Unfound

Chapter Fourteen

"There's no easy way to say it, so I'm just gonna say it," Mary said. "I have sort of…been working with the British Men of Letters."

Dean immediately stopped his investigation into what was in the bags. "Ah."

Dean looked at Sam and Harry.

"Mom, they are not the sort of people you want to be involved with, trust me, I know," Harry said, frowning. He was also very worried. He knew, first hand, how sneaky and underhanded the Men of Letters were.

"And…we, um…we have a-a history with them."

"I know, Sam. And it was a hard decision. But I thought they were doing good work. I have helped them save people, a lot of people. I thought – thought we could learn from them," she was desperate for them to understand why she had decided to go the way she had. "Don't give me the face," she said to Dean.

"What face?" Dean asked.

"You know the face."

"There's no face."

"That's the face."

Dean looked away.

"Mom, we have our own tool kit, and it works just fine. A-and for obvious reasons, like broken ribs and burnt feet… We don't trust the Brits," Sam said, eyes flickering up to Harry in an apology that was not needed. Harry understood what he was saying.

"I know that we haven't talked much about…about my life before I came back to the States. But I was over the Men of Letters for years, Mom. They're bad news."

"I know," Mary said, disarming all of them. "Please, just hear me out."

"You know?" Dean yelled. "Then why the hell are you working with them?"

"I – I had my reasons," she said, avoiding their gazes. "But, recently – things have gotten out of control. That's why I'm here, now. I need your help. I think things have gone too far."

"When?" Sam asked, not looking any more pleased than he had earlier. "When did you start working with them?"

"Since before the lake house," Mary admitted.

That blew all of them away.

"It wasn't Wally. They brought me that case," she said.

"You were runnin' an errand for the Brits. And you kept it from us. Cas almost died."

"I –"

"A hunter got killed."

"You think I don't know? I'm the one who burned his body. I'm the one who told his wife. I watch him die every night."

"Good," Dean said hardly.

"Hey," Harry said, interrupting. "That's not fair, Dean. We've all made mistakes in the past. Hear her out." Unlike his brothers, he seemed to not have missed the past tense that Mary was using.

This, of course, just made Dean round on him. "You're one to talk. What have you been doing behind our backs?"

That hurt. "Nothing."

"No? Where's Kelly Kline then? And don't you tell me that you don't know. I know you do."

"That hardly matters! I'm trying to protect…"

"Protect who? Her? Her devil baby? What the hell, man, you're supposed to be on our side. You too, Mom." A small voice in the back of Dean's head told him that he shouldn't be taking his anger at Mary out on his middle brother, but it was easily overtaken by the rage beginning to flood his brain.

"I am on your side," Harry said. "You just don't know everything – "

"And why is that?" Dean interrupted. "Because you keep so many fucking secrets. It's always secrets with you. And going behind our backs to…"

"Dean, that's enough. Harry, you too," Sam said, trying to bring some peace. He was pissed too, of course, but he also wanted to hear what Mary had to say. "Mom?"

"I did it for you. I'm playing three decades of catch-up here."

"And we're not?" Dean demanded. "How do you think this has been for us? We're your sons, and you've been gone. Our whole lives, you've been gone. You said you needed time. No, you said you needed space. So, we gave you your space. But you didn't need just space. No, you needed space from us."

"That's not true Dean, I'm was trying – "

"How 'bout, for once, you just try to be a mom?"

"I am your mother, but I'm not 'just a mom.' And you are not a child," she seemed to finally be losing her temper with Dean.

"I never was," Dean responded, emotional. "So, between us and them…"

"I choose you! That's why I'm here, now. Look, I know I said that I needed space. But – I – I wasn't entirely truthful with you. When I first got back – I remembered, I knew that I was missing…" she looked at Harry. "I was trying to find Henry. Only, I didn't know…"

"You what?" Sam asked, shocked. "But I thought that…"

"I know. I didn't tell you. My memories were…they were fractured at the time. I just knew that my little boy had been stolen from me," her eyes shone with tears. "And – and I had no reason to believe that you knew about him. You never mentioned…"

"Oh, so this is our fault?" Dean asked. "We didn't tell you that you had another death to mourn and so you…"

"No, no, that's not what I'm saying Dean if you'd just listen to me. I made a mistake. The Brits – they found me at a low point. They promised – they said that they were trying to make a world with no more monsters. So, you, Sam, and Henry, you could have regular lives. You wouldn't have to fight anymore. And they also…"

"We chose this life," Sam interrupted. "This is what we want. We're doing good."

"Would you both shut up and let her talk?" Harry snapped, annoyed. "What happened, Mom?" He had a feeling in his gut. This was bad. Something bad had happened.

She avoided his gaze.

"Part…part of what they promised me was…well, revenge of a sort," she said. "I was angry. At wizards, in general, but, more specifically, at the wizarding government. They tore our family apart. If they hadn't…"

"What? What then, Mom? Your deal with Azazel still would have led him to that nursery," Dean said. "And Dad would have had three boys to contend with instead of two."

