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hells_half_acreTitle: Damned Demented Demons 31/32
Author: ME!
Fandoms: Supernatural/Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13 (for swearing)
Warnings: Spoilers for all Harry Potter books, Spoilers up to 4x17 for Supernatural (but takes place around 4x11).
Disclaimer: Sam and Dean belong to Kripke, Harry Potter belongs to Rowling.
A/N: I thought that the Battle of Hogwarts took place in Spring 1997...so that's what I based my timeline on. Since then I've seen that most sources have it in 1998. Ah well. In this story it's 1997. The events of the story take place sometime in late 2008.
A/N to Chapter 31: If there is anyone out there that does fan-art and reads these notes, and wants to make me a little story-banner, I'd be very appreciative.
Summary: In which Harry is offered a choice.
There was a blade at his wrist and Sam's voice was in his ear, and he finally felt the chain and pendant that was binding them fall away.
"Get Dean and get out of here!" Sam ordered him urgently, and Harry wanted to scream, because he would have loved to obey, he really would.
"I can't," Harry said, his voice cracking, as he tried to keep the world in focus. "You bloody idiot, you've drained me! I can't even get my wand."
"What?" Sam's voice came again, confused.
"Sam, " One of the demons said before Harry could respond. "Have you been snacking between meals?"
"I'm going to kill you" Sam responded, in a chilling matter-of-fact voice.
"All of us?" The demon asked. Harry glanced around the park. There demons stood over Ron, three over Dean, the demon who had spoken standing between the two groups - the leader. Behind them, in the shadows, Harry could see more, but it was so hard to focus, so hard to stay conscious.
"Yes," Sam said, and Harry had to commend him for the excellent bluff.
"Maybe we can come to some sort of deal?" the demon said.
"No," Sam responded.
"You can't kill all of us," the demon said, "you don't have the juice. We won't stand around and let you pick us off one at a time. You attack, we slit the red-head's throat first, then dear old Dean's...actually, no, I have a better idea for Dean."
The demon snapped her fingers and Harry watched in growing horror as a Dementor floated out of the shadows.
"I think Dean might like a little kiss," the demon said. "I know I'd love to watch. You Winchesters almost ruined our plans for Harry here - after we went to all sorts of trouble - it's not easy negotiating with Dementors you know. Such poor conversationalists. We promised them a tasty meal, and we do have to keep our promises..."
"No," Sam responded, but now it was panicked.
"No?" the demon asked, "He'd still be alive. I think it's a pretty good deal. He's alive, but you don't have to put up with his constant whining - his incessant neediness. But...you could always just give us Potter, and I suppose, we could find someone else to feed to the Dementor - though it WILL be disappointed."
"No," Sam said, firmly, "I know Harry's a seal. You can't have him."
Sam stepped sideways in front of Harry, so that Harry was now looking at everything through Sam's legs. If he had his wand, if he had the strength, he could easily draw the devils traps under their feet...stupify their bodies...anything, but it was taking all his concentration not to pass out.
"We could do this the hard way then," the demon sighed.
There was a flurry of activity. The demons rushed passed Dean and Ron's prone forms and come at Sam, who stood, legs braced and arm out. Harry could see the Dementor, hovering still by Dean, he found himself praying that it was one of the ones that liked to torment before it ate...There was a demon, choking, two demons...choking and falling to their knees. But the other's just ran passed their fallen and continued towards them, unrelenting. The leader was gone now, fallen to Sam's hand, but there were still more.
Harry scrambled backwards, tried to pull himself to his feet, but he was easily knocked over as a body slammed him into the ground. A hand in his hair pulled him back up, twisted him around, multiple hands held his arms behind him and held down his legs. He glanced around desperately - Ron still lay on the ground, the Dementor still hovered over Dean as though it was waiting for orders it hadn't yet received, but it was too close...and Sam screamed profanities into the night as five demons held him down - struggled to hold him down, but held him down nonetheless.
A tug on his hair pulled his eyes away from where Sam lay still struggling, still yelling threats, and sometimes actually getting a punch before being restrained again. Harry weakly struggled against his own captors, but it was a feeble attempt given how weak he was.
