Green & Gold

Sunday September 9th 2003

“He’s late,” Rosalie pouted, crossing her arms and narrowing her freshly golden eyes at Alice. “Where is he?”

Alice, who was twirling around their large living room, arranging ‘studying items’ such as books, notebooks, pencils, and a radio, paused long enough to blink heavily and frown.

“He’ll be walking up the driveway in seventy four seconds.”

“Walking? Why is he walking?”

Alice hummed at her sisters question and lifted one petite shoulder up.

“I can’t see the past Rose,” she sang.

Carlisle chuckled and leaned against the piano as the rest of them settled into ‘human behavior’. For Emmett this apparently meant turning the tv up to ridiculous levels and flicking quickly for a game he wanted to watch. Jasper remained seated on the sofa between Esme and Edward, Rosalie leaning against the back, as he kept his eyes peeled on the doorway.

“If you even hiss in his direction I will rip you apart,” Rosalie whispered menacingly in Jasper’s ear. Which was both unfair and terribly insulting since Jasper had hunted all night with his family, the seven of them preparing as much as possible to host their first ever human.

“As if Jasper would eat him,” Emmett snorted, able to hear Rosalie just fine even across the room with the TV on. “The kid smells weird as hell.”

“Does he?” Esme sounded concerned, as only Esme would be about a human she never met. “What does he smell like?”

“Ice.”

“Power.”

Jasper and Alice looked curiously at each other.

“He smells like ice?” Alice asked, her high pitched voice inquisitive. “Ice isn’t a scent?”

“And power is?” Jasper raised his brows.

“It’s a unique scent,” Edward told their mother. “You’ll have to see for yourself.”

“In three... two... one-“

Knock, knock.

Alice darted past Carlisle, eager to be the first to greet her human friend to their home.

“Harry! You’re here!”

Jasper and his family all inhaled deeply as they tried to identify Harry’s oddly scented, but obviously warm and alive, blood.

Edward thought he smelled like snow, something fresh and clean, but unappealing with its coldness. Rosalie compared the scent of Harry’s blood to freshly burst fireworks, smoky and dark. Jasper stood by his conviction that the sharp, cold, scent Harry put off was comparable to ice cubes fresh from a freezer.

Alice also stuck to her previous belief; Harry’s blood smelled powerful. It was rich, but dark, and it left a mild sizzle in her nose as if his blood was filled with sparks of magic.

The others weren’t sure what to make of the humans unique smell. They could all hear his very human heart thumping in rhythm, could sense the warmth of his body, but his blood was definitely one of a kind.

“Sorry I’m late,” Harry said, offering Alice a grin as she held the door open for her. “I just- oh.” Harry paused and vigilantly noted the rest of their assembled family, his eyes lingering on the ones he never met. “Hello.”

“You must be Harry, welcome.” Carlisle held a hand out to Harry, who grasped it and squeezed just once before quickly letting go. “My name is Carlisle, this is my wife Esme-“ Esme gave Harry a warm smile, her heart squeezing at the boys sweet face and sad eyes. “And I believe you know my children.”

“Yeah,” Harry stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket and nodded at the rest of them. “Thanks for having me over.”

“Of course,” Esme beamed at Harry. Harry’s emotions softened from cautious wariness to a more sentimental feel of wistfulness.

Jasper wondered if Esme’s maternal personality made Harry think of his own mother.

“Where’s your car?” Alice asked him, peeking out in the empty driveway as she shut the door.

“You didn’t walk this whole way, did you?” Edward asked.

“Er... I... I walked a bit, from the highway? I wrecked,” Harry admitted, his face darkening with a blush of his weirdly scented blood. “I tried to fix it, but there were a lot of other cars driving past and...” Harry’s voice trailed off and he shrugged. “It’s fine though, I’ll just... uh... what exactly do you do with cars when they’re wrecked?” he blinked owlishly at Rosalie, already having known she was a car fanatic.

“You bring it to me,” Rosalie assured him with a soft smile that Jasper, personally, rarely ever saw her give. “I’ll take Emmett and his jeep and we’ll tow it here if you’d like. Will your guardians mind? I might be able to fix it.”

