There was an awkward silence after Dean and Arthur left as the three people left in the bunker stood around the rift. Hermione didn't know what to do with herself. There was too much new information for her to go through and too many emotions to deal with, so in order to avoid the issue, she turned to other practical, but equally pressing matters.

"So. Are we really not going to talk about the fact that I broke out of prison today? No one's curious at all?" She asked rhetorically.

Sam startled as if he had forgotten all about it. "Right! What were you even there for?"

"You've got wizards coming after you." She told them darkly.

Sam frowned "But what do wizards want with us?"

"They want to wipe your mind. They want to remove everything pertaining to the supernatural," she frowned.

Sam laughed with a hint of hysteria "But that's our entire lives. What would even be left?"

"Probably a drooling mess," she cautioned.

Sam frowned "Why do they even want to wipe our minds?"

Hermione sat down with a sigh. "As you know and as Arthur told you, the wizarding world is hidden in plain sight. The witch trials and the inquisition took a large toll on the population of witches and wizards. A lot of the witches that were burnt at the stake were the kind you're dealing with. Dark witches and wizards who bargained for their power or gained it from cursed objects or spell books but there was also a large number of trueborns that were killed. Men, women and even children. Back then they weren't as organised. There were covens, but they were rather exclusive and most of them relied on dark magic for protection."

Sam sat down too, along with Gabriel who slung an arm around Hermione's shoulder which she was grateful for. She had missed him and needed reassurance that he was really there.

"The witches and wizards realised that they needed to organise themselves better and protect their community as a whole, rather than in small groups. The Wizengamot was founded and along with representatives from countries all over the globe, the International Statute of Secrecy was put into effect. By law, it had become illegal to reveal witchcraft to muggles – or No-Maj's as they're called here in the States - That's people without magic. Now, a lot of witches and wizards were unhappy with that decisions, particularly some of the covens. They felt like we should seize power and overthrow muggle governments and the church with our power, but there were simply too many muggles. They outnumbered witches and wizards by far and it wouldn't last. So, the wizarding world separated itself and became a secret society of sorts."

Sam nodded slowly "Okay, but what about people like you? My dad – uh, our dad I suppose, definitely didn't have magic, and I don't think your mom did. Are kids like you always uh taken away?"

"No," Hermione shook her head sadly "No, that's where it gets technical. You see, there are exceptions to the rule. Leaders of the muggle governments, intelligence services like MI6 or CIA and then immediate family to muggleborns. We ought to be able to use that to our advantage." She pointed out and picked up the file with the birth certificate which was still lying on the table.

Sam smiled widely and leaned back in his chair. "Right – because we're family"

"Yeah –" she tapped the folder thoughtfully "- I just can't help but think that the Statute was just used as a pretence."

Gabriel frowned and squeezed her shoulder when she got lost in thought "Why?"

"They came on far too aggressively. And they kept me for a month. I know that they take the Statute more seriously here in America, but they didn't have any actual evidence to hold over me. And while I don't like to brag about it – I am a bloody war hero. They could potentially get in a lot of trouble with the British Ministry of Magic, and I can't help but ask myself if a small case of violation of the Statute is really worth jeopardising international relations for." She continued slowly.

"You think something else is going on" Gabriel continued rhetorically.

Sam shrugged "It could be us – we have a lot of enemies. Maybe someone found out about your connection to us and targeted you because of that."

Hermione shook her head with a frown. "No, it felt personal against me too."

"So, what do we do?" Gabriel tried. "I could probably put up some stronger wards, but I'm practically human right now. It'd probably take me a few weeks to recharge the batteries. I'm useless." he sighed self-consciously and looked away from her.

Hermione turned to him and put a hand on his cheek, turning his head so she could look him in the eye. "You could be a muggle forever for all I care. You don't seriously think I love you for your grace, do you?"

Gabriel scoffed. "It's weird, okay. I can't do anything. I mean, I've got some serious cravings, but I can't create anything. Not even a damn cupcake." He frowned.

