CHAPTER FOUR
Summary: Hermione Granger, an accomplished witch is working a particularly trying case and is in need of help. Deputy Sheriff Jordan Parrish is a hellhound and just the one she needs. When a fiery witch and a fire-proof supernatural being work together, sparks are sure to fly and Hermione and the Deputy find that they need each other for more than one reason. Rated M for a reason.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters, they belong to J.K Rowling and the creators of Teen Wolf and MTV. This is purely for entertainment purposes and I am not making a profit from the posting of this. This is set after The Wild Hunt but disregards everything afterwards, so there was no war between the supernatural and humans, there is no Monroe or Gerard and there are no hunters. At least for now! Also, Parrish is 23 and Hermione is 24. Oh, and I'm fudging the time line a bit, too. This will be written mostly in Parrish's POV.
Page count: 7
"Do you mind if we make a pit stop?" The handsome deputy asked her as she pulled away from his apartment.
After dropping him off earlier, she'd apparated to the nearest wizarding town and then floo'd to The American Ministry. She'd stayed for a little while before returning to Parrish's apartment and he'd been waiting for her, stepping outside with a duffle bag in his hand before she'd even rolled to a stop.
She followed his directions until she pulled up at Beacon Hills High School and judging by the time and the amount of students mulling around, she realised they were on their lunch break.
"I'll be right back," he told her as he climbed out of the car and shut the door behind him.
Being curious, she climbed out of the car and allowed her eyes to examine her surroundings, and that's when she noticed that Parrish was approaching a group of students, which she suspected were the supernatural beings.
"So, what's the emergency?" Lydia Martin asked the deputy as he neared closer to the Pack, various looks of worry and curiosity crossing their faces.
"It's not an emergency, not for here at least" he replied, stopping in front of the group of teens and they all looked surprised when they noticed that he wasn't wearing his uniform, despite the fact he should've been on shift at the station. "I wanted to tell you all in person, you're graduating in a month and I don't know if I'll get the chance to wish you all the best for your futures."
"Why? What's going on?" Scott McCall asked.
"I'm leaving Beacon Hills."
"What!"
He winced against the chorused shout.
"I'm leaving Beacon Hills," he repeated.
"Why?" Malia spoke, but the tone of voice sounded as if it were more of a demand that he tell her rather than her asking.
"I can't exactly tell you, I've been sworn to secrecy. All I can say is that someone came to find me, to ask for my help and the right thing to do is to help them, a lot of people have already died and are continuing to die."
"They need you?" Lydia said with a raised eyebrow.
"They need the hellhound."
Lydia's eyes searched his face before they landed on a spot over his shoulder, and when he turned his head, he saw that Hermione was stood by the car, watching him curiously.
"Is that her? She's pretty," the redhead said innocently and Parrish felt his eyebrow raise in response. "How do you know this isn't a trap? That she wants to hurt you."
"I just know. She's different, I can feel it."
"Different, like us?" Scott said.
"No, she's not supernatural but she's told me she has abilities that make her different, she hasn't yet explained everything in detail but I expect she will once we're on the plane."
"Does my dad know about this?" Stiles asked him, his eyes darting between him and at Hermione over his shoulder.
"Yes, he does. He's the one that called me back to the station. He knows where I'm going and why, but he's been sworn to secrecy, too, so there's no point in asking him for answers, he won't give you any."
"We'll see," Stiles smirked, slinging his arm over Lydia's shoulders and she rolled her eyes at him.
"Where are you going, how long will you be gone?" Lydia asked.
"I'm leaving the continent, I can't tell you where I'm going and I can't tell you how long I'll be gone because I don't know. It could be as little as a week or as long as a few months, either way I'm not coming back until the situation is dealt with, which is why I thought it best to say goodbye to you all now." Their eyes flickered back and forth between him and Hermione. "And now I have to go, we've got a flight to catch. So, if I don't see you before you graduate and go off to college, I wish you the best." And before they could say anything else, he turned and walked away, heading back to the car.
When Parrish climbed into the car, he noticed that Hermione stayed put and was watching the group of teens as they did the same.
"I'll make sure he's kept safe," Hermione spoke softly, but quietly, knowing the werewolf and werecoyote would hear her, and although she wasn't able to see their facial expressions or hear them, she knew her accent would've taken them by surprise as well as the fact she'd spoken as if she knew they'd be able to hear her.
She then climbed into the car and turned towards Parrish who was watching her with curious eyes.
"All done?"
"All done," he nodded.
"Then let's go, it's a long drive to the airport," she responded, before turning on the ignition and setting off on their journey.
It was, in fact, a long drive to the airport and they'd mostly done the journey in silence with the radio being the only sound in the car. Twenty minutes in Parrish had fallen asleep and she made sure to remain quiet as to not wake him.
They were only thirty minutes out from the airport when she received word that their flight had been delayed due to a storm, and not only had it been delayed, but it had been done so by several hours. They were scheduled to leave at six-thirty, and now, the flight had been pushed back to two-thirty the following morning.
