Chapter 35
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, 24th January 2012
Madam Pomfrey had insisted on keeping Dean in the Hospital Wing for a further two days, much to his chagrin. Sam, John, and Mary had taken over the classes after being introduced to the students. From what Dean had heard, it was a funny story. The students had been really freaked out to see so many hunters in the one room. The hunters, Bobby and the Harvelles stayed just out of sight, listening to the lectures. They would add their own two cents if they wanted.
The past week had been tense. Dean remembered the argument with Cas and frowned. He regretted what he said that day. Stress and shock had made him agitated, and he needed to take the frustration out on someone, and it turned out to be Cas. The guilt had washed over him as the Angel left, leaving his family to look at him in shock.
Dean happened to look at the calendar this morning and noticed that it was January 24th, his birthday. Birthdays were a big deal if you were hunters. Not that you would get many presents, because being in this line of work they don't make many friends. No, it meant that you had survived a whole year without getting killed one way or another. Nothing had ever really happened on his birthday. When Sam had gotten older, he had sneaked off to the diner to get a pie, which he would stick a candle in for the annual event. Dean smiled slightly as he remembered carrying the small candle around in his pocket.
"Come on Dean, get off your lazy ass!" he heard Jo call from outside the door. He cracked an eye open. Sam had already left.
"Coming," he called back. He got to his feet and stretched. He threw on clothes quickly and walked to the door, opening it.
"Hey babe," he grinned. Jo rolled her eyes. They had been together since the night Dean had been stabbed. Dean and Jo moved into their own room. Cas hadn't been back since their argument, Dean wanted to make up for what he said. His words were said in anger, he wanted to apologize, he just didn't know what to say.
"What's wrong?" Jo asked.
"Really shouldn't have said those things to Cas," Dean replied.
"Well, if it's bugging you so much, why don't you just call him?" Jo offered.
"I know he wouldn't answer, he was pretty angry with me, human-like Dean replied. Besides, what would I say to him? He added to himself. Jo nodded, not really understanding but knowing this was important to him.
All they could do now was try to face this impending war. As they walked through the halls, Dean envied the younger students who had no idea what was coming.
"Ignorance is bliss Jo," Dean commented.
"What?"
"Nothin'," Dean replied simply. He smiled a little.
"I like birthdays, how about you?" he smirked. Jo looked at him, mentally rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. She swore he was bipolar.
"Yea… I guess," she said, playing along. They continued walking down the staircase in the Entrance Hall.
A few moments passed as Jo and Dean reached the Great Hall, in which they slipped inside. They walked down the middle, again the students watched. The knowledge of Dean's stabbing was spread around the whole castle within an hour. The student body watched in surprise as Dean slipped an arm around Jo's waist. They both walked towards what had come to be known as the 'hunter's table.' He thought about messing with them and just collapsed midway down the table's length but thought better of it.
"Hey Dean," Sam smiled. "Happy birthday." He held out a medium-sized soft package.
"Thanks, Sammy," Dean grinned. He and Jo sat beside each other. He looked across to see his parents smiling at him.
"Come on, open it," Sam pressed with a smirk. "I'm surprised you didn't shred it to pieces like you normally do."
"Hold your horses," Dean snorted as he began opening the paper. He lifted a black t-shirt from the newspaper. It was plain black, with a red AC/DC logo on the front.
"This is awesome Sammy," Dean smiled.
"Wait," Sam said, reaching down and lifting a rectangular box onto the table.
"A laptop?" Dean asked in surprise.
"It's from Mom, Dad and I," Sam grinned. "So now you'll probably stop clogging mine with porn." Dean rolled his eyes, grinning.
"Thanks, guys," he said gratefully.
"It's enchanted, so it'll work like my laptop and our cell phones," Sam explained. "All you have to do to charge it is to point your wand at it and say Intentio"
"Here son," Mary smiled, passing a tiny package to him. "Just another little thing from your Dad and I," she said as she slid it across the table to him.
"You guys didn't have to." Dean protested quietly as he unwrapped it to find a small silver dog tag hanging from a leather chain. He looked at the back of the tag, reading the words.
Dean Winchester — January 24th, 1979. Dean examined the simple metal, fingertips tracing over the dates.
"Thanks," Dean smiled. "Come on, let's eat!" he grinned. Sam rolled his eyes. Dean pulled a pie covered with chocolate in front of him. As Dean's arm moved, Jo caught sight of something on his left shoulder.
"Dean, what's on your shoulder?" Jo asked, pulling the short sleeve of his grey t-shirt up to reveal a burn mark in the shape of a handprint. Jo's eyes widened.
