CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:

Hermione's POV:

Alice and I collapsed together, tangled, spent, and exchanged looks of love, satisfaction and contentment. Post life-threatening situation sex is always fantastic, and this one more then met the bar. After a few seconds of getting my brain back in comprehendible order, I cleared my throat, about to speak, when Alice beat me to it.

"Still alive?" she asked.

"Mostly," I managed to answer, my voice embarrassingly breathy. "Still undead?"

"Very much so." She laughed, before she sighed, curling up next to me. I wrapped an arm around her, snuggling close, and resting my head in the crook of her neck.

"I love you." I told her, and she let out a purring sound.

"I love you too." There's silence for a few moments as we rest together, enjoying the peace. Alice's bed is soft and cozy, and I'm honestly at the point of dozing off, when she speaks up. "I kind of can't believe it's over."

"Mm, know what you mean," I mumbled, sleepily. "After so much worry and fear, suddenly it's gone, and it leaves this hole behind that you don't know how to fill."

"What about with lots of sex?" Alice suggested, "and wedding planning!" she added, her face brightening.

"Sounds good. Now be quiet so I can sleep." I yawn. Alice's cool breath tickles my ear, as she showers light kisses along my jaw line.

"Sleep tight, gorgeous."

-

The sound of Alice's indignant shriek of 'he did what?' woke me up, and I rubbed my eyes, propping myself up onto one elbow and gazing around the room blearily.

I'm alone on the bed now, wrapped up in the silk sheets. Edward and Alice are standing in the corner of the room, each with blazing eyes and upset expressions on their faces. "Wazhappenin?" I asked.

"You tell her." Edward tells Alice, "Bella's about to come out of the bathroom."

A bit more awake, I look out after Edward, who storms out of the room, with a raised eyebrow.

"What's got his panties in a twist?"

"Jacob conned Bella into kissing him," Alice looked upset. I'm more then upset.

"What?" I shrieked, my voice rising several octaves.

"He talked about how he should kill himself so he wouldn't be in her way, making her unhappy. She panicked and kissed him, so he wouldn't." Alice explained, with a growl.

"I swear to Merlin I am going to kill that son-of-a-bitch!" I hiss, leaping to my feet, and starting to pace across the room. Alice watched me, her expression going from mostly upset to slightly amused as I start ranting. "What kind of arsehole cons the girl he loves into kissing him? And what sadist says he's going to kill himself because he's was so fucking heartbroken over her rejecting him?! You know Bella- she's going to be beating herself up over this big time!"

Alice flitted over to me and places a hand on my arm. "There's no permanent damage, sweetie. Edward made sure she knew it wasn't her fault, that he wasn't upset at her."

"Why hasn't Edward gone over and torn a new one in Jacob's sorry hide?" I demanded. Alice gives me a slightly amused look.

"He wants to, but he can't. For one, Bella would be upset, and second, him and the mut-Jacob had a-"

"Oh you can call him a mutt, believe me- that's what the son of a bitch is! A dog!" I interrupt. Alice raises an eyebrow.

"Okay then, Edward and the mutt had a discussion in the tent last night, while you and Bella were sleeping."

"Oh?" I asked, slightly confused about where this is going, "and what? Edward gave the mutt a free pass? Told him he could snog Bells? Because in that case I'm kicking both their arses."

"No," Alice rolled her eyes, "don't be silly. They both discussed how much they love Bella. Then they both promised they were never going to give up. The mutt assured Edward that he'd be there, fighting, until her heart stopped beating."

"Well that's pretty fucking overdramatic." I growled. Alice giggled.

"That's boys for you. Anyway, afterwards they both assured each other they weren't going to play fair. The mutt used his injuries to soften Bella up, used her love for him to cast aside her better judgement. Edward is well aware of that. He knows how huge Bella's heart is."

"I just can't believe that stupid prick took advantage of Bella!" I exclaimed, curling my hands into fists, "she's got the biggest bleedin' heart and she's such a crap liar, that she believes anyone who actually can lie! I swear to Merlin, the second Jacob's finished healing, I'm not just going to break every bone on the right side of his body- I'm going to break EVERY bone in his pathetic body!"

"Remind me to never get on your bad side." Alice commented seriously, before wrapping her arms around me and tucking her head under my chin. "Calm down, baby. As much as I approve of what you're saying, think of Bella. The mutt may be an ass, but unfortunately she loves him."

I sighed, relaxing and leaning into my little vampire. "She's so innocent Alice, sweetheart. Always has been. And people take advantage of that. I hate seeing her get hurt." I admitted, "ever since I first met her, she was so shy, so unsure, so open and so loving."

"Bella will be fine, Hermione," Alice said, softly, "I promise. I can see the future, remember?" I let my head fall on Alice's shoulder.

