CHAPTER EIGHTY
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: 13
Two weeks later...
"I'm sorry," Dean said, stopping Hermione in front of their motel room door.
"What for?" She questioned with a frown.
"I know this isn't how you wanted to spend your Christmas, in a motel room and covered in, whatever this stuff is," he grimaced.
He looked down at himself, seeing that he was covered in sewage and waste as they'd chased a vampire into the sewers. Sam was the worst off and Hermione wasn't far off, since she'd tripped and fallen to her knees in the disgusting filth, whereas Sam had slipped and fallen backwards into it.
Dean couldn't deny that even covered in sewage, Hermione had been beautiful in her annoyance and anger at the vampire for dragging them down to the sewers, and she took his head off with once quick and precise spell. He hadn't even seen it coming.
Hermione had spelled them as clean as she could in order to prevent them from dirtying up Baby and in the end, she'd cast Ventilation Charms to help keep the smell out of the car, and she'd cast a spell on the leather seats to protect them from the smell and sewage, too.
"Dean, I don't care where we are, all that matters is that we're together. This is our first Christmas together. If it meant we were together, I'd spend it in the bloody sewers we've just come from. I'm more than happy having Christmas in a grungy motel room, so long as I have you with me."
"I'd kiss you but..."
"Shower first," she nodded. "Sam, get a move on!" Hermione called over her shoulder.
"Alright, I'm coming, keep your witch's hat on," he called back.
Hermione would wait until they were in the motel room to hex him.
"What hex you going to use?" Dean asked knowingly.
"One that the protection runes won't defend against," she said with a dark look to her face. Dean snorted.
When Sam reached them, Hermione pressed her wand to the door and it swung open and the brothers stepped inside, looking around with wide, surprised eyes, and even Hermione had to admit the house-elves had outdone themselves.
The ceiling was covered in hanging decorations, Christmas lights covered the walls and windows, and there was an eight-foot-tall Christmas tree sat in the corner and it barely fit in the room. It was decorated beautifully with red, silver and gold baubles and tinsel and the star that sat atop the tree twinkled brightly. And it wouldn't be Christmas without the fairies flittering about the room or the snow that fell from the ceiling before disappearing just before it landed on their heads.
"Merry Christmas, boys, and welcome to your first magical Christmas," Hermione said softly.
They turned around to stare at her, speechless.
"How?" Sam muttered.
"The house-elves," she smiled. "They couldn't not decorate this place once they'd learned we weren't returning home for Christmas."
"It's amazing," he said in awe, his eyes looking up to the ceiling, seeing the snow and... "Are those what I think they are?"
"Yes, real life fairies. They're fairy lights," she giggled.
They blinked dumbly.
~000~000~000~
"Present time," Hermione said excitedly
She jumped on the bed beside Dean, dressed in the ugliest pair of Christmas pyjamas the brothers had ever seen, but they didn't mention that seeing how happy she was. She was positively glowing with the biggest grin they'd ever seen on her face.
"It's Christmas Eve," Sam said confused.
"I know, but it won't be in five minutes, and I forgot to tell you, we're going to The Burrow for Christmas dinner. Mimsy's going to pick us up, we'll floo over and once we're finished, we'll floo back and Mimsy will bring us back here, we'll be gone a few hours," she shrugged. "And Bobby's coming, too."
"Does Bobby know Bobby's coming?" Dean asked amused.
"Not yet," she grinned.
"He won't be happy," he chuckled.
"He will be when he tastes Molly's cooking. Besides, it's time our pseudo-parents met each other, and I know the kids are just dying to meet him."
Sam snorted. "Yeah, now that's something I can't wait to see," he smirked.
She grinned in response, before looking over to the alarm clock, seeing it change to midnight.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" She exclaimed loudly.
She jumped off the bed and dived towards the tree for the small collection of presents gathered underneath. The brothers shared a look of amusement before reluctantly leaving their beds and following after Hermione to the Christmas tree. They helped her move the presents over to the small couch and table in the room, and they sat down whilst Hermione conjured herself a large, oversized arm chair, maroon in colour and much like the ones that could be found in the Gryffindor common room.
