Love, Fate and Prophecy: Bloodright

Part Four: Chapter Ten – The Once and Future King

Season Six – Episode 12 (Like a Virgin)

Although the butterflies in his stomach were not quite at the level of when he had arrived in the States for the first time all those years ago, nor as much as when he returned to find Sam and Dean, Harry was quite jittery as he made his way to the Belle Ame Inn.

He was also regretting his decision to come now, of all times. It had come from a place of boredom and need to move, but he wished that he had at least asked Ginny to come with him. He also needed to know who this "friend" Millie had mentioned in the letter was. He couldn't think of a single person who knew of his connection to the Winchesters that would have gone to the woman. Which meant that someone other than his friends knew his secret. A secret that he would give up his whole life to protect. (Saying that he would die for something now meant so much less.)

He entered the inn – it was cute. A magical chime rang when he closed the door. He breathed in the air for a second. There was always something comforting about entering wizarding spaces.

A young woman appeared from behind the counter. "Welcome to the…holy hell." She stopped and stared.

"Hello," he said. He berated himself for mentally being comforted by the presence of magic. It was so easy to forget his fame. Also, a disguise other than the glamour that made him look more like the famous wizard that everyone knew, rather than a Winchester, probably would have been smart.

"Are you…are you really?"

He gave the young witch a soft smile. "Yes. Harry Potter. Pleasure to meet you…"

"Sonia," she said breathlessly. "My name is Sonia. Mr. Potter, it's such an honor, I can't even begin to know where to start. You're so pretty." She immediately blushed upon blurting out that last part.

"Er – thank you?"

She stared for another couple of seconds before shaking her head and seeming to come to. "My apologies, Mr. Potter. I just never expected that I would ever meet someone like you. Are you here to stay in the Inn?"

He wasn't, but that might be the easiest cover. "Yes, please. Two nights, if you've the space. I didn't think to make a reservation."

She opened a large book and turned paler than she already was. "Mr. Potter, our Penthouse Suite is currently occupied, I am so sorry. I can see if maybe the guests might be willing to move to a different room, of course, you'll want the best…"

"Sonia," Harry interrupted. "I don't require the Penthouse Suite. I will take any room you have available." He hated that he was making this young woman so uncomfortable. Also, maybe he should have brought Dean along. He could have checked in without all this hassle.

"Of course, of course. I have the Library Suite? It's very cozy and has excellent views."

"That sounds perfect, thank you."

The young witch was using her wand to flip through pages of the book, noted something with a quill, and summoned a small book. "If you would just put your hand on here, sir, it will register your magical signature and the room will let you in."

This was standard practice for wizarding hotels, so Harry did as he was told.

"Will you need to be registering anyone else for your room? Ms. Weasley, perhaps?" She sounded pretty hopeful.

"I'm afraid not, Gin had to stay home to work."

"Oh, you call her Gin – that's so cute!" She blurted out.

Harry's smile was getting strained at this point. He wasn't used to the enthusiasm that Americans brought to celebrity encounters.

"Er – could you do me a favor and not put my name on the official record?" He really should have planned this out better.

"Oh, of course, we respect your privacy. What name would you like me to use?"

Harry thought quickly. Winchester was out, for obvious reasons, so he decided to think like Dean. "Richard Plant." He doubted anyone in the wizarding world would know who that was. He sincerely wished that he didn't know what that was – having had to sit through several lectures from Dean about how great he was.

"Of course. Is there anything else you need?"

"Uh – no. Wait, yes. Is Millie here?"

Sonia raised an eyebrow. "You know Mémé?"

"Not exactly."

"She's currently speaking with the chef about dinner tonight, but I'm sure I could interrupt…"

"No, no need. I'll just find the room. When she's free, tell her that I'll be waiting. Whenever she's ready."

Sonia found this all to be very odd. "Ok. Well, the suite is on the fourth floor – third door on the left."

"Thank you."

xXxXxXxXxXx

Dean sat down heavily across from Bobby. Bobby poured him a drink. "Like my daddy always said, just 'cause it kills your liver don't mean it ain't medicine." He pushed it across the desk towards Dean. "Sam still asleep?"

Dean took a drink at the same time as Bobby.

"Yeah. And Harry's gone off one some sort of wizarding business."

"He'll wake up. What sort of business?"

Dean shrugged. "He wouldn't say. But he better not die. Also, he cooked enough food to feed us until the next apocalypse."

Bobby could tell that Dean's heart was not really in worrying about Harry. The wizard could take care of himself, for the most part.

"Dean, he's been through how much? Somehow, he always bounces back."

"He's never been through this." The eldest Winchester spotted a newspaper printout that is in front of Bobby and inclined his head. "Job?"

"Might be," Bobby replied. He passed over the paper, which was from The Portland Chronicle, the headline reading, 'SMALL PLANE CRASH KILLS TWO.'

"Can I help? Send me to the library? Anything? Especially since you don't currently need me as a buffer." Dean had spent more time than he would have liked in the last couple of weeks preventing arguments between Harry and Bobby. He didn't know what had happened between the two of them – he didn't particularly care either, but the two of them could barely be in the same room for more than ten minutes without snapping at each other.

"Harry's just as stubborn as your daddy."

