things,” Jasper whispered. Harry hadn’t realized how close they had gotten on the walk to class until they were practically forehead to forehead. Harry could see the depth of Jasper’s eyes and had to look away before he got too distracted. 

Before Harry could think of a response, they arrived at their class and Jasper stepped back so Harry could walk through the door first. That was all it took for Harry to be completely useless for the rest of the day. 

— — — — — 

His classes were a little heavier today– math, science, and civics– but he wasn’t mad about it. After all, it was only his second day and there wasn’t much point in getting stressed about something until he had a good reason to. 

Ending the day with Phys Ed was actually great, but left him feeling like he needed to expel even more energy. He was always like this when he got going– had to keep pushing until he couldn’t push anymore. 

He was just thinking about going for a run when he got home when he got an idea. As he was walking across the parking lot to his bike, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Remus. 

“Helo, tad. A gaf i fynd i dŷ Jacob am ychydig oriau?”

“Le, a fyddwch chi'n ôl mewn amser i ginio?"

“Oes,” Harry didn’t have any objection spending time at home with his parents, which he imagined was probably out of character for the typical teenagers. 

“Ewch ymlaen wedyn,” Remus said easily. 

“Diolch!” Harry chirped, “Caru ti, hwyl,” he added on, earning a huff from his dad. 

“Caru chi hefyd,” Remus said before Harry hung up. With a grin, he tucks his phone away again where it's safe and fastens his helmet on. Without a second thought, he starts his bike and tears out of his parking spot, taking advantage of getting out early enough to avoid the line. 

The ride to the reservation was one of Harry’s favorites. It was all dense, thick forests and blind corners. It felt preternatural and something about it all resonated deeply with Harry. 

As soon as Harry pulled onto the road that led to the Blacks’ house he was met by Jacob bounding out the front door having heard the roar of the engine. When Harry cut it, Jacob was practically vibrating out of his skin. Harry got off his bike quickly and Jacob crushed him in a hug. 

“Haz!” Jacob cheered. 

“Hi, Jake, alright?” Harry said when Jake released him he was able to take his helmet off. 

Jake started snickering suddenly, and Harry froze– confused. “Your hair, man. The static is bad.”

“It’s not that funny,” Harry said petulantly and smoothed his hair before tying it in a bun. 

“It’s a little funny,” Jacob countered and Harry sighed, pretending to be put upon. “What are you doing here?” He asked when the moment passed. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but you know.”

“I just thought we could hang out, it’s been a while,” Harry spun his helmet between his hands absentmindedly. “I should’ve called though,” he admitted, tone apologetic. 

“No, no,” Jacob said. “You wanna hang out with Dad?”

“Do you?” Harry countered. He actually enjoyed hanging out with Billy, and half the time it was him, Jacob, Harry, Remus, and Sirius sitting around and having dinner together. He knew that Jacob was itching a little bit under his dad’s direction though. 

Jacob's smile was crooked but genuine, “Nah, let’s hang out in the garage.”

“Lead on,” Harry said and grabbed the handlebars on his bike. He pushed it over to the entrance of the garage. 

“I’ve been working on this truck I got,” Jacob said, already moving about the garage. 

“You gonna resell it or are you working on it for someone?” Harry asked and stepped inside, taking a closer look at the frame. 

“This one is for me,” Jake said proudly and Harry wasn’t that fond, okay–

“Nice,” Harry approved. He wasn’t much of a car person, he just liked things that went fast. 

“The frame is in great condition actually, and the engine just needs a little freshening up. Most of what I’m doing is suspension and brake pads. Plus some of the hoses are just fucked, but old cars,” Jacob shrugged. 

“True,” Harry cocked his head, considering the truck and cocking his head. “What happened to the orange one?”

“Oh, Dad gave that to Charlie.” Jacob had floated over to one of the workbenches when Harry wasn’t paying attention. 

“Charlie?” Harry asked as he plopped himself down on one of the stools Jacob had littered about the space. 

“Yeah, Haz, you know.. The police chief.” Jacob turned around toward Harry, his face incredulous. Harry just blinked at him. “You really need to pay attention to people.”

“Hey, I pay attention to people… I just find them boring,” He said unrepentantly. Jacob just shook his head. 

“Well anyway, his daughter moved back home and he wanted to surprise her with a car– the truck.” Jacob shook his head, “I’d say it’s rich people shit but–”

“Wait, is the daughter’s name ‘Bella’?” Harry interrupted. 

“Yeah,” Jacob said excitedly, “How’d you know?”

“I have math with her, and she parked near me this morning,” Harry said absentmindedly, wheels still turning. 

“That must be so cool!” Jacob enthused. 

“What?” Harry asked, only half paying attention. Some boxes next to him had caught his eye. 

“Hanging out with her,” Jacob was only getting more and more revved up. 

“Uh, not really. She asked me if we were related and that was about it,” he looked back over at Jake briefly. 

“She talked about me?” Jacob whipped around, “Harry, this is critical information! Why didn’t you start with that?”

“Why would I have?” Harry started fiddling with something he had found in a box next to the stool he was sitting on. He couldn’t really tell what it was. 

“Because!” Jacob was only getting more and more excited. “Bros first, you know that.” Harry started paying attention then.

“Jake, what are you even talking about right now?” He watched his cousin’s face flush and he suddenly turned bashful. “Ohhh, I see how it is,” Harry teased, which only seemed to make Jake’s face color more. “You know, I don’t quite see the appeal.”

“What do you even mean? She’s so pretty!” Harry smirked, sure he looked like the cat that caught the canary. 

“Oh, do go on, sing Swan’s praises,” Harry encouraged. Jacob rolled his eyes. 

“You’re such an asshole,” he muttered. 

“Oh, no, this is me being a bro,” Harry said earnestly. Jacob just groaned and went back to whatever he had been working on at the table. 

“Are you going to help me or make fun of me?” He went over to the hood of the truck trying to hide his face.

“Hey, come on,” Harry knocked his shoulder with Jake’s. “It’s your first crush, I’m obligated to bit a bit of an arse.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Jacob muttered. He grabbed a wrench and began cranking on something. “Let’s talk about you then, huh? Anyone caught your eye?” Harry laughed. 

“Not exactly,” Harry shrugged. “You know me, I’m walking to the beat of my own drum.”

“That’s so corny,” Jake laughed. 

“What do you want me to say? ‘I don’t really care enough to make friends.’”

Jake scoffed, “Yeah, but there’s a difference between being too lazy to make friends because you live miles outside of town and being in the middle of a high school fishbowl.”

“Yeah,” Harry conceded. “I have kind of made friends I guess?” Harry’s voice got quieter as the sentence tapered off. 

“Nice, man, tell me bout it. I’m sure they’re better company than Quill,” Jake joked, making Harry snicker. 

“Alice and Rosalie, I met them in my French class. They’re pretty cool, like causing trouble,” Harry smiled as he thought about the scene he and Rosalie caused today. 

“I feel like that’s not what you should be looking for,” Jake said as he moved away from the hood and began to flutter about the garage grabbing things. 

“Isn’t that what you look for?” Harry asked and Jake grinned. 

“What are you, a cop?”

“Nah, a sleeper for your dad,” Harry clapped back and Jake huffed. 

“Just because trouble finds me doesn’t mean I go looking for it,” he pointed out. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that one before. I think when you egged the post office,” Harry tapped his chin, contemplating. “Still not sure what the point of that one was.”

Jacob shrugged, “Eh, it was Emory’s idea.” Harry hummed. 

“What else is new then, in your world?” Harry asked and that question started the flow of conversation off easily. Harry started helping too and they got some good work done on Jake’s project before Harry had to go home. Jake offered for him to stay for dinner, but Harry knew it would scare the dads if he changed plans like that. 

As Harry rode home with the sun setting behind the treeline, he thought of what had happened today again. He might be a little bit of a loose cannon on a good day, but he could tell when a storm was brewing, and he didn’t like the signs he was seeing.

Chapter Text

The joys of high school were never ending. No, wait– high school is never ending. That’s the one. 

Coming back from Christmas break felt a little bit like getting a tooth pulled, Jasper debated not going at all that first day back, but then he reminded himself that he wasn’t a deserter. 

He was standing around Edward’s Volvo with the rest of his siblings, waiting until the last moment to throw themselves into the pool of marinating scents, body odor, and hormones, when something changed. 

They all heard the roar of a motor when it was still a few miles out, but Jasper had expected it was some sort of machinery, he certainly didn’t expect the boy who pulled into the student parking lot. 

Jasper watched the most beautiful person he had ever seen take that helmet off. Involuntarily, he took a step forward, he hadn’t even realized until Alice’s arm shot out and held him back. 

“I’m good, I’m good,” he muttered to her, and she visibly relaxed. 

Jasper couldn’t help but watch the boy make his way across the parking lot, the bike and his appearance having attracted the notice of most of the student body, but Jasper was captivated by the long line of his body and the figure he cut in such dark colors. 

Jasper lost sight of him once he had stepped inside, and couldn’t even really hear if he had spoken to anyone on what was obviously his first day. When the first bell rang, they were all forced to head inside to their first classes of the day. Jasper was so distracted, he didn’t need Alice to hold his hand over the barrage of scents. He walked through the halls to his Spanish class with ease and took his seat. 

“Hola ¿Cómo puedo ayudar?” Jasper heard his teacher say brightly and he looked up. It was him. Jasper stopped breathing and turned all his focus to his notebook. 

“Hola, soy un estudiante nuevo. Me llamo Harrison Black,” the boy spoke easily if not with some hesitation. 

“Ah, yo veo,” their teacher said easily. She clapped her hands together once, “¡Bienvenido a clase de español!” She got no response, but that didn’t seem to deter her. “¿Cuántos años llevas estudiando español?”

“Más o menos toda mi vida.”

“Muy bien,” she said excitedly and Jasper had to try not to cringe. He tuned out whatever she said next and let his sense of smell take over. There was the usual overwhelm that came with it, but he reined himself in before his more animal responses could take over, after all, he was looking for something specific. 

When he found it, Jasper felt like the earth had shifted beneath him. The boy– Harrison , smelled like thunderstorms and peppermint. All the things that felt like pure energy. Under it, all was a sort of warmth that reminded Jasper of the nights he would sit in front of the fireplace with his family before it all went to hell. 

Jasper was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn’t notice Harrison until he had dumped his things next to the seat in the desk that was next to his. Jasper looked over and when their eyes met, Jasper felt like he was burning. Harrison’s eyes were so green, they reminded Jasper of the forest engulfing the town, the forest he ran through– feeling the most free he ever did. 

Then it was over, and Jasper turned back to the notebook he never took notes in and began writing. At first, it was just the things he could recite from memory. Like the Declaration of Independence, he had studied it so much before he was turned and tried to use it to convince his parents that the Confederacy didn’t have a leg to stand on. 

When he got through that, he started translating the sentences the teacher was writing on the board in Spanish, and then fiddling with them in Arabic. As he went, he tried not to pay much attention to the person next to him, but Harrison was hard to ignore. Jasper could feel the warmth emanating off of him, could hear his breathing, could smell him whenever he took tentative breaths. 

And then class was over and he was gone. Jasper shuddered, trying to come back to reality. Then he remembered he was in a rural high school and immediately wished he was still next to Harrison. 

Jasper usually went about his days at Forks High School either painfully aware or horrifically bored. Today though, it was like time was passing at lightspeed. Before Jasper knew it, it was lunch and he was arriving at his family’s lunch table to catch Rosalie and Alice in the middle of a conversation. 

“I just think he’s nice,” Rosalie was saying. 

“Try not to eat the new guy alive, it’ll set a bad precedent,” Alice scolded. 

“Hey, if he’s interested there’s no harm,” Rosalie defended. Which Jasper thought was probably fair until something occurred to him. He opened his mouth to ask Rosalie who she meant when Emmett sat down next to her, kissed her on the cheek, and asked her how her day was. 

“It’s been interesting, that’s for sure,” she said with a small smile. Then cast her eyes deliberately across the room from her. Emmett looked, but whatever he saw must not have been particularly interesting because his easy going smile didn’t slip. “I met him in French, he’s a firestarter.”

“So?”

“I think he could be an interesting person to know, certainly the most interesting human here,” Rosalie shrugged daintily. 

“You want to introduce me?” Emmett guesses and Rosalie smiles. Jasper catches Alice rolling her eyes, finding their whole routine a little tiresome after so many decades. 

It didn’t matter though, Emmett and Rosalie were already up and walking across the small cafeteria. Jasper had turned to Alice to start a conversation about something more interesting than the relationships their siblings pursued with whoever caught their interest. Before he could though, Alice let out an almost silent gasp. Her eyes glazed over with the vision she watched play out, all Jasper could do was stand guard until it passed. There was almost no perceptible change when it did, just the slow way that Alice seemed to wake back up. 

“What was it?” He asked, his voice so low only she could hear. After so many years with superpowered busybodies, he had gotten good at ensuring privacy. 

“He’s your mate,” she said, just as quiet but still somehow breathless. Jasper felt himself freeze for the second time today.

“What?”

“The one who smells like lightning, he’s yours. The impact he’ll have on your life will cause a ripple effect that you can never recover from,” she spoke evenly, her gaze distant as if she was reading off of a sign. 

“That can’t be true,” Jasper rasped out, he thought he’d be crying if he had any tears. 

“When am I ever wrong?” Alice asked at normal value as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and causing chairs to scrape as the student body moved on. Jasper didn’t. 

— — — — — 

He knew what he was waiting for, but that didn’t mean he felt like being aware of it. Then he happened. 

That’s what it always seemed like with Harrison, he happened to you. 

It made his presence seem like an earthquake every time… or maybe that was just Jasper. 

He watched Harrison walk across the parking lot easily, and get on his bike, but then he paused. Although it wasn’t discernable from his movements, which were practiced and sure, his heartbeat slipped just a little. Jasper wasn’t sure what it was, or what he saw, he thought it was egotistical to think it had anything to do with him. 

Then he was gone, his bike carrying him away. 

“Can we leave now?” Edward asked petulantly. They all ignored him, instead, Rosalie turned to Jasper, and she must’ve seen something in his eyes he didn’t want her to. 

“Family meeting?” She asked and he didn’t respond, she just nodded. “I’ll call Carlisle.”

With that, they all got in the car, and Edward drove them all home. He could tell his brother was frustrated with being left out of the loop, but Jasper didn’t have the capacity to care very much. On a good day, Edward’s emotions were a tough pill to swallow, but when he brooded like this? It made Jasper sick. 

Listening halfheartedly to Rosalie talking to Carlisle, Jasper just tried to focus on Alice, and the waves of calm she let off. Once they were away from the school, Edward took off, speeding well beyond the limit for any road in town. They got home and got out of the car quickly before the engine had even shut off. When they entered the main house from the garage, Carlisle spoke. 

“Dining room, please,” he said gently and they all fell into line, making their way there. When they came into the room, they found Carlisle and Esme both sitting down at the table, next to each other on the far side, rather than at the respective heads of the table. 

