crossoverfic | An Unexpected Debt Ch 5, DW/HG (Reply)

Title: An Unexpected Debt
Author: dhark_charlotte
Fandoms: Supernatural/Harry Potter
Rating: T
Warnings: Language, some violence, Possible Het in later chapters

** Slightly spoilery for SPN 2.21
Pairings (if applicable): Dean/Hermione
Character(s) (if applicable): Bobby Singer, Dean Winchester, Hermione Granger, Sam Winchester
Summary: An unusual alliance leads to an unexpected debt.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 5

Previously: “Oi! Get your bloody arses out here! We’ve been waiting most of the day and it’s near to supper time. There’s no nutritional value to body fluids you know.”

…

The evening meal started out fairly uneventfully considering that Draco was acting like a complete prat. His jealousy was painfully obvious and Hermione had reached her tolerance limit for snarking. Dean and Draco were raising it to the level of art. It was amusing and entertaining at first, but eventually the situation became somewhat volatile and ended with Draco pulling his wand and Dean drawing his Colt. Thankfully they were in Neville’s private dining room. Hermione would have laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation if the parties involved had been anyone else but these two. That they were fighting over her was baffling. A quickly fired ‘Petrificus’ at Draco should have dispelled the situation, but when she turned from her friend, Dean was still pointing his weapon at Draco.

Hermione put herself between Dean and Draco and scowled when he growled at her.

“Dean, what the bloody hell do you think you are doing?”

“He drew on me Hermione.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and quirked her brow at him. “So have I on occasion.”

“That’s not the same and you know it.”

Hermione looked to Neville. He and Sam had wisely kept out of the whole ordeal. “Do you think it would be easier if we let them just beat the hell out of each other?”

“Most likely.”

“Wait, can Draco use magic with out a wand?” Sam’s voice was tinged with amusement.

“Don’t worry Sam; Draco wouldn’t use magic in a non-magical fight.”

Dean’s silence hadn’t been noticed until he suddenly spoke up. “Don’t I get a say in this?”

Neville, Hermione and Sam all respond with a loud “NO!”

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Hermione straightened Draco’s collar as she offered him important advice, “Don’t do him any serious or permanent damage or I’ll hurt you. Oh, and I expect this to be the end of the fighting between the two of you, understand?”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Yes dear.”

-------

Hermione’s steps toward Dean were determined and he smirked at the gleam in her eye. She grabbed him by the nape of his neck and pulled him down to her waiting mouth, kissing him until they both needed air. She leaned into his ear to whisper, “Don’t let it go on too long now, you’ll need your energy later tonight.” His hiss gave her a grin and she pulled back to look in his eyes. “Dean?” His brow quirked in response. “Kick his ass or he won’t respect you.”

“Yes ma’am.”

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The fight was hard and dirty, lasting a little longer than they all expected. By the end, the two men had come to an understanding. Hermione belonged to the Hunter and the Wizard would be watching and making sure her heart was protected.

She really needed to find Draco a girlfriend.

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Good byes were said, promises to visit made and Team Winchester was back on the road. Neville had come up with that one. Sam wisely hid his smirk as Dean and Hermione grumbled that she was still a Granger with no immediate plans to change it. Dean looked a bit surprised when she agreed with him and Sam wondered if he had imagined the flash of disappointment in his brother’s eyes.

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The hauntings had increased, but to Hermione’s chagrin, these weren’t like the spirits she had experienced with the Winchesters so far. Nor were they the kind of spirits she grew up with at Hogwarts. No, these spirits were vengefully angry and even more dangerous as time wore on. She was happy to take a back seat to the brothers and provide support. She and Sam were constantly researching when they weren’t on an active hunt and Hermione was noticing an increasing trend of demonic related deaths. She asked if the swell of spirit activity was directly caused by the increased demonic activity. The brothers agreed that it was most likely the reason and Dean commented that the entities released from the Devil’s Gate had had time to travel all over the country. How the few Hunters left would be able to handle the increase in supernatural activity he had no idea. More hunters were needed, but how could they ask others to live this life?

Hermione put forth the idea of recruiting within the Wizarding World, which Dean shot down immediately. He reminded her of the fact that they seemed perfectly content to let the ‘Muggles’ handle things before. Why would that change? She countered with that famous quote regarding good people who do nothing against evil. It was a tension filled debate between the two and Sam decided that he would go for lunch. Because of their constant traveling, Sam knew his brother and Hermione had been unable to have any alone time and so he found the library and stayed until it closed. When he returned, the relaxed air in the room and smiles on their faces had him smiling in relief as well.

