Summary: After the war Hermione's happily ever after is rudely interrupted and on her intercontinental chase to find the culprit she meets up with the Winchester brothers, only to find there might be more left for her than she ever imagined.
Chapter 7
Once back in the boys' hotel room, Hermione tossed the folder onto the small kitchen table and sat on one of the chairs. She put her head in her hands for a second before lifting it and reaching for the folder. Sam gently tugged it away from her and said, "You look exhausted. Let me look over these and you go take a nap."
She looked up surprised to see Dean nodding behind Sam as well, "Go nap sweetheart, Sammy will take care of the files and afterwards you and I will do that training I promised you earlier."
There was an alarmingly large part of Hermione that wanted to do anything Dean said if he called her sweetheart in that tone of voice. She shook herself out of it to ask, "What if you don't understand something?"
Sam gently grasped her upper arm and pulled her up. He noticed for the first time exactly how small she was. She was average height for a woman, but he far dwarfed her in comparison. She hid it well, but Sam could tell she didn't weigh nearly enough for her height. On her arms he could feel lithe muscle, but her wrists were alarmingly thin and Sam was willing to bet the rest of her body was like that. She didn't seem the type to be unhealthy for appearance sake, so he was pretty sure it must be from stress and being unable to eat properly. It wasn't so bad that she was in immediate danger, but she was getting on the thin side. He wondered how it was that he hadn't noticed before, because it was fairly apparent now. He could only guess that with her bossy and commanding nature, he just hadn't thought to look.
His eyes softened in pity and Hermione stiffened at the look. "Hermione, it's fine. If I don't understand something I'll ask when you wake up," said Sam and with that, before she could protest more, he lifted her up and cradled her in his arms and walked over to one of the beds. Dean seeing a chance to help pulled the sheets back so Sam could lay her in them.
Hermione wanted to protest, but Sam was rubbing little circles on her back with his thumb and it had been so long since she had allowed herself human contact and she was just so very tired. Maybe she would rest for just a few minutes.
Before Sam even put her down she had relaxed and was asleep. He set her down as carefully as he could and she didn't even shift. Sam smoothed the hair on her forehead out of her face. She looked so little and the bags under her eyes were more noticeable now.
Sam tugged Dean into the side kitchen and whispered, "There's something not right with her Dean."
Dean sighed, "I thought we were past this Sam. That little witch in there is good and she's trying to help. If even I believe that what has your panties in a twist about her?"
"No, that's not what I meant. I trust her enough, I meant that she's sick and I want to know why."
"Wait, you're telling me she's sick? That bossy woman on the bed? She's been in charge the whole day and has seemed fine," said Dean incredulously.
Sam looked over at her as he spoke with furrowed eyebrows, "She's too thin in the wrong places. She's got muscle, but if I had to guess it's the only thing that's keeping her weight up. I think it must be stress related or something, it would explain the tiredness."
"We'll ask her when she wakes up or something. I don't want to take her out if she's going to do damage to herself," Dean frowned.
Sam nodded and went to start on the folder. He opened the folder and started reading, making notes as he went along. Dean sat at the table and pulled a map out, trying to figure out where the monster could be hiding. This went on with occasional remarks between each other for nearly an hour.
Without warning Hermione started flailing in her sleep and crying out, "We didn't steal it. It's a fake. Please it's not real."
Dean and Sam looked at each other in bewilderment. "Sammy, I think you were wrong about it being stress related." They stood up and hurried to the bed. She screamed again before they could reach her. They got to her at the same time and Sam tried to gently shake her awake.
Dean got a good look at her and he felt something twist in his chest. She was writhing in pain, her scar was visible on her arm, and there were silent tears streaking down her face. He sat down on the bed next to her mindful of her flailing limbs and ran his fingers through her hair and made soft noises to her. He felt way out of his depth, but she seemed to be calming down.
Sam noticed what his brother was doing and sat down at the head of the bed. "Hermione it's Sam. It's alright. You are safe. I promise, Dean and I've got you," he whispered into her ear. With a start Hermione woke up and threw herself into Sam's arms sobbing loudly, "Is she gone? Is it over?"
"Hermione, you're okay it was just a nightmare," Dean said with a husky timber to his voice as he rubbed little circles on the small of her back. She was pale and trembling in Sam's arms and Dean felt his guarded heart break a little more for her. Hermione was a beautiful and bright woman who shouldn't have scars, nightmares, or that dark haunted look in her eyes.
That pleasant little shock was back and it was what ultimately jolted Hermione out of her distressed state. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just...," she trailed off.
Dean gave Sam a deer-in-the-headlights-look. Physical comfort Dean understood, but he had never been someone who smoothed things over with words.
Sam rolled his eyes at his brother and then looked down toward the woman in his arms. He couldn't believe he ever thought she was ever evil. Right now she wouldn't look at him and instead had her eyes and face downturned in a meek position that Sam knew instinctively wasn't right on her. He had watched her take charge, speak with the minister of her people, and walk proudly through the halls amidst hundreds of whispers, there was no way she should look so mild now.
He ever so gently lifted her chin up so that she was looking at him. She flinched slightly and stared off to the side. "That nightmare really had you spooked. Do you want to talk about it?"
She spoke, her accent more apparent and rough with her strained voice, "I told you the other day I had been tortured before. It was just that, no big deal." She wiped her eyes and put a little distance between her and Sam.
Dean chose that moment to speak up, "If it leaves you like this Princess, it is a big deal. How come you haven't gotten help for this?"
