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. Additionally, there's references to canon apocalypse & child abuse. Finally, there is the start of an onscreen panic attack. Feel free to back out if need be.

Author's Note: Fiction is not going well this term. However, I'm making excellent progress on my academic works.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Quidditch League (Post S10); Hogwarts 2.0 (Term 01); RAVEN (2023); MC4A (Fa-Y6)
Individual Challenges: Red Instead; Condiment Shelf; Death Becomes; Xs & Os (Y); WIP It (Y); Quaffles (Y); Bludgers (Y); Pet Food; Me Matey; Vegetable Broth; Fruit Stand; Purple Scholar; Feather Head; Rowboat (Y); Short Burst; Gryffindor MC; Magical MC; Celestial MC; Deal Maker (Y); Hunter MC; Second Life; MoD It; Old Shoes (Y); Sandbox (Y); Crossing Over; Reader; Cinematic; Binger; Graphic; Animated; Gamer; Singer; Endings; Feathers & Such; Dreamers; Tossed Chum; Elder Berries; Immortal MC; Nonhuman MC; Criminal MC; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent [x3]; Rian-Russo Inversion; In a Flash; The Real MC (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Exchange (Y); Green Ribbon; Two Cakes (Y); Fuzzy Socks; Bi Bi Bi; Claimed; Setting Sail; Zed Era; Rainbow Connection; Finders; Hold the Mayo
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Term 01-03
Subject [Task (Prompt)]: n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Gather [Rogue (Arcane Trickster)](SPN); Web (Harry & Dean W.)[Needles 07 (Conflicted)]
Post Season QL Challenges: Bingo [E2](Plum)
RAVEN Challenges: Colors [118](Plum); Items [138](Trainers); Settings [89](Malodorous)
Other MC4A Challenges: FaB [4B](Preserving); Ship (Mixtape)[ FaMic1 (Fusion/Crossover); FaMic2 (Brown; Purple); SpMic2 (Black; White); 4D (Finish Each Other's X)]; Chim [Bugwort]("The Anonymous Ones" – Dear Evan Hansen; Turned Left Instead AU; Race Bend); Hunt [Fa WD (Demisexual); Fa Set (Car); Fa Items (Knife/Dagger)]; Fire [x3](Fence Hopper); Garden [Forecast (Foggy); Herbs (Dry); Statuary (Knife/Dagger); Harvest [AUs (Apocalypse); C&CTs (Angel); Items (Knife); Settings (Car; Malodorous)]; Hang [Phrase1](n/a); Soup [E (Eyeglasses); T (Twist)]
Representation(s): Dean Winchester/Castiel; Desi & Autistic Harry Potter; Team Free Will as Family; Canon Apocalypse;
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Bad Beans; Morrigan's Tentacles; Shiver & Shake; Forked Path; Sitting Hummingbird; Second Verse (Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontraditional; Middle Name; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Lovely Coconuts; Grease Monkey; Lyre Liar; Most Human Bean; Rock of Ages; Professor's Torment); Chorus (Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Rediscovery; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Eternal Boredom; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; In the Trench; Turtle-Duck)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Tether); SN (Rail; Negate); FR (Satisfaction; Gestation); O3 (Oath); HoSE (Obscure); War (Obstruction; Sanctuary; Ennui); TY (Ntaiv; Enfant); Mea (Ennui; Rampant); Wings (Scintillate)
Word Count: 739 words

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Needs and Wants
Chapter 23: Remember to Breathe
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"Son of a bitch, Cas," Dean cussed, shutting off the Impala's engine. His heart pounded in his chest, still cold in shock. He turned towards Castiel. The twisting dislodged Castiel's grip on his leg. Dean squashed the flash of disappointment under the need for information. "What does that even—"

A groan interrupted him from the backseat. It was quickly followed by an explosion of energy that made the Impala rock in place. The distinctive stank of burning blood filled the air. Harry let out a low moan.

"Sorry," the kid muttered as he gripped the back of the front seat and used it to pull himself up right. Immediately, he lifted his feet to the seat and wrapped his arms around his bent legs. Dean winced only a little at the thought of Harry's beaten trainers on Baby's leather. In the dim light, Dean could see the blood stains on Harry's now-dry plum purple sweater. He couldn't see Harry's eyes because of the way that same light reflected off the kid's glasses. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

"Hey," Dean interrupted what was clearly becoming a spiral. "Take a breath. You're not in trouble. None of what's happening is your fault. Just breathe."

For all that Harry seemed to have the same emotional stiffness as Castiel, when the kid broke, he was worse than Sammy. Or at least, he seemed worse to Dean. Sammy would yell and rant, maybe punch something, but then he was over it. Harry would just apologize while braced for some kind of attack. Then the kid would find something to clean or organize. Bobby's house had never been so tidy, not even during the five days that Karen had returned from the dead, and they had only had Harry for two days.

Even being an insomniac who sleeps light and sharing a room with the kid, Dean wasn't sure if Harry had actually slept last night. Dean was becoming increasingly convinced that there was something more wrong with the kid's home life than racist relatives. Harry acted too much like Dean had after his first hunt larger than a salt and burn. Being around the same age wasn't helping the impression, though Dean didn't remember so small at twelve.

(Even Sam hadn't been so shrimpy. Of all the things that Dean must have screwed up, he must have done something right. Sam never had the starved scrawniness that Harry had. A stiff wind was going to blow that kid away like a kite one of these days.)

"Dean is correct," Castiel added helpfully. He had twisted his body to mostly face the backseat. The light from outside made his blank expression even more severe than it usually was. "Outbursts similar to what has just occurred are not unexpected given the circumstances. I also did not expect Dean to stop so suddenly. Had I been unconscious and undergoing intense soul changes, I believe I would have had one as well."

"Thanks, Cas," Dean said as he spotted the confused look on Harry's face. "That really cleared things up."

"You're welcome," Castiel replied. Dean suppressed the urge to sigh at how obvious it was that Cas hadn't picked up on the sarcasm. The angel was getting better at both using and recognizing such human language quirks, but it still wasn't a sure thing. Being around Harry seemed to both help and hinder Castiel's progress, at least in the couple of days they've been around each other.

"I don't think he was actually thanking you," Harry said in a dull tone, proving Dean's thought true. His fingers flexed in the yarn of his sweater. At least the kid no longer sounded like he was going to hyperventilate. He still had a pinched look around the corners of his mouth that was eerily like what Sam had that time he got a stomach flu.

"I know," Cas countered, "but Dean finds my literalness amusing. He has informed me to 'never change'." He used finger quotes around the last part of the sentence. This time Dean gave into the urge to sigh. He really shouldn't find the dorkiness as cute as he did.

"Let's just get back to Bobby's," he said, restarting the Impala. The car's other occupants were quiet as Dean drove the little ways necessary to turn into Bobby's property. He used the time to process what he had just learned as well as he could.

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To be continued
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