A/N: Hello readers! If you like the story don't be afraid to leave a review, I would love some feedback. Thank you my lovelies!
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter.
Hermione woke up, confused. She was smart though; she kept her eyes closed and breathing soft so as to appear sleeping until she had created an escape plan. She was aware she was in an unfamiliar environment. She was aware that that curse should have bled her to death. She was aware both of her hands were occupied and she was aware of what had happened before she passed out. She knew she was only alive because two mysterious men (She had not been able to make out faces in the midst of the battle) had come in at the last minute and saved her life. They had killed the three wizards she was supposed to take back to the ministry for trial and she suspected that it was those same men that she was with now. They had kidnapped her. But they had also saved her. She knew she had been hit by Sectumsempra, a curse that would not be able to be healed the muggle way. These kidnappers must have had basic wizard healing skills for they had somehow managed to draw out the dark magic and mostly heal her wounds. All that was left now was the dull aching all over, and the previously large and life threatening cuts that had now been reduced to simple scrapes. There was always the chance that her saviors had simply meant to heal her, but that was not likely. People always had an ulterior motive.
It had been eight years since the final battle at Hogwarts, Hermione was twenty six now. At first all she wanted was to leave all the fighting behind, become a healer at Saint Mungos, help those who needed it. But then the Minister of Magic just had to offer everyone who survived a job as an auror. And she wasn't ready to leave behind her two best friends Harry and Ron, not yet. There were still evil wizards lurking about, they still had work to do. But as soon as they were done she would quit being an auror and become a healer. So many wizards had fled the country after the war that the Ministry had to invent a new branch called transfer aurors. It had taken her eight years to take that job, this was her first case. And of course she had to go and get herself abducted.
After a moment of panic she quickly scolded herself for being so stupid. She reached within her to her magical core and used her magic to search for something. Within seconds she found it, her wand. She could feel its power aching to be held by her again as it had when she first purchased it. If the wand can choose the wizard or witch could it also tell when they were in trouble or dying? Harry had said something about his wand acting of its own accord when facing Voldemort on his way to the Burrow. She hadn't believed him then of course, but now she was beginning to doubt her judgment. It was almost as if her wand were calling for her. It wasn't far, just on the bedside table to her left. Whoever had taken her was either rather smart or rather stupid for leaving it there. They could be showing her she had nothing to fear and she was safe, or they could have simply forgotten it could be used as a deadly weapon.
She would have to do this quickly and quietly if she hoped to succeed. If she could just reach her wand then she could get out of here within seconds... it was risky, she could just end up being in more trouble, but then again she might be in just as much danger if she didn't at least try. She had been in Gryffindor for a reason back at school. A person could chose to be brave, and she knew that if she wanted to get out of here alive she would have to choose to be brave. What would Harry Potter do?
With a quick inhale of breath and without another thought she freed her hands and jumped out of the bed and reached for her wand, not bothering to care if she woke those whose hands had fallen from her grasp. She grabbed for the beautiful carved wood, feeling safe now that the familiar stick was back in her possession. She would have left that exact second had she not been stopped by that deep voice.
"Hermione." That distant yet familiar voice that she felt as though she should know, perhaps she had heard it before in a dream? Relief, sadness, hope, betrayal, caring, love, pain, so many feeling in that word alone. It was so full of raw emotion that she mentally cursed herself as she turned to face the man who had spoken.
He was taller than her by a few inches but still several inches shorter than the other man in the room. The greenest eyes she had ever seen, green enough to rival Harry's, stared deep into her own chocolate brown ones. He reminded her of a tiger. Fierce green eyes that could blend in well with a forest but still held gentleness in them. There was a sort of protective air around him, if you were to cross him or someone he cared for you would pay dearly. He was a killer. She could see the guilt of bloodshed but also the enjoyment of it buried in the depths of his irises. Perhaps he didn't particularly like killing but he believed that those who died by his hands deserved it. She should have been scared, being in a room with an experienced killer, but somehow she knew he had no intention of hurting her. There was also the gentleness of a domestic house cat in his eyes as though he were begging his human to show him affection. Perhaps she should have taken Harry up on his offer to practice Oclemancy with him before she accepted the job of a transfer auror. But even without getting inside this man's head she was able to tell these things about him. She could read his eyes so easily like a book, almost as if he were begging her to understand. She raised her wand and pointed it at his throat but he made no move to defend himself.
