CHAPTER SEVENTY-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
Three months later...
It was three months after the unicorn case and since then, they'd continued with their hunting and travelling, they'd taken a couple of days off as respite in order for Hermione, Dean and Sam to return to England long enough for them to visit with The Potters, Malfoys and Weasley families, in which the children had spent more time with Dean and Sam than Hermione, but she didn't complain, it was nice to see them so accepting of their new family members, they even called them "Uncle Dean" and "Uncle Sam," which came as a shock to the brothers.
After a few days they returned to America, hunting and travelling, until a month later when Hermione had to return to England to help with her part in training the new recruits and calling another quarterly meeting with those that worked for her department. They'd spent just under a week in England, of which Dean and Sam were quickly beginning to think of as a third home, with Hermione's apartment and Bobby's salvage yard in first and second place respectively.
They spent time with the family, they'd attended a Sunday dinner at The Burrow in which every family member was there, allowing the brothers a chance to finally meet Claire, Hugo and Rose, and it had been a shock to their system seeing so many people in one place. Due to the amount of people in attendance, they'd been forced to have dinner outside and since the weather hadn't been particularly nice that day, it was done under the marquee they'd used for Bill's and Fleur's wedding all those years ago.
They returned to America and continued with their hunting, and three months later, they were taking the weekend off after closing several cases in the last week alone, and they were spending it at the Cambridge Apartment.
During the last three months, Dean's mind had been filled with nothing but the unicorn's words regarding the future of his family, and although he knew they were going to have children, it didn't stop him from feeling disappointment when Hermione's menstrual cycle started every month. They'd been actively trying for a baby for six months, and it still hadn't happened.
When he thought about it he couldn't believe it, he and Hermione had been together for almost eight months. That was just four months shy of a year! His longest lasting and happiest relationship. They had their ups and downs, they had their arguments and teasing, they had their disagreements and make ups, but he loved her and he was happy. The same couldn't be said a year ago.
Dean walked through the halls of the apartment, coming to a stop at the open door of the potions lab and he leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed, watching as Hermione was lost in her own little bubble as she stood over a cauldron, making God knows what.
He'd caught her making a potion once before and he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the sight of it, of seeing Hermione in her element, completely at ease as she prepared ingredients diligently, as she added the ingredients to the potion with a little frown on her face, as she peered over the cauldron, the steam wrecking havoc on her hair and stirring the potion in well timed motions. She made it look so easy and effortless, though he knew it wasn't; he'd taken one look at her potions book and put it back on the shelf.
They'd only arrived at the apartment less than an hour ago and he wasn't surprised the first place he'd find her was in her potions lab, she loved it as much as she did her library. She was still dressed in her boots, jeans and t-shirt, only now she had on black robes which were left open, her hair had poofed up until it looked like a lion's mane that surrounded her face and he bit back his laugh, knowing she'd likely hex him for laughing at the mass on her head.
"You're staring," Hermione said softly, not looking at him or taking her attention away from the potion she was stirring.
"I'm allowed, you're a sight to behold," he shrugged.
She snorted. "Yeah, and my hair's not a fluff ball either."
"Well I wasn't going to mention the hair, but since you brought it up..." She turned her eyes to him and glared. "Just kidding," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. She narrowed her eyes, before turning back to her potion. "What are you making?"
He knew better than to go into her potions lab, knowing she'd kill him or he'd get himself killed by touching something he shouldn't, so he stayed by the door way.
"Blood Replenisher, I've used the last of my stores."
Dean winced. "Yeah, I admit that last case was bad."
"Bad? You were stabbed and Sam was shot, I was only gone twenty bloody minutes. Honestly, I can't leave the two of you alone," she scowl.
He shrugged. "You healed us and we're both fine now."
She chose not to comment.
"Where's Sam?"
"The last I seen, in his room arguing with Mittens over dirty laundry," Dean answered.
Hermione snorted. "He's not going to win; I've had that argument many times."
"I can imagine; I just let the little elf get on with it, if he's anything like Mimsy I'm not going to argue."
Hermione smirked. "You're frightened of her?" She questioned.
"Terrified," he admitted with a nod.
"Smart man," she laughed.
"Are you coming to bed? It's getting late."
She nodded. "Just give me five minutes to stabilise the potion for the night."
~000~000~000~
"I'm exhausted," Hermione sighed, slipping into bed and Dean pulled her into him, wrapping her up in his arms. "Hands to yourself," she grumbled, feeling his hands beginning to wander.