Dean snorted.

"What?" Bobby asked grumpily.

"You're one to talk. Now, what's the weird with this couple of Buddy Hollys?"

"Pilot was found seventeen miles away from the wreck, flambéed. Girl is just gone. Nobody, no nothing."

"Ok, I'm not changing the channel."

"Dean," Sam said. Both Bobby and Dean snapped to attention. Dean set his glass down hard as Sam entered the room. He stands up.

"Sam?"

Sam hugged Dean. Not the quick, perfunctory, one that he had given his older brother a year and a half ago. An actual, real hug. He moved on to hug Bobby as well.

"Good to see you," Bobby said.

"Wait. I saw you – I – I felt Lucifer snap your neck." He seemed very shaken up about this.

"Well, Cas kind of…"

"Cas is alive?"

"Yeah, Cas…Cas is fine. Sam, are you okay?" Dean said with great concern.

"Actually, um…I'm starving."

Dean clapped him on the back. "Well, you're in luck."

It didn't take long to pull out some of the food that Harry had made. He had even enchanted the plates to heat the food as soon as they were pulled from the fridge. Bobby had been quite annoyed by this, saying that the microwave worked just fine, but Dean swore that the food tasted just as fresh as when it came out the oven the way Harry did it.

Sam sat at the table, digging into some roast chicken and vegetables. He also had a beer – Dean was across from him at the table with just that. Bobby was leaning against the counter.

"This is amazing. Did Ellen make this?"

"No, Harry did," Dean responded.

"Harry?"

"Yeah. When he's nervous, he cooks. Far as I can tell he's the only Winchester to ever know his way around a kitchen."

"Where is he?"

"Dunno. He went on a trip – wouldn't tell me anything else. Should be back in the next couple of days. So, Sam…" Dean didn't want to talk about Harry, he wanted to find out where Sam's head was at.

"Yeah?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"The field. Michael was dead – Harry killed him with something. And then I fell."

"Okay. And then?"

"I woke up in the panic room."

"That's it?" Bobby questioned, surprised. "You really don't remember…"

"Let's be glad," Dean cut him off. "Who wants to remember all that Hell?" Bobby glared.

"Well, how long was I gone?"

"About a year and a half."

"What? I was downstairs f – I don't remember anything. So, how'd I get back? Was it Cas?"

"Not exactly," Dean said, evasively.

"Dean, what did you do?"

"Well, Harry and I met with Death – "

"Death?! The horseman? Dean, what did you do?"

"Yeah, the guy loves Harry. Had no problem doing him a favor. It's done."

"You sure?"

"It's over. Slate's wiped."

"Well, isn't this just neat and clean," Bobby chimed in sarcastically.

"Yes, it is – for once," Dean snapped back.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

Dean hesitated. He decided that it was a little suspicious if he had no updates. "Harry's magic got out of control for a second. It's much better now – Master of Death stuff. I'm sure he'll fill you in when he gets back. Another beer?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

Harry had been wearing a hole into the floor from pacing when a knock finally came. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Standing there was an elderly witch, who, like most witches her age, did not look as old as she actually was. She was more petit than Harry had thought she would be – given the massive size of the rest of their family. Although, if her genes had been stronger, she probably wouldn't have had a squib for a son.

"Mr. Potter," she said formally.

"Please, call me Harry, everyone does. Come in."

She did. There was an awkward silence.

"I got your letter…"

"I figured. I am so sorry to bother you, Harry. I know how far-fetched it sounds. I mean, you're you, the whole world would know if…"

"It's true. I am your grandson." He dropped the glamour.

"Oh my." Millie couldn't believe what she was seeing. If she didn't know, she would say that this was some sort of cruel joke. It was as if she was looking at John – just as he had been when she had last seen him. "You – you, look just like your father. Except for your eyes…"

Harry couldn't help but laugh at that. He had been hearing that his whole life, but never about his biological parents. "Yes, I have my mother's eyes."

"How – how is this possible?"

"In your letter, you mentioned the Purpura Convention. I thought you understood…"

"I do, of course. I know how the Convention works. It's just…John was a squib. He shouldn't have been able to have a wizard son. Much less the most powerful wizard of his generation."

"I don't understand the science or the magic behind it. But you're not the first to say that I shouldn't be. But somehow, here I am."

"I wasn't trying to imply anything. I just, never, in a million years could have imagined this. I, of course, want to know all about you. Not that I don't know about you, of course, every witch and wizard does."

Harry was feeling very uncomfortable. Sam and Dean were one thing – they knew he was a wizard but they didn't know what his life was in the wizarding world. He could disappoint them as a brother, and he certainly had, but with someone like this. Well, there was a reason that the advice was to never meet your heroes.

Warily, he said, "Every witch and wizard think they do, at least."

"That sounds terribly lonely."

Harry supposed it could be. He decided to change the subject. "You never told John – Dad, about being a witch?"

Now it was Millie's turn to be uncomfortable. "I didn't. I didn't want to introduce him into a world that would shun him. The world was a very different place in his childhood and the shame of my defection would have been enough to make his life difficult. Even if he had been a wizard."

"Defection?"