“What’s happened?” Carlisle asked, his face concerned, though the emotions he was letting off showed just as much confusion. 

“Nothing,” Edward said, rolling his eyes. He took a seat too, rather gracelessly for one of their kind. 

“Jasper has found his mate,” Alice spoke serenely, unbothered as to the gravity of her words. The scrutiny he felt under his family’s collective gaze was like a punch to the face. Jasper always did his best just to get a little peace, but it was harder with smaller groups. 

“Congratulations, Jasper,” Esme said kindly, god bless her. The rush of motherly affection was like a drug. 

“This is great news,” Carlisle agreed, and went one step further, “What’s he like?”

“His name’s Harrison, I have Spanish with him. He rides a motorcycle. I really haven’t learned that much, it’s only been a day.” Jasper tried not to show how much that bothered him. 

“Is he new to school?” Esme asked, frowning with concern.

“Yes,” Rosalie answered, making the family turn to her. “In French, he said he signed up for classes before the semester started.” Carlisle frowned. 

“Alice, did you see him coming?” He asked. 

“No, I just saw his connection to Jasper. There seemed like there was a piece missing like he was just floating,” she turned and stared out the window. Dissecting the trees around their house as if they held the answers. 

Meanwhile, Jasper started digging his hole of denial. It was going well. He had all sorts of reasons as to why Harrison was not his mate. 

“Would you stop?” Edward growls, turning around in his chair to glare at Jasper. “What is your problem that you can’t accept him?” The room goes quiet around them and Jasper watches Edward’s tirade impassively. “You have a mate , someone who gives eternity meaning and you can’t accept them?”

“There are so many things that give eternity meaning, Edward. For one, freedom,” Jasper said carefully. Edward struggled the most with what he was, and while Jasper initially had sympathy, he couldn’t tolerate it anymore. 

When that thought passed through his mind, Edward visibly recoiled, and Jasper wasn’t sorry for it. 

“There is something else though,” Alice said, drawing the focus back to her. Jasper was grateful, the anger that Edward was stewing in wasn’t something Jasper wanted to deal with. “Rosalie and Emmett already made a bit of a move on him?”

“How so?” Carlisle asked diplomatically, but Jasper could sense his amusement and glared at the man who just flicked his eyes to Jasper, unrepentant. 

“He’s the most interesting human I’d come across in a while,” Rosalie shrugged, “I didn’t realize who he was to Jasper.”

“I think it goes without saying that you should pull back,” Esme said sternly. Jasper knew she didn’t disapprove of any of her children’s preferences, but she did value their family above all and wouldn’t tolerate conflict over drama. 

Rosalie nodded, “Obviously, but I still want to be friends with him.” Esme stared at her assessing for a moment. “I like him,” Rosalie defended. 

“He is nice,” Emmett agreed with his wife unsurprisingly, “But I only talked to him for a minute.”

Instead of getting in the middle of that, Esme just turned to Jasper, “What would you like to do, dear?”

Jasper blinked, trying to catch up with what had actually been said instead of the emotions he had fallen into reading out of habit. “Give me a chance to get to know him,” Jasper took a breath, mind running through all the possible outcomes. “I don’t want him to feel pressured.”

“Alright then,” Carlisle agreed and turned to his wife, smiling warmly. It was so paternal , Jasper always found it comforting that Carlisle still managed to have a family after he was turned– he was so obviously meant for the role of the father. 

Without waiting for another word, they all wandered off to wherever else they wanted to be. Jasper heads for his room, ready for some peace and quiet. He heard Emmett and Rosalie leave to go hunting, Edward latched onto the piano, and Alice took to climbing a tree that could be reached from the kitchen window. He didn’t bother to try and figure out what Esme and Carlisle were doing– he preferred to give his surrogate parents as much distance as possible. 

Without much of a conscious choice, Jasper went to the trunk at the foot of his bed and pulled it open. He stopped then and stared.

He knew he was lucky to have so many relics left from his human life, but sometimes it felt like he was carrying his ghosts with him everywhere he went. He sat on the floor in front of the trunk and tentatively pulled out his union uniform, staring at it. 

He had been on the right side of history, but most days it didn’t feel like it. War wasn’t something that you could ever justify or explain away, and Jasper wouldn’t try to, especially now that he could see where everything went wrong. 

Growing up in Texas, they’d been so isolated from the rest of the country and had lost so much just as a lack of information. His family had accepted whatever they’d been told easily, they were too shaped by the identity of the south and their state. Everyone wants to be the underdog, and the Whitlock family certainly did as well. 

Jasper did too, until he visited his uncle in what would become West Virginia and he saw the other side. He didn’t want to make a choice, he thought both sides were flawed, but when it came down to it, he wouldn’t be complicit in oppression. 

His father disowned him. 

He sighed, forcibly pulling himself away from his memories. He scrubbed a hand over his face, blinking tiredly. 

How could he be meant for someone who had such a narrow experience? How could they relate to one another? And that wasn’t taking into consideration the whole ‘hi I’m a killing machine’ aspect. 

— — — — — 

Jasper was jittery.

This was not fun for him, especially when his siblings took notice and began teasing him. 

They were standing in the school parking lot the next morning next to Edward’s car. 

Just as Harrison pulled in on his motorcycle, a truly ugly orange pickup truck parked in front of him, obstructing Jasper’s view. 

He growled involuntarily, making his siblings lock up and stand at attention. Just as he was about to apologize for his hit or miss self-control, he was hit with a thirst that wasn’t his own. He gasped trying to banish it, to push back against it, but it was too much. 

“Alice,” he rasped out, reaching out for his sister. She put herself in front of him, her small hands reaching up to grip his shoulders with unyielding strength. 

“I’ve got you,” she said, “It’s alright, I’ve got you.” Jasper let himself collapse just a little then, let her take his body weight and keep him upright. Then it was gone and Jasper could think again. When he looked up, it was just him, Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett. Edward had disappeared. 

“What happened?” He rasped out, finally standing on his own again, though he leaned against their car just a bit as well. 

“This isn’t good,” Alice murmured as she worried her bottom lip. Rosalie and Emmett just glanced at each other before calmly heading inside. Jasper was left to wonder. 

— — — — — 

The day, unfortunately, didn’t get any more explainable. Or easier, for that matter. 

After whatever had happened in the parking lot, Jasper felt fried and had a harder time sorting through the input of all his senses. It all came at him in a barrage that he couldn’t sort through, worst of all were the emotions that were pulling in every possible direction. 

Alice made sure he got to his first class, but all he did was sit at his desk with his eyes covered and try to fight it all off. 

Jasper didn’t notice anything changing, didn’t notice the way something seemed to part it all until something foreign was washing over him. 

It was completely ethereal and Jasper struggled to interpret what was happening. It was as if he had laid down on the beach to let the warm waves wash over him. It was a feeling of surrendering to something that could just as easily be comforting as it could be deadly. Jasper wanted to experience that feeling for the rest of his eternity, but before he knew it, it vanished. 

Jasper was left cold and a victim once again to the overwhelming humans around him. 

— — — — — 

Jasper was absolutely not laughing, and anyone who said otherwise was a damn liar. 

He couldn’t help it if he found his mate’s way of interacting with other humans amusing. 

Jasper had kept an ear out for Harrison, eager for any scraps of him. It was his compromise to himself to allow Edward to haul him out to the field before he could get to the cafeteria and enjoy being in Harrison’s presence again. 

“I need your help,” his brother said in a rush. 

“With what?” Jasper asked as he looked around, making sure they were out of sight. 

“With thirst. How do you control it?” That stopped Jasper up short. 

“I just do?” He trailed off and frowned, taking Edward in. “What’s this about?”

“That girl, I–” He cut himself off, nostrils flaring. “She smells better than any human I’ve ever come across.” Jasper grabbed his forearm, eyes wider than he would have liked them to be.

“Do you need to leave?” He asked gravely. 

“Yes,” Edward whispered. 

“Then go,” Jasper said with finality. “I’ll call Carlisle so he knows what’s going on, but just–

“No,” Edward cut him off. “Jasper, she’s my mate, I’m not going anywhere,” Edward left then, heading for the school. 

Jasper waited a beat, keeping his mind quiet as he watched Edward’s retreating back. 

After he heard the door slam close behind his brother and sensed his determination get far enough away, Jasper made his own way back. 

He walked back inside the school and found Rosalie, Emmett, and Alice waiting for him. They all shared looks of various degrees of concern before they put on their masks and walked to the cafeteria. 

They had arrived after Harrison’s display of drama, which Jasper was a bit sad he missed seeing, but it seemed fate had other things in store for them. 

“The Cullens.”

Hearing their name said had all of them on alert, though they didn’t show it outwardly. They all kept their faces impassive, though he could tell Rosalie and Emmett began paying better attention as Alice focused inward to sort through her secondary sight. 

“They’re Dr. and Mrs. Cullen’s foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska a few years ago.” Jasper inwardly sighed when it appeared to just be gossip. 

“They kinda keep to themselves.”

“It’s not like that’s a problem,” one girl said and the other snorted. 

“What do you mean?” 

“They’re all kind of dating each other.”

“Really?”

“The blonde girl, Rosalie, is dating the big dark-haired guy, Emmett. Alice, the weird short girl, is dating Jasper, the blonde guy who looks constipated.” Jasper made eye contact with Rosalie and rolled his eyes. It had been like this for decades, people assuming he and Alice were dating, but Rosalie found it endlessly entertaining. 

“Anyway, tell us about that guy you and Mike were hanging out with.”

“Who? Harry?” Jasper frowned, he didn’t think he knew any high school humans named ‘Harry.’

“That’s his name?” the one girl asked and sounded like she was swooning. 

“Yeah?”

“I heard from someone that he's fluent in French.” Jasper barely remembered to slow his movements down when he turned to Rosalie for confirmation who gave it. Jasper was torn between being warmed by the fact that he had learned something new about his mate, or enraged at the way they were discussing him. 

“I bet his accent is so hot.”

“Actually he doesn’t have a French accent.” Jasper was ready to claw some faces. 

“Really?”

“No, he sounds British, but it’s a little off. I’m not sure why.” Jasper’s increasingly violent internal dialogue was interrupted when he caught the look on Rosalie’s face. She was looking over his shoulder and her smile was pure trouble. The same one he thought she worn when she killed her attackers way back when. 

“Oh my god, what’s he doing?” Jasper heard one of the human girls say loud enough to make him wince. 

“Harry,” Rosalie greeted him when he arrived. And oh, god, he was right there . 

“Hi Rosie,” he said with a smile, and what do you know? Those girls had been right. His accent was odd. When Jasper had heard him speak in Spanish class Jasper had assumed it was just because he was speaking a secondary language. He didn’t find it odd though, it just made Jasper want to listen to Harrison– Harry– talk forever. 

“Christ, you two are going to be nothing but trouble.” Alice declared suddenly and she and Rosalie laughed it off, but Jasper caught the look on her face and couldn’t help but be a little worried about what exactly that meant. 

“You’ve wounded me, mademoiselle,” Harry said dramatically and clapped a hand over his heart. 

“You’ll live, I think,” Alice teased and then cocked her head to the side consideringly. “I like your sweater, it looks very cozy.”

“Thank you, it was my dad’s at one point.”

“I can’t imagine a Frenchman would wear that,” Edward spoke then, his tone vicious. Jasper thought deliberately, watch yourself , the threat clear in his words. 

“My other dad likes sweaters,” Harry said. Jasper made eye contact with him then and he caught— angeramusementscheming? What?

“These are our brothers, Edward,” Rosalie said, “And Jasper.” Her tone was diplomatic, but Jasper had known her long enough to know when she was stirring the pot. 

“Nice to actually meet you,” Harry nodded at him. 

“You too. I was surprised to hear you were taking Spanish and French,” he measured his words carefully, more scared of making a mistake than he ever had been in his entire life. Harry just shrugged. 

“They’re both romance languages but they’re insanely different. My parents raised me with Spanish too but neither of them were ever really fluent so we fell off at some point.” Jasper was enthralled, but that didn’t stop what felt like cold water being dumped down the back of his shirt when Harry smiled like he was thinking of a hundred ways to eat Jasper alive, “I’m surprised you’re taking Spanish when you’re already fluent in it and Arabic.”

Shit . Jasper laughed, hoping it didn’t sound as strained as he thought it did, “Had to fill out my schedule.”

“Fair enough,” Harry chuckled. He looked back at Rosalie consideringly, “Rosie, are they still watching?”

She glanced behind Harry, “Yes.”

Harry hummed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Think we could scare them off?” 

“How?”

“Well I can guarantee that none of these people are as fluent in French as we are,” he said innocently. Jasper had a horrible feeling. 

“Follow my lead?” She suggested. 

“You got it,” Harry agreed. 

“Pourquoi voudriez-vous retirer le ver de chez lui?” Rosalie cried suddenly. Jasper jumped. 

“A cause de l'inondation! Le déluge! Il allait se noyer!” Harry responded with just as much drama. 

Rosalie stood and let her chair screech as it flung out behind her making Jasper wince, “Les vers ne peuvent pas se noyer!”

Harry dragged his hands through his hair, making his eyes widen, “Ma vie est un mensonge!”

“Qui vous a dit que les vers étaient si fragiles?” Rosalie flung an accusatory finger out toward him.

“Mon oncle le théoricien du complot!” Harry flung his arms out too, 

“Ce n'est pas une source fiable, Harry. Que dirait votre professeur d'anglais?” Rosalie accused. 

“Probablement quelque chose de mauvais!” Harry responded.

“Dans cette école? Bien sûr!”

“Ce lycée est une blague! Nous devrions partir,” Harry grabbed her shoulders and shook her imploringly. 

Rosalie shoved his arms away, “J'ai un cours ensuite, mais Jasper est libre.” She pointed again but this time her finger landed on Jasper who did not understand enough French for this. He was suddenly cursing himself for not joining Rosalie on one of her trips to Paris.  

“Fantastique!” Harry said with a groan at the ceiling. 

Rosalie made some sort of affronted noise, timed perfectly with the lunch bell ringing. Jasper knew she left, he could always pick his family out of a crowd, but he stayed. 

When Harry looked up, they were the only two left in the room. Jasper had ignored anyone who had stared or tried to catch his eye. They just looked at each other and Jasper was struck for a moment by the picture that his mate made. The sweater did make him look more real today, but it didn’t do anything to sharpen his lines. Jasper had a feeling he was always that pronounced, brash, and unapologetically in your face. Before the moment passed, Jasper started clapping slowly and sarcastically. It was all he could do really, because sweet Jesus . Harry snickered and took a bow. 

“That was quite an act.”

“Thanks, I try,” Harry shrugged. 

“I actually have AP Bio so I can’t skip with you,” Jasper said. He was just guessing what Harry and Rosalie said and leaned back in his chair to distract himself from the uncertainty. He wasn’t sure if what was making him nervous was guessing wrong, or disappointing Harry, and wasn’t that just a little bit pathetic. 

“I have Bio next too,” Harry said quietly. 

