CHAPTER ELEVEN:

Hermione's POV:

Edward was pacing angrily, and the second he saw me, he blurred over, his face a mask of fury. "What were you thinking?" He snarled, the sound feral. Anger bubbled up inside me, but I forced myself to stay calm, forced myself to think of how terrified he was, how scared he was for my sister.

"I was just doing what she wanted me to." I answered him quietly. He let out an angry roar. "But it could kill her!"

"We don't know that." My voice was shaking slightly, and it was getting harder to hold back my anger.

"What if she dies?" He demanded, "it will be your fault! You would have killed her!" My tenuous grip on my temper snapped.

"I didn't knock her up!" I screamed at him, hands balled into fists. "Didn't you think to use contraception?"

"Why would I?" He just about snarled back. "I'm a vampire! We're not supposed to be able to reproduce!"

This is the point where I burst into tears. Edward immediately looks horrified at himself. "Hermione, I-I'm so sorry," he gently touches my shoulders. "Please don't cry!"

I lean into him, burying my face in his chest. He pats my back, his movements stiff, as if

uncomfortable, but he doesn't push me away at all. "I'm sorry," I sniff, "I just- why her? Why Bella?"

"I don't know," Edward's voice is agonized. "All I've ever wanted is for her to be happy."

I pull back and start wiping my eyes dry with my sleeve, when Edward hands me a handkerchief. I accept it, and just sort of look at him. "You don't even need a handkerchief. Why on earth do you have one?" I asked, bemused. Edward actually smiles a little.

"Your sister asked something very similar when I first handed her one too." He said. I give a watery laugh, using the square of cotton material to dry my eyes.

"We've always been alike. Both of us falling in love with vampires being one significant similarity." Edward smiles for a moment, before his expression turns tortured.

"What do I do, Hermione?" he pleads. "It's going to hurt her- it could even kill her. I can't take that sort of risk with her life- she means everything to me. Without her my existence is empty."

"You can't force her to abort the fetus," I tell him. "You know Bella- once she makes up her mind it takes a miracle to change it."

"Well we're going to need a miracle." He says. I hold out my arm and spin, apparating us back to the Cullen mansion. Edward blurs straight over to where Bella's curled up on the couch, Rosalie by her side. "Bella," he says, reaching out to touch her cheek, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. He shoots me a look of confusion.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't sure how you were going to react." I told him, lifting the barrier spell. Edward takes another step closer, and Rosalie lets out a fierce snarl.

"I'm not going to hurt... it." Edward says, slowly. Rosalie narrows her golden eyes at him. "One wrong move," she warns, though she retreats slowly and lets Edward cup Bella's cheek. "Bella..." Edward's voice sounds tortured again, and Bella refuses to look him in the eye.

"I need to go get my wife," I tell the room. "Rosalie?"

"I'll make sure Bella and the baby are safe." The stunning blond promises, giving Edward a narrow- eyed look.

Alice is waiting by the backyard of the Burrow, and she immediately blurs over, from where she was standing anxiously by the back door. "Hermione," she sighs in relief, wrapping her arms around me.

"Oh Alice," I whisper, slumping into her icy arms, "treasure, what are we going to do?"

-

"Okay. This is what we're going to do." I say, with a confidence I barely felt. I was sitting down at the large mahogany table in the Cullens mansion- a table that went mostly unused except for family meetings, of which this was one of.

Alice sat on my right, and Bella on my left, with Edward taking up the chair next to hers. Rosalie had put Teddy to bed, and she and Emmett sat opposite us, next to Jasper and Maggie, while Carlisle and Esme shared a seat at the head of the table.

And then there were the more surprising guests- Fleur, Harry and Ginny, all sitting on extra seats they'd conjured up, looking just as serious as everyone else. They may not know Bella that well, but she was family. And, perhaps the strangest guest of all, Leah, looking uncomfortable but appropriately concerned about the situation.

