CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
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
Bobby and Sam both turned their wide eyes to Castiel as he appeared in the living room, and not alone. He had a mumbling and writhing Hermione in his arms, and if they thought Dean looked bad, Hermione was worse. Even from the distance between them they could tell she'd lost weight and if it wasn't for the mumbling and writhing, they would think she was dead, judging by her waxy and sickly appearance.
"Cas? What the hell's going on?" Sam demanded to know.
Castiel didn't answered him, rather he walked over to the couch were Dean lay.
"Jesus!" Sam cursed and Bobby grumbled when there was a loud 'thud' and Harry appeared beside them, looking worried and his eyes widened when he saw that Dean was in a similar state to Hermione.
"You too?" he mumbled.
Sam seemed to understand what Harry was referring to. "Yeah, me too," he replied.
Harry pulled his wand as the Angel stared down at the couch confused, obviously wondering how the furniture would fit two people. In front of their eyes, the couch transfigured into a double bed and Castiel didn't speak as he lowered Hermione onto the mattress beside Dean and then he stepped back.
They watched in silence as their mumblings of the other's name stopped and in their sleep, they shifted closer to each other until they were touching, Hermione's chest to Dean's side.
Their pained groans and writhing stopped immediately after that and they both let out sighs in their sleep, the three humans looked to each other, and then back to Castiel as he continued to observe the sleeping pair.
"What the hell is going on?" Harry spoke, voicing the question they all wanted answers to.
The Angel finally tore his gaze away from Hermione and Dean and turned to face them.
"I believe there is more to their relationship than meets the eye," he frowned.
"You don't say?" Sam snapped, fed up with all of the tiptoeing around the subject. "You haven't seen them together, Cas. Not like I have. You haven't seen the way they respond to each other or the way they behave towards one another. Dean actually planned the deaths of twenty-three men for daring to touch Hermione! Hermione killed a lamia for kissing Dean. She killed a witch for threatening Dean's life! He listens to her. He watches her when she's reading a book; he just sits there and stares at her as if it's not creepy as hell. I've never seen Dean possessive of anyone, ever! And now, anyone that looks her way receives death glares or promises of pain and death. And to make it worse, they're like fucking bunnies when it comes to sex. It's not normal!" He exploded, but he was mindful to keep his voice as quiet as possible to not wake the sleeping pair.
Harry blinked in surprise since most of what Sam had said was news to him. Bobby was also shocked into silence, his mouth ajar slightly.
Castiel looked as stoic as usual, although Sam's statement regarding what Castiel had and hadn't seen wasn't exactly true. He had sensed a strange aura between Hermione and Dean the day they met, and since then, he had been observing them whenever he had the chance. He had seen their arguments and disagreements, the teasing and playful way they insulted each other. He'd seen the possessiveness and protectiveness they each had for the other. He'd seen the trust and respect grow between them and of the night when they first had sex, he had been drawn to them by the surge of power that had radiated from them. Castiel had spent most of the night covering Hermione's apartment building in Enochian sigils and Demon wardings to prevent anyone else from being drawn to it, and he was sure, many already had been.
"I do not know what is happening between Hermione and Dean, but I do know it's supernatural." All eyes widened, particularly Sam's since his suspicions were finally confirmed.
"Hermione wouldn't do anything of the sort, and she would never take away someone's free will," Harry glared at the two Hunters, defending Hermione before anything could be said against her.
"Harry is correct," the Angel nodded, and all eyes returned to him. "This is neither Hermione's nor Dean's fault. Neither are to blame and neither are the cause of their strange relationship. I believe there is something far more serious involved."
"And that is?" Bobby asked gruffly, crossing his arms and his eyes falling to the sleeping duo and then back to Castiel.
The Angel frowned. "I am certain I've seen this before, but I cannot recall when. How has Dean been the last few days?" He asked.
Sam blinked. "He was fine for the first few days, but I could tell he missed Hermione. He started getting headaches and dizziness, he kept throwing up and he was very... Temperamental," he winced, just thinking about the way Dean had taken out the vampire from one of their cases. "I know he hasn't been sleeping and he only ate because I forced him to, after a week had passed I brought him here since it was clear there was something wrong with him, and it all started after Hermione had left."
The Angel nodded and then turned to Harry.
"And Hermione?"
Harry frowned, thinking back to her time in London.
"Well, she seemed fine for the first few days, it was obvious she wasn't sleeping but that's nothing new, we all have trouble sleeping after the war, Hermione more so since she suffered under the hands of both Bellatrix and Dolohov. I have my wife and kids, which help to manage my nightmares, Hermione didn't have anyone until she met Dean," he confessed.
"She looked far more rested and healthier than I've seen in a long time, since we were kids actually and that's how I was able to notice the differences in her quickly. She got headaches and as time went by they got stronger and even Pain Potions couldn't help, and she had dizzy spells and nausea. She went to the hospital and they ran some tests, everything came back negative, so they just assumed she had the flu and was run down. When she didn't turn up to work this morning, I knew something wasn't right and that's when I found her, in a similar state to Dean."
