Stranger Than Your Sympathy
Part One – Freshmen Year
Chapter Thirteen
Sam rocked on his heels while waiting for the boat to arrive at the terminal. Looking around him, there were many families patiently waiting, but he noted, with pride that he was the only kid that was trusted to pick up a student by himself.
Honestly, he still couldn't believe that his father now that he was grown up enough to do something so important. He doubted that he had ever allowed Dean to do something like this on his own when he was only twelve years old.
"I see it!" Someone yelled, and Sam rushed forward with everyone else as the ferry that carried all the Hogwarts students on it.
He couldn't wait. Not only to fill Dean in on everything he had been learning but also to hear all about the school. Their weekly phone calls were simply not enough. Also – Dean seemed oddly cagey about the details. Dad had said that it was traditional for students to be surprised by certain things at school – like how they were sorted, but also that Dean would be able to tell him everything he needed to get ahead socially at school.
He wouldn't need the help academically.
Before Sam knew it, students were streaming off the boat. He was a little disappointed because he thought they would all be in uniform still and he could pretend that he was one of them, but they were all in regular clothes.
"Dean!" He shouted when he saw his older brother.
Dean looked…different. Good, still, but he seemed to be standing a little taller and he just looked…happy.
It wasn't until he was right there, that Sam noticed that his older brother was flanked by three other boys.
"Sammy, it's good to see you kid," Dean pulled him into a quick hug. "Where's Dad?"
Sam's chest puffed out. "He found a hunt in Vancouver and said that I could come and pick you up myself."
One of the boys, about the same height as Dean, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes frowned.
"Dean, didn't you say that Sammy is twelve?"
"It's Sam," Sam scowled. "And I'm twelve and a half."
"Oh, a half, well, you're practically a full-grown man, cher," one of the other boys said. He was burley and his eyes crinkled in delight.
Sam didn't like it. He narrowed his eyes.
"Kid's got your charm, Dean," the final boy said with a Southern drawl. He was skinnier than the other three and his hair was cut into a mullet.
"Shut up, Ash, I'm the charming brother. Sam, I want you to meet my friends. The one with the permanently concerned look on his face is Cas. This Cajun son-of-a-bitch is Benny, and this squirt of a kid is Ash."
Sam had heard all those names before. Somehow, none of them were what he imagined. They all seemed…cooler than he thought they would. In fact, several students slapped them on the back and waved goodbye as they went to find their families.
"Ash, Mom's gonna kill us if we don't get on the road right away," a blonde girl said as she approached the group. "You know she only likes to leave the Roadhouse for so long."
"Righto, Jo," Ash said, tipping an imaginary hat to his friends. "I'll see you guys in a month. Don't do anything I would do." He turned to leave.
"Can't I get a kiss to go?" Benny asked as the girl went to go with him.
She glared. "In your dreams Lafitte. If you feel like staying in your swamp instead of coming back to school, well, I wouldn't complain."
Sam snickered.
"Aw, don't be like that Jo, you know…"
"Gotta go," she said shortly, not letting him finish and flipping him off as she walked away. Sam thought he might be in love. "Cas, I'll write. Winchester – don't forget your promise."
Dean rolled his eyes as she hugged the dark-haired boy goodbye. Ash gave them one last salute and followed after her.
"I think you may want to give up there, buddy," Dean said, patting Benny on the back, once the two of them were out of earshot.
"Nah, brother, she'll come around, you'll see."
"Come around to kicking your ass, maybe," Dean laughed.
"Sexual harassment is against the student code of conduct at Hogwarts," Sam said with a pointed stare.
Benny and Dean burst into laughter. Cas didn't, but Sam didn't like any of this at all.
"What did I tell y'all – he's got Ravenclaw written all over him."
"Dean, knowing and understanding the rules of Hogwarts does not make one a Ravenclaw."
"Just because your sortin' got screwed up, don't mean…"
"I'm not going to be a Ravenclaw. I'm gonna be a Slytherin, like Dean."
For reasons that Sam didn't understand, the general lightheartedness of the moment seemed to go away.
"You never know, brother," Benny said with something sparkling in his eye.
Douche, Sam thought.
"Alright boys, I better get my butt over to the bus to get to the airport. Cas, you comin' with?" Benny asked, cranking his head to the side to indicate to the stream of students who were all headed to catch flights home.
Cas shook his head. "My parents are here. We're going to do a little sightseeing before going back to Indiana."
He didn't look particularly happy about it.
