The Witching Hour (Harry Potter/Twilight Crossover)

Chapter Three:

CHAPTER THREE:

I bit back a whimper as we stepped out of the car. Bright light shone from every window on the first two floors, a long line of glowing Japanese lanterns hung from the porch and big bowls of flowers- pink roses, to be exact- lined the wide stairs up to the front doors.

This was Alice's fault, I just knew it.

"Good sport," Edward reminds me.

"We'll see." I say, darkly. He smiles, and takes my hand, leading me to the door. I anxiously tugged on the hem of my jumper as he opened the door for me.

The Cullens were all waiting in the huge white living room, and when I walked through the door they greeted me with a loud chorus of "Happy Birthday!" I went bright red.

Alice (because it had definitely been her) had covered just about every single available flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses. There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to the grand piano, holding a three tiered pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents.

It was a hundred times worse then I'd imagined.

Screw frogs, I was turning her into a bloody cockroach.

Edward, sensing my horror and distress, wrapped an encouraging arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head. Edward's parents, Carlisle and Esme, were the closest to the door, and the first to approach me. Esme hugged me carefully, her soft, caramel-colored hair brushing against my cheek as she kissed my forehead, and then Carlisle put his arm around my shoulders.

"Sorry about this, Bella," he stage-whispered. "We couldn't rein Alice in." Rosalie and Emmett stood behind them. Rosalie didn't smile, but at least she didn't glare. Emmett's face was stretched in a huge grin.

"Can you do magic yet?" he demanded, excitedly.

I check my watch, just as eager myself, and sigh, shaking my head- it's only just seven o'clock.

"About ten more minutes." I tell him, wanting to be safe. He pouts.

"I have to step out for a moment- don't do any magic until I'm back!" he begs. I smile and nod, and he ducks out.

Alice let go of Jasper's hand and skipped forward, all her teeth sparkling in the bright light. Jasper smiled, too, but kept his distance. During the days we'd had to spend cooped up together in Phoenix, I'd thought he'd gotten over his aversion to me, but he'd gone back to exactly how he'd acted before- avoiding me as much as possible.

I knew it wasn't personal, and I tried not to be overly sensitive about it. Alice, in a quiet moment, had told me that Jasper had more trouble sticking to the Cullens' diet then the rest of them, as not only was he the newest to convert, but he also had to deal with secondhand impressions of the Thirst of any other close-by vampire due to the nature of his Gift.

In the hotel room in Phoenix he'd been able to cope being in such close quarters to me because he only had to deal with impressions of Alice's Thirst as well as his own, and as his mate Alice was better practiced at keeping her Thirst from affecting him. The others weren't as good, even though they tried, and it was especially dangerous when they were all taken unaware. More then one human had lost their lives because of this, Alice had admitted, ashamed because it was practically as much the fault as theirs as Jasper's, and she also blamed herself for not foreseeing the situations with her own Gift.

"Time to open presents," Alice declared, pulling me from my morbid-turning thoughts. She put her cool hand under my elbow and towed me to the table with the cake and shiny packages.