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Author's note: The already written prequel to this story can be found on AO3. In it's current form, it is explicit, so I don't want to post it here and violate FFN rules. I may/may not work on a non-explicit version to post here at some point, but if you're really interested you can find my stuff under the same username on AO3.
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George felt ridiculous. The tall, plump, 32 year old health educator sat on her beat up old futon in a pale green athletic jogger set that she did anything but jog in. So far, they were strictly loungewear. The cuffed pants, which hugged her thick hips and thighs, and the matching hooded crop top had been a birthday present to herself. Most of her life, she'd suffered from horrible depression-so bad that 'depression' didn't feel like an adequate term. It was so bad that she'd had very little patience for the pomp and circumstance of fashion and beauty products, and there was no one she was trying to impress. Yet, as she was getting older and feeling more settled-more accepting of her lot in life-she'd begun trying to reevaluate the things in her life that made her feel even the slightest bit good. Maybe she'd given up too quickly on traditionally feminine things like cute underwear, high heels, make up, dresses, and, of course, crop top jogger sets. It had taken some convincing from her friends, but she finally bit the bullet for her last birthday and hadn't regretted it. The outfit kept her nice and warm in the San Francisco winters, while also making her feel feminine and beautiful which was something she was still getting used to.

Winter was well over by now, but she was hoping to embrace and harness that powerful, confident energy for the date she had later that afternoon. For weeks, she'd been chatting with LuvsToHike79 from one of the more outdoorsy dating apps she'd tried using. Jasper-LuvsToHike's real name-was supposedly a 34 year old corporate attorney from Oregon who, in addition to hiking, loved coffee, ESPN, and classic country music-all things she definitely did not love. In text, though, the avid hiker seemed charming, funny, respectful, and most importantly interested in her, which were all attributes making it possible for her to overlook their differences. When he'd asked her if she wanted to accompany him on a light hike in the Marin Headlands the next day, she'd been very pleasantly surprised.

She had hours still to go, though, which gave her time to be nervous and other than Supernatural reruns, there was little to do to occupy herself after she'd tidied up her tiny 300 sqft apartment for a third time. Bored and anxious was a bad combination for her; too much time for her mind to wander and come up with ridiculous ideas. Reaching up to pull tight the bun she had her long, thick blonde hair tossed into, she looked around nervously while her hesitant fingers danced across the keyboard.

"What do you know about love spells?" She typed and sent the message to her friend, Ryan, before opening a new tab and going to google.

"Not much," came a quick reply. George saw her friend was still typing and then, "There's an episode of SPN where witches put one on Dean. It's pretty hilarious."

"Not exactly the help I was looking for lol" She typed her reply, shaking her head. Ryan was a wee bit obsessed. Not that George could blame her, it was a great show that had helped her pull herself out of some very low lows in her life. But, or perhaps for that reason, she found it incredibly emotionally draining to watch, more so than anything else on TV and she would sometimes avoid it for long periods of time. Having just finished the end of season 13 the week prior, she was still currently a few seasons behind.

"OoooOh is this for your big date tonight?! Just remember to wear a condom!" Came Ryan's helpful reply. George ignored her and switched back to her google search.

She was a grown adult, why the hell was she doing this? Googling 'love spells' like a preteen. But it had been so long since she'd had a successful date… or any date for that matter. The last long term relationship she'd had had been ten years ago when her high school sweetheart left her at the altar to be with her best friend, the maid of honor, on their wedding day. Since that brutal heartbreak, it had been easier to mend it by channeling her more romantic feelings toward imaginary people-like Sam Winchester, or Jaime Frazer, or Wonder Woman-while remaining on a more casual basis with real life partners. That was another thing she was trying to reevaluate as she got older. Perhaps she was ready to shed her self-imposed hermitude and find someone she wouldn't be afraid of opening up to again. It was time to let go of the past, get over old hang-ups, and focus on the here and now with someone real.

But finding that had proved harder than it seemed-hence all the random dating apps-and she was a little bit desperate. And also desperate to kill time, so really this whole spell nonsense was just for fun. A time waster to take her mind off her nerves. She could take yet another quiz to try and find out if she was really supposed to be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw (She was stubborn, a bit lazy, and fiercely loyal to her true friends, but she was intelligent, fiercely competitive, and had yet to meet a rule she didn't try to work her way around. So far her various quiz tally was deadlocked on results) or she could have some fun with a few silly love spells. She certainly didn't believe it was going to work, so what the hell.

She clicked through a couple of links, checking out the "ingredients" she'd need and eliminating anything that wouldn't work with what she had on hand. Finally settling on two options: a "love bath" plus a short little "ceremony" with a chant.

