Unfound

Chapter Eleven

Season 12, Episode 11 – Regarding Dean

Sam was desperate. Harry wasn't answering his cell. Or any of the prayers he had sent. If he wasn't so busy trying to save Dean from losing all of his memories and dying, he would have been very concerned. He had no reason to believe that Harry would abandon them.

So, he called the next person that he thought of. And instantly regretted it.

"You've got some nerve," the British voice on the other end said.

Sam winced.

"I know – "

"You know? KNOW?! Samuel Winchester, the next time you see me, should I ever decide that you are worthy of my presence again, you will be suffering from Bat Boogey's for weeks."

"And I deserve that, I'm sure. But, look, we really need him, Dean…"

"I don't give a flying fuck what you and Dean need," She responded, acid dripping on her tongue. "You've known for how long that he was alive? And you didn't call? You kept him there?"

Sam didn't have time for this. And neither did Dean, judging how he was now curiously examining the TV remote. "Look, Ginny, I'm sorry, but he didn't want…"

"WHO CARES WHAT HE BLOODY WANTED?"

"I – uh. Please, he's there, right? Can you just put him on the phone? He's not responded to prayers or answering his phone and so I'm worried about him, or I will be, once I'm able to fix Dean."

"He's fine," Ginny said. "And don't bother to call back." She hung up.

Sam wanted to scream.

"She sounded angry," Dean said unhelpfully from the bed. Sam ran a hand through his hair. Should he try Luna instead? Or was she just as angry?

He was also racking his mind for any other solutions. There was another red-haired witch that he could call but he was loathed to do so. But he couldn't think of another answer. So, he dialed.

"I'm a wee bit occupied at the moment," a perky Scottish voice came through.

"Yeah, well, we need your help, Rowena," Sam said.

"Oh, really?"

"Come on man, Rowena? I mean…" Dean asked in a sudden moment of lucidity.

"Yes. Really," Sam hissed back.

Dean seemed to lose himself again as he inspected the insides of the mini-fridge in the room. "Hey!" he said. "Tiny vodkas. Score."

Sam shook his head.

"Am I saved to your contacts now?" Rowena asked from the other end of the phone. "Tell me. Have I got my own ringtone?"

"This is serious. Look, I think Dean's been hexed ok? He – he's been forgetting things."

"Maybe he's just drunk," the witch suggested.

"He's not drunk," Sam insisted.

Dean picked up the ice bucket and pointed to the inside. "We need ice."

Sam ignored him in favor of his conversation. Rowena supposed that Dean had been hit with some sort of memory curse.

"How do I break it?"

"Theoretically? Kill the witch."

"Got it," he hung up the phone. He turns to talk to Dean, only to find him gone. "Dean!"

III

Harry took his time in the Burrow's garden, lost in his thoughts. The peace and happiness he had been feeling earlier had dissipated suddenly and unpleasantly. The full weight of what he had done was finally dawning on him.

And not even just with his death. He had left them years earlier when he had first decided to go back to the United States. At the time, he thought that he had been pulling off the balancing act, between the UK and the US, but it was clear that that was not the case.

He had abandoned his family. Teddy's suicide mission should have been enough to tip him off in the first place. The anguish in Ginny's eyes had confirmed the harm that he had done.

He had been outside for too long because his ruminating was interrupted after a while.

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked as he approached.

"You drew the short straw, eh?" Harry asked with a dry chuckle. "I'm – I'm fine."

Ron gave him an appraising look. "I think we both know that's not true. And honestly, I had to fight for it. Harry – it's messed up, what you did. Both in dying and in not coming home. But having you here and being an arsehole is ten million times better than you being dead."

"I don't know if Ginny agrees with you there," Harry muttered.

"Ginny's pissed off, sure," Ron said. "But you've got to just give her some time. You just got here. I'm sure, within a couple of months, things will be back to normal. Maybe actually propose to her this time, yeah? Make it official."

Harry's face fell. "No."

"No?"

"Ginny and I are over. Even before," he couldn't even finish that thought. He wouldn't think of the mental image of Sam and Ginny together. " – before I saw her tonight. I'm not human anymore, Ron. I can't – I'm not equipped to be anything to her. Not that I was ever a great partner in the first place."

"But…"

"And I assure you, she doesn't want it either."

Ron decided not to push it. But he knew that his sister still loved Harry.

"I shouldn't have come back," Harry said. "I'm sorry. It was just with Teddy… I should go."

"No!" Ron yelled. "Stay. Please. We have so much to catch up on. You can't leave again. Not so soon."

"You want to leave again?" Hermione came out to join the party. Harry deflated.

"I'm going to have to at some point," Harry said. "The things that Sam and Dean are facing – "

"Is this about the Men of Letters?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked, surprised. Although, he shouldn't have been. Of course, Hermione would know about the Men of Letters in the United States. "No. Well – partially. You're allowing them to torture now, Hermione? Last I checked that was against a lot of laws unless things have changed significantly in the last five years," he said pointedly.

Hermione winced. "They tell you about that? I tried to have the woman who did it thrown into prison, but I got overruled."