She leaned over and separated the presents into three piles, hers, Sam's and Dean's, though there weren't many seeing as the gifts were from each other and no one else, but they'd get the rest when they visited Bobby and The Burrow the next day.
"Who goes first?" Sam asked confused.
"No one, dive in," she said, before snagging her own small pile of gifts and shifting in her seat, pulling her legs up and crossing them and dropping her pile of gifts into her lap. And despite her words, they both waited to open their gifts until she was done with hers.
She started with Sam's seeing as it was the largest. She opened it up to see an A4 ring bound book and the title on the front had her snorting. 'Hunting 101 for Dummies.' But then she looked closer and her eyes widened in surprise. 'Written for Hermione Winchester, by her favourite Winchester brother, Samuel Winchester.'
She blinked back the tears as she flicked through the book, quickly understanding that he hadn't bought her it. He'd made it for her. Now she knew why he'd spent so much time on his laptop and why he'd been so secretive about it. It included a quick explanation of the supernatural beings they dealt with along with photos and diagrams, there were explanations on the different types of weapons used along with pictures, and a list of code words and unwritten rules she needed to learn should something go wrong and they were forced to split up.
"Are you crying?" She heard Sam ask.
"No," she denied quickly, wiping at her eyes. "I've got fairy dust in my eye."
Sam snorted. "That's one I haven't heard before."
"Something you haven't heard, what a surprise," she said sarcastically, since Sam could never keep his big ears out of other peoples' conversations and Dean snorted whilst Sam scowled. "And I hate it," she told him, holding her gift up to him for him to see.
"I thought you might."
"Like seriously, I really, really hate it."
"Well I'm glad you really, really, hate it," he replied with a straight face.
"I do, thank you," she nodded, before putting it to the side and picking up his second gift to her.
She opened the wrapping and removed the lid from the box, blinking when she saw the contents. It was a silver hunting knife with a black handle, and her initials 'HW' were carved on either side of the blade. She blinked back the tears yet again.
She looked to him in surprise. "You're rather good with knives, you're one of us; it's time you had one of your own," Sam said.
"What'd you get?" Dean asked curiously. Hermione tilted the box so Dean could see and he nodded in approval. "Nice choice," he complimented.
"Thanks," Sam titled his head.
"Thank you, I hate it."
"I'm glad you hate it," he said seriously.
Hermione then moved onto the final two gifts and they were from Dean. She opened the largest first, removing the lid from the box and blinking at what she saw. A grey-black hand gun. A Glock 19 to be more specific, and just like her knife, 'HW' had been monogrammed in silver lettering.
"You remembered?" She said quietly, surprised that he'd remembered something she'd said to him so long ago and she felt her eyes beginning to water.
"Of course I did," he frowned. "Why wouldn't I?"
He made a surprised sound when she was gone from the arm chair and sat in his lap, hugging him tightly as she silently cried. He seemed confused by her reaction but hugged her back.
"No one has ever cared enough to remember something I said, especially after so long of saying it," she whispered and he understood the meaning to her words and he hugged her tighter. "I love pie."
"I love pie, too," he mumbled, placing a kiss to her neck.
"A Glock 19?" Sam questioned.
Hermione wiped at her eyes before pulling back from Dean to look at Sam sat beside him.
"She's prefers it over the Beretta," Dean answered.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, better durability, accuracy and versatility, and it's easy to conceal."
Sam blinked in surprised. "Dean said you can shoot."
"I'm alright," she shrugged.
Dean rolled his eyes. "From what I saw, you're more than alright."
Hermione shrugged once more before climbing off his lap and moving back to her arm chair. She reached to pick up the final gift from Dean but he stopped her.
"Wait."
"What is it?"
He looked nervous, and Sam noticed it, too. "Don't open it yet, wait until tomorrow."
"Why?" She frowned.
"Please just wait," he all but begged.
