Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter.

September 2006.

"What – the – bloody – hell – were – you – thinking?"

"Ow, ow, Hermione, alright –"

"No – it's – not – alright – you – bloody –"

"Can you please stop hitting me?"

"No!"

They were at the Roadhouse, and Dean and Sam came back from a hunt to find a furious Hermione waiting for them. Furious, since they let Jo join them on the hunt.

"We didn't know she was going to be there, too!" Dean protested, trying to move out of Hermione's reach only to be blocked by several tables.

"Then – you – should – have – sent – her – home – the – moment – she – arrived," Hermione told him, empathizing every word with a smack to Dean's head, shoulders, chest, and pretty much every other available surface. "Or – tell – Ellen – when – she – bloody – asked! Not – make – her – bait!"

"Jo found this case, she wanted to be a part of it," Sam tried, only for Hermione to turn to look at him.

"Oh, don't you start, Sam Winchester!" she warned. "Cause if you don't think that the moment I'm done with him, I'm moving to you, you are so wrong! She could have died! Or worse!"

"Expelled?" Dean joked, but the smile fell off his face the moment Hermione redirected her rage back at him. "I don't understand what the big deal is. She did just fine."

"What if she hadn't?" Hermione asked. "What if something would have happened to her? What if you hadn't reached her in time?"

"Then that's a risk of the job, isn't it?" Jo asked.

"Oh, don't start –"

"No!" Jo called out. "Don't try patronizing me like this, especially not when you go hunting all the time."

"I also involuntarily became a part of a war when I was fifteen, do you really want to start talking about this?"

"Yes, actually, I do!"

"Fine, then go inside, talk to your mom, see what you have to say then!"

"Hermione…" Ellen started, making the witch turn to look at her.

"I get it," she said, "She's your daughter and you want to protect her. But if you don't take her inside right now and tell her, she'll just keep running off to do stupid jobs like this –"

"We saved a woman's life today!" Jo protested. "I saved a woman's life today."

"No," Hermione replied. "You nearly died today." She turned to look at Dean and Sam. "And if she really would have died today, it would have been on your conscious."

"Funny," Dean huffed, "Cause that's the exact same thing Bobby told me after we got back from clearing that nest the summer after your fourth year."

"Jo," Ellen said quickly. "Come inside."

It was a testament to how tense the situation got that Jo didn't even protest, hurrying away from the argument that was going on.

"I was a kid back then," Hermione said, a dark expression crossing her face. "I was young, and naïve –"

"Oh, don't give me that crap," Dean said, shaking his head. "You were never naïve. You were just sick of sitting around doing nothing while people got hurt, and you know what?" he added before she could protest. "You're still the same."

"No, I'm not!" Hermione called out.

"Yes, you are!" Dean called back. "You say that Jo shouldn't have come with us because she had her mom worrying about her, well, what about your dad? What about your kid, what would happen to her if you didn't come back from a hunt one day?"

"Will you stop bringing my daughter into every argument we have?" Hermione questioned. "Don't start getting involved in my life, not after you've made it clear – on more than one occasion – that you have no interest in being a part of it!" She shook her head, turning away go hide her tears. "Just… just leave me alone, Dean," she said. "Leave me alone, leave my family alone and for crying out loud, leave my friends alone."

"Mya…"

"Don't, Sam," she said. "Just don't. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have paperwork that I couldn't do until now because I was too busy worrying if one of my best friends was dead."

She closed her eyes, turning on the spot and Appariting away to her office. She barely had a moment to recollect herself before someone knocked on the door and she wiped away her tears before calling for whoever it was to enter.

Her secretary popped her head into the room, seemingly taking in her appearance before speaking.

"Just reminding you that you have a meeting with Kook today at ten, and that you need to get all of the paperwork about the Jameson mission ready until then if you want him to approve it," she said. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Hermione said, hating that her voice gave away that she wasn't okay. "I'm fine," she repeated, a bit more convincingly this time.

"If you say so," the other woman shrugged. "I'll move your appointment with Alex to tomorrow, anyway. I know dealing with him gives you a headache."

"Thanks," Hermione muttered, looking at the pile of papers on her table.

Even years after they broke up, Dean Winchester kept being an annoying part of her life, disrupting her every step. Well, this was the last time. Next time he got in trouble, she wouldn't be there to help him.

Good luck solving his problems on his own.

October 2006.

It was barely a month before Hermione broke her promise to never help Dean with his problems again.

"Fucking…" Hermione muttered as she stumbled out of her bed, heading to the kitchen to check which of the wards was set off. "At two in the morning? Really? What could possibly be…?"