"You're the Minister of Magic and you got overruled?" Harry asked incredulously. "Did you want Sam tortured?"

Ron glared and looked ready to jump to Hermione's defense, but Hermione was quite adept at defending herself. "Harry James! Of course not. How could you even think that? Sam is my friend."

"Yeah, sounds like he's been really friendly," Harry muttered.

Hermione gave him a sharp look but Harry noticed her look at Ron. Ah. So, he didn't know.

"Harry, we've bent over backward to try and protect your brothers. Both legally and not. But now is not the time for that discussion. Come back inside. Everyone's about to leave for the night. Just – come be with us. In the morning, we can tell you everything from our end. But let us have tonight. Please."

Harry really didn't have the willpower to deny his best friends anything. Not everything that he had put them through.

"Yeah. Alright," he said.

Ron slapped him on the back and the three of them headed back into the house.

III

It was the middle of the night in Britain. Harry had elected to stay at the Burrow – to give Ron and Hermione some time to themselves. The time that they insisted that they didn't need. But Harry knew better. He could tell that his friends were closer than ever and, silently, he mourned what they had been. It seemed that his death had forced the two of them to focus on each other. Maybe it was for the best, in the end.

However, Harry didn't have long to wallow in his thoughts. At around two in the morning, when everyone else was sleeping, the floo lit up.

Harry stood, wandblade in hand, ready to face and destroy anything attacking the Burrow.

Instead, a familiar blonde woman came tumbling out. She stared at him.

"Harry," she said with relief in her voice. "You – your wings, you – "

"Yeah…"

"You're beautiful," she said.

Harry grinned. "I've missed you, Luna," he said and she ran into his arms for a hug.

"I've missed you. So much," she said, not letting him go.

The calm acceptance that he had always felt with Luna filled him. When they pulled apart, she had tears in her eyes, but she looked radiantly happy. There wasn't a trace of anger as there had been with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Or even with Sam or Dean.

"I've never seen wings that color before," she remarked, reaching out to touch them. Which, of course, she couldn't because they didn't exist on the same plane as her hand.

"No?" Harry glanced back. He hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about his wings. Once he got used to their weight, they had been out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Upon first glance, they looked as black as ink. But they were in fact a very dark, forest green.

"Sam called," Luna said.

Harry looked at her with surprise. "What? Why?"

"He said his prayers weren't going through. Now, at first, I thought that he had lost the plot. I knew that you always listened to his prayers in Heaven. But then he told me…and here you are."

Harry smiled softly. "Yes, I did always hear his prayers. Yours too, of course. I can't wait to meet this Charlie of yours."

Luna grinned. "You'll love her. But not as much as I do. But – I'm glad I came, someone is blocking Sam out. His prayers aren't reaching you. He needs you. Dean needs you."

Harry was on high alert and he moved to immediately fly back to the US. "Wait," Luna said.

He did.

"Be careful," she said.

Harry gave her a cocky smirk. "I always am," he said. "If I'm not back in a couple of hours, let the Weasley's know?"

"Of course. Welcome home, Harry."

He gave her one last quick squeeze and fly back.

III

Harry flew into a large house. A red-haired woman was clutching a book and standing next to Dean.

"…like the time when I ate all your Halloween candy. You remember that? Classic."

"Oi, who's that?" the red-haired woman asked, pointing at Harry, who was still trying to assess the situation and see how he was needed. Especially after Luna's warning.

Two guns were immediately pointed at him. He put his hands up. "Just me, mates," he said.

"Harry," Sam said with relief. "What the hell, man?"

Dean and the woman started to make their way down the stairs.

"I came as quickly as I could. I was at the Burrow, Luna…"

"Why weren't you answering my prayers?" Sam demanded. "I thought something had happened to you. Again!"

"I – uh, I didn't hear them," Harry admitted.

That caught Dean's attention. "Something wrong with your angel radio?"

"Yeah, Luna thinks so," Harry said, not allowing himself to get distracted from the woman with his brothers. She felt…powerful. And dangerous.

"Another angel?" She asked in a Scottish accent.

"Yes," Sam said at the same time that Dean said, "No."

Her eyebrows arched. "Well, which is it?"

"Somewhere in between," Harry muttered.

"What was that, dearie? My, you're handsome one," she practically purred.

"Harry, this is Rowena, she's a witch," Sam introduced.

"Harry is an unusual name for an angel," the woman remarked. "I take it this was another one of Dean's inventions. The man does love his nicknames."

Harry stared at her. There was something – in the back of his mind…he manifested his wandblade. He knew who this was. "Rowena MacLoed? Dean, get away from her." He stood, ready to attack.

"Oh?" she said, looking pleased. "He's heard of me. I'm flattered."

"Harry, it's fine," Dean said. "She was helping us out."

Harry wasn't waiting a moment longer. He used his powers to pull Dean down to the bottom of the stairs to stand with him and Sam.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed. "You've got to stop doing that."

"Calm down, Harry," Sam said in his talking-to-scared-people voice, which just worried Harry more. He did a quick scan. It didn't seem that the witch had put any magic on him.

"She nearly destroyed Hogwarts!" Harry hissed. "She was banished from Scotland then, but they couldn't – they didn't catch her in time."