"Okay," she said slowly, putting the small gift back on the table and sharing a confused look with Sam.
The brothers both turned their attention to their gifts and they opened theirs from the other, amusing Hermione to see they'd gotten each other ammunition for their guns, which they were happy with. And then they turned to Hermione's gifts and they picked up the same ones.
When they opened it they blinked, before they both removed the hunting knives that sat on the silk cushion in the box. They could tell from the moment they picked them up that something was different about the hunting knives. They were lighter than they remembered any weapon being, including a pocket knife, and the grip on the handle was perfect so they couldn't accidentally drop it. The blade on the knife was silver and it looked to have strange markings etched into it, the handle was gold but it looked more bronze in colour and there sat a small ruby at the top of the handle.
They both looked to her in surprise.
"These aren't just any hunting knives, as I'm sure you can tell." They both nodded. "These are goblin made, which is one of the best quality and most expensive producers of weapons and jewellery, and there aren't many made. I had to pull a lot of strings to get those knives made; they're handcrafted by the goblins themselves. Goblin made weapons are special due to the fact they're able to absorb the properties of anything they come into contact with."
"Meaning?" Sam asked, looking at the knife in his hand in amazement.
"Meaning, should you dissolve some salt in water and put the tip of the knife in the water, it'll absorb the properties of the salt. Should you put the knife in holy water, it'll absorb the properties of that, too, and then you have a weapon you can use against demons." They both blinked. "You'll only have to do this once and the properties will remain imbued in the knives for as long as they are in existence, and they can absorb as many properties as you wish them to, and of course the blade is silver, I specifically asked for that. And now, the ruby..."
"Fuck! It's real? I just thought it was for show," Dean muttered.
"No, they're real, so keep an eye on your knives, goblin made weapons are expensive enough, especially with it being custom made for you, too, and the rubies only add to the price. The knives in your hands are invaluable." They stared. "Anyway, the rubies are there for a reason, in the Wizarding World we believe that precious gemstones each have their own properties and purposes, rubies are said to help ease worries and fear, and to give strength and courage, as well as fire and passion. It represents health, life, love and protection."
They were speechless and it wasn't often that happened.
"What's wrong with us?" Hermione said. "Is it sad we bought each other weapons for Christmas?"
"No," Dean replied.
"A little," Sam nodded and Hermione snorted.
They thanked her for the knives and she smiled, before they went for their last gift from her.
"Headphones?" Sam questioned.
"Not just any headphones, magical noise cancelling headphones," she corrected. "I've charmed them so now you don't need me to put a Silencing Charm around you all the time, just put your headphones on and it'll do the trick."
"Thanks," he grinned, putting them on and trying them out, his smile widening when they worked perfectly.
Dean blinked when he pulled out the leather jacket she'd bought him. There wasn't much difference between the two he now owned, the only noticeable one being that one was obviously newer than the other.
She grinned when he turned his eyes to her, and she stood and walked over to him, taking the jacket from him and holding it up.
"This one is a little different to your old one," she said, before showing him the magically hidden pockets on the inside of the jacket and he blinked in surprise. "No one will know they are there except for a Winchester. Should you ever be pulled over and body searched by the police, anything that is kept within the pockets won't be picked up through manual or technological searches. And they're bigger on the inside, just like my beaded bag. You've got four on the inside and the regular two on the outside, which I've left alone since I know you like to put your hands in your pockets quite a lot."
Dean blinked before standing up and hugging her tightly.
~000~000~000~
"WAKE UP, BOYS!" Hermione shouted, and she childishly jumped up and down on her and Dean's bed, despite being a twenty-seven year old.
"No!" They both groaned.
"Yes!" She sang. "We need to get ready so we can go to The Burrow, come on, the kids are dying to see you. Don't you want to see Lily Petal, Dean?" Hermione said innocently.
Dean glared at her before rolling out of bed and heading to the bathroom.
"I knew that would work, I've now got more leverage over him," she grinned and Sam snorted.
"And that would be?"