Hermione grumbled at the news. She knew she should've just taken a port key, but Kingsley was adamant she travel the muggle way in order to not put too much at once on the deputy. Learning of the existence of magic and its different counter parts was surely going to unsettle him, and making him travel by port key would only be the icing on the cake. They'd have been back in Britain hours ago if she'd put her foot down.
She shook her head and followed the directions on the sign posts to the nearest motel, stopping by a convenience store in order to purchase a few food items and beverages. Throughout all of this, Parrish hadn't woken once, and he didn't until Hermione returned to the car after paying for two rooms, and she called his name as she removed their bags from the boot.
Once he woke and noticed his strange surroundings, he climbed out of the car and took his bag from her, following after her as she led the way.
"What are we doing at a motel?" He asked confused.
"Our flight's been delayed due to a storm, we're not scheduled to leave until two-thirty tomorrow morning, and I'd rather wait at a motel where I can actually get some sleep, than in the airport."
"You have to check in," he replied.
"And I will as soon as I've found my room and had something to eat."
She found it fairly quickly and she handed him the key to his own room, which was next to hers, but before he could enter, she motioned for him to follow after her into her own room.
His eyes searched the room as she shut the door behind him, seeing the brown and cream colour scheme, a small table and two chairs, a small closet and a double bed in the centre of the room with a bedside table to the right. The door to the bathroom was open and a short walk from the bed.
She placed her bag on the floor by the closet and he did the same, before sitting on the bed when she gestured to it. She pulled a chair over to the bed and perched herself on it, sitting in front of him with her legs crossed and her hands clasped together, resting on her knee.
"So, first of all, I find it curious that you have not yet asked what it is you'll get for helping me," she spoke, tilting her head to the side and her wild curls spilled over her shoulder.
"And why would I? As long as I can help to protect people from this creature then that's all I want," he replied and he felt himself squirming at the way her face seemed to soften and a smile pulled at her mouth.
"It seems I was right about you," she mused. "I'm an excellent judge of character and my instincts have yet to lead me astray." She shook her head lightly. "Anyway, seeing as we've brought you into this and you're likely to be risking your life, we're going to be treating you as a free lance worker, so you'll be receiving a lump sum of money that will be deposited into your bank account, and actually, it should've already been done."
"How do you know my banking information?" He asked slowly.
She smirked at him, leaning forward in her chair and bringing her closer to him. "This is what you've got to understand, Deputy, my government have very few restrictions surrounding them and I have a very high security clearance. When I arrived at The American branch, no one batted an eyelash when I requested the files of every supernatural being known to exist in Beacon Hills, and when I requested the files of Sheriff Stilinski and all the deputies, they had them pulled from your government database within minutes. My being able to get my hands on your banking information is the least I can do. I assume you have mobile or internet banking, why don't you take a look?"
His eyes traced her face slowly and then moved down to the mobile device which he pulled out of his pocket, and sure enough, money had been deposited into his account.
"Five hundred thousand dollars!" He spluttered in surprise, his eyes lifting to her face and her amused smile.
"For now. As I said, this is a very dangerous situation we're walking in to; we feel it fair that we take care of you financially. Hopefully, if Prodigium is no longer a threat, you'll receive a further five hundred thousand."
"But I can't accept it," he frowned slightly and her amused smile transformed into a soft, kind smile and he felt himself getting trapped in her gaze, her eyes shining with understanding and pride.
"It's your money, Deputy; you may do with it as you wish. If you feel you would rather donate it to charity, then we are unable to stop you." She shook her head lightly. "Right, seeing as we have some time on our hands, do you feel you are ready to know the truth of my abilities and the existence of my people?"
"Yes," he answered immediately.
A smirk curved on her lips. "We'll see." She leaned back against her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "So, you obviously know of the existence of the supernatural, so I wish to know what your thoughts are on magic."
"Magic? As in pulling rabbits out of hats and card tricks?"
She chuckled at him. "No, those are parlour tricks to entertain children. I mean actual magic. Magic that allows for the impossible to become possible, magic that can make even the grumpiest of sods laugh and smile. Magic that is beautiful and pure, but also dark and consuming."
"I'm not following," he frowned.
She sat forward and he caught sight of something peeking out from beneath her sleeve and before his eyes, that was a sharp 'crack' and she had disappeared from his view. He barely had time to blink before a second 'crack' was heard and she was stood in the door way of the bathroom, and then it happened again and she was stood by the door, leaning against it.
"How did you do that?" He asked, his voice quieter than usual.
"We call it the art of apparition, but for you, it's basically teleportation." He blinked several times as she removed what looked to be a wooden stick from her sleeve. "Avis," she whispered.
Much to his shock, a flock of bright yellow canaries shot from the tip and flew about the room, twittering and chirping happily, before they disappeared with a swish of the wooden stick.
"That is what we call Conjuring and it is a branch of Transfiguration," she explained.