That made the red head's eyebrows shoot up. She smiled. "My. The company you boys keep. There is more to this one that I could have possibly known. I didn't think angels were concerned with the goings-on of wizards. Well. I can see that I make your friend uncomfortable. I'll just be on my way…"

"Rowena," Sam said with a warning look.

"Samuel," she said in an even tone.

He held his hand out. She sighed dramatically and handed over the book that she had been clutching to her chest.

"Will you at least give me a ride?" She asked. "It's the least you could do for saving Dean's life. Again."

Harry looked at her warily. He knew that Sam and Dean kept some questionable company, but this one really took the cake.

"Yeah, we'll take you back to the motel," Dean said gruffly. "Let's go."

They walked outside to the Impala.

"I'm not getting in that thing with her and I don't think you should either," Harry said as they approached the car. Dean shot an annoyed look at Harry.

"You can just meet us back at the motel then," Sam said. He was very curious as to what Harry knew about Rowena.

"But…"

"We were alone with her for the last day because you weren't answering our calls," Dean snapped. "We'll be fine for the trip back to the motel."

"Fine," Harry snapped.

He flew off.

"We didn't tell him which motel we were staying at!" Sam said, frustrated.

"He'll figure it out," Dean replied.

Rowena's eyes were lit up with interest and she shuffled into the backseat. Dean was grumbling about the whole situation.

"So. New friend?" She asked after Dean had started the engine. He and Sam exchanged looks. "No. Old friend. How fascinating. An angel that still has his wings. That's not something you see every day."

Both brothers refused to say anything.

"Fine, keep your secrets," she said, knowing full well that she'd figure it out. She always did.

It didn't take them long to arrive. Harry was standing outside their door, waiting, arms crossed and generally looking unamused.

No one said anything – they just headed into the room.

"Ok. What gives?" Sam asked. "First, you go off to get Teddy back to England, but then you weren't answering your phone or prayers. I called Ginny and she yelled at me, so I figured you were with her, but then I called Charlie, who was with Luna, and they didn't even know you were back."

Harry wasn't in the mood for an interrogation. Especially from Sam. "Maybe first you should explain to me why, in my absence, you went to the most notorious Scottish Earth-witch for help? Surely your options weren't so limited."

"Notorious," Rowena said, "I like the sound of that," she sounded pleased as punch. "Although I think I might prefer infamous, come to think of it."

"Shut up," Sam and Harry said at the same time.

"I did what I had to do."

"Yeah? You always do what you have to?" Harry asked, his anger seeming greater than what this situation called for.

"I don't know…"

"You think you can just do whatever you want? Not worry about who you're hurting in the process, Sam? Taking advantage of…"

"Woah," Dean intervened. This was clearly not about Rowena anymore. But he didn't know what it was. "I think we should concern ourselves more about your angel radio being on the fritz. Are you ok, man?"

"Fine," Harry snapped.

"Did something go wrong with your friends?" Dean asked, not letting the subject go.

"No," Harry said, reluctantly moving his gaze from Sam to Dean. "They were…happy to see me."

"Of course, they were, dude," Dean said. "Did you get information about…" Sam cleared his throat to interrupt his brother. "Right."

"Why don't you tell us how you know Rowena, Harry?" He asked, dying to know.

"I'd like to hear that myself," Rowena agreed.

"She's a witch," Harry said.

"Well, yeah," Dean said. "But she's not your kind of witch."

Harry scoffed. "No. She's not. But I'm fairly sure that she's still wanted by the Ministry."

"For what?"

"Desecrating the Hogwarts grounds, performing soul bonds on wizards, and magical malfeasance, to name a few," Harry said. "But she should be dead that was, what – 1690?"

"1686, actually," Rowena corrected.

"Whatever," Harry said. "Before the Battle of Hogwarts, it was the furthest anyone had ever gotten past the gates and wards at Hogwarts. Four students were killed," he looked at her with disgust. "All because she was jealous."

"I was not!" Rowena protested.

"Wait," Sam said. "I think I read about that incident in Hogwarts, A History," he said, looking at Rowena with new eyes. "She's the squib that…"

"I AM NOT A SQUIB," Rowena roared, putting her arms out, ready to curse Sam. "I was born with magical powers. Just because they were earthbound, I was banished and abandoned by my parents. Well, I showed them. I nearly burned that precious school of theirs to the ground." She said the last part with pride. "If I had just had an hour more…"

Dean's eyes had been ping-ponging between the three of them this whole time. "Someone want to educate the class?" He asked.

"I don't need to hear this slander," Rowena said. "I've called a cab. I'll be taking my leave."

"You shouldn't let her go," Harry said, as she approached the door. He silently locked it. She tried to budge it but couldn't. "This is exactly the sort of monster you two should be killing."

Rowena, closing the distance between her and Harry and getting right into his face, and said, "I'd like to see you try."

Wandblade in hand, Harry was ready to stab the bitch, when Sam quickly got in between the two of them.

"Sam, get out of the way," Harry growled. He could probably smite her but didn't want to risk hurting Sam.

"No," he said.