With a satisfied smirk, Dean punched his shoulder on the way out to check his car and Hermione kissed his cheek, whispering ‘thank you’ when he handed her the take out bag. No one mentioned the fact that they had missed lunch. Sam resolved right then to do something like that at least once a week. He also noticed that Hermione didn’t bring up the recruiting subject again. Not that he thought she had forgotten it. No, she had learned subtlety since knowing the Winchesters and Sam had confidence that she was researching possible candidates on the sly.

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While Dean was showering one morning, Hermione asked Sam if he had thought about trying to develop his telekinetic ability. He was nervous at first, but warmed up to the idea when she pointed out that it would be useful when he was otherwise restrained. Because they both knew that was always a possibility.

The three had been extremely busy with barely time to breathe much less rest. So when Dean offered to do the library while she and Sam used the laptop there in the motel, they agreed. It gave them all a break since the three of them knew that Dean was really going to shoot pool and have a drink and Sam and Hermione would work on something else.

Dean knew they were working on something secretly and had decided that he would wait for them to show him when they were ready. Hey, he could be understanding guy when he had sufficient motivation. And Hermione using her body as the distraction was definitely worth it.

Sam had just managed to shoot a pencil across the room when Dean burst in, excitement making his eyes more green than normal. “We’ve got a job.”

“What is it?”

“People visiting the Lake Shasta Caverns have been plagued by some sort of mysterious illness resulting in paralysis.”

“That could be anything, toxins, gases…”

“No, it’s nothing mundane as that. There’s been a rumor of huge amounts of skins left in the caverns. Like some kind of giant lizard shedding. And, a nurse at one of the hospitals said that the victims are frozen. Stiff as a board.”

A chill washed over Hermione. “Not a board. Stone.” Hermione brushed shaky hands through her hair and laid her head on the table with a thump.

“You know what this is?”

“I’m fairly sure we’re looking at victims of a Basilisk. Have there been any deaths?”

“None reported.”

“That’s strange. It eats much like a snake. Its prey is usually relative to its own size. A basilisk is very rare. Mostly thought to be extinct, but one shows up periodically. Last known sighting was in Scotland in 1993 where it was killed.”

“How was it killed?”

“My friend Harry killed it with a sword. But he almost died when its fang pierced his arm. Its venom is so deadly, there’s no antivenin for it.”

“Why are you so spooked?”

“A giant snake that can kill you with its gaze, resistant to magic… Oh, and I spent a large portion of my second year at Hogwarts in the infirmary, petrified.”

Hermione went on to explain how she managed to survive her encounter with the basilisk and everything that had followed. Hermione said that they should contact Harry for help and of course Dean wanted to know why. She explained that he was a Parselmouth and that he could talk to the snake, possibly convince it to leave such a populated area.

Dean smacked his head. “Please don’t tell me you’re one of those tree hugging, destroy a man’s livelihood for a moth, animals are people too, chicks?”

“No Dean, but I don’t agree with random useless destruction either. Dragons, if left unsupervised can be horribly destructive. But the Wizarding World created a game preserve for them in Romania and they seem to flourish there.”

“Dragons? There are honest to god dragons, alive in Romania today?”

“Yes.”

He got up to grab another beer. “Okay, I admit that’s cool, but are you sure we need to have another one of those wand waving types around here?” He bent over to pull the bottle out of the cooler. “One of you is enough… OW!”

Sam laughed as Dean rubbed the sore spot on his ass.

There was a minimal amount of arguing from Dean after that and Hermione contacted Harry, only to find that he was not able to come for at least two weeks. When another victim is reported, Dean wants to go right then, but Hermione made him wait until she contacted the American magical Council. Of course, they had no registered Parseltongues and no available agents to offer assistance. She advised them to lay in a supply of Mandrake Draught for the victims regardless of their magical status. They could figure out how to administer it themselves, she couldn’t think for the entire magical community now, could she?

At first Dean was all for Hermione coaching him regarding the plan for basilisk, but even the regular bouts of swot induced sex didn’t sway him from his goal. Kill the basilisk. They procured the necessary swords and requisite mirrors. Hermione paced in their room, hoping she hadn’t forgotten anything and didn’t see Sam standing in her path until she ran into his chest.

“What’s wrong Hermione?”

“I’m not sure about this Sam, what if I’ve forgotten something?”