Mary shook her head. "No, just one, actually. Sam, they were going to take you away, same as Henry. I spoke with the woman who was sent to do it. I had to…I had to protect you. It's why I stopped looking for Henry when he was a baby. I couldn't let them have another child of mine. Not while I was breathing."

Harry was trying to make connections as quickly as possible. She had still not answered his question. What had the Men of Letters promised her? What were they doing now, against wizards? "Mom, please, is my family in trouble?" He finally blurted out.

That turned everyone's attention to him.

"We're your family," Dean said, sounding hurt.

"That's not what I meant," he hadn't taken his eyes off of their mother.

"I – I think so," she admitted. "Maybe not yet. But they will be. And for right now they…Henry, they have Teddy."

"What?" All three men said at the same time. Mary flinched.

"Teddy. He made – some sort of deal with them. I didn't know until now. It's why – Henry, I'm scared of what they'll do to him."

Sam immediately pulled out his phone and started dialing Teddy's number.

Harry did the angelic version of a "point me," that always told him where his loved ones were. Or anyone he was looking for, really.

It wasn't working.

"What did they do to him?" Harry asked, panicking. "I can't find him." He tried again. And again.

"He's not answering his phone," Sam said when the ringing ended.

"I CAN'T FIND HIM!" Harry yelled.

Mary put her hand and his arm. "It's ok, Henry. I don't think he's hurt. Not yet, at least. I just saw him, two days ago. But I know…"

"You saw him. YOU SAW HIM? And you didn't call me? You didn't tell me that those monsters have my son? WHERE IS HE?" Harry grabbed Mary's arm and twisted her to look into his eyes.

"Ow," she said. Harry ignored it and looked into her mind.

She cried out.

"Harry!" Sam yelled as he and Dean ran to try and tear him off of their mom.

"You're hurting her!" Dean said, trying to get through to him.

Harry wasn't thinking. All he could see was blind rage. Those wankers had taken his godson? His godson? He tore through Mary's mind and found where the Men of Letter's base was. When Dean physically tried to remove him from Mary, he used his magic to push him away – hard.

Dean flew across the room in a beam of green light and hit the bookshelf with a sickening thump, before sliding to the ground.

"Dean!" Sam called out, torn between helping his mother or his brother.

But, soon, he didn't need to make a choice. Harry disappeared. Mary put both of her hands down on the map table, panting slightly from the pain.

Dean groaned from the ground, sitting up. "What the hell was that?"

Sam had decided to check on Mary first, now that he knew that Harry hadn't hit Dean with a killing curse. "Mom, are you alright?" He asked, trying to lift her head a little.

"Yeah," she said. "That…was painful. What did he do?"

"I don't know. What did it feel like?"

"Like he plunged a needle into my temple," she said. "The pain is gone now, but…"

"Here, sit down," Sam said, guiding her into a chair. He went to Dean, who was still sitting on the floor.

"You, ok?" He asked as he squatted down to look at Dean's eyes. "Did you hit your head? Are you concussed?"

Dean swatted him off. "I'm fine. I've had worse." With a groan, he got to his feet. "What the actual fuck was that? I've never seen him like that."

"His eyes were glowing," Mary said, still a little dazed. "Is that – is that a normal wizard thing?" She asked hopefully.

Sam shook his head. "No. But it's not unusual for angels. This – isn't good."

"No kidding," Dean said, stumbling over to the map table and sinking into a chair. "I think he might've broken a rib," he said.

"We should call Cas," Sam said.

"Nah," Dean said. He was worried about how Cas would react to this violent turn of events. "Harry'll heal me when he gets back."

Sam wasn't so sure that Harry would be coming back. "Mom, where is the base for the Men of Letters? We need to get there as soon as possible."

"Several states over," she said. "There isn't time."

"Do you have exact coordinates?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but…"

"Sam, no," Dean said. "Please tell me that you aren't thinking of trying to apparate?"

"What other option do we have?" Sam snapped. "I've been practicing. I think I can do it."

"Think isn't good enough!"

"Look, you and mom are in no shape to go anywhere. I'm not saying they don't deserve it, but I don't think Harry would forgive himself if he murdered a bunch of people. Even assholes like the British Men of Letters." Sam dashed out of the room to go get his wand, which is really needed to start keeping on him.

"You think he's capable of killing them?" Mary asked Dean, surprised. Other than that brief display, she had never known her middle son to be anything but calm and collected. Even when they had hunted together.

"For Teddy? Yeah," Dean said. He knew that for a fact because he was ready to kill those sons-of-bitches if they had hurt the kid.

Sam was already back. "Ok. I'm going to go. I'll call, but, seriously, get in contact with Cas. Maybe call Ginny or Hermione too. This could be bad."

He didn't wait for a response before dashing out the front door.

III

Harry appeared in front of the compound that he had seen in Mary's mind. There were some wards, but he had no trouble tearing through them and arriving at the front gate.

He used his magic to force the gate open.

"Hey!" a security guard yelled at him. "You don't have permission to be here," he pulled out a gun. Harry knocked him out with a quick curse and kept moving.

He was still trying to reach out and feel where Teddy was. He still couldn't – but the same blank feeling he was getting from the spell he was getting from the building made of shipping containers in front of him. Which meant that his godson was likely inside.