"Harry, I need you to give Bella a medical assessment," I requested of the healer-in-training. "Carlisle, Jasper, Maggie, do you think you could reach out to other vampires you know and subtly ask if they've encountered or heard of anything like our... situation. Bella needs twenty-four hour watching, so we'll need to either work out a schedule, or just make sure there's always someone there. Fleur, Ginny, Harry, talk to everyone in the Order, any contacts you think might have any sort of relevant information. I'll tackle the Ministry archives, Leah, could you to talk to one of the elders of the tribe, go over every single legend they know to see if this comes up at all? Basically... we need information. We need to know what we're preparing for."

Everyone nodded, and moved into action. It was nearly seven o'clock now, and the sky was a dark, inky blue, the moon only a sliver.

I hated, dearly, dearly hated, what my sister planned to do, but I had to respect her choice. After all, I

had no other option. -

The baby was growing quickly. Far too quickly. Nine days had passed since Bella returned from her honeymoon and already she was confined to either a couch or a bed, unable to stand. Anything she ate wasn't staying down, and Carlisle had had to insert a feeding tube to keep her nourished, and a drip to keep her hydrated.

She looked terrible, too. Her skin was pale and waxy and the dark rings under her eyes rivaled those of her husband. And speaking of Edward, he was an absolute mess. I'd seen Edward happy, proud and in love. I'd seen Edward angry, arrogant and in pain. But now... now all he looked was beyond suffering.

I'd spent sleepless nights researching, investigating... currently I was sitting on the couch opposite Bella, with Alice curled up by my side. Bella looked sicker every day, weaker and more fragile. It took all my effort to try and concentrate on the book, and more then once I found myself reading the same sentence over and over.

Nobody has spoken for over two hours, something more then common over these past few days. As I stare, sightlessly, at the page, four hundred pages in to the dusty tome, and something finally jumps out at me. "I found something," I say, actually shocked. In an instant, Rosalie, Esme, Maggie and Carlisle are all in the living room, faces urgent.

"What did you find?" Esme asks, a look of hope on her heart-shaped face.

"It's a list of different 'creatures of near human intelligence' that have bred with humans," I trace the words with my finger. "Wow, okay, there's three separate cases here where wizards have married and had children with hags. That's... that's actually really horrid."

"What about vampires?" Bella asks, her voice as weak as she looks. I scan the lists with a sinking heart, flipping through the next few pages until I find the list I'm looking for.

"There aren't many cases where witches and wizards have married a vampire, and none where they're had children." I say, softly, before pausing, "there is a footnote here- apparently there've been several cases of muggles and vampires having children... oh sodding hell." I whisper, my blood turning to ice.

"What is it?" Edward demands. I close my eyes so I don't have to see his or Bella's expression, my hand seeking Alice's.

"None of the mothers survived." I say, quietly. As I open my eyes, the first thing I notice is Edward's tortured expression; his broken helplessness.

"No," he whispered, shaking his head back and forth angrily, desperately. "There has to be a way!" Tears, warm and salty, slide down my cheeks as I slam the old book shut, with a touch more force then necessary, and angrily swipe at my eyes with the back of my sleeve.

"There is a way! There's always a way!" I hiss, though not at him. I rake my hands through my hair and give a shaky laugh. "I helped take down Voldemort, finding a way to keep my sister alive should be a piece of bloody cake!"

"Hermione," Bella says, her face soft, "I know you'll figure something out. You're not called the brightest witch of your generation for nothing. And, even if you don't, all I need to do is keep my heart beating long enough to be Turned."

"You say that like it'll be easy!" My voice cracks, and I rise to my feet so I can cross the room and crouch next to her. "Like it's so... clear."

"Because it is. To me." Bella said, firmly. I slump, burying my face into the blanket covering my sister so no one can see my expression. Because my face is covered, I don't see the vampires in the room sudden changes in expression, but I do hear the low, fierce growl that emanates from Rosalie, and I'm on my feet as quick as I can, wand in my hand, brandished before me.

"What is it?" I demand, looking around and seeing that Jasper and Emmett have joined the rest of us in the Living Room, Emmett holding a blue-haired Teddy in his arms.

