CHAPTER NINETY-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: 9
One month later...
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Hermione asked Sam.
She slipped on her jacket and sat on the bed, leaning over and struggling to put on her shoes. In the end Sam laughed at her annoyance before climbing off his own bed and moving over to her, helping her to put her shoes on, earning both a glare and a look of thanks as he stood up and returned to lounging on his bed.
"No, I think I'll wait until it's all finished, it's more of a surprise that way. I still can't believe you and Dean have bought a house and are turning it into a permanent home base."
"Why not?" She asked.
He shrugged. "It just seems strange to me, growing up Dean never showed any interest in anything but the hunting life, or of having a family. And now, years later, he's married, he's going to be a father and he's putting down roots. I still find it hard to believe sometimes."
"That's understandable," she told him. "Particularly after I learned about his past."
"He changed from the moment he laid eyes on you. You're the best thing to happen to him, to us," he confessed.
She felt tears welling up in her eyes and she forced them back, knowing Sam would tease her and she'd probably kick him in retaliation.
"Well that goes both ways, Sammy. You ever thought about having a family?"
"When I was still in college and I had Jess, but since her death, I haven't really thought about it. I'd like to in the future, maybe when I'm little older and if I were to meet someone that I could see myself having a family with," he shrugged.
"You'll find her, there's someone out there for everyone, just look at me and Dean. Maybe you need a witch." He raised an eyebrow and looked at her amused. "What? Your brother certainly did, you may be the same. Just think, The Winchester line will be filled with Hunters, witches and wizards. The world will forever be changed."
He chuckled, amused. "Maybe," he agreed. "You going to be gone long?"
"No," she shook her head. "A few hours at most. It's why we took this case in the first place, it's only an hour or so away from Great Falls, Montana, which is where our property is hidden. As time passes and the baby grows, both my magic and my body are growing tired, which is why Dean is so insistent that we take a respite at least every two weeks. We're only going to check on the progress of the house and we should be back no later than dinner."
"We still heading to England for the weekend?"
"That's the plan, we're going as soon as we'll get back. It's too dangerous for me to use apparition or port keys now that I'm mid-way through my pregnancy. And since we're too far away from the Cambridge Apartment, Dean doesn't want me cooped up in the car for a two day trip, and I don't like the idea myself. It's getting harder to get comfortable when in the Impala. We're going to have Mimsy pick us up, then we'll have her pick up Bobby and we'll head straight over to England. Dinner at The Burrow's planned for six and everyone should be there, including Charlie and The Malfoys. We're telling them the news."
"Thank God," Sam sighed. "It's been so hard to keep it a secret."
She snorted. "I know; you've got a big mouth."
~000~000~000~
Dean took the turning onto the dirt road that led to their soon to be home and exactly ten minutes later they pulled up a little distance away from the house, stepping out of the car and being greeted by the foreman.
"Pius," she smiled in greeting.
"Mrs. Winchester, Mr. Winchester," he replied with a smile and a nod, and Dean returned the gesture, taking Hermione's hand in his as the foreman led them closer to the house.
"As you can see, we were able to salvage the building which has put us one month ahead of schedule. We've replaced all the external woodwork and charmed it against insects and termites to preserve the wood. We've replaced all the windows and the damaged bricks and charmed the rest of the building to ensure that there are no structural issues in the future. We strengthened the house's foundations and we've replaced the roof entirely, since we were unable to salvage it. We've finished the exterior of the building and have begun work on the interior. We've had to replace a few walls and we've added additional structural beams for safety. We're going to need to replace the entirety of the flooring, I have Gerald and Mark working on the ground floor, whilst Kevin, James and Simon have started work on the extension you wanted. Not only is everything going to plan, but we're ahead of schedule, and I would estimate that we should be finished in six week's time."
Dean stared in surprise at the place that would soon be home to his family. It looked nothing like the house they had first seen a month ago, in fact, he was half convinced he'd took the wrong turning and was on someone else's property.
"That's brilliant," Hermione beamed. "We can have the decorators in soon after and they should be done in less than two weeks, and we can move in soon after. Have you had chance to look at the plans for improving the pond?"
