CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
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: 9
Hermione stumbled back as Dean crashed into her, his hands gripping at her hips and she held onto his biceps, gripping for balance, but it wasn't enough and she fell backwards, tumbling to the ground.
She made a sound of surprise and somehow Dean managed to twist them so that he landed on the ground on his back and Hermione landed on top of him with Dean cushioning her fall. He made a grunting sound of pain against her lips but he didn't stop kissing her.
Hermione shuffled up his body so neither of them had to crane their necks, her legs straddled his waist and her hands moved from his biceps to bury themselves into his hair, tugging on the strands. He groaned and delved his tongue into her mouth, his hands moving away from her hips, one running up her back and burying beneath her hair and holding the back of her neck to keep her to him, the other slipped under her shirt and trailed the hot skin of her back. She moaned when his hand slipped over her arse and gave it an appreciative squeeze.
Her hands left his hair and found his, lacing her fingers through his she pulled them away from her body and pinned them on either side of his head, keeping held to the ground.
"Hermione! Dean!" Hermione sprung back from Dean and jumped off him just as Sam rounded the corner, coming into view and he raised an eyebrow as Dean was still laid on the ground and Hermione stood beside him, looking everywhere but at him.
"What's going on here?" He asked them both.
"Dean was teaching me some self-defence," Hermione answered. Technically he had been before he pounced on her, so she wasn't exactly lying.
She knew her cheeks were likely flushed, but that could be put down to the exercise, the same with her breathlessness and rumpled shirt, her hair was mussed and could've been caused by the wind, and her lips were likely swollen, she just hoped he didn't notice.
"She any good?" Sam asked, helping Dean to stand up and he brushed down his jeans. Dean nodded, his heated gaze locked on her.
"Well, I better go and find Ricky, I've nearly finished my report and I need him to deliver it to London," she said, before turning and walking back through the maze.
Sam turned to Dean and he crossed his arms and he smirked at him. "She must be rather good in order to get you on the ground," he commented.
"She distracted me," Dean defended.
"I bet she did," he smirked in reply. "She did look rather flustered."
Dean kept a passive look on his face. "She can shoot," he said, changing the subject.
"She can?" Sam asked surprised.
Dean nodded to the six cans on the ground and Sam stared at him surprised. "She shot all six of them from twenty feet away and without difficulty. Her father was in the military and taught her to shoot when she was eight. Apparently she's good with knives, too."
Sam blinked. "Maybe we should ask her to come with us tomorrow," he mused and Dean once again, kept his face passive.
~000~000~000~
It was the early hours of the morning and Hermione laid awake staring at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep, she had tried and to be honest, she wasn't sure she wanted to. She couldn't shut her thoughts off long enough to fall asleep, and she knew that if she did, she wouldn't get much sleep with her memories haunting her. Since she had taken the Dreamless Sleep Potion the night she was attacked, it had messed up her schedule and so that option was out of the window.
She sighed and ran a hand over her face, pulling the blanket up to her chin and turning on the bed that she had transfigured from the couch. Her eyes caught that of someone entering the room and she didn't know how, but she knew it was Dean.
He walked into the room and stopped when he saw her awake and staring at him. He wore sleep pants and a t-shirt, where she wore an old t-shirt and a pair of leggings.
"Have you been to sleep yet?" He asked, his voice sounding groggy as if he'd just woken up.
"No, I can't sleep, you?"
"About an hour," he confessed, running his hand through his hair and yawning.
Without thought she shifted in her bed and lifted the blanket in invitation. It seemed he had been waiting for it as he had climbed into her bed behind her before she'd realised he'd done it.
They found themselves in a position that was beginning to feel familiar to them, Dean wrapping his arm around Hermione's waist and her back pressed to his chest with his head buried in the crook of her neck.
"I never took you for the pyjama wearing type," she spoke.
He snorted at her. "I'm not, but Sammy and Bobby would kill me if they found me wandering around naked." She laughed at him, sighing as his hand slipped below her t-shirt to rest against the hot skin of her stomach. "Where did this bed come from?"
"It used to be the couch before I worked my magic on it," she shrugged.
"You get the better deal; I sleep on the floor on an old blow-up mattress."
"I thought Bobby had spare bedrooms," she said confused.
"He does have a spare bedroom but there's so much stuff in there you can barely move, Sammy sleeps on the couch in the study and I sleep in the store room," he shrugged. "Have you decided yet?" He didn't need to clarify; she already knew what he was referring to.
