Chapter 1 – A Helping Hand
"Each of us represents a star in the sky; sometimes we shine with the rest, sometimes we twinkle alone, and sometimes ... when we least expect it ... we fall and make someone's dreams come true." /Edward/Harry
Edward moodily sat down, scowl firmly in place as he muttered complaints only audible to supernatural hearing. He loved living in this small town—truly, he did—but he absolutely loathed the gossip concerning his family. It was getting harder to ignore the whispered, cruel comments and jealous remarks. Those idiot humans were fickle and ignorant; it made Edward want to tear them apart.
"What's eating you?" Emmett asked with a raised eyebrow, his arm casually thrown over his wife's shoulders. Rosalie leaned into Emmett, eyeing her brother with understanding and annoyance.
Edward scowled deeper, rolling his eyes in the direction of a group of gossiping, giggling girls. "If I have to listen to them say one more bad thing about Esme or complain about how I won't date them, there's going to be a massacre," he hissed quietly.
Emmett guffawed loudly. "They've been like that all day," he said with no small amount of merriment. "And all year, for that matter. You should be used to it."
"Leave Edward alone," Alice chided, her eyes sparkling smartly. "He won't have any problems soon enough."
Jasper cocked an eyebrow and stared at her. "Have you seen something?" he asked her quietly.
Alice glanced at her husband. "What makes you say that?"
"You have that look in your eyes," he replied with a smirk. "Besides, how would you know Edward won't have any more girl troubles?"
"You know, it could be because today is the last day of school and vacation starts, but, then again, I could be wrong, you know," she retorted sarcastically, a devilish grin spread across her face.
Emmett chuckled. "She's got you there, Jasper!" he cried loudly, his usual enthusiasm abundant.
Jasper rolled his eyes and ignored Emmett. "That doesn't explain the look in your eyes," he told Alice softly. "We've been married too long for me not to know the difference between your regular common sense, as prophetic as it may seem, and your actual precognitive abilities."
Alice pouted. "Ruin all my fun," she grumbled.
"So many big words," Emmett complained, frowning.
Edward and Rosalie laughed inaudibly while Jasper looked proud of himself and Alice kissed the smug look off of her husband's face. "You never answered the question," Rosalie said stiffly, eyeing the surrounding humans with visible distaste. "Did you see something or not? A simple 'yes' or 'no' will suffice."
"I did see something, but it's really blurry," Alice admitted. "But I know something good is going to happen to Edward."
"How do you know?" Edward asked, sending an approaching human girl a stony look of annoyance. He inwardly cheered as she squeaked and ran back to her table, relaying to her friends her latest terrifying experience with the oh-so-hot but oh-so-elusive Edward Cullen.
"I just know," Alice replied, a tiny frown marring her features temporarily. "It's so odd because I've never felt this sure of any of my visions before, but despite them all being subjective, I just seem to know that this particular one will come true and it will make the family happier. Eh, I'm not too sure if that makes sense to anyone but me."
A contemplative silence fell over their table. "Interesting," Edward murmured, his voice too low for any human to register. "Mind if I take a look?"
Alice let out a delicate snort. "As if you have to ask," she chortled. "Go ahead; take a peep inside."
As Edward delved into Alice's mind, snippets of her vision overwhelmed his subconscious briefly. When she said the vision was blurred, she wasn't kidding; Edward frowned slightly at the pale blob. He could see the faces of his siblings and parents smiling at the blob happily, but the blob itself was fuzzy beyond recognition. Edward's eyes widened slightly when the blob's figure moved about and a very pleasant, melodious sound drifted to his ears.
It made his dead heart twitch slightly.
Edward pulled out of Alice's mind somewhat reluctantly, wanting to hear that harmonious laughter once more. "It's a blob," he told her, his voice taking a somewhat dry edge to it. "I don't see how a blob will be good for me."
Alice raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. "Hun, were you aware that we could see your reaction to my vision?" she asked in amusement. "You looked like the canary that caught the cream!"
"Your emotions are more light and pleasant," Jasper admitted with a tiny smirk.
Emmett guffawed. "Still don't see how a blob will be good for you?" he teased, pouting when Edward flung a piece of uneaten bread at him.
"That doesn't mean anything," Edward denied, getting up so he could throw out his tray. "Besides, Alice's visions are subjective."
"That was weak," Rosalie sneered though her eyes held a certain twinkle to them. "You'll have to come up with something better than that to fool us, Edward. Until you do, please stop insulting our intelligence."
"Yeah!" Emmett cheered, smiling at Rosalie. She gave him a saucy grin in return.
"Emmett has no such thing," Edward replied dryly, smirking at his brother.
Emmett huffed. "Why am I always the one to get picked on?"
Rosalie's lips curled into a small smile and she kissed him on the cheek. Leaning closer to his ear, Rosalie whispered, "I'll make it up to you later if you stop pouting."
Emmett immediately stopped pouting and grinned. "Now, with an offer like that…"
"I'm going to be sick," Edward grumbled, looking away. In truth, it hurt a little to see Emmett and Rosalie so happy with each other while he was stuck alone. Eventually ninety years of loneliness will catch up with a vampire, despite Edward still being happy that his siblings had found love in each other.
Jasper frowned at the negative, depressing feelings emanating from Edward. He opened his mouth to speak when the bell rang. "One class left," he murmured softly.
