The drive to Kansas was very uneventful. In fact, Hermione was pretty sure she was going to go crazy from boredom if this was what every drive was going to be like. The scenery was bland. Nothing but flat prairies or corn fields between Bobby's house and the town they were traveling to in Kansas. And on top of that, Sam drove in complete silence for the seven hours they were in the car together. Complete. Silence. He didn't even turn the radio on. She didn't dare ask. She knew it probably had to do with his brother, but she really hoped by the time they had to drive somewhere else he would at least talk to her.

They pulled into the first motel they came across as they pulled into a small town just on the outskirts of Wichita. Sam cut the engine and then just sat there. Staring.

"Is this where we're staying?" Hermione asked, trying to break the silence.

"Hm?" Sam asked, turning his head.

"Is this where we're staying?" Hermione repeated.

"Oh, yeah," Sam said. "We can, um, get two rooms if that would make you more comfortable, otherwise Dean and I usually just get one room, two beds."

"One room, two beds works for me," she said. "The last year of the war I spent several months on the run with two teenage boys in a tent in the middle of the woods. Sharing a motel room with one man will be fine."

Sam made a face. "You had to share a tent with two teenage boys? I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as I am. I saw way more than I ever wanted to during that experience. Likewise for Harry, since he's like my brother. He told me later that he accidentally walked in on me changing once and it basically scarred him for life. I told him that I walked in on him doing much worse, and we had a good laugh about it."

Sam laughed. "What about the other one? Did you scar him as well?"

She felt the smile slip from her face at the mention of Ron. She brought her right hand up to her left ring finger and rubbed it. "Um, no. He was definitely not scarred."

Sam looked away, and then down at his own hands. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring something up that would make you uncomfortable. Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. Don't worry about it, you didn't know. And I'd rather not talk about it right now, if that's okay."

"Yeah, no, it's fine," Sam said. "Just know if you want to talk about it, or anything, that I'm here."

She looked over at him and gave him a small smile. "Likewise."

Sam's head snapped up and he met her eyes. "I'm sorry for the drive here. I promise I'll try to be better, especially on any longer drives."

"Sam, don't worry about it. I understand. This is the first time you've been on the road without your brother. I know it will take some time for this to click. Just if I pull a book out next time, don't think I'm being rude. No offense, but the scenery around here is rather dull."

Sam laughed at that. "Yeah, sorry about that. The midwest definitely leaves something to be desired. Hopefully we will be able to travel to other parts of the country. Because the mountains and parts of the desert are just amazing."

She smiled. "Well, I look forward to it."

The two sat in the car, an awkward silence surrounding them. Hermione had to wonder if they would ever be one hundred percent comfortable around each other.

"So…" Sam started.

"Yeah, one of us should go get the room," Hermione said.

"I'll take care of it. You can get the next one?" Sam said.

She nodded. "Sure."

"Great. I'll let you know what name I made the reservation under when I get back."

"You can't just make it under your own?"

Sam shook his head. "Technically, I'm dead, so I have to use an alias whenever I stay anywhere."

Hermione's eyes widened. "You're dead?!"

Sam shrugged. "We needed to get into a prison to gank a spirit, and then we had to escape said prison, so we had the FBI on our trail for a while. Then we were fighting this demon, and she ended up blowing a building we were technically supposed to be inside, so we're legally dead."

Hermione shook her head. "There's so much I'm going to need to learn about you. Looking at you, I would have never guessed legally dead."

Sam smiled and shrugged again. "Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do when you're on a job."

"I guess so," she replied. "I may not be able to be that committed to the job. I am technically a law enforcement officer. And I don't think I can handle being declared legally dead."

"Fair enough," Sam said. "I'm sure it won't come down to that."

"Well, Mr. Legally Dead. Why don't I take care of the motels? I can use my real name, and my real credit card."

"Do we really want to leave a paper trail?"

Hermione sighed. "I know this isn't the way you usually do things, but MACUSA has sanctioned our movements. I don't need to fly under the radar. Let me do this."

