CHAPTER TWO
Summary: Nine years after the war, Hermione's the Head of the Auror Department that specialises in dealing with Magical Creatures and fugitive Death Eaters that are loose in the Muggle World. With the fugitive Death Eaters no longer hiding in Britain, she's tracking rogue Death Eaters in the United States, which leads her to The Winchester brothers. The Witch and The Hunters are a dynamic trio that no creature, being or beast wishes to mess with, Magical or Supernatural. Hermione/Dean pairing. Rated M for a reason.
Disclaimer: I don't own original canon characters or events, just those that I create myself. Everything belongs to J.K Rowling and the creators of Supernatural. I am not making a profit posting this fanfic.
Page count: 8
"Dean!" Sam yelled before slipping his handgun back into the waistband of his jeans and he ran over to the woman bleeding out on the floor.
"What? I panicked!" He yelled back, a slightly hysterical tone to his voice, which would've made Sam laugh if it weren't for the circumstances that were surrounding them.
"You idiot!" Sam snapped.
"Don't yell at me!" Dean replied, the hysteria in his voice rising a little more as he gripped the gun in his hand tightly.
Sam lifted the woman's hood back from her face and untied her robes to see where the blood was coming from.
"Whoa! She's hot" Dean muttered, before shaking his head, reminding himself that he shouldn't be making that observation about someone he'd just shot, especially after what he'd just witnessed. But he was still a man and he could appreciate the beauty of a woman.
Hermione had grown over the years. Her once frizzy hair fell in soft ringlets to the middle of her back; her ivory skin was soft and unblemished except for her arm and torso, and everything else that she glamoured. Her long, dark lashes touched her high cheekbones and she had freckles on the bridge of her small button nose and a heart-shaped face. She was approximately five-foot-six and wore converse, blue skinny jeans and a short-sleeved white t-shirt. Sam lifted her eyelids to see the pupils of her soft and large chocolate brown eyes dilated.
"Why'd you shoot her? She likely just saved our lives."
"She's obviously a witch, what with all that shit," he gestured around him madly. "Only dark magic could do that."
"Dean?"
They both looked up to see Castiel walking towards them with his usual emotionless expression and the light brown trench coat he seemed to be so fond of, that they hadn't actually seen him without it.
"A bit late now, I got the witch," Dean replied.
Castiel reached them and looked down at the woman, his eyes widening and he dropped to the ground on his knees beside her. It was the most emotion he had ever shown and it surprised them.
"Hermione?" He said quietly, a deep frown pulling at his forehead as his eyes searched her face.
"You know her?" Sam said stunned and Dean stared, unable to form a response to Castiel's reaction.
Castiel carefully lifted the woman into his arms –which more than surprised them both- and he rose to his feet and made his way towards Bobby's house, stepping through the door and heading straight to the kitchen where he placed the woman on the kitchen table and retrieved a pillow to cushion her head.
"She's a witch, Cas, just let her die," Dean said after having followed after him.
"She's under my protection," the angel replied.
"Are you crazy?" Dean struggled to contain his outburst.
"No," he frowned.
"Let her die."
"She's under my protection," he repeated firmly before he lifted his hand to heal the woman when Bobby walked into the kitchen, carrying two brown paper bags filled with groceries and a confused expression held on his face.
"Why is there an unconscious man wearing a skull mask outside? And why the hell is my railing smashed up and blood covering the ground?"
"I shot a witch," Dean shrugged his shoulders as if it were an everyday occurrence.
Bobby promptly dropped the bags to the floor, not caring for the contents, and he picked up the rifle resting against the door frame, moving forward when he finally noticed the woman laid out on his kitchen table and bleeding out everywhere.
"She's under my protection," Castiel repeated.
"She's a witch!" Dean finally snapped.
Sam had been silent throughout the chaos. Why was Castiel protecting her?
"She's under my protection."
"Stop saying that!" Dean yelled.
"What's that in her hand?" Bobby asked, catching a glimpse of the wooden stick that was still held tightly in her grip, despite her being unconscious.
"A wooden stick, she was using magic through it. It was strange," Sam explained with a slight frown.