Harry felt a knife at his throat. He stilled. This was it. The Winchesters had failed to protect him. It wasn't their fault though. He had walked them into a trap - walked them into a trap because he had been trying to do his job, and Sam hadn't wanted to come...so it wasn't their fault. Harry hoped they would forgive him. He hoped Ginny would forgive him too...his kids...
"Open your eyes, Wizard" the deep voice of the demon holding the knife said, "I want you to see this."
Harry opened his eyes, and glared into the black eyes of the demon.
"No," he said, and he didn't know what he was saying no too, not really. He had no way to escape. There was no way out of this. He heard one of the demons holding Sam down begin to choke, and saw another figure run out of the shadows in order to restrain the youngest Winchester further.
"No," Harry repeated.
"Huh," the demon said, as if Harry had asked him a question. "Maybe...maybe you want to deal?"
"No," Harry repeated, though this time it came out confused. Deal? What did he have to offer? They were going to take his life anyway, what could he possibly gain? Harry's head was swimming, from both the exhaustion and the confusion.
A tug on his hair brought his eyes up again.
"Maybe...maybe we don't have to break this seal..." the demon was saying, "there are plenty to choose from after all. Over 400 possible seals once the first breaks - and he did, so pretty. Alls we have to do is break 66 of them, and we're already well on our way. Maybe...maybe we could let you go, if you give us something in return..."
"What?" Harry asked, feeling his legs and arms going limp, too exhausted to even make a feeble attempt at struggling. He felt the other demons who were holding him chuckle.
"Sam Winchester is so useful" one of them laughed, but the laughing was cut off with a sharp look from the demon holding the knife.
"Look at your little friend Ron" the demon said, and Harry forced his eyes to focus across the grass to where he knew Ron lay. Only Ron wasn't laying there anymore. He was still unconscious, but a demon was holding him upright by his hair, in a position that mirrored Harry's...with a knife to his throat.
"No," Harry said, unable to rip his eyes away from the dark blade against Ron's pale skin.
"Or how about your new friend Dean Winchester," the demon continued, and Harry's head was forcibly angled away from Ron and Harry's gaze shifted over to where the Dementor hovered over Dean - dipping menacingly lower now.
"We could take them instead," the demon said. "the choice is yours. We kill you or them. How does that sound? This way, it's your choice whether the seal is broken....doesn't that sound like fun? What's more valuable to you, your life, your best friend's life, a near-strangers life, or preventing the apocalypse? Not that you could prevent it..like I said, you're one of many choices. We don't have to break this seal."
"Why?" Harry asked, "why would you let me stop you from breaking the seal?"
"I'm feeling charitable," the demon responded, "plus, it'd be so much more fun to watch you tell your friend's wife that you ordered his throat slit...so much more fun to watch Sam Winchester's agony after losing his brother again...I miss his agony. The fuckin' angels ruined all our fun by bringing Dean back."
"They'll just bring him back again," Harry said out loud, realizing that if the angels didn't want Dean dead, then it wasn't going to happen.
"Oh, Dean will still be alive though, won't he?" the demon said, "just empty. I don't think the angels care that much about the details - after all, I hear he gives them a lot of lip. Your little friend though...ain't nobody care one way or the other 'bout him."
Harry swallowed.
"The choice is yours, Mr. Saviour," the demon said menacingly.
Harry wondered what would happen if he just let himself pass out. Would they just kill everyone then? Were they actually giving him a chance to prevent the seal from breaking...and all he had to do was kill his best friend and leave Dean Winchester soulless? What kind of choice was that? He was just one seal. The Winchesters could prevent the others, couldn't they? If one out of 66 fell, what did it matter? Only Harry knew that he wouldn't be the first to fall...he remembered Dean pointing to the word Samhain, and telling Harry that they messed that one up. How many had fallen? Could he really choose the apocalypse over his friend?
Sam would die without his brother...Sam would...Sam needed Dean, just as much as Dean needed Sam. Harry could see that. It was what Dean's Patronus knew - knew even though Dean didn't seem to - Harry didn't even know if that was possible, yet somehow he felt it was true. Sam would kill him, if he gave that order. He'd deserve it too.
