The Safe Wizards

18: He Needs You

"Inima mea,

I understand that there are things you don't want to tell me in a letter, I hope it's nothing serious and that you can tell me more when we meet. I don't know when that will be. Things are getting more complicated in the UK. The procedures for entering and leaving the country have become draconian (no pun intended). Contrary to what I was hoping for I was only able to get one of my trips to Scotland done. And I had to fill out a ton of paperwork to get out of the country and back to Romania. You can't imagine how many forms I had to fill out for myself, all of them were for me, the ones for the Reserve were in order! My problem is that I need to make this second trip to Scotland before I can go to Alaska and Egypt. I don't know when I'll be able to come and see you with all this... I promise to do everything I can to make it happen as soon as possible.

So as I was saying, our new government has closed the borders. They are still doing their census. They have banned everyone on their list from having a job with the Ministry. They are trying to do the same at Hogwarts and Gringotts, but so far without success.

They haven't approached my family again, but we all feel a little bit watched. I'm afraid things won't get any better in the next few months so don't worry if it takes me a little longer than usual to get back to you, okay?

Te iubesc.

Charlie."

Harry put the letter down on his desk, disappointed at what he was reading. November had arrived and he had hoped to see his lover soon. He'd felt this need to see him ever since he'd met the Cullen... well he still hadn't met Jasper and it was starting to run through his system.

"Hi!"

Harry gasped and hurriedly put Charlie's letter away in his desk drawer. He glared at his alarm clock, then at Alice. The vampire came once a week to help him with the classes he was having trouble with. She had quickly become his friend. She had told him about Jasper on several occasions and explained that he didn't dare come to him right now because he was afraid of losing his control.

"I couldn't have guessed that I was going to be a nuisance," she said, raising her hands in the air.

"It's not true Alice, but it's nothing." he replied with a smile, before losing it immediately.

"Hey, Harry, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting down beside him.

"Honestly Alice, Esme and Rosalie are downstairs with Andromeda and Teddy. Whatever I say they'll hear it and since there are no secrets in your family everyone will know before I'm up in the morning."

Alice sulked a little, but did not insist. Instead, she opened the math book, wordlessly suggesting that they get started. They worked for about two hours, before Alice suggested they stop there. They both went downstairs to find Andromeda and Esme talking about cooking while Rosalie played with Teddy.

"Harry, I've suggested to Rosalie and Esme that they come on Saturday with their family, is that okay?"

The young man smiled, weekends with the Cullen were usually great, but every time he hoped Jasper would be there while dreading it, every time he was both relieved and disappointed not to see him. He couldn't stand the situation, which made his heart ache.

"Yes, that's fine. Maybe we can set up that challenge Emmett mentioned last time," he suggested.

Esme clearly wasn't thrilled with the idea, but Andromeda agreed. Soon after, the vampires left and Harry took Rosalie's place beside his godson. He played with him absentmindedly, thinking about Charlie's letter. A great sadness came over him. He missed Charlie.

Jasper felt a great sadness come over Harry as he reread his letter over and over again, as he had been doing since he received it three days before. He wanted to give him his support, but he was afraid of hurting him more by doing so. After all these weeks of watching him, after falling for this young man, he was afraid of being pushed away and given the feelings he sensed in Harry when he received Charlie's letters, that could very well happen.

Of course he couldn't spend all day watching him, he had to keep going to school and pretending to be a student, but as soon as he was free of that obligation he would come back to the tree across from the wizard's window and watch him. His favorite part was definitely when he dreamed about him, it didn't happen every night, but often enough to give him hope that Harry might give him a chance and it gave him a reason to stay. He understood that by entering his soul mate's life, he was going to force him to choose between Charlie and himself, and that it would not be an easy choice.

Edward silently came to sit beside him.

"What do you want?" he asked his brother mentally, annoyed at being disturbed.

"I'm taking you hunting," the telepath whispered.

"No need." he replied grumpily.

"Tomorrow we'll spend the day with Harry..."

"I'm not going." Jasper said immediately.

"Then you're wrong. Your soul mate is not well and needs you. For his sake, you have to go."

Jasper growled, he didn't like his soulmate's well-being being questioned. It was enough to make him feel guilty and rethink his position, but Edward continued.

"And if you don't come, you'll have the girls on your back! I've already had a taste of what Rosalie plans to do if you're not with us tomorrow."

"What if he rejects me?" thought Jasper, letting his worries show.

"If you take your time getting to know him, if you don't bring your connection to the table too quickly, I don't think he'll reject you on the first meeting."

"On the first meeting?"

"I can't tell you about the rest, Alice couldn't see anything."

Jasper didn't answer, was he going to do more harm than good by going? His family had warned him that Harry had rarely been seen for the person he was, and had been heavily used in his life. According to them, he was afraid that Jasper was only interested in him because of their connection... If that had been true at first, it was now far from being the case for the vampire. He wanted to know everything about the young wizard.

"Trust me, he needs to meet you," Edward insisted.

Finally the blond nodded, he knew that if he didn't decide to go, he would also risk losing Harry without even trying. He put his fears aside and slipped off his branch to go hunting with his brother. He forced himself to drink more than he needed, not wanting to take any chances for the next day.

When they returned home, they passed Tanya, who gave Jasper a look of resentment, coupled with a wave of jealousy. He simply ignored her, restraining himself from snarling at her. Tensions between their two clans had arisen because of his behavior, and he had to make sure he didn't exacerbate them.

He huffed in annoyance when he arrived in the living room to find Rosalie and Alice overexcited. Edward gave him an apologetic look and an amused smile as he was led away by his sisters who hoped to get him dressed. Relieved to have something to occupy his mind in the few hours he had left to kill before going to Harry's, he agreed to try on the outfits they presented to him, but kicked them out five minutes before leaving. He changed, taking off the leather pants they had found so good on him and the dark blue polo shirt a little too old-fashioned for his taste. Instead he put on a pair of black jeans, simple, but close to the body, highlighting him without making too much, and a grey shirt close to the body. Once ready, his stress soared, he clearly couldn't back down. He went to join his family in the living room and smiled at the disappointed reaction of his sisters. Amused, because he knew by the emotions they were giving off that they really weren't. Alice was happy while Rosalie was stressed. Jasper tried to forget about his sister's stress, which reminded him so much of his own. He knew why she felt that way, because she had become attached to this family and especially to little Teddy, who filled one of the greatest voids she had felt since she had been turned. Esme, who had also become very attached to this family, gave off no worries, only love and tenderness. Carlisle was filled with confidence in his adopted son and pride. Edward and Emmett were serene, believing in him. Jasper felt reassured by their emotions and some of his tension eased.