Practical Magic AU. Hello! This is my first Supernatural fic, reviews are welcomed and encouraged! I hope you like this! I'll add more tags, characters, and relationships when the time comes. Henry in this chapter is not John's father, he's his great great grandpa (for my own selfish reasons). Any mistakes are my own, feel free to point them out. No Sam and Dean, or Cas in this chapter yet. I do not own any of these characters. Enjoy and comment, lovelies, thank you :]!
Long ago, in a town called Lawrence, there lived a happily married couple. The man was called Henry Winchester and his wife was called Mia. They were hard workers and lived a peaceful life.
Or so it seemed.
A woman, who had been in love with Henry for long and was envious of the happiness of the couple, followed Mia to every place she went. Mia was pregnant, and she liked to tell her unborn child about magical creatures and fairy tales while giving long strolls in the forest. Fairy tales were considered evil, and those who told them were accused of wichcraft and sorcery. Those who practiced wichcraft did not accept God. The woman, who was a member of the Hanging Committee, told the other members about Mia and the tales of magic she told her child about.
"She's a witch!" she said "She must hang, and the kid with her"
The Hanging Committee sat in council for a couple of hours. A baby, killed before it was even out of its mother belly? It needed reasoning.
"Why, indeed, the child must have sorcery in its veins as well. They both must hang"
It was decided, and they went to the Winchester's house. Mia answered the door of her house, and the next moment a large group of angry people came in screaming.
"WITCH!"
"BURN IN HELL!" they all yelled, and Mia stood there frozen.
Henry came inside a few seconds later, an axe in hand. He had been chopping logs for the fireplace, and was now looking raged to the committee in his house shouting at his wife.
"What in heaven's name is going on here?"
"Mister Winchester, sir, I am so sorry for being the one to bring these dreadful news to you. But I am afraid it must be done!" said an elderly woman. She was indeed looking sorry. She had known the young couple since they were but wee lads, and would have never thought the bright energetic little girl to be a witch.
"You do not say a thing, Missouri! I will be the one to say this to Mister Winchester!" Bella, the woman who had started all this, spoke from behind Missouri, her eyes shining with malice.
"Out with it then! Why are you here distressing my pregnant wife?" Henry looked furious. They never bothered anyone, so why would these women be here bothering them?
"Your wife is a witch! I heard her telling stories of magical creatures to her belly! Only witches know of those kind of things! She must be punished!"
Henry stared at Bella with a frown. "How dare you say that! My wife is no witch, you better mind your own business and leave us be!"
"She is! No one here knows any magical stories and yet, she knows some by heart. She also picks up herbs from the Dark Path! No pregnant woman should even think of going that way! We shall look for the herbs, she must have them hidden!"
"You have no right to look for anything in my house, Bella!" Henry was red in the face, but Bella didn't budge.
"Think of it, Henry, why else does she take so much in her strolls? The Dark Path is far. Walking near would take her very little."
The words of the woman were poisonous. They had convinced far too many husbands that their wives were witches. They'd fight at first, but they always broke. Always. And Henry wasn't any different. His face was constricted. He tried to think against the words of Bella. His wife couldn't be a witch, could she? His sweet, loving Mia. But what Bella said had a pinch of truth. Mia did take the entire afternoon to walk, returning after the sun had set, with the moonlight bathing her figure. He didn't want to accept it, but the sight sometimes made him shiver. He turned to look at his wife, who hadn't moved or said a thing since the women had arrived. He searched her face for anything that would make him get everyone out of their home cursing their names, but her expression was neutral. She wasn't angry, or scared. She just was. Henry felt desperate. He was very scared himself, he didn't show it, but his knees could give away any moment now, so how could Mia be so composed? He looked at her one more time, he looked deep into her eyes, scared of what he might see there. Oftenly, what her green orbs hid was love, happiness, peace, but today, they glinted with amusement, with mischief, mockery. Today they had the cheerful malice you feel when you know something no one else does. He gasped, and her gaze turned warm again.
"Henry" she whispered.
But he had seen that. He had seen the emotions going through her eyes and how they had changed into their normal inviting green. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He had to be sure.
