Chapter 10

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, sucking on his lemon drops when McGonagall burst into his office looking more like an incensed cat than anything. She started to pace in front of his desk, breathing hard, hair frazzled, and her fingers twitching as if they wanted to grab something. Dumbledore watched his former student turned friend with interest. He hadn't seen her so furious since Sirius Black let loose a niffler in her office.

"That…that boy! How dare he…!" she could barely get her words out, "And to have the audacity…Well I never…"

Dumbledore did not understand at all what was happening, "My dear Minerva," he said, "What has you so…frazzled?"

McGonagall glared at her boss, "That boy! Potter!" she exclaimed when the older man did not seem to know who she was talking about, "He dared to challenge your summons for Mr. Winchester, and thinks that he has some say in this situation. Not only does he claim to be Mr. Winchester's legal guardian, but he also insulted you, headmaster."

"Ah,"

McGonagall seemed almost perturbed at Dumbledore's nonreaction. "Headmaster," she said, "Mr. Potter has gone too far! His parents would be ashamed. Not only is he not one of my lions but he treats everyone around him as if they wronged him in some way. I have never had such a talented student be so belligerent."

Dumbledore looked at his deputy sadly, but did not comment. He knew that if his old friend knew just why Potter was acting the way he was, she'd probably string him up by the beard in the North Tower, victim to Trelawney's lectures until he began his next great adventure; a fate he would not even wish upon his greatest enemy.

"What are you not telling me, headmaster?" McGonagall asked, knowing the old man all too well.

Dumbledore was startled by her comment but replied smoothly, "Nothing," he said, "Just pondering why it seems that my lemon drops are in short supply."

McGonagall did not like his answer at all, "Headmaster," she said reproachfully, "Here I am, trying to inform you about a student and your mind is off thinking about those blasted candies of all things! If I didn't know you as well as I do I would have gone to the board about you a long time ago."

"Ah Minerva," he said, his eyes twinkling, "How do you know if you know me at all?"

Slytherin, 7th year dorms

Night time for the seventh year boys was a fairly familiar routine. Crabbe, as always, was out like a light the moment his head hit his pillows, Blaise was off frolicking with another female student in some dark, dank, and forgotten classroom somewhere in the dungeons, Draco was in the bathroom doing anything that would help maintain his pristine image, Goyle was busy reading advanced literature books under his covers, trying to hide a well-known secret about his intelligence, Theo was meditating with his bed hangings shut and finally Jaime was practicing his fighting skills, and hunting trivia, knowing that he would need it once he finally returned home.

He had given up hope of ever seeing his family again but with Sam's presence, his hope was restored. He knew he had to go home, for Sam's sake if nothing else, and was not going to let a little kidnapping stand in his way of being there for his brother when the time came. His father had told him a long time ago that his brothers would need his guidance and leadership in the future, and he was not going to let John Winchester down. So what if Voldemort and Dumbledore were standing in his way? He knew that he could pass them easily with the right training. John always told him that with the right skillset and preparation, one could take down any foe. Sure the man had been referring to a bully at one of his old schools, but the thought still applied in this situation as well.

Once he cooled down with his exercises, he closed his eyes and thought about his brother. Sam was with him and despite them missing their father, they were okay. It was Dean he was most concerned about. The middle Winchester child always tried the hardest to mold himself in the role John Winchester cast for them. If John told them to jump, Jaime would try to reason with John, Dean would ask how high, and Sam would just plain refuse. It had always been that way, and Jaime doubted that his absence would have changed too much. Dean was his best friend. Together they would cause chaos and mayhem where ever they went. Bobby went so far as to ban them from being alone in a room together when at his house. He loved Sam a lot, but with his baby brother he always felt as if he had to protect him. With Dean, he knew he could count on the older boy to help him out and watch his back. He trusted that Dean could handle himself. They may only have been eleven and nine, but they had a bond no one could break. When their father was out on a hunt, and they were stuck in a motel with a sick infant, both of the brothers took turns caring for Sam. A year later when John was out on another hunt and a ghost attacked the boys, Dean and Jaime managed to gank the spirit alone.

Jaime sighed and laid his cheek on his knees. Sam came upstairs to ask his brother something when he spotted how miserable his brother looked when no one was around. Remembering how Jaime had a journal, he decided to look through it to find out if he could help his big brother somehow. Just as the idea formed in his head, Jaime decided to go to the bathroom giving Sam the opportunity to get it. Rushing over to Jaime's bed, he looked in the most obvious places before finding it under the bed. He grabbed it and ran out, happy that Jaime did not catch him.

