Chapter 27

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, 25th December 2011

Christmas Day arrived with a flurry of snow and ice. The Winchesters were still in their rooms. Sam was deeply asleep, although his head was tossing, mumbled words forming.

Flashing images met his mind, memories from the past. As a rule, Sam and Dean tried to block the past, but sometimes the memories came back without warning. The memories spurred forth now like a broken dam.

He saw his childhood, arguing with his father constantly leaving for Stanford. If you walk out that door, don't you ever come back! Then, Jessica was on the ceiling, stomach slashed open, staring down with accusation in her eyes. It's your fault, Sam. You weren't there.

Meanwhile, in the next room, Dean awoke and stretched. He smiled. Today was Christmas Day. It had never been great for them as kids, but he tried to make it as good as he could. He bought, well stole presents, and he noted with a snort of amusement the year he had accidentally gotten Sam a Barbie doll and a cheer-leading stick. Dean smiled a little. He felt the small golden amulet that hung from around his neck, and he didn't give a damn if he was being sappy. His brother was his life. They only had each other when it came to it. Dean got to his feet and groaned. He walked to the room that connected to his brother's quarters and knocked.

"Sammy?" he called. There was no answer. Dean sighed and opened the door. He walked towards his brother and shook him.

"C'mon Sammy, rise and shine." Sam didn't move. There was a slight defensive groan from the back of his throat. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Get up Sasquatch!" Dean grinned. He walked to Sam's window and opened it. There was a gathering of snow on the windowsill which he gathered in his hands and walked back to his brother's bedside. He dumped the snow all over his brother and laughed as Sam's eyes sprung open.

"What the hell!" His brother shouted as Dean began laughing his ass off. He glared at Dean.

"You're such a jerk," he grumbled. Dean grinned.

"Merry Christmas bitch," he laughed. Sam rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

"Happy Christmas Dean," Sam corrected as he threw snow at his brother.

"Here, got you somethin'," Dean said. He walked inside his room and pulled out a square package. Sam smiled a little and unwrapped it. He found a wizard chess set.

"Thought you'd like it, geek boy," Dean grinned. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Dean," he said. His brother shrugged.

"Here," Sam said and tossed Dean a small, wrapped box. Dean smiled and opened it. It was a small Swiss army knife.

"I was able to get Filius to enchant it, so it's unbreakable, and you won't have to sharpen it or anything," Sam said.

"Thanks, Sammy," Dean smiled. "Come on! Christmas breakfast!" he grinned. Sam laughed.

Sam walked over to the closet and opened it. He shot back immediately, horror and dread filled his veins.

"No," he whispered. A man stepped out and smirked.

"Sammy," Lucifer smiled. Sam stepped back in shock. There was a knock on the door before Minerva entered. Lucifer approached and Dean moved Sam out of the way. The figure changed and suddenly, it morphed into a duplicate of Sam. His eyes were fully black.

That's not Sammy, not my little brother, Dean thought.

Minerva strode forward and spoke with her wand raised. The thing changed into a pale man with black robes and a snake-like face with slits for nostrils and scarlet eyes with cat-like pupils.

"Riddikulus!" she exclaimed, and the thing disappeared.

"W-what the hell was that?" Sam asked, still very pale, his skin was clammy.

"That was a Boggart. It takes the form of what someone fears most," Minerva said.

"Who was the guy you saw?" Sam asked.

She sighed before addressing them. "That was Lord Voldemort.

"That's him?" Dean asked. "What kinda drugs was he on?" he muttered.

"Albus would like the staff to come to breakfast. He enjoys Christmas morning," Minerva continued, ignoring Dean's comment.

"Sure, just let me get dressed, and we'll be down," Sam replied, trying to shake the appearance of 'Lucifer' off. Minerva left. The boys pulled on their clothes and had quick showers. Dean wore his new leather jacket and they both wore their rings from Castiel. Twenty minutes later, they were approaching the doors to the Great Hall. They walked inside and smiled. Few students were left during the holidays. They quickly looked to see Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna sitting together at the Gryffindor table. They walked towards them.

"Hey," they said. "Happy Christmas." Harry turned to them.

"Hey sirs, happy Christmas," he said. "Did you get anything good?"

"Sam got me a Swiss army knife and I got him a wizard chess set. We both got rings and I got a leather jacket and Sam got a book," Dean replied. "Nerd," he grinned at his brother.

"Don't mind him," Sam said, shooting his brother a look. They saw them grin in response.