"Marrying a no-maj. I suppose you are probably not well versed in American wizarding society. It wasn't just frowned upon. It was borderline illegal. Look at what happened with you – and that was in the 80s, a far more progressive time. When John married into that family, I had to make a choice. If it had been discovered that my squib son had married the daughter of a witch-killer and I was still in contact with him, they would have put me in jail."

"So, what did you do?" Harry had a feeling that he wasn't going to like her response.

Millie looked down. "I left. John was a grown man. He had been to war and gotten married, he didn't need me anymore."

"I'm a grown man who has been to war. I am not married, but I would give anything to have my mother. Either of them." The tension in his voice was getting higher. He couldn't believe that this woman was his grandmother. She was reminding him horribly of Aunt Petunia.

Millie waved him off. "This was a different time."

"And after Mary died? He didn't contact you then?"

"No. He'd hardly have a way, would he? I wish he had, honestly, with her out of the picture…well, things might've been different."

"That's my mother you're talking about," Harry said, danger evident in his tone.

Millie didn't seem to notice. "Do you know what your mother was?"

"Before she was married? Yes. Ironically, she never hunted again. John, though, he became quite the Hunter after she passed."

"No," Millie sat down. Her stomach dropped. Of all the things that could have happened, she couldn't imagine. "He couldn't have." She looked devastated. "How could my son have become one of them…"

"Become a Hunter? You can name them, you know. They're not all bad. He saved lives." Harry knew that the American magical community didn't look kindly on hunters, but he didn't think that they were so badly perceived as to merit this level of upset.

"You cannot possibly understand. To be a Hunter in America – it's the same as in the UK. They are not under control here. They are unwashed, filthy, savages. To think that John became one… Well, thank Merlin he's already died, because, otherwise, I might have died from shame."

It took everything in Harry not to yell at this woman. His relationship with John had been rocky, at best, but to prefer your only son dead rather than what he was unthinkable to him. "If you are ashamed of John, then you are ashamed of me," he said coldly. "This conversation is over." He stood up to leave.

"Harry – wait. You don't understand. Our family – the Wilkinsons, that is, we're important in American politics. Marrying Henry was my biggest mistake, I thought that it would lead to…it doesn't matter what it would lead to, it didn't. Instead, I disgraced my family by marrying a no-consequence no-maj who ran off. I've lived a life of no consequence because of this – my political ambitions in ruins. My actions almost ended my brothers' careers as well. But to have you. You could change everything for us."

"How?" He had an idea but wanted to hear this bat say it herself.

"W-why, by being you. To connect our name to yours – as family, as we are, that would… You are a politician of sorts yourself, I'm sure you understand the importance of family connections, how much easier they make one's career. It would be mutually beneficial."

"I don't give a damn what that would do. Our names will never be connected. I've had quite enough of family that doesn't value me for me."

He left, slamming the door behind him.

Millie was surprised. But she supposed that she shouldn't be – John had always been an emotional man. She had been hoping that Harry would be more like Henry, even-keeled. Once again, she was in the position where she was going to have to rethink her plan. For once, though, her goals did not seem too far out of reach. This meeting had not gone well, but there was still time to recover. She would stop at nothing to bring back the prestige that she had taken away from her family.

Harry flew to a spot in the Montana wilderness where he knew no one was around and he could let out steam by throwing around powerful spells. He was used to people trying to get close to him for power. That was nothing new. But to have family…no. He realized that this Millie and whatever family she had wasn't his. He took a deep breath. He had family – more than he had ever imagined. Blood family that actually cared about him. He didn't need anyone else. This thought calmed him down. He resolved to never think of her again. If John wasn't good enough for her then neither was he and that was fine. In pushing her aside in his head he didn't realize that he had forgotten to ask her a very important question. He would come to regret that deeply in the not-so-far future.

xXxXxXxXxXx

After spending a couple of hours cooling off, Harry made his way back to Bobby's. As he arrived at the top of the driveway, his phone rang. It was Dean. He chuckled a little and popped in right behind where his older brother was dialing the phone.

"Damn it, Harry," Dean was muttering to himself. "Why don't you ever…"

"Ever what?" Harry asked, from behind.

"Ah! You've been spending way too much time with angels, man. You can't do that to me."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I was just getting back here when you called. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah – I was calling to…"

"Harry."

Harry turned around. His eyes went wide. Standing in the doorway, looking healthy and whole was Sam.

"Sam?"

Sam grinned. He didn't respond, he just crossed the room in a couple of strides and hugged Harry. This caught Harry completely by surprise. This was the first voluntary hug that Sam had given him since they were children.

"It's good to see you, man," Sam said, pulling away from the hug. "I can't believe that you were able to take Michael out. I thought that I'd never see you again after Dean got back that day."

Harry was extremely confused and opened his mouth to ask a question, but Dean interrupted him before he could.

"Sam was surprised to learn that he spent a year and a half in the cage. The last thing he remembers is the graveyard." Dean gave Harry a warning look.

Harry frowned, but he figured he could argue with Dean about it later. He tried to think back to what Sam was referring to – so much had happened in the meantime, not even considering the very disappointing meeting that he had just had with their grandmother.

It came to him. "Dean didn't tell you?"

"Dean didn't tell me what?" Sam asked, looking, concerned at Dean.

