Hey all! Hope you are still enjoying yourselves, I know I am having a great time writing it! Here's a shout-out to my two loyal reviewers, you guys seriously rock!

Underworld's-Reject- Haha thank you! Glad you are still here reviewing and I'm glad you like it!

Haventmetmyangelyet- Merci Beaucoup! Hmm I will check the song out Yup the boys still have a long way to go, poor things!

"First Christmas"

Castiel lay on his bed peeking through a combination of books he had gotten from Bobby and ones borrowed from the restricted section of the library. Not much lore was to be found, and what was there was either confusing or cryptic or in another language entirely. He couldn't stop staring at the page with the imprisonment of Lucifer. It seemed unreal that he could be the angel whose wings his fingers were currently tracing. He knew so little about himself. He could fly sure, but what else? He wasn't ready for battle. Scuffles with Slytherins weren't much preparation so he was very worried that the end of the world would come upon them when he was looking the other way. It was a lot to take in and pretty much the whole world was in his hands. He had never assumed his own importance to be that great as an orphan with an abusive father. He wasn't overly bitter but never overtly friendly. This was the first year Castiel had ever known people he could honestly call friends. Gabriel had always looked after him, but with his eccentric personality and quick wit he made friends easily and didn't have all the time in the world for his lonely little brother. Castiel had gotten so much this year, and he was heartbreakingly grateful. Here he had friends, substitutions for parents, and a place that really felt like home. Not to mention the fact that he had fallen in love with the most amazing man on earth, Dean Winchester. Castiel smiled. If Lucifer needed to be jammed back into his box he was determined to do everything in his power to keep him in there. Failure was not an option. Sure he was terrified out of his mind at the weight on his shoulders, but he wasn't going to complain. Now he had things to lose, and he wasn't going to let them slip out of his fingers that easily. Castile smiled happily as Dean jumped on the bed and wrapped an arm around him

"Need some help hitting the books?"

"Yes please." Castiel rewarded him with a kiss and passed over a thick volume. Mulder and Don were spying through a book on the horseman as they cuddled in the same armchair. They took turns turning the page. Castiel eyed them a bit sadly. He had no idea on how to breach the subject of the devil's road with Mulder. Don had no idea what Mulder had done for him, and Castiel was worried that he would resort to suicide if he knew. There was no way he would allow the contract to go through if he had any idea of its existence. Castiel chewed his nails nervously. It would have to be done, they would be busy with school and hunting down the horsemen and their horcruxes, but there was no excuse. Mulder couldn't go to the pit. He would find a way.

Dean yawned and scratched his butt. "Hey, what are you two doing for Christmas?"

Don shrugged. "Dunno. Thought we would stay here and track down those horsemen." None of the boys really wanted to go home. Dean and Sam didn't really have a home to go to and their dad was always on a hunt. Castiel, being an orphan, really had no place to go. Don didn't get along with his dad and Mulder's parents' divorce hadn't been amicable. The excuse of stopping the apocalypse seemed to be much easier to say out loud somehow.

Dean checked his phone. "Hey, Bobby wants us to come down to the Hogshead Christmas. Sounds like we won't starve after all!"

"Since when have we ever starved here? Damn I love house elves." Mulder stretched and took the book out of Don's hands. "C'mon guys, let's take a break. The Apocalypse maybe around the corner, but that just means we need to feed our faces while we still can."

The boys spent the first week of their Christmas break either with their noses stuck in their books or playing quidditch. The entire castle was decked out in Christmas colors. The ceiling of the great hall depicted a snowy day and tinsel lined the stair cases. Castiel was absolutely delighted by the huge Christmas tree that towered in the great hall and all of the tacky décor found absolutely everywhere. Durmstrang had never even decorated for the holiday and orphanages weren't the cheeriest places to spend your Christmas. They had loads of homework to do, but Scully and Amita promised to help them out when they got back, as long as they put in an attempt to put a dent in it.

Famine road his dark horse along an overgrown road. The grass wilted at his passing and the plants that had survived the frost were crushed by the hooves of the thestral would never bear seed to future growth. The beast's nostrils flared and its skinny hide heaved as the horseman drove him nearly to death. He clutched the thestral's mane with his thin white fingers as he gasped for air. There never seemed to be enough to fill his starving lungs. Hunger pangs gripped on, but he carried on his path. Soon the thestral succumbed to his exhaustion and fell to his knees. The horseman slid off the beast weakly and unwrapped a piece of human flesh from his stained handkerchief, waiting patiently for the crowd of thestrals to come near. A younger horse dragged its skeletal wings behind him as he slowly sniffed Famine's outstretched fingers and accepted the offering. Famine smiled widely, revealing two rows of uneven yellowed teeth. "Good boy." It bent its knees and waited for the horseman to struggle onto its back before running off, unable to stop but hungering for rest. The beast foamed at the mouth dreaming of biting again into bloody flesh and flared his nostrils, now interested in the scent of the humans it normally avoided. Hooves pounded the dirt as Famine made his way across the earth.

