They pulled into the motel Cas said he was staying at and got out of the car. The three of them walked up to his room and knocked on the door. Cas threw open the door, and smiled when he saw them. And then immediately wrapped Hermione up in a big hug.

"I've missed you," Cas said.

"I've missed you, too!" Hermione replied.

They pulled apart and he brought his hand down to rest on her womb. She smiled and shook her head.

"Not yet," she said, softly.

"Soon," Cas said.

"Soon."

They moved into the room, Sam and Dean following them in.

"So, what's the plan?" Cas asked. "I'm assuming you guys have a plan, or else you wouldn't have gotten here so quickly."

They all took a seat on the various surfaces in the room. "Well, Hermione has some spells she's going to cast to get us into the room with the president, or, er, Lucifer," Dean said

"Well, you're in luck, he's in a cabin outside the city right now, he's not in the White House, so it should be easier for you guys to get close to him," Cas explained.

"Yeah, and so the three of us will go to him, and keep him occupied while Crowley, Rowena and Hermione do a spell to put him back in the cage," Sam explained.

"Sounds too easy," Cas said.

"I know," Sam said. "But it's what we have. And the only thing we can do is to expect that something will go wrong."

Hermione leaned against Dean, closing her eyes. "Remember vacation?" she said in a wistful voice. "I miss vacation."

Dean smiled, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Why don't you lay down and get some sleep," he said. "We need you to be one hundred percent before casting the spell."

Hermione nodded before moving around on the bed until she was laying on the pillow and then within seconds she was out.

"What spell is Crowley having Hermione do?" Cas said when they knew she was asleep.

"We aren't sure," Sam said. "He brought her all these papers that Rowena gave him and it's not in English or Latin. We think we figured out what language it is, but we haven't had time to translate it."

"She's so worried about messing up," Dean said. "She has never done anything like this before. And this is such an important spell, I think she's worried it'll end up like when she took the mark off."

"That she will fail to complete it," Cas said.

Dean nodded. "And that something horrible will happen."

"She's a very powerful and talented witch," Cas said. "She shouldn't worry."

"Well, she is. Because she's human, and she's about to do something that she's never done before. Something that is completely unfamiliar to her. She's got the right to feel how she's feeling."

"If she's so worried, why did she agree?" Cas asked.

"Because she's Hermione," Sam said.

"Are you certain that she's not..." Cas trailed off.

"Yeah," Dean said. "Yeah, we're certain. Or else we wouldn't be here. We would have found another way."

"Okay," Cas said. "So tell me the plan again?"

OoO

Hermione stood in the alley, nervous. Crowley and Rowena weren't anywhere to be seen. Had they stood them up? Just when she was going to give them up, they appeared in the alley with her, and Rowena immediately dropped to her knees, setting things up.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up," Hermione spoke to Crowley.

"Yeah, we wanted to make sure that the cage was ready to receive Lucifer. The boys where they need to be?"

Hermione nodded. "I confunded the secret service, they were able to slip in. They should be with him now."

"Good, good. Hermione, this is my mum, Rowena. Mum, this is Dean Winchester's witch."

Hermione was taken aback when she saw Rowena for the first time. It was the face of someone she had seen so many times for years. Except, she had red hair. "Oh my god," she breathed out. "You're Rowena Ravenclaw."

Rowena stood up, sighing. "I haven't been called that in centuries."

"But, how are you...alive?"

Rowena smiled. "I figured out the secret of immortality without the bloody philosopher's stone or making horcruxes."

"Did you make a deal?"

She sighed, "I'm not going to share my secrets with you, dear. You'll just have to figure it out for yourself."

"Your daughter is Ravenclaw Tower's ghost. Does she know that you're..."

"Wait, daughter?" Crowley said. "You have a daughter?"

Rowena shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Fergus. And no, she doesn't. And you won't be telling her either. Now are we finished here, we're on a bit of a time crunch."

Hermione sighed, pulling out her wand. "Yes, I'm ready."

"Good, let's do this and get that bastard back where he belongs."

Hermione and Rowena sat down and got to work. Hermione found the spell, and doing her part came easier for her than she thought. She still had no idea what she was saying, but she kept doing her part. And when they got to the end, there was a loud crack of thunder in the distance, and that was it. Hermione frowned. Did it work? She went to ask, but Rowena had stood up and joined Crowley. She put her arm through his.

"Thank you for your help, love. You really are a powerful witch. Please consider joining my coven." And with that, she and Crowley were no longer in the alley with her.

"Fuck," she muttered, quickly vanishing the evidence of the spell from the ground before grabbing her bag and turning on the spot, apparating back to where she and the guys had arranged to meet after the spell was complete. She landed and looked around. They weren't there. Why weren't they there? Maybe she moved too quick. Maybe they were still making their way out. She waited a few more minutes before pulling out her cell and dialing Dean. It went to voicemail. She called Sam. It went to voicemail. She went to call Cas, and it, too went to voicemail. She started to panic. Where were they? She closed her eyes and twisted on the spot. She reappeared next to where they had left the impala. It was still here. Cas' car, however, was not. Did something go wrong?

Her phone rang, and she answered it after the first ring. "Cas? What's going on? Where are you guys?"