If looks could kill, Dean's look would have murdered Harry before he had even asked that question.

"Our fight. It was fake," Harry explained, and Dean looked relieved. "We didn't want Lucifer to think about me too much, or prepare for intervention from me. You know, once…"

"Once he took me on as his meat suit. Smart," Sam complimented.

"Not as smart as we would have liked. Our plan didn't work in the end. The device Bobby used was supposed to expel Lucifer from your body and then I was going to use magic to get him in the cage."

Sam slapped Harry on the back. "Still, I'm impressed. Dean said that Death brought me back as a favor for you? That the slate's clean – no deal?"

"Dude, what did I tell you?" Dean asked, annoyed that Sam didn't trust him. Although, if he were being honest with himself, which he rarely was, he would be similarly suspicious if the circumstances were reversed.

"Now that you're awake it is," Harry said cheerfully. "Dean can now turn all of his mothering attention to the baby of the family and leave me the hell alone."

"Huh?" Sam was thoroughly confused.

Dean rolled his eyes. "We'll catch you up fully later. But Mister Master of Death here had been dying and resurrecting himself several times a week and Death ordered me to keep him alive until you woke up. But that's no longer my problem, so if you want to shoot him again Sammy, you've got my blessing."

xXxXxXxXxXx

Harry was casually leaned against the outside of the Impala, sipping on a cup of coffee, while Dean packed up the car to head out on a case. Bobby was planning on going with him and Harry was going to stay in the house with Sam, who was still asleep.

He was surprised that Dean was willing to leave Sam so quickly after he had recovered from the soul-operation. The last two weeks of watching both him and Sam like a hawk in one place had made Dean antsy and he was raring to go.

Dean closed the trunk of the car and looked at Harry. "You'll call me the second something goes wrong," it wasn't a question.

"Yeah, but I don't think Sam's going to be real happy about this."

"What aren't I going to be happy about?" Sam asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh. Uh, there's this thing in Oregon," Dean said, surprised to see Sam up and walking.

"Great. I'm in," Sam replied.

"Whoa, whoa. You just got vertical."

"Exactly. I'm up. I'm good."

"Well, a few more days of crap cable couldn't hurt. Plus, I know Harry has some embarrassing stories that he'd love to tell you."

"Right. Because that's what you did when you got back from Hell," Sam said sarcastically.

"All right. You, me, and Bobby."

"Oh, you two go on ahead. You got this covered," Bobby demurred. Harry was sure that the man hadn't forgotten that, while foiled, it looked as though Sam was going to try and kill him before he got his soul back.

"You sure?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You two enjoy catching up, ok?" He left.

"Harry?" Dean asked.

He shrugged. "I don't fancy these long road trips. Why don't you two go on ahead and give me a call when you get there and I'll join you then? I haven't had the chance to help Bobby with those wards like I promised I would." He wanted to give his brother's time together. Also, there was some business he wanted to take care of that would be easier without Sam and Dean there.

He also headed inside the house.

"What was that?" Sam asked as he opened the passenger side door of the Impala.

Dean shrugged. "He hates my music. At least we won't have to listen to his bitching about it the whole ride. There's no accounting for taste these days."

They both got in the car and drove off.

Harry headed back into the house, where Bobby was just moving papers around on his desk. The meeting with Millie had given Harry some much-needed perspective. Bobby's actions had only been to try and protect Dean. It was the true love of a parent, and Harry understood just how precious that was. Bobby looked surprised to see Harry.

"You didn't go with your brothers?"

Harry shook his head. "I'll join them later. I don't need the road trip. Bobby, I owe you an apology."

Bobby didn't look up at him. "You don't owe me a damn thing, boy," he responded gruffly.

Harry sighed. "I do. That night, when I found out about Sam, I was angry. You didn't see us much that year, but Dean was a wreck. I couldn't imagine how keeping Sam's secret did any good, but after seeing that he was…" Harry wasn't quite sure what words to use.

"A freakin' psychopath?"

"Yeah. That. So. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"I mighta deserved it a little," Bobby grumped back.

Harry laughed.

"Is this little moment of girl melodrama over now?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, think so."

"Good. What the hell is going on with you?"

Harry was surprised. "What do you mean?"

Bobby gave him a look. "Something has changed. For one, you ain't been back to Britain in weeks. Don't you have a job?"

Harry looked down. "Uh – no. Not anymore. I…resigned." Bobby was the first person that he told. (Everyone else had already known before it happened.) It felt weird to say.

"What the hell did you do that for? Haven't you been working your whole life for that job? What, you gave that up to come here and hunt with your brothers? Don't let yourself get pulled into all this."

Harry frowned. "A little late for that. I've been wanting to quit for years and when a good opportunity to do so came up, I took it. I don't need the money. Or the headache."

Bobby shook his head. "This is how it always starts. I won't bring it up again, but I think you're making a mistake. The boys will never leave this life – they'll die bloody. That doesn't have to be the same for you."

"If I'm around, they won't," Harry insisted. "Magic, remember?"

Bobby chuckled darkly. "Eventually something will come along that is more powerful than you. Something always does. Don't say I didn't warn you."

That was ominous. Harry didn't want to argue with Bobby about it. "I've gotta make a call. But after I plan on pouring myself several drinks. You want one?"