He flew inside.

Alarms were blaring and flashing red.

A squad of people wearing tactical gear appeared in front of him. They had guns pointed at him.

"Sir, we must ask you to stand down," one of them said with a commanding voice.

Harry started moving forward. He could feel where Teddy was, now that he was in the building, and he didn't have time for this.

Several bullets hit him at once.

They had no effect. Except possibly making him angrier. With a flick of his hand, he pushed everyone away from him, flinging them into the walls. More people came streaming in. He ignored them and flew directly to where he knew his godson was.

Teddy was sitting on a bed, his legs drawn up to his chest, in a small room. It was stark, but he appeared to be playing on his phone.

"Teddy!" Harry said, as soon as he saw him.

He looked up in shock.

"Harry? What are you doing here?"

Harry was immediately in front of the bed, sitting down to look more closely at his godson. He touched his hand to the young man's forehead. With a slight green glow, all the injuries that Teddy had gotten in training disappeared.

"Woah," Teddy said. "I'm fine, Harry, really."

Harry was tempted to look into his mind to see if that was true. But he was finally coming down from the coronary that had caused him to fly here in the first place. He pulled Teddy into a tight hug. Teddy sat stiffly in the hug for a second before leaning into and returning it. He was still marveling over the fact that Harry was back and able to comfort him.

"I thought I had lost you," Harry muttered into his godson's hair.

Teddy pulled back a bit. "Why?"

"Mom – she said they had you, and that she was worried that…"

The door blasted open. Literally. Harry quickly stood and pushed Teddy behind him. He conjured his wandblade.

There was, once again, a pack of people in black Muggle combat gear.

"Get away from the boy," a distinctly British voice commanded. It was the man that stood in the front, a very large gun pointed at Harry.

"No," Harry said simply. "I'm taking him with me. If you'll just excuse us…"

"Wait, wait," a loud voice came from the back of the line. Harry tilted his head. He recognized that voice. "It's alright. That's the angel Hadraniel, he works with the Winchesters." Pushing his way to the front of the crowd was a man in a three-piece suit.

None of the guns were lowered.

"This is just a big misunderstanding!" Mick Davies insisted as he got to the front. "He is a friend of the Winchesters."

"Just because I'm a friend of the Winchesters doesn't mean that I'm a friend of yours," Harry growled, also not lowering his wandblade or moving from his defensive stance in front of Teddy.

"Mr. Ketch, please, be civilized about this," Mick said. "Surely this is something that we can handle diplomatically. He's an angel, after all."

That name did not make Harry feel any better.

Ketch nodded and he, and all the men behind him, lowered their weapons.

Teddy popped his head out from behind Harry.

"Harry, they won't hurt you," he said. "You can put your wandblade down. They've not hurt me either," he urged, trying to do his part. He knew that his godfather was strong, but this was a lot of people. And he has seen, first hand, what the Men of Letters were capable of.

Against his better judgment, Harry lowered his arm.

"Dismissed," Ketch said in a clipped tone to the men behind him. They didn't hesitate in standing down and leaving at the order.

"Very good. Now we can talk like gentlemen," Mick said, trying not to show his relief that this situation hadn't resulted in any more violence. He wasn't a fighter, after all. "There's a nice conference room, just down the hall from here. Mr. Lupin can show you the way when you're ready. Come, Mr. Ketch," Mick said, trying to guide the other man away.

But he was too busy staring.

Harry realized, too late, that he wasn't wearing his disguise.

"Harry Potter?" Ketch asked.

III

Draco Malfoy has responded positively to the letter that he had sent. Ron had stared at the parchment, reading it over at least ten times, before realizing that, with minimal effort, Draco Bloody Malfoy had agreed to meet with him.

A Weasley.

Granted, he was the husband of the Minister of Magic, but Ron doubted that mattered at all to Malfoy.

He had agreed to come to the residence for tea. Ron didn't think that Harry was going to believe him when he told him later.

If he had the chance to speak with Harry at all.

It was unsurprising, Ron supposed, that his best friend was still so enmeshed with his brothers in the United States after miraculously returning from the dead.

There was a knock on his study door.

"Come in," he said. "Hopkins," he said in greeting to the Auror in charge of security in the Minister's Residence.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" He asked.

"Just Ron is fine, you know," Ron said for about the millionth time.

"Yes, sir," he responded.

Ron repressed a groan. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm expecting a guest for tea today. Please do not give him too much of a hassle when he comes." For guests that were not members of their family, they had to give a heads up to security. Didn't have to, but it made everyone's lives easier. Much less paperwork, at least.

"Very good, sir. Who is he so that I can add him to the list?"

"Actually, Hopkins, I was hoping that you could…leave him off the official list."

The Auror raised an eyebrow. "That isn't the protocol, sir."

"I know. But Hopkins, I like to think that in the years you've been working here that we've become friends. Haven't we become friends?"

Hopkins stiffened. "You've been very good to me, sir. As has the Minister."

Ron and Hermione made a point to invite the various members of staff and officials that worked with them in their home to dinner at least once a month. As a couple, they didn't want to take advantage of their staff and wanted to treat them more like welcome guests. The staff appreciated this greatly, many of them were used to be treated more like servants than professionals.