"The mutt," Rosalie growls, her eyes flashing dangerously. Bella perks up beside me. "It's Jacob?" she asks, eagerly. My jaw tightens as Rosalie nods.
"What do we do?" Esme asks, her expression worried.

"I'll answer the door," Carlisle says, his face calm, as he strides out of the room. I hear the door open and strain my ears, listening to the conversation. "Hello Jacob," Carlisle says, calmly, "how are you?"

"I heard Bella made it back alive," I hear Jacob's low husky voice state.

"Er, Jacob, it's not really the best time." Carlisle says, "could we do this later?" I was nodding in agreement, even though I couldn't see either of them, when Bella spoke up, her voice cracked and rough.

"Why not?" she asked, "are we keeping secrets from Jacob too? What's the point?" I shot her a glare, but she ignored me, "come in, please, Jacob!" she called out.

"Excuse me," Jacob's voice was tighter now, and then he was standing there, in the entrance to the living room, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. Even though I had absolutely no interest in the male specimen whatsoever, I had to admit that he was a very attractive boy.

Jacob looked shocked, horrified, as he stood frozen in the doorway. His eyes swept across the room, before they rested on Bella, his expression slowly growing more and more horrified. As he stared, Bella's skin turned light green, and I conjured up a bucket as Bella bent over and retched noisily.

Edward fell to his knees by Bella's side, his expression tortured looking, and Bella put one of her hands on his cheek. "Sorry about that." She told Jacob. The shape-shifter walked forwards, as if in a trance, falling to his knees beside her, leaning over the back of the couch across from Edward. "Are you alright?"

What a stupid question, I glowered, even as I kept my wand carefully trained on Jacob, ready to stun him in a second if he did anything to threaten either Bella, the baby or the Cullens. "What is it Bella?" Jacob demanded, wrapping his hands around her small fragile ones. Bella didn't answer, instead she bit her lip, her gaze meeting first mine then Edward's. Finally, she turned to Edward.

"Help me up?" she asked. Edward shook his head. "Bella-"

"Please Edward." She said, softly, and Edward stood up and put his arm carefully around Bella's shoulders.

"No," Jacob protests, "you don't have to get up!"

"I'm answering your question!" she snapped at him, as Edward pulled her gently off the couch. The blanket fell to the ground at my sister's feet, exposing her torso, ballooning out in a strange, sick way. It strained against the faded gray sweater she was wearing, and Bella folded her hands tenderly around the bulge, cradling it.

It took Jacob a long moment to figure it out, and then his face sagged in disbelief and horror. I wasn't sure what was going through his mind then, but Edward's voice suddenly snapped over to Jacob, his lips pulled back from his teeth.

"Outside, Jacob." He snarled.

"Let's do this." Jacob agreed, standing swiftly. I moved, ready to intervene, when Bella lurched forwards.

"No!" she gasped.

"I just need to talk to him, Bella," Edward said, gently, as he helped her back down onto the couch, "don't strain yourself. Please rest. We'll both be back in just a few minutes." He promised her. Bella stared at his face, reading it carefully, before nodding, and turning to Jacob.

"Behave," she insisted, "and then come back!" I watched, uneasily, as the two left the room, then the house.

"You'll tell me the second you think something's going wrong," I murmur under my breath, knowing that all the vampires could hear me, but Bella couldn't. Alice dips her head in acknowledgement, and I turn my attention back to Bella. Her face is gray and she looks even more drained then before. "It might be time for the feeding tube," I say, and her expression turns comically horrified.

"Oh god no! I hate that thing!" I can't help but smile slightly- here she is, carrying a vampire baby that's slowly but surely sucking the life out of her, bruising her, hurting her, and yet she blanches at the thought of needles and tubes. I sit on the couch beside her, and run my fingers through her

thinning hair.
"You're a strange one," I tell her.

"Pot, kettle." She retorts, quickly, before her face turns anxious again. "Can you hear what they're talking about? Outside?"

"No, they've moved out of hearing range." Emmett answers bluntly. Bella gasps and everyone turns to give Emmett a dark look. I get back to my feet.