“Really?” Harry looked at Rosalie with blatant admiration that made her smirk and the rest of them sigh. “I can pay you!” he offered eagerly. “And, er, I’m 18 and I don’t have guardians, so... so nobody will mind.”

Esme made a soft coo of sadness at Harry’s admission, though it was too low for human hearing to decipher. Rosalie took his confession in stride though, she just smiled reassuringly.

“You don’t need to pay me, it’ll be a great project for me. Where’d you leave it at?”

Harry explained to Rosalie the area where he left his car, apparently with the keys still in it because ‘who would steal a wrecked car?’ And Rosalie shook her head, but felt a sense of affection towards Harry, before taking off with Emmett in his jeep. Afterwards, Carlisle and Esme excused themselves, moving to the far side of the sitting room. The two of them pretended to watch the tv, but were listening carefully as their children hosted the human.

“Homework or snacks first?” Alice offered Harry after their large group dissipated down to only Harry, Alice, Edward, and Jasper.

“Homework,” Harry said, disappointing Alice who had went wild grocery shopping for his visit.

‘We have to keep up appearances!’ she had announced as she filled the kitchen with enough food to feed a small army.

“Fine,” Alice pouted, but folded up gracefully on the floor in the center of the living room. “What all homework do you have?”

Apparently quite a bit.

Jasper didn’t know what Harry Potter did with his free time (though he was terribly curious to find out) but studying clearly was not part of it.

“I used to drive my friend Hermione mad,” Harry chuckled as he reworked part of an essay that Edward volunteered to proofread for him. “She’s a genius, you know? Top of our year.”

Harry felt pride, affection, and a soft yearning sadness as he described his friend.

Jasper wondered if this was the girl with red hair or the brunette, but he’d have no logical way to ask so he kept quiet.

Alice and Edward asked Harry a few questions about his previous friends while Jasper drank in his responses eagerly.

Despite his reluctance to discuss himself, and the painful emotions (worry.affection.self-hate) Harry felt as he talked, his friends were a topic he had no trouble expounding on. Apparently Hermione was a prodigy at his old school and ‘positively mad’ about studying. She also planned on joining a branch of the law once she graduated in May. Harry’s other friend, Ron, came from a large family (sorrow.regret.affection.) and was ‘the best chess player in the entire bloody country’. Harry also quietly mentioned a girl named Luna, who he told Alice he thought she would like very much. Ron’s sister Ginny, apparently a ‘spit fire with more bollocks than grown men’. And Neville, ‘the bravest bloke Harry had ever met’.

Jasper filed away these details about Harry’s friends, he enjoyed hearing Harry talk about them with the fondness in his accented voice. Though Jasper also felt a pang of envy that these human kids knew Harry so well and he knew him so poorly.

Edward had smiled at that wayward thought of Jasper’s. He and Alice exchanged private smiles as Jasper asked Harry more about living in a boarding school.

Alice was patiently explaining the quadratic formula to Harry, apparently England was terribly negligent in their focus on mathematics, when Jasper took note of his returning siblings.

The confusion and concern he sensed from the moment the jeep tires crunched in the driveway threw him off. As did Edward’s puzzled frown at whatever thoughts Rosalie or Emmett were broadcasting to him.

“Harry Potter!” Rosalie burst through their front door, her expression of annoyance contrasted sharply with her feelings of worry. Though, as Harry didn’t share Jasper’s gift, his emotions sharply morphed in to fear,worry,concern.

“What?” Harry was excellent at masking his expression, only his powerful emotions and expressive green eyes showcased any of his sudden anxiety.

“You need to see a doctor!” Rosalie said, not quite yelling, but certainly not speaking kindly to their guest either. “Carlisle! He totaled his car! It was wrapped around a damn tree in the bottom of a ditch! How many times did it roll Harry??”

Jasper registered the sudden overall feeling of worry in the room as the seven vampires focused on Harry. Harry, who looked entirely unconcerned.

“Er, I dunno. Maybe three times? Happened kinda quick. Does totaled mean it can’t be fixed?”

Jasper couldn’t smell Harry’s blood any more strongly than usual, so he assumed Rosalie was mostly angry on the injured cars behalf. Surely if Harry was hiding cuts, or major injuries, one of them would have noticed by now.