"I'll never stop worrying about her. It's an older sister thing. I mean, I may only be older by a few minutes, but she's so... naïve. She always sees the best in people. And me? I see the worst. We both had to grow up too quickly, you know. My parents worked most of the time so I had to look after myself and Renée's such a terrible mother that Bella had to look after her. Yes, I might be biased by the fact the cow gave me away, but Renee never, ever let Bella be the child. She was always the kid, always had to be looked after. And yet, somehow, Bella still manages to trust people."

"And you don't?" Alice asked, softly. She's been cautious now, treading lightly. I don't talk about my parents, the Grangers, much. Or ever. And this is the first time I've mentioned how I feel about Renee giving me away in front of her.

"I do, but not the way Bella does." I admitted, "Not the way she always trusts they have her best interests at heart. Not the way she trusts them not to lie to her." I take a deep breath. I've calmed down enough now that I think I can manage speaking to Jacob without cursing him into oblivion... much. "Jacob and I are going to be having ourselves a little chat." I tell Alice, pulling the slender wand out of my pocket.

"Think now's a good time?" Alice asked, cautiously. I give her a grim smile.

"If I wait any longer, I'm just going to get more creative." I tell her, tapping my wand against my thigh.

"Take pictures." Is all Alice says, before I apparate away.

-

"Motherfucker!" Jacob swears as I appear in his room. He kind of gaped at me, and I gave him a sugary sweet smile.

"Hi Jacob, so nice to see you looking well." I greeted him, in a saccharine tone, and I watch, smugly, as Jacob cringed.

"Um...hi?" he said, nervously, reaching up to scratch his ear with his good hand. My eye twitched. Maybe a little, small hex? Something really, really harmless, like, from the top of my head, Crucio?

"A little bird told me something interesting, a few minutes ago, you know." I stalked over so I'm standing next to him, enjoying the look of fear on his face. What can I say? There's a bit of Slytherin in everyone. "Something to do with the emotional wreck my sister currently is. So full of self-hatred, self-loathing..." my voice has lowered to a growl, "know anything about that, mutt?"

"Look, I'm sorry-" Jacob started, uncomfortably, awkwardly. I interrupted him.

"Well that's just not fucking good enough!" I shouted, "from the minute I got here, you've caused Bella nothing but misery! Don't you get it? She's made her choice! All you're doing is making her miserable! If you really love her, let her go! And if you EVER make her cry again, I'm going to make you a eunuch!"

"If you really want what's best for her, then you'd be pushing her towards me! The human!" Jacob shouted, "but no, I forgot, you're a leech lover too! I'm the one who's trying to save Bella! You and your precious vampires are killing her!"

"Shut the fuck up, you stupid dog!" I scream at him, proceeding to lose my temper, "in case you've forgotten, you're not human either! Don't give me the same half arsed excuse about just being different, something in your genes you can't control that you gave Bella, because that's bollocks! According to the laws set by the Ministry of Magic, Department of Magical Creatures, you share the same classification as a vampire!"

"That's bullshit!" he shouted.

"That's the truth!" I shouted back, "and you know what? There's no problem with not being fully human! Why would there be?"

Breathing heavily, we glare at each other. I'm the one who speaks first. "If you ever hurt my sister again, physically or mentally, you're road-kill, fleabag!" I snarled at him. When Jacob speaks next, his voice is polar opposite to the loud shouting it was before.

"I love her, Hermione! She's everything to me." He whispered, looking down at his hands. I softened my tone to match his.

"Then don't you want her to be happy? Edward makes her happy, Jacob. He's her soul-mate, you're not. If you were truly meant to be, she'd be your imprint. But she's not; she's his. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll stop tearing Bella in half. She loves you, but she's not in love with you." Jacob closed his eyes. His lashes are suspiciously damp.

"I don't know if I can." He whispered. My answer is simple.

"You don't have a choice."

He opens his eyes again, and looks up at me miserably. "Is she really upset at me? For what I did?"

"Are you kidding? Bella can't hold a grudge to save her life. But you know what?" I pulled my wand out of my pocket and pressed it up against his nose. His entire body freezes, and he goes cross-eyed, trying to keep the wand in his view. "I can."

The jinx is childish, but I know Bella will skin me alive if I do any permanent damage, as much as I want to, so I'm stuck with petty revenge. A small explosion of green and blue sparkles goes off in Jacob's face and he lets out a shout. "What did you do?"

"Taught you a lesson, albeit a much kinder one then you deserve. Nobody's going to be kissing you anytime soon." I told him, before apparating away, leaving him with a face filled with oozing boils.

When I got back, Alice was sitting down in the lounge room, along with Bella and Edward. Bella's eyes are red and swollen, but she looked calmer. "Where did you go?" she asked.

"Out." I answered.

"Out where?" She pressed.

"If I said the store, would you believe me?" I asked.

"No. Edward said he told you and Alice what happened... you didn't go to see Jacob, did you?" she demanded.

"No, I actually went to the store." I told her, pulling my beaded purse out of my pocket, and then pulling out several large shopping bags filled with clothes. I actually bought these a few days ago to solidify our cover, but Bella doesn't need to know this. She blinks.

