I wasn't going to do this contest, but a chance to get Harry and Edward together?! I couldn't stop myself.
The ending is a little weak because I couldn't really stop writing, the story just keeps going (I still have another three pages)! But, this is what I got it down to, even though it is still really long.
Disclaimer: I am neither Stephenie Meyer nor JK Rowling, (though wouldn't it be cool if I was?) these characters are theirs, never mine. I'm just toying with them for pure enjoyment!
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Harry and Hermione each grabbed one of Ron’s arms and pulled him forward. After he had been slashed by a Death Eater- Harry guessed it was Greyback- Ron was losing consciousness and couldn’t support himself anymore. Harry hoped that they spell Hermione laid down after them to mask their advance would be enough to confuse the pursuing Death Eaters. All they needed was to get far enough into the forest to get Lucius’ cane. Harry thought that the cane must be a Horcrux, Voldemort had no other way of keeping himself alive. They knew that it was just past Hogwarts’ borders and in a clearing. The magic protecting the clearing was enough so that they couldn’t Apparate into the circle, but Hermione had said they could Apparate out of it. He hoped she was right.
They ran full-speed further into the forest and paused to catch their breath. The clearing was just ahead. Harry stole a glance behind him and saw three Death Eaters lurking just beyond the trees; one of them had distinctly blond hair.
He turned to Hermione, “If we Apparate at the same time, should we be able to take Ron with us?”
Hermione’s face turned calculating. “I don’t know. If I had to guess, I would say yes, but I’m not sure.” She looked worried as she relayed her thoughts.
Harry nodded, that was enough for him. “Let’s take it at the same time and Apparate to the Burrow- Ron’s mom will know what he needs.”
Hermione looked weary as she nodded. She was half certain that it would work and half certain the three of them would all die. She let out a whimper and fell under Ron’s weight. Next to her foot was a small metal coin. Harry bent down to pick it up at the same time Hermione shifted to do the same.
“THEY’RE GETTING AWAY!” Lucius’s loud shrill cut through the dark, it would have been hard to not to place the screech as his.
It took Harry a second to realize that what he was feeling wasn’t the unnerving squishing feeling of Apparation that had become second nature to him; rather it was a flying sensation. It took him another second to place what it was, but he realized that it he was holding a Portkey.
Before Harry could regain himself, he slammed hard into the ground, pulling both Ron and Hermione down with him. It knocked all the breath out of him and he stayed panting on the cool earth and felt his friends doing the same. Pleased by the fact they were no longer being pursued by Voldemort’s minions and they were more or less safe, he lay there until the curiosity was too much and decided to make out their surroundings.
He reached out his hand for Hermione and pulled her to her feet. He decided to let Ron sleep there until they could figure out something to do. Hermione was staring down at Ron and Harry realized that she was crying, so he pulled her arms into his arms. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t get the Horcrux, Harry.” She whimpered into his shoulder. “We should have known it wouldn’t have been a trick. And I let Ron get hurt…”
Harry pulled back and stared into her face. “This is why I didn’t want you to come with me, it’s too dangerous. Next time, Ron and-” Hermione’s eyes had darted away from his face and were staring at something behind him. Her lips were frozen into a soft “O” shape. Harry slowly let her go and even more slowly turned himself around.
About twenty feet away from him were two rather menacing looking teenagers with what appeared to be some sort of carcass at their feet. They were both staring at Ron and Hermione with extremely terrifying black eyes.
“Who are you?” growled the bronze haired one, who seemed oddly familiar. The other boy took a step forward and bared his ridiculously white teeth. The gesture combined with his large muscles was enough to stun Harry for a moment.
“I…” Harry tried to start. “Err… I mean, we. We were running away from the Dea-” Recognition hit Harry hard in the chest like a wrecking ball.
It became blatantly obvious why the bronze haired boy with the fantastic set of teeth looked so recognizable to Harry.
“CEDRIC!”
Harry ran forward to his friend and slammed into something he could only describe as a solid brick wall. He rubbed his head and looked up and saw the frightening boy with the big muscles. The boy grabbed each of Harry’s shoulders and held him at arm’s length.
Harry squirmed like a little kid. “Let me go! I know him, let me go!”
“Emmett…” The Cedric-looking boy stepped forward and put his hand on the big boy’s shoulder. “Let him down. He’s not thinking anything harmful.”
Harry landed none-too-softly on his feet and Hermione came up behind him and whispered something meant to be reassuring in his ear. He ignored her.
“I thought you died, Cedric!”
The boy’s eyes tightened slightly but otherwise he remained unchanged.
“Edward.” Said the big boy called Emmett.
Hermione looked at him. “What?”
Emmett looked amused, “His name is Edward.”
Harry rounded on him.
“No,” he said slowly, as if to spell it out for him “He’s name is Ced-ric.”
Emmett laughed, actually laughed and shook his head. “He’s Edward.”
“Cedric!”
“Edward.”
“Cedric!!”
“Edward.”
“CEDRIC!”
“Edward.”
“NO! He’s CED-“
Cedward interrupted. “Sorry to disappoint, but my name is Edward. Would you mind telling me who you are and what you’re doing falling out of the sky? I can’t seem to decipher either of your thoughts completely…”
Hermione started to explain for Harry, “My name is Hermione, this is Ha- you what? Decipher our thoughts?! How would you do that?”
Harry desperately tried to remember his Occulemency lessons and threw up blocks around his head. He knew Hermione would be completely defenseless, but maybe she knew some sort of spell in her arsenal that might help her.
Emmett looked at Edward disapprovingly.