“I know, but we can’t let anyone else get hurt. What else can we do?”

“Nothing…” She handed him a slip of paper and a small whistle. “Here.”

“What’s this?”

“It’s a whistle and a note for someone who could offer assistance if something goes wrong. If something does happen to me and/or Dean, blow the whistle. Hoggle will answer it and you’ll need to tie this message to his leg for Professor Severus Snape regarding our problem.”

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The basilisk was behaving oddly, not at all like the one Harry had faced and described to her. It wasn’t actively trying to hurt them. It was almost like it was playing. Hide and seek, if she wasn’t mistaken. Intrigued, Hermione had followed it, despite Dean’s hissed denials and, as luck would have it, got frozen for her efforts. Thankfully, it let Dean take her away without incident and he emerged from the darkness of the caves, her ass in the air since she was crouched when it happened. Dean had decided that a modified fireman’s carry was the best way to transport her.

He lurched out of the cave, Hermione’s stiff form tossed awkwardly over his shoulder.

Sam ran toward them, wide eyes scared as he took in Hermione’s stiff body. “What happened? Did you kill it?”

“It’s definitely a basilisk. Genius here decided that it was acting funny and wanted a better look. She’s petrified and I can’t even check for a pulse! Is she still alive? What can we do?”

Sam gripped his brother’s shoulder and pushed him toward the Impala. “It’ll be okay Dean, Hermione warned me this could happen. This isn’t the first time she’s come across a basilisk remember? We have to contact her old professor. He’ll know what to do.”

Dean set her on the back seat carefully smoothing her t-shirt back down before throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “How the hell do we manage that? Those Wizard people communicate by tying notes to a bird’s leg!”

Sam held up a whistle. “She gave me this.”

“That’s a dog whistle Sam. Her bird is an owl. A freakin big owl.”

Dean suppressed the urge to smack his brother when Sam rolled his eyes.

“It’s charmed to call her owl.” Not sure how far away the owl is, Sam blew the whistle fairly hard. Hoggle showed up about five minutes later, a disgruntled expression on its face. He wrote a quick note at the bottom of Hermione’s message and attached it to the bird, sending it on with an order for speed.

“So now what?”

“We go back to the hotel and wait. Hopefully he should be here soon.”

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Dean was sitting on the bed with Hermione, his hand idly stroking her hair as he flipped through the cable channels. Sam sat at the table, inspecting her wand. He had watched her very closely each time she used it in his presence and he was very curious to see if it could channel his telekinetic energy. Dean had told him in an amused tone that Sam better make sure to not even scratch it. That Bat Bogey hex was horrible. There was a sudden a feeling of pressure, like the air was being displaced, much like that time in the ghost town…

A deafening ‘CRACK’ blew through the room and Sam saw a tall ominous figure standing at the foot of Dean’s bed. The man was completely black. That is to say, everything about him was black, including his expression. Actually, his hands and face were white. One of those hands was holding a wand pointed at Dean.

Panicked, Sam stood, drawing the man’s attention and before those black eyes had a chance to widen, Sam yelled, “Petrificus Totalus!” And to everyone’s shock, a yellow light shot out of the end of Hermione’s wand and hit the man square in the chest. Dean barely had time to move his feet before the dark man fell on the bed, his momentum causing his body to slide to the floor with a thump.

Dean set his gun down and looked like he was deciding between laughter and anger as he asked, “What the hell Sam?”

“I don’t know, I was looking at it, thinking about how Hermione used it and then that guy popped in here. He was pointing a wand at you and the only thing I could remember was the spell she cast on me that day you passed out.”

“Why did she have to freeze you dude?”

“I pulled a gun on her.”

“What?”

“Hey, all I knew at the time was that you were fine until you touched her and...”

Dean slashed his hand through the air to cut him off. “Okay, bygones, for now.” He pointed to the frozen man. “Did Hermione ever describe her professor? Could this be the guy?”

“Maybe? She never said what he looked like, but did say that her friend Harry used to call him a big bat.”

Dean quirked his brow. “Okay, so, this is probably the Professor. Next question. Do you know how to undo what you just did?”

“I, think so.”

Dean waved. “Lead on MacDuff.”

Sam approached the man and looked him in the eye. They were glittering with fury and Sam swallowed audibly. “Um, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think it would work and you just kind of popped in with out any warning. Threatening my brother didn’t help. I’m going to take your wand, just in case.” Sam looked up at his brother. “I hope I’m doing this right. She uses a lot of Latin incantations so…”

“Go for it dude.”