Why? Why give him this choice? Why give him this horrible choice?
Suddenly there was a popping noise to Harry's right, and a silver otter dashed across his field of vision.
No.
The demons cursed and those that had been holding Harry down pointlessly sprang up and ran towards the newcomer.
No.
In the next instant there was a crackle of electricity, and a distant thud, and then a much closer thwack-squick noise...and then the demon that had been holding the knife to Harry's throat suddenly looked like is had swallowed orange lightening, before it slumped over - eyes wide in disbelief, a knife in it's back.
Harry promptly fell over without anyone to hold him up anymore. From his boneless position on the ground, he could see bodies being tossed around like they were nothing, he could hear cursing and screaming...and above it all, he could hear Hermione's crisp clear tones reciting an exorcism as though she had done so every day of her life.
*
Dean was in hell. Again. He wondered if it was real, but it felt real. There were the screams - his own, others. There was the blood. There was the agony. He was freezing. He didn't remember freezing in hell, but then, sometimes they did like to switch things up. Vaguely he could feel cold grass against his cheek and some distant noise that sounded a bit like Sam swearing.
Sam, Dean thought, he wanted to yell out to him, but he couldn't seem to make a sound. Maybe he had removed his vocal chords. Sometimes he did that...sometimes he liked it when Dean couldn't scream...couldn't drown out his words.
He couldn't remember feeling cold grass against his cheek or Sam swearing in hell though. This was new. This was different.
Then suddenly the world shifted, grew blue where it had been red. He found himself lying in frosted grass in a park, a silvery-blue otter was beside him, and then it vanished the same instant that Dean heard a woman's voice screaming short commands in Latin behind him. The Dementor swooped back towards him, and Dean brought the other tazer up on instinct, fired and watched in satisfaction as the Dementor dropped out of the sky. This all happened in a second's time.
Dean rolled up on his feet and saw a man crouched with a knife to Harry's throat, a hand in Harry's hair. Dean acted on reflex, and before he realized what he had done, Ruby's knife had been launched through the air with a practiced hand, and found it's mark in the demon's back. Dean watched as both the demon and Harry fell over.
There was a demon holding Ron, looking confused, a knife held loosely in its hand. Dean pulled out his flask and launched himself towards it, but Hermione was quicker, and Dean had to duck as the demon sailed over his head a half-second later. Hermione was standing in a devil's trap - standing in the very centre and hurling demons away from her with spells when they got too close...hurling them into smaller devil's traps that seemed to appear underneath them where they landed.
Dean's eyes fell on where Sam lay pinned down, the demons holding him cursing, distracted. Sam was able to get an arm free just as Dean ran over and sprayed holy water on the rest, causing them to scream and lose their grips. Sam threw most of them off, throwing wild punches. His face was covered with blood, and Dean's heart skipped in worry, then he realized that the blood all seemed to be coming from Sam's nose - and now he could see the scorch marks on the grass around where Sam had been pinned - and his worry turned into something even more unpleasant.
Sam was watching transfixed as Hermione didn't seem to breathe between spells, then, finally, began to recite an exorcism in perfect beautiful Latin. Dean looked around and realized that all the demons that were still alive were trapped, snarling. Six demons. Hermione had taken on six demons...and won.
"Sam..." Dean all but breathed.
"She's married," Sam replied, and Dean felt himself smile at the disappointment in Sam's voice.
After the last of the demons had been sent back to the pit, Hermione gave a satisfied nod and then ran over to her husband.
Dean jogged over to check on Harry, and found him lying bonelessly in the grass smiling up at him proudly.
"Dude," Dean said, "Hermione is awesome!"
"I know" Harry said, "can you pick me up?"
Dean's brow furrowed, but he dutifully bent over and pulled Harry up so that he was sitting. Dean realized that he basically had to sit there with him though, or Harry was just going to fall over again. Harry was so pale, Dean could tell he was using the last of his strength to stay conscious. His eyes kept trying to roll back into his head. He glanced at Sam, but Sam was busy furiously wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve and looking guilty.