Castiel woke up sleepily snuggled against Dean's chest. He felt warm and peaceful until Mulder and Don jumped on their bed and began bouncing excitedly.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Whoohoo presents! Santa sure helped us make bank!" Mulder shouted as he bounced on the bed. Castiel thought it was adorable how he had insisted on making them the night before for Santa. He decided against asking Mulder if Santa was one of the weird things he believed in. A food fight had broken out and horrified house elves had stood around wringing their hands as the boys smeared frosting all over each other and decorated the walls with flour. Castiel had felt guilty and helped the frantic elves clean up the mess as Mulder nearly burnt one batch of cookies while Don and Dean ate most of the dough left in the bowl. The house elves had shooed them out before they created anymore chaos, loading them with food. Castiel figured it would be best if they didn't drop in there for a while.

"They're gone! They're gone!" Mulder jumped on the bed excitedly. Castiel smiled. All the boys still felt rather sick from eating "Santa's" cookies from the night before. David had snagged a small tree from the forest and he and Don had somehow snuck it all the way into their dorm. The base was loaded with presents. Sam, Gabriel, and Charlie came in grinning and attacked their presents under the tree.

Dean leaned in and sleepily kissed Castiel on the cheek. "Let's get started on these bitches." The boys sat on the rug as they opened piles of presents. Castiel scored like he never had before. A box of sweets from David, a classy scarf covered in snitches from Don, pornos from Gabriel that he immediately threw away, and a pygmy puff circus for Grover from Mulder. Bobby and Ellen had sent each of the four boys an amulet on a necklace to ward off possession. Castiel looked at them in wonder, they were beautiful. His had a light blue stone and shone prettily by the light of the fireplace. Dean held an emerald stone in his hand while Mulder and Don eyed their amethyst and ruby red stones, impressed. Castiel laughed delightedly when he saw that Dean had gotten him a leather jacket similar to his with wings etched on the back. Castiel hugged him and pulled it on over his pajamas. The spent the rest of the day stuffing their faces and throwing snowballs at each other. They changed clothes in the early evening and met Lupin outside his classroom.

"Hey guys, merry Christmas" He smiled at them as a black dog wearing a Santa hat came out of his office, practically grinning. The boys rolled their eyes when he pretended to sniff a shocked Dean's butt.

"C'mon Snuffles." Dean threw a ball down the hallway, making Sirius chase it to keep up his appearance of being a dog. He chucked the ball for Sirius the entire way down to the Hogshead. The pub was closed, and Bobby and Ellen had decorated tables set in a line and even set up a large well-lit tree in the corner. Jo and Liz had come and were helping Ellen carry out food. The pub looked much more inviting and it was actually bright and almost cheery looking. A man came out of the back room carrying cranberry sauce and Castiel immediately knew who he was: John Winchester. He was handsome and rugged. Dean carried himself with the same swagger and had his broad shoulders. Castiel starred at him in awe for a few minutes as he helped set the table with a ready smile for everyone and the occasional joke. Then Castiel blanched. He didn't think that a brave manly father like John would want his son dating a guy. He stared at the ground in panic mode as John came over to them. He gripped Dean in a massive bear hug and pulled Sam in the embrace. The weeks, even months apart didn't seem to destroy the love this small family had for each other. He then hugged Don and Mulder before smiling down at Castiel.

"So you must be Castiel." He pulled the shocked Castiel into a hug and muttered "Dean has told me so much about you, angel. Welcome to the family." Castiel felt his heart warmed with happiness. He had feared the man's disapproval, when there was nothing to fear. He could tell that John was not a man to cross, but he cared deeply for those he loved.

Castiel helped Bobby carry in the glasses as everyone got things ready. He had never truly had a Christmas and was practically bouncing on his heels, apocalypse temporarily forgotten. As they dug into the most amazing of feasts John told the crowd about the hunts he had been on lately. Castiel listened, fascinated, as he held Dean's hand under the table. Dean pigged out on everything while listening transfixed to his father. Castiel could see the extent of the love he had for his dad and how John did seem to treat Dean more like a soldier and Sam like a son. Castiel looked over everyone contentedly. He watched Mulder pick at his food, half listening. Something was definitely on his friend's mind, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He frowned and took a sip out of his pumpkin juice.