Hermione shrugged "Neither can I," she pointed out. "It's one of Gamp's-"

"Laws of elemental transfiguration." He finished for her. "I do listen to you, you know" he gave her a little smirk.

She smiled fondly at him and noticed Sam shuffling uncomfortably, slightly uncomfortable about being third wheel.

"It's fine. I can set up my own wards," she winked at both of them and headed out in the war room and down the halls "They haven't failed me yet!"

She got started with the painstaking task of setting up more wards. She drew runes on all walls, focusing especially on the borders of the building. The garage door was given an extra heavy layer of protection. Her goal was to finish with the fidelius charm, but she wanted to wait until Dean and Arthur returned, hopefully with Mary and Jack. The last thing she wanted was to risk trapping them in the Apocalypse World because they couldn't find the bunker. The warding took several hours, and she worked well into the evening, only stopping to eat. She had saved the front of the building till last because Sam hoped Castiel world return before they hid the entrance, but they couldn't put it off anymore.

She opened the heavy door but was met with a disheartening vision. Chief Auror Ironwood himself stood in the light of the setting sun, with half a dozen Aurors fanned out behind him, all with their wands trained at her.

She was tempted to send a wandless stunner at him but she knew the others would put her down – possibly even kill her before he hit the ground and there was no way she would be able to take on all of them when they were spread out like that. Smart strategy.

"So. Ironwood – fancy seeing you here. How did you find me?"

The chief Auror smiled nastily at her. "Wouldn't you like to know? Turn around, mudblood."

"Ah. So, there's your stupid motivation." She rolled her eyes but did as he said. She felt him grab her shoulder and shove the wand hard into her lower back.

"Shut up and get moving" he growled in her ear.

He shoved her onwards towards the door and she had no way other than to comply. She hastily put a plan together and just hoped it would work.

She shuffled slowly through the door but picked up the pace when she reached the stairs. Luckily, the guys were exactly where she hoped they would be. The Aurors weren't aware of Gabriel and hopefully her plan would work, but she had to move faster with her spell craft than she ever had before. Casting several spells at once even.

Before Ironwood descended far enough down the stairs to be able to see properly into the bunker, she waved her hand almost imperceptibly. Her phone skidded out of her beaded bag, which was on the table in the library, along with the card from the Auror, Eric Everglade, who unsurprisingly wasn't among the goons Ironwood had brought with him. She silenced Gabriel who was luckily still in the library and put a sticking charm on his feet. Then she put the strongest illusion and notice-me-not on the entire entrance to the library, effectively rendering it invisible, hiding both Gabriel and the rift that was still open. Sam was in the war-room, because just as she had predicted, he was curious about her wards and was coming towards her in order to check them out.

"Sam, run!" she yelled, even though she knew it was useless, but only calling out for Sam would hopefully cheat the Aurors into thinking that her and Sam were the only occupants.

Ironwood thrust the wand hard into her back, almost making her stumble and he caught Sam with a stunner before any of them had time to react.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and the other Aurors had followed them down.

"Search the rest of the place. See if you can find the other one" Ironwood ordered the others. He shoved her into a chair and conjured ropes, tying her to it.

"You're wasting your time. He's out on a case." She told him with a smirk. She wasn't even lying, technically. She just hoped the enchantments on the library and Gabriel would hold until they were gone so he could organise their rescue.

"It's empty boss. But we found a really freaky room with chains and stuff" one of the Aurors returned, looking slightly traumatised.

Ironwood raised an eyebrow "Well, miss Granger. I had heard muggles got up to some strange things, but I had never pegged you for that type" he smirked lewdly at her, making her slightly nauseous. She could feel Gabriel struggling against her spells, but she tightened them.

"Let's wrap it up people!" Ironwood yelled at the other Aurors who came back from around the bunker. They levitated Sam outside and Ironwood snapped manacles on her wrists before undoing the ropes. He pushed her up the stairs in the same manner he had pushed her down. Just before they closed the door, she lifted the enchantments. They portkeyed away before Gabriel had time to reach the door. Without his grace, he could only move by foot.