"How do you know me? Why did you kidnap me? How did you know how to save me?" She stared into his eyes, searching for an answer. Instead what she saw was the pain in his eyes as though he were remembering a painful memory. "Answer me." She ordered no intention to truly use magic on him but also wanting her questions to get an explanation.
"Actually that was me." The taller man spoke up, biting his lip gently to try and keep his emotions in check. If the other guy was a Tiger, this one was a Wolf. Like a dog, cute and friendly after they grow to trust and love you, but still dangerous. Wanting to have a family and a home that he loved but still able to rip out your throat at a moment's notice. Where green eyes shone with pain, these blue ones shone with hope. He was a killer too, but gentler on the surface. He didn't ask to be a killer; he was forced into the pack. He didn't like it but it was the only life he knew. This Wolf craved domesticity while the Tiger needed to roam free. Where the wolf wanted a new life and a pack, the tiger would be fine on his own with perhaps one or two others.
Well that shocked her. She had always been okay at reading others, but never this good. Books were easy, everything laid down right in front of her. But people were a tad more complicated. She should not have known this much about either of them from only knowing them for a few seconds. There was probably an answer to that, but she reasoned with herself that that was a minor issue and to worry about that later.
"Explain then." Hermione eyed him expectantly, not moving her wand from pointing at the tiger's throat.
"Okay, easy does it. Take your wand away from my brother and I will tell you everything."
She had no reason to trust him. They had kidnapped her. But she could hear the honesty in his voice, she could see the sincerity in his eyes, he was telling the truth. Slowly she lowered her wand, but she still held tightly to it just in case.
"My name is Sam Winchester; I am twenty six years old. This is my brother, Dean Winchester. He is thirty years old." He explained in a gentle voice, trying not to look threatening and trying to hold his emotions realized he had stopped speaking and decided she should introduce herself. "Hermione Jean Granger, twenty six. But you already knew my name. My question is how?"
The wolfs eyes were beginning to get watery, something she had done had triggered something. The tiger had a stony expression, giving nothing away.
The brothers exchanged looks, having a silent conversation with their eyes. Oh how Hermione regretted not learning Oclemancy. They seemed to have come to an agreement as they looked away from one another, the one named Dean nodding slowly, a small trace of pain evident in his eyes.
Sam began speaking. "My brother and I, we are hunters. We track down beings of the supernatural and get rid of them before they can kill again."
Hermione's knuckles turned white as she clenched her wand. Just her luck to run into a pair of hunters on her first out of country mission. "I read about hunters. I know what you do. So what? You healed me just so you could have your own fun and kill the witch yourselves?" Her hand trembled slightly, but other than that she was careful not to let her fear show.
"No, of course not. Nothing like that." The wolf's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "We had a friend once. A witch. An actual witch, not one who gets their powers from demons and the sort. It took a little while for us to fully trust her, but she was the most wonderful girl we had ever known. Smart and brave and witty. She, like you, was British and said she had just graduated from a school called Hogwarts. She came to America to get away from everything, she said something about a war and it had affected her enough for her to want to leave the country."
That last part was a lie, or at least part of it was. But Hermione decided she would get the full truth out of him later. He continued to explain, pausing occasionally to take a breath and get control of his emotions. "She told us all about you. About how you and two of your friends single handedly defeated a dark wizard at the age of eighteen. She said you were heroes. She traveled with us for a while and helped us with demons and ghosts. She was brilliant."
Hermione noticed that he was talking about their friend in past tense. He kept using the word 'was'. Almost scared to get the answer, she asked anyways. "What happened to her?"
Sam stopped and for a brief moment he let his composure slip away, revealing the pain. He quickly recovered and answered his voice breaking. "We don't know. She was taken from us. It has been years since we have seen her. Something took her and we were too late. We couldn't save her."