"What the hell is that?" John asked.
"I got it when Cas raised me from Hell," Dean shrugged and continued eating. He knew that Sam, Bobby, Cas and Anna knew about it, maybe more of the Angels, but not a lot of people knew. It wasn't something he liked to announce, he even avoided looking at it all together. He turned his head to see Jo smiling. She was silent for a few minutes.
"What are you thinkin' about?" Dean asked.
"Oh, nothing." She smiled, then she started to sing.
"In the arms of the angel,
Fly away from here,
From this dark cold hotel room,
And the endlessness that you fear,
You are pulled from the wreckage,
Of your silent reverie,
You're in the arms of the angel,
May you find some comfort here."
By the time Jo had finished, most of the hunters were laughing their heads off. Dean was pouting at his girlfriend. Stupid Sarah McLachlan song….
"Suck it up buttercup," she grinned. Dean smiled back.
Sam observed his older brother. Dean seemed happier than he had been in years during the past week. His mood was lighter, and he joked more. The depression seemed to be easing slightly. Maybe that was due to having Mom back, or Jo. Sam didn't know. All he cared about was that his big brother was happy.
"Hey Dean," Ash called across the table. "Here," he said, tossing him a book. "All the lore I could find on Djinns. Thought it might be helpful for you."
"Thanks, Ash, this should come in handy."
"I'll give you your present later," Jo whispered in his ear. Dean grinned at her. Sam looked disgusted. Dean laughed at him and continued eating as Ash gave a 'whoop', further embarrassing Sam. They ate in silence.
The hunters walked to the Demonology classroom and began to set up for the class. It wasn't long before the students began to file in and sit down.
"Hey class," Sam announced. "Today we're gonna learn about Djinns. Anyone know what they are?" No one answered, no surprise there.
"Okay, Djinns are human-like creatures with tattooed skin that prefer to live in large ruins with a lot of places to hide. They feed on human blood and can poison their victims with a touch. Their poison causes reality-altering hallucinations and can be used either to kill their victims quickly, or to leave victims in a coma-like state while the Djinn feeds on their blood over a long period of time," Dean explained. "Turn to page 149." There was a sudden scramble for books and parchment. Dean turned to the page he had mentioned and began reading.
"Djinn are best classified as genies and are able to read a person's mind to learn their deepest desires, but the Djinn do not truly grant wishes. Instead, they send their victims into a fantasy universe where they believe their wish has been granted while the Djinn can drink their blood slowly over the course of days. Time passes slowly enough in the fantasy universe that the Djinn's victims will feel as if they're living an entire lifetime before their physical bodies die. When Djinn access their powers, either their eyes and hands glow blue, or their tattoos move and extend down their arms. There is a variant form that possesses the same powers and weaknesses but turns the victim's insides to "jelly" and feeds on fear rather than happiness. To this effect, they trap people in hallucinations of their worst nightmares rather than their happy dreams. They can poison others with a touch. Their poison causes hallucinations that the Djinn can control and in large doses, it can cause death. They can read a person's mind to learn their deepest desires. Their weaknesses are silver and lamb's blood. A silver knife dipped in lamb's blood can kill them," Dean read.
"We have only come in contact with a Djinn once when it attacked and drugged Dean," Sam explained.
"No, it was twice," Dean corrected. "It was how we reunited after… you know." Sam nodded.
"Right, the memory we're gonna show you is from my attack a few years ago," Dean went on. The students lined up as normal and were transported into a memory.
Dean was sitting on the steps of a family home, smiling as he held a beer, drinking from it. A car drove up outside the yard.
"I don't believe it," Dean breathed. He got up. Sam and Jessica got out of the car. Sam was dressed differently, just in a pair of jeans and a hoodie. Dean attacked Jess with a hug while Sam took out the luggage from the trunk.
"This is the dreamscape the Djinn trapped me in," Dean informed the class, looking over at Sam who only paid attention to Jessica.
"Jessica," Dean smiled.
"You're, uh… Good to see you too, Dean." Jess replied. Dean laughed. "Can't breathe." Dean let go quickly.
"Sammy," Dean smiled.
"Hey," Sam replied.
"Look at you. You're with Jessica, it's — I don't believe it," he laughed.
"Yeah," Sam agreed.
"Where'd you guys come from?" Dean asked in a confused voice.
"We just flew in from… Califor– "Sam began, but Dean cut him off.
"California! Stanford. Huh? Law school, I bet," Dean grinned. Sam motioned to the beer in Dean's hand. "I see you started off Mom's birthday with a bang as usual," he noted.