"So, you'll leave the name off the scroll?"

"Who is it, sir?"

"Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" Hopkins asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. He's just stopping by for tea. A friendly chat, as it were," Ron said, trying to sound casual.

The rivalry between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter – and therefore, by extension, his friends, was well-known in wizarding England. Even though Harry had testified for him at his trial. Anytime the two of them had been seen in public together for years there was an altercation.

This is probably why it came as a shock that he was visiting the Minister's Residence at all.

"So, you see why I might want to keep it off the official record? It's not business having to do with Hermione at all. Just a chat between two old schoolmates."

"Schoolmates," Hopkins deadpanned.

"Yes."

"Sir, I have to ask – will I also see him leave this residence?"

That took Ron a second. "What? Yes! Merlin, I'm not going to murder him. I just want to tell Hermione about the visit myself, and not have her read about it on the scroll later."

"The Minister doesn't know?" Hopkins asked.

Ron sighed. "Not yet. But she will. Hopkins, please? I need to meet with him and I'd prefer that it be someplace secure and not public. Look, I'll tell Hermione about it tonight. I'll send her to you so that you know that she knew and was fine."

Hopkins still didn't look at ease. "Ok, sir."

"Great. Well, he should be arriving within the half-hour. Please see him directly to my office."

Hopkins left without another word.

Ron let out a breath. Step one, complete.

Of course, Malfoy arrived preciously on time. Not a minute early or late.

He still looked like a loathsome ferret to Ron, but he knew this was important, so he put on his most polite smile and greeted the man.

"Malfoy," he said, offering his hand.

"Weasley," he returned evenly, not showing any emotion.

"Have a seat," Ron said, inviting him to sit in a large armchair across from him.

Malfoy sat there stiffly.

"Are you going to say why you summoned me here today, Weasley, or are you going to make me guess?"

'Ah, there he is,' Ron thought.

"I didn't summon you. I asked you here."

Malfoy snorted. "Last I checked when the husband of the Minister of Magic sends you an invite to tea, one should not turn it down. I presume this is about our children?"

"Children?"

"Yes, Weasley. Surely you are not so negligent that you know that your daughter and my son…after a rivalry of sorts have become…friendly."

Ron did know that. He hadn't been thrilled about it when he had heard about it, but enough enthusiastic stories from Rosie over the holiday had convinced him that Scorpius wasn't his father. Or grandfather.

"And I would thank you for not trying and stop the friendship. Honestly, Weasley, it seems a little below you to summon me here to try and get between two schoolchildren."

"That's not –" Ron started.

"No. I was sure that Scorpius wasn't raised with the same…prejudices that I was. We have a Muggle-born Minister of Magic currently, for Merlin's sake. Surely that is significant enough that the old days are behind us all."

"Well, I hardly think the second Muggle-born Minister is really a sign that…"

"And, furthermore, it was your daughter who insisted that they be friends. Something about a study group. As if my son couldn't…"

"MALFOY!" Ron shouted. "This isn't about our children."

That shut him up.

"Rosie can be friends with whomever she pleases. She has too much Hermione in her for me to try and meddle in those sorts of affairs. And too much of me to let a family member dictate who she can and cannot be friends with. That is not why I asked you to come here today."

"Oh," Malfoy said. He looked like he had about a million thoughts running around his brain. "Is this about Potter then? And that nasty business with those squib brothers of his? Because I've held my oath. And, somehow, you managed to convince the rest of the wizarding world that they never existed, but I haven't said a thing."

"Merlin, Malfoy, have you always been this…ann…uh, chatty?" Ron asked, exasperated, but not wanting to insult the man. Which was taking every single bit of his self-control.

Malfoy glared. "Then what did you call me here for?"

"It's about the Men of Letters."

"I washed my hands of them years ago." Malfoy scoffed.

"Yeah, I know."

"And your wife has them strongly under her thumb now, does she not?"

Ron didn't say anything.

"Doesn't she?"

Ron didn't want to admit it but, "No."

"That's not what the papers say."

Ron leaned forward in his seat. "And since when have we known the papers to ever give the whole truth? Malfoy, I called you here today without Hermione knowing. To make an appeal to your sensible side. You know better than anyone that they are bad news. I am working with a small group of dedicated people who are trying to bring them down. To take up where Harry left off. I don't expect you to answer right away. But I will tell you some of what I know. Then I want you to think about it. And decide – will you pick the right side this time?"

III

Harry, despite every part of telling him to get the hell out of there, sat at a table with his godson to his left and a smattering of British Men of Letters all around him.

He had really blown it this time.

Rushed in without a single forethought. It was as if he simply couldn't learn. As it turned out, he wasn't the only one.

They had been waiting a couple of minutes for Mr. Ketch to show up, and he did, but trailing behind him was Sam, currently being held between two large men. Harry was pretty impressed that they were able to contain his large brother.

"Sam!" He said with surprise.

"Yes. The younger – or rather, youngest, Mr. Winchester was caught just outside our anti-apparation wards," Ketch said, sounding annoyed. "Are we to be descended upon by the entire Winchester family? Hmm, one of you have Dean up your sleeve?"

