Hermione threw up a shield deflecting the bullet, her instincts still sharp from the war. The bullet fell to the floor, crushed as if it had hit a bullet proof vest. Sam had stood and pushed the gun out of Deans hand tackling him to the bed and pinning him down, a tussle following. As Hermione watched gobsmacked the sound of wings silenced the brothers and a man in a tan trench coat with a five o'clock shadow appeared next to her. He was not accompanied by the usual sound of apparition so Hermione knew that he wasn't a wizard, but as the boys had stopped fighting she realised that they must know him. Dean approached him slapping him on the back, "Cas buddy, how are you doing? Haven't seen you in a while." The man had an extremely serious face and looked unhappy; it was rather strange that he had showed up at that moment. Hermione couldn't quite understand how Dean could be so friendly with this man that obviously wasn't human, yet shoot at her when she mentioned she was a witch.
"You shall not harm this woman." Cas stated with an air of finality, coming to stand in front of Hermione with his legs wide in a fighting stance. Being in a room with these men made Hermione feel very small, and Hermione didn't like feeling very small. Dean stepped in before she could do anything, dragging Cas to the side and speaking in a hushed whisper that Hermione could still hear.
"Are you out of your mind?! She's a witch. A witch!" His eyebrows rose into his hair line as Cas replied calmly.
"Yes, the witch that will save people, thousands of people, more than you can imagine." Then he turned to Hermione, "I am Castiel, an angel of The Lord. I am here to watch over you."
"Do you mean you are my guardian angel?" Hermione asked speculatively eyeing the man in front of her. He looked nothing like the angels in the church her mother used to take her to when she was a young girl and she would pray that she could fit in at school. Maybe she should do some research on the subject, she could even ask Sam, he seemed to be the more studious of the brothers. The man slowly nodded, replying to her question.
"Yes, but not in the sense that you know. I am an angel, I am also your guardian, but I am not a guardian angel. They are special, more like a cupid than a normal angel. I am also the guardian of other people such as Dean here." Dean spluttered in the corner on the beer that he had picked up, "You are my guardian angel?" he asked, confusion flowing through every word.
"Yes, how is that so hard to believe? I did pull you out of hell." Castiel finished matter-of-factly and returned to speak to Hermione. "You are special, more than you know. A warrior, a defeater of evils three, the mother, the sacrifice and the undying king. Keep strong and have patience with these boys," then in a lower voice, "they shall come around in due time."
Sam looked at Hermione in confusion and awe; he obviously believed Castiel's prophecy if that is what you would call it. Unfortunately Dean looked ready to burst, "Are you kidding me?! A witch, she won't defeat evil, she is evil!"
Hermione had had just about enough of Dean's idea of an American stereotypical witch from lore. She moved to stand directly in front of Dean, poking her finger into his chest, ignoring the surprised look from Sam and the still stoic expression of Castiel. "If you had listened to me earlier instead of trying to put this," she waved her hand and the bullet picked itself up and flew to her hand. "Through my heart. Then maybe we could have got to the part about me being a good witch, not one of those fake demon loving bitches. I was born with my magic and had to overcome a lot to get through school to be able to control it. And guess what? I'm what they call 'the smartest witch of my age'. I am not trying to kill people, I am trying to save them, and I most certainly am not evil."
Sam was stunned by Hermione's sudden outburst as previously she seemed rather timid, he realised that he never wanted to be on her bad side, he was beginning to realise that there was more to her than met the eye. He believed Hermione, and Castiel for that matter, he had said that she was a warrior and that was how she had acted. She had that look on her face, the same one that he and Dean wore, showing that she had been through a lot and had seen some terrible things. He knew that Dean would take a while to warm to Hermione so he took over. "How does it work, y'know, where does it come from? The magic-y stuff…"
Hermione laughed, "My magic, that magic-y stuff? Well I was born with it. There are: purebloods who are born to two magical parents, halfbloods who are born to a magical and a non-magical parent, and a muggle born who is born to two muggles. The last one is me, two non-magical parents, a complete surprise." The last part she said in such a sarcastic tone Sam almost thought that he was talking to Dean.
"So Dean and I are… Muggles?" the word sounded strange on his tongue, not something that he was used to.
"Yeah, I suppose. Where I come from one wizard decided that only purebloods were good enough and tried killing everyone else. It wasn't a good time, there was a war. I fought. We won in the end, though people were lost." Hermione walked back over to the table and picked up her beer, taking a sip. "I can see it, it's all over you, you lost someone special. Both of you." She mentioned to the two brothers and they shared a glance. She was right of course, they had both lost so many people along the way that it was a surprise that they both stood there at the time. "Do you believe me then? Or are you going to try and kill me again?"
A silence filled the room as she waited for the response of the brothers, the angel casually standing near her protectively.