The Safe Wizards

17: Stress

Harry had spent the evening stressing out, walking in circles in their living room. It was one thing to know that this group was made up of vegetarian vampires, to know that Andromeda knew how to defend herself against muggle vampires, it was another to know that Andromeda was in a house full of those same vampires.

He jumped, wand in hand, as the handle of the front door was turned. Ready for anything, he took up a defensive position. The front door opened softly, silently on a man's hand. The man opened the door while standing outside. Harry silently conjured a shield, refusing to attack first. Finally the door was fully opened, the man was still outside, leaving the passageway clear.

Harry relaxed slightly as he saw Andromeda in the doorway, but he did not let his guard down, the man still had not identified himself.

"It's all right, Harry," said the witch as soon as she noticed his position.

"Who is he?" asked Harry without letting his guard down.

The man walked in behind Andromeda. It was the vampire she had spoken to earlier in the day: blond, soft golden eyes, about six feet tall, slim, but muscular. He looked to be in his early twenties, but exuded great confidence and kindness. Just behind him came a young woman who looked a few years older than him. She was shorter than he was, had medium-length caramel hair, and a sweet smile that dimpled her heart-shaped face.

"They are Carlisle and Esme, I just explained our situation to them...They are not a threat."

Finally, the black-haired deactivated his shield and lowered his wand.

"Sorry for the welcome," he said in a low voice, holding out his hand.

"Don't worry, from what we understand you're right to be cautious," Carlisle replied.

"May I ask what brings you here so late?" asked the dark-haired man, still not at ease.

"Harry!" said Andromeda.

"It is two o'clock in the morning, there are better hours to make a visit of presentation," defended the young man under the amused glances of the two vampires.

"You're right, Harry, we wanted to make sure that Andromeda got home safely," Carlisle announced calmly, and the young man looked at him skeptically.

"And we wanted to meet you," added Esme in a soft voice.

Harry believed that last sentence a little more. He suspected that they wanted to meet him because he was the soul mate of one of the vampires in their clan. Not for himself... as usual...

"Excuse me, I'm tired, it's late for those who need to sleep and Teddy is not going to wake up later because you gave us the pleasure of your presence so late. Maybe we could try to get to know each other better on another occasion," he suggested in a sad voice. "Good night."

He left without another word, but when he got upstairs he let an extended ear slide down a wall after casting an invisibility spell.

" Why did he seem so sad that we wanted to meet him?"

"Throughout his life, people were more interested in what he stood for than who he was," Andromeda replied sadly.

"Poor darling," exclaimed Esme.

"He thought we wanted to meet him because of Jasper, didn't he?" asked Carlisle.

"Is that so?" asked the witch, echoing the Survivor's questioning.

"No," said Carlisle in a voice that sounded sincere. "The few words you've told us about your situation have made us want to get to know the three of you. If you agree, of course."