“You. Are. Not. Fine,” Rosalie hissed. “Carlisle come see the car for yourself! He’s probably got internal bleeding or something!”

Carlisle smiled politely at Harry as he got to his feet. Jasper’s curiosity got the best of him and he joined Rosalie, Carlisle, and Emmett.

“Oh my.” Carlisle let out a soft noise of surprise at what they saw in the driveway.

‘Oh my’ was quite an underwhelming statement. As was ‘totaled’.

The car was mangled beyond recognition.

Jasper didn’t think that a human could possibly walk away from such an accident.

“How did it happen?” Carlisle asked Rosalie quietly.

“I’m not sure, but my guess is he took that curve at at least 80.” Rosalie’s feelings of worry were overwhelming Jasper, causing his own worry to skyrocket as well. “You have to check him over, or make him go to a hospital,” Rosalie told Carlisle. “Don’t you dare let him die.”

Carlisle gave his older daughter an understanding nod. Jasper however was not understanding of the fierce feelings of protection.possession.affection. that Rosalie was forcing on him.

Rosalie had an odd attachment to this human.

This... Jasper looked over the car and noticed the way the tree must have forced the steering wheel clear against the seat and the smashed in top, indicating the many times it rolled... this incredibly sturdy human.

“If he’s medically oriented I can’t force him to be seen, though I will heavily suggest it,” Carlisle told Rosalie. “At a minimum, I will see if he’ll consent to allowing me to examine him.”

“Oh he’s going to let you,” Rosalie said harshly. “I don’t care if I have to hold him down myself.”

“What is with her?” Jasper murmured to Emmett as they followed behind Rosalie and Carlisle. Rosalie striding inside, a vampire on a mission it seemed.

“You shut your mouth Em,” Rosalie snapped over her shoulder at them. “And you mind your own damn business Jasper.”

Emmett held his hands up defensively, unwilling to divulge Rosalie’s secrets to appease Jasper’s curiosity.

Which was fine. Jasper was an immortal who couldn’t sleep, he’d figure it out eventually.

For now, he focused on the frail human sitting in the floor with Alice and Edward. The human who, despite his carefully blank expression, radiated waves of anxiety.

“All set then?” Alice asked them brightly.

“No, not ‘all set’,” Rosalie rolled her eyes at Alice. “Harry,” Rosalie lowered her voice to an insistent, yet gentle, one, “are you hurt?”

“Nope,” Harry made direct eye contact with Rosalie as he steadily responded. “I’m fine, really.”

“Do you know what year it is?” Carlisle asked him, slipping in to his beloved role as a doctor.

“2003.”

“And your birthday?”

“July 31st, 1985.”

Rosalie nodded jerkily, confirming Harry’s response. Nosy vampire had probably rifled through Harry’s documents in his car.

Not that Jasper had room to criticize her, as he had actually peered through his house windows.

“And how many fingers am I holding up?”

Harry squinted across the room at Carlisle’s raised hand.

“Four,” he said confidently.

“I certainly can’t force you to be seen, but it would ease my concern greatly if you would allow Alice or one of us to escort you to the hospital,” Carlisle told Harry in a gently cajoling tone. “That was a nasty wreck, and even if you feel fine now there are many invisible injuries you could have.”

amusement.anxiety.frustration.disbelief.

“I’m fine,” Harry insisted. His right hand twitched towards his pocket for a moment before he clenched it in a fist and then slowly unclenched it.

“My children may have told you already, but I am a doctor,” Carlisle said with a dazzling smile that usually charmed patients easily. “I could look you over here if you would prefer to avoid the hospital?”

“No thank you. I’m just gonna...” Harry’s eyes flicked around the room evasively. “I’m gonna go. I- thanks for the help Alice, Edward.”

“Don’t rush off,” Alice pouted. “Carlisle and Rose won’t force you to be seen.”

“Definitely not,” Carlisle assured him. “If you prefer to not be treated, I can’t force you-“

Rosalie growled quietly.

“-I apologize if I was being pushy. Occupational hazard I’m afraid.”

“It’s fine,” Harry said, shoving books and notepads in his backpack carelessly. “I’ve got stuff to do at my house anyway.”

