CHAPTER NINETY-THREE
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: 12
After Hermione quickly cleaned Dean and Sam of her blood, she disappeared into the bathroom and exited minutes later, blood free and wearing clean clothes. She grabbed her leather jacket and slipped it on before taking Dean's out stretched hand and he pulled her out of their motel room with Sam following after them, leaving Castiel, Ellen and Jo alone.
Sam slid into the back and Hermione quickly filled the passenger's seat, her feet immediately finding purchase on Dean's lap once he'd climbed into the driver's side and they set off on their journey.
"Dean?"
"Yeah, Sweetheart?" He said, turning to smile at her widely, his eyes flickering between her face and her stomach and she felt her stomach flutter and her heart skip a beat at the loving look on his face.
"I don't want pizza anymore," she said, looking guilty.
Sam snorted from the back seat. "Here we go," he muttered in amusement, but they chose to ignore him.
"What would you like?"
She bit her lip, apparently in thought. "I can't decide between chicken pot pie or cheese burgers."
"Then we'll get you both," he said without argument.
~000~000~000~
Dean's eyes scanned the menu in front of him, searching the contents and he frowned when he didn't see chocolate fudge cake on the menu. Now that just wouldn't do. His beautiful, pregnant wife wanted chocolate fudge cake and he would make sure she got it.
Deciding what he wanted and already knowing Sam's order as well as Hermione's, Dean stood from his place sat beside Hermione and walked away from the booth and over to the counter. The diner was quite busy and would likely take a while for a server to get to them, so he went to them instead. He stood patiently waiting for the older woman behind the counter to get to him.
"What can I get you?" She asked with a kind smile and pulling a pen and notepad out of her apron.
"I'll take a chicken pot pie, a cheese burger and fries with onion rings, a chicken soup and grilled cheese, and a double bacon cheese burger with fries."
The old woman blinked and quickly wrote down the order.
"Anything else?"
"Just three sodas," he replied. She muttered to herself as she wrote it down. "I don't suppose you have any chocolate fudge cake, do you?"
"We don't offer that, I'm sorry."
Dean rubbed a hand over his face. "Is there any way you can help me out? We've just discovered my wife's pregnant and she's craving chocolate fudge cake, I promised I'd get her one."
"Congratulations," the woman smiled. "Where is she?"
Dean proudly pointed her out and the woman peered over the heads of the customers sat at the counter to see Hermione laughing loudly along with Sam.
"Over there, and that's my idiot brother," he beamed.
"She's beautiful, your first child?"
"How'd you know?"
She chuckled. "You remind me of my husband, he was the same with our first child. Well, you get back to your family and I'll see what I can have our chefs cook up for you."
"Thank you, you're a life saver," he said, smiling at the woman and making his way back over to Hermione, taking his seat and putting his arm around her shoulders. "Shouldn't be too long now," he told her.
~000~000~000~
Just as they were finishing up their meals, Dean spied the old woman making her way over to the table and with a tray held in her hand.
"Here we go, Dears, just as you ordered. One chocolate fudge cake with all the trimmings."
Dean blinked in surprise as the tray was placed in the centre of the table. He'd been expecting a simple chocolate cake at best, but the woman had gone all out. There was still steam coming off the cake and it was accompanied by some vanilla ice-cream, chocolate ice-cream and squirty cream.
He looked up to the woman and she smiled kindly and winked at him.
"Well, enjoy," she said, giving them a smile and turning and leaving them alone.
"Merlin," Hermione whispered.
She stared lovingly at the food in front of her and she pulled the tray closer to herself and when she turned it around, she saw 'Congratulations' written in chocolate sauce across the tray.
She turned her eyes to Dean, looking to be on the verge of crying. Before he could blink Hermione had wrapped herself around him so tightly, it was hard for him to breathe.
"I only wanted a slice of chocolate fudge cake, but you got me an entire cake, vanilla and chocolate ice-cream and cream, too. You are the best husband in the world," she whispered into his neck.
"Only the best for you, you deserve it after everything you do for me. You've been taking care of me since we met, now it's my turn to take care of you," he replied, wrapping his arms around her.
She pulled back from him and immediately picked up a spoon and tucked into the cake, not bothering to use the knife to cut it into slices. Sam didn't bother hiding his snort as he picked up a spoon and started working on the vanilla ice-cream.
Sam narrowed his eyes on her. "Are you crying?" He asked.
"No," she said quickly, wiping at her eyes.
"God, you are crying!"
She sniffled. "Fine, I'm crying. I just really love cake," she said, sniffling.
Sam sniggered as Dean slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her into him. "Whatever you don't eat, we'll have it wrapped up and we'll take it with us."