Sam sighed. "Fine, you can do this one. But let me get the next one. I don't want you to have to pick up the bills for the whole time we're on this quest."

"Fine, but if things start getting weird, I will take over everything. MACUSA is already really weird about Muggles knowing about wizards and witches, so having the FBI after us would definitely be something they would take notice with."

"Noted. If things start getting touchy, we will stop using my information, and we'll strictly use yours. I don't want you to get in trouble."

Hermione smiled. "Great, now that that is sorted, I'll go in and get us a room and then we can figure out our next move."

Hermione didn't wait for a response before getting out of the car and walking up to the door of the motel's office. She threw it open and wrinkled her nose at the smell. It smelled of stale beer, body odor and cigarette smoke. The man behind the counter was reclining in a chair, with his feet propped up on the desk. His hair was unkempt and greasy and he was sporting a beard that rivaled Sam's pre-trim.

Holding her breath, so she didn't have to inhale his scent, she approached the counter.

The man leered as she approached, bringing his feet off of the table and sitting up straight. "Well, hello, missy. What I can I do you for?"

Hermione tried to not cringe at his yellowed teeth, stained from years of tobacco use. "Um, I'm here to let a room."

"All by your lonesome?" the man said, the corner of his mouth quirking up a bit as his eyes roamed her body. "Lady, you don't need to let a room, I have plenty of space in mine. And you don't even need to pay me. Unless you're feeling," he paused, focusing his gaze on her breasts. "Generous."

Hermione grimaced. "That's okay. I'm not here by myself. My friend is waiting in the car. We'll need a room with two beds please."

The man raised his eyebrow, "You could bring your friend. It could be a party. I can give you a proper American welcome."

"Again, we'll just take the room. We don't know how long we'll be in town, so if it's okay, we would like to just have the room on a day to day basis."

"Oh," he said, typing something into the computer. "What business does someone as pretty as you have in our small town? I'm willing to show you the highlights," he said, dragging his tongue across those yellowed teeth and placing his hand in the general area of his crotch.

Hermione took a breath, determined to just be pleasant, and get the damn key to their room. "If by sites, you mean your cock, no thank you. May I have the key to my room please, and I'll just be on my way."

The man barked a laugh. "You have spunk. I like that," he reached behind him on the peg board and grabbed a key before walking around the counter. "Here's your key," he said reaching the hand with the key out to her.

She reached for the key, but he brought the hand back from her.

"Ah ah ah, not so fast," he said, maneuvering his body so that she was trapped between it and the desk. "How's about a little kiss to earn the key?"

"No thank you. I'll just have the key please."

"Oh come on, it's just a little kiss."

"I think she said no thank you," a voice came from the area the door was in.

The motel clerk turned around and it allowed Hermione to turn and see that Sam had come in. She breathed a sigh of relief, and then moved herself so that she no longer had her back against the counter. She turned to Sam. "I thought you were going to wait in the car?"

"I was. It got hot, and I was worried there was something wrong with your card. It was taking a long time," Sam replied. "So I came in here to bring you mine, just in case, but I see that it wasn't your card at all."

"Yeah, I've been trying to tell this gentleman that we just need the room, and he has offered me his cock," Hermione said, being crude on purpose. She shifted her gaze from Sam to the man, landing it on his crotch, lifting her lip in disgust.

"Really," Sam said, turning his attention to the man. "Is this how you treat all your customers?"

"Only the hot ones," the man admitted. "If you don't want anyone hitting on your girlfriend, you really shouldn't let her off on her own."

Sam let off a soft chuckle. "Well, she's not my girlfriend," he said, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a small leather square. He expertly flipped it open to reveal an FBI badge. "She's my partner. And you should be reassured that we will be reporting this incident to our superiors."

The man turned white as a sheet, and began sputtering. Hermione simply held out her hand and the man handed her the key. "If you try anything else fresh with me during the duration of our stay, I'll make sure we call the county inspector down here. I'm sure he'll be able to find several violations that will shut you down. Is that clear?"