Castiel looked pensive and as if making a decision, he nodded to himself.
"I must check the archives."
"You can't leave, you need to stay with them, to heal them," Sam spoke.
The Angel shook his head. "I cannot heal them, this is not a physical injury, more of an emotional one, and I cannot interfere in that. I suspect that since they are together again, their health will improve. For now it's best to leave them be and to not disturb them. I am unaware of how long they will remain sleeping, but there is no danger that I can sense." With those words, the Angel disappeared from view.
"Well, that explained so much, thank you," Harry said sarcastically, Bobby and Sam grumbled in agreement. Harry then sighed and rubbed his hand over his face.
"As much as I don't want to leave, I have to get back so I can cover for Hermione until all of this mess is sorted out."
"How did you find us anyway?" Sam asked, his eyes once again on Hermione and Dean, who despite their sickly appearances, looked peaceful.
"Hermione and I are able to track each other in case of emergencies. I figured out Castiel was bringing Hermione to Dean, so I waited and then tracked her here, once I locked onto her location, I port keyed, which is going to be a pain in the arse to explain."
"Why?"
"I may have used an illegal port key that wasn't approved for use," he replied.
He then dug into the pocket of his robes and pulled out Hermione's wand and beaded bag, placing them on the coffee table. He dug his hand in and emerged with several potion vials.
"These are Nutrition Potions, similar to a muggle IV. If you give them both a third of the vial at each meal time, it'll give their bodies the nutrition it needs and it should help Hermione to put on weight. Since we don't know how long they're going to be out for, I'll return tomorrow to check up on her."
He walked over to Hermione and leaned over pushing her sweaty hair away from her forehead and he sighed when he felt that her fever had gone and her temperature was back to normal. He leaned down and placed a kiss to her head and then he stood, and before their eyes, he disappeared from view.
~000~000~000~
It had been days since Hermione and Dean had been reunited and they had yet to waken. For the past four days, Bobby had tended to his duties as being Information Central for the Hunters and Sam had helped him, whilst also watching over Hermione and Dean.
Despite them not having woken yet, they could see an improvement in their health, in fact, they both looked to be back to normal, with their complexions returning, the bruises under their eyes had disappeared and neither made a sound in the their sleep. The only exception was that Hermione was still a little thinner than normal, but that would be fixed after a few good home cooked meals.
Harry had visited once a day since the incident, hoping for good news on Hermione's condition, but there was never any. Instead he sat with Bobby and Sam drinking a beer, and then running Cleaning Charms over the sleeping duo, they would need to shower properly once they wake, but it would do for now. Afterwards he would head home to his wife and kids, before returning the next day and repeating the process, watching as they slept.
They may have been silent in their sleep, but they hadn't been still, in fact, sometime during the second day of their slumber, they had shifted so that Hermione's head was on Dean's chest and his arms were around her.
On the third day of their slumber it was revealed that Dean's hands had slipped under Hermione's shirt, pressing against the skin of her back and Hermione was practically draped over him. And on the fourth day, they had both moved so that Dean laid on his back with Hermione sprawled on his chest on top of him, her ear pressed to his heart and her hands either on his chest or wrapped around his neck, and Dean's hands were under her shirt and buried in her hair.
They hadn't moved all day and after going about their routine, Bobby and Sam headed off to bed, leaving the slumbering couple alone.
And it was during the early hours of the morning when Hermione and Dean both woke, their eyes slowly fluttering open and it took them all but a second to realise they were in each other's presence.
Dean flew up into a sitting position, inadvertently shifting Hermione to straddle him and he hugged her to him as tightly as she did in return, breathing in the other's scent deeply.
"What happened?" Dean said, at the same time Hermione said, "We need to shower."
They pulled back from each other, frowning at their clearly unwashed hair and faintly smelling clothing.
"Shower first, then talk," Dean mumbled and she nodded in agreement. "We won't fit in Bobby's shower," he told her and she didn't bother correcting him by saying they could shower alone, she had also thought of showering with him.
"Mimsy," Hermione called softly and the little house-elf appeared after a few seconds.
"Mistress! Mimsy is happy to see Mistress!" She squealed in delight, before frowning at Hermione's appearance, and tutting. "Mistress not be takings care of herselves, bad Mistress," she scolded and Dean buried his head in Hermione's neck to muffle his chuckles.
"I haven't been well Mimsy, but it seems I'm better now. Please will you escort Dean and I to the apartment? It's too far to apparate and my magic's feeling a little unsettled so I can't make a port key or floo."
"Mimsy do as Mistress wishes." She reached out and took hold of Hermione's and Dean's wrists and there was a tug in Hermione's stomach before she landed on her bed in her bedroom.
"Thank you, Mimsy, that's all, please return to your rooms and have a good night's rest."
"Good night, Mistress, Mr. Dean," she bowed her head.
"Night," they both replied and once the little house-elf was gone, Hermione and Dean quickly made their way to Hermione's bathroom, brushing their teeth and showering, of which Hermione had to fend off Dean's wandering hands.
