Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Supernatural.

December 2009.

"You can't keep me here forever, you know."

Hermione didn't know how long it had been since Cas left. She didn't even know how long it had been since she first stepped into the warehouse.

All she knew was that waiting was driving her crazy.

Nothing changed in the warehouse, and she couldn't hear anything that happened outside. No light came in, and even the clock on her phone – which, of course, had no reception – didn't change its time when she looked at it.

Which, eventually, led her to literally talking to the walls.

"I have a life. Family. I know you know that, you used to hold them against me whenever I was being stupid."

Of course, walls being walls, they couldn't talk back.

But Gabriel could.

"You were right. Of course you were, you know you were." She sighed. "I just didn't get the chance to tell you that, since, you know. You changed your phone number and moved out. Which was really mature, by the way. Really mature."

Maybe antagonizing him wasn't the best way to go about it, but she didn't care. She talked to Gabe now the way they always talked. Brutally honest, a tad cynical and holding nothing back.

It might not always be nice to hear but considering it knocked enough sense into her to get help and get better, she couldn't deny it worked.

"All I can think about now is going back to Jessica," she said, her voice echoing around the empty space. "Shows how much better I got. A year ago all I would have thought about is whether or not Dean is okay. I know you probably don't want to hear about our relationship, but I have to admit we're doing it right this time. We're together, but it doesn't make either of us any less of an individual."

She looked around. No response.

There was a part of her that thought – or maybe even hoped – that this would make him appear, even if only to make her shut up or change the subject.

Things must be worse than she thought they were. Which would make quite a lot of sense, considering she didn't actually know what was going on. She didn't even know why he took Dean and Sam, or why he left her here. Though she did have an idea about the second one.

It was the same issue she was dealing with all her life – she knew too much.

It was the same old story that followed her since childhood. Reading too much made her the know-it-all. Being talented in her studies made her annoying and arrogant in the eyes of her peers. Knowing of both the magical and supernatural world made her dangerous – the sort of person someone would befriend to keep at their side, lest they had to be on the opposite one.

And now, she knew too much about him.

He zapped Castiel away before she could tell him what Gabriel really was, and leaving her here suggested he didn't want the other Angel, nor Dean and Sam, knowing the truth about him. Whether to make it harder for them to stop him or in order to keep his true identity secret, she didn't know.

"You really are running away from your problems. Hiding in your made-up world instead of coming out here and facing everything that was going on. I know your family's messed up – I'm pretty sure anyone who ever picked up a Bible knows that. But this… whatever it is you're trying to do, it won't solve anything."

Hermione looked up again, knowing that there wasn't really anyone above her, physically, but also knowing Gabriel could still hear her.

"Just talk to me, Gabe. Talk to me. Because this…" She marked around her. "This can't go on forever, and you and I both know whatever you're trying to do with Dean and Sam could only end badly. So let's solve this like grownups. I know you're not ready now, but it's not like I'm going anywhere any time soon."

She sat down, crossing her arms and leaning against a cold metal wall.

"So whenever you're ready… I'm here for you, Gabriel."

The first sign that something was finally happening was, surprisingly enough, the sound of clapping. Hermione jumped to her feet, wand in her hand and ready to attack at a moment's notice.

She was even more surprised when the room around her buzzed, revealing Dean and Sam standing in front of Gabriel.

"Dean!" she called out, not wasting a moment in running right to him and wrapping her hands around his neck.

"Mya!" Dean called back, his own hands tightening around her. "We were so worried when you disappeared. What happened? Where were you?"

"I was right here the whole time," Hermione said, pulling back but still looking at him. "You're the ones who disappeared."

"Well, this is all very touching, but I'd rather not vomit today, if it's all the same to you."

As he spoke, Hermione turned to look at Gabriel, only just noticing that he was standing in a circle of fire. Holy fire.

"You figured it out," she breathed out.

"They sure did," Gabriel said with a smile that didn't as much as attempted to reach his eyes. "Where'd you get the holy oil?"

"Well," Dean said, "you might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass."

Hermione blinked. "Do I want to know?"

"No," Sam immediately said.

"Where'd I screw up?" Gabriel asked, bringing Hermione's attention back to him.

"You didn't," Sam replied. "Nobody gets the jump on Cas like you did."

"Mostly it was the way you talked about Armageddon," Dean added, making Hermione wonder what happened while they were gone.

"Meaning?" Gabriel asked.

"Well, call it personal experience," Dean replied, "but nobody gets that angry unless they're talking about their own family."

"So," Sam started, "which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy, or Douchey?"

"Yeah…" This time, Gabriel's smile was genuine. "I don't think so."

"Gabriel," Hermione said, making all three of them turn to look at her. "He's the Archangel Gabriel."

"Herms," Gabriel said. "Long time, no see. Although by Dad, you can talk."

"Well, I was afraid you'd forget me, seeing as you spent the past year avoiding me," Hermione said, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. "Had to make up for it after you left me for days in a bloody deadlocked warehouse."

"Wait," Dean said, looking between the two of them. "You two know each other?"

"We dated, Dean-o," Gabriel said. "Or have you forgotten about that already?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Gabe's the one who saved me," Hermione explained.