"Wait, Dean and Sam aren't with you?" Cas asked.

"No," she said, her stomach dropping. "They're not with you?"

"No, they sent me away with Kelly before Lucifer was sent back into the cage."

"Wait," she said. "Who's Kelly?"

"Apparently, the President's mistress. She continued to have sex with him once he was Lucifer, and now she's pregnant. With Lucifer's child."

Hermione felt like she had been punched in the gut. In their research of Lucifer, she had stumbled upon information about nephelim. And what she found was not good. And that was just with regular angels. This was fucking Lucifer. "No."

"Yeah. I'm supposed to take her somewhere and end her pregnancy."

"Where are you now?"

"Some diner. We stopped to get food. She's in the bathroom right now. In fact, she's been in there for quite a while."

"Cas," Hermione said, dread filling her stomach. "I don't think she's in the bathroom anymore. Did you check it for windows?"

"Why would I..." Cas trailed off as he began to realize his mistake. "Shit!"

Hermione was taken aback. She had never heard the angel curse before. She heard the distinct sound of a locked door being kicked open and then more cursing.

"She's gone."

"If she's on foot, she couldn't have gotten far."

She listened as he ran, and then, more cursing.

"She took my car."

"Fuck," she said. "That is not good, Cas, because I need you to come back here. I don't know where Sam and Dean are, and I can't drive."

"Stay where you are," Cas said. "I'll be there as soon as I can. And we'll find Sam and Dean."

"Okay."

"Hermione, they'll be fine. They always are."

"Thanks, Cas."

They hung up, and Hermione leaned against the car, sliding to the ground. She didn't know what she was going to do. She couldn't apparate to the cabin, she didn't know where it was. She didn't visit it, she just went to the alley. She closed her eyes. Hopefully they were just held up, and that would be it. They would be here soon.

The sound of tires crunching on the gravel had Hermione looking up. She saw an unfamiliar car pull to a stop. She watched as the passenger door flung open and Mary stepped out. She was dressed similarly to how the boys always dressed and had much shorter hair than when she last saw her.

"Mary?" she asked.

"Hermione? Thank god, I was hoping we would find you. The boys are in trouble."

Hermione sat up. "What do you mean the boys are in trouble?"

"They were taken in by the Secret Service in suspicion of attacking the president."

"No, no, no, this wasn't supposed to happen," Hermione said, standing up. "The secret service was supposed to be confunded. They were not supposed to be aware of anything until well after the boys could get out."

"Well, I don't know what most of that means, but whatever you had planned failed, because I was there and I watched as my sons were carted off into a van to god knows where."

"What are you even doing here? Dean's been trying to contact you for weeks. And you've been MIA. How did you even know where to find us?"

Mary shrugged, "I called Dean the other night. We've been in contact ever since. He told me that you guys would be here, and that he would be able to help me after you guys wrapped up whatever it was you were doing here. But then he and Sam just got arrested and carted off."

"Wait, are you more concerned that your children were carted off to Chuck knows where and may be in danger, or that they aren't here to help you with your problem?"

Mary looked down at her feet before looking back up at Hermione. "Of course I'm worried about their safety. It's just that the thing that I need help with is very time sensitive, and..."

Hermione laughed bitterly. "Merlin, are you listening to yourself? What kind of mother are you?"

"The one who is supposed to be dead," Mary fired back at her. "I'm not supposed to be here. And I'm trying to adjust to a world that I don't recognize with people I don't know, so please, leave off the judgment."

Hermione sighed, "Fine, I will for now, because Sam and Dean are in danger. But when we get them back and before we go help you on whatever it is that you need help with, we will be having a discussion about what your absence and lack of communication has done to your children."

Mary laughed. "Oh, honey, you're not invited on my job. Family business. Family only."

"I am family," Hermione bit out.

Mary smirked. "Just because you're fucking my son, doesn't make you family. I'm sorry, but you're just a passing whim. One day, Dean will wake up and he'll realize that you're holding him back, or that he's putting you in danger, and you'll be on the first bus back to wherever it is you're from. Hunters don't have families."

Hermione bit her lip, and took a deep breath, trying to control her temper. "You don't know anything, at all, about my relationship with Dean. You haven't been around. It's been almost half a year since we met, did you know that? Did you know that I saved his life? That he saved mine? That we just spent three weeks in London together so that he could learn where I came from? Of course you don't. Because you have wanted nothing to do with Sam or Dean in weeks."

Mary narrowed her eyes. "Of course I don't know anything about your relationship with Dean, because you whisked him away almost immediately after my return! I didn't have a chance to learn who the only child I really know has become. So excuse me while I don't have the most favorable opinion of you."

"I whisked him away? I just...I can't do this right now, I need to find Dean and Sam and make sure they're okay."

"Fine, let's go. We should go back to the cabin and see if we can pick up a trace of the van was taking them, and-"

Hermione rolled her eyes. She and Dean had prepared for this when they were in London. She pulled out her wand, muttered a spell that she and Dean practiced endlessly around London, when the tip of her wand glowed a bright white, she pressed it to her chest before closing her eyes, twisting on the spot and heading toward Dean.