"But it's been two days," he mumbled.
"We've gone longer," she rolled her eyes, biting her lip and holding in her gasp when his hand slipped under her t-shirt to toy with the waistband of her knickers.
"Not by choice," he said childishly and his hand slipped below the fabric, moving down to her centre. Hermione shut her eyes tightly and...
They heard the sound of the floo roar to life in the living room. Hermione pushed Dean away from her and sat up, reaching for her wand and casting a Time Charm, seeing that it wasn't far off from being twelve o'clock in the morning. Dean had reached over to the bedside table and grabbed his gun. She rolled her eyes.
"You don't need that; there's only a handful of people that are able to enter the apartment through the floo."
"HERMIONE! ARE YOU HERE!"
"Ginny?" Hermione frowned, before climbing out of bed and quickly making her way to the living room, with Dean following behind her and they met Sam on their journey.
"Oh thank Merlin!" Ginny sighed when she saw Hermione enter into the living room. "I wasn't sure if you'd be here or if you'd be away hunting."
Hermione frowned, seeing that Ginny's face looked a little red, as did her eyes and her cheeks looked as though tears had dried on them. She wasn't dressed in pyjamas, which she found odd giving that it was almost five o'clock in London.
Ginny's attention was momentarily held by Dean, seeing as he was only dressed in his boxers, where Sam was wearing a t-shirt and pyjama bottoms, and Hermione herself was only clad in one of Dean's t-shirts.
"Ginny, what's the matter?" Hermione asked, pulling Ginny's attention and she walked over to her, pulling her into a hug when tears began to fall from Ginny's eyes.
"Hermione, you know I wouldn't normally ask but..."
"You want me to watch the children," Hermione said knowingly, pulling back from Ginny and the brothers shuffled on their feet nervously at seeing the red haired witch crying. "Have you had another argument?" She asked softly. Ginny nodded. "Of course we'll watch the children. We're only back for the weekend, but we'll put any cases on hold should we be called. You and Harry take as long as you need to sort things out."
"Thank you, Hermione," she whispered. "Normally I'd ask mum, but she's not as young as she used to be." Hermione nodded in understanding. "I'll bring them through."
Ginny disappeared into the floo and Hermione turned to face the brothers, both of them frowning.
"Harry and Ginny have had a big argument, it happens maybe once a year, but they'll sort it out, they always do. Until then James, Albus and Lily will be staying here." She pushed her hair back from her face, still frizzy from the humidity in the potions lab. "Sorry that your respite's going to be interrupted."
Sam shrugged. "We're still on respite, only now we're spending it with children, at least they'll be no chance of boredom."
Hermione snorted. "You're not wrong there, you have to have eyes in the back of your head with those three; they've got Marauders blood in them." They both looked confused. "Remind me to tell you about the Marauders and their antics at Hogwarts during the seventies; Minerva swears they almost sent her into an early retirement."
They raised their eyebrows but never had the chance to reply as the floo roared to life, revealing Ginny, a sleeping Lily in her arms and two very sleepy little boys. The children were still dressed in their pyjamas and Ginny held a shrunken down bag in her hand, though Hermione knew it wouldn't contain much, seeing as she had some of the children's belongings in the apartment for when she watched them for the night so Harry and Ginny could have some time alone together.
"Thank you, Hermione," Ginny said, putting the bag down onto the table and handing Lily over to her.
"It's not a problem, Gin, you know how much I love having the children here," she smiled.
"Any chance of your own soon?" She asked Hermione softly.
"We're working on it," Dean replied, leaning against the couch with his arms crossed and Ginny nodded in reply.
She bent down and kissed her sons on their heads and they sleepily protested.
"Be good for your Aunt and Uncles," she told them, before she disappeared into the flames, leaving the three adults and the three children alone.
"Come on then, my little wizards, let's get you back to bed," Hermione spoke. "Sam, Dean, would you mind?" She nodded to James and Albus, and they nodded in reply.
Sam went over to James and picked him, and Dean did the same for Albus. Both boys wrapped their arms around their necks, with their heads buried against their shoulders and Hermione smiled at the sight.
She led the way out of the living room and down the hallway, stopping in front of wall. The brothers looked at her confused, when much to their surprise, a door suddenly appeared and they blinked as Hermione opened it. The brothers stepped in after her, surprised to see that the room appeared to be a nursery for children. It was decorated in pale yellow with a white carpet and white furniture, and moving images of magical creatures adorned the walls as they pranced about. The brothers recognised the unicorns and dragons, but not the others.
