CHAPTER FIFTY-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: 7
"Dean, wake up," Hermione said. He made a sound of annoyance in his sleep. "Dean, wake up," she repeated.
"What time is it?" He grumbled tiredly, not bothering to open his eyes.
"Three in the morning."
"Then let me sleep, crazy witch," he muttered, rolling over in bed and putting his back to her.
She sighed. "I'm doing this for your benefit. England is five hours ahead of us, and even though we're travelling by floo which will take no more than a few minutes, we're crossing time zones. I'm trying to prevent you from having jet lag. Come on, up you get, Butter's made you apple pie as a treat."
"Apple pie?" He sprung up in bed, wide awake and she rolled her eyes at him.
"Yes, he's made you apple pie, and he's made you a few more to take to London with us, so hurry up, get showered and dressed, we leave in less than an hour. I want to avoid the morning traffic in the floo network. Sam's already waiting for us."
"There really is apple pie?" He questioned, looking at her wearily.
"Not if you don't hurry up, Sam was eyeing it."
Dean was out of bed and in the bathroom before she could blink.
~000~000~000~
"It's not going to hurt?" Sam questioned, looking at the flames suspiciously.
She pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation; this was the fifth time he'd asked her and it was beginning to annoy her. Dean leaned against the wall, chuckling in amusement.
"For the last time, no, it's not going to hurt. It may feel a little strange, but that's it. You just need to close your eyes to prevent soot from getting in them and you need to bend your knees ready for when we land on the other side, otherwise you could break your ankle."
"Okay," he nodded, his eyes still on the flames. "But you're sure it's not..."
"Sam, if you finish that sentence, I'll turn you into a chair so that when someone sits down you'll have their arse in your face."
Dean started laughing; he couldn't deny she was creative.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"Just step into the flames."
Sam took a deep breath before striding forward and he stepped into the flames, his mouth open and ready to scream.
He frowned. "It doesn't hurt."
"Halle-fucking-lujah, he gets it," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. He scowled at her and Dean chuckled, before they both stepped into the flames and Hermione called out the address.
~000~000~000~
They stepped out of the fireplace and into her London apartment, and they took in the sight, seeing that it was decorated similarly to her other apartment only it wasn't as big.
"I'm sorry to just dump you here, boys, but I have to get to the office really quickly." She told them. "Feel free to have a look around, if there's something you want to look at but you get tingles when you go near it, don't touch it as it may kill you."
They blinked at her, trying to determine if she was joking or not. She wasn't.
"Please don't leave the apartment until I get back, we're in Wizarding London and it's dangerous for non-magicals to wander around by themselves. I should be back around three, and afterwards, I'll take you for your very first tour of Diagon Alley, which is basically a magical shopping mall only it's completely awesome and you'll love it. I promise. There may be a few house-elves that pop in and out, so don't be surprised if you see them."
She looked around, before grabbing her Ministry robes, slipping them on over her jeans and t-shirt, putting her beaded bag and wand in her pocket.
"Right, I'll be back soon, see you later," she said, placing a kiss to Sam's cheek and a sharing a chaste kiss with Dean, before she disappeared into the flames.
~000~000~000~
"Enter," Kingsley's voice called, as Hermione knocked on the door of his office.
"Good morning, Kings," she greeted with a smile as she stepped into the office.
"Ah, it's good to see you're feeling better, Mrs. Winchester," he greeted. Hermione froze in her steps to his desk and he chuckled at her. "I think you have some explaining to do, don't you?" He said.
She nodded dumbly, before making her way to the chair on the other side of his desk and taking a seat.
"So, what really happened and where have you been?"
"It's a long story," she sighed.
"I've got time," he sat back in his seat and folded his hands, knowing it was going to be an intriguing tale.
"I truly haven't been well since returning to England."
"Yes, I was witness to that, you looked awful."
"Thanks," she scowled and he chuckled. She shook her head, getting back on topic. "It turns out, Dean Winchester had a similar reaction as I. Harry called for Castiel almost a week ago and he took me to Dean, and when he did we both started to heal, but we were unconscious for four days. Dean and I have been in a relationship since the battle," she said and his eyes widened in surprise. "Our relationship was strange and we didn't understand it, or why we behaved the way we did with each other, but it became clear after we woke."
She lifted her left hand and his eyes almost fell out of his head when he saw the runic tattoo, she bit her tongue to stop herself from laughing.