"Hang in there, Cas," Benny said, opening his arms for a hug. Cas rolled his eyes but quickly returned it. Then something happened that truly surprised Sam. Benny reached for Dean and pulled him into a tight hug – and Dean allowed it. "You keep in touch, brother."
"Alright, you great flirt, get off me, you're gonna give Sammy the wrong impression."
"That you're hopelessly in love with me? Naw, you said the kid's smart, I'm sure he's already figured that out." Benny then squeezed Dean even tighter.
With a laugh, Dean pushed the bigger boy off him. "Go on. You'll miss your plane and then you'll have to spend the break with me."
Benny looked at him with mock horror. "And spend one more night with your snorin' ass? I think not. I don't envy you, Sammy. Merry Christmas!"
He ran off to catch up with the last of the students who, Sam presumed, were heading for the bus to the airport.
"It's Sam," Sam muttered, mostly to himself. He was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. He had figured that Dean was going to smother him to death after they had been parted for so long. He had also expected that he was going to have to convince his older brother to go back to Hogwarts at the end of the break, but Dean almost looked wistful as his friend left.
Dean shifted the duffle on his back. "Alright, Cas, I guess this is it for now. You see your folks?"
The dark-haired pointed towards the back of the terminal, where a couple, who looked terribly out of place in business attire in a sea of flannels and jeans, was standing, stiffly.
"Oh boy. They do look like they have sticks shoved all the way up their asses." Dean said with a whistle.
Cas rolled his eyes. "Just because they're not hunters doesn't mean…"
"They're not hunters?" Sam asked, horrified, and unable to stop himself. He was met with an intense blue stare. He had assumed that they were maybe just higher up in HUCUSA.
"I told you about Cas, Sam," Dean said, sternly.
He remembered. Muggleborn. At Hogwarts. In Slytherin. He hadn't told their dad because he could only imagine that it would make the man rethink letting Dean go back and Sam could kiss his own chance goodbye.
"Right," he said, with a forced smile. "Class president. First Muggleborn ever, right? Can't have been easy."
Cas relaxed. "It wasn't." He turned to Dean. "How are you and Sam getting to… wherever you're going?"
Dean shrugged. "How'd you get here, Sam?"
"Took the bus," Sam said. "We'll have to change a couple of times, but the motel is only a little outside of town."
"There you have it – we'll take the bus. You got money for it, kid?" Dean asked.
Sam sighed. "'Course, Dad left us with what we need, like he always does."
A look flitted across Dean's face that Sam could not identify.
"Right, of course."
"Dean – wait here for a second," Cas said.
"Why?" Dean asked.
"Just – wait, don't go anywhere," he demanded as he made a beeline for where his parents were in the back of the room.
Sam didn't like that at all. He waited for Dean to retaliate – his older brother didn't let anyone (except their father, of course) order him around like that.
Nothing came.
"Come on, Dean, let's go," Sam said, pulling at his sleeve.
"What's the big hurry, Sam? I thought may we could explore a bit, ya know? Dad's gonna be gone for what – at least two days? We may as well see the big city."
Sam frowned. "Dad said we had to go straight back to the motel. He expects us to report in as soon as we get there."
"Report in how? You got a number for where ever he's holing up?"
"Yeah. He said to leave a message if he didn't answer. And that he'd be checking the time."
"Well, there's nothin' stopping us from finding a phone booth and calling him from wherever we are. You figure how long it will take and…"
"Dean!" Sam said, scandalized. He never knew his brother to defy a direct order from their dad. What the hell had happened at Hogwarts? Before he had more time to argue with him, the Cas appeared back as if he had flown.
"Dean," he said, as he approached. "My parents have a rental car. They said they could drop you off at your…residence. It would be a lot safer that way."
"Ah, Cas, that's sweet, but Sammy and I can handle ourselves. Plus, I know that they…" he didn't seem to need to finish the sentence for Cas to understand. Another stab of jealousy hit Sam – he was the one who had a silent language with Dean.
"I think it would be good for them to meet someone from a normal hunting family. You know, once they meet you maybe they'll see how regular you are and realize…"
Dean snorted at the same time as Sam. Normal wasn't a word either of them would use for themselves.
III
Castiel may not be an expert in many things, but he did know that it was not responsible parenting to leave a 12- and 14-year-old alone in a big city by themselves. No matter how mature either of them was. He trotted over to his parents.
"Are you done saying goodbye to your friends?" His mom asked him, slightly impatient. "We have tickets for the Seattle Symphony tonight and if we don't leave soon, I'm afraid we'll miss our dinner reservation."
Castiel looked down at his watch. It was only slightly after noon.