Hermione was speechless. She partially wanted to comfort the man, those big brown eyes so full of pain. Wait, weren't they just blue? Perhaps Hermione had just seen them wrong at first. The point was no puppy deserved to look in so much pain. But she knew there was nothing she could say. She was all too familiar with the pain of losing someone important, a simple 'I'm sorry' was not going to cut it. The most she could do was listen in silence, allowing him to know she understood. The room seemed to have dropped twenty degrees with all the sadness floating around in it.
The other part of her wanted to know who this mystery girl was. The said she had gone to Hogwarts and had been involved in the war. Hermione quickly racked her brain for any memory of hearing about a fellow classmate moving to the states or going missing. Probably not a Slytherin if they had claimed the trio to be heroes. Nothing came up. But then again, it wasn't like she had kept tabs on every student who went there. It was also likely that they weren't even in Hermione's year so she wouldn't have known them. Not personally anyways.
Well at least they didn't kill her. That was a comforting thought. "Why should I trust you?"
"You have no reason to." The wolf agreed. "But we did just save your life."
Not wanting to lower her guard but wanting to trust them, she slowly slipped her wand back into her pocket. They did have a point; if they wanted her dead they had plenty of time to do it while she was unconscious.
She was about to respond when a tapping at the motel window made everyone turn their attention to it. Hermione absentmindedly flicked her wand and the window flew open, allowing a small barn owl with a note tied to its leg entered the room. She walked over to it and untied the note, skimming it quickly. It was from Ron. Crap, how could she forget about Ron?
She quickly pulled out a paper and pen from her beaded bag and scribbled down a reply telling him she was alive and the dark wizards were taken care of. She looked up only to see the brothers staring at her.
"Right, sorry. We, as in us magical folk, send our mail via owl. Hope that doesn't bother you too much. Umm...where are we, exactly?"
Dean didn't look like would be ready to talk anytime soon, so Sam answered. "Castle Rock, Colorado. The Comfort Inn, room one thirteen."
Hermione nodded her thanks and quickly added it to the note before tying it to the owl and sending it off.
"Well it was a pleasure meeting the two of you and I thank you for saving my life and not killing me on the spot. However as this is my first out of country mission as a transfer Auror, I was assigned a partner and had best get back to him. He will be by in a moment to get me then we will go back home. So thanks again for your hospitality, but I'm off." She grabbed her wand and her bag and prepared to leave the moment Ron apparated into the room.
"Wait, what?" Sam asked, blinking slowly in his confusion. "You mean you are just going to leave us?"
"Well yeah. That was the plan." Hermione stated uneasily. There was something about these boys, something familiar as though a memory of hers was trapped in the depths of her mind and was trying to scratch its way to the surface. She felt safe with these two, she felt like she was home with them. And it bothered her. She had never seen them before yet she felt as though she could trust them with her life. She knew it wasn't some magic making her feel this way, the boys were obviously human. But even if she knew they would never hurt her, she needed to get as far away from them as possible. It wasn't normal to feel like part of their family when she had barely met them.
"You can't do that." Sam, noticing Hermione's glare, explained. "You just got hit with a really powerful spell. I might have done enough to save your life, but you are by no means back to full health. Your body is in no shape to apparate, let alone apparate to the other side of the Earth."
There was a loud crack and the ginger the boys had seen earlier asking for directions appeared in the center of the room, looking around frantically. He relaxed when his eyes drifted to the brunette witch. He walked over to her and enveloped her in a bear hug. So that's why he had looked familiar, he was a Weasley. Even if he hadn't been around while Dean was visiting, that red hair was impossible to forget.
"Hermione! You're okay! When you didn't show up at the building I panicked and thought I was too late. I found their bodies, but didn't see you. It took me forever to come to my senses and try to get a message to you, but owls aren't as common here as they are back home. Then I got your note telling me where you are and I came immediately. I'm so glad you are okay." He pulled away enough for the girl to breath, a big smile on both their faces.
"So what happened?" The redhead asked. "There were three of them. I mean I knew you were good, but not that good. How did you get out alive?"
"I almost didn't. I got hit by Sectumsempra, almost bled to death. I owe my life to them." Hermione shifted her gaze to the brothers. Ron's eyes widened as if just realizing they were there. "They came in just the nick of time and saved my life. The shot the wizards with guns."
"What's a gun?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't know. "Muggle thing. Anyways they are dead, gone. We don't have to worry about them; the boys took care of them. I'll explain it to the Ministry later."