"Let go of me," Sam scowled as he was forcibly deposited into a chair.

Harry desperately wanted to ask Sam about apparating. He was impressed that his brother was able to accomplish such a long distance. But there were more pressing matters at hand.

Mick looked thrilled. "Sam Winchester. I didn't know you'd be stopping by. Welcome!"

"I just came here for…Hadraniel and my nephew," Sam said.

"Sam, they know," Harry said tiredly. He didn't really think that there was a way to hide it now. He might be able to wipe all their minds of this information later, but, for now, he didn't see the point in trying.

"How?" Sam hissed.

"Surely, Mr. Winchester, you didn't think that we wouldn't recognize the most famous wizard in modern history? Especially one that used to be our fearless leader," Ketch drawled.

"Forgot my glamour," Harry explained.

"Ah," Sam said, both of them ignoring Ketch. "Well, why are you still here then? You've got Teddy, I see. He seems…safe," there was a threat in his tone that made Teddy feel significantly less safe.

"Ted," he corrected weakly.

That earned him twin bitch faces. Actually, it was a bit creepy how similar the expressions were.

"Whatever the reason for your visit, we are happy to have you here," Mick said with enthusiasm. This was all going far better than he could have hoped. He had wanted Mr. Lupin to bring in the Winchesters. He had no idea that it would also bring in the mysterious angel that Mary Winchester had been incredibly tight-lipped about. He guessed he understood why now.

Mick couldn't believe that he was in the presence of The Harry Potter. It was very hard for him to maintain a professional front. If he had been a wizard, he would have been a couple of years ahead of him, but they would have been at Hogwarts at the same time. He had heard all about what he had done during the war and there was no one he admired more.

"Do any of you want to explain to me why you have my godson here?" Harry asked dangerously. "Last I checked it was illegal for wizards to be Hunters in the United States. You are a branch of the British Ministry. I expect that Head Auror Oliphant will want to hear about how you have recruited a barely out of Hogwarts child to act illegally in another country. I imagine that the Minster will be even less pleased."

Mick gulped. It felt like the temperature in the room had dropped about ten degrees.

Teddy looked like he was going to protest. Sam silenced him with a look.

"I assure you Mr. Pott – Win – I mean…" Mick stuttered.

"Potter is fine," Harry said, fully aware of the weight that his name carried. "What would you like to assure me of?"

Sam smirked at the look of utter panic on Mick Davies' face. Served him right.

"Uh, just that, well, Mr. Lupin was is in good hands. And everything is above board. We have his paperwork ready to file with MACUSA so that they know that he works with us. He will have full diplomatic immunity, of course."

"That does not…"

"How are you alive?" Ketch interrupted, sick of this show of intimidation. It was embarrassing.

Harry shifted his attention. "I don't believe that's any of your business, Mr. Ketch."

"I believe it is. I'm a Hunter. You're a Supernatural creature."

"That's quite enough, Mr. Ketch. If you cannot be civil, I must ask you to leave. Now, I don't believe we've even extended the proper hospitality to these fine gentlemen. Would either of you care for a cup of tea?"

III

Dean was pacing the library in the Bunker when a silver deer came bounding into the room. Mary, who had been typing away at Sam's computer started.

"What the hell is that?"

"Shh," Dean said.

"Teddy is safe. Sam wanted me to tell you that his sideburns are intact. Will call soon," the specter said in Harry's voice.

Dean expected it to disappear then. Instead, it came up to him – he reached his hand out and briefly touched its nose. Or tried to. His hand went straight through but he felt…safe. The deer then turned around and went to Mary. Mary stood stiffly. It gave a brief, but deep, bow, before disappearing.

Dean let out a sigh of relief. "It's magic, Mom," he said, before sitting down on top of the table. "That was Harry's preferred method of communication in the war."

Mary still looked a bit freaked out. "Wizards talk to each other via ghost deer?" She had done a good amount of research on witches and wizards, but she had never seen anything like that. It had taken quite a bit of self-control for her to not try and shoot it.

Dean barked out a laugh. "No. That was…well, I don't remember what it's called. It's actually a defensive spell, it used to repel these evil Lord of the Ring like wraiths from attacking."

"Used to?"

"Harry killed all the Dementors," Dean said dismissively. "He told me once that everyone's…thingies were different. It wasn't a very practical way for him to talk with us though – too easily spotted by Muggles."

"So…it's like a guardian spirit?"

Dean shook his head. "No. You'll have to ask him to explain the mumbo jumbo of it all. But it's not a spirit at all. At least, I don't think so. James Potter could turn into a deer, which is why it is the symbol of his protector." He knew this because Sirius Black had told him, not Harry.

Mary frowned. "James Potter as in…"

"The guy who adopted him, yeah."

"Stole him, you mean," Mary said, scowling.

Dean gave his mom a side-long glance. "Yeah."

"I just can't believe – why aren't any of you angrier? I want to take down every witch or wizard that ever had anything to do with stealing children from their loving parents. It's why – well, that doesn't matter. You don't seem to care at all that your brother was taken from you!"