"No, I haven't," she admitted.
"We leave after breakfast;, it's a long ass drive to our next case, so you haven't got long to make up your mind."
"Where are you heading?"
"Cambridge, it's in..."
"Massachusetts, I know, it's where Harvard University is located," she said knowingly. "It also has a large number of book selling establishments." He snorted at her answer.
"Bookworm," he muttered.
"I am supposedly The Brightest Witch of The Age, it comes with the territory," she shrugged. "So, what are you after?"
"We're not sure yet, and we won't be until we get there and get our hands on the autopsy reports and speak to some of the locals. All we know is that several women have disappeared from the same night club and their bodies turned up three days later. There's been five so far."
"Any connection?"
"Similar physical appearance; blonde hair, brown eyes, five-foot-five to five-foot-six. We're not sure how they died yet, but it's being treated as a serial killer case."
"Enter fake ID's," she mumbled and he chuckled against her neck.
"So, now that you know, are you coming with us?"
She sighed. "I don't know."
~000~000~000~
Sam was the first to be up and ready and as he made his way to the kitchen, he stopped when he saw Hermione and Dean both sleeping as they snuggled together. Sam had never seen them doing anything but that in their sleep, they were somehow drawn to each other in a way that can't have been natural.
He looked up when Bobby entered the room, he, too, stopping at the sight of Hermione and Dean sleeping, both looking peaceful. Now Bobby had seen what happened to Hermione when she slept, and he had seen what happened to Dean, but they both looked relaxed and calm.
"That's strange," his gruff voice muttered and he shared a look with Sam before they both headed into the kitchen, leaving them to sleep.
Dean was the first to wake, not long after Sam and Bobby, the smell of coffee was what woke him and he looked down at Hermione, seeing her breathing even and deep, he knew she wasn't yet going to wake. He untangled himself from around her and carefully climbed out of bed to not disturb her. He disappeared to get some clean clothes and he used the bathroom, before walking into the kitchen clean and ready for the coming day of travel.
"How do you always end up sleeping next to her?" Sam asked, before he could even sit down and pour himself some coffee. "I mean, even when you're in separate rooms you still end up sleeping with her, you even did it in the car yesterday."
Bobby looked intrigued by that little tid-bit of information.
"I don't know, I sleep better when she's near me, now drop it," he said grumpily, taking a drink from his coffee mug.
"But..."
"Leave it, Sammy!" He snapped. Everyone fell silent as they stared each other down.
Hermione entered the room at that point and they turned to look at her.
"So, what do you want for breakfast?" She asked, yawning.
They all shrugged and she sighed and rolled her eyes, before proceeding to make some toast, eggs, bacon and sausages. Placing their plates in front of them and she made a cup of tea for herself, Merlin, she had missed being able to drink a decent cup of tea.
"We're heading to Cambridge today," Sam said, eyeing Dean carefully.
"Yes?" Hermione questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"We've got a case, and well, you should come with us," he offered.
Dean's attention snapped to her waiting to see what her answer would be.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline your invitation."
Dean's face fell at her words.
"Why?" Sam frowned, noticing Dean's reaction, as did Bobby.
"Because I've already been invited to join you by someone else and I've decided to accept his proposal," she answered. Dean's eyes widened at her words before the corners of his mouth twitched into a smile.
"You have?" Sam asked surprised, his eyes flying between her and Dean.
"Yes, I have, now if you don't mind, I'd better get my things in order before we leave." She took her plate and mug over to the sink before leaving the kitchen.
"You asked her to come with us?" Sam asked Dean, still stunned.
He shrugged in response, but shuffled nervously in his seat. "Yeah, we need her, she knows things that we don't and we can learn from her, she told me there's two types of werewolves and vampires, and we need to know the difference between her type of witch and ours. If we end up killing one of her kind, it could have some serious repercussions."
"That's not why you asked her to come with us," Sam replied knowingly.
"Yes, it is," he denied.
"No, it's not, I see you've decided to give things a go between the two of you," he commented, but Dean didn't respond, he just drank the last of his coffee and left the room.
~000~000~000~
They had spent all day driving, stopping for bathroom breaks and food before continuing on their way to Cambridge. It was a quiet drive with Sam reading another of Hermione's books with a Silencing Charm around him, Dean listening to his music and Hermione also reading a book. Sam and Dean would swap every few hours, taking shifts of driving. They drove straight through the night and by the time they reached their destination it was midday the next day.
