Chapter Text
Rosalie was lying on her bed, staring at the wooden ceiling. She and Esme had gotten home about an hour ago, and while Esme immediately went to the kitchen to cook her meals that would later be delivered to Port Angeles' homeless shelter, Rosalie had gone to her room to think. She couldn't get her mind off Hailey and Teddy. Hailey, because of how she reacted to her, or more how she didn't react. And Teddy, because she was everything she had ever wanted, and could never have.
She couldn't stop herself from repeatedly going over the meeting. And that's what made her focus on the strangeness of it. Neither Hailey nor Teddy acted how she would expect someone to. Ignoring her strange pull, Hailey should not have been so comfortable talking to a vampire. Her instincts should've been yelling at her to flee, to get out of there as fast as she could—and maybe they were, she did leave as soon as the cashier was done with her items. But no, because Teddy didn't feel it either. She had walked up to Rosalie with a smile on her face and not an ounce of fear in her bones—and maybe that was just childish innocence—but Rosalie had been around children before, and they tended to glance at her wearily (oh, how she hated that).
Then there was Hailey's reaction when she first spotted them. Rosalie thought it was that moment that most humans have when they see a vampire, and the beauty that encompassed them, but what if she was wrong? What if Hailey looked shocked not because of their supernatural beauty, but because she suddenly saw two vampires in a corner store buying food. But why would she so easily talk with them if she knew what they were? To keep up appearances and keep the vampires from realising she knew the truth?
A car pulling into the garage had her burying her thoughts. After all, which was more likely? That Hailey knew about vampires, or that Hailey had no sense of danger, and she passed it down to her daughter.
Alice had been having a good day—or as good as it could be when you're a vampire enrolling in a high-school for the fourth time. She hadn't had any intrusive visions—sure, she could stop them completely, but she wouldn't put her family in danger like that—and the people they had had to talk with to enrol all had weak scents, meaning Jasper was in a good mood, so Alice was in a good mood.
Her mood only got brighter when Esme welcomed them home, joy the only emotion in her voice.
"What happened?" Edward asked, confusion on his face. Alice turned to Esme, displaying curiosity rather than confusion.
"Oh, nothing much. We just met a mother and her daughter. They were incredibly sweet, and the mother ignored Rosalie's pull."
Alice froze, all the joy she had felt earlier plummeting and her anxiousness growing. She should've seen this coming. She had seen every other time that Rose had encountered someone who could block out her pull, so why wasn't she warned about this one? Alice had looked this morning, she had seen Rose attract attention throughout the store that was busier than it should've been, but she hadn't seen anything about the supposed meeting. Suddenly, her anxiousness vanished, and Alice gave a grateful smile to Jasper as she slipped her hand into his. "What are their names?"
"Hailey and Teddy Potter." Rosalie said as she walked down the stairs, her face carefully blank and clearly hiding her thoughts from Edward. Alice shot her an apologetic look which went ignored. "They were certainly an interesting pair. Where are Carlisle and Emmett?"
"Hunting." Edward stated, cutting off Rosalie's attempt to change the subject.
"Can you describe them to me?" Alice asked Esme.
"Of course. They were both quite beautiful, especially for humans. Teddy almost looked like a mini Hailey. Both of their eyes were green, honestly the most vibrant shade of green I've ever seen. They also both had black curly hair reaching just past their shoulder blades, although, Teddy's hair was much tidier than her mothers."
For a second, Alice's gaze went distant, but it didn't take her long to snap back. "I still can't see them. Anything else? A distinguishing feature, maybe?"
Before Esme could answer, Rosalie jumped in for her. "Hailey had a scar."
"A scar?"
Rose nodded. "I didn't see what it looked like, she had covered most of it with her hair, but she had some kind of cut on her forehead."
Alice grinned. "Perfect." And just like that, she was zoned out again, this time with everyone staring at her intensely. But as time went on her face grew more and more worried, until she snapped out of it once again. She glanced at each member, taking in their anticipation, save for Jasper, who was her rock, keeping her grounded. "I still can't see them."
She watched as their anticipation dripped away to a mixture of confusion and worry.
"This isn't good." Edward said. Always mister obvious.
"Do you have another way of seeing her, maybe through someone else's future?" Esme asked.
Alice nodded. She made her decision to ask around town about Hailey Potter, and the search started. It was kind of annoying. She spent an entire morning asking around, and all she got is that she showed up around 5 years ago, is well-mannered and polite, and that Teddy is a wonderful child. No one knew where exactly she lived, and certainly no one had ever been to her house—but there was one person who might have that info; Police Chief Charlie Swan. So, when she felt like she wasn't going to get anything new from the average Forks citizen, she moved to the precinct. It was surprisingly easy to get a meeting with the Chief, and while he couldn't give her an exact address, she did get that Hailey lived in the woods outside of town—similar to the Cullen's, actually. So, she started her search, and when the sun was setting, she stumbled upon the house. She approached the front door, knocked, and when the door cracked open, she was thrown from her vision—forcefully ejected, which had certainly never happened before.
