Chapter 44

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, 10th April 2012

Jo Winchester groaned. She came back to consciousness, very aware that her senses seemed to be more intense. She could see the bright sunlight through her closed eyelids; feel its warmth on her skin. Jo could also feel the gentle nibbling of teeth on her neck replaced by soft kisses. She realized that it was Dean.

She and Dean returned to Hogwarts after a week in the Leaky Cauldron. Despite the looming danger evident in Diagon Alley, it was a wonderful honeymoon. They spent half their days exploring both magical and Muggle London, and the other half in their bedroom.

"Dean." She complained as she tried to push him off. "Quit being such a pervert."

"Oh, come on, you know you love it." He grinned as he pulled her closer.

She started laughing and struggling to get away from him, "Dean quit it!"

He took that as an invitation to pick on her more. "Come on Jo, last night was just magical, wasn't it?"

"It was, but if you don't let me go, I'll be forced to use drastic measures." Then her laughing was cut short as she struggled even harder to get away.

"Dean let me go!" She physically started hitting him. Dean thought she was still playing and didn't notice that she was actually in pain. "OK, OK sheesh, you win." He let her go, and she went straight for the bathroom.

"Jo?" He called after her. The sound of her retching in the toilet made him bolt out of bed and pound on the door. This had been the fourth time in the past three days that she had gotten sick.

"Jo, what's going on?"

"I'm fine Dean, don't worry about it!" She muttered weakly.

"Like hell I am." He gritted his teeth. "If you don't open this door, I'm gonna break it down!"

Dean heard a sigh from the other side of the door and the lock clicked. He went in to find Jo sitting on the floor wiping sweat off her forehead.

"Is everything ok Jo?" He leaned down and checked her forehead. He didn't know why he was supposed to do that, it was what he'd seen people do before when someone was sick.

"Everything is fine Dean. I guess this wizard food doesn't agree with me." Jo shrugged. She seemed to be back to normal. But with everything happening lately, he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Come on, we're going to see Poppy," Dean said as he offered her a hand.

"I said I'm fine Dean, there's no need to worry!" Jo complained, not taking his hand. That was her way, not wanting to be fussed over, the product of Ellen's tiger mom training. "Come on, don't we have classes to teach? Sam is still out of commission. He'll be pissed if we don't go."

"The semester just started back. Sam is demanding to get back to teaching. I tried to tell him, but no…" His tone turned mocking at the end as he rolled his eyes. "Stubborn asshole."

"We still have to prepare for it." She reminded him, turning away from him, then adding under her breath. "He isn't the only one…"

"What?" Dean put his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. "Guess the honeymoon is over, huh? What the hell is wrong with you? You've been crabby ever since we got back from the Leaky Cauldron. Nit-picking over everything, not wanting to go see Poppy even though something is clearly wrong with you." She ripped her arm out of Dean's grip and stormed away from him. "Babe…. Just talk to me."

Jo sighed and turned to look at him. "I'm late…"

"You're what?"

"I've been throwing up too." The words came pouring out of her in a torrent as she let loose the worries that she had been facing in the three days since their return to the castle. "I mean it all fits, especially what Mom told me when she found out… and of course it had to be right off the get-go. Damn Winchester virility…"

Dean didn't answer, looking like he'd completely missed what she'd said.

"Dean, hey Dean!" Jo tried to get his attention. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah, I'm listening. You're sure?" He asked. A baby…?

"I don't know… I mean it could be some kind of stupid wizard… I don't know what." Her words became more panicked as she began to pace. "I'm not ready…. This world is a shithole right now. This is no place for a baby."

"We'll figure this out, okay," Dean told her, trying not to panic himself. Not that he didn't want a child. He did. He never thought he could have one, living the life he did. But if it was true, he'd be fucking elated. "Don't panic. Let's see first, okay?"

"Dean, I really don't want to..." Jo frowned.

"Well, we're going." He scooped her up and walked out the door. "Whether you like it or not."

