CHAPTER TWENTY-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: 5
Hermione woke to the morning sunlight streaming through a gap in the curtains, and a sleepy smile pulled at her face as the warmth bathed her skin. She allowed her eyes to flutter open and slowly her brain seemed to switch on and her senses came back to her.
Feeling the warmth of a body pressed against hers, she lifted her head to look over her shoulder, smiling when saw the deputy spooning her and looking peaceful in his sleep. She caught sight of the alarm clock and seeing that it was just after seven in the morning, she knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep, especially since they'd gone to bed so early the previous night and she'd already slept longer than she ever had. She shifted the covers off herself and tried to climb out of bed without waking her boyfriend, but when she moved he made a sound in his sleep and held her tighter.
She held in her chuckle and carefully extracted herself from his tight hold, quickly heading to the bathroom and then making her way to the kitchen to find something to calm her rumbling stomach. On the way out of the door, she spotted his t-shirt from the day before lying on the ground beside the bed and without thought, she picked it up and slipped it on, the larger item of clothing being too big for her and falling down to her mid-thigh and the sleeves almost to her elbows.
She rummaged through the cupboards and found herself a mug, before making herself a cup of coffee and some eggs on toast. As she removed the eggs from the frying pan and plated them up, there was a knock on the door.
Hermione frowned slightly, wondering who the hell would be at the door so early in the morning, before she padded across the apartment, removed the chain from the lock and twisted the key, unlocking the door. She opened the door slightly and peeked her head around, surprised to see the group of teenagers she'd seen the deputy meeting at the school before they'd left for England, except there were three other boys she didn't quite recognise.
"Can I help you?" She asked them.
They all looked surprised and confused to see her answering the door, and when their eyes widened, she knew they vaguely recognised her.
"We need to see, Parish," one of the older boys spoke, and giving the auror he gave off, she guessed him to be the Alpha, Scott.
"He's sleeping, can this wait until later?" She replied.
"Not really, it's important," he responded.
"Alright then, but I warn you, he's a grumpy sod first thing in the morning. Come on in," she spoke, stepping back and opening the door for them.
When they all saw her current state of dress their eyes widened in surprise, but the girl, Malia, she thought, looked amused. That would make the other boy Stiles, and the redhead Lydia. The three younger boys, two of them were holding hands so she quickly surmised their relationship, and the other boy who she suspected was Liam, the Beta werewolf, his eyes were wide as they trailed her figure. She barely contained her laughter.
She shut the door behind them and gestured to the seating available in the living room, before walking away and into the bedroom where Parrish's sleeping form could be seen. She climbed up onto the bed and leaned over him, pressing her hands into the mattress to keep her balance.
"Hey, Deputy, it's time to get up," she said softly, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek. He made a sleepy noise of disapproval and she chuckled at him. "You have to get up."
"Don't want to, it's still early," he mumbled.
"You still have to get up." She squealed in surprised when he turned onto his back and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down onto him and cuddling her tightly. "I'm all for a morning cuddle," she laughed. "But you have visitors."
"What'd you mean?" He mumbled.
"Your supernatural friends are in the living room, they need to see you and apparently, it's important and they can't wait."
His eyes flew open and he stared at her, noticing her dressed in nothing but his t-shirt. He thought it was a good look for her and she should do it more often.
"You answered the door like that?" He frowned.
She shrugged. "I didn't know who was behind the door, they only saw me like this when I let them in. So, you better get up, whatever they wish to see you about is important, the Alpha was giving off anxiety vibes."
He sighed and nodded, before quickly giving her a chaste kiss and allowing her to climb off him, where she went into the bathroom and summoned a pair of sleep shorts to slip on underneath her t-shirt. She then left the room and closed the door behind her, giving her boyfriend chance to put some clothes on.
As she stepped into the living room, she noticed the uncomfortable atmosphere and Liam was looking anywhere but at her with flushed cheeks, Malia still looked amused, Lydia was watching her carefully and there was something in her eyes that Hermione didn't quite like the look of. Scott and Stiles looked curious, whilst the two other boys she didn't recognise or know the names of didn't look bothered in the least.
"He'll be right out," Hermione spoke, moving back into the kitchen in order to prepare some coffee and breakfast for her boyfriend. "Can I get you anything?" She asked them and the group of teens all shook their heads in silence.
Parrish stepped out into the living room moments later, dressed in a t-shirt and pair of knee length shorts. He gave them a nod in greeting before heading to the kitchen, gratefully accepting the mug of coffee from Hermione.
"You say I'm a grump when I don't have my morning coffee, but you're far worse than I am," she said amused.
"I think we're as bad as each other," he shrugged, pinching the now cold toast from her plate and taking a bite as she swotted at his warm.
"Hey, that's mine, yours is in the toaster," she scowled at him. "Fine, you eat the cold toast and I'll have yours." He chuckled at her, before taking her plate of cold breakfast and moving it over to the living room, sitting himself in the arm chair in front of the teens, the older four squashed onto the couch and the younger boys either stood or perched on the couch arm rests.