…

As soon as Gabriel had been released by the spell, he ran as fast as he could. He took the stairs two at a time, but when he slammed the door open, they were already gone.

"Dammit!" He yelled and hit the stone wall. He regretted that action immediately when the skin broke. He still had virtually no grace, so that shit hurt. And bled.

He remembered the phone that had appeared on the table and ran back inside only to find that it was already ringing.

"Hello?" He answered it.

"Shit" a male voice replied. "I- I need to speak to Hermione Granger. Is she there? Did I get the right number? It's urgent!" the guy practically yelled.

"This is Gabriel. You got the right number, but she can't answer the phone right now. Who are you?" he demanded, as he paced the library. He didn't have time for this.

"I'm sorry, I'm Auror Eric Everglade. Wherever you are right now, you need to leave! NOW!" he urged.

Gabriel frowned and picked up the card that had slid out of the bag with the phone. The names matched.

He sighed. "I think you were too late, buddy. Your pals were already here. They took her and Sam Winchester. Hermione gave me your card, so I guess I was supposed to call you anyway."

"Shit! My mom's gonna kill me!" the Auror hissed to himself, making Gabriel raise an eyebrow. "Listen – they found out I helped her escape. I have no idea how. They also found your location – again, I have no idea how. I went on the run, but we need to bust them out or else they're done for. You said they took her and Sam. Where's Dean?"

"Uh, he's indisposed at the moment" Gabriel told him, looking at the still open rift.

"Keep him hidden! It's imperative that you keep him hidden. If they don't have him, they won't do anything to the others because they need them for leverage. Where are you? We need to organise a rescue."

Gabriel debated whether to tell the guy, but Hermione had shown him the card for a reason. He had to be able to trust him.

"Um. Do you know a place called Lebanon in Kansas?" he asked the Auror hesitantly.

"Lebanon? Yeah, that's like 4 hours away from where my family lives." Eric affirmed "Tell you what, give me till tomorrow morning to get everyone organised and I'll come to you. I'll bring the cavalry."

"Uh, I'd rather get going as soon as possible. Those two are family."

"Listen. Sam is family to me too. I'll explain later. But right now, we need to organise. We're gonna need all the manpower we can get. We're breaking into a secure magical government facility which is backed up by a full Auror Corps. They won't obliviate Sam and Hermione as long as they don't have Dean. Send me your coordinates in a text. I'll see how many people I can gather. You should do the same." The Auror encouraged and hung up.

Gabriel stood for a depressingly long time, wondering who he could even call. He looked through Hermione's phone and found Harry's name. He figured that the guy ought to know and he hoped that he could provide some magical backup, but he didn't answer. The rest of her friends didn't have cell phones, instead relying on owls and fireplaces and he had neither.

In reality he only had three people he could rely on in a situation like this. One of them was in another world and another one was one of the people he needed to rescue. He needed to give the Winchesters more credit. At least in his head. No need to get sappy.

He started searching the bunker. Somewhere, someone had to have left a cell phone with his baby brother's number. With his grace he could have found him just by blinking. Not having it sucked major ass.

He had searched the bunker for hours without luck, when he heard the door to the bunker creak open. He grabbed one of the swords on display and hid behind a bookcase, ready to jump out and attack in case it was the wizards who had come back.

Just as he was about to attack with a fierce war cry, a familiar voice called out.

"Sam? Dean?"

Gabriel sighed in relief. "Cas!" He greeted without much ceremony as he stepped out from behind the bookcase. He threw the sword on the table with a loud 'clang'.

His brother stood in the war room with the perpetual confused frown on his face. "Gabriel?" He asked. "Where are Sam and Dean?" Right down to business.

Gabriel sighed "Good to see you too, bro. Sam and my girlfriend were kidnapped, not long ago and your boyfriend's in there." He gestured vaguely at the library.

Castiel's eyes widened when he saw the rift. "Dean is in the Apocalypse World alone?!" he demanded furiously.

