Chapter 2

By the time the rest of the group arrived at the Hospital Wing, Severus was already in mid conversation with Madam Pomfrey. The woman wore brown robes with a white apron and nurse's hat. Her hand was over her mouth and her blue eyes wide with shock as Severus told her of the news.

The Hospital Wing itself was immense. The ceilings were impossibly high and cathedral-like and came down to meet tall windows that were spaced evenly down the elongated room's walls. Between each of the windows sat hospital beds flanked by heavy white curtains. At the end of the room, arched in the stone was a single wooden door.

As the brothers took in their surroundings, the woman nodded to Severus and approached them.

"I am Madam Pomfrey, and I am the Matron here. And I don't mind telling you both that I won't tolerate any funny business. If you want to cause trouble, we have plenty of dungeons for you to spend the night in instead of here!"

Sam and Dean felt her stern, no-nonsense voice press upon them and they immediately felt as if they'd been regressed to school children themselves. They both looked at her and before they knew it they were nodding in agreeance.

Dean felt a wave of panic and thought, Don't piss this chick off! He paused a moment after the thought left him and shook his head to clear it. That was weird, he thought.

Sam experienced a sense of authority much like his father's. That feeling he got when he was young and John Winchester spoke. What he said was the bottom line and that's the way it was like it or not. "Mmmhmm." Sam hurriedly agreed. Then he too shook that bizarre feeling away as quickly as it came.

"Now that that is out of the way, Gentlemen, would you care to introduce yourselves?" Madam Pomfrey said.

There was an unintentional pause as the brothers strained to find their tongues.

"Well?" she said, a little more forcefully than she intended which made them jump.

"Hi, erm . . ." began Sam as he cleared his throat. "I - I am Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean."

"Well, Sam and Dean, don't just stand there! Change into some dry clothes!" she said and moved toward her desk. "There's no sense in you getting sick in those soaked things."

"We haven't got any other clothes." said Sam.

She stopped and turned around. "They are on your cots. You do know what a cot looks like, don't you?" and she motioned to the hospital beds.

"Oh!" they both exclaimed and muttered things like "sure they did" and "of course." They chose a pair of beds next to each other and laid down on them.

"Dumbledore will be here shortly to speak with you both. You may change and rest until he gets here." Pomfrey said as she continued to her desk.

The rest of the entourage they arrived with slowly departed the last one to leave being Severus. He eyed the pair coldly, staring down his pointed nose at them. When he was gone, the brothers were finally able to relax a bit. Madam Pomfrey sat at her desk and went about busily concocting some sort of potion by mixing different liquids from several bottles into two cups.

The brothers pulled the curtains around their beds and changed into what were essentially hospital gowns and robes. Dean pulled open the curtain between their beds and they both laid down. After a few minutes, Dean turned over on his side to face Sam and whispered lowly. "Sammy, what the hell are we going to do?"

"I have no idea. I just can't believe we are actually here. I can't get my mind around it." Sam said. "I mean, we're actually here."

"Yeah? Well, you're busy fangirling over there, you said we're in serious trouble. So how are we going to get out of this? Cass zapped us into a freaking book!"

"I don't know. I mean, it's a book. We don't know how we got here, so I guess we're just going to have to find a way out." Sam said.

"The whole way up here I was trying to call Cass to come get us out of here and he hasn't shown up. So either he is ignoring us, or he can't hear us."

"Well. . ." Sam began. "The only thing I can come up with is that we just play our role. Cass sent us here to protect Harry, so maybe that's just what we do."

Dean rolled his eyes wildly. "You mean like when Gabriel trapped us in TV Land? Dr. Sexy? We gotta do that again?"

"Well, not Dr. Sexy per se, but yeah. The way I figure it is that we just gotta do what Cass sent us to do. We gotta find Harry Potter and protect him."

"Uh yeah, there's just one problem, genius. We're not wizards. How are we supposed to do that? Isn't there some evil dick out to get him? What's his name?

"Voldemort." a voice said that wasn't Sam's. "His name is Lord Voldemort."

The brothers jumped and sat upright in the beds. Mere feet away from the both of them stood Dumbledore in his purple robes. In his hands he held the two cups Madam Pompfrey had been fixing.

"Dumbledore!" Sam exclaimed. "I . . . how long have you been there?"

"Long enough to learn that you are not of this world, and that you have a mission." the aged man said calmly and handed a cup to each of them.

A moment of silent disbelief passed between the brothers.

"Yes, that's basically right." Sam said finally. "You see, Dumbledore, where we come from, the story of Harry Potter is a book. Seven books actually. It's a work of fiction."

"And I assure you, young man, that where I come from it is all very real. The danger is real. The consequences are real. The lives of everyone here . . . are real."

"I think we're beginning to realize that." Dean said.

"Please, drink your potions. They will warm you and keep you from becoming ill. Be sure to drink them all, or Poppy will surely be cross."