"Yes, I have Henry and Vince working on it as we speak. Last time I checked, they had drained the pond and had started on lengthening it. I have Liam and Dan working on that tree house we discussed and we were able to find several trees to build it around that are structurally sound and that are closer to the house than they are the high way. And, if you look over there," he lifted his hand to point out the direction he meant, and they both squinted, seeing figures in the distance apparently hard at work and doing God knows what.
"Zak and Jake are working on an extra special project."
Hermione frowned in confusion, having no idea what he meant. "They've started work on building a play ground for the children. They've already finished building the wendy house and the swing set, they're now working on the climbing frame and slide."
Hermione and Dean both blinked in surprise.
"We never asked that of you," she said.
"I know," the foreman smiled. "It's a gift from us to you."
"A gift?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A gift," he nodded. "We've been doing business with you for years now, Mrs. Winchester. You're my best and most appreciated customer. It was the boys' idea that we gift you something to show our thanks and gratitude, free of charge."
"We couldn't possibly allow you to do that for us," Hermione said.
"You can and you will."
~000~000~000~
The Burrow
Hermione and Dean sat beside each other eating their dinner that Mrs. Weasley had prepared with the aid of Fleur, Angelina and Ginny. Everyone was laughing and chatting happily as the sun beamed down on them and the breeze offered a nice break from the heat, which Hermione was grateful for.
Dean was currently talking to Lily, as she sat beside him in her own chair, and she had grown remarkably. She was now four years old and despite two years having gone past, she still loved Dean as much as she did when she was two years old. Albus' favourite was still Sam, and James' was still Dean.
Hermione looked around the table, her eyes landing on Bobby who sat a little further down the table, close to Molly and Arthur and they chatted whilst Bobby had a newly turned two year old Scorpius perched on his lap, his mop of platinum blonde hair blowing into his eyes in the wind and him giggling as he stole a sausage from Bobby's plate. Sam was a little ways down to the right, currently in an argument with a six year old Fred and a now ten year old Hugo, whilst George watched amused and tended to his three year old daughter Roxy.
The other children had already finished eating and were now running around the grounds, chasing each other and playing tag, and the adults chatted, ate and watched the children. Hermione felt a smile pull at her face and Dean's hand squeezed hers under the table, drawing her attention.
"Everything alright?" He asked, noticing that she had barely touched her dinner and that she was quiet.
"Absolutely perfect," she told him honestly. He smiled before leaning over to kiss her cheek. "You think we should do it?"
She nodded. "It's time, we've kept it from them long enough and I don't think Sam can keep his mouth shut for much longer."
Dean chuckled, before they both stood and it drew the attention of the table immediately.
"Alright, Hermione?" Harry asked, eyeing her strangely, as if he knew.
Hermione wouldn't put it past him, he knew her very well and he could always tell when she was keeping something from him. And they hadn't visited in months, which made him think they were hiding something.
"Everything's wonderful, Harry," she replied, earning questioning looks and raised eyebrows, particularly when they spied Sam smiling widely. "In fact, we wished to share something with you. We've been keeping it between us for a while now; we wanted wait until we were sure nothing could go wrong."
"Spit out then, we'll die before you get to it," George spoke, earning a slap over the head from his wife.
Hermione and Dean grinned at each other, before she removed her hand from his and removed his leather jacket, which she'd purposely wore to hide her stomach, the shirt she had on underneath was the opposite. She purposely wore it to show it off.
They all stared in silence when they saw her stomach, their eyes darting between her, Dean and the growing baby bump.
"We're five months pregnant," they both said together with large smiles on their faces.
It was silent for a few moments before noise, cries and cheers broke out and Hermione and Dean were crowded around, being congratulated and hugged.
All the women cried as they took it in turns to hug Hermione, particularly Molly, which only set Hermione's tears off. Dean was hugged and clapped on the back by the men, before being crushed into a bear hug by Molly, soon followed by the women. The men were careful when they each hugged Hermione, speaking of their happiness for her that she going to be a mother.
By the time Harry reached her, her tears were falling freely and he chuckled at her as he hugged her.
"I'm happy for you, truly I am. I know how long you've wanted children and I know you and Dean have been trying for years. You're going to be brilliant parents; we've all witnessed how much the children love you."
"Thank you, Harry," she sniffled. "It came as a shock. We'd almost lost hope."
"How'd you find out?"