Ron turned back to Sam and Dean, holding out his hand. "I'm Ron Weasley. Thank you for saving my friend's life, for that I owe you. If there is anything I can do for you before we leave, just let me know."
Sam stepped forward and shook his hand, introducing himself and Dean, who still hadn't said a word sense Hermione awoke. "Thanks I'll let you know. I was just telling Hermione here how it would be best if you two stayed in town for a few days, her body will need time to heal after everything it went through and all."
Ron nodded, understanding completely. "Of course. I brought some money; I'll just go get us a room near yours." He pulled out a few silver coins from his robe pockets before turning to head out the door.
"Ron, wait." Hermione stopped him. "You can't just wander around dressed like that. I thought I told you to get some muggle clothes before coming here? A set of robes and a cloak are far too conspicuous. And Wizarding money doesn't work in the muggle world, much less America."
"Oh." Ron responded, looking down at his clothing and money dejectedly.
"It's fine." Sam insisted. "You guys can just stay here the night. Dean and I don't mind the floor." Dean glared at Sam. "And between the two of us I'm sure we can find a set of clothes for you while you are here."
Hermione spoke up. "No need. I figured this mission wouldn't be as easy as it sounded so I came prepared for anything we would mess up with. I have a few sets of your clothes in my bag Ron. I even made sure they fit you this time."
Ron chuckled and smiled with relief as he grabbed the bag and ran into the bathroom. "Thanks Hermione! You're the best!"
"So that's Ron." Sam commented as he sat down in the chair.
"That's Ron." Hermione agreed as she collapsed back onto the bed. As much as she hated to admit it she was exhausted, forcing one's body to magically heal sure did take a lot out of you.
Ron returned a few minutes later, looking far more normal and less likely to be picked out in a crowd. Besides his height and his flaming red hair he could appear like a normal muggle if he were walking down the streets.
Ron smiled gently at Hermione, noticing the tiredness weighing her eyes down. "Common, you need to sleep. Why don't you go to bed, I'll stay awake and make sure these two don't try anything."
He reached into her bag and pulled out a vial labeled 'sleeping drought' and handed it to her. Hermione smiled thankfully as she drank, making a face as she swallowed. She settled herself under the covers and within moments she was breathing softly, signaling she had fallen asleep.
As soon as she gave in to the sleep Ron whispered a few spells and a curtain appeared around the bed, giving her some privacy. Another spell, silencio, and he put his wand away, immediately shifting to a more serious demeanor.
"So what are you? You have no magic yet you claim to have saved her life. How did you know what to do? Who are you? What are you?"
"Oh calm down. If we had wanted to hurt her we would have done so by now." Dean surprised everyone by being the first to answer. Apparently it was easier for him to talk without having to see his ex-fiancé who didn't remember him. "We are Dean and Sam, like my brother said."
"I saw you two earlier." Ron narrowed his eyes at them. "Why does it just so happen that you two happened to be at the right place, right time? How could you have saved her unless you knew something about magic? What if you two are actually dark wizards yourselves intent on killing her after she trusts you enough to tell you all our secrets?"
"Well you are a feisty one, even for a ginger." Ron glared at Dean for the comment.
Sam decided to butt in to prevent the two from killing each other. "Calm down, both of you. Ron, I will explain if you are willing to listen."
"So you mean to tell me you knew her ten years ago and she stuck around for five years, disappeared for five, and now she just showed up?"
Sam and Dean exchanged glances before the younger one spoke up. "Well, yeah. I mean it's the truth. If you don't believe me you can use that truth potion on us or something, but you will just be hearing the same thing."
"And you expect me to believe that you two just happened to be in the right place at exactly the right time to save her life?" Ron stared at them suspiciously.
"Like we said," Sam explained, for he was far more likely to be patient with the wizard then Dean was. "We have a friend, a prophet. He told me he had a dream that someone from our past was in danger, so we got here as quickly as possible."
Dean glared at Sam, still not over the fact that Sam hadn't told him they knew the person until after they saw who it was.