Sam gulped again and then took a calming breath. He pointed the wand at who he hoped was Professor Snape and said, “Finite Incantatum!”

Sam almost dropped both wands as the dark man surged up with a growl and stood, his black eyes glaring daggers at both brothers at the same time. How did he do that anyway? Oh yeah, he’s a teacher.

The man was strangely silent and both brothers, especially Dean, showed good judgment and erred on the side of caution. Meaning they waited until the tall man was composed enough to speak without blowing a blood vessel. Dean was pretty sure that big one in his neck was going to burst any minute. The eldest Winchester was still seated on the bed next to Hermione. The only difference from earlier was that his weapon was surreptitiously trained on the possible Professor. He hadn’t actually been able to draw it fully when the guy popped in before.

The man drew in a deep breath through the prominent nose on his face as he straightened his clothing. “To answer your earlier question, I am indeed Professor Snape. I will assume that since Ms. Granger is in your company despite her petrified state on the bed there, that you two would be the Winchesters?” His voice hissed across the room and with those two sentences both men felt as if their father had just handed their asses to them.

‘Damn, he’s good, must have those kids absolutely terrified.’ Dean thought as both brothers nodded.

Snape held out his hand toward Sam. “If you don’t mind?”

Sam smiled sheepishly and Snape rolled his eyes in response, taking his wand back from the youngest Winchester with a snap. “Got herself petrified again I see. Who was with her?” He looked up at Dean. “You?” Dean smirked at him, but the joke forming died an instant death as the Wizard merely raised his brow and sneered. “I supposed she tried to study it or some such nonsense?”

“Um, yeah. She said it was acting weird. She got Medusa’d, but the big snake didn’t try to kill us. When Hermione fell, the snake went down another tunnel and I hauled her ass out of there.”

“I see. Have there been any deaths?”

“No. All of the victims are petrified.” Sam’s quiet voice floated across the room and Snape looked at him again.

“Where did you study boy?”

“Um, Stanford sir.”

“No, no. Not the Muggle university, what magical school did you attend? The Salem Institute? Berkeley?”

“Excuse me sir. But I didn’t attend a magical school, I’m not a Wizard.”

“Could we possibly wait for the curriculum list until after Hermione is back to normal?”

Dean had become irritated enough at the Professor that the man’s responding glare was only slightly intimidating. Snape spied Dean’s Colt as he approached the bed and requested that it be put away since they had already established he was here to help. The eldest Winchester grudgingly clicked on the safety and stashed it at the small of his back. After a brief examination, Snape smirked into her eyes and pulled out a vial. “It’s a good thing I had a bottle of this left don’t you think?”

“What’s that?”

“Mandrake Draught. For the petrifaction.” He grimaced. “However it must be applied topically.”

Dean snatched the vial from Snape’s hand. “I’ll take that.”

Snape’s brow rose. “Oh?”

Dean shot him a glare. “Yes. Where do I need to apply it? All over or does it work with a partial application?”

The corner of Snape’s mouth quirked and Dean could have sworn there was flicker of something in the flat black of his eyes. “A partial application will work, but the recovery takes longer.”

“Do I need to use gloves or my bare hands? And if I use my bare hands, will it have any side effects on me?”

“Oh, you have been in Hermione’s company for a while, haven’t you?”

Sam stifled a snort, drawing the Wizard’s attention. He kept his eyes on Sam as he answered Dean. “Body heat from your skin will help with the absorption. Side effects are limited to slight intoxication due to your non-magical status.”

Snape cast a privacy charm and sat at the table, motioning Sam to join him. “Tell me, how have you managed to escape the notice of the American Magical Council for all of these years?”

Sam held his gaze for a while, not sure if he could trust the man with their family secrets. He ultimately decided that since Hermione trusted the man, he could as well. Sam told the Professor everything. His mother’s death, their childhood. The tale of which brought shadows to the Wizard’s impossibly dark eyes. He left nothing out, including that last bit of information he had held back from Dean regarding his mother’s recognition of the Yellow Eyed Demon. Snape sat at the table for some time, processing the information, turning it round and round in his mind until he gave a huff.

“Considering the strength of your untrained power, it’s probably for the best you’ve been unnoticed by the magical community until now. It would do well to remain so for as long as possible.”