Bobby had a good story about an awkward incident with him and a shape shifter that had taken on his form. Dean listened closely. He had a vendetta against shape shifters. Dinner got cleared away and desert brought out. When Mulder went out for some air Castiel nodded at Dean. "Distract Don. I'm going to go talk to Mulder. Put on a Red Sox game rerun or something." Dean nodded and went over to Don to talk baseball as Mulder slipped outside with Mulder.

"Hey." Castiel leaned against the wall and put his chilled hands in his pockets.

"Hey Cas. What's up?"

"Are you ok…you have seemed a bit off lately."

Mulder peeked at him. "Really?" He gave him a lopsided smile and looked away. "People have been telling me that for years."

Castiel gripped his shoulder and turned Mulder back towards him. "I'm serious Mulder." He stared straight into his eyes, unblinking. "I know what's wrong."

Mulder bit his bottom lip nervously before asking softly "Do you?"

"Yes, I do. Don't' worry, just Dean, Bobby, and I know. Don is still in the dark. Are you going to tell him?"

Mulder's eyes flashed as he looked back at Castiel. "No."

"So you are just going to wait until the dogs drag you to hell? I'm sorry Mulder, but I don't think that is the best way for Don to find out."

"I can't tell him! Don't you see it? That is the only time he can find out." Tears started at the corners of Mulder's eyes. "If Don knows, even seconds before, he'll do something crazy. Don would sacrifice himself for the people he loves without a second thought."

Castiel put his arm around his friend's thin shoulders. "I know someone else who would." He smiled softly at Mulder.

"Yeah but he does it the first time. I'm just cleaning up after my own mistakes. I naturally ruin the lives of the people around me, and sometimes I don't even notice I'm doing it. First I lost Samantha, and then that tore my parents apart. And Don died…he actually fucking died for me! Can't I do the same for him?"

Castiel leaned over and wiped a tear off Mulder's cheek. "I understand why you did it Mulder, and I believe you are a benefit to everyone. I wish you could see that people love you so much because you are amazing. But this is hell we are talking about. Endless torture in a pit of monsters. Don may be an asshole sometimes, but I'm sure if he died he wouldn't go there."

Mulder smiled weakly. "Yeah but then I would never be able to live with myself. I'm too selfish Cas. I love him. And look," he nodded towards the window at Don play fighting with Charlie and Dean. "What would Charlie do without him? He is so brave and loving, I couldn't let him just leave so early and in such a horrible way. Every time I dream I end up with the same nightmare of watching the wolf rip his guts out and then I hold him while he slowly dies. Even when I look at him now, I'm scared of losing him again. He's reckless. The demon said that the only way to get out of the contract is if he dies before…I get dragged to hell. And the worst part is…I have a bad feeling. Every time we kiss, I feel like it could be the last time. It's like there is a shadow around him that will eventually swallow him whole."

"How long do you have?" Castiel gripped his hand when he saw Mulder's ashen face.

"Three months."

Castiel gasped and hugged him to his chest. "That doesn't give us much time, Mulder." He gripped his shoulders and stared unblinking into his eyes. "We will get you out of this, I promise."

"Cas?"

"Yes Mulder?"

"Since you are an angel, does that mean there is a heaven?"

Castiel chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Yes. I would think so. If there is a hell then there must be a heaven. For so much evil to exist in the world, there has to be enough…you know…good to balance it out. I believe that for hell to exist it must have a counter part: heaven. I don't know what god is doing, if he is there, but he must have some sort of plan for us. I just have trouble understanding why he puts us through so much pain?"

"Oh god Cas, I don't want to die!" Mulder sobbed into his shoulder. "I am so scared. Three months, and I go to hell and lose him forever." Castiel ran his fingers through Mulder's hair at a loss for words. He then looked up and went white. Don was standing there quietly in the snow with an unreadable expression. Dean stood behind him panting with a busted lip. He had obviously done the best he could to detain him from marching out there, but it hadn't been enough. All four boys looked at each other quietly. Don searched Mulder's reddened eyes for a moment before turning and leaving. Mulder's sobs grew louder as he clung on the front of Castiel's jacket.

Dean muttered "Son of a bitch" and went after Don as Castiel tried to keep Mulder calm.

"Don? Don? Get your ass back here you son of a bitch!" Dean tackled Don in the snow as his friend fought him off frantically.

"Get the hell off me!" He decked Dean in the face. Dean punched Don straight in the nose and pinned him into the snow, gripping his shaking shoulders.