"Hey! Dean! Put me down!" She started pulling at his hands for him to let go. Dean just ignored her and laughed.

"Not happening." He grunted as she started hitting him. "Ow, stop abusing me."

"I swear you're enjoying this aren't you?"

The students gave them some strange looks as they walked down the halls. Soon, Dean was pacing outside the doors to the hospital wing wondering what was wrong with Jo. What if she's really pregnant? He thought. Or she could have a ghost sickness, something like that. She could have a stomach virus, constipated? Will she be okay? She'd better be. Dean usually wasn't one to worry so much, but Jo wasn't just a normal girl to him. He loved her and would do anything to keep her safe. But Dean wasn't stupid. The missed period seemed to be a fairly positive sign of what was going on.

Inside, Jo wasn't faring much better. She was gnawing on her nails as Poppy started to run her magical tests. I'm not ready to be a Mom, she thought. Or is it just this damn war that has me panicking? I'm pretty young… I'm only twenty-four, sort of. Oh god, the kankles…. Mom swore I was the reason she had bad ankles.

"So dear, I'm going to need some more information," Poppy smiled.

"Sure… Okay. What do you need to know?" Jo sat up.

"Your symptoms, sexual history in the last few months," Poppy told her.

"Feeling sick, I missed my period, and the history, well," Jo hesitated. "I just got married, so there's that. But we've been using condoms."

"During every… 'occurrence'?" Poppy looked over her glasses at the young woman.

"Yeah," Jo replied. "Could have been a defective one in the bunch…"

"Yes, possibly," Poppy nodded. "I need to get a urine sample from you."

"Okay… Got a chamber pot, or can I go to the bathroom?" Jo's nervousness made her a little sarcastic. Poppy smiled and handed her a glass vial. "I'll be back in a minute."

She left the ward and came back soon after, handing Poppy the vial. Poppy had a cauldron ready, a bubbling clear potion inside.

"There are spells to test, but this is the old way. More reliable," Poppy smiled. "Some call me 'old-fashioned, but I like 'old reliable' better." Jo nodded. Poppy worked over the potion quickly. When she added the sample, it turned a vivid purple at once.

"So, what does this mean?" Jo looked over into the cauldron.

"It means you're pregnant," Poppy told her. "About two months, judging by the colour. Congratulations, dear. Now go out there and tell that to the young man who is getting greyer by the minute waiting." She smiled warmly.

"Oh my God," Jo mumbled to herself. "I can't believe it."

"I'll give you a minute," Poppy smiled again, leaving the room.

Outside, Dean was pacing when the door creaked open, and Poppy came out with a rueful smile on her face.

"What's wrong, is she ok?" Dean asked before she could say anything.

"She's waiting for you." Poppy stepped out of his way and walked down the hall.

He walked into the Hospital Wing to see Jo lying on the bed, bathed in warm sunshine with a small smile on her face.

"Hey, Dean."

"Jo, what the hell is going on?" Dean rushed over to her side and held her hand.

"Watch the language. You are going to have to stop that. It's bad for the baby," she mumbled. Dean paid more attention to her body movements now. She looked positively glowing and her other hand that wasn't being strangled to death by Dean's was wrapped around her stomach.

"Oh my God…." Dean ran his fingers through his hair as the realization dawned on him. He backed away from her and looked up to the ceiling, holding his head. "OH MY GOD! You're pregnant!" He started laughing as he came back to her. She laughed. "I'm gonna be a dad… Shit…. I mean shoot."Jo smiled at his happiness. Now it was confirmed, she didn't feel so scared anymore. Don't get it wrong, she was still scared shitless, but to a lesser degree. Knowing Dean was excited too, and it paved a nice future for them.

"Do you want to feel?" He gingerly reached out to touch her stomach. Honestly, he didn't feel anything, but he wasn't going to ruin the moment.

"Wow, I did this. For once in my life, I did a good thing." Dean smiled. "And the world didn't come to an end because of it."