"C'mon Sammy," Dean said. "Dumbledore's motioning." Sam raised an eyebrow. And they say he's the older one. They both approached the staff table.

"Merry Christmas Samuel, Dean," the old Professor smiled.

"Thanks, Albus, and please call me Sam," Sam replied, smiling.

"Or Sammy, if you want to pi-tick him off," Dean grinned, backtracking a little as Sam gave him a look for swearing in front of the Headmaster.

"I hope you enjoy your Christmas," Albus said. Sam and Dean nodded

"You too."

Since there were so few students there for the holidays the staff sat with their House tables, making the scene more homey and comfortable. Students from other Houses mingled as well.

More parents were insisting their students come home for Christmas, once word of Katie Bell's attack got out. Two attacks within two weeks didn't help the reputation of the school. Katie would be okay, thankfully. She had to rest in St Mungo's for a while, but it was looking likely that she would be back after Christmas break.

Sam and Dean took seats beside Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna. Food appeared before them suddenly and Dean grinned.

"How are you guys?" Dean asked.

"We're fine," Ron replied.

"Are you enjoying your holidays' Professors?" Ginny smiled at the Winchesters.

"Yeah, the castle is nice at this time of year," Sam smiled.

"Not to mention drafty…." Ron sneezed.

"Got a cold?" Dean asked.

"No. Side effects of the poison. Don't tell Mum."

"No problem, I won't," Dean winked.

There was a loud screech and Ron's face paled a little. "Oh no…."

Ginny laughed a little. Dean and Sam looked up to see Errol, the Weasleys owl hurtle unsteadily toward them, a large box clutched in his feeble claws.

Ginny put her arms out and managed to catch the bird before it flew into a large Christmas cake. "Easy there, Errol." She petted the owl on the head and set him upright.

"Ruddy bird…" Ron grumbled as he untied the box. "Big box this year."

"From your Mom and Dad?" Sam examined the box tied up with brown paper and string.

"Christmas presents," Ron grinned. He opened the box. "Hang on, there are two extra ones in here."

He pulled out five jumpers. "Here's yours Harry," he said, handing Harry a brown paper wrapped gift with his name on it. He passed the others around. "There's one in here for you two Professors."

Ron's ears went pink as he spoke, looking at the letter his mother sent. "I suppose it's a thanks for everything after Slughorn's party…"

"Looks like ours match again, Hermione." Ginny smiled as she pulled out a dark pink jumper with a golden 'G' embroidered on the front.

Hermione smiled. "I always liked this colour," she said as she pulled out a jumper of the same colour, with a gold 'H'.

"Maroon again!" Ron complained. "Every year…" He dug in the box. "Here we go."

"So, we get sweaters too?" Dean asked as he ripped the paper off excitedly.

"Dude," Sam frowned at him. He looked at Ron, cheeks slightly pink. "Your Mom didn't have to do this for us, Ron."

"Trust me. You've become her hero now. She doesn't make these jumpers for just anyone," Ginny pointed out.

Dean opened his, to find a dark blue jumper with a green 'D' on it. He tried to keep his emotions in check, not used to people going out of their way to make something for them. He pulled the jumper over his head and found that it fit perfectly. "Wow… it's warm."

"Mum puts a warming charm on them," Ginny told them. Sam slipped his on, it was the opposite of Dean's colours, a dark green with a blue 'S' on the front. The sleeves covered his hands, he folded the sleeves back once. "You missed the note sasquatch…" Dean unpinned the safety pin from the front of his jumper and handed it to him. Sam looked at the small piece of paper.

Dear Sam and Dean,

I hope you are enjoying yourselves at Hogwarts over the holidays. I made you two jumpers. It's a family tradition. And before you say anything, I insist. You helped my son, so you deserve it. Dean, I think yours should fit perfectly. Sam, I hope I didn't make yours too small. I made the sleeves a little longer than I normally would, you're so much taller than Arthur… I hope you like them. It's just a little token of our gratitude.

Molly and Arthur Weasley.

"Wow," Sam smiled. "This is too much… Your mom is so sweet." Ron blushed again.

"I dunno. I think it's weird," he mumbled.

Down in the bottom of the parcel was a small box that had the easily recognizable emblem of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes on it.

"Awesome!" Dean grinned.

"Oh God…" Sam muttered.

"Hey, I haven't used any of my stash on you… yet…." Dean pulled the box from the parcel and opened the card. "Dear Sam and Dean, I know Mum sent you those jumpers, she used Bill as a stand-in for Dean. We happened to be in the house when she sent these off, so we decided to send these along with Errol. I hope he makes it there in one piece. Happy Christmas from Fred and George," he read.