Sam and Dean were arguing about which motel to stay at when Hermione interrupted, giving them instructions; since Dean was driving he followed them, but looked at her curiously. They arrived thirty minutes later at their destination and Dean parked the car at the side of the road and they all climbed out.
"What are we doing here?" Sam asked, looking down the street that contained a few houses.
"We're not staying at a motel because we don't need to," she responded, before digging out some parchment and a pen and scribbling away at it.
"Why?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You'll see," she replied before handing them each a bit of parchment. "Read this out loud."
They looked at her strangely before looking down at the parchment.
"Never tickle a sleeping dragon," they both said aloud and they looked at her with raised eyebrows.
Suddenly the ground started shaking and they gawked as two houses were pushed apart, a large apartment complex coming into view. It stood tall with at least twenty floors and too many balconies to count, the white and sandy coloured bricks looked clean and new and the windows gleamed.
"What is that?" Sam spoke, looking at her shocked and she chuckled.
"I told you that we have a form of magic to hide properties." They both nodded. "Well, this is it. The Fidelius is placed on this property, meaning only those that know the address are able to enter or see it for that matter, and only the secret keeper is able to give out that address."
"But you just gave it to us," Dean commented.
"Yes, I did," she agreed. Their eyes widened at the meaning. "Traditionally you use an address, but I thought, why not a password, or a slogan, so I used Hogwarts' motto," she shrugged. "Let's go." She walked forward and opened the glass doors, heading straight for the lift and they climbed in after her.
"This isn't a regular lift, our lifts not only move up and down, but from side to side so you may want to hold on," she told them and they watched as she punched a code into the key pad before swiping a card over a scanner. The lift dinged before it shot up and Sam and Dean yelled in surprise and she chuckled.
The lift came to a sudden stop and they heard children laughing, just as three children ran into the lift. There were two boys and a girl. One of the boys had black hair and blue eyes, and the other had brown hair and green eyes, whereas the girl had blonde hair and brown eyes. They can't have been older than ten.
"Hermione, you're back!" The girl squealed excitedly when she saw her and she wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist and Hermione chuckled and hugged her back.
"Hello, Gracie," she smiled and when she pulled back, she found herself with two boys hugging her tightly and she laughed. "And hello, Jackson, Tyler," she greeted.
"Hey, Hermione," they grinned, pulling back from her.
"Have you been good for your parents?" She asked them.
"Yes," the children chimed.
"Are you lying to me?"
"Yes," they chimed once more and she laughed at them.
"At least you were honest," she ruffled the little boys' hair.
"Can you show us some magic?" The little girl asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"What would you like to see?"
The children began talking over each other and Hermione chuckled, the lift dinged and the doors opened and the children looked dejected.
"This is your floor, children," she said, before she conjured her blue-bell flames, one for each of them. They hugged her tightly before running out of the lift and disappearing from view.
She turned to see Dean and Sam staring at her with raised eyebrows.
"They know about magic?" Sam questioned. Hermione nodded.
"This is a magical apartment complex, everyone that resides here is either a witch or wizard, or a child that is either attending school, or will be at some point in time. Those three, Gracie is eight, Jackson is nine and Tyler is ten, they've lived her for the past three years with their parents. As far as I can tell, they're all Half-bloods with two magical parents, muggles aren't allowed in the building."
"But we're here," Sam frowned.
"You are," she said amused and then she stepped out of the lift when it came to the final stop, revealing the light flooring and the walls a calming blue colour with white accents.
She led them down the hallway and they stood still in shock as they entered an open planned living room and kitchen, decorated in light colours and marble, the living room filled with plush looking rugs and furniture and a large fireplace dominating the back wall.
"Hermione, why are we here?" Dean asked her, eyeing her warily.
"I live here," she shrugged and they stared at her at that.
"You said muggles weren't allowed in the building, what if the owner discovers that we're here? He could kick you out," Sam said.
She snorted. "The owner won't kick me out."
"You don't know that," he protested.
"I do, I own the building."
They chocked on their intake of oxygen and she watched them amused.
"You own this place?" Dean asked slowly.
"I do, I bought it four years ago when it was a rundown apartment block. It took me a year to refurbish everything and extend the building and it cost a bloody fortune, too, but it was worth it," she shrugged, turning and heading to the kitchen.