"Easy, Lily, Baby and sex." He snorted again, before laying back down. "I don't think so, Sammy," she sang.
Since their beds weren't that far apart, she jumped from her own and onto his, jostling him about as she sang 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' loudly, whilst jumping up and down on his bed.
"You'll wake the neighbours," he yawned.
"Nope, I put a Silencing Charm on the room."
"Good idea," he said, before reaching over to grab his new headphones and he slipped them on, a smile appeared on his face and he settled back down in bed, despite Hermione's jumping.
She scowled, before holding her hand out and the headphones flew off Sam's head and into her hand.
"Hey! You cheated," he protested.
She stuck her tongue out, before she gave a loud shriek as Sam swept his leg out, catching hers and she went tumbling off the bed. She hit the ground with a loud 'thud' and she groaned.
"That's going to bruise," she whined, and all of this occurred, just as Dean stepped out of the bathroom. He stared before he burst out laughing.
~000~000~000~
"What do you think?" Hermione asked, spinning in a circle to show Dean her pretty red dress.
It was modest with a round neckline and long sleeves that fell to her wrists. The dress fit to her frame before flaring out at the waist and falling in pleats just above her knees. She wore black ankle boots and her cropped leather jacket to finish off the look, and her hair was left hanging down her back in soft ringlets, with it being pulled back from her face and held in place with a few glittery pins.
"Beautiful," he said honestly.
"But?" Hermione questioned, and Dean looked nervous.
"Would you mind wearing white instead?"
She frowned. "Why?"
"It doesn't matter," he muttered, looking away from her.
What was going on with her husband? He'd been acting strange since they'd opened their gifts and she wasn't the only one to notice it. Despite her confusion, she waved her wand over her dress and changed it from red to white and she saw him let out a sigh of relief.
Hermione eyed him strangely. He wore his customary boots and jeans, though she did notice that he wore a nicer shirt than usual. It was one of the ones they'd bought in London and it was a white button down that hadn't been cheap, and to complete the look he wore his new leather jacket.
"I'm just going to make sure Baby's all locked up," Dean said, before leaving the room.
Hermione frowned and Sam exited the bathroom. She turned her eyes to him, seeing him wearing trainers and jeans, though he also wore one of the new button down shirts she'd bought him, this one a light blue.
He eyed her dress. "I'm sure that was red," he commented with a frown.
"It was; Dean asked that I change it to white."
"That's strange, he told me to wear a nice shirt," he replied.
"Has he been acting strange?"
"Very strange," he nodded. "He's up to something."
"That's what I thought, too."
~000~000~000~
"What in the name of God are you doing here at six in the morning?" Bobby grumbled, coming down from the stairs and he looked as though he'd just thrown on the first clothing articles he could find.
He wore blue jeans, trainers, and his customary plaid shirt and ball cap. Hermione saw Dean eyeing Bobby's shirt and she sighed, before pulling her wand to transfigure it into a blue button down shirt similar to Sam's. Dean's relief was obvious. Bobby blinked in surprise at her actions.
"It's Christmas," Hermione grinned.
"And?" He said.
"And we're spending Christmas with our family. It's about time you meet the others, we're all family after all and the children are dying to meet you. We're going to The Burrow for Christmas dinner. That's why we're here so early, time difference, you see?"
"Oh, hell no, I am not going anywhere..."
"Mimsy!"
~000~000~000~
"I'm going to kill you, Missy," Bobby grumbled, as she dragged him into the floo in her apartment, which he hadn't seen before so his eyes searched his surroundings distractedly.
"I'll give you a tour later, now we're going to be late."
~000~000~000~
"Aunt 'Mione! Uncle Dean! Uncle Sam!" They heard voices chorus before the three Winchesters were swarmed by children all of different sizes and ages, though the majority of them had red hair.
They were pulled away from the fire place and over to the couches, and Hermione allowed Bobby a moment to take in his first experience of seeing a truly magical house.
Bobby looked down when he felt a tug on his shirt, his eyes meeting a pair of quizzical green.