She paused, staring at the glowing bracelet that was placed there – an identical one to a bracelet she gave Dean back when they were still dating. She told him to pass his finger against one of the runes cared onto it if he was ever in trouble, and that she'd come to help him.

Back then, he laughed and said he'd be alright. But now, as the bracelet produced more and more light, she knew he wasn't just in trouble – his life was in immediate danger.

Later, she'll be mad at herself for not even hesitating before grabbing the bracelet and activating the portkey-charm she placed on it.

When she landed, she blinked, surprised at finding herself in the middle of a clearing in the woods and yet not completely surprised at seeing a man holding Dean at gunpoint. It didn't seem like he noticed her presence yet so she pulled out her wand, nearing him carefully.

"Let's talk about this," Dean said, "You don't wanna do something you're gonna regret." The other man – who now Hermione recognized held a police gun and a badge – readjusted his aim. "Or maybe you do."

"Step back," Hermione warned, holding her wand tightly in her hand and making the man turn to look at her with surprise, though he still didn't put the gun down. "I said step down. Before you force me to do something I won't regret."

"Pete," a new voice called out and both Hermione and Dean turned to see a woman walking towards them, gun in hand and Sam in toe. "Put the gun down."

"Diana?" Pete asked. "How'd you find me?"

"I know about Claire," Diana said, making Hermione send a confused glance at Sam direction.

He mouthed that he'll explain later and Hermione turned her attention back to the two cops.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Pete said.

"Gun," Hermione repeated, aiming her wand right at him. "Down."

"Oh, I don't think so," Pete almost laughed. "What are you going to do? Poke me to death?"

"I just might," Hermione replied. "But, no, I think I'll just do this."

With two sharp strikes of her wand, she created a barrier between Pete and Dean and disarmed the cop. He looked at her, shocked, but she leaned next to Dean who, as she now saw, was in shackles.

"Really?" she muttered as she tapped her wand against the handcuffs, freeing Dean's hands. "You were going to shoot an unarmed, bound man? Who'd have known even dirty cops don't have any values nowadays?"

"What…" Diana looked even more shocked than she was before, if it was possible. "Anything else you'd like to tell me?" she asked Sam. "Who the hell is she?"

"Hermione Singer," Hermione introduced herself. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you but, considering the circumstances…"

"Hermione Singer?" Pete repeated. "Like in the Harry Potter books?"

"Not like," Hermione replied. "The very same. Now, hold still."

She waved her wand once to make the cuffs that were on Dean up until now transfer to him before muttering 'Obliviate' and changing his memories of the meeting. When she was done, she glanced at Diana.

"He won't remember me being here," she said. "So make sure not to mention that in your files. And give him this right before you walk into the police station," she added, handing the other woman a bottle of Veritaserum. "Official version's gonna be he was overwhelmed with guilt over the thought of an innocent man going to jail for the crimes he committed, so he drove here and set Dean free before calling you to confess. Should make sure you don't get in trouble for anything and that Dean and Sam could walk away."

"But…"

"Take it, detective," Hermione said harshly. "From what I've seen from his memories, he deserves far worse than a lifetime in jail, and you could both get into a lot of trouble if people knew about your relationship. Sam, Dean," she added. "A word."

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked, pulling her into a short hug.

"Dean used his bracelet," Hermione said. "I considered ignoring it but I knew his ego's too big to actually ask for help unless he was on the verge of dying. Especially at two in the morning."

"Thanks for coming, by the way," Dean said. "Really saved my ass down there."

"Don't think Dad would have ever let it go if I didn't come here to save your sorry ass," Hermione muttered bitterly. "Any other loose ends you need me to tie up or are you actually capable of handling your own problems?"

Both Dean and Sam looked down, more than a bit embarrassed.

"The cops took Baby," Dean muttered, and Hermione sighed.

"I'll find her for you, but after that you're on your own. Anything else?"

"No," he replied. "Just… thank you again for coming. It means a lot to me."

"It should," Hermione muttered. "I'll text you Baby's address when I find her. Goodbye."

And with that, she Apparated away.

Once she was back at her apartment, after finding Baby and notifying Dean and Sam of the car's location, she sighed and poured herself a generous glass of Firewhiskey.

She didn't know why she was doing this to herself. She didn't know why she was letting him use her like that, when she didn't get anything in return but heartache.

More than all, she didn't know what was it about Dean Winchester that could make her be on his beck and call, popping to help him whenever he needed while he still treated her the way he did, and that made her not care one bit about it.

A/N: And I'm back! At least for one chapter though I'm hoping to get more done in the coming weeks. I probably won't go back to updating once a week just yet, but at least the story's moving along with a general idea of what I'm gonna do until the end of SPN's Season 2.

Tell me what you think about it :)

~mlr96