"Is the Pope Catholic?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

In the car, Sam finished filling Dean in on what he learned from talking to the police department. When he was done, he gave his brother a side-long glance. "So, you never even tried, huh?"

"Tried?"

"To go live a life…after. You do remember you promised that, right?" Sam was frustrated.

"Yeah, I remember."

"So, who didn't you try?"

"What makes you think I didn't?"

"'Cause look at you. Look at this. You're exactly the same."

"Yeah, you're probably right." There was a long pause. "I was with them for a year – Lisa and Ben. Harry was around for a lot of it too."

"A year?"

Dean nodded.

"So, then what?"

"Didn't work out."

"That all you going say?"

"Yeah."

"And Harry, you two seem…close. Closer than you were before."

"I suppose. He's alright. A great drinking buddy. He ain't you, though." Dean turned the music up louder.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"This can't be possible," Sam said, staring at his laptop. They had been in town for a short time, but this was weird, even for them.

"Try me," Dean said.

"Um, I googled 'fire,' 'claws,' 'flying,' 'stealing virgins,' and 'gold,' and it all takes me the same place."

"Where?"

"World of Warcraft fansites."

Dean was confused. "I don't know what that means."

"Dragons, dude. See? Told you. Not possible."

"Actually, it might be," Dean considered, thinking of one particular story from their childhood.

"How? In what reality?"

"Ours. We should get a second opinion," he picked up his phone and dialed.

Bobby heard a phone ringing. From the song that it was playing, he knew it wasn't one of his. Harry was taking a quick shower before going to join Sam and Dean. If you had asked Bobby though, the wizard was stalling.

He picked up the phone. "Yeah?"

"Bobby! Where's Harry?"

"Upstairs."

"Oh. Should've known, he never answers this thing. What do you know about dragons?"

"What? Nothing."

"That's what I thought. That's why I called Harry, not you."

"You thinking this is like the one he fought?"

"Maybe. It's a start. Could you make a few calls, just in case?"

"To who? Hogwarts?"

Dean thought on that a moment. "Harry's friend Charlie would probably be better than the school. But I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a phone. Hogwarts either. Humor me."

"Fine."

"You are a gentleman and a scholar. Oh, and send that lazy son-of-bitch over here as soon as you see him."

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, how's Memento doing over there? He caught you in any lies yet?"

Dean gave Sam a sidelong glance. "Everything's fine. Sam says hey."

He hung up.

"You ok?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Dean responded.

"Bobby say anything?"

"Nope."

Sam was flipping through the pages of John's journal.

"Dad never wrote anything about dragons. Or, if he did, some dickwad angel took it out of there."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, looking up from the book.

"That summer, Dad found this magazine when he went on that little field trip with Harry. There were these huge glossy pictures of him flying on a broom, battling a dragon. I think it was the tipping point in his decision not to send Harry back."

"Send me back where?" Harry had arrived, just behind Sam. Sam jumped and pulled out his gun. Harry put his hands up. "I come in peace."

Sam lowered his gun.

Dean shot him an annoyed look. "Took you long enough."

"What? You just called! I came as soon as Bobby said you needed me."

"I thought you were gonna teleport in as soon as we arrived."

Harry looked a little bashful. "I thought you two could use some…time."

"Time?"

Harry looked between his brothers, at a little loss for words. He hadn't wanted to intrude. He knew how much Dean had missed Sam – real Sam. He didn't think they needed a third wheel.

Dean gave him a look of disgust as soon as he realized what Harry was implying. "Dude, we've been around each other for almost thirty years. Don't take much time to catch up. We're not girls, this isn't special Dean and Sam gossip time. This is a case, and we could use your help."

"Dean!" Sam chided.

Both Harry and Dean looked at him with surprise.

"There's no need to an asshole about it," he continued. This was a side of Sam that Harry hadn't seen in a very long time. "We think that we have a dragon on our hands. Dean was just telling me that you…battled one when you were in school? And Dad somehow knew about it?"

Harry shook off his shock. "Uh – battled is probably a strong word. There was this tournament and we had to get an egg from a nest that the mother dragon was trying to protect…" the looks on Sam and Dean's faces were enough to stop him. Harry cleared his throat. Dean had always seemed to make it a point not to ask too much about the wizarding world. It was a little jarring to get questions. "Anyway, there was a magazine article about it at the wand permit office and Dad found it. Started a whole embarrassing saga that I'd really rather not go into. What makes you think that you're dealing with a dragon? There shouldn't be any in this part of the world, the closest reserve is in Canada."

"Dude, you are going to have to tell me that story later," Sam said. "There is something kidnapped virgin girls and stealing gold. We talked to one girl who was almost snatched, but it turned out…"

"It turned out that she wasn't as 'pure,' as she pretended to be," Dean finished.

"Well, I can assure you that the kind of dragon I've encountered does not care one bit about a human's virginity. But Bobby wanted me to pass on some information that he thought of after you hung up. He said to contact a Dr. Visyak. She's a Medieval Studies professor at S.F.U."