"Mom, one of my friends needs help."
She arched an eyebrow.
Castiel quickly thought about how he could phrase this without having either of his parents call Child Protective Services.
"Dean's dad was called away on a family emergency and had Sam, his little brother, come and pick him up to take a bus to their motel."
Both his parents looked up at Dean and Sam, who, thankfully, seemed to be engrossed in their own world and not paying them any mind.
"Surely he sent a responsible adult to help them," his dad said, frowning. "Come now, James, we have to get you back to the hotel to change."
"Dad, there's no one!" Castiel argued. "Please – it can't be too far out of the way if they could take a bus there."
"But James, dear, how will we fit all of your luggage and your friend's? I'm afraid we only got a sedan – it was all we could get on short notice."
Castiel looked down and his single suitcase. He knew that Dean didn't have more than a duffle. They had both left as many things as possible at Hogwarts as a way of assuring themselves that they would be returning for the next semester.
"I don't think it will be a problem."
"You'll be awfully cramped in the back seat, son, with three of you back there," his dad pointed out.
Castiel always found traveling by car confining, but he had never spoken that out loud.
"It'll be fine," he said. "Come on Dad, it's the Christian thing to do," he used his father's favorite argument against him. It was the reason that Castiel had to do any number of things over the years. "And it's Christmas," he finished.
His parents looked at each other.
He knew that he had won them over.
"Alright, go and get your friends," his mother said. "But we better not miss our reservation, I've been looking forward to this restaurant for weeks."
Castiel grinned and ran to go get Dean and Sam.
III
Dean knew that Cas's parents were filthy rich but that didn't stop him from feeling absolute disgust at the "fancy" car they were driving.
A Lexus.
What a piece of junk. And it was an ugly gold color. Respectable cars only came in black. Oh, he couldn't wait to see the Impala again. It was too bad that his dad had probably taken it with him on the hunt.
Still, he had some manners and he managed a "nice car," to Cas's dad.
"We were pleased with it, although we would have preferred an upgrade. But this time of year, it is so difficult to get a rental car at all with everyone traveling." Mr. Novak said.
"Sam, you've got the bitch seat," he muttered to his little brother.
"No way!" Sam argued.
"You're the smallest, it only makes sense that…"
"I'll take the middle seat," Cas said, which Dean thought was way too nice.
But if Cas was going to be a sucker, then who was he to stop him? Sammy grinned at him triumphantly as Cas slid into the middle, next to Dean.
"Now, where is this…hotel…you're staying in?" Mr. Novak asked.
Sam's smug face was replaced with what Dean thought of as his "kiss-ass" face.
"It's in Woodville – should only be about half an hour by car. You just take 520 to 405."
"Very good, young man," Cas's dad complimented. "I always say that map reading is an essential skill for any young person to know before they learn how to drive."
"Oh, I've been driving since I was ten…" Sam said.
There were twin gasps of horror.
Dean would have elbowed him, but he was on the other side of the car. "Sam," he hissed.
"Just kidding," Sam said, quickly. "But if you believed me, maybe buy me a beer on the way up?"
Thankfully the joke landed.
"What a delightful young man," Mrs. Novak said. "What school do you currently attend, Sam?"
"I don't – I'm homeschooled," he responded with more pride than Dean liked hearing in his voice. He knew that moving from school to school was difficult for his younger brother, but Sam always adjusted well and made friends.
"Oh. Which curriculum? You know, we considered homeschooling James but then we talked to our good friend who is Head of School at Lake Forest Academy and he let us know that he would have a better chance of getting accepted if he went to prestigious pre-school."
Dean shot Cas a smirk and Cas gave him an exasperated look back.
"And, of course, he did get accepted. And, James, dear, I wanted to let you know that you are still welcome to start at the beginning of the Spring semester. That's how impressed they were with your test results."
"Mom, I told you that…"
"Hush now, don't you know that it's impolite to interrupt. Sam was about to tell me more about his schooling."
Sam looked slightly uncomfortable. "It's HUCUSA preparatory program for Hogwarts," he announced.
Cas's dad choked.
Dean couldn't see either of the parent's faces, but he could just guess at the sour look on Cas's mom's face.
Bolstered by the silence, Sam continued on, "It's really great. I'm learning so much about HUCUSA and hunting. My favorite part is that they have all sorts of different career paths. I thought that being a hunter was my only option before but now I know that there are doctors that specialize in treating supernatural illnesses, police officers that help keep our activities away from Muggles – some Hogwarts graduates even end up in the FBI or CIA or the Presidential Cabinet."