“Stop being stubborn,” Rosalie stamped one foot in a hypocritical show of stubbornness as she narrowed her eyes at Harry. “You could die Harry.”

amusement.derision...

Longing?

“I’m not hurt,” Harry said, his tone cool as he stared off with Rosalie. “But if you don’t want to work on the car anymore, I can figure out how to move it back to my place.”

Emmett chuckled under his breath as it seemed Rose had finally met her match when it came to pig-headed independence.

“Of course I’ll still fix it, if it’s fixable,” Rosalie huffed and flicked her hair back impatiently.

“Harry, perhaps you would like to borrow one of our cars while yours is being repaired?” Esme offered.

“Uh...” Harry gave Jasper’s mother a confused frown. “No?”

“If you think we’re worried about you wrecking it, don’t,” Edward said. “We have excellent insurance and a talented mechanic.”

“That’s really kind of you to offer, but I have another vehicle in my garage,” Harry gave Esme an unsure smile, which she returned instantly.

“At least let us drive you home kid, it’s over twenty miles to town,” Emmett said.

“I’m sure Alice would be happy to drive you,” Carlisle offered, as Alice was clearly his child Harry was the most at ease with.

“Hmm, I’ve got plans actually,” Alice smiled apologetically at Harry before quickly taking on, “Jasper doesn’t though.”

Edward’s lips curled up in a faint smile at whatever inane plot Alice was thinking of that involved having Jasper drive Harry home.

Rosalie let out an angry snarl quietly enough that Harry couldn’t hear. She clearly didn’t trust her beloved human with the sibling who struggled the most with self-control and dedication to preserving human life.

Which was incredibly rude.

“Of course,” Jasper said easily, confused at why he had been volunteered but unwilling to miss an opportunity to gain a further understanding of this interesting human. “It’s no bother to me.”

Harry examined Jasper from head to toe, a subtle look that human eyes would have missed though none of the vampire ones did, before he nodded slowly.

“Alright then, thanks. And thanks again guys,” Harry gave Edward and Alice an appreciative look that they returned.

“Of course. I’d be happy to help you again if you’d like,” Edward told him.

“We could hang out again next weekend!” Alice said. “We didn’t even get to teach you about good music yet!”

“Yeah, alright,” Harry laughed. “I could use the help getting caught up anyway I reckon. Are you busy Sunday?”

“Nope!” Alice smiled happily at her new friend, the friend she knew was seamlessly fitting in with her family, as much as the messy haired human seemed to not realize it. “I’ll see you at lunch tomorrow!”

“Alright, er... it was nice to meet you,” Harry nodded at Carlisle and Esme, his backpack over his shoulder and his hands jammed in his jean pockets.

“It was lovely to meet you,” Esme smiled sweetly at Harry, maintaining her physical distance lest he feel uneasy with their unnaturally cold skin. “We will see you next week.”

“Jasper will give you my cell, call me if you start to feel sick tonight,” Carlisle told Harry firmly. “No matter the time, I’ll answer.”

confusion.embarrassment.disbelief.

“Sure,” Harry shrugged. “Thanks. I’ll just see you guys later then.”

“I’ll send someone to check on him later,” Carlisle murmured to his concerned and frustrated children. Carlisle thought that perhaps Harry was simply recognizing there was something different about his family and unwilling to allow him to treat him. It was rational, and easily resolved.

“He better make it home in one piece Jasper Whitlock Hale,” Rosalie hissed.

Harry, with his dull human senses, thankfully heard neither of these messages.

Jasper did feel a brief flash of annoyance at Rosalie. Her possessive behavior was absurd and uncalled for.

“Bite me,” he whispered as he led Harry through the kitchen to the garage.

regret.awe.joy.

“Whose car is that?” Harry breathed, his eyes round and adoring as he stared at Rosalie’s BMW Convertible.

“Rose’s of course,” Jasper laughed lightly. He could feel Rosalie’s smug satisfaction at Harry’s obvious adoring reaction from her place inside the house and decided to toy with her.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to borrow a car? Rosalie won’t mind loaning you hers, she hardly drives it.”

fear.worry.annoyance.

This time coming from Rosalie.

“He’ll wreck it before he hits the highway the way he drives,” Emmett was chuckling.