"As if there's going to be anything left; her appetite before was through the roof, now she's pregnant it's going to be worse. She was already eating for four. Ow!" Sam scowled, rubbing at his shin where Hermione had kicked him under the table.
Dean chuckled as Hermione glared at Sam and stuffed another spoonful of cake into her mouth.
~000~000~000~
"Now that everyone's been fed and we're all calm, let's deal with this situation properly, no guns, no knives and no flying fists."
"Why are you looking at me?" Dean asked Sam, as they all stood outside the door to Hermione and Dean's motel room.
"Despite Hermione being the one that's pregnant, you're more hormonal than she is," he replied.
Hermione couldn't help it, she laughed. "He's not going to do anything."
"You don't know that," Sam said.
"I do, you're forgetting, I control his sex life," she said, before opening the door and striding inside, leaving behind Sam and his grimace.
As Hermione stepped into the room with the brothers behind her, her eyes scanned her environment, seeing that Castiel was no longer present but that Ellen was sat on one of the chairs at the table, and Jo was sat in the other, tied to the chair and with a gag over her mouth, but other than that, she was completely fine.
Hermione's eyes fell to the floor and upon seeing the large amount of blood, her hands automatically came up to cradle her stomach and she stared horrified. Dean came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, his hands resting on top of hers.
"You gave me fright, Glinda," he muttered, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I almost lost you both."
"I would never leave you," she said quietly, still staring at the blood stain. "You'd go off the deep end."
"And the rest," he agreed. He placed a kiss to her neck and she sighed, closing her eyes.
"I'm tired, I'll see what I can do about the stain in the morning. I'll be right back."
She pulled away from him and disappeared into the bathroom, her eyes locked on Jo the entire time. When she exited her hair was tied up in a mess on top of her head and she was dressed in nothing but one of his shirts. Whether it was for him, because they were comfortable for her to sleep in or to rub Jo's nose in it, he didn't know and he didn't care.
His eyes followed her as she clambered up onto the bed and burrowed under the covers, laying down and getting comfortable, not caring that Ellen and Jo were still there. Dean disappeared into the bathroom and returned before moving to sit beside Hermione on the bed. She immediately turned towards him, resting her head against his chest and sighing happily when he wrapped his arm around her and he kissed her forehead. Sam stood by the bed, leaning against the wall with his arms across his chest and watching Jo carefully, seeing the clear look of disgust and anger on her face.
"Let's get this over with," Dean spoke. "We've been through a lot these last few hours and Hermione needs her sleep. Since you're the reason I almost lost my wife and child, she needs to get plenty of rest."
It would be easy to mistake Dean for being calm, but to Sam and Hermione who knew him, they both knew it was a front for the anger that was still bubbling below the surface. What Jo had done, it was the kind of damage Dean would never be able to forgive.
"So, Jo, I don't know what's going on with you and I don't care. You had a shot with me years ago and you turned me down, that's not my fault. You have no right or reason to be jealous or angry. My wife may be a witch, but that doesn't mean I love her any less. I couldn't be any prouder of her magic. It's saved our asses more times than I can count. It's saved the lives of more people than I can count. It makes our lives easier, simpler. It offers us another form of protection and offence. Ellen will tell you everything you need to know about Hermione and the truth of her magic, and once she does, you're going to realise just how lucky you are she never died."
Jo's cold gaze was locked on his and she was glaring daggers.
"I'm not under the influence of any form of magic. My feelings are my own. I love Hermione. It was my decision to ask her to marry me. I would kill for her and I would die for her. You need to get that into your head. I let you live this time, but if any harm comes to her or our child and you are behind it, there won't be anyone or thing capable of saving you." He held her gaze for a moment longer, before turning his eyes to Ellen. "Ellen? I think it's best you get her home."
Ellen nodded and stood, moving to untie her daughter and she removed the gag from around her mouth, and with a warning look to Jo, she thankfully remained silent.
"We'll be heading out tomorrow, we'll try and come by before we leave," Sam spoke. "I'll take you home. I need to pick up the Impala anyway."
Sam said his goodnight's to Hermione and Dean before leaving out the door, Ellen pushing Jo out of the door and Hermione summoned her wand and locked the door behind them. Dean wasted no time in quickly stripping down to his boxers and slipping under the covers.
Hermione frowned in confusion when he pulled the blanket down to her hips, before he shuffled further down the bed, lifted her t-shirt and pressed his ear to her stomach. Her heart fluttered and she felt a smile pull at her mouth. She lifted her hand and ran it through his hair, lightly scratching at his scalp and hearing his sigh of happiness.
"We're having a baby," he spoke.
"We are," she agreed softly.
"I don't think I've ever felt this happy," he muttered.