"That was a close one," Dean said, turning back to Harry, "one more second they would have got you."
"Harry was never the target," Hermione voice suddenly said from behind him. Dean turned to see Hermione and Ron walking over. Ron looked extremely confused. Hermione just looked relieved.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"They needed a saviour to sacrifice," Hermione answered.
"Exactly..." Sam said slowly, furrowing his brow, "they were going to sacrifice..."
"No," Hermione said, "saviour is in the nominative, not the accusative. We lost the distinction in English, but in most Indo-European languages..."
"Wait, what?" Dean asked.
"The saviour isn't the one being sacrificed," Hermione said, rolling her eyes, "he's the one that is doing the sacrificing."
"Holy..." Sam said, staring with wide-eyes at Harry.
"They gave you a choice, didn't they Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Ron and Dean or..." Harry started to say weakly, then broke off and started again, "I couldn't..."
Dean realized that there were tears in Harry's eyes.
"It's alright," Hermione said, sitting down next to Harry, and looking worriedly at him, "Harry? What did they do to you?"
Dean watched as Harry's eyes rolled their way up to glance at Sam for a minute, then flicked to Dean, and then back to Hermione.
"It was an accident," Harry answered.
Dean turned to look at Sam, who was starring at Harry as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Dean was confused for an instant. It wasn't the first time they had seen Harry weak. When he had taken them to the chamber, it had been similar...oh.
"I'm going to pass out now," Harry announced and then he did.
Dean carefully checked his pulse, then slid an arm around his shoulders and another under his legs and scooped him off the ground.
"He just needs sleep right?" Dean asked.
"Uh, yeah," Ron said, "How'd you-"
"Um, promised we wouldn't talk about it, sorry," Dean said.
"This isn't the first time this has happened since he met you?" Ron asked then, and Dean saw his eyes slid sideways towards Sam. Dean bit his lip, but nodded.
"Last time Malfoy was able to-" Sam started.
"Wow, promises really mean nothing to you, do they!?" Dean cut him off. He watched as Sam snapped his mouth shut and glared at him angrily.
"You had the knife Dean, what was I supposed to do?" Sam ground out.
Dean sighed.
"Nevermind," Dean said, "forget I mentioned it. Hey Hermione? Can you apparate two people at once?"
"Yes," Hermione said, "but I thought you didn't-"
"I think we should get Harry to the safe-house so he can rest up." Dean said, "Sam, Ron, why don't you see if any of these poor bastards around us are still alive...then, you know...clean up."
"Dean-" Sam started to say, but Dean cut him off.
"Drive my baby to the safe-house for me, ok?"
He watched as Sam decided how angry he wanted to be, and was relieved when he saw a familiar resigned expression come across his face.
"Yeah, ok" Sam said.
"Thanks," Dean replied, then turned to Hermione, "alright, let's get this over with. Harry's heavier than he looks."
Hermione smiled as she gripped his arm tightly, and Dean reflexively tightened his grip around Harry as everything momentarily went black.
Chapter 32
Master post
Author: ME!
Fandoms: Supernatural/Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13 (for swearing)
Warnings: Spoilers for all Harry Potter books, Spoilers up to 4x17 for Supernatural (but takes place around 4x11).
Disclaimer: Sam and Dean belong to Kripke, Harry Potter belongs to Rowling.
A/N: I thought that the Battle of Hogwarts took place in Spring 1997...so that's what I based my timeline on. Since then I've seen that most sources have it in 1998. Ah well. In this story it's 1997. The events of the story take place sometime in late 2008.
A/N to Chapter 31: If there is anyone out there that does fan-art and reads these notes, and wants to make me a little story-banner, I'd be very appreciative.
Summary: In which Harry is offered a choice.
Chapter
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
Interlude |
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
Interlude |
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
There was a blade at his wrist and Sam's voice was in his ear, and he finally felt the chain and pendant that was binding them fall away.
"Get Dean and get out of here!" Sam ordered him urgently, and Harry wanted to scream, because he would have loved to obey, he really would.