“You planned that!” Jasper exclaimed too loudly, but the relief of getting exactly what he wanted was too immediate. 

“How could I have?” Harry said innocently, and Jasper was beginning to realize that smile was intoxicating. 

“Grab your stuff, we can walk together,” He said and let his chair slam down so he could stand. This would certainly be an exercise in maintaining composure. 

Jasper grabbed his satchel off the floor and walked over to stand near Harry. He watched him get his stuff together and Jasper thought he really shouldn’t find that as endearing as he did. Harry wasn’t even doing anything. When he turned around, Jasper smiled and turned to leave with Harry following beside him. That was when he started panicking about what he should say. 

Because it couldn’t be ‘Hi I’m a hundred years old and in love with you!’ He had a feeling that would not go over well. 

Finally, he settled on something slightly more calm. “I didn’t realize you saw me translating yesterday, are you familiar with Arabic too?”

“I guess,” Harry shrugged. “I mostly just recognize the alphabet style, I’ve never put any real time into learning.”

“Fair enough, it took me years to learn,” Jasper said as he was distracted by memories of Alice yelling at him in Arabic until he could finally yell back. But it was Alice so it wasn’t like she was ever really angry. When Jasper found out she had been screaming lines from Macbeth he wanted to throttle her. 

“Where are you from? If you don’t mind me asking,” Harry spoke kindly, pulling Jasper out of his reverie. Jasper looked over at him and couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips. 

“The great state of Texas,” he said, purposefully drawing out his accent even more. 

“Oh.” Jasper thought he sensed some shock on Harry’s part but that didn’t make sense.  

“Nothing else to say? No jokes?” Jasper asked, deciding to tease. 

“Well, I hear everything’s bigger there. Maybe your ego?” Harry suggests and Jasper had to viciously hold back the laugh that wanted to break free at that, he wasn’t successful. 

“That… among other things,” Jasper whispered conspiratorially. Jasper didn’t know when they had gotten so close, but he could see the freckles that dotted Harry’s face here and there, the lines around his eyes, and his eyes– which were so green Jasper thought they could draw him back into the earth. 

Listening to a lecture about tertiary predators after that seemed especially pointless. 

— — — — — 

Jasper was the first to get to the car after the final bell rang, and was waiting next to it for the rest of his siblings while keeping an eye out for Harry who evidently wasn’t too far behind him. He walked toward his bike, visibly energetic which Jasper found amusing. Harry reminded him of a bunny bounding off of any surface in sight just for the sake of it. Then he pulled out his phone and dialed a number that must’ve been familiar for him and spoke. 

“Helo, tad. A gaf i fynd i dŷ Jacob am ychydig oriau?” Jasper’s brain stopped functioning. He had no idea what language was being spoken, but he finally realized what those human girls were talking about. Something about this language suited Harry’s voice more than any other, he was meant to be heard in this sing-song cadence. 

“Le, a fyddwch chi'n ôl mewn amser i ginio?" The voice on the other end of the call asked. 

“Oes.”

“Ewch ymlaen wedyn,” the voice said and Jasper could hear the fondness in it. He wondered who it was Harry was talking to. 

“Diolch!” Harry chirped, “Caru ti, hwyl,” he added. Jasper heard an amused huff from the person. 

“Caru chi hefyd,” the person said before Harry hung up. With a grin, he tucked his phone away and fastened his helmet on. Jasper watched him eagerly get on his bike and tear out of his parking spot. 

Later that evening Jasper would wish he could stay in that bubble of seeing his mate so happy, so alive, and so truly himself. 

— — — — — 

“Fine, I’ll say it,” Rosalie’s voice rang out from somewhere in the house, audible to all of them. “Edward needs to talk to Carlisle about something.”

“Shut up, Rosalie!” Edward’s voice immediately responded. 

“Family meeting,” Carlisle sighed, “Now, please.”

Jasper sighed and closed his book, getting off his bed slowly. He had finally been able to relax just a little bit and tune out all the noise of the world. 

He found his family in the living room, with Edward fuming next to the window and Rosalie sitting primly on the couch. Emmett and Alice looked between the two of them with well concealed amusement, Jasper joined them. 

Carlisle arrived with Esme and once they stepped into the room, Edward exploded. 

“Rosalie’s lying! She’s just making trouble because she can’t fuck Jasper’s mate,” he said viciously. 

“Harry’s attractive. I think we can all appreciate that,” Rosalie shrugged, “What I was talking about though, was the way you’re on the verge of relapsing.”

“What?” Carlisle asked worriedly, turning to Edward. Jasper watched him completely deflate and decide to let Edward’s comment about Harry go– for a moment. 

They all stared at Edward, waiting for him to speak, and when he didn’t, Rosalie did for him. “There is a human girl, the police chief’s daughter, and Edward can’t control his bloodlust for her.”

“That’s not what happened!” Edward insisted.

“Then why did you ask Jasper about how he controls himself?” Rosalie countered. 

“Jasper, is this true?” Carlisle asked, trying to avoid a(nother) fight between Rosalie and Edward. 

“Yes,” Jasper nodded. Edward should’ve known better than to feel betrayed over Jasper’s admission, he was acting irrationally. 

“Edward, what do you need?” Esme asked kindly, and Jasper felt Edward’s emotions change then to the guilt that so often followed him. 

“I need to leave, we can’t move again and I don’t want to hurt anyone,” he said quietly and Esme nodded understandingly. “I can’t hurt her–” Edward hesitated, “I think she’s my mate.”

He was met with silence. 

“Do what you need to do to retain control,” Carlisle sidestepped the admission and none of them wanted to call him on it. 

“I’ll leave now, it’s for the best,” Edward took strides toward the doorway of the living room and only stopped to kiss Esme on the cheek and nod at Carlisle before he was gone, not bothering to say goodbye to his siblings. 

“Jasper, can I talk to you alone?” Alice asked, speaking for the first time since their meeting started. 

“Of course,” Jasper agreed easily and followed her when she left the living room and eventually the house itself. When they were standing in their driveway, Alice took off into the forest, giving Jasper no option but to follow her. 

And he did without complaint. 

The only thought in his mind was concern for his sister– his favorite sister if he was being honest. 

They’d run deep into the bush, far away from anything or anyone. It was just them and the small animals that were scattering away from where they had come to a stop in a small clearing. 

Alice turned toward Jasper and as soon as their eyes met, she collapsed. 

Jasper darted out, as quick as a lightning flash and caught her before she could hit the ground– some last semblance of gentility still in him demanding that he protect her. He sat on the florist floor, supporting her, and holding her through the vision. When it did, Alice gasped and sat bolt upright so quickly that Jasper barely got out of the way to avoid their heads colliding. 

“What is it?” Jasper asked hoarsely, getting more and more worried with each passing second. 

“Jasper, I don’t–” She cut herself off and shuddered, “I really need you to believe me right now.”

“Okay, okay,” Jasper said quickly, “Just tell me what it is and I’ll believe you. I trust you, you know that.” Alice nodded, ducking her head to fidget with her fingers even though she was still practically in Jasper’s lap. 

“She’s mine,” Alice whispered so quietly Jasper wasn’t even sure she had spoken. 

“What?”

“Bella, she’s my mine– she’s my mate.” Alice looked up then and they didn’t need words, or powers, to know. This could be bad, this could be very, very bad. 

“I’ll support you, no matter what, and I’m sure Carlisle and Esme will too,” Jasper pointed out, hoping it was a comfort. 

Alice nodded, still seeming shaky, but her voice was sure. “I want to see what Edward will do before I make a move.” 

For the first time in a long time, Jasper prayed to a god he no longer believed in to see them through this.

Chapter Text

Harry was having a horrible fucking day, thank you very much. 

It had started well enough, he talked with Jasper more in Spanish which was nice, but at every juncture was Bella Swan. 

She popped up during passing periods, one time even when Harry had excused himself from class to go to the lavatory. 

He was trying to make an escape to eat out on the field when she and her friends(?) cornered him. 

“Harry!” Bella screeched and he couldn’t help but wince. He glanced over his shoulder and found Bella and two others standing with her. The one Harry thought had been at the lunch table the other day seemed to perk up. 

He slowed his pace but didn’t stop. 

“You should eat lunch with us!” Said girl enthused. Harry opened his mouth to make some shit excuse and make a run for it when Bella cut in. 

“I wanted to introduce you to Angela, I think you both have Spanish together,” Bella indicated the third girl who had stayed silent up until that point smiled sheepishly. 

“Sorry to ambush you,” Angela said earnestly which made Harry soften just a little. 

“Nice to meet you,” Harry held his hand out and she took it, seeming a little bewildered. He recognized her, but it wasn’t just English. Their junior Spanish class was fairly small, and if she was friends with Bella and a sophomore that would explain why. 

“Nice to meet you too,” she responded. Their ‘conversation’ lapsed for a moment awkwardly before Bella elbowed Angela. Harry frowned but was quickly distracted by Angela blurting. “Do you want to have lunch with us? I wanted to talk to you about how you learned Spanish.”

Harry really wanted to say no, but unfortunately, Angela’s puppy dog eyes were surprisingly powerful. 

“Uh, sure,” he agreed hesitantly and let himself be led back to the cafeteria, through the lunch line so the girls could get food, and to their table. 

When they all reached it and sat down, the girl Harry didn’t know held her hand out, eyes gleaming, “I’m Jessica,” she giggled nervously. “We haven’t met yet, but when Bella told me about you, I knew I had to.”

Harry kept his face neutral and didn’t take her hand, knowing that whatever fantasy she had in her head, it would just play into that. “Nice to meet you,” he offered instead with a tight smile. 

He heard someone cackle loudly from somewhere in the room. 

“How’s everything going so far? You’re still new like Bella,” Angela asked earnestly, deciding to cut through the deep level of weirdness permeating their table after that interaction. 

“It’s going pretty well actually, my classes are pretty good and I’m enjoying getting into the swing of things.” He didn’t realize that was how he actually felt until the words were out of his mouth. It was nice, Harry thought, to have something come so easily, even if there were a few things– or people– bothering him. 

Angela opened her mouth, probably to say something Harry would actually enjoy responding to when Jessica butt in again. “So, you’re making friends, right?” 

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Harry frowned, unsure where she was going with that. 

“Like Bella,” Jessica suggested. Harry glanced over to find the girl in question curling in on herself. Funny how she hadn’t said a word since they’d dragged him into their little luncheon. 

“Sure,” Harry agreed, though he wouldn’t consider someone he’d spoken to twice and otherwise avoided a friend. Maybe the teenagers of Forks’ general population had different standards. 

“And the Cullens,” Jessica put in enthusiastically. 

“Who?” Harry blinked, purposefully trying to look confused. 

“Well, it seemed like you were kind of friends with Rosalie Hale until that fight,” Jessica said, as she picked through the salad on her tray. Then she looked up at Harry through her lashes, and alarm bells went off in Harry’s head. 

“Yeah, well,” Harry shrugged, trying to give himself a moment to come up with a way to deflect. 

“I was just curious, because you know she’s taken.” Okay, what?

“I’m sorry, what?” Harry asked, gaze hard. 

“Yeah, she’s dating the big guy, Emmett. They’re together,” the girl drove the point home as if it wasn't already obvious for a number of reasons. 

“I know, what’s your point?” Harry spoke bluntly. Without realizing it, he had started to angle his body away from them, one leg braced to get up and leave. 

“Just that if you’re looking for a girlfriend, I can help you with that,” Jessica shrugged, though Harry could see her confidence wavering as Harry didn’t have much of a reaction one way or another. 

There was a tension in the air that made its way into Harry’s body. He breathed it in, it spread through his lungs and seeped into his muscles, his heart. 

“Well, I can’t say I appreciate the offer since it’s not any of your business,” Harry started, the leash on his temper slipping just enough. “But for the record, even if I wasn’t gay, I wouldn’t be interested in you.” It was blunt and harsh, and Harry wasn’t entirely happy he did it, but it seemed like it would be worth it if he could be left alone by this strange friend group. 

With that done, Harry stood and left. Instead of trying to go out to the field to have a peaceful lunch, he made the executive decision to choose peace. He swung by his locker for his jacket and helmet before leaving out of the front entrance and walking through the parking lot on his bike. 

He started the engine up without remorse.

— — — — — 

The house is quiet when Harry finally reaches it. He figures his dads must be out doing something and doesn’t think more of it, instead heading to his room to change into pajamas. With that done, and this school day behind him, Harry heads for the library. 

Their house was really just a cabin, but they’d used expansion charms on certain rooms when they felt like it, the library was one of them. They’d emptied the black library out of Grimmauld house and brought it here, that combined with Remus’s own collection made for quite a selection. Harry loved it and spent many slow days just picking through the tombs. Somehow he still hadn’t read everything and he found that mildly fantastic. 

Today though, he was on a mission and found Remus’s worn copies of defense books easily. He had read most of them over the years for various reasons, but for the most part just idle curiosity. Living in Forks was mostly idle curiosity if he was being honest. Remus and Sirius had just taught him things as he went, his education wasn’t formal in the least, but he wasn’t completely useless so he supposed it was good enough. 

They had always encouraged him to find his own answers in life which –given his authority issues– wasn’t a problem. It helped today as he poured through different books on creatures, slowly compiling a list of things he had noticed about the Cullens that might identify what they were. By the time that the sun was setting through the massive windows in the library, Harry was doing better and somehow worse than when he started. 

He let out a loud groan, and leaned back, scrubbing his hands over his face as he stared up at the ceiling. His eyes couldn’t decide if they were dry or strained, probably both. Either way, he squinted and blinked, trying to remember what reality he was in. When he did, the sounds of crashing pans coming from the kitchen reached him. 

He huffed a laugh and stood– bones creaking as he did. Harry left the books where they were, strewn about the table, knowing that his dads wouldn’t move them, and left. He shuffled through their house, following the noises of Sirius grumbling, things getting set down on the counter heavily, and Remus trying to stay out of it– and/or soothe Sirius when he started to panic. 

Harry stopped in the doorway and leaned against the frame, just watching them for a minute. Sirius was chopping up something while Remus was pretending to watch a pot of boiling water– mostly just smiling at his husband lovingly. A smile tugged on Harry’s lips, horribly fond of them both and feeling incredibly grateful that they were in his life. 

Remus glanced over and noticed Harry standing there, when their eyes met, he could tell they were both thinking about the same thing. 

“Hey, Harry. How was your day?” Remus asked, partially to make sure Sirius knew their surrogate son was there. He was still a little jumpy even though he’d been out of his parents' house for ages– it never fully went away. 

He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Harry, though he stayed silent. 

“Uh,” Harry hesitated, suddenly unable to play anything off in the face of The Dads™. He laughed nervously, “It was alright?”

Remus snorted, “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything… ‘say’ on the other hand,” he chuckled. 

“Well,” Sirius gestured to get him to go on– with the knife he was holding. 

“I sort of told this girl to fuck off, she was trying to make a move and it was just weird,” Harry shrugged.