"Rowena, maybe you should just get out of here," Dean said, wanting to deescalate the situation.

"I was trying to but…"

"Harry, unlock the door," he commanded his middle brother.

"No," Harry said stubbornly.

"Harry… come on man," Dean said. "This doesn't have to end with anyone dying. She did just save my life. At least give her a head start."

For a few tense moments, no one moved. Sam stood steadfastly between Harry and Rowena while the latter two stared each other down, both determined not to back down.

Finally, Harry lowered his weapon. "Fine," he said, unlocking the door.

"Hmph," Rowena said, turning to face the door. "If this is the thanks I receive, I ask you kindly to never ask me for help again." And she exited the room.

"Harry, what the hell?" Dean asked after she had left. "You can't just go off pissing off people like Rowena."

"Can't I?" He asked, still tense from the encounter.

"No, man," Sam said. "She's powerful. Without her, we wouldn't have been able to put Lucifer back in his cage."

"You let a witch strong enough to defeat Lucifer live?"

"Well, yeah," Dean said. "Look, she's rough around the edges. And she can't be trusted, not for a second, but she's really come through for us a couple of times."

"If you say so," Harry said under his breath.

"What happened in England, Harry?" Sam asked, guessing that part of his brother's mood was something going wrong there.

Harry sat down on the bed. "As I said, it was fine. We spent most of the time catching up."

"You told them about your…situation?" Dean asked sharply.

"Uh. Yeah."

"And you didn't think that would be dangerous?" Sam asked cautiously.

"Why would it be? They're my family. I trust them as much as I trust you."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks.

"Just, uh, doesn't Hermione oversee the Men of Letters?" Sam asked. "And they've been all over the place."

"Are you accusing Hermione of something, Sam?" Harry asked dangerously. "She didn't know that they would torture you. She's been trying to…"

"No, no, of course not," Sam said quickly. Something was off with Harry and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He gave him a quizzical look.

Harry wasn't convinced by Sam's easy dismissal. He narrowed his eyes slightly at his younger brother.

There were a couple of minutes of silence.

"Well, I'm beat," Dean said. "Need some shut-eye. Like four hours. You two can glare at each other all night, for all I care."

To make his point, he laid down on one of the motel beds, fluffed his pillow a little, turned away from them, and closed his eyes.

"Do you want to talk?" Sam offered, only a little annoyed that Dean had tapped out of this one.

"No," Harry said. His face softened a little. "You should get some rest too."

Sam eyed him. "You sure?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "Could I – uh, could I look at that book you got?" His eyes slide over to the motel room table where the book was sitting.

"Of course. Just. Uh – could you stay here with it? If that fell into the wrong hands…"

"That's fine," Harry said, sitting down at the table.

"You're not going back to England?"

"Not tonight," Harry said. "Sleep, Sam. We can talk more in the morning."

"Oh. Alright. 'Night. Glad you're alright, man."

Harry grunted in response and Sam settled into his own bed. He was exhausted. Tomorrow, he'd get to the bottom of whatever was bothering Harry.

III

"Harry?" Ron called as he stepped out of the floo and into the Burrow's kitchen. He was alone – Hermione was at the office, per usual. They weren't sure how Harry wanted to handle the wizarding public, so they had decided that they would try and keep their routines are normal looking as normal.

But nothing was normal again. Or, rather, Ron reflected, everything was back to the way it should be. Waking up in a world where Harry Potter was alive and well was just a better place to be. He knew that Hermione felt the same way. She had an extra smile on her face when she had left this morning.

Ron had expected Harry to be in the kitchen with his mum, but sitting at the table wasn't his best mate, it was Luna, talking animatedly with Molly and Arthur.

"Oh, Ron dear, I wasn't expecting you so early," his mum said, getting up from the table. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Where's Harry?" He asked in lieu of answering. Not that it mattered, Molly was already fiddling with the kettle.

"Sam called," Luna explained.

A stormy cloud passed over Ron's face. "He wasn't even here two days!"

Luna gave him a sympathetic look. "He would have stayed if he could have. But his brothers needed him."

"Have a seat, dear," Molly said, placing a cup in Ron's usual place.

Grudgingly, Ron sat down. "It's amazing that they lived five years without him," he grumped. "If two days was too long for him to be away. Did they say what they needed?"

Luna shook her head. "Just that Dean was going to die if Harry didn't get back to help in time."

Ron grunted. If that was true, he understood why Harry had left in such a hurry. If it wasn't – then Sam sure knew how to get Harry's attention.

"I guess I shouldn't have expected anything to have changed," he said as he sipped his tea. "Angel or not."

"He's still Harry," Molly said fondly. "It's a miracle," she said tears beginning to form in her eyes. She sat down next the Arthur, who patted her on the back. "Oh!" She said with a sudden thought. I'll have to add him back to my clock. Arthur, will you help me?"

The patriarch put down his newspaper. "Of course, dear," he got up from the table and the two of them went off to somewhere deep in the house.

Ron finished his tea. "Suppose I should go into the shop," he said, still upset that he missed Harry. He still couldn't quite believe it.

"Wait, Ron," Luna said. "I think we need to talk."

He sat back down.