"You know what, Mary? You don't get to talk about family loyalty. Do I hate the bastards that took Harry? Yeah. And you don't even know the half of it. Sam and I's childhood – a dream, compared to his."

"Dean…"

"No."

"Fine. But you're not blameless in all this," Mary said in a sudden fit of anger.

"Blameless in what? You conspiring with the people who tortured Sam?" He asked, disgusted.

He got up and left the room. Mary was left there – standing. Wondering how her life fell apart so quickly.

III

Whatever the Men of Letter's faults were, at least they could make a decent cup of tea.

That might be their only redeeming quality, as far as Harry was concerned.

"Before we get started," Mick said, sounding nervous, "we've got a few new faces." There were half a dozen people gathered around the table. There was a large computer monitor on the wall that had a map of the United States displayed on it. "This is Pierce Moncrieff," he started, indicating to a man with curly hair and a toad-like face, "a hunter out of Baton Rouge. Pierce, meet Alton Morehead, our head of R&D – weapons development, spell work, that sort of thing. And Serena Colman, our Head of Security and Surveillance. Ted Lupin is our newest recruit and our liaison to MACUSA. And, of course, you know Sam Winchester, surely, or at least of him. Lastly…his brother, Harry Potter," Mick said the last part like he couldn't quite believe it.

Ketch had wisely left after a hurried conversation with Mick in the hallway when he had gone to fetch the tea.

Pierce frowned. "His brother is Dean. Ain't ever heard of this one."

"Yeah, I imagine there is a great deal you haven't heard," Sam muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Never you mind," Harry said. "I didn't grow up with Sam and Dean. Doesn't change the fact that I'm also their brother."

"So, you are, truly?" Mick asked, far more excited than he should have been.

"Yes," Harry responded through gritted teeth.

"Only it wasn't…I mean there was…" he stopped talking at the looks of annoyance on both Winchester brothers' faces. "Right. Let's begin. You got here just as we were discussing our latest mission. We'd love to show you what we're capable of."

No one objected, so Serena started talking. "As most of you know, Phase One of Project V is nearly complete," she informed them. "Over the past months, we've focused our efforts on the MWR."

"Midwest region," Teddy explained happily to Sam and Harry. He shrunk a little at the looks they gave him.

"When we started our operation, there were 241 vampires active across 12 states. We've killed all but 11."

"Muggle vampires?" Harry questioned sharply.

"Wait, what?" Sam asked at the same time. "Seriously? How?"

"Yes. Muggle Vampires," Serena confirmed. "Vampires of the magical sort, and in good standing with the community, have been left alone, per MACUSA's request." She turned to Sam. "You American hunters tend to see vampires as criminals, rogues. One gets out of line, you show up, lop off its head, and leave town. We treat them like terrorists."

"Uh, vampires." Morehead, the weapons guy, cleared his throat. "Muggle vampires, at least, may typically hunt alone or in small nests. But scratch the surface, and they're all connected, from the lowest drone all the way up the chain to the top."

"To the Alpha," Sam confirmed.

"Mm-hmm."

"When we find a nest, we don't just charge in a la John Wayne, guns a-blazing," Mick explained. Sam's eyes narrowed. "We wait. We watch."

"We determine the size of the nest, its relationships to other vampire groups," Serena continued.

"They tend to trade amongst themselves – information, victims."

"We're constantly expanding and refining our intelligence. And when we've learned all we can, we go, we assemble a team – "

"And they wipe them out!" Teddy said with enthusiasm.

"Now all the remaining MWR vampires have bunkered up in an abandoned building near Wichita – the More Rest Hotel. They think they're safe."

There was clearly more to the presentation, but Harry had had enough. "And what exactly does my godson have to do with all this?"

Nervous glances were exchanged in the room. "He's a part of our team," Mick finally said. "Invaluable, in fact."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Please, tell me how a nineteen-year-old wizard can help kill Muggle vampires? They're of no threat to him. He has no hippogriff in this race. He has no place here with you."

"Harry…" Ted whined. "You're embarrassing me."

"Good," Sam said.

Morehead cleared his throat. "Mr. Lupin has certain…abilities…that help us in surveillance work."

"Because he's a metamorphmagus? Any adult Auror worth their salt could disguise themselves in an equally convincible way. No. That's not why you want him."

The British Men of Letters exchanged looks with each other.

"Well, we tend to prefer operatives that have good connect…"

"Mr. Morehead!" Mick said sharply.

Harry's face went homicidal. The air in the room got…static. Sam felt a shiver run down his back – it wasn't unlike the feeling in the room right before Harry blew up Bobby's TV. But far greater. His eyes started to glow.

"Connections?" Harry's voice was low and dangerous. It actually would have been more comforting if he had been yelling. "You like to work with children that have good connections? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't burn this whole place to the ground with you in it?"

"Harry, stop," Teddy said. He had never seen Harry like this before. "You're scaring me."

He was scaring everyone.

Harry didn't take his eyes away from Mick, who was standing at the head of the table, looking like he was about to piss his pants.

The computer monitor on the wall started flashing on and off. The lights flickered.

"Harry," Sam said as gently as possible. "You have to calm down. Look at Teddy."