“Oh, I’m sure you managed to be a bit more dramatic than that,” Remus pointed out. 

“It’s kind of a long story,” Harry started obligatorily, though that wasn’t going to keep him from catching his dads up on everything. “The other day this girl from my French class and I decided to have a silly fight in French. It’s such a fishbowl at that school and everyone gossips all the time, so we decided to have some fun with it.” Harry shrugged. “Then today these girls dragged me to lunch with them and one made it very clear that my friend has a boyfriend– which I knew because she introduced me to the guy– and then offered to help me find a girlfriend,” Harry said, making Remus wince. 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have responded well to that either,” Remus acknowledged. 

Harry nodded, “So I told her that it was none of her business and that I was gay anyway.” Harry sighed, thinking back on lunch. “I’m sure they’ll spin it so everyone is speculating about me tomorrow, but–” he shrugged, cutting himself off. 

“That’s a hard line to walk, pup,” Sirius said sympathetically. Harry squirmed a little, avoiding eye contact. 

“It’s not actually a problem or something, compared to everything, but it's still just an inconvenience.”

“Just because it’s not as bad as being a child soldier doesn’t mean it’s good,” Remus pointed out bluntly. 

“Okay, okay,” Harry doesn’t want to argue about it, but also knows that there isn’t really much of an argument there to begin with. 

“So you’re friends with this girl in your French class though?” Sirius asks, always focusing on the important details. He had turned back to chopping, but glanced behind him to see Harry nod. 

“Yeah, Rosalie. I like her a lot,” he smiled at just the memory of the girl. “You probably would too, Sirius, she lives for the drama.” 

Sirius scoffs, mock offended, while Remus snickers. 

“Actually, Remus,” Harry said, catching his dad’s attention. “Rosalie and her family were what prompted me to ask about creatures that live in groups.” 

“Oh?” Remus asked innocently, though Harry could see the way he was standing a little more straight while leaning against the counter. 

“I came home early and did more research today, but I haven’t quite gotten any closer to an answer.” All he really had accomplished over the afternoon was some random interesting facts about other magical creatures that happened to be included in the books he read. 

“What have you picked up about them?” Remus asked, “You tend to think better out loud.” Harry nodded, a little irritated that he hadn’t thought of that earlier. 

“Appearance-wise, they all have the same golden eyes, and they’re all incredibly pale, even for Forks,” Harry smirked a little in amusement. “At first I thought they were all biologically related which is what tipped me off because their hair color, facial structure, and body types are all wildly different. According to the school gossip, they’re all the adopted children of Dr. Cullen and his wife.” 

“Haven’t heard of them,” Sirius interrupted. 

“Well, it’s not like we’re debutantes on the Forks social scene,” Harry pointed out sarcastically. “But anyway, when I reached out across the school with my magic I think I found them and they were insanely cold, I couldn’t even feel a life force.”

He saw Remus frown and Sirius stop. 

“That’s… not good,” Remus said stiltedly. 

“They’re definitely not human,” Sirius agreed. 

“Agreed, but I’m not sure what necessarily they could be,” Remus frowned. “With the eyes, I would assume some sort of shape shifter, but…” He trailed off, staring at the floor. 

“Have they given you any reason to think that we should intervene?” Sirius asked in the silence that Remus left. The other man was clearly debating something with himself. 

“No, not yet, I mean,” Harry pushed off the doorframe and stood on his own two feet. 

“Then we still have time to do research,” Sirius pointed out. “You and Remus can both work on it, assuming you don’t need me too.” 

“If there needs to be anything done at all, they could just be existing,” Remus muttered. 

“Of course, but it’s pretty weird if they’re ‘just existing’ in a small town high school,” Harry said flatly. 

“Fair point, that is a bit off,” Remus shrugged, a little more present in the discussion but still sorting through his own thoughts. 

Sirius hummed. “Help me finish dinner, you two can get caught up in your research after you’ve eaten.” Sirius turned back to the food, “Harry, come help.”

“Oui, papa,” Harry said sarcastically and walked over to stand at Sirius’s elbow. He was cutting chicken. 

“Start on the sauce, we’re having chicken alfredo,” Sirius ordered. 

“Mmm, sounds good,” Harry said and broke off to find a bowl and cream and whatever else he needed. 

Making dinner with the dads was calming. Harry didn’t cook for himself or on his own much, but he did enjoy it. The simplicity of a task in front of him, and getting to be involved in creation, was a good balance for him. It was also–

“Oh, motherfucker!” 

“What?” Harry said, broken out of thoughts and immediately concerned. 

“Just a cut,” Sirius hissed, hand wrapped around one of his fingers. He walked over to the sink, turned on the water, and washed the blood away. 

Sirius had taken a chunk out of his palm with the knife he had been using. It probably said something about Remus and Harry that they didn’t freak out. 

Sirius’s forays into the culinary arts had resulted in innumerable injuries, and a fair amount of house fires (they had remodeled the kitchen four times now after each of Sirius’s bigger messes). 

“Do you want me to do it?” Harry asks, eyeing the wound. 

“Yes, please,” Sirius chirps. 

Harry moved away from the bowl he had been using to mix the sauce and took hold of Sirius’s hand, keeping it over the sink but pulling it out from under the water. With a deep breath, Harry reaches out.

There’s a misconception among wizards that magic is something you either have or you don’t. Harrison James Potter Lupin Black has found this to be consistently incorrect. Everyone has “magic” within them, it is intrinsic to a person’s life force, and whether or not it can be accessed and enhanced is another thing entirely. He had grown up being told that he was powerful, and after the events of the war, those whispers didn’t disappear, if anything they became stronger. Which is part of why he decided to distance himself from magic and all its power and convenience as much as possible. There were times though, that he couldn’t ignore the thrumming energy within him begging to be released, to sing, to soar, to be free.  

This was one of those times.  

Bathed in the warmth of the magic flowing through Harry and into Sirius, both relaxed immensely. 

They almost missed the skin knitting itself back together, only stopping when it was a new and healthy rosy pink. 

Dinner got back on track and passed easily, the three of them taking comfort in each other's presence. Harry held his worries about the outside world close to his chest– doing his best to ignore them– and instead just focused on the warmth he felt from his little family. 

— — — — — 

Harry always felt a little wired after using magic in the way that he did earlier. This time was worse though. 

Harry hadn’t used much magic in weeks. The listening charm he had used in the cafeteria was so minor compared to what regrowing missing flesh required. His fidgeting was worse, he felt like running to the end of the earth, and eventually, he gave up trying to fight it. 

Without any preamble, Harry got out of bed, opened his window, and threw himself out of it. 

The first breath he took of the cool night air, set him on fire, and he ran toward the treeline, barefoot, with a grin on his face. 

As he went, he let his animagus form fall over him, felt two feet turn into two, and felt his senses sharpen to a razor’s edge. His wolf form was formidable, though Remus and Sirius had both laughed themselves silly when they saw it for the first time– when Harry finally unlocked it. Somehow he was the perfect blend of Remus’s enormous, russet werewolf form and Sirius’s sleek black dog form. 

Bounding through the forest felt almost as good as flying, and Harry pushed himself as far as he wanted. Their wards went on miles into the forest for their safety, but especially for Remus during his transformations. 

When Harry broke into a clearing some miles away from home, he stopped and dropped his form. Chest heaving, grin stretching across his face, Harry broke into a shaky laugh. 

When he had recovered, he sat down on the mossy floor, eventually stretching all the way back to lie down. 

Pillowing his head on his arms, he looked up at what bits of the night sky he could see through the canopy. The sky was so clear in Forks. Harry loved being able to see the stars. The moon was even bright enough for him to see the outline of the clouds passing over him. 

It was a kind of beautiful that couldn’t be captured and Harry was enormously content to just sit in it. 

The magic flowed out of him as easily as the breath he exhaled. It tumbled into the clearing with such ease that Harry almost didn’t even notice that it was happening. Didn’t, at least until he began to feel the nature around him in a new way. 

He could feel the life thrumming in the trees around him and its resiliency– growth– and the decay that underlined it all. The beauty of life was intrinsic to its fatality. Life, death, growth, rebirth, Harry was entrenched in it. 

“Hello, Master,” a voice said gently. 

“I’ve told you not to call me that,” Harry sighed.

Chapter Text

Getting to school that day felt sluggish, like everything possible that could’ve gone wrong, did.

Harry burned his breakfast and his dads insisted that he remake it instead of just waiting for lunch, he had somehow lost his backpack and his helmet which took way too long to find. Then he spilled hot coffee down his white sweater and had to change before he was finally out of the house. His bike didn’t start which made Harry actually groan at the sky. It tended to get finicky when they got closer to winter but with all the prior mishaps of the morning, Harry didn’t have time to fiddle with the thing to see if it was an easy fix. Instead, he just trudged back inside the house and grumpily asked Remus for the keys to his old Jeep, which were handed over with a snicker. 

Thankfully that vehicle actually started and Harry was finally able to leave his house. It was probably for the best, the road was icy, and tearing around on an old bike wasn’t the best idea.  

Harry somehow managed to get there before the final bell rang and the student body had wandered inside to enrich their minds. 

He parked in his usual spot and climbed out, slipping his backpack on quickly. 

The squeal of old breaks cut through the swirling thoughts in his mind, his head snapping up to watch an old van turning into the parking lot too hot and the driver’s eyes wide with fear. 

He saw them then, Death, standing watch over it all.

Harry’s mind was running a mile a minute, trying to piece everything together and make sense of what was happening. It was too overwhelming. 

But someone was going to die, that much was clear. 

Harry turned back to the van and assumed that the driver wasn’t the one in lethal danger, instead followed what he thought would be its trajectory which stopped with… Bella Swan who was currently digging through her backpack with earbuds in. 

Harry inwardly sighed, but when he made to shield Bella, someone beat him there. Harry skidded to a stop after having activated the speed spell on his sneakers and saw Edward Cullen bracing the van with one hand while he curled protectively around Bella. 

Oh, this is not good .

That thought echoes through Harry’s mind as the world seems to come crashing into them, the sound of someone screaming – expecting Bella to be a pancake. Then there were the reassurances that an ambulance had been called by people who were probably just excited to involve themselves in the drama of the crash. 

Harry was floating in the white noise of his mind, not really registering any of it until sirens cut through it all. 

He watched the ambulance pull into the parking lot. 

Watched Edward lift Bella gently out of the nook between her truck and the van. 

Watched Death linger. 

Harry couldn’t tell for sure– their hood shadowed their face too well, but Harry almost thought that Death was as confused as he was. 

— — — — —

He got corralled into the ambulance with Edward and Bella, and he didn’t have the presence of mind to protest as strongly as he would’ve. 

However, he did find the collar they strapped Bella into objectively hilarious. 

Harry almost forgot that they were trying to treat him until a nurse ran up and tried to insist that he needed to sit down – or get on a gurney. Harry was a little sour that there wasn’t even an attempt made to get Edward on one. 

Instead, the boy-man-creature just stood menacingly and watched Bella like a hawk as she was treated. 

“Bella, are you okay?” A police officer stormed in, finding the girl easily. “You and I are gonna talk,” he pointed a finger toward the kid who had been driving the van. Harry vaguely recognized him from the time he spent in the cafeteria (mostly against his will).

“I’m sorry, Bella. I tried to stop,” the boy implored. 

“I know, it’s okay,” Bella shook it off easily. 

“No, it’s not. It sure as hell is not okay,” the officer snapped. “You could have been killed.” 

And wasn’t that an excellent point , Harry thought. In fact, it raised concerns that Harry hadn’t yet thought of. There was a balance to things, and this did seem to be something that most people wouldn’t –or shouldn’t– have survived. 

“Yes, but I wasn’t, so,” Bella said, pulling Harry out of his spiraling thoughts. He watched her shrug the concern off uncomfortably. 

“You can kiss your license goodbye,” the man snapped, turning back to the boy. 

Huh, so this is chief swan . Harry liked him. 

“Harry!” A voice called out loudly from somewhere farther into the emergency room. Harry stood, beyond grateful for the opportunity to get off of the stupid bed, and saw Sirius and Remus being waylaid by a nurse. 

“Dad!” He called, not feeling inclined to respect the chain of command. Remus brushed the nurse off, and rushed to Harry. Harry staggered when Remus slammed into him, but both wrapped their arms around each other without hesitation. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he assured both of them from around Remus’s broad shoulders. He started rubbing circles into Remus’s back and glanced over to Sirius who looked like he was in shock– and was also covered in dirt?

“What happened?” Sirius asked. 

“Sir?” They all turned to see Charlie Swan approaching them. “Are you this young man’s father?”

“We both are,” Sirius said without blinking and Harry watched the man glance over to where Remus was standing– with an arm over Harry’s shoulders. 

“Bella tells me that your son was one of the first people to run and help, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that.” Harry thought the police chief seemed awkward, but his words were calm and measured. 

Sirius glanced over at Harry who just raised an eyebrow in response. Sirius turned back and nodded, “I’m glad your daughter is okay.”

Swan chuckled, relieved. “If there’s anything I can do, please just let me know,” he said to Harry.

“I appreciate that, but it’s unnecessary, I just wanted to help, and after all, Edward was the one to pull Bella away,” Harry pointed out, which for some reason made the man frown. 

“Son, has a doctor seen you?” He asked. 

“No, like I said, I wasn’t in any danger.” Harry couldn’t see what Swan was getting at, but before anything else could be said, a doctor swept in that seemed to attract all the muggles’ attention. 

He was taller than Sirius (most people were) but shorter than Remus (when the man stood up straight or wasn’t using a mobility aid) and probably right around thirty. He had the same eyes and skin as the Cullen family then which made Harry tense. 

“I heard the chief’s daughter was in,” he announced. 

“Dr. Cullen,” the chief said, relief evident on his face to see someone familiar. 

“Charlie,” the man-doctor-creature greeted. 

“Isabella,” Dr. Cullen says absentmindedly as he looks over the chart hanging on her bed. 

“Bella,” the girl corrects. 

“Well, Bella, it looks like you took quite a spill.” Dr. Cullen set the chart down and pulled out a pen light from somewhere on his person to check Bella over. “You might experience some post-traumatic stress or disorientation but your vitals look good. You should be just fine.”

“It would have been a whole lot worse if Edward hadn’t been there,” Bella said as if it wasn’t batshit insane. She wasn’t wrong, but clearly, no one had ever taught her to keep her crazy to herself. 

“Edward? Your boy?” Charlie asked, ignored by both Bella and Dr. Cullen, with the former watching the doctor closely, and the latter trying to pretend like he wasn’t being watched closely.  

“I mean, Harry even said so too,” Bella pointed out and Harry just managed to hide his what the fuck, why would you say that face before the doctor turned. 

“Is that so?” He asked innocently, but they both knew the question was loaded. 

Harry shrugged, “That’s just what I saw, but I wasn’t there when it happened.” He was deliberately nonchalant, but he kept a close eye on the man’s microexpressions. There was nothing though.

“Can I give you a quick exam?” He asks, smiling neutrally. 