"All right," Dean responded. "I'm going to San Francisco, figure out how to kill these things. You two figure out where they are. I suppose you might have some sort of magic that you can use to locate these suckers," he said, aimed at Harry.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'm happy to stay here and help Sam, but San Francisco is quite the drive, isn't it?" He did a quick spell. "That's over six hundred miles from here. That'd take you, what, ten hours each way? Plus, you'd have to find the woman. Don't you think it would be faster for me to take you?"

Dean grimaced. "But the Impala has all my weapons! What if…"

"What if the professor tries to attack you? I think I can protect you, Dean, from the scary academic."

Dean was desperately trying to figure out a reason why he had to drive instead of taking the Harry express. He couldn't find one. He pouted. "Fine. You can shazam us over there. But don't think this will be a regular thing."

Sam watched this whole exchange, amused. Also, somewhat amazed. Harry placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Wait," Sam stopped them. "Did Bobby say where they like to park?"

Harry shook his head.

"Great, back to the lore."

Harry looked at him sympathetically as he flew away with Dean.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Ugh, I'll never get used to that," Dean said after they had landed.

Harry chuckled. "It's better than apparition though, isn't it?"

"Almost anything is better than apparition. Even those damn portkeys of yours."

"I don't know, Ben really enjoys those." From the look on Dean's face, Harry immediately felt a pang of regret. "Sorry."

"No, it's alright. Have you – do you know how they are doing?"

"Not much, I just hear from Ginny from time to time. Uh – Lisa asked about who was paying for the protection. Said she didn't want to owe anyone for anything."

"She didn't want to owe me."

"Yeah, I guess. But even with the breakup, I don't think that it's safe to leave her…"

"Unprotected. Yeah, I really fucked her life up, didn't I?"

Harry frowned. "I don't know that she'd say that. Anyway, I transferred the deed to my house to Ginny and the money for the security is coming from her accounts now. She and Lisa have become best friends so she thought it would make her feel better…" Harry trailed off.

Dean nodded but didn't trust himself to say much else on the topic. He straightened up. "Let's go find teach."

xXxXxXxXxXx

Sam had done some solid research but Bobby was acting so strangely. When he had called to talk through where to find dragons, he found the man to be short with him and awkward. Bobby wasn't normally the sort to hold things back, so he was pretty confused. Dean had also been quite cagey. At first, Sam had thought it was just Dean being Dean, but there was something else off. Harry also seemed to be avoiding him. Sam understood that he hadn't been at his best right after his brother had returned, and realized he probably owed Harry an apology, but it was still odd.

He figured that there was one person to add to his "data" to see what could be off with his brothers and Bobby.

He prayed, "Castiel, um…I'm back. So, if you got a minute."

Cas appeared immediately. "Sam. It's so good to see you alive."

"Yeah, you too." The last time Sam had seen the angel, it had been his fingers that had exploded him into oblivion.

Castiel walked over to Sam and attempted to hug him.

"Um…look, I would hug you but – " He couldn't think of why in the world Cas would want to hug him. Hadn't he called him an abomination just before they set off for the graveyard? He sat down, to avoid the gesture.

" – that would be awkward."

"Um, was a crazy year, huh? I just talked to Bobby. He told me everything that happened." Sam was attempting to start an apology for the whole – exploding Cas thing, but Cas' response led them in a whole different direction."

"Frankly, I'm surprised that you survived. I was begging Dean not to do it. I thought Henry might make him see sense, but he didn't."

"Yeah. No. I can understand that." Sam did not understand in the least, but he sensed that he would be able to get some information now.

"You know, it's a miracle it didn't kill you."

"Yeah. Yeah, it's a miracle, all right."

"So, how does it feel?"

"What?"

"Well, to have your soul back, of course."

Shit. "Right. You mean 'cause I was walking around with no soul. Uh…really good, Cas. I'm real good. You know what? I'm – I'm just hazy on a few of the details, though. Um…you think maybe you could…walk me through?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

Harry couldn't help but laugh when he saw what was in the room. An actual sword in a stone. One time, Hermione had somehow convinced him that he needed to read more muggle literature as a way to relax. One of the books that she had forced on him had been The Once and Future King. Harry had teased him that she was only married to Ron because he had, technically, been the one who had retrieved a sword from a frozen lake. She had blushed.

"That is not real," Dean said, similarly amazed. "Is that real? Is it Excalibur?"

"Of course not," Harry responded.

Both Dr. Visyak and Dean looked at him, surprised.

"It's in a stone, not a lake. Haven't you watched Monty Python?" He figured that there was no way that Dean had read The Once and Future King. But absurdist British humor seemed right up his brother's league.

Dean didn't have the chance to respond.

"Nice knowledge," Dr. Visyak said, with appreciation. "This is the Sword of Brunswick. Love of my life."

"So, uh, what's with the cement shoe?"

"You know, binding sword to stone used to be all the rage. To protect them."

"All right, well, how do we get this puppy out?"

The professor laughed. Dean looked at her. "Well, come on. You know this one. We need a brave knight who's willing to step up and kill the beast."

"Right. All right, well, I'll, uh, give it whirl. Do you mind?"

"Oh."

Harry watched with amusement while Dean went to pull the sword out of the stone. He could sense the wards on the stone and recognized them as fairly elementary ones. The kind that he might have learned at Hogwarts in his seventh year if he had attended. But that didn't mean that he would undo them in time to stop Dean from falling on his ass. He laughed.