"I didn't know that," Cas's mom said.
Sam beamed. "Yeah, I'm hoping to become a lawyer and then maybe even a judge so that I can defend hunters that get into legal trouble."
"Those are very lofty goals, son," Cas's dad said, sounding impressed. Dean scowled.
"Come on Sammy, you'll be stuck behind a desk most of the time. Sounds so boring. Wait 'til you get to Hogwarts, you'll see that being in the field is way better."
"The field is for Gryffindors," Sam said dismissively.
"Dad's in the field," Dean pointed out, ignoring the fact that their mounting argument was making the other occupants of the car uncomfortable.
"Well, Dad didn't get a choice," Sam snapped back, "if he had graduated, I bet he would have ended up as an FBI agent, not just a mindless HUCUSA drone."
Dean was taken aback by Sam defending their father.
"James, why didn't you tell us about these alternative paths?" Cas's mom interrupted while Dean continued to glare at his younger brother and Sam kept sending him silent bitch-faces.
"It's a little early for me to start thinking about law school," Cas said. "I don't know what path I want to take yet."
"You know, Hogwarts sends students to the top universities in the country. In the world, even! Usually on full HUCUSA scholarships. I'm going to go to Stanford."
Over Dad's dead body, Dean thought. There was no way that their father would accept Sam doing anything other than becoming a hunter like him.
"Does that mean that you may still have a chance to go to Harvard?" Cas's dad asked, sounding very excited.
"Hogwarts gets an automatic three spots at Harvard for each graduating class. It's been arranged since the university started," Sam said, "Most of the Ivy's have the same sort of agreement. And Cas being class president would put him in an optimal place to get in. I want to get in on my own merit though, which is why I've picked Stanford. HUCUSA doesn't have an agreement with them."
Dean caught a glance of Cas's dad's face in the rearview mirror and he was practically salivating. He looked over to his friend and mouthed, "I'm sorry." Cas just shrugged.
"What other schools does HUCUSA have agreements with?" Cas's mom wanted to know. "Maybe he'll go to the University of Chicago, like me."
"Let me look," Sam said, pulling up the backpack he had resting at his feet before, "I just got to this unit in my homeschooling and I have notes…"
"Nerd," Dean commented fondly.
Sam pulled out a notepad and started flipping through it. "Yale, Brown, all of the Seven Sisters, Tulane…Northwestern. Doesn't look like the University of Chicago is on the list," he said, scanning down.
"I'm sure James can get through on his own merits," his mom said, "like Sam."
"Mooom," Cas whined.
The rest of the car ride passed with only the barest small talk as it seemed as though Cas's parents had learned everything they cared to have. Sam had given them directions to a Holiday Inn Express that Dean knew for a fact their father would not have shelled out the money for.
Cas's mom scrunched up her nose in distaste. "Are you sure this is where your father wants you to stay? It can't be more than a two-star."
For Dad, a one-star is too fancy. Dean thought.
"Yeah, it's nice, has an indoor pool and everything," Sam said.
"I don't like it," Cas's dad frowned, "you two young boys here alone."
"Dad'll be back later tonight," Sam said. "It's only for a couple of hours."
Lie, Dean thought.
"Oh, well then I suppose that's fine." Cas's mom said. "Plus, dear, it's not like we can get more tickets to the orchestra."
Or we would want friggin' orchestra tickets, Dean thought, greatly preferring a night in a shitty motel room to what would certainly be hell.
"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Novak, for the ride," Sam said. Dean was grateful that one of them remembered their manners.
"Yeah, thank you. And Cas – I'll see you in a month?"
"Of course."
"Why do you keep calling my son that?" Mrs. Novak asked him while his hand was on the door handle. Dean was at a complete and total loss. Because it was a shortened version of his name? But a quick glance at Cas told him not to blurt that out loud.
"It's just a school nickname, Mom," he explained, quickly. "We all have them at Hogwarts. Right Dean?"
"Uh – yeah, we sure do!" Dean agreed.
"What's your nickname, Dean?" Sam asked curiously while Dean silently cursed him.
"Um, it's…well…"
"Pad…" Cas said looking at the pad of paper that Sam still had out with the list of universities that had automatic enrollment for hunters.
Dean stomped on his foot.
"Ah, my foot!"
"Padahfoot?" Sam asked with hesitancy in his voice.
"Padfoot," Cas corrected. "Dean is called Padfoot. And I'm Cas."