“Sure, I guess,” Harry says easily enough, once again speaking before thinking. That was how he was though, always moving forward without hesitation, simply out of instinct. 

He sat back down on the bed they had assigned to him, looking expectantly– and as innocently as he could– at Dr. Cullen. He knew his dads were watching closely. 

“My hands are a bit cold, sorry about that,” he warned Harry before he led them both through the motions of a standard physical exam. 

‘Cold’ was an understatement. The doctor’s probing fingers felt like icicles. Harry thought that he must be the leader of their little group. He was the oldest of them he’d seen, and clearly appeared to be the most highly educated. 

It seemed like they were both disappointed when nothing was revealed, which made Harry’s lips twitch. Did he really think he could poke me and a magic laser would come out?

After that was apparently deemed non-threatening which Harry found fucking hilarious honestly. Eventually, though, it became clear that they should leave, something that Harry was all for, but on the walk through the parking lot, he stopped. 

“There’s something I need to do,” Harry whispered under his breath to his dads. 

They both schooled their features into something impassive. 

“Call us if there’s trouble,” Remus murmured and Harry nodded before taking off in a different direction albeit calmly. 

Harry had been grateful for the invisibility cloak on too many occasions to count. As a family heirloom, it was great, but as a tool to stay alive and anticipate threats– it was invaluable. That said, he didn’t expect the latter today. 

He apparated, mentally tracing the leylines crisscrossing the town that would take me back home. 

He beat Remus and Sirius there, which was to be expected, but Harry was on a mission. He passed through the house unseeing, heading straight to his room and finding his cloak. Without any preamble, slipped it on and apparated on the spot. 

It didn’t take long for Harry to find them, reaching out with his magic with each silent step he took on the linoleum. 

Turning into a new corridor, he saw Bella peeking around the corner of a hallway poorly eavesdropping as Rosalie and Edward spoke to Daddy Cullen. 

Harry crouched down, brushing his fingers over the floor before stopping and anchoring them. After last night, the magic was easier to tap into and Harry did so without hesitation. 

It spread quickly though no one could see it– not even Harry himself– and reached the others quickly. Bella was dismissed quickly, her life force so fragile that Harry was afraid even being too aware of it would cause it to shatter. 

It was the Cullens that held his interest. 

Harry felt that same cold he had at school that day and almost pulled away before something occurred to him. 

What if there were layers?

Harry put more intention into what he was doing, and once he pushed through it was worth it. 

He could feel more of what must have been the essence of the Cullens– or was at one point. Carlisle had a righteousness that pushed him forward, it was almost startling to Harry, the level of this man’s resolve. He wasn’t sure why, but it made him uneasy. 

Rosalie was so conflicted it pulled Harry’s awareness in what felt like a thousand different directions at once. There was spite, resilience, yearning, and so little happiness it made Harry a bit sad for his tentative friend. 

Whatever soft feelings he had were violently ripped away when faced with Edward. 

Harry barely held himself back from puking. 

He had seen disease, the things that rotted a body–a person– from the inside out. 

This was so much worse. 

Edward was sick . There was no other word for it. 

There’s a rot that ran so deep Harry wasn’t sure where it ended, but he knew it was made of loathing and thirst. 

Harry had seen enough. 

— — — — — 

Harry had apparated back to the library at home and hadn’t moved since. He knew Remus and Sirius were hovering– well, Sirius was hovering, and Remus was stress-baking. 

He was determined to get an answer and was growing increasingly frustrated. There were open books scattered on every surface, including most of the floor. He’d resolved to just start climbing shelves to reach the other books high up when a throat cleared from somewhere behind him. 

“What are you doing?”

“Enjoying being taller than you for once in my life,” Harry snarked back.

“Get down here before you break something,” Remus said, unimpressed. 

Harry huffed and climbed down, jumping the last half meter or so. 

“I need to know what’s going on to be able to help you,” Remus pointed out after they were both on even ground. 

Harry sighed. “I need to figure out what the Cullens are and I need to do it wrong. At least one of them is a threat.” 

“You’re sure the answer is here?” Remus asked. 

“It damn sure ought to be,” Harry growled. 

“Okay, let’s get to work then,” Remus declared and dove in trying to sort through everything. 

Time passed without notice for the both of them, and the mess only got more chaotic. Remus began sorting things in a way that really only made sense to him and Harry just kept doing what he was doing– which is to say, struggling. 

At some point, Sirius must’ve come in to give them food because when Harry got up to go to the bathroom, all of his joints protesting, he found cold soup on one of the tables. 

When he came back, he found Remus hunched over a small book, muttering to himself. 

“What is that?” Harry asked, shuffling over. 

“I think I got it,” Remus said quietly. “Harry, I think I got it!” He bounced excitedly where he was sitting on a cushion on the floor. He looked up at Harry, eyes wide. “Come here, look!” He waved Harry over. 

Harry looked over Remus’s shoulder to see cramped cursive handwriting filling up the pages it was open to. 

‘ When I arrived in Forks I was surprised to find a small, ignorant muggle population in the area. It is one thing when in London wizards have extensive resources to keep the muggles in the dark, it is another when there are no resources. 

These muggles are living among creatures that seem to be waging some kind of war. The local Quilete seem to have some sort of transfiguration mutation and blame the emergence of this quality on a local group of daywalkers. 

The daywalkers seem to keep to themselves for the most part and attempt to survive on animals. They could be some type of vampire, but I’m not certain, and frankly, I’m not interested in investigating further. They’re playing at being humans, but are only succeeding at ostracizing themselves further– from the community at large– from humanity in general. ’

“Daywalkers?” Harry looked at Remus questioningly. 

“Daywalkers,” Remus confirmed. 

— — — — — 

Harry couldn’t sleep. He was just staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, feeling his mind run away from him. 

Daywalkers were a small group of magical creatures, there were very few of them– especially in comparison to vampires. Harry did his mastery in defense under Remus, but for the practical side of things, he interned under Bill. It was haphazard and actually resulted in him having a double mastery, but Harry had enjoyed every minute of it. 

Living in Egypt with Bill and Fleur, they were working on the crypt of an ancient wizard who they thought might’ve been some sort of advisor to nobility during the Middle Kingdom. The research that they had done led them to a family. The son had been able to control the elements, they assumed they were some kind of nymphs, but looking back on it, that was ridiculous. 

Nymphs didn’t live under the weather conditions of Egypt– they couldn’t. Not to mention the bodies that were dropping out of nowhere and seemingly for no reason. 

Shit .

Chapter Text

“I know what needs to happen next,” Harry announced to Remus and Sirius in the kitchen the next morning. 

Sirius was slumped over the small table in the corner, draped in one of Remus’s sweaters and a blanket. He only grumbled in response. 

Remus was staring at a wall. 

Okay, so all of them were bad at being awake . 

He let the silence settle for a minute. 

“Sorry, what?” Remus asks, brain finally catching up. 

“I know what needs to happen next. I’m going to contact Kingsley about daywalkers, see if they have anything else, now that we have a name for them at least from that diary.” Harry bit his lip before releasing it. “It’s not like all of them are a problem, just the one and the muggle he seems to be circling.”

Remus hummed and Sirius picked his head up. 

“You know, if they’re complicit they’re just as responsible,” Sirius points out. Harry knew he was right, but he didn’t think it was that simple. He hoped it wasn’t.

“What’s that face about?” Remus asked.

“Yeah,” Sirius frowned. 

“I just like some of them,” Harry mumbled and scuffed his socked foot on the floor. 

“Oh, do tell,” Sirius encouraged, suddenly more awake at the prospect of gossip. 

“I just mean Rosalie, she’s the nicest person I’ve met at that school,” Harry said calmly and he almost thought he had it… until he started blushing. 

“No, no, no, there’s something else,” Sirius stood and shuffled over, looking like a bog witch for all intents and purposes. 

“No, there’s not,” Harry insisted. 

“Oh, I think there is,” Sirius insisted mischievously. 

“Remus,” Harry whined, “Sirius is being mean to me.”

“I think he’s asking the important questions.” Remus crossed his arms in front of his chest, and tried to smother a smirk which Harry did not appreciate. 

Harry groaned, “Not you too.”

“Oh, yes, me too,” Remus said, and this time 

“Does our little Hazzers have a crush !?” Sirius practically shrieked. 

“No!” Harry said in a way that made it very clear that he meant ‘yes.’ 

God, all it took was Sirius teasing him and suddenly he was thirteen years old again . 

“Ooo, who is it?” Sirius asked. The blanket slipped off his head, revealing his hair sticking up every which way with static on top of the bed head. Christ, he looks like he could shank me at any second . 

Harry leaned away as if it was one of the Weasley’s products that was still in testing, “...Rosalie’s brother.”

Sirius made some sort of excited pelican noise that made Harry jump a little bit, and Remus smiled fondly, which was proof that love is utterly blind.

“This is fantastic!” Sirius screeched and did some sort of happy jig (Harry didn’t think it could be classified as a dance). “What’s he like? Tell me everything!”

“If you want to,” Remus butt in, ever the white knight. 

Harry just gave him a dead look that said, ‘ We both know there’s no getting out of this .’

“I don’t know that much about him actually, he’s just–” Harry heaved out a huge breath. “Really pretty, and I think he might be really kind, and he seems interesting, and he’s from Texas and I don’t know.” Harry cut himself off abruptly. While he was talking he looked away, lost on his tangent, but when his gaze snapped back to Sirius he found the man vibrating . 

“This is so great!” He started jumping up and down, “This is so great, this is so great, this is so great!”

Harry was sure his face was probably bright red, or as close as he could get to it. It always felt worse than it was. He hid his face in his hands. 

“Wait, what does he look like?” Sirius stopped hopping and asked. 

“Why does that matter?” Harry asked, looking up. 

“It doesn’t, but I’m excited.” There were practically stars in his eyes. He’s tall-ish and blonde, I don’t know,” Harry shrugged. “He has a nice smile.”

Sirius screeched again before clamping a hand over his mouth. 

“Stop acting like this, it’s not like I don’t date,” Harry grumbled, making his way over to the coffee pot in the corner, just for something to do. 

“No, that’s exactly what it’s like,” Remus said helpfully. 

“Thanks, Dad!” Harry said enthusiastically. 

“Welcome, pup!” Harry had to hold in a groan. 

“So wait, you’re feeling weird because you don’t want to launch a missile straight for cute guy’s family,” Sirius interrupted. 

“Yeah, that I guess,” Harry shrugged. “I’m supposed to be normal now, you know, but this shit keeps dragging me back down.”

“The thing about Potter Luck is that with all the bad stuff it brings down, it also tends to have some amazing rewards.” Harry turns back around to see Sirius leaning over the kitchen island next to Remus. 

They were gazing at each other lovingly, which was just kind of gross. 

“I’m gonna go to Billy’s later, I think,” Harry said suddenly. “It’s been a while.”

“Alright,” Sirius agreed.

“Just make sure you reach out to Kingsley before you forget,” Remus said, only glancing away from Sirius for a minute and unfortunately Harry knew what that meant. 

Harry shuddered. 

— — — — —

The day was starting to slip into the afternoon when Harry arrived at the Blacks’ house. He left his bike on the drive, but out of the way for anyone else, bounded up the few front steps on the porch and knocked. 

“It’s open!” Billy called from somewhere in the house, making Harry smile. Harry walked in and found Billy sitting in front of the telly with a game on. 

“Harry,” Billy called kindly when he saw him. “How are you, pup?”

“I’m good Billy, you know I’m too old for you to be calling me that though,” He laughed as he let himself be pulled into a hug. Billy smelled like the forest and tobacco and it always soothed Harry in a way nothing else could. 

“Let me have this,” the man growled playfully and Harry chuckled. “Besides, it’s what your father calls you and what my father called you, so suck it up.” 

When he was released, Harry fell into one of Billy’s armchairs easily. “What brings you here? Jacob’s out causing trouble with those boys.”

“I came to see you, it’s been a while since we talked,” Harry smiled. 

“Uh oh, you only come to me when something is really messed up,” Billy teased. 

“That’s not true! I also come to you when I fuck up,” Harry pointed out helpfully.

Billy groaned, “Please tell me it’s not both.”

“No, no,” Harry insisted, and then the smile slipped a bit from his face, making Billy’s frown deepen.

“What’s wrong, Pup? Tell me,” Billy insisted. 

“I think there are some supernaturals at my school, and I’ve decided not to do anything about it because only one is actually a problem, and the rest of the family seems nice, but it's still just rough,” Harry said in a rush. He was always a bit nervous to tell Billy anything and have him weigh in because the man always expected to be obeyed, but Harry wasn’t built to follow anyone blindly anymore, not even family. 

“I’m confused, back up and walk me through it,” Billy suggested. 

“There’s a family of daywalkers at my school, I don’t have much information on what their species is or how they live. I'm still waiting to hear back, but from what I’ve observed they seem relatively harmless. I actually have gotten to interact with most of them, and like them for the most part, it's just the one that I’m worried about.” Harry measured his words with intent, trying to walk Billy through it all and connect the dots for him. 

“What’s tripping alarm bells about the one you don’t like?”

Harry took a deep breath, “He’s just– so full of rot, Billy. I can’t begin to describe it.” He leaned forward and braced his forearms on his knees. 

Billy hummed. “I’m sorry to hear that, it is worse than what you’ve encountered before?”

“It’s unlike anything I’ve come across,” Harry threw his arms out, finally letting his disbelief and frustration out. Billy patted his knee comfortingly, albeit slightly awkwardly. 

“Is he a threat?” Billy asked, and Harry would’ve had to be a moron to not feel the weight in that question. They made eye contact, and Harry wasn’t sure what was in his gaze, but Billy’s mouth tightened and he nodded. 

“I know you come from a different world, but I also know that our goals are the same.” Billy’s words were firm but Harry wasn’t sure just what he meant. 

“He seems to be fixated on a muggle– a human– in town, and I’m worried that it could escalate to something dangerous,” Harry let his logic take the reins. He knew he couldn’t let someone get hurt just because he was hesitant to do what he had to. Harry almost didn’t notice the dark look overtake Billy’s face while he let his mind run away from himself. “What is it?”

“The person you’re talking about isn’t a Cullen, are they?”

“What makes you ask that?” Harry said instead, aware that it was as much of an answer as an affirmative. 

“As far as I know, this town has only ever attracted two kinds of supernatural, magical folk,” his lips quirked in acknowledgment of Harry, “And vampires.”

“I think these daywalkers and your vampires are one in the same,” Harry said quietly, as if afraid his words would cement reality. 

Billy looked away, eyes cast out the window, “It’s days like these that make me feel old.” 

Harry snorted, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Jacob.”

“Better not, I can still kick your ass,” Billy turned back toward Harry to give him a stern look. They both quickly devolved into chuckling. “I know they’ve been back in town, but we haven’t had any reason to reach out,” Billy said, turning serious. 

“How long?”

“Since the school year started,” Billy shrugged. 

“Why am I only hearing about this now?” Harry couldn’t help but get stuck on that. 