When they finally stepped out of the shower, Hermione pulled on her red silk robe and Dean settled for wrapping a towel about his hips. Dean followed Hermione to the kitchen where he watched as she made pancakes.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Making pancakes, I'm hungry," she shrugged.
He felt his mouth twitch into a smile at hearing those very familiar words. He had missed her. His smiled turned into a frown. What had happened? He thought back over the last couple of weeks, trying to piece everything together. He could remember the day Hermione had left and the week after, but then everything began to get hazy and then last thing he knew, he was waking up in Bobby's with Hermione. He was pulled away from his thoughts when Hermione placed the pancakes in front of him, along with various topping choices.
They sat at the counter and ate in silence and when they had finished their food, Hermione sent the dishes to clean themselves, as she busied herself with putting everything away.
"Do you remember anything?" He asked her.
"A little," she confessed with a sigh, turning away from the counter top and leaning against it with her arms crossed.
Dean's eyes zeroed in on the movement as it pushed her breasts up slightly, his eyes trailed the skin uncovered by the robe and down her legs, before forcing himself to not get side tracked.
"I remember the first week of being in England, after that my memory starts to black out and then I was waking up with you."
"Me too," he commented, and she frowned, nibbling at her lip in thought.
"I don't suppose you had trouble sleeping, too, did you?" She questioned. He nodded. "Headaches?" He nodded once more. "Nausea? Dizziness?" He nodded again. "Aches and pains?"
He frowned slightly. "Not physical," he replied and her eyes fell down cast, realising what it was he meant.
"Did you miss my presence? Did you feel as though everything was different, but in a bad way?"
"Yes, you?"
"Yes," she whispered, her hand coming up to rub over her heart subconsciously, a frown on her face as if she was feeling the pain through her memories.
She looked up when she felt Dean's hand cradle her chin and tilt her head up to look at him.
"You do realise that our relationship isn't normal, don't you?" She asked quietly.
"I do," he confirmed.
"Then why don't you appear to be worried about it? Trust me, simply being away from each other for a few days resulting in our decline in health is not normal, not even by magical standards."
He frowned slightly, appearing to be mulling over his answer. "Honestly, it does worry me, but there's no point in getting yourself worked up. We've dealt with things a lot stranger than our circumstances and one way or another, we'll get to the bottom of this."
"And if it's something you don't like?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For the time being we need to remain calm and remember that we deal with crazy shit for a living."
She snorted at him, which turned into a giggle, which turned into a laugh.
"Thanks, I needed that," she smiled at him and he smiled down at her, placing a kiss on her forehead and she sighed, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. They stayed that way for a long time, just revelling in the presence of the other.
"We should probably get back," Hermione broke the silence, after catching the view of the sun reflecting off the floor. "Sam and Bobby may be worried if they wake up and they realise we're not there, and if you were anything like I was, then they had reason to worry."
"I wasn't that bad," he muttered.
"Really?" She asked disbelievingly.
"Okay fine, I was," he admitted and she chuckled.
"It's okay, Harry forced me to go see a healer, he thought I was pregnant."
Dean pulled back from her so fast, she almost fell forward when he stepped away from her. He had a wide eyed look on his face and he had paled, to be perfectly honest, he looked terrified and as though he were about to faint.
"Are you?" He asked in a barely heard whispered. "We haven't been using anything, I just assumed you had some witchy magic to prevent it since you never brought the possibility of pregnancy up, especially after our first time together."
"I do and I'm not pregnant, it's impossible."
He visibly relaxed and the colour returned to his face, as he leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms.
"Why? Not all protection is one-hundred percent, there's always a risk."
"Not with magic, it's impossible for me to be pregnant," she said, a sad tone edging its way into her voice. Dean frowned and he watched as she spun on her heel and headed to her bedroom.
He followed her into the wardrobe and watched as she quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He looked down at himself and frowned, realising he had no clothes to wear and he didn't fancy the idea of returning to Bobby's in only a towel.
"Mittens," Hermione called softly, and the little house-elf appeared in the room.
"What can Mittens do for Mistress?" He bowed and Hermione smiled at him.
"I don't suppose you washed Dean's clothing did you?"
"Yes, Mistress, Mittens check they be dry," he disappeared from the room.
"We've barely been here an hour and he's already took my clothes to wash?" Dean asked.
"Yes, he does it all the time, the minute you take off a pair of socks they're in the wash, it's like he can sense when someone's clothes are being removed and they need washing," she said with a shrug and a smile.
Mittens returned with Dean's clothing and he quickly dressed in the freshly washed and dried jeans and t-shirt. They then returned to the kitchen, where they bumped into Mimsy.
"Would Mistress and the Sir be wanting breakfast?" She asked.
Hermione looked at Dean and he shrugged in reply, knowing they had already had pancakes not too long ago.
"Just toast and a cup of coffee and tea for myself and Dean, would you please have Butter prepare a breakfast for both Sam and Bobby?"
"Of course, Mistress," the house-elf beamed.
"Do you mind taking us back to where you found us? It's a lot quicker when you do it."
In response Mimsy took Hermione's and Dean's wrists and transported them back to Bobby's, where they would hopefully get answers.