Would You Be Mine?

5. You Need To Tell Her Harry

Penelope stumbled away from the door, her back hitting the wall behind her, horrified at what her eyes had just witnessed.

No no no no no no, her mind raced wildly. 

She was torn between running into the room and running away but she stayed there, her feet seemingly frozen to the spot.

They had both realised things were strange and different this time with the creature, but this?

It was unprecedented for it to be showing itself before the next full moon.

Penelope swallowed the bile down that had risen in her throat and closed her eyes before inhaling deeply.  Opening her eyes, she shakily put one foot in front of the other and slowly walked towards the door, holding her breath as she peered through the gap separating them.

~~~~~~

Harry felt the feather light touches of fingers caressing his shoulder blades and he slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to look down into Rosalie's smiling face.

"W-what...?" he whispered, confused that he appeared to have fallen asleep.

And on top of poor Rosalie?

Rosalie gently cupped his face as she watched Harry try to regain his senses and focus.

"Hush darling," she smiled and blushed, "it would appear that we...um...finished to the point you passed out."

Harry's brow creased in bewilderment.

"I...I don't understand..." he said, more to himself before he realised all his weight was still on Rosalie and he moved to lay beside her.

He felt exhausted both in his body and his mind and he had absolutely no idea why. 

Rosalie curled herself up against him and placed a kiss on his chest, sighing with pleasure.  Harry looked down at her as she closed her eyes, a smile still playing on her lips.  He tucked her hair behind her ear and continued running his fingers through it until she fell asleep.

As he watched her sleep, contentment on her face, he couldn't help but feel a sense that something was not quite right.

He heard a sudden noise coming from outside his room and slowly moved himself away from Rosalie, careful not to wake her, and slid out of the bed.  Quickly pulling his pants on, he walked over to the door and found Penelope walking away.

"Penelope?" Harry's deep voice echoed along the hallway.

Harry watched as she stilled for a moment before slowly turning to face him. 

She was ashen-faced.

Harry was immediately by her side, his hand gripping her by the arms.

"What is it?  What happened?" he asked.

Penelope's eyes darted around nervously, her mouth open though no words were formed.

"Penelope?" he questioned her again, a touch of desperation in his voice as he shook her slightly.

Penelope finally looked him in the eye before letting out a whispered response.

"You," she said, so quietly Harry almost missed it.

His eyes narrowed and he straightened up.

"Me?  What about me?" he asked sharply.

Penelope swallowed nervously, her mind racing to explain what she had come to see.

"I...I was coming to see you and Rosalie and then I..." she looked at her feet and hoped she looked embarrassed, "I peeked through your doors to see if I was not interrupting anything," she looked up at him to see his jaw clenching, "well I looked in clearly at the most inconvenient moment...you were finishing...with Rosalie..."

"What?" Harry interrupted, his voice harsh as he looked at his sister in disbelief.

Penelope shook her head in mock shame though she knew once she told him what she had seen with her 'accidental voyeurism,' her indiscretion would be forgotten.

"You changed," she hissed.

Harry shook his head at her.

"What are you talking about?" he began, growing tired of her games.

"When you finished, your wings came out and covered you both up," she said, seeing Harry's eyes widen she pressed him, "did you not feel it?"

He looked around bewildered.  The idea was ludicrous, but then again Rosalie had already been marked by the creature.

"I think I may have passed out, though I believe it was only momentarily," he said, "I do not remember anything upon waking though."

"Well nothing has been as it was before with the creature compared to its actions with this one has it?" Penelope reminded him.

"But why is it deviating?" Harry questioned, "It's almost like..." he trailed off, uncertain.

"Like what?" Penelope asked.

"It's as if," he hesitated, "it's as if it wants her now," Harry said, "like it cannot wait until the full moon."

"But if it's going to have her anyway..." Penelope began.

"But it's not!" Harry snapped, "It will not have her!  I will not let it!" he said through clenched teeth.

Penelope stepped closer to Harry and placed her hands on his chest in an effort to calm him.

"Hypothetically Harry, hypothetically," she reminded him, "if it wants her now rather than at the allocated time, the question is why?  What does it know?  What does it sense?" she asked, concern on her face.

Harry's eyes widened with the possibility.

"It knows she's the one," he said, "she's the one to destroy it."

They looked at each other as the notion of Rosalie appearing to be the one that could possibly set Harry free hung over them like a thick blanket.

Penelope was first to break the silence.

"You need to tell her Harry," she said, "tell Rosalie everything, perhaps we can prepare her..."

"Prepare me for what?" came a voice behind Harry.

Slowly he turned around, Penelope standing behind him, peering out around his shoulder.

Rosalie stood in the doorway, her hair tousled as she gripped a sheet around her body.

"Prepare me for what?" she repeated, a slight quavering in her voice.

Penelope placed her hand on Harry's arm, causing him to look down at her as she squeezed his arm in quiet reassurance.

"It's time to tell her Harry," she said, a quiet determination in her voice as she looked from Harry to Rosalie, "it's time she knew."