“It didn’t seem necessary. I know you take on a lot, but you’re still a child,” Billy said roughly. Harry knew it was hiding a layer of care that the man didn’t show many people, but that didn’t stop his anger from flaring.

“Billy, I know what I look like, but I’m practically your age,” Harry pointed out, struggling to keep his tone even.

Billy groaned, “Don’t remind me.” 

“Yeah, well, sometimes you need it,” Harry said hastily and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Don’t be like that,” Billy scolded, reaching over to poke Harry in the leg. “You can be a capable adult and a pup, both can be true, at least in my mind.”

“I think that extends to slipping me an extra serving at dinner, not withholding important information,” Harry countered. 

“The information wasn’t important until now,” Billy said. “It’s not like they’ve been in town since the treaty was signed, you can excuse me for being hesitant to enact laws that old.”

“What treaty?” Harry asked, perking up and ignoring the other details. 

“The treaty Ephraim Black signed with cold ones years ago now, in the thirties. He and two of his packmates came across their group, three men and two women feeding on a stag.” Billy took a deep breath, letting it out with a heavy sigh. “The leader offered Ephraim a treaty, and he accepted. They agreed not to reveal each other to the human population of the town, in exchange the cold ones agreed not to feed from or transform any humans or step foot on our land.”

“He was your grandfather, wasn’t he?” Harry couldn’t help but ask as he processed the information Billy had just given him.

“He was,” Billy nodded, a cloud seeming to come over him. “There hasn’t been a shifter since he and his pack died,” he paused, “But with all this, there could be one again soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know our legacy, don’t you?” Billy asked, voice grave. 

“I know that some members of the tribe have been able to transform into wolves,” Harry said hesitantly. 

“That’s the gist of it, but the reason we’ve been able to is because of proximity to cold ones at different points in time.” Billy’s words made Harry’s mind blue screen and reboot. 

That’s– What– okay?

“You think that more people will start being able to transform with the cold ones arriving in town?”

“Returning to town,” Billy corrected. 

“What?”

“These are the same creatures that signed the treaty with my grandfather,” Billy declared. 

“How is that possible?” 

“I wish I knew,” Billy sighed. 

“Billy, this is insane!” Harry jumped up and began pacing the short length of the living room. 

The only sound in the house was Harry’s footfalls on the carpet. 

“Harrison,” Billy said quietly, “Promise me you will not involve Jacob in this.”

“You can’t ask that of me,” Harry shook his head, pulling back. “Jacob is like a brother to me, it would go against what I believe.”

“Which is what?”

“That no one’s free will should be taken from them,” Harry said gravely. 

— — — — —

Harry slammed the door behind himself, practically growling, and stomped his way to the kitchen. 

Without hesitating, he went straight for the liquor cabinet, poured himself a shot of fire whiskey, and threw it back. 

“Rough day?” A voice asked and Harry looked over to find Remus sitting at the little table with his cane playing solitaire. Harry cleared his throat around the lingering burn in his throat. 

“Yeah, you?” Harry responded. 

“My hip hurts, I think it’s going to rain.”

“It’s always raining,” Harry pointed out. 

“Woah, we’ve connected the dots,” Remus deadpanned. 

“We have indeed,” Harry muttered absentmindedly. 

“You want to talk about it?”

“Are you going to make me?” Harry countered.

“Do I need to?” 

Harry just sighed. 

“This is gonna blow up in our faces,” Harry muttered. 

“How so?”

“You remember how in the diary the Black ancestor thought that the Quiletes were turning into wolves because of some dormant mutation?” Harry stopped to see Remus nod. “Billy thinks it's because of a proximity to daywalkers, though he calls them ‘cold ones.”

Remus sighed heavily, “That’s… not ideal.”

“Oh, but wait,” Harry said enthusiastically, “It gets worse! Apparently, the daywalkers that our ancestor ran into, are the same ones the original Quilete shifters did, which are also the same living in Forks today. Guess which of Forks’ nuclear families it is! Guess.”

Remus groans loudly and Harry feels –more than sees– his forehead hit the table.

“What’s going on?” Sirius said from the doorway, peering around it to see Remus’s state. 

“We’re fucked,” Remus and Harry said in unison. 

“Oh, well. An owl delivered this for you, Harry,” Sirius said, hefting a large package onto the countertop next to where Harry was standing. 

Harry leaned over to read the return address hesitantly. He didn’t think he was due for a prank from the twins, but one could never be too safe. 

Seeing it was Kingsley, Harry immediately relaxed. And tore the butcher paper. 

“You really should check to see if it's safe first,” Sirius said nervously. He had wandered over to stand next to Remus and was carding his finger through his husband’s hair thoughtfully. 

“It’s from Kingsley, it’s fine,” Harry said without looking up from the pile of books in front of him. 

A letter pressed in between two tombs caught his attention, Harry opened it carefully to find Kingsley’s blocked handwriting there. 

Potter, 

Should I be worried? Of course, I trust you to handle whatever business this is about, but the fact that for no apparent reason, you’re looking into obscure magical creatures is concerning. 

From what I found, Daywalkers are some sort of combination between a vampire and a wraith. They’re frozen as who they were when they died and have to drink blood to continue their existence. There wasn’t much on how to identify them (or how to kill them), but perhaps you might see something I don’t. I included the texts I found for this reason. 

Best of luck on whatever strange project this is, and don’t forget to ask for help if you need it. 

Kings

“Shit,” Harry groaned. 

“What?” Sirius and Remus both asked, immediately concerned. 

“They might be eating people,” Harry muttered. 

“The Cullens?” Sirius asked, horrified. 

“Kings says that daywalkers have to drink blood to stay alive. We haven’t noticed any disappearances right?” Harry looked up, eyes locking on Sirius who was frowning. Remus had lifted his head up and seemed determined not to engage in the conversation and continue to be petted. 

“No?” Sirius said and Harry let out some involuntary affronted noise. “I just mean that we’re not exactly active in the community. No one’s disappeared as far as I know, but I’m not exactly head of the PTA.” Remus snorted at that mental image. 

“The Quileute treaty says that they can’t kill or transform any people,” Harry spoke in stops and starts. Something was bothering him. 

“You think the treaty has stopped them?” Remus asked. 

Harry shrugged, “Even if it has, they could just be going to another town and picking muggles off there.”

“That’s not ideal,” Sirius muttered. 

“It’s a pretty flimsy agreement, it’s basically mutually assured destruction,” Harry pointed out. 

Remus rolled his eyes, “Great.”

Harry suddenly straightened, eyes brighter. 

“What did they tell you about what happened at the hospital?” Harry asked in a rush. 

“Not much honestly, we only figured out there was a car accident because Remus heard some nurses talking about it,” Sirius shrugged. Now that he knew his kid was safe he wasn’t particularly invested (this amused Harry). 

“One of the Cullens stopped a girl from getting crushed by a van in the parking lot at school,” Harry said bluntly. He fidgeted with the letter still in his hands, spinning it this way and that, thinking through his thoughts. “I was too slow, I didn’t get there first.”

The silence that met him drew his gaze back to Sirius and Remus, both of which were frozen. 

“Death was there,” Harry whispered– not out of fear, but reverence for a creature that couldn’t be defined. 

“It wasn’t a freak accident,” Sirius concluded. 

“Fuck,” Remus leaned back and scrubbed his hands over his face. 

“So we need to do something,” Sirius says with a sort of finality that brings a heavy blanket of exhaustion over all of them. 

“It’d probably be a good idea, this town is a powder keg,” Harry tries to force some sarcastic cheer into his voice, but even he knows he’s not successful. “In all honesty, the Cullen that saved that muggle worries me,” Harry confessed. “There’s something wrong with him.”

Sirius hummed, “Might as well start with a treaty.” 

Harry nodded, “Why not?”

“Would you like to do the honors?” Remus asked him, smirking. 

Harry’s answering grin was shark-like, “With pleasure.”

Chapter Text

Harry felt like he was in danger of shattering the glass, but honestly, if the pricks didn’t sense him when he pulled up the driveway that was their own damn fault. 

So he kept knocking on the door. 

Banging. 

Pounding, really.

“What?” Edward snarled, throwing the door open, eyes narrowing with pupils blown like a cat on a hunt. 

“Treaty time, motherfuckers,” Harry declares smugly, taking some (read: all) of the wind out of Edward’s sails. “We’re meeting in an hour at these coordinates,” he tosses a crumpled-up piece of paper at the guy and raises his voice, “And don’t bother pretending like you can’t hear me.” 

With that taken care of, he ignores Edward’s slightly dumbstruck expression and turns on his heels, gets on his bike, and tears away. 

On to the next , he thinks to himself as the wind whips against his skin. 

— — — — — 

Rounding up Billy and Sam Uley wasn’t hard, what was difficult was dodging Jacob who desperately wanted to be involved as most teenagers do. They managed it though, thankfully. Partly because Harry didn’t want to have to shatter Jacob’s reality, and partially because Billy was still on his shit about keeping his son in the dark. 

Harry, plus his dads, Billy, and Sam were all waiting in the clearing for the Cullen’s to arrive. Both units clustered together, but still much closer to each other than would probably be expected. While Billy and Sam were dressed casually, with frowns firmly in place, the Black-Lupins were another case. 

Harry was wearing a blood-red flannel, so dark it was almost black, over a leather jacket as well as jeans and black riding boots. He didn’t bother softening himself, and neither did Sirius who was dressed much the same, the only difference being the crop top that showed off his tattoos and the lit cigarette between his fingers. Remus didn’t have to try particularly hard, he just had to stand up straight and suddenly the garish sweater he was wearing was all that more formidable. 

When the Cullens did come racing in with their “superspeed” Harry was in no small part delighted to see that they seemed off rhythm by being the last ones there.

Dr. Cullen was the first to recover, and the first to step forward, clasping his hands in front of himself. “I heard that a treaty meeting has been requested,” he spoke easily and smiled amiably… Harry kind of wanted to punch him. 

“Yes,” Remus answered, not bothering to change his body language from anything other than lurking. 

Harry deeply enjoyed the way Carlisle’s head jerked to the side, startled to see them there. They had decided to cloak their scents partially out of precaution, but for Harry, it was more about shits and giggles. 

“My understanding was that this was between us and Mr. Black.” Carlisle looked between the two other parties present cautiously. 

“It is,” Billy confirmed, face blank. “These are the Black-Lupins, they are under our protection and I would like revisions made in acknowledgment of their presence.”

They had agreed beforehand that Billy and Sam would lead the meeting, and Harry understood why, he fully supported it. That didn’t stop him from coming close to vibrating out of his skin. Whether it was from nerves or just his natural charm (read: mania), he wasn’t sure. 

“Of course,” Carlisle agreed with a small smile. “I have our copy here if you would like to do this now.” 

Harry cocked his head, ‘He’s too eager,’ he thought. 

“We’d also like our land to be recognized as ‘sovereign’ for lack of a better word,” Remus added. That made Carlisle stop short.

“And where is that land?” He asked. 

“We’d prefer not to say,” Sirius smiled sarcastically. 

“That’s rich coming from the guy who tried to knock our door down this morning,” Edward cut in, leaning around Carlisle to better snarl. 

“It’s not our fault your home is unsecure,”  Harry shrugged. 

“We’d be willing to recognize your plot as part of the Quileute territory, but I don’t see why it would need to be separate.” Harry wanted to groan at Carlisle’s attempt at fishing. It was weak at best, but he also knew that they’d have to give him something to move forward. 

“The treaty is an agreement between the magical creatures in town, we should be included.” Harry kept it simply in the hopes that they could dodge any close examination. 

“Oh?” 

Harry glanced at his dads, none of them were eager to have this sort of conversation. Never had been, but Harry usually took the brunt of the weirdness. Sirius sighed through his nose, took one last drag of his cigarette, and snubbed it out with the toe of his boot. He pulled his wand out and summoned a round table and chairs for them to use. 

The Cullens all had varying looks of shock on their faces like the foundation of their world had been rocked. Harry couldn’t wrap his head around that, seeing as they were already about 70% of the way there to begin with. 

“Let’s sit, shall we?” Sirius suggested in the tone that said I don’t care what you want to do, you’re going to do what I say.

He strode forward with Remus and Harry following. Billy and Sam came next, both with matching smirks. Harry suspected they were happy to not be on the receiving end of magical whiplash for once. 

“We can harness and manipulate magic, or energy on some level,” Remus said and Harry shot him a cheeky look. Ever the teacher.

“It’s more than enough to get us included in the treaty, especially since your current criteria is fur and/or blood lust,” Sirius said, snorting. 

Carlisle didn’t respond immediately, instead turning to Esme. They shared a look which had Harry sitting up in his seat. “Before you start thinking about all the reasons you don’t have to do that, I think you should consider Edward’s recent actions.”

At the patriarch’s confused frown and Edward’s furious one, Harry went on, “Oh you haven’t heard? Let me enlighten you then. Your son has taken a shine to Isabella Swan and his actions are no less than that of a deranged stalker. If he were human the chief would’ve arrested him… or killed him.”

“Liar!” Edward roared

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Harry snapped back. “You’re going to get her killed one way or another and it needs to stop.” He turned back to Carlisle, “The town is neutral territory, but everyone with eyes knows that Billy and Jacob are at the Swan’s every weekend. Between that and the stalking, there’s a case to be made that Edward has already broken the treaty if not about to.”

Carlisle sighed, and spoke before Edward’s rage could make him explode, “Bella is Edward’s mate, he’s in the process of… getting to know her.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize watching someone sleep was a cornerstone of courting these days,” Harry said sarcastically and his dads didn’t bother to hide their matching snorts. 

“Why do you even care it’s not like Ja–” Edward snarled before Harry cut him off. 

“I care because you’re upsetting the balance,” Harry said, as serious as he’d ever been. “She was supposed to die and you prevented it, that is not something that nature takes too kindly.”

“We would like to be factored into the treaty contingent on the fact that we will not be involved in any conflict resulting from you or your kin’s actions,” Remus redirected the conversation. 

“I don’t see how that can happen given your connection to the Quilutes.” Carlisle was dragging his feet and Harry had to bite his tongue to keep from ripping the other’s out. 

“We’re our own entity, our loyalty is to our family. That extends to Billy and his children,” Sirius clarified. 

“Very well,” Carlisle nodded. 

Harry summoned three new scrolls and a dicta-quill. 

“The Cullen Coven, Uley Pack, and Black-Lupin family hereby…”

Chapter Text

Harry was nervous about going to the Cullens’ house again. 

But probably for the wrong reasons. 

He should be worried about going to the house of a guy who probably wants him dead, and said guy’s apathetic family members (minus Jasper, of course).

Instead, Harry was nervous because he was going to see Jasper. Just them, on their own. No buffer. 

Harry knew it would be fine, good even, because he wanted to spend time with him. But it wasn’t like he had a lot of experience socializing in normal situations. Not that this was particularly normal either, but beggars can’t be choosers. 

Instead of focusing on it and working himself up, he just pushed himself out the door. It helped that his dads were clearly entertained by his panic.