She then pointed the stick at the chair she had previously been occupying and with a whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa," the chair levitated off the ground and bobbed gently in the air before she lowered it back to the ground.
"That was a Levitation Charm," she said, as she moved back over to the chair and sat herself down. "This is my wand and it acts as a conductor for my magic. It helps me to control it and it ensures that I don't have any magical outbursts which are tied into my emotions. My wand focuses my magic and maintains the intended intentions and directions of my spell work. I was born with my magic inside of me and it has always been a part of me, and just as I grow, so does my magic."
"What exactly are you trying to tell me?"
"To put it simply, I'm a witch. We exist and live secretly and peacefully in the world, as do our male counterparts which are better known as wizards."
He couldn't help himself, a snort broke free. It wasn't that he didn't believe her, after what he'd seen her do and after what he'd witnessed regarding the supernatural, he did believe her. It was just the idea that magic actually did exist and that he was in the presence of a real life witch that had him unable to contain a snort.
She raised an eyebrow at him and rather than looking insulted, angry or annoyed, she actually looked amused by his behaviour.
"It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that, well..."
"I understand," she nodded. "I haven't always known I was a witch. Strange things used to happen to me when I was a child. When I was upset glass vases would shatter, a book that I wanted to read but couldn't reach on the shelf would levitate over to me, a dress my mother would wish for me to wear but I hated would burst into flames, when I fell out of a tree I landed on my feet without a single injury, when I was being bullied and chased in primary school I would always find myself in a room on the opposite side of the school. None of this was normal but I'd learn to understand that I was different to the other children in school, and when I turned eleven, there was a knock on my door. A witch, the Deputy Headmistress of a school of magic, explained to me what I was and why strange things happened. I was taken out of this world and into the world to which I truly belonged and I was taught about the wonders of magic. I was taught the history of my people, I was taught how to perform incredible feats of magic and I was brought to a school that would be my home for seven years, before I graduated and I entered the world of adulthood."
He blinked slowly and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "This is a lot to take in."
"I know, and there's so much more to tell you."
~000~000~000~
Hermione had spent the last hour explaining the existence of the Wizarding World and magic to Deputy Parrish and Hermione thought he was taking it rather well. She'd told him of the reasons behind The Statute of Secrecy and The Witch Trails, she told him of the Wizarding World, she'd told him of the blood statuses within magical folk, she'd told him of her childhood and of her time at school and her friends, but she hadn't told him of the war or all the trouble she'd gotten into, she told him of what her department truly did, of all the people they'd helped and continued to help and that brought them to now.
They'd finished eating the food she'd bought and she was about to bring up the war which brought back painful memories.
"What I haven't yet told you is that there was a war several years ago."
He sat up taller and he felt his body stiffen slightly, he saw the way her whole body tensed in her chair, the way a haunted look crossed her face and she gripped her wand in her hand tightly, and something inside of him told him that she had been a soldier.
"The short explanation is that there was this dark and powerful wizard, he wished for the Wizarding World to only be populated by those that were Pureblood, and many Pureblooded families agreed with him. You have to understand, this wizard was the magical version of Adolf Hitler."
He felt his stomach twist and turn and bile rise up in his throat and it took everything he had in him to force it back down. He took a calming breath and unclenched his fists, not even realising he'd done it. He shook his head and turned back to Hermione. She was looking over his shoulder, staring at a small mark that was on the wall, likely trying to keep the memories at bay. He knew the feeling all too well.
"They believed that Muggleborns such as myself stole their magic and that was why their magic was weakening with each generation that was born, if a new generation was born, obviously it had nothing to do with the inbreeding," she said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "When our government fell, He took control of our world and made it so all wizarding folk had to be able to prove their magical lineage. Many fled Britain, some even Europe as he was slowly recruiting from other countries. My friends and I were forced to run, we had to survive for almost a year in the wild whilst being hunted and chased. Muggleborns were being slaughtered and Half-bloods and Pureblood bloodtraitors forced into slavery, and we fought back. It took two wars, countless battles and deaths and two decades to finally destroy the monster that he was, but now the Wizarding World is healed and blood supremacy has all but been eradicated. There's still a few that support the old ways but nothing will come of it."
She shook her head and took several calming breaths before she stood from her chair and made her way over to her bag, when she found what she was looking for she made her way over to him and handed him a very large, very heavy tome.
"The war is still very painful to talk about," she said quietly. "As you can likely tell, I left quite a lot of information out, if you read this book you'll learn everything you wish to know."
He nodded, looking over the large tome and the elegant calligraphy which read, 'Hogwarts, a History.'
"Now, I'll just pop over to the airport and get us checked in, I'll need your passport."
"You'll need me to come with you," he said, but he did put the book aside in order to retrieve his passport from his duffle bag.
"Not necessarily," she shrugged, pulling her wand from her sleeve and giving it a gentle shake, indicating she had magic at her disposal. She took his passport from him and spun on her heel, disappearing from view.