"Wait. Mom's birthday, that's today?" Dean said, eyes widening.
"Yeah. Yeah, Dean. That's today. That's why we're here. Don't tell me you forgot."
"Wha…" Dean said in shock, eyes cast down.
The memory faded, to reveal a restaurant. Everyone was in their best, standing at the table.
"Okay, so a little backstory here," Dean got the student's attention. "The little girl there, she was caught by the Djinn too. That's when I realized that something was wrong."
"So, are all these Dreamscapes connected then?" Ron asked.
"As far as I can tell, it looks like it. But we haven't had enough contact with them to be one hundred percent sure." Sam looked over to Dean, not realizing that this was what his brothers' perfect vision for what their lives were supposed to be.
Over Sam's shoulder, Dean saw a girl. The others did not notice her. He brushed past Sam and walked over. Sam turned around. Dean passed a lot of people and suddenly, the girl was gone. Dean turned around to see his family looking at him with concern.
The memory blurred, and suddenly, they were in an old warehouse. Dean was holding a knife. Jessica, Mary, Carmen, and Sam were around him.
"Why is it our job to save everyone? Haven't we done enough? I'm begging you," Sam breathed. "Give me the knife." Dean looked at Carmen, Sam and Mary, tears in his eyes. He backed away looking at the floor. He raised his head, looking at Sam.
"I'm sorry," Dean whispered. He thrust the knife into his torso. Blood spat from between his lips.
"DEAN! DEAN! Dean," Sam was saying.
"I knew I had to get out." Dean's face was pale as if reliving this particular memory was making him physically ill. "It was the only way I knew how to get away."
Suddenly, they were in the same room, but Dean was hanging from the ceiling, his eyes wide open. A blood bag hung next to him.
"Oh, God. Come on," he said, shaking him. "Hey. Wake up. Wake up, damn it!" Dean grunted a little. His eyes focused on Sam.
"Hey. Hey," Sam smiled a little.
"Ahh… Auntie Em. There's no place like home," Dean breathed.
"Thank God. Thought I lost you for a second," he said, pulling out the tube in Dean's throat
"You almost did," Dean replied.
"Oh god. Let's get you down," Sam said, breathing heavily. Sam reached up and started to cut through the rope as Dean winced in pain and grunted. Two bright blue eyes shone next to Sam in the shadows, and the Djinn sprung.
"Sam!" Dean yelled. Sam turned around, attacking the Djinn with his blood-covered knife. The Djinn had Sam for a moment and Sam dropped the knife. Dean tried to pull himself loose. The Djinn got the upper hand on Sam and had him by the throat. He moved his hand to his forehead, but Sam had a hold of his wrist. The Djinn opened his fist and blue light appeared around his hand. Dean thrust the knife into the back of the Djinn. It turned and the blue light went out of its eyes. It fell to the ground, dead.
The memory faded. They were all back in the classroom. Some of the students shaken by the memories but were holding it together pretty well
"That's basically everything," Dean said, "No homework tonight," he said, and the students smiled. The bell rang and they began filing out.
A few hours passed which left the hunters and staff in the Great Hall. Dumbledore had been informed of the staff birthday and organized a dinner for the staff and the hunters. Everyone was in high spirits. Most of the teachers had accepted Sam and Dean as one of their own, and in turn, Dean and Sam had gotten used to their odd quirks. But there was one Professor that they had yet to meet officially in person. But it was just because she didn't like 'descending into the mortal realm" Whatever the hell that meant. Dean thought to himself one day when he was talking to Flitwick during a combined training/Charms class with the students. The Winchesters had heard that she was a psychic, or (as the wizards called her) a Seer. But apparently, she wasn't a very good one. They supposed she made a special trip down to the 'mortal realm' for some reason. She kept to herself mostly during the first part of the meal, only speaking when spoken too and often her words would sound as far off and misty as she seemed to be. Though things became a little more interesting, about halfway through the meal, when Professor Trelawney stood. Her eyes were wide behind her strange glasses. She appeared to be in a trance, her eyes unfocused. The other teachers turned to stare at her, their faces ranging from surprise to disdain. And then she began to speak in a strange, deep, booming voice.
"It shall come to pass that a time of celebration turns to silence. As those fight, some shall fall. The time to vanquish the Dark Lord shall come. Destruction of the soul and the supports will bring about the death of many. Gates shall be opened, monsters spilt, along with blood, tainting waters," she spoke loudly, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look at her.
"What the hell?" Dean muttered. "Did she just make a prediction?"