Alice found herself blinking in confusion, and she certainly wasn't the only one, Edward, who had been watching the vision, was also stunned into silence.
"What happened, darling?" Jasper asked, rubbing her shoulder.
"I'm... not entirely sure. I found her house, but before I could see her, I was forced out of my vision."
Edwards gaze snapped to Rose, who shook her head. "No, it was just a thought. There's no way."
"But it could be, and are we really going to take that risk?"
Rose's eyebrows creased as she clenched her jaw and looked away.
"What is it, Rose, Edward?" Esme asked in usual motherly tone.
"Nothing." She firmly stated.
"Rosalie—"
"Edward." Rose tried to shut him up, but she wasn't fast enough.
"—thinks Hailey might know what we are. Or at least knows we aren't human."
Silence. Most of them from the reveal, but Rosalie from anger. Of course, Emmett and Carlisle chose that moment to enter the house. Both were without shoes, but the difference in the way they hunted was obvious. Emmett's clothes were ripped and dirty; he probably fought a bear again, but Carlisle looked like he stepped out of a fashion magazine, his suit impeccably pressed and tidy. When they noticed the silence Carlisle did nothing but raise an eyebrow, but Emmett, the man child he was, was quick to speak. "Why the gloomy faces? Did someone die?"
Rosalie whirled on him, speaking quickly even by vampire standards. "Emmett, of all the insufferable, insensitive—" She abruptly stopped when she spotted his Cheshire grin and could only groan and rub her eyelids.
"Great. Now that all the tensions been well and truly broken, catch me up on the deets." He said with a clap.
"I would like to know as well." Carlisle added.
"Well," Esme glanced between each of them, making sure they were okay with her taking the lead. "Today, while Rose and I were at the store, we met a mother and her daughter. We didn't think anything of it at the time, and I didn't really consider it possible, until just now... but she might know what we are." She tapered off into a whisper at the end, clearly worried about the possibility.
Carlisle froze, his expression matching the shock that the rest of the family had earlier. It didn't match Emmett's though, who looked like he had just had the moon personally come down, tell him no one would ever believe him, and then vanished.
"You're certain?" Carlisle whispered.
Rosalie scoffed. "No way. Sure, her actions may have been a little weird, but they can all be explained as normal human reactions."
"'Normal', Rose?" Edward asked.
Rosalie huffed. "Fine, not 'normal', but which is more likely? That she knows what vampires are, or she has a warped sense of danger."
"And I suppose it's normal that she wasn't affected by you, or that she throws Alice out of her visions?"
Carlisle cut in. "What do you mean? Alice, how does she throw you out of her visions?"
"It's exactly like it sounds. Just before she shows up in my visions, I get pushed out." Alice answered. She had calmed down enough for Jasper to stop using his power, but she still clung tightly onto his hand.
Carlisle sighed. "Okay, we will need to look into this. Edward, you look around town, try to get a read on her thoughts. Maybe see what she thinks when she spots you."
Edward nodded and Alice quickly slipped into a vision. "You won't find her until the day after tomorrow, I'm guessing she won't be in town until then."
Both Carlisle and Edward nodded to her, and with the plan set, they decided no one would go out until they had a read on the young woman.
It was the day after meeting the Cullen's, and Hailey had been going through every book she had on magical creatures, searching for anything that matched the strange aspects that the two Cullens' displayed. Golden eyes, pale skin, and cold flesh. Currently, she was outside, sitting on a conjured chair and reading her book while Teddy flew through the trees on his training broom. This was the second book she was looking through, and was finding practically the same as she did in the first book. Plenty of creatures had the second two, all of them dark, monstrous, and unable to pass as human. And the only known humanoid creatures with golden eyes were werewolves, and that was only during the effect of the full moon. And there certainly hadn't been a full moon recently.
She had just started the section on centaurs, which she knew there was no chance of them being, when Teddy flew to a stop in front of her. "Mum! Come fly with me!"
Hailey looked up from her book, locking eyes with her little boy. Teddy's boy form was similar to his girls, keeping the messy potter hair and the green eyes; although they didn't sparkle in the same way his girl ones did. He was also a couple of centimetres taller, and had more pudge on him. Not enough to describe him as fat, but enough to think he ate more than the usual boy his age. Hailey stood up, floating the book inside and vanishing her conjured chair. "Do you want me to fly with a broom, or—"
"Bird! It's way more fun that way."
Hailey grinned and with a thought, her form shifted. In less than a second, where there once stood a human, was now a raven. It gave a caw and took to the air with a flap of its wings. It landed on the front of Teddy's broom and tilted to face him. Teddy grinned, his teeth showing and his eyes crinkling in excitement. "Catch me if you can!"
And he shot off at the top speed his broom would go, dashing between the trees and knocking her off the end. Even in her avian form, her heart skipped a beat. She didn't think she would ever get over the fear of him going so fast, and she couldn't help but wonder that if her parents were around when she started playing quidditch if they would've felt the same.