"I can't," Harry said, his voice cracking, as he tried to keep the world in focus. "You bloody idiot, you've drained me! I can't even get my wand."
"What?" Sam's voice came again, confused.
"Sam, " One of the demons said before Harry could respond. "Have you been snacking between meals?"
"I'm going to kill you" Sam responded, in a chilling matter-of-fact voice.
"All of us?" The demon asked. Harry glanced around the park. There demons stood over Ron, three over Dean, the demon who had spoken standing between the two groups - the leader. Behind them, in the shadows, Harry could see more, but it was so hard to focus, so hard to stay conscious.
"Yes," Sam said, and Harry had to commend him for the excellent bluff.
"Maybe we can come to some sort of deal?" the demon said.
"No," Sam responded.
"You can't kill all of us," the demon said, "you don't have the juice. We won't stand around and let you pick us off one at a time. You attack, we slit the red-head's throat first, then dear old Dean's...actually, no, I have a better idea for Dean."
The demon snapped her fingers and Harry watched in growing horror as a Dementor floated out of the shadows.
"I think Dean might like a little kiss," the demon said. "I know I'd love to watch. You Winchesters almost ruined our plans for Harry here - after we went to all sorts of trouble - it's not easy negotiating with Dementors you know. Such poor conversationalists. We promised them a tasty meal, and we do have to keep our promises..."
"No," Sam responded, but now it was panicked.
"No?" the demon asked, "He'd still be alive. I think it's a pretty good deal. He's alive, but you don't have to put up with his constant whining - his incessant neediness. But...you could always just give us Potter, and I suppose, we could find someone else to feed to the Dementor - though it WILL be disappointed."
"No," Sam said, firmly, "I know Harry's a seal. You can't have him."
Sam stepped sideways in front of Harry, so that Harry was now looking at everything through Sam's legs. If he had his wand, if he had the strength, he could easily draw the devils traps under their feet...stupify their bodies...anything, but it was taking all his concentration not to pass out.
"We could do this the hard way then," the demon sighed.
There was a flurry of activity. The demons rushed passed Dean and Ron's prone forms and come at Sam, who stood, legs braced and arm out. Harry could see the Dementor, hovering still by Dean, he found himself praying that it was one of the ones that liked to torment before it ate...There was a demon, choking, two demons...choking and falling to their knees. But the other's just ran passed their fallen and continued towards them, unrelenting. The leader was gone now, fallen to Sam's hand, but there were still more.
Harry scrambled backwards, tried to pull himself to his feet, but he was easily knocked over as a body slammed him into the ground. A hand in his hair pulled him back up, twisted him around, multiple hands held his arms behind him and held down his legs. He glanced around desperately - Ron still lay on the ground, the Dementor still hovered over Dean as though it was waiting for orders it hadn't yet received, but it was too close...and Sam screamed profanities into the night as five demons held him down - struggled to hold him down, but held him down nonetheless.
A tug on his hair pulled his eyes away from where Sam lay still struggling, still yelling threats, and sometimes actually getting a punch before being restrained again. Harry weakly struggled against his own captors, but it was a feeble attempt given how weak he was.
Harry felt a knife at his throat. He stilled. This was it. The Winchesters had failed to protect him. It wasn't their fault though. He had walked them into a trap - walked them into a trap because he had been trying to do his job, and Sam hadn't wanted to come...so it wasn't their fault. Harry hoped they would forgive him. He hoped Ginny would forgive him too...his kids...
"Open your eyes, Wizard" the deep voice of the demon holding the knife said, "I want you to see this."
Harry opened his eyes, and glared into the black eyes of the demon.
"No," he said, and he didn't know what he was saying no too, not really. He had no way to escape. There was no way out of this. He heard one of the demons holding Sam down begin to choke, and saw another figure run out of the shadows in order to restrain the youngest Winchester further.
"No," Harry repeated.
"Huh," the demon said, as if Harry had asked him a question. "Maybe...maybe you want to deal?"
"No," Harry repeated, though this time it came out confused. Deal? What did he have to offer? They were going to take his life anyway, what could he possibly gain? Harry's head was swimming, from both the exhaustion and the confusion.
