Green & Gold

Tuesday March 9, 2003

Mate,
Help me.
Hermione’s gone mad. She says you have to go get fitted with dress robes ‘as soon as possible or so help me I’ll put him in a dress’. I dunno what the rush is, we have months left until the wedding, but please don’t tell her I said that. Can you please go to Diagon soon and get the robes we picked out fitted? Luna, Ginny, and Neville are going Saturday at four if you want to go then.
If you ever get married, elope.
-Ron

Harry laughed aloud at Ron’s letter and debated for a split second on which scenario would be worse: going to Diagon Alley or pissing off Hermione?

It was a stressful, but easy, question to answer.

Got any plans Saturday?

I was planning on sleeping in, eating an entire pizza by myself, and going sunbathing. Though I could cancel if you’re doing something more interesting.

I have to get dress robes for the wedding. Wanna meet some more of my friends and see Diagon Alley?

I would love to.

Harry bit down on his lower lip for a moment before he replied. He had told Jasper quite a bit about his life the other night, but he quit talking before he had gotten to a lot of the good parts. Or, at least, one of the best parts.

Want to meet my godson?

I would also love that if you want me to meet him.

Okay, I’ll call Andy before school and see if we can pick him up for the day. See you in a bit.

Andromeda Tonks had seemed all too happy that Harry was asking for Teddy. She told him he could pick Teddy up Saturday morning and ‘bring him back any time’. Harry suspected that babies must be quite a bit of work if the bags under her eyes were any sign, though she looked much happier and healthier than she had at...

Well.

At the last time Harry saw her.

“You are not my friend anymore Harry Potter.” Alice was pouting from her seat on the hood of Rosalie’s car when Harry pulled in the school lot that morning.

“Why?”

“Ignore her.” Jasper was leaning on the car next to Alice, managing to make the cars beauty dim as he was stretched out and offering a tight smile and a hand to Harry. “She wanted to drag me to Port Angeles on Saturday.”

“Is your godson staying with you Saturday?” Alice asked. “It’s supposed to storm Sunday, so we were going to play baseball, but we’d cancel if he’s going to be here.”

“Why wouldn’t the kid bring the kid?” Emmett asked. “Everyone loves baseball.”

“Andy said to bring him home Saturday after we’re done in Diagon, so probably not,” Harry hedged. “Why are we playing baseball in a storm?”

“You’ll see,” Jasper winked.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a godson?!” Rosalie cut in, her eyes were sparkling and Harry thought she seemed very enthusiastic about the idea of Teddy. “How old is he?”

“He’ll be one in April,” Harry said. He pictured Teddy the last time he saw him and smiled slightly at the image of his cute little face, “His name’s Teddy.”

“Can we meet him?” Alice asked. “Please please please?”

“Er... you can,” he said. “But he lives with his grandmother, that’s Andy, so it’s up to her when though. Maybe I’ll ask her if he can come stay with me for a bit this summer?”

“He can stay at our house! Both of you can!” Rosalie offered brightly. “Babies are a lot of work! They stay up all night so you’ll need people around who don’t sleep.”

“Harry doesn’t sleep,” Emmett scoffed with a crooked grin. Rosalie elbowed him and sent him a fierce glare.

“Harry is supposed to sleep though, so him and Teddy can stay with us,” she said. It didn’t sound like a question, bit more of an order, so Harry shrugged. He had no idea what to do with a baby anyway.

“Yeah alright, thanks Rose.”

Harry looked around and frowned at the tightness in all of their eyes and the slight frown pulling on Jasper’s lips.

“What else is going on with you guys then?” he asked warily. He looked around again and added, “And where’s Edward?”

“This’ll be good,” Emmett murmured.

“He drove separately so he could pick up Bella,” Jasper said. “She knows.”

Harry blinked up at him, momentarily struck dumb. “She knows what?”

“Everything.” Rosalie’s eyes were on the entrance of the parking lot so Harry turned and saw as Edward pulled in the lot in his silver volvo, with Bella Swan in the passenger seat.

Harry gaped at the pair in the car, who parked quite a ways away from them, and then turned and looked at the others in horror.

“He told her?! But...” Harry looked up at Jasper, who seemed as equally disturbed as Harry was. “Jazz. You said it was join or die?”