"Easy there" Gabriel rolled his eyes "He went in there with some British dude called Arthur." He waved him off. "Can we get back to the part where Sam and Hermione were kidnapped?"

"Arthur? Ketch? He went in there with Arthur Ketch for backup?" Castiel practically growled.

"Yeah, that's the one." Gabriel shrugged, ignoring Castiel's protests "But listen! We have another problem here. Sam and Hermione were taken. We can't do anything for Dean and Arthur – They're supposed to be back in about 9 hours. In about 8, we have some people coming to help with a rescue mission for Sam and Hermione."

"What people?" Castiel frowned in even deeper confusion.

"I have no idea, honestly." He admitted "Some dude called on Hermione's phone. He said he was part of Sam's family. He's bringing backup and we're gonna bust them out of a highly secure magical prison. You with me?"

Castiel closed his eyes in exasperation. "You invited an unknown number of people here, who you don't even know?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, Cassie, but I'm standing here, alone with no grace whatsoever – a first for me, by the way – with an open rift, a missing girlfriend and brother-in-law. You don't get to judge me. I'll take help wherever the hell I can get it!" Gabriel huffed.

Castiel blinked "Brother-in-law?"

"That's a long story, buddy. Are you with me or not, dammit?" Gabriel begged.

His brother sighed and looked towards the rift. "Yes." He agreed. "But we should wait for Dean to return. He will want to be a part of rescuing Sam."

"Okay." Gabriel conceded. Dean was probably good to have with them as well. He had to admit the guy had some skill. "The dude who's coming knows what we're up against. From what I understand it's an 'all hands on deck'-situation. Is there anyone else we can call?"

Castiel frowned. "Dean, Mary and Jack are all in there," He gestured at the rift. "We could try Jody Mills, but I believe she is currently on a hunt in Montana. She probably won't be able to make it here on time."

Gabriel gave a humourless chuckle "Guess it's just you and me then bro." He smiled wryly and clapped Castiel on the shoulder. "You think they have any chocolate in this joint?" He asked rhetorically and walked towards the kitchen.

Cas followed "Does it matter if they do? Couldn't you just make some?"

Gabriel scoffed "What part of 'no grace' don't you understand, Cassie? You'd think you could relate."

"Nothing at all?" Cas squinted at him.

He shrugged "I suppose there's a little lying around here, but I told Sam to hide it from me. They're gonna need it if they need to open another rift."

Cas nodded thoughtfully "I could probably find it for you." He offered.

"Thanks kiddo, but I think we should wait a bit. If your boy toy is going to be stuck in the Apocalypse, I don't think it's smart to give me the only key." He smirked over his shoulder at the other angel.

They headed into the kitchen where Gabriel proceeded to raid the cabinets. "Aha! Nougat! I love nougat!" He exclaimed in delight when he found an entire shelf of the stuff.

He turned around to find Cas looking at him with a small smile. "What?"

"You said brother-in-law before. We have time before those other people arrive. Do you care to elaborate?" He requested.

Gabriel huffed and stuffed his pockets with candy bars before jogging back in the library. He threw himself into a chair and gave Castiel the folder with the birth certificate.

He heard Cas make a small gasp.

"There were four of them?" He whispered incredulously to himself and put the paper gently on the table "This is significant" Castiel told him seriously.

Gabriel snorted "You're telling me. Now I have to deal with those bozos even more."

"No, I – I need to go to heaven." Castiel started to leave, but Gabriel grabbed his arm. "Whatever it is, it can wait 'till after we've saved them." He had to insist.

Castiel shook himself out of whatever thought he had become obsessed with and looked at Gabriel, seemingly remembering something.

"You've been missing for a while." He pointed out.

"Yeah, no kidding" Gabriel rolled his eyes and ripped open a chocolate bar.

Castiel sat next to him and looked at him carefully "Do you uh – want to tell me what happened?"

Gabriel lifted an unamused eyebrow at his brother but started telling him anyways as they waited for the cavalry.

...

There we go. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts! I'm really curious and it confirms the fact that there are actual people who read what I write. Which I am insanely grateful for!