"It's turns out, we're fated, oh, and we're also married. Our health was suffering due to the separation between us, and we only discovered the news two days ago."
"You're fated to a muggle?" He questioned slowly.
She bit her lip. "There's other factors involved that I don't wish to go into since it could put both myself and Dean in danger, should the wrong people get wind of it, but yes, we're fated, and it has something to do with my parents. My mother wasn't who I thought she was, and that's all I can tell you."
He nodded in understanding. "Are you happy in being married to this Dean Winchester?"
She smiled at him, a bright, wide smile that he hadn't seen in over a decade. "Yes, I am. He's not who he used to be when we first met. Now he'd take a bullet for me, rather than being the one to pull the trigger, and I'd do the same for him. He's more open minded about the world and magic and his first instinct is no longer to kill. If you see him now, you'd easily be able to tell he's a different man, a better man."
"No man will ever deserve you, no matter how great," Kingsley said softly, and she blushed.
"Mimsy approves," she said.
Kingsley raised an eyebrow, knowing how protective the little house-elf was over Hermione. "Well then, he must be good man," he commented and she beamed at him.
"I love him, I truly do, and I can't imagine my life without him. I can't understand how I functioned without him to be honest with you. My life is so much better now, so much simpler and clearer. He just makes everything better," she sighed and a small smile tugged at his mouth. "Please don't tell anyone about my marriage," she pleaded. "We're still coming to terms with it ourselves, and if certain people get wind of it before I have time to ease them into it slowly, it'll be a nightmare."
He nodded. "Of course, but you don't have long, your personal records have all been magically updated, your next of kin is no longer Harry, but Dean, your marital status has changed and your name's been legally changed to Hermione Winchester, too, which people are definitely going to notice."
"I didn't change my name," she frowned.
"No, the records did it automatically when the bond was formed. If you wish to change it back, you can do so but it would be a lot of hassle."
She sighed. "I'm not against having Dean's name, I just wanted a little more time before the press discovered I was married and no longer Europe's most eligible bachelorette," she muttered in annoyance and he chuckled at her.
"I suspect you have a few days maximum, and if you want the hype to die down quickly, you should allow for an interview to introduce the Wizarding World to your new husband."
"I'll speak with Dean when I get home."
"He's here?" He asked curiously.
"Both him and his brother are at my apartment. We didn't want to be apart again, and I promised I'd show him the wonders of the Wizarding World. He's been doing the same for me with the supernatural world, now it's my turn."
"Are you going to introduce him to the others?"
"I don't have a choice. Harry knows everything, well, everything before we discovered we were married that is, and I know he'll be on Dean's side. He likes him."
"Well, to have both Mimsy's and Harry's approval is a remarkable thing indeed; I think I want to meet this Dean Winchester again."
"I'll set it up before we head back to the States," she chuckled. "Now, enough about my marriage, let's talk shop. I've been going over our arrest statistics and..."
~000~000~000~
"I'm bored," Sam whined.
"I'm hungry," Dean shrugged.
"I'm exhausted," Hermione sighed, stepping out of the fireplace and slumping down onto the arm chair.
"Busy day?" Dean questioned.
"Like you wouldn't believe," she ran her hands through her hair, making it frizzier than it already was. "I have another three days of training the new recruits and half of them can't even hold their wands the right way round; I've lost count of the amount of times I've had to intervene and stop someone from hexing themselves as they had their wand pointed in the wrong direction."
Sam and Dean snorted.
"Not too bright then," Dean commented.
"No, that's not the problem," she shook her head. "In order to even get into the training programme you have to have graduated with Exceeding Expectations or above, in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Potions, and none of those are easy subjects, believe me. They're smart enough, they just get star struck when I'm in the room; they're too busy staring at me rather than listening to instructions as they should be."
Dean's amused expression dropped immediately and Sam snorted at the possessiveness that flashed across his brother's face.
"Never mind though, only three more days and I can move onto the interview process. Right, just give me a few minutes to get changed and we'll head out for Diagon Alley, we'll get some dinner whilst I'm out. Dean, I need to talk to you about something," she said, and then she left the room heading to her bedroom.
Dean shrugged at Sam's raised eyebrow, before following after Hermione. She disappeared into the closet and he sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to emerge.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked.
"How do you feel about getting your photo taken?" Her voice carried over to him, as he heard the hangers scraping against the metal bar holding them up.
"Why?" He asked warily.