Harry took his bike to the Cullens like a normal person instead of apparating. It would’ve been funny to scare the shit out of them again, but he wasn’t going to cause trouble. 

The road to the Cullens’ house flew by quickly, and before Harry knew it, he was there, getting off his bike, and wiping sweaty palms on his jeans. He walked up to the front porch and up the steps to the door before he could stop himself, not that he would’ve because that would make Jasper sad.

Harry raised his hand to the glass, which opened in the space of a blink. 

“Hi,” Jasper said breathlessly. He seemed to have run to the door just in time to catch Harry before he knocked. It was horribly endearing. 

“Hi.” Harry couldn’t help the smile that broke across his face. 

Jasper seemed to remember himself and his back straightened, “Come in, come in.” 

Harry waited a beat, hands fidgeting at his side, and oh dear god, it’s awkward. 

“So, how are you?” Harry asked after Jasper had closed the door behind him. Jasper froze and seemed to deliberately blink. 

“Oh! I’m good,” Jasper smiled. “I’ve been working on lunch.”

“Lunch?” Harry hadn’t expected that; he’d thought that he would probably get a stack of books dumped on him and then be told to leave– the Hermione method. 

“Yeah, I was thinking mac and cheese and fried chicken, but you’re the one eating it. Any objections?”

“No, no, that sounds good,” Harry assured quickly. 

“Good, making the food of your homeland would’ve just made me sad,” Jasper smirked. 

“What does that mean?” Harry asked indignantly, following Jasper through the house without a beat. 

“Just that beans and toast are depression in the form of food.” Harry saw Jasper shrug his shoulders from behind. 

“Hey, there are some good things to eat back home,” Harry defended. 

“Oh? Like what?”

“Cottage pie, fish and chips…” Harry trailed off when they reached the kitchen. He hadn’t seen anyone else in the house, and without pushing his awareness out with his magic, there was only Jasper. Harry was content with that. 

“Other potato-based delicacies?” Jasper suggested. He had started to busy himself with whatever he had been doing when Harry arrived. 

“Potatoes are all you need,” Harry said cheekily, “That and gin.”

“Good lord, that’s–” Jasper shook his head and snickered. 

“Brilliant, I know.” Harry’s answering grin could easily be considered shit eating. 

They kept talking as Jasper put a pan in the oven and turned on a pan of oil on the stove top. 

“So is this the food of your homeland then?” Harry asked. He sat down on one of the barstools and watched Jasper clean up as he waited for the oil to heat up. 

Jasper chuckled, “There about, I guess. It’s southern food at least.”

Harry hummed, “What was your favorite growing up?”

Jasper was silent for a moment, considering, “Cornbread, probably.”

“Really?” Harry asked, and he had never had any before. 

“Yeah, it was one of the few sweets we had.” Jasper tested the oil with a drop of breading, and he seemed satisfied with the sizzle that resulted. 

Harry watched Jasper fry up the chicken in comfortable silence. People had cooked for him in the past– granted it was mostly Mrs. Weasley– but this was soothing in a way that Harry wasn’t familiar with. Even though he was essentially in enemy territory. 

Jasper presented the plate with an easy smile, and Harry couldn’t help but return it. “I hope it’s alright,” he said, a thread of nervousness in his voice, “It’s been a while since I cooked.”

“Honestly, this is already far beyond what I’m able to do,” Harry said, looking down at the food as he accepted the plate. 

“Do you want to see my collection while you eat?” 

Harry nodded enthusiastically since he already had food in his mouth and followed Jasper to the second floor, where his bedroom must’ve been. Harry sat on the floor of the room in front of the bookshelf, not trusting himself not to get crumbs all over the bed, and started eating in earnest. 

“I thought you might like this,” Jasper said as he gestured to the wall of shelves taking up most of the room. 

Harry looked at the spines from afar. There seemed to be all sorts of books in Jasper’s collection. There were old leather-bound books with worn gold lettering, mass market paperbacks that looked like they were hanging on by a thread, and everything else in between. 

“Do you collect anything in particular?” Harry asked. Jasper seemed to be startled for a moment when he turned and found the other sitting on the floor with the plate in his lap, and Harry thought it was wise of him not to mention it. 

“Not really, at first I just picked up a lot of fiction. What’s popular can give some good insight into society, but the last few years I’ve been looking more into science and the like.”

Harry nodded, “What’s the oldest copy you have?”

Jasper considered the question for a moment, actually turning to glance at the shelves. “I have a copy of Jane Eyre that Carlisle gave me. But the oldest that I actually bought is probably one of my copies of Gone With the Wind . Never understood that book really.” He shook his head like just mentioning the title pained him. 

Harry just nodded and shoveled more food into his mouth. It really was good. He wondered if it would be too obvious if he tried to nick seconds. 

“What do you recommend for me?” Harry prompted. 

Jasper hummed. He turned back to Harry and narrowed his eyes. Then he snapped his finger, eyes alight with an idea, and pulled a slim book off the shelf. “Frankenstein,” he said, and presented it with a flourish. 

Harry quirked an eyebrow before he set his plate aside and brushed his hands off on his jeans. Then he remembered he was a wizard, and that was kind of stupid. He cast a wordless cleansing charm on his own hands so he wouldn’t ruin Jasper’s book. 

“Can’t say I’ve heard much about it beyond Halloween,” Harry admitted. 

“It’s kind of about what it means to be human and what lengths are acceptable to go to in the name of science or whatever else,” Jasper explained. He joined Harry on the floor, watching as Harry flipped through the old pages. 

“Alright, you’ve got my attention then,” Harry chuckled. 

— — x — — 

A couple of weeks later, Jasper found himself standing at a secluded trailhead, shifting on his feet nervously. He was waiting for Harry. The weather was nice enough for them to spend the day outside, Jasper didn’t even have to suggest somewhere so far away from others, and that worried him. 

Harry snapped into existence silently, making Jasper jump before he could get a hold of himself. The human chuckled, but Jasper couldn’t really find it in himself to be embarrassed. “Shall we?” He asked instead, gesturing to the trail as if he were holding the door open for Harry. 

“We shall,” Harry nodded and passed by him. 

They walked silently, watching the scenery around them. Jasper could hear the critters nearby who scattered when they heard his and Harry’s footsteps, but he could also hear the creatures farther off. The ease of the natural world around them was soothing. 

“Do you want to stop for a break?” He asked when he thought they had reached the halfway point. Harry stopped, seemingly confused, before agreeing. Jasper was honestly somewhat surprised, the human kept pace much better than he had thought. 

Sitting on the trailside, Jasper made sure Harry drank some water and ate some of the food in his pockets. It made him frown when he realized that he wasn’t sure how Harry managed to carry it all on his person without a bag. 

He kept all the questions to himself, though, and instead let them carry on after Harry’s break. As they made their way onwards (and upwards in elevation), with no words spoken. Jasper was usually scrambling to find something, he hadn’t been at ease with someone in a very long time. It seemed like decades since he’d started saying whatever he could to put humans at ease. 

But Harry… stood soundly apart. 

When they reached the lake, they broke the cloud bank. Jasper knew he probably looked ridiculous and was suddenly thankful that he was behind Harry, who led them further into the clearing with his steady pace. 

Jasper took his backpack off his shoulders and dug around in it until he found the old horse blanket he was looking for. He spread it out on the shore of the lake and sat down. He caught Harry staring, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips, and he quickly looked away. 

He sensed Harry settle down next to him, even before he sighed heavily. 

They sat together, both basking in the sun, before Harry whispered, “The sparkling?”

“Occupational hazard,” Jasper responded. He heard Harry huff a laugh, but he didn’t push. Jasper wasn’t sure if he was grateful for that or not. 

He was aware that vampires looked a bit ridiculous, but the sun also made the scars dotting his body stand out even more. They were all over his forearms, especially, and he was sure Harry saw them. 

“How does your magic– energy manipulation work?” Jasper asked, hoping a conversation would drag him out of his macabre thoughts. When he turned his head away from the sky, he found Harry already facing him. He chewed his lip for a moment before he spoke haltingly.

“So there’s the soul, right? It’s considered to be the core of your being, but it doesn’t necessarily leave a mark on the earth– its energy does. People like me can harness that energy to make things happen, but pulling from yourself constantly would be too much of a strain. Instead, we’re taught to connect with the world around us, to work with it in a sort of give and take.” Harry cut himself off suddenly, before adding uncertainly, “But– I guess that might not be the best explanation– It’s complicated.”

Jasper hummed, “Most things are.” 

Harry laughed suddenly, “Suppose so.”

“How does your bunny munching thing work?” Harry asks after they lapsed into silence. Jasper shoved him lightly. 

Harry sat up, “I feel like we should wade in since we made it all the way up here.”

“Really?” Jasper asked, sitting up too. He didn’t think he did well keeping the skepticism out of his voice. 

“Why not?” Harry countered and started stripping clothing off. 

Really, it was just his shirt and shoes, he opted to roll his jeans up rather than take them off. It was still more skin than Jasper was prepared for that day, and he felt a bit like his ridiculous sister when she had a crush and talked Jasper’s ear off about it. 

Harry, unbeknownst to Jasper’s internal ridiculousness, started stepping his way into the water. Jasper stayed rooted to the spot, even when the water was deep enough for Harry to dive in. 

Jasper settled himself by listening to Harry’s heartbeat, which was thrumming steadily even while he swam, and when Jasper reached out for Harry’s emotions, he found contentment. 

Harry finally broke the surface again, and lo and behold, there was a new kind of torture. 

Harry… wet.

As he waded back over to the shore, Jasper watched rivulets make their lazy way down Harry’s torso. The observation that Harry happened to be muscular ricocheted off the one that the human was also covered in scars. 

There were gashes, burns, nicks, and teeth , and Jasper wasn’t sure how to deal with it all.

“What?” Harry asked when he noticed Jasper staring, he cocked his head like a puppy and that was really the cherry on the cake of strangeness. 

“You–” Jasper started, but wasn’t sure what he meant or where he was going with that. He hadn’t been able to tear his eyes away, and Harry noticed, glancing at himself, a flush instantly rose to his cheeks. 

“Oh…that,” the boy said sheepishly. “I guess it wore off.”

“What wore off?” Jasper asked, blinking as if he had broken out of a trance.

“The glamour,” Harry gestured to his chest as if that explained it. Jasper accepted that this was one of the many moments in his relationship where he had to nod. “I can put my shirt back on if it makes you uncomfortable,” Harry offered, and no, that was not acceptable . 

“You’re not making me uncomfortable, Harry,” he said, and in an act of truly Edward-level dramatics, he took his own shirt off. 

Jasper knew how he looked. The sparkling quality of his skin only made the mouth-shaped scars stand out even more, especially where his opponents had managed to take a chunk of his undead flesh. 

“Oh,” Harry breathed out, voice impossibly soft. Jasper finally met his eyes then and tried not to choke at the emotion there. 

Harry smiled sadly, “Two sides of the same coin, I guess.”

Jasper didn’t say anything– couldn’t. Instead, he just drifted closer to Harry, trailing his fingers down his forearm before clasping his hand gently. 

To Jasper’s surprise, Harry pulled his forward– into a kiss, and with time, down onto the plush floor of their little slice of the pacific northwest.  

— — x — — 

A cold hand wrapped around his bicep and pulled him into an empty classroom. Harry called his magic forward out of instinct, ready to level the building, until he saw Rosalie. 

She looked like a shark who smelled blood in the water. Okay, maybe not the best analogy, Potter . 

“So?” She questioned excitedly. 

“What?” Harry blinked, confused. 

“Don’t you try to play me, Harry Black.” She held up an accusing finger. When Harry snorted, her eyes narrowed. “I want to know what it is you’ve been up to with Jasper.”

“Why?” Harry asked, just to be a contrary arsehole. 

“Because!” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “You’ve both been obnoxiously smiley this week, and keep slipping off together. Not to mention that Jasper has been much more cheerful.” When Harry just smiled, Rosalie went on, “ Cheerful , Black. It’s disturbing!”

“There’s not much I can do about that,” Harry said unapologetically. 

“Au contraire, you can give me all the dirty details,” Rosalie was back to looking a second away from jumping him to get the information she wanted. 

There was a time were Harry was better at thinking on his feet– better at avoiding danger– but it seemed that Jasper’s presence in his life somehow managed to neutralize that. 

Rose took a step forward, grin stretching wide across her face, and Harry scrambled for anything . 

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” He asked hurriedly. All the wind abruptly left Rosalie’s proverbial sails. 

“Of course,” Rosalie snapped.

“Well, then, I need you to trust me to talk when I’m ready,” Harry pointed out. 

Rosalie grumbled a bit before crossing her arms over her chest, “Fine.”

“Thank you,” Harry responded, finally feeling some of the adrenaline leave his body. He turned to leave, but he couldn’t resist poking the bear. 

Body halfway through the door, he turned back and said, “Oh, let Jasper know we’re at mine tonight, will you?” He saw Rosalie’s jaw drop before he apparated to the otherside of the school. 

Chapter Text

Harry felt more or less like a massive idiot, but then Jasper would look at him and well…

He was fucked, there wasn’t much room around it, but that wasn’t the point. 

Harry was watching the Cullens show off playing some idiotic American game, and really, it was a good time to analyze their abilities, which Harry was doing! He just sometimes took breaks to admire Jasper. 

He was pretty sure the rest of the family knew he was there, even though he was cloaking pretty much everything. Jasper wasn’t too subtle about the times he glanced back (of which there were many). As it were, though, they were focused on Bella. Harry couldn’t imagine why. The biggest threat to her safety was the Cullens themselves, not the baseball. 

Harry let it go, though, determined to focus on the things (Jasper) that actually made him smile. 

The game picked up, and everyone seemed to be having fun– even Bella, which seemed to be a small accomplishment for such an angsty person. 

Suddenly, Alice freezes, turning around with a snap. The world drops away when Harry realizes she’s not looking at him. 

Things happen quickly after that. 

The Cullens move quickly to circle Bella and protect her. Jasper catches Harry’s eye and breaks off from his family to vault into the tree next to Harry. They wrap their arms around each other so neither tips over and falls out of the tree. 

A moment passes with bated breath, all of them staring in the same direction as Alice– waiting to see what she saw. 

Harry watches as three creatures enter the clearing, moving in that strange way fake vampires do when they think they’re being sexy.

He had to force himself not to laugh at the stray thought, but Jasper seemed to sense his amusement all the same and cut him a confused glare. 

Carlisle’s shitty diplomacy makes any remaining humor shrivel up and die. For some Merlin forsaken reason, it seemed to actually be working. Until Edward fucked it up. Because, of course, he did.

Harry was out of the tree and running before he made the conscious choice to do so. All he knew was that a kid was facing down a monster and no one was going to protect her. 

He killed them without mercy. 

Without hesitation. 

He came back to himself, surrounded by dismembered body parts with a ringing in his ears and a pounding heart. 

Harry puts his head back, facing the overcast sky, and howls.  