Dean glared.

"You okay?" Dr. Visyak asked.

"Never better." He looked at Harry, who was still laughing. "Shut up. If you're such a strong wiz…man, why don't you give it a try?" He knew, physically, that Harry was not as strong as him. He was looking forward to wiping that smart ass look off his brother's face.

"Gladly," Harry said. He went up to the boulder and then paused for dramatic effect (and to undo the spells). He reached out his hand, held the sword firmly, and pulled it out with a flourish. It was a beautiful sword. Not that it could hold a candle to the Sword of Gryffindor.

Dr. Visyak looked at him with wonder. Dean looked annoyed.

"Wow."

Harry winked. "Must have taken a Brit. Can't have an American in the royal family. Can you imagine what the press would say? They'd have a field day."

"I – I didn't know that was even possible. I've tried everything! How did you…"

"Guess I just have the magic touch," Harry responded, dryly. "Would you mind terribly if we borrowed this? We'll bring it back in one piece, as a promise from the once and future king."

Dr. Visyak shook off her awe and looked conflicted. "I-I suppose. But only if you bring it back to me yourself."

Harry shrugged. "Sure. Now, Dean, I believe we have a dragon to kill."

Dean glowered a bit but the two of them headed out. "What the hell, man?" he asked as soon as they were out of earshot. "Talking about magic like that in broad daylight, in front of a…a…"

"A muggle? Oh, she wasn't a muggle. Don't know exactly what she is, but she's some sort of supernatural creature."

"What?"

"Yeah. Seemed nice enough."

"But…Bobby slept with her!"

Harry laughed and took them back to the motel room in Oregon.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Castiel was annoyed. Maybe not annoyed wasn't quite the right word. He was exhausted. And for a being that didn't sleep, that was saying something. This war was taking everything that he had in him and more. When not battling Raphael, he was had to cajole information out of Gabriel, keep his forces loyal, and try and stop Crowley from killing the Winchesters (and vice-versa). He knew what he was doing and it seemed like he spent all of his time trying to convince others of that fact.

To top it all off, Gabriel had been called off (so he said) to speak with Raphael and was unable to come with Castiel to the Ministry of Magic in London. Castiel suspected that he had promised the middle Winchester not to get too involved. Why his older brother felt it necessary to spend so much time with and take the consul of that wizard was beyond him. When it came down to it – there were only two people that Castiel could really, truly, trust.

This situation was…strange, Castiel decided. Even though he prided himself on being able to blend in with humans since he had been ordered to Earth years before, he was a bit hesitant when it came to wizards. And non-Americans.

Castiel didn't know why Gabriel thought he needed to go through this whole process. The last time he had come to the Ministry of Magic, he had just flown into Henry's office, the wards hadn't kept him out. Gabriel said that the wards in the Department of Mysteries would be stronger. He claimed not to know what they would contain exactly – that magic had evolved since the original protections were put on the portal.

It was very late in the evening in London when Castiel approached the iconic red phone booth. Of course, not being familiar with human popular culture, Castiel didn't know that it was iconic. He did think it was strange. He replayed the conversation he had with Gabriel over in his head as he lifted the receiver from the call box.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business," came an accented woman's voice.

Castiel had learned a thing or two from Sam and Dean over the years and knew he needed to be covert, so he wouldn't use his real name.

"Thank you. Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes."

Castiel looked down at the badge that came out of a metal shoot. It read, "James Novak, Exploratory Search for Portal to Purgatory." He felt quite pleased with himself, that was accurate. He didn't have robes, however, he thought that his trench coat was probably close enough.

The voice came back, "Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium. The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening."

The floor started going down, like an elevator. It startled Castiel for a moment, but it didn't take him long to adjust.

The not-phonebooth took him to a large room that was marbled. In the center of the room, there was a large fountain, made out of pure gold. The angel did not understand exactly what it was depicting. There seemed to be wizarding children, huddled together, wands out. Behind them, older wizards. On either side magical creatures that Castiel knew to only exist in the wizarding world – a centaur, he supposed that one was called. Strange creature. There was a large castle that overlooked the whole group. He barely glanced at it as he walked past, but on the back, it said – "The Battle of Hogwarts: In Memoriam," with a long list of names underneath.

Castiel strode confidently towards the watch wizard sitting at a desk. He was a middle-aged man that looked to be half asleep. He seemed surprised to see anyone enter the building at this hour. "It is too late for visitors to be entering the Ministry, please come back during business hours. We open at half seven tomorrow morning," the wizard said dully.

Castiel frowned. He didn't have time for this. Instead of responding, he simply came up close and placed two fingers on his head. The man slumped over, asleep. Not knowing what additional security might be present with the wizard passed out, Castiel moved quickly. Gabriel had told him to stay out of the elevators, that the Department of Mysteries was located just one floor away from the Atrium. He could have taken the stairs, but now that he was in, he simply flew to the correct floor.

Standing there, he could practically feel the portal. He was close. In front of him was a plain black door. He reached out to use the handle only to pull his hand back quickly – that hurt! The metal had burned his hand. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He felt anger surge through him at the injury, which wasn't instantly healing in the way that he was accustomed to. How dare these wizards think they could keep out an Angel of the Lord? Particularly one with a mission as important as his own.