"Me either," she replied. "My life since meeting you has been filled with danger, adventure, crying, laughter, love, illness, injuries, kidnapping, death, but I wouldn't change any of it. I know what it feels like to love someone and to be loved in return. I'm happy and it's all because of you."
"I love pie," he said.
"I love pie, too."
"And I love our baby," he spoke, turning his head slightly to place a kiss to her flat stomach, which would soon begin to grow to accommodate the growth of their child. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt either of you."
"I know, you were protective of me before, I can only imagine it being magnified now," she said, sounding both amused and exasperated at the knowledge.
"You know what this means, right?"
She sighed and nodded. "Yes, I do."
"You're benched from now on; they're so many things that can go wrong in our line of work and we can't risk it. Things are going to be a little more difficult now that we no longer have your magic when it comes to working in the field, but we'll manage. Sammy and I will handle the dangerous side, you can handle research and support."
"Normally I'd argue with you, but I know you're right. We've been waiting a long time for a baby of our own, and I'm not going to take any risks, especially with me being so early on in my pregnancy. But now that I'm pregnant, we need start thinking about the future."
"Meaning?"
"We spoke about buying some land and having a house built, we've got eight months to get it all sorted and ready for the baby coming and there's so much to do. We have to view potential purchases, we need to hire a magical contractor and architect, we need to supernatural and magic proof the property, and we need to purchase furniture for the new house, we need to decide on colour choices, we need to get the nursery ready and prepare some of the elves for moving. I don't doubt Mimsy and Mittens will be adamant that they move with us. We need to start thinking about what we'll do when I get too far along in my pregnancy that I won't want to travel. Do I stay home whilst you and Sam continue hunting until the baby comes? Do you both take a temporary break until the baby comes? When the baby comes do we still travel and hunt, or do we only take cases that are nearby? And..."
"Glinda, take a breath and relax," Dean interrupted. "We have plenty of time to think this all through now that we know you're pregnant."
She sighed. "I suppose you're right. In-between hunts we can view any listings the realtor finds for us, and when you boys are out in the field having all the fun, I can start making plans to have the house built to stop myself from worrying about you. We'll need a big kitchen and dining room, potions lab, and of course a library and armoury, a living room and at least five bedrooms, possibly more."
"Why?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, there's us, Sam and the baby to start with."
"Sam?"
She frowned. "Of course, Sam. You don't honestly think I'm not going to let him live with us, do you? We're family and he can stay with us as long as he wishes. If in the future he finds someone and they get married and have kids like us, he'll move out, but until then he stays with us where I can keep an eye on him and where I know he's safe. Anyway, if we're planning on having more than one child we're going to need more bedrooms, plus we have to take into account everyone back in England. They'll want to visit and we can't have the kids if we don't have extra bedrooms for when they stay. And we'll need a room for Bobby too."
"Bobby?" He asked amused.
"Of course, Bobby, he's not getting any younger and sooner or later he's going to need someone to take care of him. I don't like that he lives alone, it's not good for his health. I can't trust that he's taking care of himself, but if he were with us, then I'd know and I wouldn't worry about him so much."
"Does Bobby know you're planning to move Bobby in with us?"
"Not yet," she replied and he laughed at her.
"He'll shoot you."
"No, he won't; he's scared of me, he just hides it better than you and Sam. We're all going to be together in a safe and loving environment and we're going to raise our children to be the best they can be. Our children are never going to know what it feels like to be alone or scared or unloved."
"You hear that, you're already the most loved child in the world," Dean spoke to her stomach and she couldn't help but giggle. "I think we're having a boy."
She raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
"I can feel it."
"You can feel it?" She questioned amused.
"I can feel we're having a boy, I think I'm psychic." She snorted at him. "I am, I said back at The Roadhouse I could feel we were going to have a baby soon, and a few hours later we find out you're pregnant. I'm psychic."
"If you say so," she chuckled.
~000~000~000~
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Dean asked her as they sat in the parked Impala outside of The Roadhouse the next morning.
"Yes, I need to run a few diagnostic spells to see whether my suspicions are correct or not," she replied.
"Jo's not going to let you anywhere near her."
"Not while she's awake at least. I called for Mimsy when you went for breakfast. She brought me a mild Sleeping Draught. We'll get Ellen to slip it into Jo's drink and I'll run the tests when she's sleeping."
"Do you think you can help her?" Sam asked from the back seat.
"I won't know until I see the results."
"Well, let's get this over with then."
They all climbed out of the car and made their way into the bar, seeing that Ellen was already waiting for them.
"Place three drops into her drink and she'll be out within minutes," Hermione said, handing over the potion vial.
"And this won't hurt her?" Ellen asked, eyeing the potion in her hand distrustfully.