As the tub filled with water, she gathered the items she needed for the love bath: a few handfuls of rose petals and hibiscus from her garden-well her landlord's garden. Himalayan salt (she hoped Trader Joe's would work), cinnamon, honey, and a small rose quartz, which she only had because Ryan had convinced her to buy it when they went to the adult booth at a ren faire three years ago. It was penis shaped, which they both found hilarious at the time-and still did; she hoped the shape wouldn't matter.

For the incantation portion, the water had to be moving, so she left the faucet running while she knelt down beside the tub with her items next to her. She was supposed to visualize "a person who has all the qualities of her ideal lover," collect the rose petals together, and throw them into the moving water while chanting, "Kathós aftó to triantáfyllo kineítai pros ti thálassa, tha mou érthei i alithiní agápi." Which Google translated loosely to "love will come to me just as this rose moves out to sea."

She sat there feeling silly for a moment, trying to think of who or what to visualize. While 'thinking', she got distracted by the sounds of the television from the next room. The episode of Supernatural that had been on when she was googling was just ending and the next one was starting. She watched for a few minutes, admiring how annoyingly perfect Sam Winchester was. "Baby," the episode that had played, was one of her favorites. Something about Dean's choice of Night Moves always gave her a strange, familiar sense of glee and a shiver would hit her spine every time she heard Sam sing his one big line. She watched through that scene and up until Sam's boisterous laughter before she shrugged, looking down at the petals in her hand.

This bath is supposed to be a fake ocean… So what's the harm in visualizing a fake person? Ryan would approve anyway.

With a self conscious blush, she thought fuck it and visualized the fictional hunter while chanting her silly words and tossing the petals into the running water.

When she was done, she turned off the faucet, then stood up and stripped off her confidence boosting outfit. To the bath water, she added the hibiscus petals, Himalayan salt, a dash of cinnamon, and a drop of honey before getting in and laying down in the warm, relaxing water. Following the directions for the "love bath," she placed the rose quartz over her heart chakra-she just put it over her heart, hoping that's where the corresponding chakra was-in order to "heal and invigorate her vibe." She then "meditated for 15 minutes about the ideal partner"… well, she closed her eyes and listened to the Supernatural episode that was still playing from the other room, thinking about the younger Winchester. Close enough.

After her 'meditation' she relaxed in the warmth for a bit. She wasn't sure if it was a placebo effect or what but the way the water was lapping gently against her skin was giving her goosebumps. Her nipples hardened when she began to feel a tingly sensation throughout her body, similar to the pinpricks of a foot that's fallen asleep. She enjoyed it at first but as it got more and more intense she began to get concerned that the cinnamon and salt were interacting poorly. Deciding she was done, she rinsed off with the shower head ~ahem~ before getting out.

As she dried off she was surprised to see that her little ritual hadn't killed as much time as she thought it would; it was barely lunch. Figuring she might as well, she began to get dressed in her date outfit now, just to be prepared. She pulled on a long sleeved black ribbed Henley shirt, khaki capris, and her brand new camel colored alpine waterproof hiking boots but waited to put on the piece de resistance: a puffy red North Face vest, since it was a bit too puffy to lounge in. Jasper was taking her on a hike-a light one but still-and, while she was excited, she was also nervous about looking like a novice. She may have gone a bit overboard on the gear.

Her outfit was on and it was still only noon. Next, she busied herself with making lunch and checking her phone.

A text was waiting for her from Ryan, "So how'd your big spell go? Mr. Right show up at your door yet?" accompanied by a few choice emoji's.

"Unfortunately not," she typed with a frown, "I think the cinnamon might have had a bad reaction to the salt. I was starting to get tingly in there."

"If you aren't supposed to be getting tingly in a love bath then what are you supposed to do?"

"Meditate on LOVE!"

"..."

"Shut up."

She threw together a simple PB&J, plopped back down on her futon, and watched another episode of Supernatural. After it finished, she took her utensils to the sink and rinsed them, then started wiping down the counters, again, anxiously. She'd been spraying the counter with cleaner when she thought she heard a distant sound. It was a melodic yet urgent sound, like frantic violin crescendos that seemed to be beckoning her. The intonation grew louder and louder and louder still. Her heart stopped when it suddenly resonated right behind her. She felt a deep wrenching inside her body as she whirled around in a frenzied, unexplainable panic. Suddenly there was a bright yellow light and she felt her body jolted forward.

In a blink her tiny apartment kitchen was replaced by a large, musty room with tall ceilings, pillared walkways, and concrete floors. Two long wooden tables were placed down the middle of the room, with walls and bookshelves full of aged books on either side of them. She also thought she spotted a familiar bright yellow table and wrought iron staircase in the room beyond this one.

Though the new environment was fairly disconcerting to her, it was truly who she saw suddenly appear in front of her that caused her to freak out: an incredibly beautiful, surprisingly short, recognizable woman with piercing hazel green eyes, alabaster skin, and vibrant red hair. Somewhere in the deep recesses of her panicked brain, she had one thought:

Rowena?!