𝑺𝑶𝑳𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑬 [𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹/𝑻𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻]

𝑇𝐼𝑀𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐼𝑁 𝑇𝐼𝑀𝐸𝑆 𝐿𝐼𝐾𝐸 𝑇𝐻𝐸𝑆𝐸

Edward felt his body constricting into pure stone at the wizards words. He could feel nothing but dread, panic... and guilt. He had been gone from his family to protect Gwen. He had been away so long from his family with no idea how they were taking the news about Tanya's disappearance. His sole aim had been finding Gwen and keeping her safe. But with Harry's words, he had no idea what to think! His father? Esme? The rest of his family? What did Harry mean?

"Don't worry old man" Alex said, patting Edward comfortably on the arm. "We'll explain everything once we get to the safe house, okay? We can't risk anyone overhearing."

Edward nodded, swallowing hard as forced himself to think of Gwen's safety as he silently led the two men to the car where he had left the woman. As they walked as quickly as humanly possible, he heard Harry and Alex muttering to each other about the memory charm they needed to place on the muggles that had interacted with Gwen. This made Edward quite disturbed.

"She wouldn't want this," Edward exclaimed, turning to glance at the human men. "She has created a bond here with the people from the clinic, especially Doctor Nadar--"

"So we should specifically pay attention to Doctor Nadar, got it" Alex nodded with a grin.

"I am not joking" Edward insisted, with a slight edge to his voice that he noticed Alex and Harry both involuntarily shudder.

"And neither are we" Harry said, frowning once more as he took a step forward. "Thank you for finding her and taking care of her, but we'll take it from here. We need to erase the memory of her. If anyone comes around looking for her--"

"But why would they? We're in the middle of nowhere" Edward pointed out. "Are you going to erase the memory of everyone in this town? It would make more sense to say we are transferring her to a new hospital."

"Sorry Edward" Alex said shrugging. "We can't leave any clues we were here."

Edward felt a powerless anger rushing through him. He once though of himself as one of the strongest species in the world and yet, compared to these human men, he was nothing. If they wanted to, they could probably erase his own memory as well.

"She made friends here, you can't just wipe away her memories. She wouldn't want this. You can't--"

"Yes we can" Alex said, turning his cold blue eyes towards him. "Edward, we want to keep her safe as much as you. We all want the same thing, and this is the way to do it."

Edward sighed, pleading to Harry once more, "You know this is what she fights against. She asked you to remain behind because she knew you would make good decisions. She knew you would make the right choice in honor of her."

For a second, Harry looked conflicted, his eyebrows knitting together in worry as he took a deep breath "Just take us to her, we need to see her. We'll talk about this later."

Edward nodded, he knew that was as good as he could hope for in that moment. Perhaps when Gwen was herself again, they would listen to her. As they approached the car he had left her in, he pointed to it and said, "She's there."

"You left her in there?" Alex asked, raising his eyebrow as he looked as though he were questioning Edward's sanity.

"I didn't want her in danger if this was a trap..."

"Good thinking" Harry nodded, as he let himself slip and a wave of anxiety and concern had been drawn onto his face.

As Edward unlocked the car, without a second thought, Harry and Alex ran to the car, opening the door to greet their friend.

Edward remained behind, wondering if Gwen would retrieve her memories the second she saw Harry Potter. He felt a deep guilt as he did not regret the moment he shared with her, knowing it would be impossible for it to happen again. But he would have the memory of it, he would have the feeling of her lips on his own for eternity. He would have--