"BALLS!" Bobby cursed.
Much to the brothers' utter shock, Bobby immediately dropped his rifle to the floor and rushed over to the woman's side. There was something about the woman, a familiar feeling; she looked familiar to him, too, but her hair was covering her face so he couldn't see her features clearly enough to identify her.
"You shot a wand-waving witch?" Bobby asked, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"She's a witch!"
"She's a good witch."
"There's no such thing," Dean scoffed.
"She didn't sell her soul or use human sacrifice to get her magic, she was born with it," Bobby said.
"Impossible," he scoffed once more.
"Are you calling me a liar? Stupid?"
Dean immediately realised his mistake and his body tensed. "No," he said quietly, averting his gaze from the older man that was like a second father to him.
"She was born with her magic; true witches and wizards have magic in the blood and DNA. There is a whole community of them hidden from us, they were almost wiped out centuries ago thanks to the Witch Trials, they went into hiding and they keep their magic hidden from us, from non-magicals. They live their own lives away from us in peace."
Sam and Dean were slowly taking in his words with disbelief and confusion, feeling as though everything they'd been taught since they were children was a lie.
Bobby turned to Castiel and asked, "She's under your protection?" Castiel nodded. "Are you going to heal her?"
"Yes, but you may want to stand back, she's very temperamental," Castiel replied.
"What's her name?"
"Hermione Granger."
"BALLS!" Bobby cursed once more, his voice rising and a slight growl wrapping around the curse word. Both Dean and Sam jumped, having been lost in thought and not expecting his outburst. "You didn't just shoot a witch, you shot Hermione Granger, Idjits!" He slapped Dean on the back of the head, followed by Sam who winced.
"What's so special about her?" Dean grumbled as he watched as Castiel pressed two fingers against her forehead, a slight golden glow bathing the skin underneath his touch.
"She's the most famous witch in the world. She's a war heroine; she helped save the world when she was eighteen." They both raised their eyebrows. "She's now considered to be one of the most powerful and formidable witches to have existed. You better hope that the magical communities of Europe don't find out what happened. I won't be saving your stupid asses from them when they come looking for revenge."
Dean rolled his eyes at Bobby's dramatics and lounged against the countertop as the woman groaned as she woke from her unconscious state. Castiel pulled his hand away from her and her eyes slowly fluttered open, taking in her surroundings in confusion before pushing herself up into a slight reclining-sitting position, supporting herself with her hands.
"What happened?" She asked, blinking several times to properly clear her vision and then shaking her head, her wild curls moving out of the way of her face and falling down her back.
"You were shot by Dean."
"Thanks, Cas, drop me in it with the witch," Dean snorted.
Her attention snapped to him and he was surprised at the softness of her large, chocolate brown eyes.
He was taken aback when she turned around and threw herself into Castiel's arms, even more so when Castiel hugged her back and the closest thing he had ever seen to a smile grace the emotionless Angel's face. And he wasn't the only one; Bobby and Sam watched with disbelief, too.
~000~000~000~
Hermione looked at the three men in front of her. One was obviously the eldest of the group, maybe his forties or fifties. He wore jeans, brown hiking boots, a plaid shirt and a brown cap. He had facial hair that was cut short and brown but greying, matching his short hair. He had brown eyes, a chubby frame and was around five-foot-nine in height. He looked familiar to her but she couldn't remember why.
The second man was quite handsome. He was quite tall at six-foot-four; he had hazel eyes and wavy brown hair that fell to his chin with several strands falling into his eyes. He had a strong jawline and bulging muscles which she could easily see beneath his clothing of a black buttoned-down shirt, blue jeans and a pair of white running shoes.
The last man Hermione thought was the most handsome with his light brown hair that was spiked up at the front, green eyes with flecks of brown in them and he had to be at least six-foot tall. He had chiselled features and he wore blue jeans, brown-black boots and a black t-shirt that fitted to his muscled frame. He was watching her curiously, suspiciously.
She then turned around to look behind her after hearing breathing and the rustle of clothing from movement.
"Castiel!" Hermione cried in excitement and she flung herself into his arms, beaming when she felt him hug her back.