“That is the law,” Jasper said. Harry didn’t need to have Jasper’s gift to know he wasn’t any happier than Harry was. “Edward believes Bella will pass away at the end of her natural life before they’re caught.”

“He’s risking her life on the hopes that the Volturi don’t catch him?” Harry watched as Edward opened the car door for Bella, the outward image of a gentleman.

“He is an idiot and she is going to put us all in danger,” Rosalie was seething.

“I don’t see us in danger,” Alice said brightly. “I’ve been seeing her and Edward together, with her as a human, for a couple of days now.”

“Really?” Harry scrutinized Alice closely and tried to weigh the truthfulness in her words. “Are you lying?”

“Harry, you will have to forgive me at some point,” Alice said with a pathetic pout. “I’ll never lie to you again, I swear.”

“She isn’t lying now, anyway,” Jasper told him. “She told Carlisle last night when Edward told us what Bella knew, and Alice would never lie to Carlisle’s face.”

They all watched with silent looks of disapproval and shock as Edward and Bella went inside, side by side, drawing looks from the other students gathered in the parking lot.

“Why did he tell her?” Harry asked. “Why last night? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you at lunch,” Jasper promised. “Shall we?” He held his arm out in a formal way and smiled. Harry imagined that he could just see Jasper as a human teenager in the 1800’s courting some southern girl in a poofy dress like they wore in his history books.

Instead, he was real, and this golden eyed vampire was holding his arm out to Harry.

“We shall,” Harry drawled in a fair imitation of some of his more haughty previous classmates. Harry linked his arm with Jasper and they ignored the whispering gossip from the others as they walked in the school together. Well, Harry ignored them, Jasper abruptly started laughing after they passed a group of bubblegum chewing, skirt wearing, gossiping girls.

“Darlin I’m afraid that I’ve created an enemy,” he whispered down in Harry’s ear. “Apparently Miss Stanley believed that you were only days away from asking her out.”

Harry glanced over his shoulder to where Jessica was whispering quickly with a sophomore Harry didn’t know and he shuddered as her bouncy curls layered over her shoulders suddenly reminded him of Romilda Vane.

“Remind me to tell you at lunch about the time I almost got love potioned by this mad witch,” Harry whispered.

“Oh? I will definitely remind you,” Jasper said. “I’m sure it’s a riveting tale.”

“It is,” Harry said with mock solemnity. “Love, poison, jealousy; honestly Jazz it could be made in to a best selling novel.”

Jasper laughed as they parted for their separate classes, but Harry thought he probably wouldn’t be laughing once he realized Harry was completely serious.

Harry had a peaceful first hour. He paid attention to his algebra teacher and didn’t even make a complete idiot of himself when he was called on to complete a problem on the board. His second hour was a bit more of a struggle, as Edward kept making attempts at conversation. Honestly, if Edward wasn’t planning on biting Bella Swan in any capacity, then Harry was perfectly happy for the two of them. But for him to tell her about the existence of vampires? Rosalie was right, it did put the rest of Edward’s family at risk, which Harry did not appreciate. A few minutes before the bell rang, Harry had a horrifying thought and whipped his head around to glare accusingly at Edward in the desk behind him.

“Did you mention me?” he whispered.

Edward was remarkably quick on the uptake and shook his head. “She asked if you were one of us, I said not in the way she thought. I told her you were family, but not like the rest of us.“ Edward looked perfectly truthful and maintained eye contact with Harry during his explanation. Harry relaxed his rigid shoulders and nodded shortly.

“I do mean that,” Edward said quietly after Harry turned back around. “I consider you to be a brother to me.”

“Hell of a way to treat your family though,” Harry whispered down at his desk. “You put all of them, and her, at risk.”

Edward didn’t respond, so Harry assumed he was already well aware of that.

Harry considered the problem all through his third hour class. He tried, he genuinely tried, to put himself in Edwards shoes.

Edward fell in love with a muggle.

Harry could have done that as well, in fact he’d developed a crush on Jasper when he thought he was a muggle.

That wasn’t a big deal.

After Edward fell in love with the muggle, Alice said that she only saw Bella’s life going one of two ways: becoming a vampire or dying at Edward’s hand. So Edward tried to ignore her, and ultimately failed.