Harry just smiled ruefully as he ran a soft hand across the top of the cars hood.

“I’m not actually a great driver.” Which was blatantly obvious. “I’d hate to owe her a new car.”

“Don’t take my car, I want to be there the first time he sees how fast it can go,” Rosalie said from inside the house. Her voice an easily distinguished (to Jasper) whisper.

“We’ll take Edward’s then,” Jasper pointed towards Edward’s silver Volvo. “I’ll drive.”

Harry laughed even as his cheeks warmed from Jasper’s teasing tone.

Was Jasper teasing a human?

“Sorry about all this,” Harry said as they were pulling out of the driveway a few moments later. “In my defense though, Jacob and Hermione only taught me to drive a couple months ago.”

“You didn’t get your license at sixteen?” Jasper was surprised. Even in London he thought it was an important human milestone to get a drivers license and begin experiencing freedom as a teenager.

He himself had enlisted in the military at seventeen, desperate for a taste of freedom.

“No,” Harry said shortly, his emotions tense and sorrowful. “I was a bit busy at sixteen.”

“What were you doing?”

“What song is this?” Harry asked. “It’s good.”

Jasper knew it was a very unsubtle attempt at changing the subject, but he allowed it as it settled Harry’s emotions. The two of them discussed music as the forest landscape blurred past them. Harry, it seemed, had been incredibly sheltered as he had never heard of some of the most famous bands Jasper mentioned.

Overall, Jasper was surprised at how relaxed Harry was while being alone with him. Either his instincts were terrible, which Jasper didn’t believe, or he somehow knew that Jasper wouldn’t harm him.

“Tell me something about yourself,” Jasper abruptly said when Harry had fallen in to a morose silence.

“Er... like what?”

“Anything.” Jasper turned his head and grinned at Harry. “I’d be happy to share a detail about myself in exchange.”

“Alright then...” Harry scrunched his nose up for a moment while he thought. “Oh I know,” Harry chuckled and smiled as he replied, “If you think I’m a bad driver, you should have seen my mate Ron when we were 12. We stole his dads car and drove it to school. He smashed it right in to a tree. Nearly got expelled.”

Jasper chuckled at Harry’s enthusiastic story. “Were his parents angry?”

“His mum was furious,” Harry said. “Told him she had half a mind to yank him from school. His dad never said anything, but I bet he thought it was brilliant.”

Harry sounded very fond of his friends parents, his eyes were soft as he told Jasper about their responses.

“Your turn though,” Harry told him. “Tell me something about yourself.”

Jasper tried to think of a fact that wouldn’t alert Harry to his ‘less than human’ status.

“I used to live in Texas,” he said. “Before I lived with the Cullens of course.”

“Yeah?” Harry raised his brows and gave Jasper an appraising look as they entered the city limits of Forks. Jasper would have been bemused bu Harry’s surprise, most humans noticed the slight Southern accent he still had, but he assumed that all American accents must sound alike to Harry. “Did you like it?”

Jasper thought of the dry heat, the endless green fields, the way the sun looked as it appeared as if it were setting the fields on fire with it’s glow. The scent of honeysuckle in the summers, the rich oak trees taking over the winters.

“Very much,” he said. “It’s a beautiful part of the country.”

Harry made a quiet hum, his emotions nearly as nostalgic as Jasper’s own.

“You can turn here,” Harry pointed out an upcoming turn to his house.

A move Jasper was grateful for as he had nearly driven straight to his house; undoubtedly giving away his nighttime excursion he took Friday.

They lapsed in to a silence, only broken by the radio and Harry’s occasional directions as Jasper drove towards his house. Once he pulled in Harry’s driveway he was struck with reluctance to leave the human inside alone.

And he desperately wanted to see the rest of Harry’s photographs, curious about what images he cherishes enough to display in his home.

“May I use your restroom?” Jasper asked politely.

“Course,” Harry agreed easily, unable to see through Jasper’s pretense. “House is a bit of a mess though.”

“I don’t mind,” Jasper reassured him with a polite smile. He followed Harry in through the front door, internally groaning at how Harry hadn’t locked his door before leaving this afternoon.

A human with a disregard for basic human safety; reckless.

Lovely.