"Search the house. You'll find nothing." this he said more to himself, not trying to convince the others, not really.
The women moved fast. They looked in every nook for some odd object, for nasty smells, for funny looking plants. They moved furniture, opened cabinets, took all the food out of the pantry, leaned to look under what they couldn't move. They checked in every room of the house, and found nothing.
All the while, Henry stood rooted to his spot, looking everywhere but to his wife. She was looking at him intently. He knew he had doubted her. If anything proved the women wrong, he would say he had agreed to them raiding their house just to make them shut up for real and leave them alone. He only wished they were all wrong.
One by one they came back looking to the floor sheepishly. With each woman that came to their living room, Henry breathed easier. Bella came back last.
" You see, woman! Nothing, I told you you were wrong! Now get out of my house and don't ever bother my wife again, or else!" said Henry quick, as if saying it fast would make it true automatically.
Bella turned to look at him. She was not looking ashamed like the others, nor disappointed. She had a triumphant look and her mouth broke into a large grin before she spoke. "I wasn't wrong, Henry, not wrong at all. You were, though, the day you decided to marry this witch!" She then took out from behind her back a small bag that smelled like rotten almonds. "Guess what this is. You don't know do you? These are herbs she uses to bewitch you. Your love is not even real!" She let out a nasty laugh.
Henry's heart sank and he turned to look at Mia.
"Mia?"
"My love for you is as true and pure as yours for me. Whatever I may be, that cannot be doubted." she said, her voice deep and her gaze somehow dark.
"Whatever you may be?"
She nodded and said nothing more.
"She just confessed, Mister Winchester! Whatever she may be, that's as good as a confession, and she's not denying it! She is a witch!"
"How else can you always be so happy even when droughts hit us? Or when the cattle dies? She is bewitching you!" The women broke into high yells, all accusing Mia of odd behaviours in the family.
Henry was panting and felt like he was gonna choke. This couldn't be happening. His own wife. A witch. The mother to his child. A sorcerer. How could she trick him so? All these years, had been a lie.
"Take her" his voice was barely a whisper and his eyes were closed.
Bella heard his words over the yelling and her grin was nasty. She looked at Mia, who looked struck, and took her by both arms. The other women stopped shouting when they saw Mia was being taken and they followed to help. Though, Mia wasn't struggling or fighting. She let herself be taken, never breaking the glare towards his husband. He had vowed to love her and protect her always. And yet there he was, looking to the ground while his wife walked towards her death, like a coward.
They took Mia to the Cliff. The gallows was there. People started gathering behind them when they heard the announcement of a witch about to be hung. Henry walked at the back of the party, his steps and his heart heavy. When Mia was settled, Bella read the condemnation.
"Anyone who casts spells or who is a medium or who consults the dead is detestable to the Lord. Do not allow a sorceress to live"
Henry turned to look at Mia. He still hoped for his good, clean, normal wife, but all he found was defiance. Mia waited for nothing else but what she saw in his husband's eyes, fear, disappointment, sadness. It hurt, she had lie to him, yes, but being a witch wasn't something you talked about when you wanted the man you loved to love you back. But it also hurt that after years of happy marriage and love, he gave her away that quick. She looked at everyone's glares, ignoring the nasty whispers from the inhabitants of the town she grew in. She smiled mockingly and stepped forward. The rope around her neck didn't hurt. Everyone gasped. She landed on her feet, not even stumbling. A part of the rope was still around her neck, but the other hung from the gallows. Everyone stared at the broken rope for a moment and then started running and shouting terrified. Mia laughed at them. She laughed at Henry. How little he seemed now. How big her love still was.
She left to the Dark Path. The only place she knew no one would bother her, and built a house for her and her child. She still thought of her Henry, and how he had changed their love for a life of loneliness just for being too ignorant. She feared for her child, who might suffer as she did. In a moment of extreme sadness she casted a spell.
"That no Winchester would ever suffer of love"
But as time passed and she grew sour, the spell turned into a curse. Once a Winchester found their true love, they might suffer because their love wasn't returned, or because their love was taken advantage of, or because of broken promises. So, before any of these things could happen, fate snatched their beloved away.