Sam nodded. "I think so."
Minerva walked towards the hunters.
"I wouldn't take much trust in what Sybil predicts. She is rather… unreliable when it comes to predictions," she told them, although she was slightly worried. This seemed to be a real prediction.
⸸
Later, Jo and Dean sat on the bed in his room. Jo sat in Dean's lap, smiling at him. She kissed his cheek.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," Dean smiled back. "Do I get my present now?" he asked with a coy grin. Their lips crashed together, as Jo shoved Dean against the headboard. Dean pushed his lips firmly against hers, a deep rumble in his chest. He felt Jo grin against his lips.
"That a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" she smirked.
"Oh, haha," Dean smirked, looking into her eyes.
"Now is not the time to be cocky, Dean Winchester," Jo answered as she started to pull the fabric from his skin. Dean peppered her neck with kisses as she gasped. She made short work of his robes and soon, he was just in his boxers, a visible tenting in the grey material.
"You are far too dressed," Dean smirked as he reached under the shoulder strap of her vest to lift up her bra strap temptingly. Jo lifted her arms and slipped her tank top off, landing in the growing pile of clothes. Dean reached behind her and unclasped her bra, letting the garment fall.
"Beautiful," Dean murmured as he kissed down the column of her neck, causing her to moan. Jo mumbled something chest moving quickly.
"What was that?" Dean grinned teasingly and was met with Jo's sharp look.
"I said hurry up Winchester," she moaned. "Eat me out."
"With pleasure," Dean grinned. He kissed downward, cupping her breasts in his hands, pinching the nipples gently with his fingers. His lips soon met where his fingers were, and he took one nipple into his mouth. Jo moaned, snaking her fingers into his hair. He moved slowly, sucking on the left before doing the same to the right. He continued to kiss down her belly. Dean pulled the jeans from her body, along with the silk pink panties.
"Wouldn't have figured you to be a pink person," Dean mumbled.
"What? All girls need a bit of pink," Jo shrugged. Dean went to work. He gently sucked her clit into his mouth and slipped a finger inside her. Jo moaned and her hips bucked. Dean grinned. He alternated between sucking on her clit and using his thumb to rub in tight circles. He slipped a second finger inside her. It seemed like no time at all before he felt her walls tightening around his fingers. Jo moaned, her hips bucking, throwing her head back.
"Oh god… fuck," she gasped. Dean sat back and allowed her to ride the waves. After a moment, she sat up and crashed her lips to his, tasting herself on him. They traded places, and she suckled on his neck and pushed him back on the bed. She slipped his boxers off and immediately wrapped her lips around his cock. Dean sucked in a sharp breath and moaned. She lowered her mouth further onto his cock, using her hand for what she couldn't fit.
"Fuck… Jo…" he gasped. Jo kept moving and a few minutes later, Dean patted her shoulder.
"Stop, Jo, wait," Dean warned. "I'm… I don't want…" Jo nodded and sat back.
"So what way are we doing this?" Jo smirked.
"I mean, we don't have to if you don't want to," Dean looked into her eyes. "I don't want you to do anything you don't want."
"I want you," Jo replied simply. "Fuck me, Dean." Dean grinned and rolled them over, watching her expression carefully. He only saw complete trust. He dug in his bedside drawer and pulled out a condom.
"Good idea," Jo grinned. He tore open the packet and rolled the condom onto his length. Dean moved on top of her and slid his cock inside her. Jo moaned as he filled her. Dean stilled for a moment. Jo's eyes were closed, just feeling. Her hips started to move closer, so Dean took that as a sign he could move. He moved back and Jo whined at the loss of him, but he thrust forward again, causing her to moan. He kept a slow pace and started to move faster. Their moans filled the room as Dean continued to move inside her. Dean felt her muscles starting to tighten around him.
"Oh fuck, God Dean, I'm coming…" Jo moaned as he felt the tell-tale spasming around him. Dean felt his own orgasm rip through him. He gasped and groaned, falling beside her. He slipped out of her gently, and he tied and discarded the condom. They breathed heavily for a moment. Dean looked down at Jo, who was grinning.
"That was so much fun," She laughed.
In Dean's experience, sex was just a casual thing. This time, it was different. Although it was romantic, it was hunger that ignited between them and made it all the sweeter. He loved the woman that he held in his arms. The night was led with an experience that was nothing short of bliss. Jo was smiling as her head lay on Dean's chest, listening to the soft thumps of his heart as she drifted into sleep. Dean's last thought ran through his head as he succumbed to darkness. Ellen is going to kill me.