“Bathrooms in there,” Harry pointed towards the restroom door and did an awkward shuffle, kicking a pair of sweatpants and an empty glass bottle beneath his sofa, as both his red face and emotions broadcasted embarrassment.

Jasper pretended to not notice Harry’s shuffling kick, and as he ran water and pretended to use the bathroom he also pretended not to notice the quiet clinks that meant Harry was making an effort to hide the rest of his evidence. Which was fine; Harry was a human with a life expectancy of 80, if he wanted to cut that down to his 50’s via alcoholism, that was his business.

Jasper ignored the pang of loss at the thought of Harry dying one day.

“Thanks again for the ride,” Harry said quickly once Jasper rejoined him in the living room. “Suppose I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Jasper withheld a scoff, certain Harry wouldn’t appreciate it. He clearly wanted Jasper out of his house quickly.

“Do you have a pen?” Jasper asked him, coming up with a perfectly reasonable explanation to stall. “I‘ll give you Carlisle’s number so that you can call him if anything happens tonight.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine,” Harry flipped his hand in a pointless attempt at nonchalance. Pointless because of his tightly coiled muscles and the grimace on his face.

“Maybe my number then?”

confused.uncertain.bashful.

Jasper wasn’t sure what drove him to offer his number to Rosalie and Alice’s adored human, but he imagined it was the same motivation that drove him to peek in his windows like a degenerate.

Harry Potter was changing the behavior of immortal blocks of stone. An impossible task that this frail and agonized human was accomplishing.

“I- er... I don’t have a phone,” Harry admitted with a dark blush in his cheeks.

“You live alone without a telephone?!”

Reckless clearly did not come close to describing Harry. Even if Forks was a sleepy and dull town, the ‘tame’ vampires being the worst things around for miles, it was still foolish to be so wholly unprotected.

“Yeah,” Harry shrugged and leaned against his fireplace. “Maybe I’ll go get one this week?”

Jasper shook his head, and inspected every inch of the room as he did. In addition to the photos he had already seen, there were more.

Harry and the red-headed boy, that Jasper now knew was named Ron, in a group of red heads that included the girl that Harry had a separate photo of. Jasper saw as the red-heads all appeared similar in looks and realized that the girl must be Ron’s sister Ginny, the ‘spit fire’. Harry looked happy in the photo, he was smiling with identical red-headed boys with arms thrown across him on either side.

There was a photo of Harry awkwardly holding a baby. Harry was smiling in this picture, but it was the smile that Jasper saw now, the one that didn’t match the sorrow in his eyes.

The smile that didn’t match the genuine ones in the photos of a younger Harry.

Jasper noticed other things about the house as well. It didn’t smell badly, necessarily, but there was a smoky scent that clung to the walls, it had an interesting draw to it that was neutralized by the smell of sweat and vomit.

Jasper thought Harry perhaps spent a lot of time having night terrors and hangovers.

He also honed his sharp eyes on the kitchen; sweeping them across the stovetop and counters and seeing a noticeable lack of crumbs. The clothing, shoes, books, and glasses strewn about meant Harry wasn’t a neat freak, so he must not eat at home often.

Perhaps he didn’t know how to cook?

“Maybe you should,” Jasper agreed with Harry’s plan to purchase a phone this week lightly, his cataloging done too quickly to even put a pause in their conversation. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like us to pick you up tomorrow? Rosalie may make an exception to driving her car to school for you if so.”

“It’s fine,” Harry waved him off even as he felt a brief flash of longing. “I have a ride, thanks though. See you tomorrow?”

Jasper, who couldn’t think of a way to ignore Harry’s blunt dismissal a second time, nodded over at him and shared a goodbye before he walked slowly out to Edward’s car in the driveway. He flipped his phone out and typed a quick message to Carlisle before leaving Harry’s house. If Harry did not have a phone then it would be prudent of Carlisle to ensure at least one of the many humans he knew in Harry’s neighborhood checked on him tonight, as internal injuries were a real possibility. It didn’t take someone with a PhD to know that; though Jasper did hold several of those in his name.

Jasper reassured himself that any human sturdy, and lucky, enough to walk away from the wreck he had this morning could survive another night and he would simply see him tomorrow.

The idea excited him more than it should have.