While it wasn’t entirely similar, in fact it was completely different, Harry could almost empathize with that as well. He’d gotten a crush on Ginny in his sixth year. Voldemort was back, Harry was a target, and people had already died just for being too close to him, but he started dating her anyway.

Which had been selfish of him, so he wasn’t putting himself on a pedestal for that either.

And now? Now that Edward had no plans on killing or turning Bella and even Alice was seeing a future possible with Bella remaining human?

That was fine. Harry had no problem with their little romance in that aspect. If Bella wasn’t in danger, who cares?

Except... except Edward betrayed his family apparently and told Bella their secret. If Bella told anyone, then the Cullen’s would be in danger for breaking the one real law that their government enforces.

And that- Harry couldn’t condone. Not the breaking the law part, he didn’t give a damn about that honestly. By all right’s he’d earned himself a lifetime in Azkaban back in fifth year. But putting his entire family in danger to share a secret with someone just because he loved them? That... that would have been like telling Ginny about the Horcruxes and putting a target on all the Weasley’s because of it.

You told Ron and Hermione, a snarky little voice reminded him as his teacher droned on about volcanic rocks.

But I knew I could trust them, he argued back, which probably would have concerned him if it wasn’t an all too common occurrence. They’d never betray me.

And Bella hasn’t betrayed them yet.

Okay, fair enough. But Edward still shared the secret of his entire family without their consent, he put them all in danger, and never even asked them beforehand if they would let him tell her. Never gave them a chance to allow their secret to be shared willingly, not that Harry thought any of them would have agreed.

So, Edward was still a giant prat and Harry could be happily justified in telling him just that the next time he saw him. And he would tell him to tell Bella to quit making faces at him as well.

All through Harry’s fourth hour class Bella kept turning towards him, her lower lip between her teeth, before she would shake her head and go back to her book. She did this four times before Harry finally broke.

“Is there something I can do for you?” he whispered.

“No.” She shook her head, sending her long hair flying. “I-“ Bella chewed her lip and looked at him for a long moment before shaking her head again. “Nothing, sorry.”

Harry shrugged and went back to his own silent reading. Harry was perfectly fine with Edward and Bella being in love or whatever, but Merlin if Bella wasn’t acting weird today.

It was a relief when the bell finally rang and dismissed them all to lunch. Harry jumped to his feet and on his way to lunch he realized that he was almost certain lunch hour was his favorite hour at school. A thought that Ron would heartily agree with, and Hermione would be horrified by.

“I’m ready to hear this tragic tale of poisoning.” Jasper slid Harry a cookie and an energy drink as soon as he sat down. “I’ll even gladly edit the novel and send it along to publishers.”

“Who are we poisoning? Isabella?” Rosalie asked with a little too much hope in her voice.

“No,” Harry laughed. “But I do want to hear that bit first, what happened last night?”

“Supposedly,” Rosalie put a heavy emphasis on the word as she leaned towards Harry to speak quietly, “Isabella was going to be attacked by a group of street trash. Edward was stalking her and stepped in at the right time. He says that the girl already suspected what he was-“

“How?” Harry was both confused and irritated that a muggle would suspect ‘vampire’ long before he had.

“Jacob Black,” Jasper said. “He told her stories about us.”

Harry raised his brows in surprise. “Jacob told her?!”

“Yeah so technically we could go rip them all apart,” Emmett said wistfully. “You want to kid? It’d be a real fight.”

“Do I want to go kill my only kind of family left in the world? No,” Harry rolled his eyes. “I really don’t. Go on Rose, then what?”

“She suspected, he confirmed,” Rosalie tapped her long nails on the table irritably. “Then I hit him and Carlisle said that as long as she doesn’t tell anyone then we aren’t leaving.”

Harry turned to look at where Edward and Bella were seated, their heads bent together once more and appearing perfectly at ease with one another.

“I don’t really know what there is to do about it then,” Harry said. “He already told her, so I say unless she tells someone then we can just forget about it.”

“That’s because you forgive and forget too easily,” Rosalie said with a pointed look at Alice.

“Quit bringing that up!” Alice wailed. “I said sorry a million times!”