"This changes the plan, doesn't it? Should Charlie and I still…"

"Of course!" Ron said. "Just because Harry's back doesn't mean that we can just immediately use him to solve all of our problems. He's got more than enough on his plate."

"I think he'd want to help," Luna said.

"I'm sure he would," Ron replied. "And we'll let him. And it's not a secret, although we'll have to be sure that he doesn't go blabbing to his brothers. They may not like it."

"I think Sam and Dean would appreciate what we're doing," Luna frowned. "It's not so different from what they do."

Ron looked at her sharply and felt his face heating up. But he supposed that he couldn't argue the point. He sighed. "I do think that we should move our timeline up a bit though," he said. "I know that you weren't slated to go to the States for weeks, but now…"

Luna smiled. "Charlie and I had the same thought. She's packing up now. You know, she's really rather pleased. As much as she loves to travel with me, I know she misses home. Says that the snacks aren't as good here."

Ron snorted. "Alright. Well, that's settled then. You and Charlie can start working – I'll deal with things on the home front."

Luna stood up and looked at Ron with sympathy. "You know this means that you'll have to…"

"I know," he interrupted. "I realized. It means that I have to deal with Malfoy."

"Draco doesn't bite," Luna said lightly. "Well, not anymore." She pulled out her wand and apparated away.

Ron took one more deep breath before summoning some parchment and a quill. May as well get it over and done with. He had a letter to write and a meeting to set up.

III

"How'd things go with Teddy?" Sam asked when they were all piled into the Impala, making the long trip back to the Bunker. Harry had offered to just fly them all, car included, back to Kansas, but Dean had adamantly refused. Apparently, 'no magic on the Impala,' included anything angelic.

Harry had been lost in thought. "Uh – fine. Andy was too happy to see me to be too hard on him. But I also don't think that he'll be allowed out of her sight for quite some time. I don't expect that he'll be too happy that I've left already, but I will have to be sure to go and see him as often as possible."

Harry hated that his death hurt his godson so much. It wasn't as if he didn't know the feeling – but he and Teddy and been so much closer than he and Sirius had been.

"Yeah, I promised to check in on Ben too," Dean said.

Sam looked at Dean with surprise. "Really?"

Dean gave him a wary side-eye. "Yeah. He's a good kid. And I don't want him hunting any more than Teddy. Although, he was at least not breaking the law to do it." Dean's eyes shifted to look at Harry through the rear-view mirror. "Speaking of did Hermione say anything about you? Uh – I don't know if anyone told you, but they insisted that we use the money. We didn't want to but…"

Harry waved him off. "No. I wanted that for you."

"Right. Well, it's yours again," Dean said.

"What need do I have for money?" Harry asked. "No. We didn't discuss my legal status and I don't see any reason to. I mean, how many times have the two of you been declared dead?"

"Uh – what two or three times?" Dean looked to Sam.

"Something like that," Sam agreed, concentrating on his phone which was ringing. "Speak of the devil… Hi Teddy, I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

Dean and Harry couldn't hear what was being said on the other end, but they could tell that the kid wasn't happy.

"Yeah, sure," Sam said. "It's for you," he continued handing his phone over to Harry.

Harry took the phone with a surprised look on his face.

"Hello?" Harry was still unused to the idea that he could use phones without exploding them, so he looked uneasy holding it to his ear.

"Harry, you said you wouldn't leave without talking to me first!" Teddy was complaining on the other end.

"I never promised that, Teds," Harry said, trying to placate his godson. "But I wasn't meaning to leave so soon, it's just that Dean…"

"I don't bloody care about Dean. You've been gone for years! I thought that you were going to stay here and spend time with me. Nan practically has me on house arrest, even though I'm nineteen and…"

"You better listen to Andy, Teddy. What you were doing was reckless and stupid."

Sam winced a little bit at the reprimand in Harry's tone. Not that he didn't agree with him, but that wasn't going to help the situation in the least.

"Yeah, any more stupid and reckless than you've been your whole life?"

"Teddy…"

"No. I'm so sick of you and the Winchesters telling me that I'm the one being stupid and reckless. They're sodding hunters! And you…" Teddy abruptly stopped, emotion hitching in his voice.

"I know. I'm sorry Teddy. We've got all the time in the world now."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Teddy?"

"Sure, whatever you say, Harry. I'll talk to you later." Teddy hung up.

Harry stared at the phone.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, curious.

"I – uh, don't know. He yelled at me and then hung up," Harry was genuinely confused. "Is this normal for him?"

Sam and Dean exchanged looks.

"We haven't actually spent that much time with him," Sam said. "At least not recently."

"Sam knows him better than me now," Dean admitted. "After he spent that year at Hogwarts."

Harry had completely forgotten about Sam and Hogwarts. He supposed that was when he must have…gotten close to Ginny.

"You haven't told me much about Hogwarts, Sam," Harry said, an edge to his voice.

Sam felt himself starting to sweat. He really wished he had gone with Harry. Just to know what he did.

"That's because, for once, he doesn't want to bore us to tears," Dean said, coming to Sam's rescue. "The nerd spent the whole year with his nose in a book, I'm sure."