They were all watching him silently, questioningly, but he refused to speak until after he'd gotten some food into his system. Hermione came over minutes later and perched herself on the arm rest beside him, and their stares turned to watching her. When they finished their small breakfast, Hermione took their plates and mugs and deposited them in the sink, before returning to sitting beside him.
"Right, everyone, this is Hermione. Hermione, you already know who everyone is, well, except for Mason and Corey," he said, gesturing to the two boys she didn't recognise, but she knew the names.
"Oh, the chameleon and Beast?" She questioned, and he nodded and she turned her eyes to Mason. "I'm sorry that happened to you," she told him and he blinked in surprise at her knowing who he was. "How are you doing? I can only imagine how you must've felt."
"I'm fine, thank you," he replied.
"I'd offer you a donut, but he might cry," she gestured to Parrish with her thumb. Malia snorted at her.
"Where the hell have you been!" Lydia finally exploded. "We've been calling and texting you for weeks and we never received a single reply from you. And why didn't you let us know you were back!"
He blinked in surprise at the redhead's outburst before shaking his head and taking Hermione's hand in his, feeling her comforting presence wash over him.
"We returned yesterday evening, after a twelve hour flight and several hours driving, we went to the station to get my car, and then came straight home for rest. I never responded to any of your calls or texts because I didn't know you'd tried to contact me. I haven't had my cell on me since leaving, I lost it at the airport," he lied. "And as for where I've been..." He looked up to Hermione and she nodded slightly, before turning to team.
"I recruited him to help with a case that was similar to The Beast you were forced to face here." They all took deep breaths. "And unfortunately, it was a lot worse. We called it Prodigium, which is Latin for Monster. In three months, it killed over two hundred people and fatally wounded thirty of my agents. In the weeks it took us to track and kill it, it killed more innocent people, injured the both of us and nearly killed me."
"Prodigium, it was worse than The Beast," Parrish said, drawing their attention. "Twice as big, twice as deadly, twice as frightening. It wounded me far worse than The Beast ever did. And now that's over with, what are you doing here and what's so important that it couldn't wait?"
They all shared looks of worry, their eyes darting to Hermione and then to him.
"As you may have figured out, Hermione knows about the supernatural, there's nothing that you can't say to me that you can't say to her."
"I don't trust her," Lydia spoke.
Both Parrish and Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Is that because you don't know my character, or because you're jealous?" Hermione spoke, and Parrish looked to her and then to Lydia in surprise.
"Jealous? What do I have to be jealous about?"
"You tell me; after all, you've got a boyfriend. So why are you so bothered by the fact I'm in a relationship with Jordan?"
"I'm not," she denied.
"You are," Stiles said with a slight frown. "I know you, you're acting weird."
"I'm not!"
Hermione snorted. "Whatever you say, but I've seen enough jealous women in my life to know you have a problem with my relationship with the deputy. But giving your age, I'll put it down to hormones and refrain from burning you." Parrish slapped at her leg lightly in warning, as they stared at her speechless. "Anyway, I know who and what you are. It's my job to know."
"You're a hunter?" Scott frowned.
"No, I'm the exact opposite, I'm a protector." They all looked confused. "I am the head of a department who works to protect the secrets and identities of supernatural beings in the world, ensuring they can all live a normal life without fear. I'm the reason many werewolves and banshees and other beings are able to be protected against hunters. That's how I know who and what you are. My department has files on each one of you, I have a remarkably high security clearance and if I wish to, I could pull the file of any person from your government's database and no one would bat an eyelash."
"So what are you? FBI? CIA?" Stiles asked.
"No, I have abilities that make me different, too, but I'm not a supernatural being. There are thousands of people like me living in secret around the world and we have our own government, and different branches and departments. Unfortunately, that's all I can tell you, if I were to say more I'd be breaking the ancient laws of my people and I'd be arrested and imprisoned."
"So, now that Hermione's explained herself, why are you here? What's the problem?"
Scott opened his mouth to reply but a sudden loud tapping on the window drew their attention and Hermione frowned before going over to it, opening it and taking the letter from the owl before it flew off, ignoring the expressions on the teens' faces. She frowned when she saw The American Ministry's seal.
"What's that?" Parrish asked.
"I'm not sure," she replied, opening the letter and her eyes scanned the words on the page, widening slightly. "The American branch has heard that I'm here visiting, there's a problem regarding the safety of supernatural beings and they wish for my help. I better go." She looked to the teenagers. "Wait on your explanation until I get back, I have a feeling they might be connected."
Without a second glance, she darted into the bedroom and reappeared minutes later, dressed in a navy blue blazer, black jeans, a white blouse and black heels.
"How did you do that so fast?" Malia asked her.
"It's one of my abilities," she answered, before turning to Parrish. "I'll be back soon; you should get ready for your shift, too." She said, before placing a kiss to his cheek and leaving out the door, leaving behind a confused group of teens.