Harry laughed and flicked a bit of cookie at Rosalie. “Anyway, you guys wanna hear about why Stanley reminds me of the creepiest person I’ve ever met?”

The others laughed, gasped, and groaned in all the right places as Harry recounted the time Romilda Vane tried to love potion him. He told them how he didn’t trust the chocolates, but forgot to throw them away. Emmett chuckled loud enough to get some wary looks from the muggle students when Harry said how Ron told Lavender about going to find the love of his life. Alice made a soft sound of sympathy when Harry explained how Ron was poisoned during a toast. Jasper bit his lip and was practically shaking with laughter when Harry recounted Ron moaning Hermione’s name in his sleep right in front of Lavender.

Harry tried to forget that Lavender, who they really hadn’t treated very fairly even if she was a bit too mad about Ron, was dead now. She succumbed to her injuries while the rest of the country celebrated Harry’s ‘win’. Lavender with her passion for divination, her enthusiasm for everything really-

“And now they’re getting married.”

Harry shook his head to clear it quickly and looked up at Jasper. “What?”

“I said and now they’re getting married, Ron and Hermione,” Jasper repeated with a soft smile. “Have they picked a date?”

“Er, June 30th,” Harry said.

“Ooh do they need a wedding planner?” Alice asked eagerly. “Please, please, pleaseeee? I love weddings!”

“I think it’s already planned,” Harry told her. “They’re having it at a church by Ron’s house, then the reception at the Burrow like Bill and Fleur did. And they already picked out outfits.”

“What about flowers? Food? Music? A theme?” Alice demanded. “There’s much more to a good wedding than just clothes and location Harry.”

Harry looked helplessly at Jasper, who sighed fondly at his sister.

“I’m sure that Ron and Hermione’s parents have it all in hand,” he told his sister sternly. “Though,” he turned and grinned mischievously at Harry, “I believe traditionally the best man is responsible for planning the Bachelor Party.”

”That you can help me with,” Harry muttered to Alice. Harry had no idea how to even go about planning a bachelor party, but from the way Alice lit up he assumed she would have plenty of ideas for him soon.

“We should get married again,” Emmett winked at Rosalie, driving a girlish giggle from her when he added, “Or at least have another honeymoon.”

“Gross Em, real gross,” Harry laughed. “Merlin.”

Once they were dismissed to classes again, Alice linked her arm with Harry and bounced alongside him to his locker.

“You’ll need to get them a gift too,” she said. “I can pick that out if you want!”

“That’s okay,” Harry said. “I’m decent at picking gifts.”

It was actually a point of pride with him. Harry had went years without being able to buy gifts for people, never even having people to buy gifts for. Now that he does, he always tries to pick something they’d actually like and they’d know he picked just for them.

Though, when Harry got to his class and had time to think about it, a joint gift for his two best friends might be tricky. He went through over a dozen ideas during biology while they watched a movie and Bella kept giving him ‘a look’ that he ignored. He didn’t know what Bella’s deal with him was, Edward told her he wasn’t a vampire so why was she acting so weird around him?

It wasn’t until he was home that night, working on an essay for French, debating on calling Fleur for help, that Bella’s weird behavior finally made sense. Harry had a handful of floo powder and was preparing to call Shell Cottage and beg Fleur for her help, when someone interrupted his attempt at cheating with a knock on his door.

“Bella?” Harry was so surprised when he opened the door that he dropped the floo powder on the floor beside him. “What-“ Harry peered at the empty driveway behind her, “What are you doing here?”

Bella’s cheeks were pink and her lip looked chapped from how much she’d chewed it all day, but there was a determined glint in her big brown eyes. “Hi Harry,” she smiled politely. “Could we talk please?”

Harry was so surprised by this unprecedented visit that he backed up and held an arm out in invitation. Bella followed him to his sitting room where she began looking at his photos while he just watched her.

“Are these your parents?” she asked, pointing at the photo on his bookcase.

“Yeah,” Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and tried to puzzle out why she was there. “My mum Lily, and my dad James.”

“You look a lot like your dad,” Bella said softly. “Except your eyes-“

“Yeah, they’re my mums,” Harry said shortly. “What did you want?”