"Fuck!" Sam and Dean both cursed when there was a 'crack' and suddenly, in front of them stood a small green wrinkled creature with large brown eyes, wearing a white shirt, a black skirt and a white apron. Its bat like ears had white fur on the tips and it had a large pointy nose.
"Mistress has returned!" The creature cried and it ran to Hermione and flung itself at her, hugging her around the legs.
Hermione chuckled and she bent down to hug the sobbing creature. "House-elf," she explained to both Dean and Sam as they both put away their guns which they had pulled.
"Mimsy, I told you I would be back before you knew it."
"Mimsy is happy to see Mistress," the house-elf spoke, standing back and wiping at her eyes and Hermione smiled softly.
"And I'm really happy to see you, too, Mimsy. How are the others?"
Mimsy suddenly huffed and crossed her arms over her chest and Hermione stood up, Sam and Dean made their way over to them.
"They not listen to Mimsy, they not do as Mimsy say," she glowered.
"Mimsy, they are only young," Hermione reminded her softly.
"They is being one hundred years old, Mistress, they should be knowing better."
"I'll speak with them," Hermione said.
"Good, now, what would Mistress be liking for dinner?"
"I can cook for myself."
"Nonsense, when Mistress is home, Mimsy will cook," she said, stomping her foot and she saw the brothers sniggering.
"Anything you make would be wonderful, thank you," Hermione replied, knowing she wasn't going to win the argument; Mimsy was a stubborn house-elf. "Mimsy, I would like to introduce you to my friends, this is Dean and Sam Winchester."
The little elf turned towards them and eyed them as the brothers waved nervously. "They not be magical," Mimsy said with narrowed eyes.
"No, Mimsy, they're muggles, but they're Hunters. They do the same thing as I do only without magic, they protect people and keep them safe," she said softly. "So please be nice to my friends."
"Mimsy is nice to every one of Mistress' friends," she said outraged and Hermione snorted.
"You weren't nice to Ronald, nor were you nice to Jamie, or Ryan or Nathan," Hermione pointed out.
"They were bad men, they not be kind to my Mistress, Mr. Ryan hurt my Mistress." Hermione saw from the corner of her eye Dean flinch and his hands clenched into fists. "Mimsy do what Mimsy has to, to keep her Mistress safe."
"And you will always be my friend for that," she said softly.
Mimsy's eyes started watering. "Mistress is Mimsy's friend?" She said quietly.
"Of course I am, in fact, we're family."
Mimsy burst into tears and flung herself at Hermione's legs once again.
"Mimsy loves Mistress."
"And I love you, too, Mimsy," she said, bending down to hug her. "Now, I think it's time that you wrestle the others into their chores, don't you?"
"Of course, Mistress, dinner will bes served at seven."
"Thank you, Mimsy."
With that she disappeared with a 'crack.'
"That was strange," Sam commented and she stood up and turned to face them, shrugging.
"Not really, she's always been like that."
"I thought you don't approve of slavery," Dean said, leaning against the breakfast counter.
"I don't and I don't treat my house-elves as such. I currently employ thirty house-elves, they are paid weekly and they are given time off whether they like it or not. And I never treat them as anything less than human, nor do I hurt them or insult them. Those that I employ I rescued from abusive families. Mimsy is the oldest being two-hundred and six, the youngest is Kipper who is sixty-three, still a child in elf years. They have an entire floor to themselves and no one but I has access to it. They maintain the building for me, cleaning and fixing anything that may be break. They only prepare meals for those that place an order to the kitchens and they only do laundry for those that ask, and they are paid to do so. Mimsy has been with me for the last six years and she used to live with me in London. When I started taking cases here she was left on her own and I didn't like it, she needed to be with others of her kind. So when I bought this place, I brought her here and she's happier than I've ever seen her."
She could tell from the look on Dean's face that he wanted to ask about the men she had mentioned and Mimsy's reaction to them.
"Right then, I'll give you a tour of the place and we can get started on the case, so let's go." She walked away and Dean reluctantly followed her, realising that she had done it on purpose.
She led them down a second corridor which contained four guest bedrooms, two bathrooms, a library and a potions lab -which were both warded shut- and her bedroom was at the end of the hall. She left them to get settled into their rooms and headed to the kitchen to make a sandwich; she was starving.