— — x — — 

Jasper is still staring with his mouth hanging open when Harry’s fathers appear out of nowhere. 

That his mate could kill so efficiently– like a soldier , his mind whispers. 

That his mate could make a sound so closely resembling the wolves that they sometimes heard distantly from the reservation. 

His fathers take stock of the clearing and the bodies and pulls Harry out of the thicket of limbs. 

Without another word, the three of them somehow light the corpses on fire. How they could do that, Jasper couldn’t begin to guess, let alone how they knew to do that. 

Before Jasper could form a thought, let alone words, his mate was gone, and he and his family were left with the smoldering remains of the vampires that would’ve killed Bella. 

— — x — — 

Harry isn’t panicking.

Which is surprising, honestly. 

He and his dads have been sitting around their kitchen table for the last forty-five minutes, each of them lost in thought. 

“What happened?” Remus asks, finally cutting through the silence. 

Harry cleared his throat and looked up from the table’s grain he had been examining. Sirius and Remus were both looking at Harry with concern, and Harry half thought that he was grateful not to be the angry teenager who would’ve interpreted that as pity and lashed out. 

“They were going to attack the Muggle that Edward keeps harassing, and I… It was instinct, I didn’t think.” He hadn’t. And now he was.

Before Harry knew it, he was crushed between Sirius and Remus in a hug. Harry sighed, hanging his head, and trying to just take a moment. 

“You think Jasper’s going to be mad at me?” He asked, his voice small. It was so stupid, and he could kick himself for voicing those concerns at all, but it was all that was echoing in his mind. 

“No,” Sirius said gently, but well… seriously . Remus remained silent, but leaned in closer, and Harry responded by slumping into him. 

“He seems to have a better head on his shoulders than the rest of his family,” Sirius continued, “I think if you explain it to him, he’ll understand.”

Harry froze. 

“All of it?” He asked unsteadily. 

“If you’re sure about him, it might be for the best,” Remus pointed out gently. 

Harry sighed deeply and let them sit in comfortable silence for a while. 

— — — — — 

Harry had made the executive decision of taking an indeterminate amount of time off from school after dinner, which worked out well when some good old insomnia kicked in. 

That’s how he found himself on the roof, trying to focus on anything other than his own thoughts. 

It wasn’t going well.

“Hello, Master,” Death greeted when they had materialized next to Harry on the shingles. 

Harry just grumbled in response. 

“I received the souls you sent today,” Death continued. 

“And?” Harry asked, and he was always interested in the ways Death sensed people differently.

Death seemed to hesitate, “I receive the souls of all creatures, I cannot fault some coming to me later than is natural, just as I cannot fault those too early– too young.” 

They sat in silence. Harry continued to look up at the stars– so much brighter than he had ever seen– and mulled over Death’s words. He found truth in them. 

Perhaps it would ease some of Edward’s angst to know that there were no higher beings condemning him– there was only his own judgments. 

“They were deserving of death, but not at your hand,” Death spoke again, the words laced with a finality that could only come from such a being. 

The unintentional levity made Harry roll his eyes, “Pickers can’t be choosers.”

“I disagree,” Death stated bluntly. Harry opened his mouth to respond, but ultimately stopped himself. Instead, he took a deep breath in and let it go slowly. He was too old to rise to the bait any time it was presented. 

“We’re getting lost in the weeds,” Harry said after a moment. “Would they have killed if I hadn’t intervened?”

Death seemed to shrug without moving, resembling a statue more than any sort of deity, “Most likely.”

Harry let that information settle. His actions were justified… they just didn’t feel that way. 

“Your anxiety could be avoided if you used your magic,” Death pointed out. “It’s second nature to your title.”

“I don’t want to have that level of consciousness, it’s too much to process,” Harry argued without any heat. 

“Perhaps it’s becoming necessary,” Death countered, “The creatures you’re coming into contact with may need more vetting.”

“Judging people by their souls is too much, too far.” Harry shook his head sadly. 

“Master,” Death hesitated. “I have no sway over fate, but I can only imagine your need for your full power will only grow in the coming weeks.”

Harry stiffened. “What do you know?” He asked hurriedly. His ‘respect filter’ had long since worn off with Death– or any authority figure for that matter. 

Death seemed to heave a sigh, and if he didn’t know better, he would suspect that the entity was irritated. “Lady Fate reveals nothing, not even to me.”

“But…” Harry prompted shortly, patience running out at an alarming rate. 

“Surrounding yourself with creatures outrunning their own demons, whatever they may be, is quite often a recipe for disaster, Master,” Death pointed out. 

Harry sighed, feeling the weight of his entire life– and all its expectations– press down on him. He gave in to it and reclined on the roof. “Quite right,” he admitted.

Chapter Text

When Harry finally went back to school, he was met with the indifference of muggles and the scrutiny of the people he’d been avoiding. 

Fantastic.

Harry was pretty sure Bella was going to give herself a concussion with the way she was scrambling so horribly to “help”. It goes on like this for a few days, and as Harry is also avoiding the Cullens, her fumbling is quickly the main social interaction that he has outside his dads. 

It leaves him time to stew, not to mention catch Bella when she trips trying to open a door for him, and deposits a stale cookie in front of him before he can slip out of the cafeteria. 

Harry’s patience ran out when she started following him around and chattering at him. “What are you doing?” He asked one day, abruptly interrupting whatever she had been saying. 

“I– What?” Bella blinks, confusion seeping into her features easily. 

“Why are you–” He gestures wildly but can’t seem to finish the sentence. Bella seemed to understand, though. 

“The other day– I just– That whole thing could’ve ended really badly,” she finally admitted quietly. “I’m just grateful you were there, but I know that must’ve been… a lot for you.”

Harry nodded. He understood where she was coming from, but the reminder of it all was too much. After the silence stretched, Bella added meekly, “Jasper’s worried about you, I think.”

They both knew that all the Cullens were listening. And she still said it anyway. Harry really tried not to hold that against her; he really should be over public humiliation after all these years. 

“Tell them we need to have another treaty meeting tonight. I’ll get the Blacks. Tell them it’ll be the same place as last time and that they need to bring you after what happened.” Harry says flatly and stands. 

He leaves the cafeteria and Bella at the otherwise empty table, with too many sets of eyes on him. 

It’s only one that has him fighting not to squirm. 

— — — — — 

Once Harry got home from class, he’d stewed in his own thoughts for far too long, but the conclusion he’d come to felt utterly necessary. 

Bella was a liability, one that he couldn’t allow to exist. She either needed to be changed or removed from Forks along with the rest of the Cullens. 

He’d read multiple accounts of territory disputes between vampires– along with what happened to the humans caught in the crossfire, it didn’t take a genius to realize that they were fucked, and Harry’s family on the Res would be the collateral. 

He knew what Bella would prefer. She was obscenely in love with Edward, and while Harry deeply doubted the lifespan of that relationship, it wasn’t his place to try to nudge Bella one way or the other. 

Sighing, Harry pulls out his flip phone and dials Jacob’s house.

“Ello! Jake speaking!” The boy answered cheerfully, and Harry couldn’t help but smile. 

“Hey, it’s me,” Harry replied, leaning back into the armchair he’d taken in the living room as soon as he’d gotten home. 

“Harry! You wanna come over?” Jake spoke excitedly, making Harry’s smile grow. 

“Sort of? There needs to be another treaty meeting,” Harry clarified. 

“Did something happen?” 

“Yeah…” Harry scratched the back of his neck before catching Jake up, knowing that the wolves needed to know everything before tonight anyway. 

By the end of the call, Harry gave Jacob instructions on where to meet and when, and made sure he knew to pass it on to everyone else, but before hanging up, Jake interjected. 

“Harry–” he said uncertainly, “Bella needs to be changed, doesn’t she?” 

Harry bit his lip, feeling like he was breaking Jacob’s heart, but nonetheless replied. 

“Yeah… I’m sorry, man, I know how you feel about her.”

Jacob didn’t bother denying it or blustering like he normally would have. He just hummed in acknowledgement before saying goodbye and hanging up, barely giving Harry time to respond. 

Harry sat for a moment longer, phone open in his hand, before summoning the will to get up and find his dads. 

— — — — — 

Harry wasn’t going to fuck around. He wouldn’t live through another genocide; he couldn’t.

Calling a treaty meeting had been the easiest thing in the world, and when everyone arrived and turned toward him, he stood tall. 

“Swan needs to be changed,” he says without preamble. 

Unsurprisingly, he’s met with outrage from Edward, who snarls and makes to rush toward Harry before Jasper comes to stand at the wizard’s side. 

Harry carries on, “She’s a liability as a human, and I’m not interested in seeing the consequences.” 

“Mr. Black, I can assure you that there is no danger–” Carlisle says, placatingly, before being interrupted. 

“Don’t bullshit me, I’m not an idiot. I know what the Volturi will do,” Harry snaps. That seems to get the Cullens’ undivided attention. “She needs to be changed or else your lives, and the wider town population, are in danger.”

“You don’t get to make that decision,” Edward snarls. 

“Surely you can see,” Harry ignored Edward’s moral fuckery in favor of pinning Carlisle with the responsibility Harry knew he must feel. 

The man shrank in on himself for a millisecond before he caught himself, but it was long enough for Harry to catch. He tried not to look too smug. 

In his peripheral vision, Harry could see Bella looking confused (read: constipated), her attention flitting from him to Carlisle to Edward and back again. 

“I want it,” Bella interrupted, “I want to be changed.”

Harry reigned in a sigh and mentally prepared himself for a long night. 

— — — — —

In the wake of that shitshow, Harry lingered in the forest. 

Bella would be changed. Alice, surprisingly, assured Harry that if Edward didn’t do it, she would. Harry thought it was probably the best he could ask for, given the situation, but mostly just wanted to be done with the whole thing. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Jasper’s approach. He had stayed too after everyone had run for the hills. Harry was still deciding if that was comforting or nerve-racking when his maybe-kind-of-not boyfriend came to stand at his side. Harry had gone a little way away from the clearing where their unofficial meeting spot was. He could make out the stars through the canopy, and it helped him breathe a little easier. 

“Are you alright?” Jasper asked, voice barely above a whisper and impossibly gentle. 

Harry didn’t know how to respond to that. He choked on ‘fine’ and had to take a breath. He tried to come up with something else and completely fell short. 

“I don’t know,” he settled on. 

“I’m surprised you advocated for Bella to be turned,” Jasper hedged. 

“If it’s what she wants to begin with, and it’s her or the town– or the pack…” Harry trailed off. “I won’t live through another war.”

“You don’t have to tell me…” Jasper began, then seemed to think twice. 

“I want to tell you,” Harry assured, “I just– Need a minute.”

“I– I’m not seventeen,” Harry finally blurts out, and when he glances over at Jasper, he thinks the not-vampire is going to tip over; he looks so stunned. 

“You’re sixteen?” Jasper asks shrilly. 

When Harry panickedly assures him that no, no, he’s not, that seems to make things worse. “I’m 46!” He blurted out in typical Potter fashion. 

Jasper’s brain seemed to shut down briefly before he inspected Harry head to toe, a few times for good measure. “How?”

Harry sighed, before getting it out quickly, “I’m… the Master of Death.” Jasper opened his mouth to say something before closing it with a snap. When it seemed like he was just going to continue doing that, Harry continued, “I fought in a war, one that started when I was one year old. By the time I was seventeen, so many people were dead, and the man responsible was only getting stronger… not to mention unhinged. To defeat him, we had to learn different aspects of soul magic– the darker ones to be sure. Once we had everything we needed to reunite his soul and kill him, we’d also unintentionally assembled the gifts that Death had given to three brothers decades ago. I fought with the wand, Death’s Elder Wand, and that’s when Death’s magic fused with my own. It made me immortal, and as an acknowledgement, Death made Remus and Sirius immortal too. We moved here after everything ended. There was too much baggage to stay in Britain, not to mention the hoops we would’ve had to jump through once we weren’t visibly aging.”

Jasper was silent, and Harry couldn’t force himself to look over. He’d torn his wounds open again– for Jasper– for his understanding, and as he bled, he couldn’t help but whisper, “I was born for that war, built for it, made into the perfect soldier… And I played my part. They never told me how much blood there’d be, though.”

“I was the youngest Major in the Confederacy, ‘sposed to be Texas’s pride and joy…” Jasper trailed off, and Harry gave him time. They felt inevitable in the space of this evening, infinite in a way neither of them had ever experienced before. 

“It went to shit when I stopped to help three women on the side of the road… Maria and her sisters changed me, and after that, I was their general, their warmaker. All the good in me died for a long time after that. I was built to make Maria’s newborn army, there wasn’t any room for weakness…” Jasper stopped then, and the silence stretched long enough that Harry tore his eyes away from the stars to look at the vampire next to him. 

Jasper had frozen, stopped breathing, even though there was no blood spilled. He looked like a marble statue, and Harry hated the idea that it was a physical manifestation of Jasper trying to get away from him. 

He reached over slowly and threaded his fingers through Jasper’s, slotting their palms together. 

“Harry, I– I’m not good,” Jasper whispered, and the words felt like confessional. 

Well… Harry wouldn’t accept that. 

“Jasper, you may have killed people, but so have I. My parents were killed because of me, my friends, teachers, and people I saw as family. War broke something in us…” Harry took a deep breath, “That doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to be loved, though.” His voice was so impossibly small, a culmination of the decades Remus and Sirius spent hammering into his brain that he was worthy of good things. 

Based on the look Jasper sent him, he hadn’t had a Remus or Sirius. Harry had shaken something loose in his mind.

Regardless, Harry watched Jasper pack it away and shake his head. “You don’t understand, Harry… I’m not… good.” 

“Even if you don’t believe it yet, Jasper, I get to decide for myself whether or not I think you’re worth being around. And in case you haven’t noticed, I think you’re lovely.” Harry was getting too worked up, but couldn’t stop himself now, “And if you’ll let me, I’ll keep proving that to you for as long as I can.” 

They stood silent for a while, Harry getting his breathing and pounding heart under control again. Once the stillness of the evening had absorbed them again, Harry took a deep breath for confidence and reached out slowly to Jasper. Harry tugged the vampire closer and closer until they were only a hair's breadth apart. Harry threw himself into Jasper’s frame and they held onto each other, tucking their faces into the other’s neck. Jasper wasn’t warm, but being close to him was horribly comforting.

Chapter Text

Bella stood in the doorway to her bedroom and couldn’t find it in herself to take a step forward or back. She felt frozen more so than she thought the Cullens ever did. 

She was going to be changed. It had been decided. 

Come hell or high water, becoming a vampire was her fate. 

Edward was her fate. 

Before Bella really knew what she was doing, she was cramming as much as she could into a duffel bag, making sure to take her books and her toothbrush with her. 

Bella didn’t take a deep breath until she was in her truck passing the Come Again sign. If you asked her, she would freely admit in that moment that she had no idea what she was doing. 

She just didn’t stop whatever in her was pushing her farther and farther away– putting more miles between her and Forks.