Sam and Dean looked into their cups. The liquid bubbled slightly and gave off a sweet, spicy scent like cinnamon and cloves. The cups were warm to the touch and very inviting. They both drank and felt an instant warmth creep down their throats, into their stomachs, and then radiated into their extremities and out to their fingers and toes.

"Oh, wow." said Dean. "Remind me to get the recipe."

"Now, you have been sent here to protect one of our students. Sent by whom?" Dumbledore asked getting back to the subject at hand.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you." said Dean.

"I think you'll find I can believe in quite a few odd things, Dean Winchester."

"Dean," Sam said, "We just told him that we're from another world and he accepted it like we told him the sky was blue."

"Okay, you got a point." Dean said with a shrug and took another swig.

"Honesty is a fleeting thing." said Dumbledore. "Rather than letting Severus extract the information from you using one of his potions, I thought it best to hear the truth from you whilst not under duress. Honesty tends to present itself when one thinks nobody is watching."

"Well, sir," Sam started. "We were sent by our friend Castiel. He's . . ." he glanced over a Dean and swallowed before meeting Dumbledore's eyes with his. "He's an Angel."

Dumbledore paused in thought. After what seemed like several minutes, he pursed his lips and nodded. He stepped forward and sat on the end of Sam's bed. "The way you came here?" he asked them. "I overheard you say you are Muggles. So what Sybil witnessed was not Apparation."

"Muggles?" Dean asked.

"Non-Magical persons." Sam and Dumbledore said together which surprised Dean.

"You are such a nerd, Sammy." he told his brother, then caught the eye of Dumbledore. "Sorry." he apologized.

"That's right, sir." said Sam, ignoring his brother. "We didn't Apparate here. Cass, just . . . well . . . zapped us here."

"Zapped?" Dumbledore queried raising an eyebrow.

"Well that's what we call it. There isn't a technical name for it really. He can, uh . . . Apparate at will. But he can touch our foreheads and send us places."

"Ah. I see." said Dumbledore. "And why did he send you here?"

"Well, he is confused right now. We have been . . . how do I say this?" Sam said.

Dean seized the moment and jumped in. "We're Hunters. The hunt monsters and evil things and we kill them."

Dumbledore raised both of his eyebrows in what almost seemed like amusement.

"It's a really long story but here is the gist." Dean continued. "We were raised by our father who was a Hunter. Family business you might say. Back then it was a lot simpler. We hunted monsters that were killing people. I'm talking about Demons, Ghosts, Shapeshifters, Ghouls, Werewolves, Vampires, the whole enchilada. Then life got complicated. Found out Angels were also real. God disappeared, Heaven and Hell started wars and we got caught up in it." Dean took a breath and waited for Dumbledore to try to object. When he didn't he continued.

"Castiel had his Grace stolen by a dick Angel named Metatron and he isn't thinking too clearly. He thought the Harry Potter books were real and sent us here to protect some kid as if we even know how to do that. What's more, we don't even know how to get back to our world so we're stuck here!" he finished and punched his pillow.

The brothers waited for Dumbledore to shoot down their explanation of events and accuse them of being spies or worse. But no ridicule came, instead came something the two did not expect. The old wizard began to laugh.

Sam and Dean looked at each other as he chortled away utterly confused at his reaction.

"What's so funny?" Dean asked

Dumbledore quieted himself and spoke plainly. "It's just that you say that our world is a work of fiction when it is yours that sounds like the fairytale!" he chuckled once more before continuing. "Perhaps your world is the one written on the pages and ours is the reality, hmm? Regardless of which of us is the work of fiction, you are here now. And if you are indeed here to protect Harry, then we shall have to give you the advantage to do so."

"Great!" Sam said much to the chagrin of Dean. "If I may ask, which book are we in?"

"I beg your pardon?" Dumbledore asked not understanding the question.

"I mean, which year is this for Harry? I know what is supposed to happen, I've read all seven books. All the teachers are here, and you're still . . ." Sam stopped himself.

"You have foreknowledge, Sam." Dumbledore held up his hand. "It is both dangerous, and useful. You must choose carefully which knowledge is to be used."

Dean swung his legs over the side of the bed and leaned forward. "Wait a second. Doesn't that all change now?"

"What?" asked Sam.

"The story. It's gotta change now, right? I mean, we're not supposed to be in the books. . . sorry, in this world I mean. But now that we're here, doesn't that change everything?"

"Oh my God." said Sam. "You're right! It's an alternate time stream now.

"Which is why," Dumbledore interjected, "Your foreknowledge is dangerous. You must not interfere with things that are meant to be." With this he turned to Sam and looked into his eyes in a pressing manner. "Some things are not meant to be changed. You cannot save what is not meant to be saved."

Sam felt as if Dumbledore knew. As if he could read what was in his head as easily as reading it off a page. He felt a strong pang of regret to admit that in his heart he knew he would try to save him from his fate, and somehow, so did Dumbledore.