Edward stood up and quickly turned away. "I'll see you after school," he said somewhat stiffly before walking away. Shame wormed its way into his dead heart; he didn't like it when his loneliness, sadness, and longing for his mate clouded his feelings of happiness for his siblings. Despite that, he really couldn't contain the depressing emotions that swelled within him. Being alone for so long took its toll on the vampire, and the possibility that he would never find the one being that would make him completely happy deeply saddened him.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully fast. Edward was thankful that his siblings weren't in any of his last classes and that he had time to compose himself. He discovered a couple of decades back that, because of his telepathic abilities, he could hide some of his emotions from Jasper. Because it was a task that required a great deal of concentration and strength, he didn't do it often. He also didn't inform any of his family members that he could do such a thing; it was nice to keep just one thing a secret from the rest of the family. Nevertheless, Edward decided to use the last class to carefully tuck away most of the negative emotions away. He left some of his loneliness and sadness exposed so Jasper wouldn't get suspicious and bring it up in front of their siblings.
He finished tucking away the emotions in his little mental barrier the exact moment the bell rang, signaling the end of class and, thankfully, the end of another school year. Edward could already feel the strain on his control; his throat burned at the thought of warm, delicious blood filling his mouth and sliding down to the pit of his stomach. Just thinking of it made Edward go a little crazy. He walked hurriedly to his car, hopping into the driver's seat and breathing in the clean scent. He sat there, waiting in silence, until his siblings finally made it to their cars. With a nod at Rosalie and Jasper, Edward drove out of the parking lot of the school and made his way home.
It was only when Edward caught sight of his house that he fully relaxed. His supernatural hearing picked up on several animals travelling throughout the forest that lay behind his house and his throat burned more with anticipation. He sped up before breaking into a screeching halt in the driveway. Edward grinned softly as he heard Esme humming from inside of the house and smelt acrylic paints.
"Edward, you're back!" Esme said happily, putting down her paint brush as she rushed forward to hug him and stood on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. "How was school today?"
"It was fine," he replied softly. "I'm really thirsty, though, so I'll be back later."
Esme cocked her head worriedly. "Really? It hasn't been that long, has it?"
"No," he assured her, "but it was a rather trying day and everything just has me parched."
"Luckily Edward has good control," Jasper said as he walked into the house, the rest of his siblings trailing behind.
Esme cocked her eyebrow. "Oh?"
"You know Edward's always had a problem with humans trying to jump his bones," Emmett said loudly, laughing in delight.
Edward threw him a withering glare. "I'm leaving now," he said lowly. The thirst began to build and the animals scattering in the forest made him feel twitchy. Edward left without another word, ready to hunt his meal.
"You shouldn't tease Edward," the hungry vampire heard Esme chastise Emmett before his speed brought him further and further from the house. Edward paused and closed his eyes, the still-fresh scent of deer filling his nostrils. With a small grin, Edward began to run again towards his prey.
Besides music, running was another favorite pastime of his. There was a rush of freedom that accompanied the wind flowing through his hair. The exhilaration allowed him to push aside the reality of his lonely existence and the thrill of travelling at such speeds excited him. Peace filled his being and he absentmindedly wondered if having a mate allowed the same feeling to overcome someone.
Edward stopped abruptly and crouched low, his topaz eyes gleaming victoriously. The male deer five feet ahead paused and perked up, its instincts warning it about the predator in the vicinity. It was too late, however, as Edward used his speed to grab the deer and break its neck before it had the chance to run. He sunk his teeth into the animal and almost sighed in pleasure as the blood thirst was finally satiated. Edward finished the meal in silence.
A twig snapping had Edward standing up and turning around before he had any time to think. He froze, cursing himself for being so careless and not sensing someone coming up behind him. His eyes widened at the sight of the teenage boy before him. The boy had a mop of black hair that seemed to stick out in all sorts of directions endearingly. His skin was somewhat pale and he had an odd lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Edward wondered if this boy was the blob in Alice's vision. Taking in his appearance, Edward gasped softly.
The boy's eyes were a beautiful shade of vivid, emerald green.
Instead of running and screaming for the hills, something that would've been appropriate considering Edward more-than-likely was a bloody mess, the boy smiled widely at him. "Thank goodness! I've been looking for you everywhere!"
Edward blinked in shock, confusion sinking into his brain. "Excuse me?" he asked warily, eyeing the boy with no small amount of hesitation. The vampire was tense, ready to escape if necessary.
The boy frowned slightly before his smile returned ten-fold. "I've been looking for you," he repeated. "And I'm so glad to have found you! We need to get started right away!"
"Stay back," Edward demanded, putting more distance between himself and the strange boy. "Who are you? Why aren't you running away?"
The boy cocked his head to the side. "I'm Harry Potter," he replied. "And why would I run away?"
Edward glared slightly at the boy. "I suppose you've not noticed my appearance?" he asked sarcastically.
Harry chuckled ruefully. "Do you want me to run away?"
Edward chose to ignore the question considering he himself did not know that answer at the moment. "What do you want?"
"No need to be so rude," Harry snapped. "You asked me for help, okay? I could've continued on my merry way, but no! I decided to stop and help you, so start being grateful!"
Edward practically growled at the mentally unstable boy. "I haven't even met you!" he snapped back. "How could I possibly have asked for help?"
Harry cocked an eyebrow, his upper lip curled into a slight sneer. "Hmmm… 'Please, please help me find someone to love; help me find my mate, wherever they are.' Tell me, does that ring any bells?"
Edward froze, his eyes widening. "How do you…?" he whispered lowly. "That was a wish I made. On a star. A few days ago. How do you know that?"
Harry snorted. "You're a bit daft, aren't you?" he questioned softly, his eyebrow arched and a smile tugging at his lips. "Do you want clues as to how a boy knows about a wish you made only on a star?"
Edward blinked and instinctively swallowed the venom in his mouth. "You're the star?" he asked in disbelief. "You're the star?"
Harry's eyes twinkled merrily. "Indeed, I am," the star replied happily. "And I'm here to help you solve your mate problem."