Hailey gave him a ten-second head start before she started her chase. She cawed loudly, letting Teddy know she was on his tail, and his laugh let her know he was enjoying it. It didn't take her long to spot him. She slowed down when she did, making sure to keep cawing loudly so he would know where she was. Every so often, Teddy would shoot a glance over his shoulder, and a brilliant smile would appear on his face every time he spotted the bird following him. The both of them dashed between the trees, zooming over the bright green summer grass decorating the forest floor. Every so often, Hailey would speed up and move to the side so she was flying beside him, separated only by the trees. When she did this, she would caw loudly, making Teddy look over with his bright smile before twisting off in another direction.
She lost track of how long she played with Teddy, as the sun was setting when a familiar presence entering the wards had her flapping to a stop and shifting back to her human form. "Teddy!"
A few seconds later, Teddy was hovering on his broom in front of her. "Yes, mum?"
"We have a visitor."
Teddy's eyes brightened and his smile widened. "Race you back!" he shouted while taking off towards the house.
Hailey laughed as she shifted once again, flying towards the house, but staying behind Teddy to keep an eye on him. It didn't take them long to reach the front yard and find Teddy's grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, standing in the open door, a small, fond smile on her face. Her brown hair was neat and tidy, her natural curls hanging in a braid over her shoulder. She was wearing a black dress, a staple of Andromeda Tonks, which covered most of her body, the sleeves ending just before her wrists. The dress hugged her body, showing off her curves, but most wouldn't be able to tell, as her upper half was covered by a shawl.
`
The instant he spotted his grandmother, Teddy leapt of his broom, letting it drop to the ground, and dashed to wrap her in a hug. "Grandma!"
"Hello, Teddy." She looked over at Hailey, who had shifted back from her raven form and was now standing in the clearing in front of the house.
"Andi, you didn't tell me you were planning to stop by."
"Well, I got off early at ST Mungo's, and thought I'd come by for dinner. You did give me an open invitation, after all."
Hailey chuckled. "Indeed I did." She approached the two of them—where Teddy was still wrapped around Andi's waist, and Andi had a hand across his shoulder—and pulled Andi into a hug. She reciprocated with her free arm, both with smiles on their faces.
"It's good to see you, Andi."
"You too, Hailey."
The broke their embrace, and Hailey's heart swelled. "Well, let's get inside and I'll get started on dinner."
Teddy gasped in excitement. "Can we have pasta?"
Hailey smiled down at him. "I don't see why not."
With a cry of "Yes!" the three of them moved indoors.
After dinner, the three of them sat in the living room, Teddy and Andromeda on the floor, playing a game of Chess on the coffee table, while Hailey was in a chair, back to reading her book. She had just reached the section on sirens, which could be possible; they had the unique eyes, the cold skin, and something she missed earlier, a musical voice. Pale skin wasn't specifically mentioned, but sirens could have a wide range of skin colours, depending on where they came from. Hailey let a small smile grace her face, having finally found something that pointed towards what the Cullen's might be. Sure, siren's supposedly never leave the ocean, but Forks was wet enough and close enough to the sea that it could be a possibility. She ran her finger along the page, creating a magical bookmark, she would cross-reference it with anything more she learns about them.
Andromeda raised an eyebrow as she spotted this. "Is there a reason you have a newfound fascination with magical creatures?"
Hailey sighed, but Teddy was the one to answer. "Mum's been trying to figure out what the Cullen's are."
"The Cullen's?"
"Esme and Rosalie Cullen. We met them at the store yesterday, and while they obviously weren't human, I couldn't tell exactly what they were. Right now, I'm leaning towards sirens." Hailey said, closing the book and floating it up-stairs.
Andromeda hummed as she analysed the chess board. "Why a siren?"
"Cold skin, golden eyes, musical voice, and they're living somewhere wet and close to the ocean."
Once again, she hummed in thought. She made her move on the board before speaking. "Sirens aren't known to spend much time on land, and those that do don't tend to stray from their beaches."
Hailey groaned, slouching in her chair and throwing her arm over her eyes. "I know. But nothing else matches."
"Does it really matter what they are? They were nice when we met them." Teddy asked while making his move on the board.
Andromeda answered for Hailey. "Maybe, but just because they are nice doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Knowing what they are, and if and when they might be dangerous, is important to keep people safe. Your father was a nice man, but he was still a werewolf, and knowing that was important so we could be safe during the full moon."
"Oh." He was muted. He always got like that when his birth parents were brought up, and while he knew they were good people, it was difficult to really feel anything about them when he couldn't remember them.
Hailey quickly brought them back on topic. "There's not much we can do about it now, just keep an eye on them and see if they give away anything else."
Andromeda nodded as she moved her queen. "Checkmate."
That broke Teddy out of his funk. "Huh? What? Oh, I missed that."
"Do you want to play again."
With a beaming smile Teddy rapidly nodded and set up the board for another round.