"We need to talk, Anna."
The gravelly voice had Hermione looking at a stiff jointed Anna as they came out of the water, the taller man seeming to glare at the one who'd brought them both to England before he was looking to Hermione and holding up his hands when she stepped back, her wand slipped out of her sleeve.
"I won't hurt you. We just wanna talk. Privately." His accent seemed to accentuate and compliment the gentile nature he had about him in that instant, that Hermione found herself becoming relaxed before snapping out of it with a shake of her head.
Anna, on the other hand, was still watching the second man, the one who'd spoken first, as he ignored the water that had to have gotten into his shoes and strode with purpose. A look at Hermione and he was looking straight back to the woman and speaking again, "A Natural-born? I was not expecting this from you, Anna."
"It's better than being on the receiving end of Michael." Anna replied, her voice hardened, "Or do I need to remind you of that, Castiel?"
Castiel seemed to huff before they walked fully out of the water and stood before Anna and a dumbstruck Hermione who looked between the trio of Americans as Anna was scooped into a hug and seemed to relax in the tallest man before she was looking around and breaking the hug to look at the witch before them.
"Hermione, this is Sam Winchester and my brother, Castiel." Anna introduced the two men as she did the same for the latter. Sam nodded and held out a hand for Hermione to shake while Castiel just seemed to look at her before he was nodding once. Hermione's hand was shaking slightly as she finally, tentatively took Sam's to shake.
"Nice to meet you, Sam." She said, looking him in the eyes as she took her hand back after a minute, "But, how did you find us? This place is Unplottable and meant to be a secret."
Sam shrugged and looked to the man he'd arrived with, who was now looking at Anna who was speaking quietly in what sounded like gibberish. The woman looked authoritative as Castiel was nodding and then replying quickly in an undertone before he was walking forward towards Hermione and speaking directly to her, "How I found you is not a matter to be discussed in this instance, Hermione Granger. We have news of the thing you would call a Horcrux."
He excreted a kind of power that managed to feel both intimidating and safe as Hermione stared at him before she was stepping back, squeaking, "I'll get Harry and Ron." And turned tail before almost seeming to run back to the hidden cottage and disappearing into the wards as Anna frowned and began walking back to the cottage, motioning for the men to follow her, stopping short when they reached what looked like a clear dome if Sam looked closely enough.
"You couldn't have sounded more like an angel, Cas?" Anna remarked as she turned to her brother, arms folded, and eyebrows raised slightly. Castiel gave her a look that she gave back before they lapsed into silence while they waited. Anna did want to ask how everything was going back in America but refrained from doing so as they saw Harry, Hermione and Ron, along with an older man, came out of the house laying within the dome. Harry faltered at the sight of the unfamiliar men with Anna who waved them over, along with Sam, who gave a friendly smile.
They soon joined the Americans, Bill looking like he wanted to question Anna as to how they'd found the house. One shake of the head had him biting his tongue before Castiel and Sam took hold of the teenagers, Castiel looking at Anna silently before they were all whisked away from the house, wing-like flaps echoing rapidly through the still sea air, Anna following soon after, only to appear in a scrapyard that held a retro-looking black car and a man who was leaning against the hood holding a beer who put it down when they all appeared
He looked unfazed as Ron stumbled onto his feet and take out his wand, pointing it directly at the Hunter, Hermione trying to soothe him and persuade him to lower the wand while Harry watched the man beside him as Anna helped him onto his feet, waved Castiel over and pulled back his hair to reveal the lightning-shaped scar. A sharp intake of breath and Cas was giving off a slight glow to the eyes before he nodded while Sam looked their way, quickly disarmed Ron and thanked Hermione before he was speaking to them all.
"You," He pointed to Ron with a hardened look on his face, "Need to calm the fuck down. You're gonna attract demons or worse and I doubt these two here" He pointed to Anna and Castiel who had let Harry join his friends before standing off to one side and speaking in low undertones, "Wanna fight today.
"Now, obviously we didn't want to be overheard so Castiel, the guy in the trench coat, brought us all here. We have some news you might wanna hear."
You look like you've been swimming, Sam." Dean interrupted, noting that the taller of the two brothers still had wet jeans as he pointed to Castiel before he felt a warmth spread through his body, both Harry and Hermione putting their wands back into their pockets as if they'd just used them.
"About what?" Ron looked at the couple before focusing back on the tall man who still held his wand and added, "Who are you? Where did you take us?"
"Name's Sam." Sam replied, giving a hard smile before he pointed behind him, "Sam Winchester. And the jerk behind me is my brother, Dean. As to where we are, We're in Massachusetts, USA."
"Who're you calling jerk, Bitch?"
The two Winchesters didn't notice the stare that the trio gave Anna as she walked away from her brother to re-join them and said, "No need for the stares, guys."