He listened. His godson's face was void of color and his eyes were huge. Harry took a deep breath. The lights stayed solidly on. The air stopped cackling.

"Sam, Teddy, I think we've heard enough," Harry said, iron in his voice. "Let's go. You will leave my godson alone. Am I understood?"

Mick looked like he wanted to argue, but couldn't form the words.

Harry, in a flash, flew directly in front of the British man. "Was there something I could help you understand better?" He asked directly in the other man's face.

"Harry," Teddy repeated, sounding nervous. "I can't go."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Ted, I don't think this is a great time to be arguing with us. After we get him back to the Bunker and calmed down, we can talk but…"

"No, it's not that," Teddy said.

Serena cleared her throat. "He made a vow," she squeaked out.

Harry's attention went from Mick to the woman. "What?" He snapped.

Morehead cleared his throat. "He made a vow, sealed with magic. That he would help us."

White-hot rage flickered across Harry's face again.

"A vow? Edward Lupin – you tell me that you did not make an unbreakable vow with these wankers."

Sam's eyes went wide. That would be very stupid of Teddy. He had read about Unbreakable Vows after Harry had used one to get Draco Malfoy under control all those years ago.

"Not your kind of magic," Morehead said. "Could hardly perform that kind of magic – none of us are wizards," there was a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"What. Kind. Of. Magic."

Everyone shuddered. No one wanted to answer.

"It was a soul bond," Teddy finally admitted, not wanting to watch Harry kill everyone in the room, which seemed highly likely. "It's earth magic. I – I bound myself to the Men of Letters."

"YOU WHAT?"

Teddy flinched. "It's just for a year! And they're paying me, it's a real job. Harry – just take Uncle Sam and go home. I'll be fine."

"YOU MADE MY GODSON SELL HIS SOUL?" Harry roared.

"We didn't make him do anything," Mick said, defensively, aware of how much danger he was in. "He agreed. It was an even trade. And the boy's right – it's just for one year. Then he's free to go. Or continue in our employ! It's a good life, in the Men of Letters, he could really go far…"

He stopped at the expression on Harry's face. A green flash of light erupted from Harry – throwing everyone who was not his family to the ground.

If Sam hadn't seen him do the same thing to Dean, not an hour earlier, he would have thought that they were all dead. But he knew better.

"It's ok, Harry," he said like he was trying to soothe a scared child. "You're ok. Teddy's ok. We're gonna figure out how to get him out of this. Breath. Please."

"They. Hurt. Teddy," Harry ground out, still not quite rational.

"Yes, they did. But he's alright. We'll get through this. But you have to calm down."

Harry turned to glare at Sam. But the look on his younger brother's face stopped him short. He looked…worried. And a little scared.

"Sam…"

Sam let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. It seemed like Harry was coming down from his rage. "Yeah, that's right."

From the ground, Mick was finally getting his senses about him. He exchanged eye contact with Morehead and Serena. Slowly and carefully, they all went for their guns. He was pretty convinced that this angel that was once Harry Potter was going to kill them all if they didn't act. They said to never meet your heroes, but he hadn't quite believed that until this moment.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Sam said sharply, noticing the movements. "Bullets won't hurt him. They'll only piss him off."

They stopped their movements.

"Harry – can we…can we just go talk? Just us?" Teddy asked, pleading. He thought if he could just explain it all, everything would be fine. Yeah, Harry might be pissed at him, but he could survive that. He wasn't sure that anyone else in the room, other than Sam, could.

Harry, even though his instincts were shouting at him to kill the people that had dared rope his godson into a soul deal, nodded.

"Thank Merlin," Teddy muttered. "My room? You remember where that is?"

In the blink of an eye, all three of them were transported there.

Alarms started to blare in the building. Harry rolled his eyes, cast some wards, and put up a silencing spell.

Teddy went to move and try to embrace Harry – but Sam held him back with his arm.

"You alright now, Harry?" He asked cautiously. Harry turned around. His eyes continued to glow before registering that was currently trying to protect Teddy from him. From him. They returned to their normal shade of green.

"Yeah. Sorry." He sat down hard on the bed.

Teddy was instantly at his side. He threw his arms around him and started to cry, the shock of everything that had just happened finally crashing down on him. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

If Harry hadn't already come down from his anger, that would have done it for him. He returned the hug and pulled Teddy in close. "Shh," he said, as Teddy buried his head in his shirt like a much younger child might do. "It's alright. We'll fix it," he stroked Teddy's hair.

He looked over Teddy's head and looked at Sam. "Did you know anything about this?"

It wasn't accusatory. Just tired.

Sam shook his head. "No, of course not. What exactly did he do? What is a soul bond?"

"Dark magic," Harry said. "Corrupted magic."

"Demonic?" Sam asked, worried.

"No," Harry said. "At least I don't think so. Just – earthly. Dangerous. It's taboo, you know, soul magic. It's the sort of thing Voldemort dabbled in. Although I doubt he ever stopped so low as to use earth magic."

"It's not that bad," Teddy muttered. He pulled away from Harry and his face went deeply red. He roughly wiped the tears from his face. "And it's temporary. I've checked the spell myself."