"I did more than study, Dean," Sam muttered, not thinking about his words.

"Yeah, you did," Dean leered.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked sharply, even though he was pretty sure that he knew. He didn't know that Dean did as well.

"I – uh, I actually helped with physical fitness, especially with the Quidditch teams," Sam said, thinking quickly. "I also did theoretical work with Filius. Because there are some really fascinating correlations between earth witch hex bags and charms, we…"

"Alright, that's enough," Dean said, cutting him off. "We get it. You used your big brain."

"Do you have a wand now, Sam?" Harry asked, eager to change the subject from his younger brother's activities at Hogwarts.

"Yeah. I keep it with the other weapons in the trunk…"

For most of the ride back, Sam caught Harry up with everything that had happened to him magically in the last five years. Well, almost everything, he left out the information about Purgatory. He didn't want to bring up Sirius. That was a whole other can of worms that just didn't seem worth getting into. Plus, he didn't trust that Harry wouldn't go charging into Purgatory himself to try and save his godfather.

Finally, Dean had come to the end of his patience with magic talk and had insisted on putting on his music, leaving each brother to think to themselves for the rest of the trip.

III

Much to his annoyance, when he came downstairs for lunch, it wasn't just his Nan waiting for him. Aunt Ginny was there as well.

He sat in his chair and slouched. "You gonna tell me off too?" He grumped.

"Edward Lupin, that is no way to speak to your aunt," Nan corrected him. "And sit up, for Merlin's sake. Apologize. Now."

"Sorry Aunt Ginny," he mumbled as he sat up straighter.

Ginny, for her part, didn't look too fussed.

"I think you've probably heard all the telling off you need," she said from across the table. "But don't take that as tacit approval. Teddy, we only want you to be safe."

"I know," he said as he picked at his food. "But I'm an adult now and…"

"And that means that any mistakes you make will now be far more serious," Ginny finished for him.

"Your actions don't just affect you either, young man," his nan said. "If you had been caught it could have hurt your aunt's political career. Not to mention you dragged Ben into all of this – he's a Muggle, Teddy, they aren't as stalwart as wizards. He can't use magic to fix his injuries. He could have his memories wiped because he was with you while you were doing magic."

Teddy ate his food in stubborn silence. Nan knew what she was doing – that he would be more concerned about the consequences for his family and friends than anything happening to him.

And looking back on it now, some of it did feel like he had gone too far. But he didn't regret any of it. Because, at the end of the day, he wasn't sure if he hadn't been there and going after Castiel, that Harry would have revealed that he was back.

Which was the best possible outcome of all of this.

And, also, he had come to a conclusion. Especially since talking to his godfather on the phone. He wasn't convinced that Harry was ever going to come back and live in England. And Teddy didn't want to live where Harry wasn't. Plus, he was pretty sure that the Men of Letters would be fine with him serving out his obligations there instead of in the UK. It might even be preferable to all parties involved. And, under their jurisdiction, he wouldn't need to worry about the paperwork involved in relocating.

"I'm going to move to the States," he blurted out.

Both women stared at him.

"What?" Ginny asked.

He clenched his jaw, stubbornly. "I'm of age. You can't legally make me stay here," he said.

"As long as you live under this roof…"

"I won't live here then!" Teddy burst out. "I don't have to, you know."

"Teddy," Ginny said softly, food forgotten. "I know you want to be close to Harry, but…"

"This isn't about Harry," he insisted.

"Isn't it?"

"No," he responded but didn't go into any further detail.

Andromeda and Ginny exchanged looks over the table.

After Harry had died, Ginny had tried to step up into his place for Teddy. It had been difficult because it was different from the role that she had already had in his life, which was more of a fun older sister than a parental figure. But Andy had needed the help.

But that also meant that he was less likely to listen to Ginny as he may have listened to Harry. And as angry as Ginny was with him, she knew that he was going to have to become more involved again. But she was worried. She didn't know if Harry was in a position to be what Teddy needed anymore.

"Ted," she said to him, using his preferred, "grown-up" name to show that she was taking him seriously. "Why don't you give us a week? At least. We can look at your options in the US. Maybe even talk with Lisa and Tommy. Give Harry some time to weigh in as well."

She thought they should also probably talk to Sam and Dean, but that may be ultimately up to Harry.

"But…"

"Yes, we know, legally you can do what you want, but we're your family, Ted. We want what's best for you."

"Please, Teddy," Andy said, rare tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Teddy turned red. He couldn't stand to see his grandmother cry. "Ok. A week."

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Ted," she said. "And speaking of Lisa and Tommy, you owe Tommy an apology."

"What? What for?"

She gave him a stern look. "I think you know. Pretending to be me on the phone? Do you know how he would have felt if you had died because you lied to him?"

Teddy did feel a little badly about that. "Fine. I'll call him."

"Good."

They finished the rest of lunch in peace.

III

"Where's Mom?" Harry asked when they got back to the Bunker, noticing her absence.

"Hunting," Sam responded.

"On her own?"

Dean grunted in agreement with Harry's concern.

"Come on. You've hunted with her. She knows what she's doing," Sam said.