“I mean, I didn’t feel anything in my head like I normally do.” Hermione said as Harry cocked an eyebrow at her.
She sighed and said, “After you started learning, I asked Professor Dumbledore to teach me.”
Harry was about to say something back when Edward started. “I can… read minds.” He looked at them hopefully, but when neither Harry nor Hermione seemed surprised, he changed expressions to confusion. “That doesn’t scare you?”
Now it was Harry and Hermione’s turn to look confused. “Why would it?” Hermione asked.
Emmett crossed his arms and smiled broadly. “It’s not exactly normal, reading thoughts.”
Hermione matched his smile, “Granted it isn’t supposed to be learned until your N.E.W.T.s or after, but I think we’re old enough to not be so ignorant don’t you?”
Behind them came a soft groan and Harry and Hermione remembered their friend. They both turned and walked swiftly over to the place where Ron was still lying. Hermione crouched down and placed the back of her hand against his forehead.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
“I feel like an elephant’s backside.”
“Well, that doesn’t make since. Elephants don’t sit that often. They don’t taste all too good either, they’re too leathery. Rose likes them though. If you’re going to go to Africa, cheetah is definitely the animal of choice.”
They hadn’t noticed that both Edward and Emmett had followed them.
Hermione looked at Emmett grinning and giggled softly. Harry had never heard Hermione giggle like that and when he looked at her, she blushed and looked back at Ron sheepishly.
Emmett stepped closer behind Hermione and leaned down to inspect Ron. Once he was close enough to hold out a hand and touch Ron, he drew back quickly and pinched his nose.
“Why does he reek?” Emmett asked around his hand.
Ron colored and turned defensive. “Well, maybe you should try fighting the-”
Emmett waved a hand at Ron and turned to Edward. “Take a whiff,” he said “he smells like wolf.”
Edward’s look remained passive as he drew closer to Ron and flared his nostrils. “He’s interacted with them, but he’s not a werewolf.” Edward concluded.
“You know the werewolves?” inquired Harry as he got back to his feet.
“Yes,” Edward said “And there is one who has been quite annoying lately. He’ll be lucky if he makes it through the year without me chopping off his front paw and hanging it in the rearview mirror of my Volvo as a good luck charm.”
He grinded his knuckles together and Emmett looked at him sympathetically. At that moment, a loud buzzing erupted from Edward’s coat pocket.
He plucked a phone from its place faster than humanly possible. He glanced down at the Caller I.D. and back at the group. “Excuse me.” He said and walked away.
“Bella probably fell over a cat…” Mumbled Emmett as he looked after Edward.
Emmett turned back to the other three and grinned again. Harry wondered in the back of his head why he couldn’t stop laughing and smiling.
“So,” said Emmett “You never answered Edward’s question. Who are you and where’d you drop from?”
Ron sat up and looked at Emmett. “Who are you?”
“Right, you weren’t there. I’m Emmett and over there is Edward.” He cocked his head in Edward’s direction. “Again, I ask who you are.”
Harry took the prerogative to start talking when the two others didn’t. “I’m Harry Potter.” He paused for the usual reaction to his name. When no screeching, praising, adoring, or other like reaction ensued, he continued. “That’s Hermione Granger. And this is Ron Weasley.”
“Hermione.” He formed his lips over the word. “Nice name. Where did you come from?”
Hermione’s blush deepened even more and she said, “We were trying to get the Horcrux, but it was actually a Portkey that came here.”
Harry cleared his throat loudly and said, “It doesn’t matter though, where is ‘here’ exactly?”
Emmett eyed them with a face full of questions, but put the matter aside. “Forks, Washington.”
The three of them looked like they’d received a slap in the face. “America?” asked Ron “We’re in America?”
Emmett nodded as Edward walked back up behind them. “We need to go home, Emmett. Esme’s worried and Alice has got Bella trapped in the bathroom trying on wedding dresses.”
“Right-o.” Said Emmett as he stifled yet another laugh.
Edward looked down at Ron and Hermione on the ground then at Harry who was still thinking that Edward resembled Cedric too much. He sighed. “I’m not your Cedric, but it has been absolutely enthralling meeting you.” He then turned to Emmett. “No, we are not taking them with us.”
Emmett contorted his face into a puppy-dog pout. “Please?” He asked.
Edward looked both horrified and disgusted. “Why would we?”
“Oh, come on! You know Carlisle would love talking to them and I want to know what Frizzy is talking about.” Emmett placed his hands in front of him and got on his knees like he was begging.
Edward moved his look from mock-pleading Emmett, to determined Harry, to blushing Hermione, to confused Ron and back again.
“Red-head needs a doctor anyway. Carlisle is off today, right?” urged Emmett.
Edward returned his gaze to Emmett and relented. “Fine.” He turned to the other three. “Would you like to go back to our house where my father will fix Ron’s side?”
“How did you know my name?” Ron asked.
“He reads minds.” Said Harry without looking away from Edward’s face. He was equally as excited as Emmett to learn who the strangers were. “We’ll come with you if it’s not any trouble.”
Edward nodded curtly. “Come then.” He turned and walked away with Emmett trailing him.
“What was his name?” asked Ron as Harry and Hermione let him hang between them and tug on their shoulders.
“Edward.” Hermione said when Harry refused to respond and only moved forward. She knew that he still thought he was Cedric.
“Hmm…” Ron mused as they walked forward slowly, quickly losing sight of the other two ahead of them. “Name doesn’t fit him. He seems more like a Robert to me.” Hermione looked amused and Harry agitated as they made their way after Edward and Emmett.
“Edward or Robert,” said Harry “That guy could play one really, really good Cedric Diggory.”
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