“Why do you say that? When I think about how many more lives I could have saved…”

“Therein lays the rub Mr. Winchester. The magical community does its very best to remain utterly separate from the non-magical world. There would have been severe consequences if your family had deviated. It’s more difficult to hide from the Wizarding authorities than Muggle. Besides, I think if you had been trained, you most likely would have been recruited by Voldemort. It wasn’t widely known, but he did recruit from the colonies on occasion, if the Wizard was of particular power.”

“My dad wouldn’t have allowed that.”

“You seem to think he would have had a choice. It’s immaterial now. Now that you’re an adult and already on the Council’s non-interference list, private tutoring will be the best course of action.”

“I agree.”

Wizard and Winchester both looked up to find Hermione leaning on Dean, but standing. Her eyes were shining with pride as she looked at Sam and the younger man blushed.

Dean made her sit on the nearer bed to continue her further participation in the discussion. As they rehashed the information Sam provided, Dean let Sam know in his silent but deadly ‘big brother’ glare that Sam’s ass was totally grass for holding out on him about their mom. Oh and also withholding the fact that the demon fed baby Sam its blood.

Snape took a moment to admonish Hermione for their foolishness in not waiting for Potter to take care of the basilisk. “Humanity is a parade of fools and there you are at the front of it, twirling a baton!”*

Before Dean had a chance to get physical, Sam pointed out that they hadn’t wanted additional casualties to happen while waiting for backup. It was agreed that they would wait for Harry before making another attempt. Hermione said she would place anti-Muggle charms on the site to dissuade future visits. She then asked Snape’s opinion regarding Sam’s magical ability suddenly appearing.

Snape put forth his hypothesis that the demon blood had bound Sam’s magic. Magic willing out as it must, the telekinesis began to manifest as a way for his power to have an outlet. The demon’s death released the binding. Sam asked about his visions and Dean reminded him they had all been connected to the children the demon had marked. Sam hadn’t had another vision since that night.

Snape restated that Sam was too powerful to remain untrained and suggested that the best candidates would be either Draco or Remus. Dean’s protest at the mention of Draco had Sam and Hermione snorting back laughter. He also strongly urged them to keep Sam’s additional abilities quiet. On this point all agreed.

Remus was discussed and then all parties agreed he would be best suited to take on the task of training Sam. The logistics of traveling and the actual reality of funding for four people during this exercise in education was brought up. Snape mentioned he had proceeds from a potion development Hermione had assisted him with. She protested and he said since she had refused them before, he would donate the funds toward the Winchester’s needs and she could kiss his arse if she didn’t like it. Remus was a man of means nowadays since Albus had left a sizeable inheritance for him when he passed soon after the war. He would be able to pay his own way. Snape sent Hermione a look that told her he knew she had been surreptitiously funding their travels throughout the country out of her inheritance and Ministry stipend.

Before he left, Snape pulled Dean to the side for a quiet conversation. It was made perfectly clear that should they require assistance in the future, attacking said assistance upon arrival was most ungrateful and would not be tolerated again. Snape went on further to explain that while he respected Hermione’s decision in traveling with the brothers, he had almost convinced her to accept an apprenticeship in Potions and if Dean broke her heart… a Bat Bogey hex would be the least of his worries.

Dean met Snape’s eyes with a steady green gaze. There was a slight tickling in the back of his mind and then the older man nodded and stepped back. Hermione approached him with a smile tinged with melancholy and he placed his large hand on her head before nodding at Sam. He apparated with a muted pop, leaving everyone in a quiet mood.

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Harry arrived without fanfare to take care of the basilisk. After Snape’s story of the unintentional ambush, he apparated in behind the motel and knocked on the door. Hermione was eager to have a visit, but Harry explained that Ginny was due very soon – their third – and she was expecting him back quickly. Hermione was disappointed but understanding and after a speedy introduction to the Winchesters, they went to the caverns. Dean was against Harry going in alone, but Harry made his argument and after, all agreed that it was the wisest choice. He found the snake quickly since it had heard him calling and Harry was shocked to find the creature was actually friendly.

His name was Lum and relieved to have someone to talk to, explained quite happily that his master, an old Wizard from before recorded history on this continent… yes Lum was quite old… had bred him and his mate for companionship. Their master had died many years before their last hibernation. Before his inevitable death, the elderly Wizard had extracted a promise from them that they remain in the bowels of the caverns, but tragedy befell the great reptiles. Lum’s mate had died during their last hibernation. Apparently they hibernate for decades at a time, explaining the limited sightings of Basilisks. The male snake was lonely after traveling the subterranean caves for many years without its companion. It would have remained below, but the increase in demonic activity had brought it to the surface caves, looking for a way to escape.

