Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: I am still a bit miffed about how Season 8 is going. And do you know how difficult it is to be watching a fairly popular show years afterwards for the first time? I can't search wikis or Tumblr for verification purposes because if I do, I risk getting spoiled. Also, binging means that it's really hard to remember which episode things happened in beyond a general "where were they in the Hero's Journey for the season?" way.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 11); MC4A (WiB; Swap; DP; War; Share; Star; Fence; ER; AV; RoB; MLG; Rum; Cluster; VV; BAON; ToS; StL; SIN; NC; PP; SoC; FF; T3; SN; FR; O3; SHoE)
Individual Challenges: Logical Crossing; No Heterosexual Explanation; Gryffindor MC; Death's Inevitable Master; Sett to Destroy; Finding Family; Hunter MC (x3); Immortal MC; Seeds; Time for Change; Golden Times; New Fandom Smell [Spn] (Y); Old Shoes [HP] (Y); Above Average Natural; Advice from the Mug; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent; Quiet Time; Letter of the Day; Booger Breath; Booger Breath Rider; Rian-Russo Inversion; Flags & Ribbons; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon (Y); Yellow Ribbon Redux; The Real MC; Two Cakes!; Green Ribbon
House: Hufflepuff
Assignment No.: Term 11 – Post-Assignments
Subject (Task No.): n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [541] ("No Scrubs" - TLC); 365 [202] (Morbid); Galleon Club (Necessary)
Space Address (Prompt): Wi Bingo [5A] (Fireplace/Hearth); Swap [Outer Wear] (College Sweatshirt); Sp Micro 1 (Fusion)
Representation(s): Team Free Will as Family; bisexual Dean Winchester; fallen Castiel; autistic Harry Potter
Bonus Challenges: Hot Stuff; Second Verse (Found Family; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel; Zucchini Bread; Middle Name; Mother Hen; Unwanted Advice; Lovely Coconuts; Grease Monkey; Most Human Bean; Rock of Ages; Hot Apple; Bad Beans; Under the Bridge; Where Angels Fear); Chorus (Wabi Sabi; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Eternal Boredom; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; In the Trench; Turtle-Duck; Sitting Hummingbird)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: DP (Immemorial; Terse; Yearn); T3 (Terse; Tether); SN (Rail; Intercept); FR (Gestation); O3 (Oath); SHoE (Terse; Oblique)
Word Count: 755
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Needs and Wants
Chapter 4: Rotten Timing
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"I don't get it," Bobby said as they all watched Harry sitting on his trunk in front of the fireplace in Bobby's living room. Dean caught the kid looking around the room every few minutes as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Otherwise he stayed where he had settled after his initial assessment of the space. "Why would Death send us a kid?"
"Not us," Dean corrected. He kept his eyes on the kid who seemed to be willing to stay put, at least for the moment. Dean rubbed his lips absently. "Both Death and Tessa were real clear about how Harry was to be delivered to you, Bobby. Tessa went even further when she said that you had to sit this one out."
"So you said," Bobby argued, "but that don't mean that I get it. What am I gonna do with a kid?"
"Maybe raise him?" Sam suggested from his perch on the steps leading upstairs. Bobby scoffed at the very idea. "Okay, probably not. I don't think Death intends for him to be here forever, given what he told Dean and what Tessa said, but maybe you're suppose to watch him." The silence was loud despite it being only a heartbeat before Sam continued. "Like how you watched us for Dad."
"I'm not a babysitter," Bobby protested. His voice started raising as he ranted. "We're in the middle of hunting down the damned Devil to shove him back into the one place he don't want to go. I don't have time to waste playing nanny to some seven-year-old! Not to mention that it was hard enough keeping you two idjits alive, what with all the trouble that follows ya. Can you just imagine what kind of trouble this kid is gonna be?"
"I can take care of myself," Harry interrupted, "and I'm nearly thirteen, not seven."
Dean and Bobby both spun to face the now-occupied doorway to the living room. Harry tilted his chin up defiantly with his arms flat against his sides. The cuffs of his over-sized sweater fell over his hands, hiding them, but Dean bet they were balled into fists. His brown skin looked darker around his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in however long his reaper trip from England had lasted. One thing was for certain, though, and that was that Harry was way too small to be the age he had just claimed.
Either he was lying, which didn't make sense for more reasons than it not being necessary, or something worse had happened to make the kid so freaking small.
"Aren't you a little…" Sam trailed off, as he shifted to his feet. He stepped closer as he tilted his head downwards to examine the boy. To Harry's credit, he didn't look intimidated at all to be facing someone who was easily twice his height. He just swallowed once before setting his shoulders in the same expectant way he had at the depot. Call him a bit morbid, but Dean got the impression that the kid would face a guaranteed death with the same expression.
"Isn't everyone compared to you?"
"Does my size scare you?" Sam asked, sounding like he was actually worried about that. With enough insolence to be the teenager he claimed he nearly was, Harry rolled his eyes before speaking in a desert-dry tone.
"I've seen bigger."
"That's what she said," Dean said on reflex. Sam and Bobby just groaned. Harry blinked at him as if processing the words took longer. It was not unlike the look that Cas wore whenever Dean said things like that. "Aw, crap. You don't understand sayings either? Why the hell do I keep finding you guys?"
"If memory serves," Castiel answered as he came down the stairs from where he had been taking a nap, "it was I who found you, Dean, and then I raised you from Perdition."
The angel—former angel? It was still weird that he was even alive after his suicide bomber trick, not that Dean wasn't grateful for it—focused on the crowd in the front hall easily picking out the new face. It took more effort than it really should have to move his gaze from the strip of skin showing on Castiel's side where the Stanford sweatshirt he had borrowed from Sam had ridden up. When Dean finally managed it, Castiel's expression had become the blank one he wore when surprised. His head tilted to the side like a confused puppy.
"You are… different. What are you?"