"But, why…"
"Oh look, I think that we better let Cas and his family go so they don't miss their reservation. Thank you, sir, ma'am, Cas." Dean shot out of the car as quickly as he could. Sam followed just a couple of seconds later. Together, the two of them waived as the family pulled away.
As soon as they were gone, Dean slung his duffle bag over his shoulder. "Alright, Sammy, where are we actually stayin'?"
"About half a mile up the road. There's a diner on the way though, so I thought we could stop and get some food first."
Dean grinned. The food at Hogwarts was great but there was nothing quite like a greasy spoon. He threw his other arm around his younger brother. "Great, sounds amazing, I'm starving."
"And, Dean?"
"Yeah?"
"While we walk can you tell me how the hell you got named Padfoot?"
Dean laughed and started to walk.
III
It took exactly three minutes after arriving in a relatively clean, but still funky-smelling motel room, for Sam to start talking a mile a minute. Dean was honestly impressed that his brother hadn't hit him with this verbal explosion while they were eating dinner.
"…and I am the one who knew it was an Ogopogo, Dean. Even Dad said that he wouldn't have figured it out if I hadn't found it. It was because of the horses, see, so…"
"He's a little further away than Vancouver, huh?" Dean interrupted, mentally trying to picture a map of Canada.
"How do you know?"
"The Ogopogo is reported to be seen in Okanagan Lake. That's gotta be at least three hours west of Vancouver."
"It's just over four," Sam corrected, but he looked like Dean had taken the wind out of his sails. "When you hear about the Ogopogo? Was it something you learned in class?"
Dean smiled, remembering. "Nah – not class. Benny and Cas were arguing – which they do all the time. Actually, it was all Ash's fault, you see because he likes to get them going and somehow, they always seem to fall for it. In fact, one time we decided who could get them to bicker the most, and while we had to stop keeping track because Ash refused to give me credit for their biggest fight and…"
"Dean – the Ogopogo," Sam said with a bitch face.
Dean pulled himself out of the memory. He had only been away from his friends for a couple of hours but he was already missing them. Which made him feel guilty – he was finally reunited with Sam and here he was wishing he was back at Hogwarts.
"Right, sorry. Something about how nothing truly dangerous lives in the water. Benny's from the Bayou, you see, and we all give him shit for it, but apparently he's like an encyclopedia for water monsters all over the world. I just thought the Ogopogo was the funniest name."
"It's dangerous, Dean."
Dean shrugged. "Well, yeah, everything we hunt is, right? But what's more fun to say than Ogopogo? Come on, Sam, say it three times fast."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't suppose Benny told you how to kill the thing."
"Ah – he might have said something, but I wasn't really paying attention, because you see the girls walked by fresh from the gym and Pam on these shorts that…" He shook his head and looked at the clock on the bedside table. "Benny's still in the air – but I can give him a call when he lands and ask. Dad doesn't know?"
"Dad has some ideas," Sam said, puffing his chest out, "he and I have been researching it. I'm sure he can figure it out on his own. I bet he'll call and say he killed the thing before Benny even lands."
Wow, I thought defending Dad was my job, Dean thought.
"Yeah, maybe kiddo. So you've been getting along alright with Dad? You know I was worried about that."
"I told you on the phone, Dean. I've been helping him with cases and learning so much."
"And you haven't been fighting?" He pushed.
"No!"
"Wow, things really have changed around here. I was practically breaking up an argument every other day before I left."
"It wasn't that bad," Sam argued. "You know how Dad can get. We've just been more on the same page recently. Now that I know that I can use all we're learning for something bigger than hunting after high school, it's actually very interesting to learn."
Dean wanted to ask if Sam had told Dad his grand plans. But he was pretty sure that he already knew the answer to that question.
"Yeah, why don't you show me what you've learned? And maybe you can help me with some of my homework – the teachers piled it on. I don't know why they bothered to give us a break at all."
Sam grinned.
III
Sam had been worried, when he had first seen Dean with his new school friends that things would be different between the two of them. He could not have been more wrong. Dean listened attentively as Sam talked him through everything he had been learning in homeschool (even the history stuff that Dean would have labeled as "boring" and "nerdy" before).
However, it wasn't until the next morning that Sam realized that he had been doing all of the talking.
The perfect moment to start asking questions came as they ate cold pop tarts for breakfast.
"I will say that, as much as I've missed ya Sammy, I haven't missed these breakfasts. You should see what we've got at Hogwarts. Best damn breakfast I've ever had."
"You do look like you've gained weight," Sam said.
Dean elbowed him. "You callin' me fat?" He asked with a fake look of distress on his face.
"Nah. Looks like you've gained muscle."