When Harry gave his recounting of this conversation, Dean asked why the giant snake would be scared of anything and Hermione pointed out that there had been an ongoing exodus of magical creatures leaving the North Americas due to the increased demonic presence. Apparently Demonic creatures and Magical creatures did not mix well. Harry suggested they have Charlie come out to take it to the preserve. The dark haired Wizard said that his wife said Charlie’s last letter to her told of a blind dragon on the preserve that the other dragons had shunned. Harry had already given these details to the snake and Lum was quite agreeable... Sam asked why the giant snake would make a good companion for the dragon and it was explained that since the dragon was blind, the snake would not do it harm with its gaze and the basilisk was almost fireproof. A good thing to be if you hung around a blind dragon.

Hermione sent off a message to Charlie and Harry left, having been the victim of a rather loud Howler from Ginny. She had gone into labor an hour ago and where the bloody hell was he?

It was close to dusk and they were eating take out at a table in the park. Harry had said even though they couldn’t have direct contact, their presence nearby would help comfort the basilisk and keep him from leaving the caverns. Dean pretended to ignore them as Hermione and Sam discussed differences between the Wizarding world and Muggle when a loud ‘crack’ of apparition sounded. Three heads turned to see a stocky red headed man walking toward them with a huge grin.

Hermione jumped up and Dean watched with wide eyes as she flung herself into the man’s arms with a squeal.

“Charlie! Oh it’s so good to see you! Whaa!”

Her question dissolved into a laugh when Charlie swung her around in a circle. Dean had started forward, but the red head set her down and she pulled him over the where the brothers waited.

“Charlie Weasley, these are the Winchesters.” She pointed to each in order. “Dean and Sam, this is Charlie Weasley, one of Ron and Ginny’s older brothers.”

Charlie offered his hand to Sam and then Dean, but held on to the elder Winchester, pulling him in closer with surprising strength. At this range Dean noticed the man wasn’t actually tanned, he was covered in dense freckles. Dean could sympathize. With aggressive brown eyes, Charlie sized him up and then grinned fiercely. “Good to meet you Dean Winchester. About time she met up with someone decent, Wizard or no.”

Charlie clapped him on the shoulder and Dean barely held in a grunt at the force of it. “So where’s the wee beastie?”

The whole thing was pretty anticlimactic. Charlie placed a long-range port key on Lum’s tail and within thirty seconds, the giant snake had disappeared. Charlie hugged Hermione again, admonishing her for not keeping in contact. His mother worries so you know. They shared sympathetic smiles and Charlie shook the brothers’ hands again, warning them to keep an eye on Hermione. She had a penchant for trouble.

The Winchesters were just beginning to understand and appreciate that warning.

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They traveled for a week before Remus arrived with modest fanfare and was absorbed into the group with little difficulty. His patient demeanor and quiet presence was a calming influence. It helped that he seemed to have an unending supply of patience for Sam’s natural inquisitive nature. It was for good reason he had been Hermione’s favorite Professor.

In between hunts, Sam’s lessons progressed steadily. Sam insisted in learning the theory behind each lesson and Remus asked if Hermione and Sam could have been twins separated at birth. Dean snarked and everyone laughed as Remus basked in the aura of acceptance.

The brothers thought nothing of it the first time Remus was called away for several days. He returned and besides his exhaustion, things were normal. They continued their hunts and even visited Bobby’s place. Mr. Singer was wary and distrustful… nothing new. The young Witch’s reverence toward his books seemed to do much to soften his caution.

Hermione was pleased to meet Ellen Harvell and although the older woman was reserved toward the two magic users, she wasn’t rude much to Dean’s surprise. He noticed that Ellen was less standoffish when Remus was in the room and had caught the woman casting measuring looks at the Wizard.

The last time he caught her checking Remus out; Dean smirked at her and laughed when Ellen blushed. The older man had been very careful around the others and although Dean was sure Remus had noticed Ellen’s interest, he never acted on it. The man was either a saint or impotent in Dean’s opinion. Even though Dean would never cross that line, Ellen was a fine example of a mature woman.

TBC…

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*********

*Quote from Brother Odd by Dean Koontz, adapted to fit. Was so very Snapish I couldn’t resist.

Just one more chapter.

Let me know what you think!