"I'll go keep an eye on them," I tell her, and she nods, thankfully. I leave the room, then the house, and place my wand on my flat palm. "Point me," I murmur, and the slim stick of wood spins on my hand, before pointing in the direction Edward and Jacob must have gone off in.

I walk swiftly, not really worried. Edward wouldn't hurt Jacob, and he'd be able to take down the younger boy, easy. The shape-shifters were good, but they were cocky. The Cullens had decades of experience- the Pack was only good for newborns and individual vamps, where there were at least two or more shifters. Plus, I couldn't hear any snarling or howling, so I had to assume everything was going reasonably well, at least.

I cast a disillusionment charm on myself so they couldn't see, hear or smell me approach, but by the time I'd reached hearing distance, all I heard was Edward saying, "I'm very much counting on that."

"Then we have a deal." Jacob just about snarled. My eyes narrowed as Edward nodded and reached out his hand to Jacob's, and Jacob shook it, a look of disgust on his face. Bloody hypocrite.

"We have a deal." Edward agreed. I narrowed my eyes further, and twisted on the spot as they started walking back, apparating back into the living room. Bella flinched slightly in surprise, but none of the other vampires said anything.

"Was everything okay?" Bella asked, anxiously.

"Fine." I assured her, "they weren't even yelling. Probably just plotting how to get you to change your mind, even though they both know that's bloody useless." Bella gives a hoarse chuckle as Edward and Jacob walk through the door.

"We're going to let Jacob and Bella speak privately." Edward stated.

"Told you," I nodded at Bella, who smiled weakly, before turning to fix the shape-shifter with a piercing glare. "Any funny business, and you'll be spending the next week vomiting slugs." I threaten him. He nods, his face hard. I turn to Bella. "I'll cast a silencing spell so you two have privacy." I tell her. She smiles again.

"Thanks Hermione."

"The things I do for you." I sigh, before turning and leaving the room, the vampires gliding after me.

"Are you really going to put up a silencing charm?" Alice asked, a cute frown on her face.

"Depends," I say, turning to Edward, "do you want me to?"

"I'd prefer it." He says, quietly, and I nod, pointing my wand at the room.

"Muffliato!"

"Ugh," Alice complains, rubbing her ears, "I hate that spell! It's so... buzzy!"

"Buzzy?" I ask.

"Like thousands of mosquitos." She says.

I start pacing, anxious about leaving Bella unattended, and Alice flits over to my side. "Jacob would never hurt Bella." She says, firmly. I run a hand through my hair, sighing.

"I know, I know, it's just... I want to be with her." I admit.

"I think you need a break," Alice says, gently. "You're exhausted. When was the last time you slept?"

"About thirty hours ago," I admit, before giving a half smile. "There's no rest for the wicked," I inform her.

"Good thing you're not wicked then." She retorts. "Thirty hours is a long time for a human to go without sleeping."

"Fine. If I'm going to go rest, then you need to go hunt." I tell her, gently tracing my fingertips over the dark purple rings under her eyes. "How long has it been since you fed?" Alice pouts slightly at having the tables turned on her.

"A week." She admits.

"Seven days is a long time for a vampire to go without feeding," I inform her. "Go eat some deer, or something." Alice looked reluctant, but sighed, obviously deciding that going hunting was worth it for me to get some sleep.

"Okay, my heart, it's deal." She agreed.

"While Bella is in a stable condition, perhaps Esme and I can accompany you." Carlisle smiles at Alice.

"In that case, I'm off to bed." I sigh, before turning to Rosalie. "If Bella asks, can you tell her that I'm just upstairs? Also, if she needs me, please come get me straight away. I don't care if I'm asleep or not." Rosalie nods.

"Of course, Hermione." I then turn back to Alice, and wrap my arms around her, pressing my lips to the top of her head.

"I love you." I tell her, "be safe."

"I promise." She vows, solemnly. Leaving her, I head upstairs to her old bedroom, the one we share when we stay at the mansion. I don't bother stripping out of my clothes, instead just collapse on the bed, and finally let the tiredness I was pushing away wash over me.

I was asleep in minutes.
And I didn't wake up until I heard the howling.