"That's because old Turner is a sadist when it comes to PE. And all the stairs just to get up to the common room. If you had to climb a bajillion steps just to get to your room, you'd gain some muscle too."
Sam frowned. "I thought that Slytherin was the house on the lowest floor."
Something flicked in Dean's face, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came. "It is. Still four sets of stairs up from the bottom."
"And that's too many for you? Wow, you really have been eating a lot"
"Shut up."
"You've barely talked about Hogwarts at all Dean. I want to know everything. What are the teachers like? The other students? Is it weird to be around other hunter's kids?"
"Woah, dude, breath. We have plenty of time to talk about Hogwarts. You're gonna love it, Sammy. This semester I spent so much time in the library and it's just like, I don't know, ten times the size of Bobby's library and it's all lore. You can't imagine what's in there. In your senior year, they let you do research for hunters out on hunts. But you really have to know your stuff."
"You spent a lot of time in the library?" Sam asked incredulously. Dean hated research. Sure, he did it when their dad made him, but he always complained about being stuck on books.
"Had to get those good grades somehow, Sam," Dean said, "and Cas is a real hardass about us getting our homework done before we go back to the Barracks and smo – hang out."
Sam's eyes narrowed. He didn't miss the slip-up.
"Barracks?" he asked, deciding it was probably best if he didn't know.
"That's what we call our room. It's set up like a military barracks – but thankfully no scratchy blankets." He hesitated for a split second. "Slytherin's apparently got the best beds of all of the houses. Some doner paid for like, extra soft blankets and the best mattresses. I don't know though, I think I'm going to have to try a bed in every house before I graduate."
"Gross, Dean" he said, pulling a face.
Dean ruffled his hair. "You wait and see, there are some real lookers at Hogwarts." He looked like he was going to keep going when the phone rang.
They both stood stock still.
It rang twice and then stopped.
"Dad," Dean breathed.
Sure enough, the phone rang again about two minutes later.
Dean seemed frozen as the phone kept ringing. Knowing that their dad would not be happy if they didn't answer, Sam quickly strode across the room to answer.
"Hey Dad," he said, a grin on his face.
"Sam," his dad responded gruffly. "You got your brother?"
"Yeah – picked him up from the boat."
"No trouble on the bus?"
"Nah. And we didn't even have to take it back – Dean's friend gave us a ride."
There was silence on the other end.
"Everything alright with the hunt, Dad?" he asked, unsure what was happening.
"Put your brother on the phone."
Sam held the phone out to Dean, knowing an order when he heard one. "He wants to talk to you."
Dean moved immediately and grabbed the receiver. Sam moved to the other side of the motel room to start looking through the books his dad had him using for research for this hunt, trying to give Dean a little privacy. Not that it would stop him from listening in on his brother's side of the conversation.
"Yes sir, one of my dormmates," he heard Dean say.
A pause.
"You wouldn't have heard of his family."
More talking on the other end.
Dean sighed in annoyance. "I know, sir, but he ain't from a hunting family."
Sam bristled at the tone of Dean's voice. That wasn't going to go over well with their father. And while he couldn't make out what the man was saying, he could tell that there was yelling. Dean didn't even try to interrupt as the rant seemed to go on and on.
Finally, it stopped.
"Yes, sir, I understand," Dean said in a much more respectful voice. "Yes, sir," he said several more times. Until there was nothing and Dean hung up the phone.
His older brother slouched down on the bed.
"Everything alright?"
"Fine," Dean replied. Sam could tell that he was not.
"Did he say when he was coming home?"
"Of course not. He's pissed that we got into the car with "strangers," he didn't care that I've been sharing a room with the guy for months now and that his parents are harmless Muggles."
"We didn't test them," Sam pointed out, realizing why their dad might be pissed. It did go against the safety protocols they had in place.
"They wouldn't have been able to enter the pier if they were possessed," Dean said, "Hogwarts has better security than that."
"Oh," Sam said, a little impressed. He hadn't noticed any security when he had entered, but seeing as he wasn't possessed or a monster, he supposed he wouldn't have.
"Yeah."
"Well – do you want to see what's on TV? I've checked it out – this hotel has great cable."
Dean gave him a waned smile. "That'd be great, Sammy."
He didn't correct him and the two of them sat and watched TV together.
III
Being back with Sam was both the most natural thing ever and extremely strange. Dean stepped back into his life with his brother as if he had never been to Hogwarts at all. The last couple of days the two of them had run the same drills that their dad mandated, did research, and hung out and watched TV just like they always had.
The routine hadn't changed, but Dean had.