"Yeah. But no one should do it on their own, should they? It's always best with backup. Do you think I should find her and try to help out?"

"Could you find her?" Sam asked.

Harry gave him a look. "Uh. Yeah, of course. You could too, you know. Just use the four-point spell."

Sam shook his head. "I don't know that one yet," he admitted. "Which year is it taught in? I've been self-studying but I'm really on fourth-year material, spell wise. I might be further, but I decided to tackle learning to apparate, which has taken most of my magic-learning time."

"I learned this spell in my fourth year," Harry responded. "But it wasn't taught in class, Hermione created it. I wouldn't be surprised though if it is more commonly taught now. Spells go in and out of fashion."

"If you two are going to start talking witchcraft, I'm going to get a beer," Dean said, shaking his head. "You two want one?"

They both nodded.

It was the perfect time for Dean to slip away. Sam would keep Harry talking – for hours, really, if his youngest brother had any say in it. 'What a nerd,' Dean thought fondly.

Once he was in his room, he grabbed his phone and called Cas.

"Hello, Dean," Cas answered.

"Hey, Cas. Just calling to see how the search was going."

"There's no trace of her. I thought I had a lead, but it's as if she's disappeared off the face of Earth. Also, my car keeps breaking down."

"That's what you get for driving a Piece of Shit, Cas. Have you, I don't know, tried asking other angels?"

"No, Dean," Cas' annoyed response came. "I'm not welcome in Heaven, you know that. Have you had any luck convincing Harry to help?"

That was Plan B. Actually, more like Plan D, F, and E. Because Dean was pretty confident that he couldn't talk Harry into anything that his middle brother didn't want to do. "No. But maybe she's hidden well enough that even he couldn't find her."

Cas snorted on the other end. "Doubt it. Outside of Archangels, I don't think that I've ever seen someone as powerful as Harry."

A light bulb went off in Dean's head. "Have you tried asking Gabriel?"

"Absolutely not."

"But you know where he is, right?"

There were a couple of beats of silence that Dean knew meant that Cas was very annoyed at him.

"Yes. But did you say that I was, quote, "stupid" for seeking Gabriel out?" Dean could hear Cas' air quotes.

"Yeah. But Harry won't let him hurt you," Dean said.

"Won't he?"

"Nah. And if we could convince Gabriel that it was in his best interest, or, that it was in Harry's best interest, that might be our best shot."

"Gabriel is not easily fooled," Cas said, and Dean could hear his frown coming through the line.

"Just, think about it Cas."

"Fine. I should go." He hung up. Dean cursed. Social graces were still not Cas' strongest suit.

He made his way back to the map room via the kitchen, bringing beers to his brothers, who were so deep in conversation, that he didn't think they had even noticed that he had slipped out.

He sat down at one of the tables, a little way from Harry and Sam, but his feet up, and pulled his phone out to text their mom.

Unknown Number 8:03
Hey Mom. Got a new phone. You ok?

Dean realized that after his last phone had cracked when his memories were taken, he hadn't given his mom his new number. The three bubbles started forming immediately, which made Dean grin into his beer bottle.

Mom 8:04
Fine. Working a case in Montana. About to wrap up. You?

Dean 8:04
Peachy. Harry's back, currently nerding it up with Sam.

Mom 8:05
Hang in there. Love you.

Dean clicked his phone screen off.

"Point me, Dean," Sam was saying, holding his wand flat in his hand. It spun in the direction of the eldest Winchester.

"Impressive," he said dryly. "You found me."

"Shut up," Sam shot back.

Harry was grinning like crazy. "That was great Sam! Especially since you didn't even need to practice it, you got it right on the first try."

"Yeah, he's a regular boy genius," Dean said, rolling his eyes. "You two going to be at this for a while?"

Sam and Harry looked at each other.

"I did want to show Harry the magical library," Sam said. "Did you check in with mom?"

"Yeah. She's wrapping up a case in Montana. Imma go catch up on some Netflix. Holler if you need anything," Dean said as he got up.

"There's a magical library in the Bunker?" Harry asked with interest, not concerned about what Dean was doing in the least. Which was fine. Dean left the room before he could hear the rest of that conversation. There had been tension between Sam and Harry not that long ago, so he figured it was good for his brothers to have time to work out whatever the hell that was. If that meant having a girl's night in a library, Dean was more than ok to miss it.

III

"Woah," Harry said when they entered the space that he hadn't even known had existed in the Bunker before Sam had mentioned it.

"I know, right?" Sam asked, excited to be able to share this space with someone. "I think this part was built when the Men of Letters were still under the jurisdiction of MACUSA. From the logs, it was sealed up when they successfully built warding to keep witches and wizards out of here."

"How are you here, then?"

"We're legacies," Sam said. "Which means that my blood allows for entry. And that I can bring other magical people in here. It's why we always have to meet Luna or Ginny outside."

"Luna and Ginny have been here?" Harry asked carefully. He'd prefer not to bring Ginny up at all in front of Sam. But he knew that he couldn't avoid talking about her altogether forever. Maybe the hurt would wear off eventually.

"Yeah. Mostly Luna, though. She stops by with Charlie every couple of months or so. Ginny's only been here once. Otherwise, we haven't had any visitors from the wizarding world."