He flipped through the pages while lying on his dorm bed when he realized that the journal was pretty much one very long letter to Dean. He read a few entries, wondering what Jaime could write to Dean that he couldn't write to Sam. It was pretty much about how much he missed them, needed Dean's unique view of things, and how horrible it was in the Wizarding World for him. Sam lost the minute feeling of jealousy he had and instead started to feel anger towards Dumbledore and the rest of the wizards, and sadness for his older brother. The journal seemed to get more personal as Jaime realized that he could not send them to Dean due to the gag, although some of them were just like letters. Realizing the significance of sending a letter to Dean for Jaime, Sam ripped out one of the more recent letters, and after scribbling a short note to Dean ran it up to the owlery. Sam called for Jaime's owl, Hedwig, and asked her to take the letters to the muggle post office where it would be forwarded to Dean. Hopefully if he mailed it to Bobby's house, Dean would find it eventually. He knew how much his brothers missed each other and knew that this would help them a lot. He wished Hedwig luck as she flew off into the night.

The next morning Jaime woke Sam up, clutching the journal in his hand. He noticed the missing letter and wanted to know what had happened to it. Sam couldn't understand just what Jaime was talking about before he realized that Jaime was referring to his journal. He smiled sheepishly.

"I know what happened to it, but I don't know if I can tell you without repercussions." Sam admitted.

"Repercussions?" Jaime demanded, "What are you talking about? What did you do?"

Sam shrugged, "Does anyone know about the gag?" he asked, "I don't want to hurt you."

Jaime scowled, "Snape knows," he admitted, "The Headmaster has him under his own gag and thus doesn't really censor himself around our head of house."

Once Sam got dressed, the two brothers head over to the Potions Lab where Snape was usually experimenting and holding remedial lessons for his snakes. He offered them to other houses but only the Ravenclaw students took advantage. Once they found him, Sam whispered his deed to the man and waited his reaction.

Snape did not seem too surprised, and told Sam that it would not adversely affect Jaime if he knew. The gag only prevented him from physically communicating with anyone not included in the gag but could not react to others actions. Once Sam shared what he did with his older brother, Jaime didn't know whether to be grateful or furious. On one hand, if Dean knew about his gag he would be able to communicate with his unwillingly estranged brother, but on the other Sam had violated his privacy and the letter could have not been intended for anyone other than Jaime.

"Sam," Jaime said, "As much as I appreciate you trying to help me get in contact with Dean, I doubt that was your originally intention when you opened my journal."

Sam looked down at his feet and quietly asked, "Does it matter? I got your letter to Dean, something you've wanted for a long time. Besides, if I asked you, you would have had to stop me due to the gag."

Jaime knelt down in front of his brother and lifted his chin just high enough for the first year to look into his eyes. Sam's eyes were misty, making Jaime want to hug his little brother and tell him all was well, but he knew that as Sam's guardian he had to make the preteen understand that all actions, no matter how well intentioned, had their consequences.

"I love you little brother," he said, "And your heart is in the right place, but that doesn't mean that I can let you think that disrespect is something you should practice."

Sam's faced screwed up in confusion, "Disrespect?" he asked, "I didn't disrespect you Jaime. I probably respect you more than dad."

"Don't you think by invading my privacy and reading my private thoughts in my journal that you disrespected me?" he asked, gently.

Sam was silent for the longest time before realization came upon him, and immediately he tried to apologize, "I didn't think! I'm so sorry, Jaime. I didn't realize…"

Jaime hugged Sam close, "Like I said, your heart was in the right place," he said, "But you're right when you said you didn't think. Why don't you head back to the common room and think of an appropriate punishment for your actions?"

Sam nodded and did exactly what his older brother requested. Jaime was about to follow when he noticed that Snape had been in the room for the entire conversation between them. He looked at the man and was met by Snape's surprisingly nonjudgmental stare. In fact he seemed more perplexed than anything.

"I apologize for airing out my family's dirty laundry in your presence sir." Jaime said, hoping the Slytherin head of house wouldn't be too upset about it.

Snape rolled his eyes, "If I was bothered by it, I would have made my presence known sooner, Pot…Winchester."