"Long story short, one of Dean's Hunter friends, Jo, was jealous of our marriage and she found me out our motel when he was getting me dinner. She shot me." His eyes widened. "I almost died but Castiel turned up and healed me, and stopped Dean from killing Jo, barely. He told Dean that the bullet had missed the baby, when I came to Dean told me. I didn't believe him so I went to a healer, they confirmed it. I still didn't believe it so I took several muggle pregnancy tests, they were all positive."
"I really am happy for you," he smiled.
"Thank you, Harry. I've never been happier. He's been a pain in the arse with his over protectiveness; seriously, he won't drive above thirty no matter the speed limit." Harry snorted at her. "But aside from that, I've never been happier, and it's because of him," she said, her eyes finding Dean and seeing him beaming a smile as the men surrounded him and were clapping him on the shoulder. His eyes caught her gaze and he smiled at her, before he was pulled away by Bobby.
"Congrats, Kid," Bobby's gruff voice spoke as he hugged him tightly.
"Thanks, we've been waiting a while."
"I know you have and I'm happy for you, if anyone can juggle a baby and the hunting life, it's you and Missy. And I know you'll be a good dad to the kid."
"Hermione wouldn't let me be anything but," he said and Bobby snorted, knowing it was true.
"How long have you known," he asked Dean.
"Remember when Jo shot Hermione?"
Bobby's eyes hardened and he nodded stiffly. Ellen had told Bobby about the incident, knowing he'd find out eventually and it was safer to tell him herself. Bobby had driven straight to The Roadhouse with the intent to shoot Jo, and it had taken a lot for Ellen to convince him otherwise.
"When Cas healed her, he told me the bullet had missed the baby, we didn't even know she was pregnant. We got really lucky, Jo almost cost me my wife and baby. She was seven weeks along at the time." Bobby's frame tensed tightly. "You can't kill her, Hermione wouldn't allow it. She wouldn't let me kill her even after we discovered she was pregnant, she just let me shoot her a few times before I took her for dinner. Cas only healed her when she was on the verge of dying."
"If I see her, I'll shoot her, too," he promised.
"Hermione would never forgive you," Dean told him.
Suddenly fireworks were going off drawing everyone's attention. He looked to the sky seeing the bright colours and the stories they told, not even bothering to act surprised at the sudden appearance. He'd learned that George always carried fireworks with him, which he found odd, but he couldn't judge given the amount of weapons he had stashed away in his pockets.
Once the fireworks had ended, the children were playing and Dean found himself with a glass of fire whiskey in hand, along with the others whilst Hermione had pumpkin juice, much to her annoyance at not being able to drink. A toast was given in honour of Hermione and Dean and they were congratulated once more.
"Do you know what you're having yet?" Ginny asked her. "Healers can tell from as little as ten weeks."
"No," Hermione replied, "We want it to be a surprise."
"It's a boy," Dean said.
"It could be a girl," Hermione argued.
"It's a boy, I can feel it."
"You'll feel my fist on your nose," she warned to the sniggers of the others.
"I'm too pretty for you to damage my face, you won't do it and we're having a boy. I'm psychic."
"You're not psychic."
"She married a psychic," Dean told the others, shrugging.
"I married a psycho," she corrected to the laughs of the others at their bickering.
~000~000~000~
One month later...
Another month had passed without incidence, and thankfully only minor injuries to the brothers whilst hunting, but that still didn't stop Hermione from shouting at them afterwards.
The previous day Hermione and Dean had visited the house to once again check on the progress that had been made since their last visit a month ago, and both of them were pleased to see that the house was almost complete. Pius the foreman had told them it would be two weeks at most before the house would be complete and the decorating team could start work.
All that was left to be finished was the second floor and the attic, along with a few finishing touches being placed on the extension they had built. The tree house was finished as was the play area they had built, but Pius had refused to let them see it until the house was complete.
Hermione now being six months pregnant and her stomach being as big as ever, was bored. The brothers were working on a case and she had given them all the research she had been able to find, and whilst they were working in the field, trying to find the one responsible for the deaths, she was bored out of her mind and sick of staring at the same four walls of the motel room.
It was mid-August, the sun was shining and the temperature in the room was too much to bear, what with the AC not working which Hermione was not surprised by. She huffed from her place lounged on the bed, before she climbed off and went over to the table where her beaded bag was sat. She pulled out a cover up and slipped it on over her blue summer dress, before leaving a note for the brothers should they get back before she returned. She picked up the key and left the room, locking it behind her.
