A/N: Wow. I gotta take a minute to really thank my new Beta.. she's AMAZING! I cannot tell you how improved this piece is since she got her magic hands on it! Tamnation is the one to thank if you enjoy it.. I may have had the idea but this girl may as well be a co-writer at this point.. I'm so lucky to have her! I hope you guys enjoy this! I know we have!

Oh By the way.. I don't own anything.. nothing.. certainly not if you recognize it.. I had a pancake yesterday.. I owned it until I ate it.. now I have nothing.. so Enjoy this ..

Prologue

"It has been said that the Winchester bloodline is as old as the sand of the Earth. We Harvelle's and Moseley's don't bear such an illustrious past, but are descended from our own brand of the same magic. For nearly two hundred years, we have been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong in this town."

"Is that why people hate us so much, mama?" Jo asked.

"They don't hate us, sweetheart. We just make them a little nervous," Missouri said.

"Let's face it, Missouri. We have always created a stir. The Winchesters and Harvelle's have always been close, and decades ago, a Harvelle married a Winchester and that's when we learned about the curse. It all began with our ancestor, Maria. She was a witch, of course. But, not the first in our family. And you, my darlings, are the most recent...in a long and distinguished line," Ellen explained.

"Is that why they wanted to hang her? Because she was a witch?" Sam inquired, and Dean elbowed his little brother for interrupting.

"The fact that Maria was a bit of a heart breaker didn't help. Nor did it help that most of her lovers had wives on the hanging committee. But no, I don't think it was either of those reasons. I believe, that they feared her because she had a gift. A power that has been passed on to you. She had the gift...of magic. Practical Magic. And it was this very gift that saved her life.

She was banished to this very place, with her unborn child growing inside her belly. For years, she waited for her lover to come and rescue her. But he never came. No one ever came.

In a moment of despair, she cast a spell upon herself: She would never again feel the agony of love But as her bitterness grew, the spell turned into a curse. A curse on anyone who dared love someone with her blood running through their veins."

"Is that why Daddy died? From the curse?" Jo asked.

"Yes, my mother knew. She heard the beetle ticking for your father's death all day long. She knew that when you hear the sound of the deathwatch beetle..the one you love is doomed to die. But that's how you boys came to live with us, too. We tucked you into our lives then. We've raised you the best way we know how. In this house, we have chocolate for breakfast, and we never bother with silly things, like bedtimes or brushing our teeth.

But with the sweet, comes the sour. So when you find yourself the center of attention, remember, It's not that they hate you. It's that, well... we're different."

Chapter 1:

Six year old Dean Winchester stood in the hallway of the empty house. He was staring at the walls, trying to remember what they looked like before everything had been moved. His young mind was doing it's best to recall what it was like to see his mother walking through the kitchen with Sammy on her hip. He shed a single tear before deciding he had to be bigger and stronger for his little brother.

"Come on bub, " He tugged on the small hand attached to the toddler next to him.

"We're ready Mrs. Ellen, Mrs. Missouri," he said as he closed the door tightly behind him.

The older women were waiting next to the beat up old Chevy that his dad had kept hidden away in the garage for most of the time Dean was alive. He'd known Ellen and Missouri since as far back as he could remember, the women constantly spending time at their house with their mom and dad. Ellen made the best pies, and Missouri always seemed to know what he was thinking. It was a little freaky, but Dean was glad to have them. They were ready and willing to take the brothers when their parents died, and even when he was saddest, it was great to know that he and Sam had a place to go; a safe place with people who loved them.

It was a few hours before Dean realized just how much they'd had to travel, to visit the Winchester family. He had been playing with Sammy nearly the entire time to try to keep him from crying. Sam wasn't too happy about being in cars in general. Dean remembered how funny his mom thought it was, because most kids loved going places. He quickly stopped himself from thinking any more about her, because it hurt so badly that he wasn't sure he could hold back the tears any longer.

"Go on and let it out, child, no one is gonna say anything to ya about it," Missouri said from the front seat.

Freaky right? Yeah, he thought so too.

"No thank you, ma'am. I've got to be strong for Sam."

This time it was Ellen who spoke. "Dean honey, Sam is asleep. Even if he wasn't, crying don't make you weak. John Winchester was a good man but he didn't know everything."

"He knew how to be a man.. a good one like you said. That's what I'll be for Sammy. He'll learn how to be like dad from me. Thank you, ma'am, but I'm just fine."

At six years old Dean acted like an adult, and neither woman could understand it. He was polite, considerate, but stood his ground firm. Ellen chuckled. There was no way that boy wasn't John Winchester re-incarnated a little early. Missouri looked at her friend with concern, speaking volumes in a single look. Ellen looked back with a gentle smile, doing everything she could to comfort the woman beside her.

Just a little while longer and they pulled into the stretched out and winding driveway. The house stood tall upon the hill and Dean's eyes went wide as he saw it. He couldn't remember ever being here before, and maybe he hadn't. It was huge, with a porch that wrapped all the way around. He could see swings on both sides and smiled the first real smile in over a week. Sammy loved swinging at the park, and Dean was sure he would love the porch swings too.

The older boy brushed a finger tip down the side of his brother's cheek, doing his best not to have the toddler wake up angry.

"Wake up, Sammy. We're here," Dean said softly against the smaller boy's ear.

Sam woke up and smiled. Dean pushed the pacifier back in his mouth to keep him from crying until they got inside. He quickly unfastened the seat belt and pulled his brother close. Sam stood in the seat before climbing over to Dean. Even at six, Dean was strong enough to carry Sam around. He liked to let him walk most of the time, though. Sam's third birthday was coming up soon and he needed to be able to get around all on his own.

Sam was still half asleep from having just woken up and his legs weren't quite up to holding him yet, so Dean carried him until they got in the house. Once they stepped inside Dean gently let him slide down until his tiny feet hit the floor. They walked through the rooms scanning their new surroundings. There was a huge spiral staircase in the middle of the room. Dean wondered what was at the top, but he knew it wouldn't be safe for his brother to make the trip by himself. So he stayed put.

"Don't you wanna see your new bedroom, Sugar?" Ellen asked.

"I'll just stay with Sammy if that's fine with you, ma'am."

"Honey there's plenty of rooms here, you can have any of them you want. Well, except for the three at the end. Those are Mrs. Missouri's and Joanna's and mine. But there's plenty of room for you two to have your own."

"Are there any bedrooms down here?"

"There's an old library in the back that hasn't been used for a while, but no bedrooms. You don't want a bedroom upstairs?"

Dean looked at the ground before speaking. "Sometimes Sammy walks around at night time, and he doesn't always wake me up. Most of the time I can feel it when he gets out of bed, but not EVERY time. I don't think he should sleep upstairs, ma'am."

"How long has he been doing this, Dean?"

"Since he was moved out of the crib. I'll clean out the room myself, won't be no trouble, Mrs. Ellen."

"Well then, lets get that old library cleaned up. Looks like you boys are bunkin' downstairs."

"Yes, ma'am," Dean said smiling. He was grateful that she'd let them sleep downstairs. He didn't know how he would have kept Sammy safe if she hadn't.

Dean beamed as he took Sam's hand and led him toward the back of the house.

"Did I just get educated on child safety by a six year old?" Ellen whispered to Missouri.

"I believe you did, honey. That boy's gonna be somethin' special though, El. More powerful than either of us combined. I can see it clear as day. And that lil baby is gonna be so well taken care of he'll never miss his momma or daddy the way a child in his situation should. I can't say I envy the boy, it's certainly gonna be a long road. But he's gonna be a hero, and I can't find it in my heart to be sad about that."