"Dude, freakin' calm down!"

Don struggled and glared at him fiercely. "Calm down? Are you seriously telling me to fucking calm down right now?" He searched Dean's eyes and asked more quietly "How long have you known?"

"How long have I known what?"

Don's eyes narrowed. "How long have you known that Mulder was going to hell!" He gasped for breath as tears ran down his face. Dean eyed him worriedly. Don never cried and kept himself as distant as possible and here he was crying like a broken faucet.

"We just found out a week ago."

"What, and I get to be the only one out of the loop? How could you not tell me?"

Dean pinned his shoulders down deeper into the snow. "Because this is how we knew you would react! You're crazy Don and we figured this was the only way to stop you from being a stupid dick."

"I'm not going to lose him Dean! I'm not. Get off of me!"

"Not until you calm down. Look. Look!" He gripped both sides of Don's face, wincing at the fire he saw in those brown eyes. "We will save Mulder. If there's angels out there, then there has to be something that can save him, right? Just…promise me you won't do some dick move before the time's up, ok? Promise me."

Don eyed him as he attempted to breathe through his busted nose. "Okay Dean. I won't do "some dick move." Dean eyed him, still not convinced, but held out his hands. Don gripped it and Dean pulled him to his feet.

Dean pulled Don into his chest as he flailed. "C'mon Donnie, chick flick time. No one else is here, so you can cry if you want."

Don fiercely wiped the tears off his face and muttered "Already did," but let Dean hold him for a few minutes as he attempted to patch the pieces of his heart back together. Dean thought he had fought off the storm until he noticed Don's lower lip tremble in defeat. Dean let him sob into his chest as he stood there wondering how the hell they were going to save Mulder.

They returned to the Hogshead where Castiel and Mulder were waiting for them. Mulder searched Don's face worriedly until Don gave him a small smile and held his hand out to him. Mulder took it gratefully and nuzzled his head into Don's shoulder. Sirius got them all to gather around the fire when he brutally assaulted them with his singing once again. Everyone joined in for his favorite "God Rest Ye Merry Hippogryphs," even for the encore before pulling coats and scarves back on to fight of the cold night air.

Ellen had packed them a basket of food and Bobby slipped in some bottles of butter beer and fire whisky with a wink.

"Take care of yourselves you igits. Now I want you to keep me posted, all right? You copy?"

"Yes Bobby, we copy." Dean hugged him. "Thanks for Christmas and the cool jewelry."

Bobby looked incredulous at him. "Jewelry? Are you a bigger idio-"

Dean laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Nah, we know they are amulets. And yes we will wear them, and wash behind our ears ect."

John gave Dean and Sam massive hugs and packages shaped like broomsticks as Bobby said goodbye to the other boys. Sam ripped his off first and jumped around in delight. "A firebolt! A firebolt! Thanks dad!" Dean ripped his open and grinned when he saw a firebolt roll out of the wrappings. He hugged his dad fiercely. John also warned the boys to be safe before giving them each a hug. He hugged Castiel one more time and smiled down at him.

"I know you have a lot on your shoulders right now, not including the wings." Castiel smiled. "Just stick together and I'm sure you boys will put up a hell of a fight. Take care of Dean, he cares a lot about you." Castiel nodded solemnly.

"Yes sir." John smiled at him.

The boys wandered back in their dorms feeling mentally drained. Dean collapsed in bed without bothering to change, so Castiel rolled his eyes and pulled Dean's jeans off before going to brush his teeth. Mulder and Don immediately crashed on Mulder's bed and began an intense make out session. Castiel figured this was their way of apologizing and that they probably wouldn't talk things out until one of them exploded. When Castiel finished taking a shower and brushing his teeth he walked in on his friends in the throes of passion. Don's back arched as he rolled back into Mulder who was fiercely pounding into him while whispering "I love you" into his neck. Make up sex. Somehow Dean was dead asleep amid the tangle of moans and limbs.

Castiel hurried down stairs, figuring David was lucky he had gone home for Christmas. Sure his friends were hot, but he still felt like he had walked in on family. Castiel still had been nervous to get to that point with Dean, and he was lucky he was being so patient with him. Dean was the only person Castiel had ever been with and he had only kissed a few girls before. He figured he would have to man up and put out more before he didn't get a chance to. He didn't want to possibly lose Dean without proving the extent of his love for him. Castiel looked determined. Next time Dean wanted to take things farther he was going to not only let him, but damn well enjoy it too. He opened up the book and peeked at the page with the angel one more time before falling asleep dreaming of falling from the sky into a pit of fire as his wings failed him and Dean cried out for him brokenly.