"Huh? What's all that for?"

"Our alibi, Bells," I reminded her, "we were having a sleep over here, remember, while the others were out hiking, and then we went shopping. Charlie's already bound to be suspicious after seeing Carlisle at Jacob's house, so we need evidence."

"Hermione's right," Alice nodded, "and what's a shopping trip without a new outfit? Or ten?"

"Charlie staying in the dark is what's safest for him. Our façade has to be flawless." Edward is next to speak, rubbing soothing circles on Bella's back.

"Guess that makes sense." Bella mumbled, "Is it almost time for us to go home?"

Alice looks at her wrist, where a stylish, diamond-studded watch is elegantly fastened.

"I suppose now is as good a time as any."

I drive back, not trusting Bella behind the wheel- she's bad enough when she hasn't just lived through one of the worst days of her life.

Charlie is waiting as we walk in the door, as predicted, looking a tad suspicious like predicted. His suspicion visibly lessens when he sees the shopping bags balancing precariously in my arms.

"Hey Bella, Hermione, how was your shopping trip?" he asked.

"Lots of fun." I answered with a cheerful smile.

"Long," Bella added, dully, "we just got back." Charlie assesses her mood with the ease of the seasoned cop he is.

"I guess you already heard about Jacob then?"

"Yeah, the rest of the Cullens beat us home. Edward told me." Bella answered.

"Are you okay?" Charlie pressed, starting to look worried at the persistent miserable expression on my sister's face. Bella's mood still hasn't picked up, and I'm starting to think that giving Jacob a face full of boils was letting him off too lightly.

"I'm worried about Jake." Bella told Charlie.

"Well why don't you pop down to see him after dinner?" Charlie suggested. I'm about to find some excuse so Bella doesn't have to go face the arsehole for at least another day, to give her some recovery time from what he did to her, but she speaks before I can come up with a plausible reason.

"Sounds good." She said.

"I'll come with you." I say, instantly- no way am I letting her go alone. Bella looks like she's going to protest, then shrugs.

"You two be careful on the roads," Charlie warned, before sighing, "I told you those motorbikes were dangerous, Bella, I hope this makes you realize I wasn't kidding around!" Bella nodded at him then walks over to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. Charlie and I go sit on the couch, and he grabs the remote and flicks through the channels, only paying the TV half his attention. Charlie seems to be in an unusually talkative mood tonight.

"Weird day today," he mused, out loud, "you know, I don't put much stock in that superstitious crap, but it was odd... I'm telling you, Hermione, it was like Billy knew something bad was going happen to Jake. He was nervous as a turkey on Thanksgiving all morning. I reckon he didn't hear a word I told him. Then, weirder than that, did Bella tell you about back in February and March when we were having a real problem with a pack of wolves?"

"She mentioned it briefly." I shrugged, schooling my expression to innocent and curious.

"Well I hope we're not going to have a problem with that again, because this morning we were out in the boat and Billy wasn't payin' any attention to me or the fish, when, all of a sudden, you could hear wolves howling away in the woods. More than one, and, boy, was it loud! Sounded like they were right there in the village! Weirdest part was, Billy turned the boat around and headed straight back to the harbor, like they were calling to him all personal like. Didn't even hear me ask what he was doing."

"Maybe the wolves were freaking him out." I suggested.

"Maybe," Charlie nods, "but the noise stopped before we got the boat docked, an' all of a sudden Billy was in the biggest hurry not to miss the game, even though we had hours still. Kept mumbling some nonsense about some earlier showing... of a live game? I'm telling you, Hermione, it was odd." He shook his head, "well he found some game he said he wanted to watch, but then he just ignored it. Was on the phone the whole time, calling Sue and Emily and Bella's friend Quil's grandpa. Couldn't make out what he was looking for, he just chatted real casual with them. Next thing I know, I can hear Jake cussing up a storm, an' a few of his buddies are carrying him into the house. He was a real mess, all banged up. Doctor Carlisle was with them, apparently Jake'd been close to Sam's house when it happened, and Sam rang him."

Charlie then paused, a thoughtful look on his face. "Funny that some good should come out of this mess. I didn't think they'd ever get over that fool prejudice they have against the Cullens down there, but Billy was all grateful to see him, and thanked him for looking after Jake. I thought we should take him to the hospital, but Billy wanted to keep him home and Carlisle agreed. Real generous of him to sign up for such a long stretch of house calls."

"He's a good man, Carlisle is." I nodded, smiling at Charlie. Charlie, his need to chat now satisfied, leaned back against the couch, his attention turning to the game.

I leaned back against the couch too, enjoying the few moments of peace. Soon, I'll have to drag my arse down to La Push to make sure Bella doesn't get hurt again by Jacob, and then I'm going to need to chat to Harry and find out how Leah is doing. But for now? I'm just going to sit here in the company of my father, and bask in the glory of doing absolutely nothing productive or of value.