"Teddy, that does not make me feel any better," Harry said sternly.

"Why?" Sam asked. "How did you get involved in all of this anyway? What do they have on you?"

Teddy looked down. "I made a deal with them. Not a demon deal!" He added the last part quickly. "They knew – they knew that I had stolen something from them and in return for not turning me in and giving me the information that I needed, I agreed to work for them. For a year."

Sam took in a sharp breath. "What information, Teddy?"

He blushed. "How to find angels," he whispered. "They told me where I could find Dr. Sunder."

"This is about me?" Harry asked, not as calmly as he would like. He could feel the magic beneath his skin start to static up again. It had been so close to the surface that it was hard to contain. Harry hated to admit it, even to himself, but Gabriel had been right. The control he thought he had did not exist.

Teddy looked up at him, still red-eyed. "Sort-of," he said. "I – Harry, when you were gone…"

He didn't have the chance to finish that sentence.

The wards that Harry had put up crumbled. It felt, to everyone in the room, like they had all been in a room made of glass and all of that glass had shattered around them all at once, without any warning.

"What was that?" Sam asked, whipping his head around.

"My wards," Harry said. It was quiet though. Eerily so – the alarms that had been blaring before had gone quiet.

Every atom in Harry's body shook. Something was coming. With a force of green magic, he tried to fly Sam and Teddy back to the Bunker, so that he could face whatever threat was incoming without having to worry about them.

Instead of leaving, they both fell to the ground.

Harry's eyes went wide. "Something's here. I can't get you two out."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. Stay here. I'll ward the room. Don't leave."

Sam didn't even have time to protest before Harry had moved out of the doorway, replacing the door that had been blasted off earlier, and closing it behind him.

"Sam!" Teddy said, sounding scared.

Sam already knew what he was thinking. He got up as quickly as he could and ran to the door to go after his brother. It wouldn't budge.

Teddy was close behind him.

"Stand back, Ted," he commanded and he ran back to try and knock the door down by running at it.

"Wait!" Teddy said.

Sam wasn't going to, but Teddy grabbed hold of his arm. "Maybe we can try and magic it down? You know, so you don't break your shoulder?"

"Right," Sam said, forgetting, per usual, that he was a wizard. He pulled his wand out. He looked to Teddy expectantly.

Teddy's face got bright red. "I don't have mine," he said.

"What?"

"They – they wanted to see what I could do without it. It's stored with the other weapons. But…"

Sam groaned. "When this is all over, you and I are going to have a very serious talk. That is if Harry doesn't kill you first for allowing Muggles to disarm you."

Teddy looked unhappy.

First, Sam tried Alohomora, which, of course, didn't work.

"Flipendo?"

Sam tried it. He felt the magic work – but it did not affect the door.

"Try Depulso," Ted suggested.

Sam sighed. "I don't know that one."

Ted blinked with surprise. He wasn't used to knowing more magic than the adults in his life.

"I'm still working on fourth-year spells," Sam groused, embarrassed.

"Right. The wand movement is like this," he showed his uncle with his finger.

"One more time?"

Teddy repeated it.

"Alright," Sam said, concentrating. "Depulso!"

The force of the spell hit the door and pushed Sam away from the door and knocked him down.

"Ow," he said.

"Yeah. If those didn't work, I don't think your shoulder will either. Need help getting up?" The last question was asked very cheekily.

"Shut up," Sam grumbled as he gingerly got off the floor. He was getting too old for this.

III

As soon as Harry got into the hallway, he was blocked on either side of the hallway. Not by Men of Letters. Angels. Six of them. They all had their angel blades out.

"Come with us," a woman in the front said. "And no harm will come to the people in this building."

"Why would I do that?" Harry asked, his heart beating fast.

"Because we know that that room contains your brother and godson," an angel in a male vessel said on his other side. "And even if you care nothing else for the other humans here, you care for them."

"Where do you want to take me?" Harry asked, stalling for time, while silently praying to Gabriel in hopes that he would get there quickly enough to save, at very least, Sam and Teddy.

"Your prayers won't work, abomination," the first angel spat. "No one is coming to help you. You either come with us or…"

Without warning, all six angels cried out and disappeared in a flash of white light.

Harry looked around wildly, trying to find the bigger threat that must be coming after him.

But all he saw was Mick Davies – a bloody hand pressed against a bloody sigil on the wall. He was breathing heavily.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot, Mr. Potter," he said calmly. "Perhaps you'd be willing to return to the conference room so we can finish our discussion?"

AN – For those of you who do not read my comment responses (and I'm not sure why you would if they weren't for you) but this chapter, if I were to have named it would have been called, "Harry Loses His Shit" or "HARRY SMASH!" He's finally lost that thin veneer of emotional control. This is actually a good thing. He's developing again, lol.

Did any of y'all wonder what Teddy's deal with the BMOL was? I don't think anyone mentioned it but I've been hinting at it for quite some time. (I'm always hinting at things hoping y'all will notice, lol, but I think that I'm probably just not very good at it.)

Thanks again, as always, to everyone who interacts. I hope that you are all still enjoying the story as things ramp up.

See you next week!