The man nodded, and moved out of the way so that she could move all the way past, and she joined Sam at the door. Without sparing a glance back at the man at the counter, Sam held the door open for her, and they both exited the office. She glanced down at the key noting the room number before moving to the car. She reached into the back and grabbed her bag, waiting for Sam to do the same. She then led him to their room and opened the door. As she closed it behind them, she turned to him and grinned.

"You have a bloody FBI badge?" she asked, excitement oozing from her voice.

"Of course, how do you think we can gain access to classified information? Oh, by the way," he reached into his bag and tossed something to her. She caught it mid-air. "This one is yours."

Hermione smiled, opening the small leather wallet and looking at the badge. "Do I have an alias?"

"Agent Buckingham," Sam said, with a grin.

Hermione laughed. "Buckingham?"

"Yeah, like Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac."

"And what is your alias?"

"Obviously, it's Agent Fleetwood."

Hermione laughed shaking her head. "Okay, I'm sure I can remember that."

Sam smiled. "Hey, I don't want you to think I don't think you can handle yourself against some sleazy motel owner. I really was wondering what was taking so long."

"Yeah, no, I didn't think that's what you thought. I was actually glad you showed up. That man was relentless, I was worried I was going to have to knee him where it counts."

"Do you get that a lot in the Wizarding World as a woman in law enforcement?" Sam asked as he moved to sit on one of the beds.

"Not so much. I'm very well known, and my reputation proceeds me. I don't think there's anyone who doesn't know who I am, since I've been in the paper a lot for the last ten years. So I don't get harassed like that. Hit on? Often, since I'm a woman and one of the Golden Trio. Relentlessly hit on like that? Not so much."

Sam shook his head. "Famous. I'm with a famous person."

Hermione laughed. "Now don't you start. I'm just like any other person. So please don't treat me differently."

"Oh I won't," Sam said. "I'll just treat you like I would normally treat an attractive woman who is hunting with me."

Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet. She didn't respond to Sam's comment, she just moved to the other bed with her bag, opening it. She pulled out a couple books. She picked up the biggest one and moved over to sit next to Sam on his bed.

She opened it to a page she had marked before she left London. "This is Lucius Malfoy."

Sam leaned in so he could look in the book. Staring out from the page was Lucius Malfoy before the war took its toll on him. The only difference is in the last ten years he had become more gaunt in his obsession to create a pureblood world and finish what Voldemort had started.

"He looks like an ass," Sam said.

Hermione smiled, "Yes, that is an adequate way to describe him."

"Is the other guy in this book?" Sam asked, scooching even closer to her so he could get a better look.

Hermione held her breath as he moved closer. She could feel his body heat radiating off of him. She didn't know why all of a sudden he was making her nervous. Last night she had no problem with him sitting so close as they read through the research. But now, after he casually mentions that he finds her attractive? Now she gets nervous when he's so close? Her fingers find her naked left ring finger again, and she rubs in nervously. Would she ever get used to this?

"Um, yeah," she said, flipping through the book until she finds the picture of Dolohov.

"He looks fucking insane."

"Spending years in Azkaban does that to a person."

"Azkaban?"

"The Wizarding Prison."

"Ah," Sam said, looking back at the book. "What book is this?"

"It's a general history book on the two Wizarding Wars that my friends and I helped compile. We felt it was important that everyone knew the stories of what happened. It's now a required History of Magic text book to all first years."

"Do you mind if I read it?"

"Not at all."

"Great!" Sam said taking the book from her hands and setting it off to the side. "Okay, so now that I know what the guys look like, I'll be able to help you spot them if they're still here. I think we should go out and track down the werewolf pack's location, and see if we can get any information out of them."

"Sounds like a logical first step."

"Hopefully we'll be able to find them, and your wizards didn't up and recruit all of them."

"Merlin, I hope they didn't recruit any of them. My sincere hope is that none of these creatures are taking Malfoy and Dolohov up on their offer."

"Well, I hope your luck is better than mine, because if we were banking on mine, every nasty creature is signing up with them."

"Well, then we better hope fate is on my side."

"Yes, we should."