Three Years Later...
Dean straightened his tie in the mirror for the third time, as he made faces at Spock, the stone-faced Eagle Owl that lived by the window. One day he'll get over the idea of keeping birds in the house. It's just so weird.
''Hermione,'' He yelled, stepping back from the mirror. ''You ready to go?''
There was a pause before she started down the stairs, deliberately making as much noise as possible. Dean could hear her growling under her breath.
''Do I have any choice in the matter?'' She complained loudly. Dean looked up as she entered the room and made a point of not scowling. Hermione didn't often cover her scars with magic. She only did it when she didn't want to be stared at by strangers. The smooth skin where Dean usually saw scars almost made her unrecognisable to him and Sam had been known to walk straight past her without recognising her. The scars were as much a part of her as her short temper and seeing her without them was freaky.
''What?'' She demanded, unhappily, one hand fisted by her side.
''Nice dress.'' Dean said instead, grinning. It was too.
She looked down at her dress before lifting the heels in her other hand threateningly.
''Shut. Up.'' She warned.
He raised his hands in surrender and turned away so she couldn't see him smirking. The best poker face in the world wouldn't stop Hermione's ears going red when he gave her a compliment though.
''And yeah, we've got to go.'' He added, looking back.
Hermione sighed heavily and dropped into a chair to put her shoes on.
'''Sides,'' Dean scowled and undid his top button again so he could breath. ''There's no way you're leaving me there dressed like a monkey alone.''
''I could turn you into a monkey, if that would help?'' She offered, innocently.
Dean glared at her.
''Not. Funny.''
''Au contraire,'' She murmured. ''I think watching you throw food at Sam would be exceedingly hilarious.''
Dean frowned at her, before sneaking a look at the calender. Sam, he realised with a sinking feeling in his gut, had scheduled this thing for the worst possible time of the month.
In both senses.
''Kinda ruin the point of going to some fancy restaurant, wouldn't it?'' He pointed out.
She shrugged and got to her feet, now three inches taller than usual.
''And I would care why?''
''You're just as nervous about this as I am. You're not foolin' me.''
Hermione snarled at him and Dean rolled his eyes.
''Yeah, real scary wolf chick.''
If you ignored the growling, Hermione was a hell of a lot less...feral than she had been when she'd come home from the War. She was better with strangers now, which was good because she helped Dean man the phones for other hunters when she wasn't working. Most days were good days, although if you put her in a crowd, she became fuckin' monosyllabic, which was usually fine but almost made them miss Teddy's graduation ceremony. Dean was used to sleeping with the lights on and both of them have nightmares anyway, so that's not a problem. Their house (and Sam's, and Teddy's and Kevin's) are warded against Hell, Heaven and every friggen' thing that walked the Earth. When it was bad though...She could wake up and not recognise Dean. Most times she took off immediately and didn't come home for a few days. Sometimes something would set off her PTSD, a car backfiring, Angel appearing suddenly and she freak out. It was okay though. They dealt with it.
''It ain't every day Sammy proposes.'' He pointed out, trying to cheer her up.
She smiled faintly.
''True.''
''Think she'll say yes?'' Dean added, actually curious.
''Merlin knows.'' Hermione reached up and did up his top button again. ''There, deceptively smart for a hunter.''
Dean grinned at her and she smiled back.
''She's good though, right? Not...'' He trailed off.
''A demon, or a monster or even slightly evil.'' Hermione sighed. ''We checked. Thoroughly.''
Dean rolled his eyes. When his brother had found out about their investigations he'd accused them of being paranoid, which Dean thought was a bit overboard. In their defence, it had looked kinda suspicious.
That Sam had actually found a girl who wasn't a demon, wasn't married and wasn't a werewolf was freakin' amazing. That he'd found a girl who didn't mind him hunting was bizarre. That he found one who actually got on with Hermione...that was a miracle. And yeah, Dean's not a moron. He knows his witch is an acquired taste.
''We're meeting the boys there, aren't we?'' Hermione asked in the car, as she tapped out something on her phone with her left hand. Dean was holding her right as he drove. He ran his thumb over the skin feeling for the scar he knew was there but couldn't see.
''Yeah. They'd better not be late today.'' He grumbled.
''They're at Uni.'' Hermione murmured, ''They're allowed to forget themselves.''
By the time the heat was finally off the Prophet, Teddy had managed to graduate high school. Top of his class too, Dean had proudly displayed his certificate in their living room. After he got Hermione to fireproof it.
Then it was just safer and easier on everyone to send the boys to Kansas U together, although the chances of Teddy not following Kevin wherever he went were extremely unlikely. Mrs Tran wasn't exactly thrilled with the school's pedigree but as long as her son beat everyone else, she was happy. And at least she was paying for Kevin. Teddy's school fees kept making the Winchesters wince, but between the three of them they'd get that kid through school if it killed them. Kevin was doing something complicated that involved maths Dean didn't understand and avoiding the language students at all costs. He'd had enough translating for one lifetime. Teddy was looking at pre-med. Or he was at the moment. It had been science last month. Dean kept waking up at night to worry about it.
It was a weird experience for Dean. The last person he'd had to worry about academically had been Sam and the chances of Sammy dropping out had been Nil. Before Jess died anyway.
''You gonna turn that phone off?'' Dean asked, glancing into the passenger seat.
Hermione sighed and powered down the phone.
''I'm not on call.'' She murmured.
''Promise?''
She chuckled.
''Yes, Dean. I promise. I'm not going to run away tonight.''
Dean smirked.
''I knew you ran away from Garth's party.''
Hermione scowled.
''I was called in. It was a complete coincidence.''
''You really expect me to believe that you had a patient who couldn't stop vomiting feathers?'' Dean teased.
Hermione was working as a Healer at the local wizarding hospital. She worked in Intensive Care which suited her fine as most of her patients were unconscious. The hospital was pretty good too, small enough that they could be discrete about Hermione's identity, letting her work under a fake name. They were surprisingly protective of her too. But that might just have been because she was the smartest witch there and not because she saved the world.
''Yes!'' Hermione cried. Dean grinned at her.
''And this had got nothing to do with you not liking Garth?''
''He keeps trying to hug me!'' Hermione scowled, slouching in her seat. ''It's unsettling.''
Dean grunted. He'd had to have a word with Garth about that.
''But tonight is important. So I'm not leaving.''
Dean squeezed her hand.
''Hey, thanks.''
She smiled.
''You're welcome.''
Dean parked the Impala at the curb behind Sam's shitty Prius.
He wrapped an arm around Hermione once they got out of the car, heading towards the restaurant.
''C'mon. Lets go welcome this girl to the family.''
''If we must.'' Hermione complained, but shifted slightly closer to Dean anyway, smiling.
A/N
So this isn't actually the epilogue I was intending to publish. There's another one which is set further into the future and fits the same storyline. If there's a request for it, I'll publish it too. It goes into what happened with the wizards more.
Otherwise, this is it.
Thank you for sticking with it and I hope you liked it.
Hood.