Hermione blushed softly at the pet name and looked down again. She whispered, "It didn't use to be this bad. My fiancé use to lay with me and for the most part it kept the memories away."
"What happened to your fiancé?" asked Dean. A frown made its way onto his face as he had a terrible feeling he knew exactly what had happened.
"He's dead. A demon killed him and set fire to the small flat we lived in. I only got a small glimpse of it before Ron jumped in the way." she said in a small voice.
Dean winced. That was always traumatizing to watch. No doubt that was another one of her memories that popped up as a nightmare. He wondered what deity she had managed to piss off to get caught in a war, tortured, and have her fiancé murdered within the span of a few years. "Damn," he swore softly, "Do you know which demon?" Dean asked softly.
Hermione shook her head, "No I've been tracking it across the states and none of my friends want to believe it, so it falls to me to track down the killer. I'm just having a hard time because it's moving quickly in no apparent pattern."
"How often does this happen to you?" At Hermione's wide-eyed stare and refusal to speak Dean continued, "I'm going to guess that means just about every night." He stared deeply into her eyes and sighed, "Princess, this isn't good for you, even I can see you're exhausted and too thin."
Hermione sighed, "Listen, I didn't tell you this so you could pity me. I am tired, but I've always been on the thin side. I tend to get lost in my research. It's really not a problem."
Sam ignored her last statement and continued with the conversation, "Was it only your fiancé that made it better or would just lying down with someone you trust be enough to keep the nightmares at bay?"
"I don't know. Harry used to help, but after Ron's death he didn't believe me and he never helped after that," Hermione responded reluctantly and with a note of slight defiance in her tone.
"Well tonight lay with one of us and see if that helps. At least while you're with us you could try to get a goodnight's sleep. I don't think we are going to get anywhere on the case tonight anyway," Sam said quietly.
"We'll see. Now what time is it?" asked Hermione dismissively as she tried to peer over Sam's shoulder out the window to see where the sun was positioned. She wasn't sure lying with either one of the Winchester men was a good idea. It seemed more like a test of self-control than a good night's sleep.
"It's mid-afternoon, probably about three thirty or four," Sam answered.
Hermione moved to get off the bed and Sam's hands trailed down her arms as she climbed off the bed. Sam noticed the softness of her skin as his hands ran over it. Dear god that woman was going to be the death of him and apparently Dean too if his unfocused eyes were anything to go by.
She apparently had no idea the kind of hell that she was inflicting on them as immediately after she got up she said, "Thanks for waking me up and calming me down. I'm going to take a look at those files now."
She tossed her curly hair over her shoulder and smiled sincerely at them. Dean let out a pained half grimace half smile and stood, "I'm um, gonna go take a shower."
Sam couldn't resist the chuckle on his part. Hermione looked at him questioningly, but he just shook his head at her, "Should we take a look at those files now? I have a few questions."
"Sure," she said properly distracted as she walked over to the kitchen table.
She looked at the notes he had made in the margins of the packet and raised her brow. These were surprisingly good, even for a hunter experienced in the occult. The occult had very few ties with wizarding magic except for a few obscure branches of dark arts and none of that knowledge applied in this case. Really she was more impressed by the logic than anything. He was spot on in some cases and very close in others. She gave him a speculative look, "These are good. You have a very good grasp on theoretical magic."
Sam blushed ever so faintly, but was saved from answering as Dean walked out in a towel and spoke for him, "Sammy didn't tell you? He went to Stanford before this and was close to finishing his degree."
Hermione looked up at Dean and then quickly back down at Sam. That view was a little too much for her. Sam rolled his eyes and gave her a lopsided grin. She stared determinedly back into Sam's eyes, "Stanford? I didn't know. Why ever would you quit Stanford?"
The grin fell off his face and Sam spoke hollowly, "Our Dad went missing and when I went back to school, my girlfriend had been staked to the ceiling of our apartment and as soon as I caught sight of her she burst into flames."
Sam had no idea why both he and Dean felt compelled to share all the sordid details of their lives with Hermione, a girl they had only met a day ago. It might have been because she was so candid, but still caring. However, he had a feeling it was because she had unwillingly been stripped so bare in front of them and at her worst and most broken she had seemed so honest and pure, that both of them felt the need to meet that with their own honesty.
Hermione flinched, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up or sound so judgmental. I skipped my last year of schooling to participate in the wizarding war, so I can't speak about not finishing school since technically, I never did either."
"It's fine, there's no way you could have known," he said quietly.
"Can I ask if you found your father?"
Dean sighed, "We did, but he traded his soul to a crossroads demon for my life and he's dead now." Dean turned his head away, but Hermione had caught sight of the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
She stood up and before he could back away or run away she hugged him tight. On her tip toes she whispered in his ear, "I'm so very sorry." The tension drained out of his form and he rested his head on her shoulder. She didn't speak anymore and if her shoulder felt a little damp afterward, she'd never say.
When she felt him pull himself back together she let go and said, "Go get dressed. I'm looking forward to that training you promised me."
As Dean left the room to change, Sam called out, "No chick flick moments Dean!"
Dean grinned and tossed over his shoulder, "Shut up… bitch."
"Jerk," mumbled Sam.
Hermione raised a brow and smirked, "I take it that's some sort of ritual for you two?"
Sam smiled up at her, "Almost."
"Real cute Sam, real cute."
A/N I meant to get this chapter up a lot sooner, but I've moved twice in the last two weeks, so I was really busy. Thanks for reading. Let me know if you liked it!