Harry raised his wand blade. With a swipe in the air, glowing blue sigils showed up in front of Sam and him.

"Those the wards?" Sam asked with awe.

"Yeah. I knew they were impressive, but I hadn't really examined them before. These are – they're works of art. You should get Charlie Weasley in here to look at these. I've never seen anything like this before. I don't have the strongest background in warding, but see this rune here?"

He was pointing at the o-shaped rune.

"Yeah, of course," Sam said. "Is that the odal rune?"

Harry was impressed that Sam recognized it. "You really have done your homework, haven't you Sam?"

Sam blushed a little. "I – uh, my magic wasn't so great when I was at Hogwarts. I told you before when Gadreel was possessing me, he accidentally healed my magical core. So, a lot of the work I did there was theoretical. I read up on this particular rune because it was co-opted by the Nazis during World War II and the Thul use it in their necromancy. But it's far older than them, of course, and I've never seen it used this way before. I know this library is impressive, but it's nothing in comparison to the library at Hogwarts," he said wistfully.

Harry smiled at the enthusiasm. It reminded him of when Sam was a kid, following him everywhere asking questions.

"What?" Sam asked, seeing Harry's smile.

"Nothing," Harry laughed. "But you are Hermione are basically soul mates. Have either you broken the bad news to Ron yet?"

"Shut up," Sam said.

"Seriously. Does she know about this place? I can't imagine that you could have kept her away if she did."

"I – uh, well, Luna knows, but I don't know if she told Hermione. She was here when I discovered this room existed. Charlie – our Charlie, and she have been working on making Muggle devices run on magic instead of electricity to make it so that witches and wizards can use things like cell phones and computers. They've modified both my computer and phone. Hermione, Ginny, and Teddy all have phones as well. We should probably get one for you too."

"Why?" Harry asked. "I can use Muggle ones now."

"Yeah, but those still don't work in highly magical places, right? That's why you weren't answering yours when you were at the Burrow? I don't know if they've tested it yet, but, in theory, these devices should even work at places of high magical concentration like Hogwarts."

"Wow," Harry said. "I – I never would have thought that was possible. I really can't wait to meet this Charlie."

"You're gonna love her," Sam said. "And she's already fascinated with you. But, Harry, you should know that none of this would be have been possible without you?"

That took Harry aback. "Me? But I wasn't even…"

"You know that group of witches and wizards you had following Dean and me?"

"Yeah. You've both called me creepy for it, on more than one occasion."

"You notice we don't have those guards anymore, right? We were worried that what we were doing was too dangerous and that they could get hurt because they became a little more hands-on after you left. But your will specifically allocated money, so Luna and I worked with Percy to reallocate those funds to create a research group. It's with that money that they founded the research group that Luna and Charlie technically work for."

Harry hadn't thought about any of that since he'd been back. "That's…that's…" he didn't even have the words.

"Yeah. I know."

There was a pause while Harry considered what to say.

"I'm glad that I was right and that good things came out of my dying," Harry finally said. "I – I chose to move on because I thought that it would be what was best. For everyone. And I think it really was."

Sam's stomach sank.

"Harry…don't say that."

Harry tilted his head. "Why not?"

"You know why," Sam said.

He looked down. "I don't. I'm not saying that you weren't sad. I know that you were. But it was the right thing to do, at the end of the day. Look at all you and Dean were able to accomplish. What Luna and Charlie have done too."

Sam shook his head. He didn't want Harry to think that sacrificing himself was in any way the right thing to do. But he wasn't sure that he had the words to express it. And, more than anything, it made him angry. "We would have found another way," he said, maybe a little more harshly than he meant. "And your death was devastating. Dean blamed himself. He wouldn't talk about you for years. Not one word."

"But…"

"No," Sam said, too angry to let Harry say anything at all. "Don't pretend that losing you wasn't one of the worst things that ever happened to Dean or I. And we've had a lot of bad things happen. I lost Dean, you know, for a year. He wasn't dead, but I thought he was. I had no one. I was alone – no brothers, no family, no friends. And that was just Dean and me. Your friends…well I think they still haven't forgiven us. And then there was Teddy…"

Sam stopped talking – Harry had gone pale (as pale as an angel could) and he realized he had taken it a step too far.

"Harry – " He started. "You were missed. The world is a better place for having you in it. That's all."

Harry gave one a single nod but didn't say anything else.

Sam had spent enough years living with Dean to know when it was useless to try and continue a conversation with one of his older brothers. Honestly, it was both annoying and endearing how similar their 'drop this subject,' faces were.

"Here, let me show you the research they did on angels. Maybe there is something in there that will be helpful…"

AN – Sam's newest method of getting help is to just call every ginger he knows. It'll probably work out well for him. 😉

I hope that y'all enjoy Rowena as much as a I do. I have a very elaborate backstory for fitting her into this world that you will get to see glimpses of. But I couldn't ignore the fact that she has the name of a very famous witch and not play with it.

Things are going to start to pick up from here – more action, less talking. Looking forward to hearing back from those of you who care to comment and review! Thank you, as always, to those who have.