A small bed was against one wall, whilst another was against the wall opposite and a crib sat in the middle of them. There were two chests of drawers beside each other, and a changing station on the wall opposite. A wooden toy chest sat beneath the charmed window, along with two children's sized rocking chairs, and a door on the left wall was open showing the small bathroom.
The brothers looked to Hermione in surprise over having no previous knowledge of the existence of the room before being shown it just now. Hermione had moved to the crib, placing Lily down carefully and covering her with the soft blanket. The brothers shook their heads and followed Hermione's example, Dean moving over to the bed on the right which had Albus' name inscribed on the head board, and Sam moving to the bed on the left which had James' name inscribed on the head board. By the time the boys had been covered with their blankets, they were both asleep.
Hermione kissed their foreheads and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Why didn't we know that was there?" Sam asked her.
"Security. This building has more security than bloody Fort Knox, and it's not far off from Hogwarts and Gringotts, but I have enemies, people that want me to suffer, people that want me dead. I watch the children a few times a year for Harry and Ginny, and I do the same for my other nieces and nephews, the names on the beds change depending on the children staying here, and if there is no need for a crib, it'll transfigure into a bed. Lily should be in a bed given her age, but she can't be trusted in a bed alone when she's here. Despite the security on the building, I wanted to take extra precautions and I turned the children's nursery into a panic room that can only be accessed by myself if the wards are breached. When not in use it remains hidden, and when it is in use, it'll only be hidden if there's a break in."
They blinked.
"Mimsy," Hermione called softly.
She appeared before Hermione, bowing.
"Mistress, Master, Mr. Sam. What cans Mimsy do for yous?"
"Mimsy, just a warning, James, Albus and Lily are staying here for a few days."
Mimsy positively lit up, clapping her hands together and jumping up and down in excitement.
"Mimsy loves the childrens, oh, Mimsy makes sures the children's favourites foods made, Mimsy make them herself," she said, before popping out of the room.
"Well that was a different side of her," Dean said stunned at the little elf's behaviour.
"Yeah, Mimsy loves children," Hermione said softly. "Before I rescued her she used to be a Nanny house-elf. She's been begging me to have children for years," she said sadly, before tuning and walking away.
~000~000~000~
Dean was woken by a kick to his stomach; he made a groaning sound before he opened his eyes, almost falling out of bed at the sight that met him. He'd been expecting to wake up to Hermione held in his arms, as usual. But that's not what met him. Instead he woke up to see Albus, facing him and snoring away as he twitched in his sleep, once more kicking him in the stomach.
Dean frowned, lifting up slightly to see James next to Albus, also snoring and facing Hermione who was on the other side of the bed, far away from him. Dean sat up, leaning against the head board and he rubbed his hands over his face, yawning.
He turned his eyes to Hermione, seeing that she had a peaceful smile on her face as James burrowed closer to her, shuffling until he was pressed up against Hermione, likely searching for warmth. Albus made a noise of annoyance at being jostled, before he shuffled closed to Dean, pressing himself up against his side.
Dean looked around the bed, feeling his mouth twitch at the sight, but then his attention was pulled when he heard a cry. He frowned, looking down to Hermione and seeing that she hadn't moved. Remembering Lily, he climbed out of bed and made his way to the nursery, the door magically opening for him. He walked over to the crib, seeing the almost two year old standing up and holding onto the sides of the crib. She had her father's green eyes and her mother's red hair, and when her eyes locked onto his, Dean felt his whole body relaxing and his heart melting.
Dean couldn't explain it, he liked all the kids, well he supposed they were his nieces and nephews now, and though he did like them all, there was just something different about Lily and Scorpius. Likely because they were the youngest of the children and he knew he'd get to see them grow, whereas the other children he'd only just met and he'd already missed their growth and development. Scorpius and Lily reminded him of what he was in for once Hermione finally fell pregnant, and with them being so young, it allowed him the opportunity to develop his baby handling skills.
Dean yawned once more before removing Lily from the crib and carrying her back to his and Hermione's bedroom, knowing from the sky outside it was still early and he got the feeling Hermione and the children wouldn't be awake for a little while longer.
He climbed back into bed, sitting Lily on his lap and allowing her to entertain herself by holding on to his hands and clapping them together. Looking at the occupants of the bed once more, he felt a smile pull at his mouth.
Maybe fatherhood wouldn't be so bad.