"Sir?" Jaime asked, wondering why the man used his preferred name rather than his borth name.

"You're not what I expected," he admitted.

Jaime frowned, "I don't understand."

Snape seemed to clam up, having shared too much. He walked towards the door and was about to exit when he said, "You would have made your mother proud."

Sioux Falls

"You did what?"

John winced at Dean's reaction. He knew that Dean would not take what he did well, but the way Dean said what he said was eerily similar to how Mary would have said it. In fact, Dean greatly resembled his deceased mother at that moment.

"How could you have kicked my eleven year old brother out on the street?" Dean demanded, "You could have left him with Bobby or Pastor Jim! You could have left him with me! At least then I'd know that he wasn't starving or alone somewhere in the middle of nowhere!"

"Dean," John started.

"He could be hurt, lying in a ditch off of Route 98, or fending off werewolves and wendigos somewhere without our help!" Dean ranted, "He could be the sacrifice for a coven of witches or sitting in the crazy bin being drugged up by mad shrinks who think he's insane for believing in ghosts!"

"Dean!" Bobby called out getting fed up with Dean's fretting, "Let John speak, boy, or you'll never know where that brother of yours is."

Dean was completely worked up by this point. He liked to pretend to be calm and together about anything that worried him, but only his family knew how torn up inside the middle Winchester son was. Bobby hoped that Dean never learned how to hide behind a mask but he knew that it would happen eventually.

"Alright," Dean finally said, "What do you know about Sam?"

John nodded, and pulled out his son's acceptance letter. Dean snatched it out of his father's hand and looked it over several times before saying, "So Sam is the sacrifice for a coven of witches?"

"No you idjit!" Bobby exclaimed, hitting Dean over the head for his stupidity, "Didn't you read the damned letter?"

"Of course I did!" Dean exclaimed, belligerently, "Says something about Sam, magic and acceptance…"

Bobby rolled his eyes, "Your brother is a wizard. He was accepted into Salem to learn how to use his gift. Your idjit father overreacted as usual, probably jumping to the wrong conclusion…as always."

"What is that supposed to mean?" John exclaimed as Dean realized just what the implications of what Bobby said came to him.

"Oh come on John," Bobby groaned, "Now's really not the time…"

"Is Sam at this school?" Dean asked, interrupting the beginnings of what could have become an epic fight.

"What?"

Dean sighed in frustration, "Do you know where Sam is or not?"

John shrugged, "All I know is that this owl came right to our window, and dropped off this letter. We argued and then after I kicked him out he muttered something and disappeared."

"Wait?" Dean said, desperately, "An owl?"

"Yeah I know!" John laughed not noticing Dean's bad reaction to the mention of the bird, "What the hell was that owl doing with a letter in the first place…"

Dean's heart broke and he found himself sitting on the floor in a daze. He did not notice the tears running down his cheeks, but Bobby sure did. The older man went right up to him, and demanded to know what was wrong. John finally realized what was going on and joined Bobby in the attempt to figure out why Dean reacted so bad to his mention of an owl.

"He's gone," Dean whispered, "They left me."

John and Bobby were completely taken back by Dean's show of vulnerability and didn't know what to do. The usually strong teenager never broke down like this, not even as a young boy when Mary died or even what Jaime disappeared. In fact, they never saw Dean react to anything like that. He was always the tough Winchester, keeping the peace in his family.

"Dean?" John asked in a small voice, afraid to provoke him further, "What's wrong? Who are they?"

Dean was quiet for the longest time before he looked up at his dad with an emotionless mask. He wiped away the remnants of his tears and stood up stiff. He walked over to the window and looked out at the junk cars.

"Do you know how Jaime disappeared?" Dean asked in a monotone.

"Someone took him, and knocked you and Sam out…" John automatically replied, feeling tightness in his chest.

Dean shook his head, "I thought it was just a dream, but now I know it was true. And now that Sam's gone too…" he stopped, unable to continue.

Bobby frowned, "If Jaime wasn't taken, then what…"

"Jaime was about to make dinner when Sammy spotted an owl outside of the window. Jaime was weary but when we pointed out that it was holding a letter he opened the window. Jaime started acting strange and before we knew it, Jaime was gone. Just like Jaime, Sam is gone too."

Bobby's face was grave, "Don't worry Dean," he said gruffly, "If it's the last thing I do, I will make sure your brothers come home."