He called on all the grace in his human vessel and extended his wings out – ready to simply fly through the door. Castiel was able to slip in and had a brief moment of triumph before the fire that had been on his hand extended up to his spine. Wait, no, not up to his spine – on his wings. His wings, which were not perceivable by humans (wizard or not, with one notable exception) were engulfed in flames. Castiel cried out in pain and immediately flew to the place closest that he thought would help. The healing pools of the Grotto of Massabielle.

He ignored all the shocked faces around him as he magically appeared in one of them. The water doused the flames but he could still feel the damage on his now singed wings. Humans (that were oddly naked) stared as he emerged from the pool. He went to immediately fly to find the traitorous wizard that had sent him into a trap. There was no way that Harry Potter hadn't known what would happen to him if he tried to get to the portal. Only, two steps forward, instead of flying away, he flopped on the ground and passed out.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"You pulled this out of a stone?" Sam asked, incredulously, examining the sword.

Dean snorted. "He did. Acted like damn Lancelot about it too."

"Does this mean that you're now the King of England?"

Harry scrunched up his nose. "Dear Merlin, I hope not. Can you imagine all the work involved? Plus, this isn't Excalibur. It's not even as impressive as the Sword of Gryffindor…"

His brothers looked at him with odd expressions.

"Uh, never mind. Let's…wait a second." His mirror was making sounds in his pocket. He looked into it.

"Harry!" Hermione's voice came out, breathy, on the other end. "I tried your mobile first, but you didn't answer."

"He never does!" Dean shouted in the background.

"Er, I think I left it on vibrate…" actually, he had left it at Bobby's. The grumpy hunter had probably not bothered to answer it after Dean's phone call.

"It doesn't matter. Harry – there has been an incident. Kingsley wants you back right away."

Harry frowned. "I'm pretty sure that Kingsley doesn't have the authority to call me back anymore."

"Harry…someone tried to break in the Department of Mysteries. It somehow leaked to the press and people are up in arms. They're all claiming this never would have happened on your watch."

"Shit." He turned to his brothers. "Have either of you seen Castiel recently?"

They both shook their heads. Sam was lying, of course. "Fuck. I'll be right there." Harry had thought that the angel would wait and do more research before he went charging into the Ministry. Evidently, he was wrong.

"Thank you, Harry."

"What's happening, Harry?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure. Look, will you guys be alright? I don't want to leave you in a lurch, and Kings doesn't have the right to call me in, but it's really important."

Dean and Sam looked at each other. "Yeah, we can handle it," Dean responded. "But what…"

Harry ignored him and just flew off.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

"I don't know."

"Why did he ask about Cas after finding out about a break-in? What am I missing?"

Dean sighed. "I know just as much as you do. Let's get this dragon. When he gets back, we'll give him the third degree. He's hiding something. And I don't like it."

Sam didn't think that Dean had much right to say anything, but the case came first.

"Alright. Where are we on the caves?" Dean asked, refocusing on the task at hand.

"Nowhere. Sewers, on the other hand…here. Check this out." He pointed to a map. "So, two of the disappearances happened within a mile of here. So, I think we start there and work our way around."

"Awesome. Who doesn't love sewers? Let's go."

Sam debated saying something about Cas's visit.

"What?" Dean asked, knowing that look.

"Nothing. Uh, yeah, let's go."

AN – Sam is back! YAY! It will be fun because Dean isn't quite as inquisitive as Sam, and tends to take things at face value, but with Sam back to normal Harry is not going to be able to get away with not sharing much information anymore. The relationship dynamic between the brothers is going to get really interesting.

A random thought – I would be lying if I said I hadn't been considering breaking Harry and Ginny up at some point and starting a relationship between Ginny and Lisa. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how that would work and the personality similarities between (book)Ginny and Dean that would make them both attractive to Lisa. Also, I bet there are very few, if any Ginny Weasley/Lisa Braedan fanfics out there. I don't really do romance, so I probably won't, but I thought a couple of you might enjoy the thought with me, lol.

The Once and Future King was one of the first high fantasy books that I read. It's been a while, so my Arthurian knowledge could be off a bit. That part of the 7th book is one of my favorites. I am also personally determined to make every single Harry Potter reference from Supernatural work in this fic.

In my last AN I said that I might need to take a break from posting for a couple of weeks, and I am afraid that time has come. I know how I am going to wrap this all up, but in order to do it properly, I'm going to have to be able to concentrate on just writing, not trying to write and get chapters up. My hope is to completely finish writing the story and then post the rest. I've been working for too long to have this end sloppily, which is where I was headed.

So, the next chapter will be up on May 6th. (That's a Thursday, not a Friday, because I'll be in my office on that Friday.) I haven't named it yet. So, in lieu of giving you that, here are some of the things you can expect to see in the last half of this story: A epic fallout between Harry and Cas that will carry many consequences, an alternative reality (cause by the unsinking of the Titanic) that will look VERY different from the episode it is inspired by, and one hell of a distraction technique by Crowley to keep the Winchesters away from his and Cas's plans.