Bella turned away from Harry’s photo and took a deep breath. “You know Jessica and Lauren both think you’re cute, I bet if you asked either of them out that they’d be thrilled.”

Harry was so caught off guard that he started laughing, “What? You came here to tell me I should go out with your friends?”

“Kind of,” Bella’s cheeks blushed darkly, but she still looked just as determined as ever. “I just... You’re my friend, and god knows Charlie worries about you, and I think...” Bella took another deep breath, “I think Jasper isn’t good for you.”

It took Harry a second to realize what she just said, and then he’d never been so insulted in his life.

“Jasper is the best thing I’ve got in my life,” he said hotly. “You should go.”

“No wait,” Bella didn’t look like she was being intentionally rude, but Harry was starting to regret not letting Rosalie poison her.

... just a little anyway.

“Harry please,” Bella stepped a little closer to him, ignoring his glower and harsh tone. “It’s just... I think he could be dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“What the hell do you think- oh.”

Bella knew about the Cullen’s.

Bella knew what Jasper was.

Bella didn’t know what Harry was.

And apparently Bella didn’t know that Harry knew what they were as well.

“You think you’re protecting me,” he said. “That’s...” Harry let out a huff of laughter, “That’s ironic.”

Bella’s eyebrows were drawn in and she was frowning at Harry. “Wait. What do you know?” she asked.

“More than you,” he smirked.

“You know?” she gasped. “But... how?”

“Alice told me,” Harry said honestly.

Bella’s mouth was open in a dramatic little ‘O’.

“So... so you know?” she eventually stammered.

“I do.”

“And I came here trying to protect you for no reason?”

“You did,” Harry chuckled at the ridiculousness of that. “Ironically I told Edward to leave you alone to protect you.” The irony lost on Bella was that Harry didn’t need protected from Jasper, aside from not smelling like food to him, Harry also could hold his own against any of them.

He hadn’t fought Jasper, but he didn’t foresee having a reason to ever do so either.

Bella and Harry just stared at each other for a long moment before they burst in to laughter.

“The humans and the vampires,” Bella said. “God it’s weird, right?”

“You have no idea,” Harry said drily.

“Sorry I stormed over here and tried to break up your relationship,” Bella said with a sheepish grin. “I’m sure Jasper is perfectly wonderful.”

“Better than Jessica or Lauren anyway,” Harry shook his head. “I can’t believe you thought I’d trade him for one of those girls. They’re mad.”

“Well...” Bella smirked a little, “they seem to like you.”

“I’m a likable bloke,” Harry quipped.

“You are,” Bella agreed. “So... we’re still friends?”

Harry couldn’t exactly tell her no when she’d come over trying to protect him from becoming a vampire snack, could he?

“Yeah,” Harry said. “We’re friends.”

Bella let out a relieved sigh and then another small laugh. “Want to hear something funny?”

Harry flopped down in his chair and gestured for Bella to sit if she wanted. “What’s that then?” he asked after she got comfortable on his sofa.

“You know that dance this weekend?”

“Er, no?” Harry said honestly. “Is there a dance?”

“Honestly Harry.” Bella rolled her eyes and resembled Hermione so strongly for a moment that it drove a smile to Harry’s face. “The spring dance, for homecoming. It’s a girls choice dance.”

“If you say so,” Harry shrugged. “What’s funny about that?”

Bella’s eyes were sparkling madly with mirth when she conspiratorially said, “Charlie told me I should ask you. I think he’s got his sights set on having you as a son, one way or another.”

Harry studied Bella for a long moment before he laughed so hard that tears welled up in his eyes. Bella rolled her eyes, but she eventually laughed too.

Harry was not laughing about it the next day though when he was asked by three separate girls to go to the dance with them.

Jasper found it highly amusing the first two times when Jessica and Mallory Ross, a senior girl with pink hair that made Harry’s chest ache, both asked him to go with them; Jessica after first hour and Mallory before lunch. Harry had turned them down and Jasper and Emmett teased him relentlessly all through lunch about being a ‘babe magnet’.

Jasper must have not found it quite so funny after Lauren asked Harry to go with her right in front of him at the end of the day though, because he grabbed Harry’s waist and kissed him right in front of his locker where everyone could see.

Jealous prat.