"No, it's only a mild Sleeping Draught, if you give her the amount I specified she'll be out no more than sixty minutes. She'll wake up completely fine and without issue."
Ellen eyed Hermione cautiously before nodding and she disappeared into the room behind the bar. The Winchesters each took a seat at the bar and they didn't have to wait long until Ellen called for them.
Dean led the way into the kitchen and they entered to see Jo slumped over in her chair and across the table. Hermione quickly set to work, muttering and mumbling to herself as she waved her wand in intricate motions and different coloured lights appeared. A worried Ellen looked to see both Dean and Sam looking completely at ease at the display in front of them.
"We're used to it," Sam shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. "We've been around her and her magical world for two years now. It's normal for us."
~000~000~000~
A worried look crossed Dean's face and he made his way over to Hermione, taking her face in his hands and his gaze locking with hers. She smiled at him tiredly and lifted her hand to wipe the sweat off her forehead.
"I'm fine," she said. "The spells I was casting aren't known for their simplicity and they take a lot of out of you. It's been a while since I've had to cast anything even remotely similar to the tests I've just run, that coupled with my pregnancy's tired me out a little."
"What'd you find?" Sam piped up, causing Hermione to turn away from Dean and Dean to glare at him, before he pulled a chair out from the table and guided Hermione onto the seat.
"As I explained this morning, last night I was able to detect a strange aura surrounding Jo and I was unsure of what it was, and I wouldn't be surprised if Castiel noticed it, too. I cast several diagnostic charms which have come back positive for Jo being infected by darkness."
"What!" The three Hunters spluttered.
"Jo's infected by darkness," she repeated. "It's not surprising giving everything that's happened over the last few years. It's my understanding that during your time helping to stop the apocalypse, Jo came dangerously close to death."
"Yes, but she pulled through," Ellen replied.
"Well, I don't think she came dangerously close to death. I think she actually died."
"What?"
"It's my belief that she died and before she was resuscitated, there was a small window of opportunity for the darkness that was happening during the apocalypse to set in. The darkness will change Jo's personality, change the way she thinks, the way she feels and the way she acts. Like her anger and jealousy towards my marriage to Dean, her decision to steal the keys to the Impala and to track us down at our motel. I have the feeling she had planned on killing me anyway, even before she discovered I was a witch. Her anger, her hatred, her malice, it's not her fault. The darkness feeds off hateful, cold and negative thoughts and emotions and it will twist and magnify anything Jo is feeling, pushing her to breaking point, pushing her to do dark things," she explained, and she knew what she was talking about, having experienced something similar herself when she came into contact with Voldemort's Horcruxes.
"Is there anything you can do?" Ellen asked, looking to her daughter horrified.
"Not me, this is more supernatural than magical, but I can get my hands on a talisman that will help to ward off the darkness that surrounds her. Castiel's the only one that can remove it from within her, but it'll take some time to get a hold of him, he's a pain in the arse that way. He only shows up if someone's dying. You'll notice a big change within Jo once she starts wearing the talisman. I'll contact my brother, Bill, he can get his hands on one for us."
~000~000~000~
"Well, aside from your deranged daughter trying to kill my wife, it's been good to see you."
"Don't be a stranger," Ellen warned.
"We'll try, but we're going to be busy for a while. With Hermione finally being pregnant we're a hHnter down in the field and we have to focus on her safety and the baby's future."
"You don't have anything to worry about, you're going to be a good dad," Ellen said.
"I hope so, and remember, Hermione's identity and pregnancy stays a secret."
"I'll keep Jo under control, she won't tell anyone."
"I was going to have Hermione wipe her mind, but she said there was no point. The likely hood of Jo discovering her secret in the future was still there."
"Well she's right, now, off you go; they're waiting for you."
Dean hugged Ellen one last time before exiting the bar and making his way to the Impala, climbing into the driver's side and starting their journey.
"Dean, why are you doing thirty in a fifty mile an hour zone?" Sam asked, peering over his brother's shoulder to look at the speedometer.
"I'm not risking it," he replied.
"Risking what?" Sam frowned.
Dean's eyes flickered down to Hermione's stomach and then back the road.
"Oh, for Heaven's Sake," Hermione sighed. "I'm pregnant, the speed of a moving vehicle is not going to affect me in any way."
"I'm not risking it," he repeated.
"Oh, I suppose I won't be allowed to carry my own bloody bag either."
"You won't be doing any heavy lifting or running for your life."
"Put your foot down, it's not going to hurt us, it'll just take us longer to get there and I'm already starting to feel hungry."
"Then we'll stop for food when we see the next store, diner or gas station. I'm not risking it."
"And so it begins," Sam muttered, leaning back against the leather seat and listening to Hermione and Dean bickering.