"Are you Bobby?"
"Yeah," his gruff voice replied.
The child grinned. "Awesome, I'm James, Uncle Dean and Uncle Sam have told us all about you. Will you tell us about hunting?"
Bobby blinked, before looking to the sniggering Winchesters.
"Come on Bobby, tell them about hunting, they love hearing stories," Sam encouraged.
"Just watch what you say around them, we accidentally taught Fred his first curse word," Dean said.
"And Angie blamed me; I should've known it was you!"
They looked behind them to see George entering the living room from the kitchen and looking amused.
"Winchesters," he grinned. "How you doing?"
"Still alive," Sam replied. "You?"
"Still got one ear," he said and they snorted.
"Oh, George, why didn't you tell me they'd arrived," Mrs. Weasley bustled out of the kitchen before lightly smacking her son with a tea towel.
"I've just walked out of the kitchen, Mum, I don't have super hearing," he rolled his eyes.
"Hush, whilst I greet our new arrivals," she said, before turning her warm smile on the Winchesters and they all stood, knowing hugs were coming their way.
"Hermione, Dean, Samuel, it's lovely to have you back," she approached them. "Now let's see, oh dear, you're all skin and bones, you really must eat better, hunting is a dangerous profession and you don't want to be fainting from hunger," she scolded the three of them, whilst by this point, the rest of the Weasley children and their spouses had emerged from the kitchen and they were trying their best to hide their laughter.
"We eat just fine, Molly," Hermione replied.
"Well, you do anyway," Sam said.
Hermione glared at him and reached around Dean to smack at Sam's head. The others sniggered.
"Children, be nice to each other," Mrs. Weasley said. "Are they always like this, Dear?" She said to Dean.
"Always," he nodded.
"Oh, you poor dear having to put it with their constant bickering," she said, pulling him into a hug. Dean smirked over her shoulder and Sam and Hermione looked outraged, by this point the others were crying with silent laughter.
Bobby stood in shock, still with James beside him, whilst he watched his pseudo-sons interact with Hermione's pseudo-mother as if they'd known each other for years. He noted they were comfortable in the presence of the children and the adults, and they'd allowed the mother to hug them freely without complaint and unease. It was a new sight for him, seeing the brothers completely at ease without a care in the world.
"Well, now that Dean's finished kissing butt, I think introductions are in order," Hermione said. "Bobby, this is Molly and Arthur Weasley..."
~000~000~000~
Bobby sat on the couch, surrounded by Sam and Dean whilst Hermione sat on the floor with the children. He watched as Harry brought a little girl over to Dean, and Dean's face lit up in pure happiness.
"Unc' Dea'," the little girl shrieked in joy.
"Hiya, Lily Petal," Dean grinned, immediately taking the child from her father and she hugged him tightly and Dean chuckled.
"You're her favourite," Harry said amused. "I tried to call her Lily Petal and she said and I quote, but in better English, "No, Daddy, that's Uncle Dean's name.""
Dean grinned at Lily and she nodded in agreement to Harry's words, making him snort.
"Well I am the coolest," Dean replied and Harry looked amused.
"No, Uncle Sam is," Albus said with a frown from his place on the floor.
"Don't be silly, Uncle Dean is far cooler than Uncle Sam," James said.
"No, Uncle Sam gives good piggy back rides."
"And Uncle Dear has a cool car."
"Children," Harry scolded, and they both settled down. "Thanks for that, Mate, you almost started Wizarding War Three with that comment," he said amused. "Either that or Hermione would've hexed you for having the boys fighting."
Dean looked down to Lily. "You won't let your Aunt hurt me, will you Lily Petal?"
"No," she shook her head. "My Dea'," Lily said.
Those that heard laughed loudly. Dean smiled smugly and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Brilliant, I've been replaced," he said, though they knew he was joking.
~000~000~000~
After presents had been opened –which Bobby, Dean and Sam all received a Weasley jumper; much to their shock- they were all ushered outside onto the snow covered ground and towards the marquee, where they would be having their Christmas dinner since there were easily twenty-eight mouths to feed.