"You know my mom is gonna kill you right?" Jo brought him down from his happy cloud.

"Son of a bitch!" he muttered. Now came the hard part of explaining it to their parents.

"Dean." Jo reminded him as she pointed to her stomach.

"Right, sorry little guy."

"What makes you so sure it's a boy?"

"I know things!" Jo rolled her eyes at her husband's goofy look on his face.

"How did you find out already?" Dean asked. "It hasn't been very long."

"Poppy thinks I'm about eight weeks along. Wizard medicine I guess," Jo shrugged. "I guess everything is a little different here." Dean nodded.

"We'd better tell the family," she stated after a few minutes.

"Uh oh," Dean muttered.

"Come on, you wuss," Jo smirked. Dean followed her from the Hospital Wing. Dean slipped a hand around her waist, resting gently on her stomach. They walked down the corridors and stairs.

"I hate the way these damn stairs never stop moving," Jo grumbled. Dean chuckled.

"Hormones kicking in?" he grinned. Jo glared at him. By this time, they had reached the Great Hall.

"Time to shine," Jo mumbled. Dean gulped. Dean pushed the door open and walked inside. They walked to the hunter's table in silence, nerves tugging at them. For a moment, Jo thought she was going to be sick again.

"Hey Dean," the youngest Winchester greeted. "How are you guys?"

"Fine," Dean smiled as he sat down. "Hey Sam, where do you think we'd get a crib around here?" he asked, deciding to rip the band-aid off. "We don't need it for around 7 months, so it's okay if we can't get one now."

"A crib? What would you need a crib-" Sam trailed off as his eyes widened. Dean looked over to his parents that sat across from them, their eyes wide.

"You're pregnant?" Mary whispered to Jo. She took a deep breath and nodded. Mary's eyes filled with tears as she got up and hugged them both. "I'm so happy for you both." She kissed her eldest son's cheek. John smiled and clapped a hand on Dean's shoulder.
"Oh, how fun," Lucifer muttered, catching Sam's sight. He was sitting on one of the nearby chairs. Sam tried to ignore the hallucination.

Everyone had gone up to congratulate them, except the one person Dean was afraid of. "Kid, I want to talk to you outside," All eyes turned to Ellen as she spoke. Dean took a deep breath and got up. "Somebody, pray for me?" He walked to the side, into the adjoining room.

"Ellen, I know it was a surprise. We didn't-" Ellen held up a hand, cutting him off.

"So, you got my girl pregnant," Ellen stated. It wasn't a question. To his surprise, Ellen's face broke out in a grin. Dean watched her warily. What the hell? He thought. The room was eerily silent as he waited for his mother-in-law to speak.

"I couldn't pay you boys enough to stay out of trouble. Y'all always could start an argument with the damn fence post." She shook her head, talking to herself, it seemed.

"You're killin' me here, Ellen…" Dean replied, finally wondering if he should be running or if she would just attack him straight off.
"I'm not mad at you boy," Ellen laughed. "I just want you to do something for me. Look after my Jo."

"You know I will," Dean smiled.

Ellen's brown eyes softened slightly before she ran a hand through her hair.

"Good, because if you ever do hurt her, you won't live," she threatened, punctuating the three last words with a sharp poke in his sternum. "Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," he said, and she let him go.

"Congratulations," Ellen then smiled and kissed his cheek, giving him a tight hug. Dean hugged her back, finally feeling at ease.

They walked back into the Hall, and the hunters looked at them. Jo smiled a little, happy that her mother hadn't killed him. Being a young widow would suck. The hunters began cheering. Dean kissed Jo's cheek as he sat down beside her. Ellen hugged her daughter close, whispering her congratulations.

"Congratulations!" Jim called from down the table.

"Thanks, Jim," Dean smiled.

"When did you find out?" Mary asked, her eyes sparkling.

"This morning," Jo smiled.