"You know him?"The tallest of the men asked and she pulled away from the Angel and smiled widely, showing her perfectly white and straight teeth.
"He's my Angel," she said in reply. The handsome man snorted. "What?" She frowned in confusion.
"'He's my Angel?'" He repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, he is my Angel," she confirmed. "I've known him since I was eleven-years-old; he protects me. Speaking off..." Hermione twisted her body before lifting her arm and punching Castiel in the arm.
"That didn't hurt," he said with a straight face.
"I know it didn't, but it made me feel better," she replied, hearing snorts of amusement. "I haven't seen you in two bloody years! I called but you never came. What if I was on my death bed?"
"But you weren't."
"And if I was?"
"But you weren't," he repeated.
Hermione tutted. "Like a broken record, where's all my hard work disappeared to?"
"I died,"
"YOU DID WHAT!" She shrieked.
She gripped her wand tightly and jumped down off the table, where she put her hands on her hips, a foot tapping away against the floor and she glared at him furiously.
"I died,"
"And, pray tell, why did you die?"
"We stopped Lucifer from taking over the world." He saw her lift her wand as her glare hardened and her features set in anger and promises of pain. "It won't hurt me."
"No, but it'll make me feel better. Avis, Oppungo," she muttered.
They watched mesmerised as a flock of yellow canaries shot out of the tip of her wand, dived down towards Castiel and started to attack him, leaving him covered in feathers, peck marks and bird waste. Dean couldn't stop himself from laughing even if he tried; it was the funniest thing he'd seen in a long time. Suddenly, the birds turned towards him and his laughter was cut off as he instead yelled profanities. The birds soon disappeared and Bobby and Sam were sniggering, seeing Dean covered in peck marks, his hair being a mess and being covered in bird waste and feathers.
"What the hell was that for?" He glared at Hermione.
"For shooting me when I saved your life," she replied, not caring for his deathly glare in the slightest.
His glare quickly disappeared and he frowned slightly. "Fine, you can have that one," he conceded.
"Like you have a choice," she snorted.
She then waved her wand in his direction, he flinched and felt his hand automatically reaching for his gun, but he opened his eyes when he heard snorts of amusement, noticing that Castiel was now clean and when he looked down at himself, so was he.
"It was just a Cleaning Charm," Hermione said, a smirk pulling at her mouth when he muttered grumbled insults under his breath. "So, I guess introductions are in order. I'm Hermione Granger," she said, turning to her eyes to look at the man in the cap thoughtfully, before they widened when she finally realised why she knew him. "Wait a minute, Bobby?" She said excitedly and with a smile on her face.
"I thought you would've forgotten me," he chuckled and she quickly hugged him, causing Sam and Dean to share looks of disbelief. They knew each other? Friendly enough to exchange a hug? Especially with Bobby's less than affectionate personality?
"I could never forget you, Bobby, after all, you helped me out with that nest of vampires a while back. Without your help I would've ended up as vamp food, though, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have said 'bite me' to a vampire. You're a lifesaver," she grinned at him as she pulled away.
"Thanks, Missy," he muttered in embarrassment and she laughed at him. A pure and joyful sound. "This is Dean and Sam Winchester," he introduced, pointing to each of them in turn.
"Well, that changes things, I don't actually don't mind that you shot me," Hermione said. "Just wait until my Deputy hears I got shot by Dean Winchester, he's going to be so jealous," she said amused.
"Wait, you know us?" Dean said surprised.
"Yes, you're famous in my world. We keep tabs on you Hunters; we have to make sure that we pick up anything you miss and that you don't harm a witch or wizard such as myself," she explained. "You guys are quite good, so we don't really check up on you as much as we do the others." Dean unknowingly stood taller and his chest puffed out in pride and she snorted at him. "So, why did you shoot me?"
"You were a witch and pointing a stick in my face, which I'd seen you perform magic with," he said, looking the perfect picture of ease as he leaned against the countertop with his arms folded over his chest, but Hermione could see the wariness and dislike in his eyes, though he was hiding it well.
"The first words you heard me speak were I believe, 'leave them alone, they're under my protection.' You thought I was going to harm you after I saved your life? I was going to wipe your memories; I thought you were regular muggles."