"Saved you?" Sam repeated. "From what?"

"Perdition," Gabriel said. "As well as every other time that she nearly got herself killed again in the six months that followed."

"Wait," Dean said, confused. "If you're an Archangel, what are you doing pretending to be a Trickster?

"My own private witness protection," Gabriel replied. "I skipped out of Heaven, had a face transplant, carved out my own little corner of the world… until you two screwed it all up."

"And what did Daddy say when you ran off and joined the pagans?" Dean asked.

"Daddy doesn't say anything about anything."

"Then what happened?" Sam asked. "Why'd you ditch?"

"Do you blame him?" Dean asked. "I mean, his brothers are heavyweight douchenozzles."

"Dean!" Hermione scolded.

"Shut your cakehole," Gabriel said at the same time.

He looked between the three hunters. Sam was curious, Hermione was angry and Dean at the very least had the decency to look regretful – if not for what he said then for the fact that it upset Hermione.

"You don't know anything about my family," he said, his voice lower, but no less angry. "I love my father, my brothers. I love them. But watching them turn on each other? Tear at each other's throats? I couldn't bear it! Okay? So… I left." All of the anger he's been feeling for months, the despair, it was all coming up now. "And now it's happening all over again!"

"Then help us stop it," Sam offered.

"It can't be stopped."

"You wanna see the end of the world?" Dean asked.

"I want it to be over!" Gabriel called out. "I have to sit back and watch my own brothers kill each other thanks to you two! Heaven, hell, I don't care who wins! I just want it to be over."

He was barely even aware that his voice cracked. He didn't notice the tears that were on the verge of falling. He didn't even know he was shaking until he stopped, and it took him a moment to realize why he even stopped.

Hermione had crossed over the holy fire, ignoring both Sam and Dean's protests to wrap her hands around him. He hesitated for a moment before returning the hug, burying his face into her hair.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" she asked. "Things don't have to end this way. There has to be another way."

"You don't know my family," he whispered back. "What you guys call the Apocalypse, I used to call Sunday dinner. That's why there's no stopping this, because this isn't about a war. It's about two brothers that loved each other and betrayed each other." He looked past Hermione and at Dean and Sam. "You'd think you'd be able to relate."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, and even Hermione backed away in surprise.

"Why do you think you two are the vessels?" Gabriel asked. "Think about it. Michael, the big brother, loyal to an absent father." There was no missing how uncomfortable comparison made Dean, but no more than the one that followed made Sam. "And Lucifer, the little brother, rebellious of Daddy's plan. You were born to this, boys. It's your destiny! It was always you! As it is in Heaven, so it must be on Earth. One brother has to kill the other."

"No," Hermione told him. "It won't happen like this. It won't."

"I'm sorry," Gabriel said. "But it is." He reached out to Hermione, only for her to move out of reach and out of the circle of fire. "Look…" he said. "I wish this were a TV show. Easy answers, endings wrapped up in a bow...but this is real, and it's gonna end bloody for all of us. That's just how it's gotta be."

Hermione shook her head again, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. It can't happen the way Gabe said it would. She won't let it – she couldn't let it.

But she didn't know what to do.

"So," Gabriel finally said after a few long moments. "Now what? We stare at each other for the rest of eternity?"

"Well, first of all, you're gonna bring Cas back from wherever you stashed him," Dean said.

"Oh am I?"

"Yeah," Dean replied, not even a bit amused at Gabriel's tone. "Or we're going to dunk you in some holy oil and deep-fry ourselves an archangel."

"Dean, would you stop it already?" Hermione asked, a hint of exasperation to her voice as she turned to Gabriel. "Come on, Gabe. Please?"

Gabriel clenched his jaw for a moment before snapping his fingers. Immediately, Castiel appeared.

"Cas, you okay?" Dean asked.

"I'm fine," Castiel replied. "Hello, Gabriel."

"Hey, bro," Gabriel said dryly. "How's the search for Daddy going? Let me guess – awful."

"Okay, we're out of here," Dean said taking one last look at Gabriel before turning around. "Come on, Sam."

"Okay, guys?" Gabriel asked as Sam followed Dean and Cas followed the two of them. "So, so what, huh? You're just gonna leave me here forever?"

"Yeah… I think so," Dean replied, mocking the way Gabriel spoke earlier. "Mya, you coming?"

"Not yet," Hermione replied, waving her wand. The sprinklers came to life, slowly putting out the fire that constricted Gabriel. "We don't mess with people like you do," she told Gabriel. "And that's a little something I think Dean needs a reminder of. And I also think," she added before anyone could comment, "that between trapping and torturing the boys, leaving me stranded here and me saving your ass right now, we can call it even. Am I clear?"

Gabriel swallowed hard before replying, "Crystal."

"Good," Hermione nodded once, turning away from him and walking towards Dean, Sam and Cas. "Now we can go."

Later that week, when Hermione returned to her London flat, there was a note awaiting her on the kitchen table. Just two words, nothing more, but she knew it meant a lot more than what anyone else who might have stumbled upon it could realize.

"I'm sorry."

"I know," she replied into the air. And she did, just as she knew her words were heard no matter where he was. "And, for the record… I forgive you."