She looked dwarfed compared to the real Sam Winchester as he turned to look at her and she told the Winchesters what she'd had to do at the mansion. Dean raised an eyebrow as she told him her reasons for taking Sam's name before he huffed and muttered something under his breath while Sam looked impressed by the woman, they'd met a few months prior before he focused back on the reason why they'd brought Harry and his friends to their current location.
"So, you probably know we're Hunters." He began, looking at Anna who nodded in confirmation as he continued, "That's completely true and I'm not gonna deny it, but we're on the side of good."
"We were told," Ron told the hunter, looking at Anna as well before looking at Dean and Sam once more as Dean nodded.
"Anyway, Anna's been keeping us up to date with this hunt of yours." The eldest Winchester spoke up, preventing any more questions from the wizarding teens, even going so far as to hold up his hand when Hermione opened her mouth and shook his head. Anna laid a hand on her shoulder, also shaking her head when the girl looked at her.
"So, while you guys have been getting captured and running, we've been looking for ways that these Horcrux things can be made…"
"They're created using dark magic." Harry told them, interjecting and looking at Sam as the elder nodded and pointed his way.
"That's true for some, but they sound an awful lot like cursed objects." Sam told the Boy-Who-Lived, "Anna's told us everything during the time you've known her. We wanna help so we started looking for your kind in America."
"Let me tell you, trying to convince them we were on their side, it wasn't easy." Dean interjected, "Until we mentioned Harry Potter, then they either froze… or left with quite the large bang."
"Or they shot some green light that we had to dodge quickly." Dean put in, looking pissed as Sam pointed to his brother and carried on.
"Anyway, we did get some information from this one Witch, Elyon Goodford, I think her name was." He went on to say how the Witch, Elyon, was a curate with a travelling museum and had been put in charge of a Goblet that had felt like it was tainted with darkness. Harry, Ron and Hermione had to refrain from asking what the cup had looked like at the same time while Anna remained silent as they spoke.
Sam soon went on to say that the cup had sounded like it had had a badger on it, Elyon hadn't given a precise description and they hadn't pried. The witch had said that it was a prized treasure of the Founders of Hogwarts, something that caused all three teenagers to become alert and ready. Harry even looked determined before he saw Dean shaking his head.
"It means something to you, doesn't it?" Dean asked, Harry nodding slightly, along with Hermione and Ron, albeit hesitantly. Sam and Dean shared a look before they were looking at the trio as Harry said, "Our headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, he seemed to think that the Cup of Ravenclaw, one of the Houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was made into a Horcrux. Tom Riddle, the… Dark Wizard we're fighting, he made seven Horcruxes and The Cup might be one of them."
Both Dean and Sam nodded, listening to what Harry told them, Hermione and Ron interjecting frequently before, "And you have no idea what the seventh one could be?"
Harry shook his head and scratched his scar, a pained look on his face; something both Winchesters noticed as they glanced at each other silently and Dean had to ask if he were okay. Harry nodded and put his hand down by his side again.
"So, how we going to get Ravenclaw's cup? We're meant to be resting at my brother's place?" Ron eventually spoke up, looking between all the Americans before Sam replied, "Leave that to Dean and me. We'll be in touch with Anna if and when we get it."
This seemed to be a signal for the woman as they all suddenly found themselves back in England, Castiel appearing with Anna and looking at her, a stern look on his face as she faced him, arms folded as Bill came running over, wand in hand and Fleur by his side.
"I do not want to come after you, Anna." He told her, "Stay clear of Michael and Lucifer."
"I'm aware Michael wants me dead, Castiel," Anna said, looking back as the two wizards reached them and began fussing over the teenagers who insisted they were okay and unharmed. Castiel seemed to accept this as when Fleur turned back to look at them, Anna was alone with only the sound of downy wings flapping for company.
"Bill, we're okay." Ron protested, "You're just like mum!"
"Someone has to look out for you three!" Bill shot back, smirking at the look Ron was giving before he was looking at Anna as she looked curious and the smirk was lost, "You can't…"
"Wasn't my idea." Anna interjected, speaking loudly for the first time in the days that the four had been at the cottage, "I didn't know they'd turn up suddenly and take us back to American soil. They just wanted to talk peacefully. That's all.
"The Winchester Brothers are on the side of good." Anna continued her face stern and almost emotionless the more she spoke. It seemed like she wanted to get it all off her chest as she added, "They may be feared by your kind, but they want to help defeat your Dark Lord. And the only way they're going to be able to do that is by dealing with the shit that they're going through right now, keeping each other focused and occasionally meeting with these three for more information. So, I'm sorry but Hunters and something more powerful is involved now."
She walked past the group when she'd finished, past the wards and seemed to fade into nothing, something feathered flapping loudly, a sound that had Harry and Hermione looking at each other, Hermione gaining a thoughtful look on her face before they were herded into the wards and then the cottage.