"This is gonna be fun," Dean grinned. He was about to open the box of goodies when there was a large flutter of wings. Ron was startled by the appearance of the Angel who was directly across from him at the table. He almost toppled back off the seat.

The Winchesters turned to see their friend standing behind them. "Oh hey, Cas!" Dean grinned. "Happy Christmas."

"And you too," Cas replied stiffly, blue eyes shifting between the students and the brothers.

"What's wrong Cas?"

"Nothing Dean. I have some news. It seems that humans can escape Purgatory, something we have never heard about."

"Who escaped?" Hermione piped up. Castiel looked at her, brow furrowing in confusion and his head tilted to the side. "Sir." Dean's eyes flickered to the staff table, who looked tense, with wands ready.

"It's alright," he said to them. They slowly lowered their wands.

"Who's back Cas?" Dean asked.

"John Winchester and a man named Sirius Black," Castiel said calmly.

John awoke with a groan. He stood, heart, beginning to race. He still wasn't used to waking up to a quiet morning, not having to kill something that wanted to eat him for breakfast.

Honestly, being in Purgatory for three years took a toll on his psyche, and there was only one thing that kept him from going crazy. He sighed as he sat up and surveyed his surroundings.

Since he and Sirius ended up in Diagon Alley, they travelled to a small village, Hogsmeade, which took them a few days. Sirius was weak, and therefore, was unable to do something he called 'Apparition'. It still took him a minute to get used to this magical stuff if he was being honest, but it was starting to get more normal. If there was a 'normal' for him anyway. They stopped to rest in an old hovel, something John was used to as he raised his boys.

His boys… Sam and Dean… He missed them so much. It was the only thing keeping him sane in Hell, with Alastair's knife cutting into his flesh thousands of times over, and finding himself 'miraculously' healed afterwards, ready for another round of torture. The last time he remembered seeing his sons was when they killed Azazel. He never felt prouder of them.

They did what he failed to do.

His last words to his boys echoed in his head. He tried to patch things up before he turned himself over, but he knew he had only made things worse. For his last words to Dean, it was about the mission, don't be scared. He remembered leaning over to his son's ear. Dean, there will come a time when Sammy will be in danger. You have to save him, or if you can't, you have to kill him. Speaking those words ripped his heart in two, and he wished he never had to say that to his son. The words were buzzing around in his head like a swarm of angry bees.

John sighed. He hadn't remembered much after Hell, apart from seeing his sons again. He watched as Dean pulled the trigger that ended that Yellow-Eyed sonofabitch that ripped his Mary from him, took a mother away from her sons, and turned their lives into ones filled with hunting, worry and pain. Nightmare monsters after nightmares.

John walked over to Sirius and nudged him. The wizard's eyes shot open, and he raised a wand, one he obtained after a raid of the empty Ollivanders Wand Shop.

"Put that away, come on," John said, rolling his eyes.

"Kay," Sirius said, grinning. "Showtime!"

John grinned back at him, shaking his head. "How are we getting in?"

"There's a passage leading into the castle from here. I'd say they'd be in the Great Hall," Sirius replied.

"Right, let's go," John said. He grabbed a knife, and the saltshaker he took with him while getting food from a small pub called the Three Broomsticks. They both stood and walked to a small section of the floor, which Sirius lifted up. He got in and John followed.

"There's a dangerous tree at the end and a specific branch has to be touched to freeze it," Sirius said and raised his hands to John's raised eyebrows. "Long story. Just know if you get hit, you'll more than likely get killed."

"I went through Hell and Purgatory, and now I have to worry about getting killed by a tree?"

John sighed as he followed Sirius through the trap door.

John and Sirius walked down the passage, and suddenly it turned, then dropped, and it was about a mile before it began to rise slightly again. Eventually, Sirius stopped and picked up a small twig. He nudged a small branch. He heard the rustling stop.

"Come on," Sirius said, and they both climbed out.

"Now or never," John replied as they began walking to the castle. Sirius was moving too fast for John to admire the beautiful castle and John was worried that he would get lost if he didn't keep up. Sirius assured him that there were no guards at Hogwarts, but John knew he didn't want to end up in Azkaban as Sirius had been. The wizard seemed more at home in Purgatory, explaining that it was a lot like the wizard prison.

"Hang on mate." Sirius stopped short and transformed into a large black greyhound. This wasn't a surprise to John. Sirius told him he was an Anim-whatever.