He wondered if Sam noticed.
There was still no indication of when their father would be joining them and, while that was also entirely in the realm of the ordinary, as Christmas drew closer and closer, Dean couldn't help but wonder if he would make it back in time for the holiday. He usually made a token effort, but this wouldn't be the first time the two of them had Christmas just between the two of them.
At the same time, this was the longest Dean had ever gone without seeing his dad and there was so much he wanted to talk to his father about.
Dean was beginning to wonder if he really had just dreamed of going to school in a lighthouse when a loud and unfamiliar sound came from his bag.
Sam looked at him with wide eyes.
Dean laughed and lunged for his bag and answered the phone that he had honestly forgotten all about.
"Hey Benny," he answered, marveling that he had caller ID for the first time in his life.
"Brother, we were beginning to worry you'd fallen off the face of the Earth."
"Not yet. Just hangin' out with my baby brother."
"I'm not a baby!" Sam protested.
Benny chuckled on the other end of the phone. "Then why haven't you responded to any of our messages?"
Dean looked down at the phone. Honestly, he had it in his bag and had completely forgotten about it. Sure enough, there were about 10 messages on the screen.
"It's 'cause you didn't think to check your phone, ain't it?" Benny laughed again. "That's what I told Cas, but…"
"Shut up," Dean grumped, but it was nice to know that his friends hadn't forgotten about him and that they knew him well enough to know what was happening.
"I don't got much time, but I promised Cas that I'd check in and fill you in. His parents are softening on sending him back to Hogwarts, which is good, but, at the same time, they're forcing him to socialize with those jerks from his home town and he can't get caught with the phone. I swear that kid never sleeps – he's always callin' me at two in the mornin'."
"At least we know it's not just a Hogwarts thing for him," Dean said. They had all noticed how little sleep their friend seemed to get.
"Guess not. Mama Ellen thinks that Ash oughta brought you to the Roadhouse for the break. Ash said that she tore Jo a new one for bein' a jerk to you. Said that you ain't your daddy."
Dean didn't know how to feel about that. So he didn't comment. "And you?"
"Aw, you know me, cher, I'm just chillin' on the bayou with my kin."
"Once a swamp rat, always a swamp rat, huh?" Dean could practically hear Benny's eyes rolling. But that reminded him. "Hey – you remember that big ass snack you were researchin'? The Ogopogo?"
"It's not been that long, brother. I need another couple o' weeks before I forget all our schoolin' from last semester."
"Yeah, yeah, you're a wealth of knowledge. Seems my old man is up against one. What kills the thing?"
There was a slight pause. "You ain't hunting are you?" Benny asked, cautiously.
"No!"
"Dean you know…"
"Yeah, I know, I know. I'm still in Seattle with my brother. My dad's up in Canada going mono a mono with this thing. Since you already did the work, I thought you could save us some time. You know, so I can go trolling for Muggle girls."
"Uh huh. Of course. The girls wouldn't give you a second glance while we were at school so you've suffered something awful haven't ya?"
"You know I have."
"It's pretty simple. He needs to get blood from the creature and have a wise man bless a blade with it. He needs to cut the head off and then salt 'n burn."
"Any particular type of blade? We talking sword or hunting knife?"
"Shouldn't matter. Just be sure it's made of a metal of some sort."
"Great, thanks Benny. I'll pour one out for you. Cause I know Mama Lafitte ain't letting you get a drop of any of the good stuff while you're home."
"It's not alcohol that I'm missing. It's that stash that Cas and Ash built oh-so-well."
"Yeah, well, hang in there, buddy."
"Check your phone every once in a while, huh?"
"Yeah, will do."
Benny hung up.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Sam demanded as soon as he took the phone from his ear and grabbed it straight out of his hand. "You have any idea how much these things cost?"
Dean shrugged. He knew exactly how much this phone had cost, but it still made him uncomfortable to think about. He hated feeling like a charity case.
"Something all the guys have," he said, "so that we can talk to each other while on break. Hey – actually, we just got them before we left, but this means that we can talk way more than once a week. 'Course, it'll have to be when I'm not in class and when Dad can't see but…"
Sam took a sharp inhale. "Why can't Dad know?"
"Do you think he'd let me keep this if he did?" Dean asked although he was also questioning why that had been his automatic response.
"He might. Could be useful."
"For him. You think he wouldn't take it for himself?"
"Not for using himself, but when he's out of cases. Dean, you have access to the entire Hogwarts library – think of the research you could do for him. Hunting will be a breeze."