She stepped out wearing a blue blouse and a pair of black boots, not bothering to change her black skinny jeans.
"This morning I was made aware of something," she told him, as she went over to the vanity and sat down, picking up her hair brush.
"And that is?"
"My name's changed."
"What?" He frowned in confusion.
"We talked about whether I should take your name or not, well, it appears I already have. Kingsley called me Mrs. Winchester when he first saw me. It turns out my personal records within The Ministry have automatically updated themselves. You're my next of kin, I now have your name and my marital status has changed, too. It happened as soon as our bond was formed. This means my medical records will have changed ,too, as well as my banking information and it will be made public." She turned on the stool to face him. "People are going to start noticing and sooner or later, the press are going to get wind of the fact I'm now married. Kingsley reckons we have a few days maximum, before I start getting bombarded with requests for interviews and photo shoots, and I'll be in the news for a while." He frowned at that. "The only way to deal with this is to control what is seen, written and said. If we give them what they want, the hype will hopefully die down a lot quicker than usual."
"So what do you want to do?"
She bit her lip in thought. "I'm not ashamed of you, Dean, and I don't want to hide the fact that I'm married to you, despite our circumstances, I'm happy and I don't want to keep you a secret. The press won't leave me alone when they discover I'm married and they'll hound me until they have everything they want. If it's alright with you, I want to approve the set up of an interview. We'll have the questions vetted before we sit for the Spanish Inquisition and we'll provide a few photos of our approval, and that's it. That's all they're getting from us."
"I'm not comfortable with the idea of an entire world knowing who and what I am, but if you think it's the best move, then we should do it."
"I'm not comfortable with it either, but if we control the information flow, we control the situation." She stood up and walked over to him and he pulled her down until she sat in his lap, his arms wrapped around her. "We don't have long before we're discovered, Kingsley said a few days, in all honesty, I think we have two at most. They know I'm back in England and they always focus their attention on me when I return, so don't be surprised if you get the suspicion we're being followed, because we probably are."
"I don't like this," he muttered.
"Neither do I," she said softly. "But it's the only option we have available to us, of which we can use to our advantage. But this doesn't give us a lot of time."
"For what?"
"To introduce you to my family." He paled and she chuckled at him, "I know you're dreading it, but we need all the support we can get when the press get wind of our marriage. We'll ease them into it, but we don't have a lot of time, so I'm sorry to have to throw you in at the deep end, but I'm going to call a family meeting which hasn't been done since Draco and Luna announced they were engaged a few years ago, so the family will know that it's serious. The kids will be taken care of, so you don't have to worry about sticky fingers and snotty noses just yet. It'll only be my siblings and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, but this means Ron's going to be there. I doubt anyone would mind if you punched him in the face, but please, try to remain calm when he's around. He's a dickhead."
"If he says anything to upset you, I'm not going to punch him; I'm going to shoot him." She laughed. "I'm being serious."
"I know you are," she replied. "Right then, I'll call the meeting now and we'll head into Diagon Alley, I know I said we'd get dinner whilst we're out, but Mrs. Weasley will cook a feast that will feed everyone and there'll still be leftovers. So, let's go."
She stood up and left for the living room with Dean following behind her.
"How are you going to call the meeting?" He asked her curiously.
"What meeting?" Sam asked.
"I'll explain later," she told him. "I'm going to use a method that we used during the war." She pulled her wand from her boot, "Expecto Patronum," she muttered, and the blue-silver otter burst from the tip of her wand, swarming her in the air and she laughed as Dean and Sam blinked in surprise.
"This is my patronus, and if you ever have doubts that I'm a dark witch, this would clear everything up. A patronus is a very difficult form of magic that most don't even attempt due it's difficulty, and only light magic practitioners are able to attempt it. The patronus is essentially a part of you, of your magic, personality and soul, and it shows itself in the form of your spirit animal." She explained. She then turned her attention to the otter.
"Yes, I'm better now and I'm sorry for worrying you all, I just had the flu and needed some time to get over the worst of it. I'm calling a family meeting at The Burrow, six o'clock, and I want everyone to be in attendance, and if someone can get a hold of Charlie and try and convince him to come, that would be great. If you can have someone look after the children, I'd appreciate it. This is an adult's only meeting and I'm bringing two guests with me, so please, everyone needs to be on your best behaviour." She sent the otter off with the message. "Right then, we have a couple of hours, let's show you the wonders of Diagon Alley," she clapped her hands excitedly.