In the realm of 'weird', it didn't really make much of a difference anyway. "Lead the way Fido."

They walked toward the castle. John looked up and saw five figures walking toward them. John instantly saw his sons. His eldest looked up and his mouth opened in shock.

"What?" Dean exclaimed. "Cas, our Dad's been dead for five years now, you know that."

"I am aware, Dean. Your father and this wizard have found a way out of Purgatory and are coming here to see you."

Dean and Sam's eyes were wide. Ron and Hermione looked to Harry who looked like he had been punched in the gut.

"You can't just spring this on us Cas!" Dean whispered angrily. "Especially about Black." He barely registered the fact that Hermione waved her wand and mumbled a spell.

"Sorry," Harry asked. "You said, Sirius Black?"

"Yes," replied Castiel simply, the significance of the name not registering with him. "Dean, they will be here in a few moments. I must go." With that, Castiel was gone.

"I don't believe this," Dean muttered, "Damn Angel being so cryptic…"

"Sirius is alive?" Harry mumbled, his eyes wide. "I- I saw him..." Hermione touched his shoulder sympathetically.

"It'll be okay Harry," Dean reassured. "We should go out and find them before my Dad tries to kill Malfoy or something."

The group started towards the door hurriedly, Harry wanting to find Sirius as well. The group quickly left the courtyard and raced across the bridge into the grounds.

"Castiel couldn't have given you more directions?" Hermione frowned.

"The guy likes to be vague, what can I tell you?" Dean sighed. "Where would a hunter and a wizard go in a castle full of children and magical adults? God that sounds like the beginning of a bad joke."

Just then they caught sight of two figures. A man and a dog were walking toward them. Sam's heart leapt into his throat, along with all the words from his late-night conversations with himself of what he would say to John if he got the chance to meet with him. Dean was better at keeping his reactions in check, his thoughts were more centred on making sure the two men were actually what Cas claimed them to be.

"Hang on Harry." Dean caught the young boy as he started towards the man and dog. "It could be a trap. We have to run some tests first." Dean's eyes landed on his father, suspicious and probing. Sam's stance was similar, wary, and apprehensive.

"Dad?" Sam asked, looking at his father.

"Boys," John Winchester said.

"You can't be our Dad, he's dead," Sam shook his head as he spoke. But would Cas lie? He thought.

"I'll prove it," John said as he pushed a sleeve up. He dragged the knife across the skin, watching as the special silver knife gave no reaction. Sam took out a flask of holy water, opened it and threw it at his face. Again, there was no reaction.

"Dad," Dean whispered again, finally convinced.

"Sam, Dean," John whispered as his sons walked to him. They looked at their father in astonishment.

"How'd you get back?" Sam asked.

The dog barked and pulled on John's jacket. "Had a little help," John replied.

"Sirius!" Harry gasped. Sirius panted, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging happily.

He padded forward and suddenly, there was no dog. In his place, there was a man. Harry met his eyes and couldn't really see him because of the tears in his eyes. Sirius ran and hugged Harry as he crashed into him. Sirius smiled. Hermione and Ron were looking utterly gobsmacked. Dean smiled, seeing an instant change in Harry's appearance, he looked happier than Dean had ever seen him. He looked to his brother, noticing the same thing in his expression, though it was mixed with a little bit of grief.

"I can't believe this," Dean said.

"How did you make it out?" Sam asked.

"We found out that there was a portal for humans to get through," John said. He looked up with sudden tears in his eyes. "Boys, I am so proud of you both."

"We had a bit of help from you," Dean replied, and John smiled sadly and nodded. Dean took a deep breath, anger beginning to pool as memories arose. The control snapped, and he strode forward and punched his father in the jaw. John looked at him in shock.

"Dean!" Sam exclaimed.

"This happened a long time ago, and I've put it behind me. I just want to know one thing. Why did you tell me that Dad?" Dean said quietly.

"You needed to know. I'm sorry," John sighed, knowing what Dean meant.

"For your information, Sam didn't 'go dark'. The others did."

"I had to save you. I'm your father, and it's my job to protect you," John replied. "You should know why I did it. I know about your deal. You only have about six years left."

"I got one year," Dean replied, and John's eyes went wide.

"You only got a year?" John whispered. Dean nodded. "How are you alive?" John asked.

"Long story," Dean said, and Sam smiled a little bitterly.

"Have we stopped fighting?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sammy playing peacemaker? Boy things have changed," John muttered to himself, but Sam and Dean snorted in amusement.