"She should've let me bring a jacket," Bobby mumbled.
"You don't need one, the magic on the tent keeps the cold out and the warmth in," Sam replied.
When they entered the marquee, even they were surprised by the feast in front of them, it could easily feed them all and three times over, too. There was a large Christmas tree decorated similarly to the one in their motel room, making them think the house-elves had likely done it, and like the motel, fairies floated about in the air, and along with the feast on the table were the lit candles and the Christmas crackers.
"Ready everyone, take a seat and we shall tuck in," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Molly made all of this by herself, she doesn't like the elves to help in the kitchen, she doesn't mind them helping with the decorations, but they're not to get anywhere her kitchen," she told the three Hunters, they blinked in surprise.
~000~000~000~
Dinner had went brilliantly with everyone laughing and chatting –though Ron spent most of his time glaring at The Winchesters, he was smart enough to remain quiet- and soon the marquee doors were open, the children and their fathers were bundled up warm and a snow ball fight ensured, whilst some built snowmen and made snow angels.
Hermione had been watching Dean throughout dinner, and although he'd been more relaxed than before they'd arrived, he still had a nervous air about him, and she'd seen him sneaking off to speak to Harry and her pseudo-parents, and when they'd returned, Dean had looked relieved and they were smiling at her knowingly. It was bloody infuriating. She wanted to know what was going on, and just when she was going to ask him, she was distracted by the arrival of The Malfoys.
She stood and met them half way, pulling Luna and Draco into a hug, and then stealing Scorpius from his father and walking away, all before he could blink.
"Hi, Handsome," Hermione cooed, as she sat down and perched Scorpius on her knee. "You're getting so big," she muttered, looking at his chubby cheeks, and he was now around eight months old.
"You're like a bloody sniper," Draco said, taking up a seat at the table.
She stuck her tongue out at him, before introducing Luna to Bobby. She would've warned him about her friend's strangeness, but the look on his face as Luna told him he was surrounded by wrackspurts was worth it, the brothers in particular were beside themselves with laughter.
She spent some time cooing over Scorpius, and whilst doing so, she caught sight of Dean sneaking off with Draco for a few minutes before they shook hands and returned to the table. Hermione frowned, and she was going to question Dean when she was distracted once more.
"Uncle Bobby, will you tell us about hunting now?" James ran into the marquee, covered in snow and his face flushed from the cold.
"Uncle Bobby?" He said surprised.
James frowned. "You're Uncle Bobby, like Uncle Dean and Uncle Sam." He turned to look at Hermione and she nodded. "You're Uncle Bobby," James nodded. "Tell us about hunting?"
"Err...Well...I..."
"Please..." He begged.
Bobby looked up, seeing the amused looks of the adults and he sighed. "Fine," he said gruffly.
"Yay!" James said. "Uncle Bobby's going to tell hunting stories!" He yelled loudly.
The rest of the children cheered loudly before quickly making their way back into the marquee and sitting on the floor near Bobby's chair, surrounding him and looking at him expectantly.
He cleared his throat. "Right, well...There was this case were..."
"Can I talk to you?" Hermione looked up, seeing Dean looking at her nervously.
She frowned but nodded, handing Scorpius over to Sam since he was sitting the closest.
Dean took Hermione's hand in his and he pulled her away from the marquee, walking through the snow until they reached the large tree that housed the children's tree house and then he stopped.
"What is it?" She asked.
He cleared his throat. "I love pie," he said.
She frowned. "I love pie, too," she replied in confusion.
Some of the tension left his frame, but he still appeared anxious.
"I'm not good at this; I'm not good with words so I'll let my actions speak for me."
He released her hand to dig into one of his pockets, pulling out the gift he'd asked her to wait to open, and he handed it to her.
"Open it."
Her eyes held his searching for his intentions, before she looked down to the gift and removed the wrapping paper. She removed the box lid and her eyes zeroed in on the contents as a gasp of surprise left her.