She took the short walk from the motel into the town, slowly walking down the street and window shopping, before she came across a shop that sold baby items. She stopped and before she could convince herself otherwise, she stepped inside and immediately began searching through the available items, picking out several items of clothing in neutral colours, along with some sleep suits, hats and a baby blanket. She took the items to the counter and paid, before walking out of the shop with a smile on her face, a hand resting against her stomach and a bag of purchases for the baby.
She continued to walk through the town, her eyes window shopping until she saw something she liked and she absolutely had to have it. By the time she reached a cafe she had several bags shrunken down and hidden in her beaded bag. She'd purchased a few dresses for herself, a few t-shirts and jeans for Dean and Sam, and some bibs and vests for the baby.
She sat in the cafe, happily sipping away at her iced drink and picking away at her muffin, whilst watching the other occupants of the town going about their day. Children running around, adults on their lunch breaks and teenagers walking down the street with their friends. She felt a smile pull at her face, she felt peaceful.
The sound of a cry drew her attention and her eyes searched the cafe until they found what they were looking for. There was a young woman sat several tables away from her. She had bags under her eyes and looked exhausted as she tried her best to calm the crying baby in her arms. From her distance away, Hermione would've guessed the baby couldn't have been older than a few months.
Hermione finished the last of her drink and muffin, before standing and leaving a tip on the table, making her way through the busy cafe until she came to the young woman. Noticing her presence, the woman looked up from her baby and to Hermione, her eyes landing on her stomach and then her face.
"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I heard your baby crying and I was wondering if you would like some help, you look exhausted."
The woman eyed her strangely before speaking. "He's been upset all morning, and didn't sleep much last night," she explained.
Hermione nodded. "I'm Hermione," she introduced herself.
"Natalie," she replied. "And this is my son, Oliver."
Hermione smiled. "Would you mind?" She asked, gesturing to the baby. Natalie shrugged before handing the child over to Hermione.
Hermione settled the child into her arms before she sat on the chair opposite Natalie and made herself comfortable. She leaned back into the chair and rocked the child in her arms as she made shushing noises, and within minutes, the child was quiet and sleeping.
"How did you do that?" Natalie asked her surprised.
"Practice," Hermione smiled. "Is Oliver your first child?"
"How'd you know?"
Hermione chuckled. "You remind me of my sisters when they had their first."
"Do you have other children?" She asked, looking to her stomach.
"No," Hermione shook her head. "I'm pregnant with my first child, but I have thirteen nieces and nephews, so I have a lot of practice," she chuckled.
"Do you know what you're having?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, my husband and I wish for it to be a surprise, it took us two years to fall pregnant and now that it's finally happened, we wish to be surprised. Though he is adamant we are having a boy, he claims to be psychic," she rolled her eyes and Natalie chuckled at her. "Now, you mentioned that Oliver was a little fussy today?"
Natalie nodded, and Hermione frowned in thought and bit her lip, before carefully slipping the tip of her finger into the sleeping child's mouth, running it over his gums and she felt a smile pull at her mouth.
"He's teething," she explained and Natalie blinked at her. "His first tooth is coming through; this'll be why he didn't sleep last night and the poor dear is only going to get worse."
Hermione sat with Natalie for half an hour, talking and offering advice from what she'd experienced with her time with her nieces and nephews, before Natalie had to leave as she had an appointment.
"Well, it was nice to meet you," Hermione spoke with a smile.
"It was, thank you for your help, I'll be sure to put your advice to good use," Natalie replied. "I hope we see each other again."
"It's unlikely, we're only passing through; we should be gone by the end of the week at the latest."
"In that case, thank you and I wish you luck, but after what you did for my Oliver, I think you're going to be just fine," she replied, nodding to Hermione's stomach. Hermione smiled in reply before they both left the cafe.
Hermione slowly walked down the street until she stopped in front of a window, titling her head to the side and looking at the couch that was displayed, deciding whether or not if she liked it and if she should purchase it for the library.
She felt a presence behind her and when she lifted her eyes, they latched onto the reflection of someone she did not want to see.
"Hello, Love, it's been a while."