"And when would I find the time to do all that homework that the teachers assign? Hmm? You know, if Dad was just on the Registry he could have actual professionals helping him with hunts. Not a teenager and a little kid."
"I'm not just some little kid! I'm great at research – Dad told me that even HUCUSA couldn't provide better researchers than me" Sam argued. "And the Registry is for idiots, gah, Dean, don't you know anything? Their practically drones and they don't actually get to help people the way that Dad does. It's all paperwork, no action."
Dean looked at Sam in shock, his sudden anger fading. "Is that what he's been telling you?"
"He doesn't need to tell me! I can tell from everything I've read. I know that I'm following HUCUSA curriculum but there is so much that it leaves out. Dad wants to make sure that I understand all angles. Did you know that he could get sent to jail for saving people? That's messed up, Dean. It's not the way things used to be."
"Used to be?" Dean asked, with dread.
"Yeah. Back with the Men of Letters were in charge – HUCUSA wasn't such a freakin' joke."
"How do you know about the Men of Letters?" Dean sucked in a breath.
"Dad told me, of course. He's a legacy and so are we. Surely you know all about them now – he said that you would be invited to join them when you got to school."
"We shouldn't talk about the Men of Letters." He looked around, paranoid, even though he knew that he wasn't at school.
"Why? It's not like HUCUSA is listening to this conversation."
Dean gave him a dark look. He wasn't one to question his dad's orders, like ever, but this was questionable, even for him. "They're dangerous, Sam," he said in a low voice.
"So you do know about them!" Sam exclaimed.
"I've heard rumors. Everyone has. But they weren't heroes, Sammy."
"Of course they were. Are. I know that they were just forced to go underground. Come on, Dad said that I shouldn't pester you for information, but it's me, Dean, you can tell me. Are they the reason you have that phone? Is that the kind of help they can give people? Because if they can afford gadgets like that…"
Dean was torn. He had always shared everything with Sam. Well, not always – but ever since the kid had found out about hunting, it had been everything. There was no one in the world that he trusted more than his little brother. But he had seen the damage that the Men of Letters could do. He still hadn't discovered exactly what they had done to get John expelled. And if his dad was talking about them favorably then he didn't know it was them either. He made up his mind.
"No," he said.
"No?"
"No – Sam, I'm not going to tell you about them. Anything else, yeah, but not the Men of Letters. And you should never say that name again."
"But…"
"No."
"That's not fair!" Sam shouted.
"I don't care if you think it's fair. Hey – why don't you show me that book you were telling me about the other day? Sounds like it might be able to help me in Turner's class and, really, I could use all the help I can get."
Sam narrowed his eyes. "You can't distract me that easily, Dean."
Dean sighed. "You can't get me to crack that easily. Now, come on, we were having a nice day."
"If you don't tell me, I'm going to tell Dad about your cell phone," Sam pushed.
"You'll tattle to Dad?"
"Yeah – I will. Tell me, Dean. I gotta prepare. If I'm going to rise in HUCUSA and get what I want to really be able to help hunters, especially ones like Dad that have been unfairly persecuted by the Registry, then I need to be prepared."
"I wasn't prepared," Dean pointed out.
Sam stamped his foot. "And you want the same for me? Look, I know you've probably had a hard go of it, proving yourself, but obviously you have if they've done things like handed you out a cell phone when you're only a freshman. Are you worried I'm going to outshine you?"
"As if you could," Dean shot back, in anger.
Sam's eyes lit up. "That's it, isn't it? You've got your stupid friends and you don't want them to know that you're just…"
"That I'm just what, Sam?" Dean challenged when his brother hesitated.
"Never mind."
"No, I want to hear what you have to say. That I'm not a genius like you? Don't take a genius to do well at Hogwarts. There are things more important than academic skills when it comes to being a hunter."
"But you're not a very good one, are you?" Sam asked. "Why else would Dad not have allowed you to start training early like me? Dad knows that I can learn more at home on my own steam than you ever could – it's why you had to go to school. You couldn't keep up."
That was it. Dean had enough. He grabbed his jacket and started heading out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Sam shouted after him.
"Out," he said, before storming out and slamming the door behind him. He needed time to think.
AN – And some of you thought Sam wouldn't be in this story at all! We will have another full chapter with Sam (and possibly John, wink) coming up next.
I have been working on my outline and seeing how I seem to really drag the school year on, I think I'm going to skip writing out all of Dean's second year and skip straight to his third because that is really where the *meat* this story lies.
In the meantime, I hope you have fun thinking about why Cas's parents call him James and what may be coming up for him soon…