"Muggles?" The man she now knew as Sam asked.
"Non-magical people," she answered and he nodded in understanding.
"What's the unconscious thing outside?" Bobby questioned with a raised eyebrow, gesturing towards the door with a jab of his thumb.
"Bollocks!" She cursed, having forgotten about the Death Eater. She rushed out of the room, straight through the open front door and outside with the others following after her in intrigue and confusion.
Luckily, she arrived in time as the Death Eater was starting to rouse when she reached him, so she quickly hit him with another Petrificus Totalus followed by an Incarcerous for good measure, before turning to look behind her and seeing them watching her carefully.
"I reached him just in time, I've been tracking him and it would've been a right pain in the arse if he escaped. Do you happen to have a fireplace?"
The three Hunters stared at her whilst Castiel just looked bored, as usual.
"Err, yeah, it doesn't work though," Bobby answered, reaching up and scratching at his chin.
"That's fine," she smiled.
They led her inside and to the fireplace in the living room, where she stood in front of it, waving her wand and muttering under her breath for almost fifteen minutes before she stepped back and nodded to herself.
"That should do it," she said to herself before putting her hand into her pocket and pulling out her beaded bag which she slipped her hand into it.
"Fuck!" Dean yelled in shock when her arm up to her shoulder disappeared, and she pulled back with a little pouch grasped in her hand. With a flick of her wand, she lit the fireplace and they jumped in surprise as the flames danced and swayed.
"I'll be right back," she said, absentmindedly glamouring her robes to hide the bloodstains, not wishing to worry people or start any arguments when there was nothing wrong with her and she'd been healed.
They called after her as she stepped into the flames, said something under her breath and then disappeared from view, the flames dying down.
"What was that? Where's she gone?" Sam asked, his eyes searching his surroundings, not believing that she had actually just stepped into fire and disappeared from view.
"London," Castiel replied.
"London?" Dean raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"She's gone to London," he repeated.
Five minutes later the flames once more flared up and Hermione reappeared, stepping out of the fireplace uninjured and she brushed the soot off her robes.
"What was that? Why aren't you burnt?" Sam asked, his eyes sweeping her frame for injuries.
"Floo travel, kind of like teleportation," she shrugged, and then two men stepped out, one after the other.
One had dark skin and eyes, a bald head and he wore burgundy robes and was six-foot tall. The second was smaller, around five-foot-nine, had glasses which hid bright green eyes, black messy hair, a strangely shaped scar on his forehead and he wore grey robes, much like Hermione's.
"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt, he is the Minister of Magic," Hermione introduced, but when they looked confused she further explained, "He's the magical equivalent to The President." They greeted him with nods of the head. "And this is my best friend and little brother, Harry Potter."
"I never thought I'd meet Harry Potter," Bobby spoke with an awe-like look on his face and the brothers looked at him as if he'd just divulged he was secretly a succubus that had just given birth to a werewolf.
"Err, hi," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Bobby, yeah? Hermione's told me a lot about you, you must be the Winchesters," he said and the brothers nodded in confirmation
"Harry's the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement and Auror Department," Hermione beamed proudly. "Youngest in history."
"The what?" Sam asked confused.
"Aurors are effectively magical policemen, but the MLE Department covers six sub-divisions, making him the big boss," she explained.
"Yeah, well, Hermione's the Head of the MLE Department division for the Muggle World, youngest in history," Harry replied.
She rolled her eyes. "My department was created less than a decade ago."
"Exactly, they created an entire department just for you to head up," he argued.
She changed the subject. "Right then, we've got one low-level Death Eater apprehended, the other two managed to get away. I'm going to have to track them now," she huffed in annoyance.
"One's still a good catch," Harry assured her, ruffling her hair as he walked past her. She scowled at him and ran past him, tugging on his ear as she did so. "Oi!" He called as he chased after her.
"Honestly, how they won us the war I'll never know," Kingsley laughed and shook his head before following the two department heads out of the house.
"War?" Sam and Dean echoed with frowns, turning to look at Bobby questioningly.
"War," Bobby nodded.