We Come from Different Places but Have the Same Name

Summary: Despite her son's best efforts, Melissa McCall knows about the supernatural. After all, she wasn't always a nurse. Maybe it's time to step out of retirement and show the puppies how a Pack really works.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, or anything else mentioned in this story. None of it is mine. I appreciate all of the encouraging reviews. As for the select few who like to post reviews about how unoriginal my story is, if this isn't your cup of tea, just click out and go somewhere else already. I write for fun, not for reviews. I'm not fully satisfied with the last chapter I posted, but this is where Melissa starts to become more involved.

\Line} Line {Line/

Chapter 6: Protection

\Line} Line {Line/

"Can someone please start talking? This silence is weirdly tense and I'm not appreciating it."

Lowering her glass of water, Melissa looked at the mismatched group scattered around her living room. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac sprawled out on her loveseat while Scott sat on the couch and Derek sat in the armchair. Peter stood apart from them all, leaning against the wall on his own.

Stiles stood at the kitchen counter, tapping nervously. His hazel eyes flickered between her and John, unsure of which to address first.

"I'm sorry about that, Stiles, but you know what I don't appreciate?" Melissa asked idly, fingers tightening around the glass. "My sons, because yes I do consider you mine Stiles, lying to me. The sneaking around, the erratic behavior, none of it made a lick of sense. That is, until I treated Lydia's bite wound. Only one thing makes a bite like that and it's not a cougar."

"I'd like some explanation myself on what's been going on," John leaned against the sink next to her, wordlessly supporting her argument. "None of this has been making sense."

"No, you know who owes an explanation?" Scott questioned, rising from his seat and storming over to stand by his best friend. His dark eyes were angry, staring straight at her. "Mom, what are you doing? Shooting a freakin' gun, hissing at Jackson. I don't know what's going on, but we haven't been the only ones lying."

Melissa raised her eyebrows, setting her glass on the counter carefully. "I understand you're upset so I'm going to forgive the tone. This time. I haven't been involved with the supernatural since before I met your father."

"Alright enough of this," Derek stood up, charging straight towards her. "Who are you? What are you?"

"Down puppy," she snorted, flicking her fingers. The lamplights flickered, growing dimmer, then brighter. "The term that'd come closest for what I am, though it's not exact, is witch. Also, I'm Melissa McCall, Scott's mother, as you already know."

"What an interesting turn of events," Peter commented in amusement, amongst the exclamations of surprise from Stiles, Scott, and John.

"Now that everyone is in the know, we need to decide what we're going to do about the Argents," Melissa ignored the outrage and befuddled expressions of her sons. "It would be ideal to try for peace with them before starting any conflict."

She'd been hunted before. Two years spent on the run, sleeping in a tent, making protective wards, then moving on when morning came. She wasn't keen to do that again.

"It's not possible," Peter spoke up, catching her attention. "It's the same mistake my sister made. We never hurt an innocent, but they have no qualms about it."

Melissa considered him, directing her next words to him and Derek. "I wasn't aware there was a Pack here. If I had been, the night of the fire would have gone differently. I'm sorry for that."

Icy blue eyes darkened at her words, seeming to consider her in a new light. Derek looked away, shifting uncomfortably.

"It's been a long night," she sighed, raking a hand through her hair. "Everyone can sleep here for the night. There's plenty of room and it's safer here than wherever you've probably been staying."

"We're not staying," Derek argued immediately. "We're fine."

Raising an eyebrow, Melissa looked at Erica expectantly. "Erica, where are you all staying?"

"The abandoned subway station," Erica folded immediately, curling closer to Boyd at Derek's growl.

"Quit growling, Derek. This place is safer than anywhere else in Beacon Hills, including that subway station," she chided, moving over to the door. Tapping the center of it, she tapped into the wards and made them visible. Glowing runes and lines of blue light flickered into being, stretching across every inch of the walls and ceiling, like their own personal lightshow.

"Whoa," Stiles breathed in awe, looking at all of it.

"Like I said, it's safe," Melissa repeated, looking directly into Derek's eyes. "Nothing and no one can bring any harm to anyone in my home. Your Pack will be safe."

Clenching his jaw, Derek only nodded, accepting the offer for what it was.

\Line} Line {Line/

"Can you just...Can you help me wrap my head around this, Mel? What is all this?"

John was genuinely overwhelmed, confused by the sudden revelations that were being thrown at him. The kids were asleep in the living room, sprawled out on couches and the floor with blankets and pillows. Derek was with them, sleeping closest to the door, protective of his betas, while Peter slept in the armchair, set apart from everyone even in his sleep.

Melissa and John were settled in her bedroom, having decided to share the bed like they'd done many a night before. There wasn't anything romantic between them, but they were best friends and effective coparents, parenting both Stiles and Scott.

"They're werewolves, John," she bit her lip, settling next to him on the bed in her pajamas. "Stiles isn't, thank God, but Scott, Derek, Erica, Boyd, Isaac, and Peter are. Werewolves are family-oriented creatures, gathering in Packs. The Hale family was a Pack, and the Argents instigated that fire to take them out."

"And we're dealing with them going after our kids now?" John followed her explanation, tensing up. "I'm not letting that happen."

Melissa quirked a smile at the immediate fierce protectiveness. "You take pretty fast to Pack life, John. You're right. They can deny it all they want but our kids are in that Pack. Therefore, we're in it. Are you okay with that?"

John thought it over briefly, face hardening as he met her eyes. "Yeah, Mel, I'm okay with that."