"Even if you are telling the truth- not that you are, just saying what if- that's impossible. She has spent the past few years at the ministry with Harry and me as Aurors. She has never even been to the states before. I'm pretty sure I would know if one of my best mates had disappeared for nearly five years."
"Well you are a wizard and we are hunters. Both our worlds are full of some pretty crazy stuff." Sam tried to reason. "I'm sure there is some explanation for this somewhere."
Ron nodded, he was trying to have an open mind and try to accept what they were saying as truth, but it was hard. "Well perhaps it wasn't actually her. Maybe it was a shape-shifter or someone on Polyjuice or something."
Dean slammed his fist into the table, letting out some of his anger. "Don't you think I know my Hermione when I see her? The woman I was with for four years? My friggin fiancé? That is the Hermione we knew, I'm certain of it."
"Okay, I'm not trying to insult your memory or anything. I just don't see how that is possible. I don't see how any of this is possible." Ron ran a hand threw his hair in dissbelief, still trying to come to terms with what he was hearing.
"Neither do I." Sam, ever the reasonable one, interjected before a fight started. "But somehow it is. We just have to find out how so we can fix it."
Ron sighed and ran a hand through his red hair again. "Look, you two seem great and all; I know you would protect her. But we are from different worlds, different sides of the world. If or when she does remember, I don't want to lose my best friend because she decides to run off with you two."
Sam sighed, he could relate to the Weasley boy. "I understand that. But you need to understand that she is important to us. She was my best friend and almost Dean's wife. We love her just as much as you do. We don't want to lose her either."
"Why can't she just stay with us?" Dean complained. "You can still talk to her with your creepy owl messages and you can still pop up out of thin air to see her when you get bored. We can't do that. It's only fair for her to stay with us considering she is my fiancée."
"Was." Sam corrected, earning him a glare from Dean and a shocked glance from Ron. "She was your fiancée. She doesn't even remember us now. None of us," he pointed a finger to himself and the other two men in the room, "have any right to lay any claims on her. It is her decision. You two can stay here until she had healed enough to apparate, then she can decide for herself whether to stay with us or go with you."
Ron nodded, thinking it over. "Bloody Hell, why does life always have to be so complicated? Fine. When she is well enough to travel she can make her decision. When she does neither of us can complain nor try to guilt her into choosing a side."
"Fair enough." Sam nodded; he was impressed by this Weasley guy. Sure Hermione had told them all about Harry and Ron, but he still had not expected him to handle the situation as well as he was.
Sam glared at Dean until he rolled his eyes and gave in to the demand. It was settled, the choice was all Hermione's.
"Do you think it's really her?" Sam asked after glancing at the sleeping forms of Ron and Hermione.
Dean sighed, knowing the question would come up eventually. "I don't know what I think. I want it to be her, but at the same time I don't. She isn't the same."
Sam nodded. They had been separated from her for five years, things were bound to change. But her forgetting them completely? That was as unlikely as it was painful. He remembered his dream. "And soon you will know a different version of me, one you might not be prepared to deal with"
"What happened to her? Whatever took her, do you think they altered her memories?" Sam glanced again to the sleeping forms of the magical people.
"Possibly, most likely. Either way it sucks that she doesn't know, doesn't remember. Do you think there is a way to get her memories back?"
"Probably. Most magic has a counter spell. She told us that once. But if we can't find one there is always-"
"No." Dean interrupted his brother before he could finish talking. "I know what you are going to say, and that is not happening. He is staying out of this."
"Common Dean. I'm sure Castiel can do something for her. Or at the very least he can tell us what to do to help her."
"Go to bed Sam." Dean said firmly as he rolled to his side,his back facing Sam signaling that the conversation was over.
Sam rolled his eyes and turned out the light. He knew they would have to finish this conversation later when his older brother was being less difficult. Sure it was great to have Hermione back, but it was also painful. She wasn't their Hermione. This Hermione was still the rule following cautious Gryffindor she had been years ago, before the brothers had met and changed her. This Hermione was still suffering from paranoia from the war. This Hermione was the Hermione they met at that restaurant all those years ago. The Hermione who knew about hunters and monsters and demons but had never experienced them first hand .The Hermione who didn't trust them but wanted to make peace. This Hermione was the Hermione from the wizarding world, she wasn't their Hermione.