Dean was still thinking, trying to wrap his head around it. Jo was pregnant, having a baby. He was going to be a Dad. He smiled to himself. If you had asked him two weeks ago if he would be a father, he would have scoffed. Now, his mind was whirling. Would the baby be a boy or a girl? If he had a girl, she would never date. This also brought up a horrible realization. This baby would be born during this war. He had to try to keep Jo safe. He couldn't bear to lose either of them, as well as his family.

"How far along are you?" Mary gushed, excitement in her eyes.
"About two months according to Poppy," Jo replied.

"So, you two mustn't have been together long," John laughed.

"I'm gonna be an uncle!" Sam said grinning. Dean saw several students look, including Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Dean kissed Jo on the cheek as the bell rang.

"Come on, we have shifters to teach about," he said. Jess, Sam, Jo, Dean, Mary, and John got up and left the Great Hall.

They walked to the Demonology classroom. It seemed strange to just go back to normality and teach a class after the news of Jo's pregnancy. The three couples stood together as the students started to file in. Jessica watched, curious. It was a month since she'd been back. The first two weeks, she spent mainly with Sam, but not involved with the students and the classes. She mainly spent her time coming to terms with her death and resurrection. She'd been introduced to the students, so they knew who she was, but this was the first day she would take part.

"Hey guys," Sam greeted. "Today we're gonna study Shapeshifters…"

The hour passed by without much incident. They did the usual, discussing the Shifters, its characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. Then came the memories. They showed the students the infamous case in St Louis, where a Shifter took Dean's form and tied up a woman. Ron Harry and Hermione were reminded of the conversation where this specific incident was brought up. Then came Milwaukee and the Shifter in the bank. Dean winced as he saw the aftermath of Ronald's death again. One of the many deaths the brothers still thought about and felt guilty about. The guy was a little unhinged, but he didn't deserve what happened to him.

They ended on a slightly happier note, showing them a memory from Sam's soulless period. They didn't tell the students that, of course, but Dean figured it was safe to probe into those memories more, as Sam seemed to be dealing well after the wall crumbled. As far as he knew, anyway. Sam was careful to hide it, but the hallucinations of Lucifer were getting more frequent, and haunting his nightmares. They showed the students the memory of protecting the Shifter baby. They never knew what happened to Bobby John after the Alpha Shapeshifter took him. Dean sighed. They came out of the Pensieve and gave the homework. The students began to file out. Hermione, Harry, and Ron approached.

"Hey guys," Dean smiled.

"Hey, Jo, Dean. Congratulations," Hermione blushed. Dean smiled back but raised an eyebrow.

"How'd you find out?" he asked.

"A lot of us heard Sam saying he was going to be an uncle at breakfast," Harry supplied.

"And secrets don't stay secret for very long here." Hermione's smile turned into a grimace.

"Thanks, guys," Dean smiled. He turned to his brother. "Way to spill the beans, Sammy," he laughed.

"What?" Sam shrugged with a smirk.

"You guys know where I could get some food around here?" Jo asked the trio. "I'm starving."

"There are the kitchens," Harry replied.

"That's where the house-elves are, right?" Sam asked, remembering their short discussion at Horace Slughorn's party before Christmas.

"Yeah," Hermione frowned. She still felt a little bitter about the fate of the house-elves, but after discovering that Dobby was happy where he was, and he was being paid fairly, she backed off a little. But it didn't stop her promoting S.P.E.W. and leaving clothes for the house-elves to find when cleaning the Gryffindor Common Room. It led to Dobby cleaning the room solo, as the other house-elves were insulted by the clothes that were left. House-elves, as a species, were proud of their work.

"Do you know where it is?" Dean asked. "Do you think they'd whip something up?"

"Yeah, I'm sure they wouldn't mind," Ron shrugged. "And we found it last year. It's near the Hufflepuff common room."

"We have a free period next," Harry smiled. "We can take you."

"Great, thanks," Jo smiled.

"Go on you guys, have fun," Mary smiled. "We're gonna go to Hogsmeade for some supplies."

The group of seven left the classroom then, taking the moving stairs down to the ground floor.

"I'm guessing students aren't meant to be in the kitchen," Dean said casually. "I may have to report you guys." His tone was teasing, but Hermione's eyes were wide. Dean elbowed his brother.

"He's just kidding," Sam assured. The group continued into the Entrance Hall, taking a door they never had before. It led them down a staircase into a broad corridor. The stone walls were littered with food-themed paintings.

"Hogwarts: A History said Helga Hufflepuff organized the kitchens," Sam explained. Hermione beamed.

"You've read Hogwarts: A History?" she grinned. Both Ron and Dean groaned simultaneously.

Harry approached a painting of a bowl of fruit. He raised his hand and tickled the pear in the painting, resulting in a loud giggle.

"What the hell…?" Dean mumbled. The pear turned into a green handle, which Harry pulled. The doorway led them into a huge high-ceilinged room. It looked identical to the Great Hall above, with four long tables. Pots and pans were everywhere, on the stovetops and counters. There was a large burning fireplace on the opposite end of the room.

"Wow."

"Harry Potter!" a loud squeaking voice sounded suddenly. The hunters thought they'd been caught until they saw a creature approach quickly. He was very short, with bat-like ears and green eyes the size of tennis balls. He had a long thin nose and was wearing a striped white and red jumper, and colourful mismatched socks.

"Hi Dobby," Harry smiled.

"Dobby has missed Harry Potter, sir! And he has come to see him! With friends!"

"I've missed you too Dobby. You remember Hermione and Ron?"

"Yes! Dobby remembers Miss and Sir!" Dobby bowed.

"How are things in the kitchens?" Hermione asked kindly.

"Dobby is very happy Miss!" Dobby squeaked. "But who is the others?" The house-elf peeked curiously.

"This is Sam and Dean Winchester, they're the Demonology Professors," Harry introduced the tall men. Dobby bowed once again, so far that his long nose almost touched the floor.

"Hey, Dobby. This is Jo, my wife, and Sam's girlfriend Jessica." Dean spoke.

"Dobby is happy to meet you!" the elf beamed.

"You too," Sam smiled, feeling more than a little weird talking to something that wasn't any taller than his knees.

"Dobby, we were wondering if we could get some snacks for Jo?" Harry asked politely.

"I just found out I'm pregnant. I'm having some crazy cravings," Jo grinned. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how much she'd been eating over the past few weeks, and her longing for certain foods. She would be bigger than a damn house before long.

"Congratulations!" the elf squeaked happily. "Dobby is happy for Mistress Winchester!" Jo smiled at the excitable elf.

"Thanks, Dobby," Jo smiled. At once, house-elves began to come up with trays of snack foods. Jo nearly drooled at all the options.

"Please take what Mistress wants!" A house-elf smiled.

"Yes, Mistress must! Dobby remembers when his old Mistress was with child with the young master! It is very important!" Dobby urged. Jo smiled. The elf seemed sweet.

"Thanks, guys," she grinned. They started collecting some snacks for Jo. They chatted with Dobby for another few minutes before leaving.

"He seemed nice," Dean said as they were leaving.

"He is," Harry agreed. "He saved my life a few times."

"He mentioned something about old masters," Sam said. "What's that about?"

"House-elves are usually servants to one family," Hermione explained, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Some are treated horribly. Dobby served the Malfoys until Harry set him free."

"How did you do that?" Jo asked.

"They are freed if they're given clothes," Jess explained. "But most families won't free their elves. How did you pull that off Harry?"

"Lucius Malfoy gave a book to Dobby. I hid my sock in it. It's a long story," Harry explained with a laugh at Dean's puzzled look.

"So, you tricked him into freeing Dobby?" Sam asked and Harry nodded. "Clever move."

"They were treating him horribly. I had to do something," Harry mumbled at the praise.