A tug on his hair brought his eyes up again.
"Maybe...maybe we don't have to break this seal..." the demon was saying, "there are plenty to choose from after all. Over 400 possible seals once the first breaks - and he did, so pretty. Alls we have to do is break 66 of them, and we're already well on our way. Maybe...maybe we could let you go, if you give us something in return..."
"What?" Harry asked, feeling his legs and arms going limp, too exhausted to even make a feeble attempt at struggling. He felt the other demons who were holding him chuckle.
"Sam Winchester is so useful" one of them laughed, but the laughing was cut off with a sharp look from the demon holding the knife.
"Look at your little friend Ron" the demon said, and Harry forced his eyes to focus across the grass to where he knew Ron lay. Only Ron wasn't laying there anymore. He was still unconscious, but a demon was holding him upright by his hair, in a position that mirrored Harry's...with a knife to his throat.
"No," Harry said, unable to rip his eyes away from the dark blade against Ron's pale skin.
"Or how about your new friend Dean Winchester," the demon continued, and Harry's head was forcibly angled away from Ron and Harry's gaze shifted over to where the Dementor hovered over Dean - dipping menacingly lower now.
"We could take them instead," the demon said. "the choice is yours. We kill you or them. How does that sound? This way, it's your choice whether the seal is broken....doesn't that sound like fun? What's more valuable to you, your life, your best friend's life, a near-strangers life, or preventing the apocalypse? Not that you could prevent it..like I said, you're one of many choices. We don't have to break this seal."
"Why?" Harry asked, "why would you let me stop you from breaking the seal?"
"I'm feeling charitable," the demon responded, "plus, it'd be so much more fun to watch you tell your friend's wife that you ordered his throat slit...so much more fun to watch Sam Winchester's agony after losing his brother again...I miss his agony. The fuckin' angels ruined all our fun by bringing Dean back."
"They'll just bring him back again," Harry said out loud, realizing that if the angels didn't want Dean dead, then it wasn't going to happen.
"Oh, Dean will still be alive though, won't he?" the demon said, "just empty. I don't think the angels care that much about the details - after all, I hear he gives them a lot of lip. Your little friend though...ain't nobody care one way or the other 'bout him."
Harry swallowed.
"The choice is yours, Mr. Saviour," the demon said menacingly.
Harry wondered what would happen if he just let himself pass out. Would they just kill everyone then? Were they actually giving him a chance to prevent the seal from breaking...and all he had to do was kill his best friend and leave Dean Winchester soulless? What kind of choice was that? He was just one seal. The Winchesters could prevent the others, couldn't they? If one out of 66 fell, what did it matter? Only Harry knew that he wouldn't be the first to fall...he remembered Dean pointing to the word Samhain, and telling Harry that they messed that one up. How many had fallen? Could he really choose the apocalypse over his friend?
Sam would die without his brother...Sam would...Sam needed Dean, just as much as Dean needed Sam. Harry could see that. It was what Dean's Patronus knew - knew even though Dean didn't seem to - Harry didn't even know if that was possible, yet somehow he felt it was true. Sam would kill him, if he gave that order. He'd deserve it too.
Why? Why give him this choice? Why give him this horrible choice?
Suddenly there was a popping noise to Harry's right, and a silver otter dashed across his field of vision.
No.
The demons cursed and those that had been holding Harry down pointlessly sprang up and ran towards the newcomer.
No.
In the next instant there was a crackle of electricity, and a distant thud, and then a much closer thwack-squick noise...and then the demon that had been holding the knife to Harry's throat suddenly looked like is had swallowed orange lightening, before it slumped over - eyes wide in disbelief, a knife in it's back.
Harry promptly fell over without anyone to hold him up anymore. From his boneless position on the ground, he could see bodies being tossed around like they were nothing, he could hear cursing and screaming...and above it all, he could hear Hermione's crisp clear tones reciting an exorcism as though she had done so every day of her life.
*
Dean was in hell. Again. He wondered if it was real, but it felt real. There were the screams - his own, others. There was the blood. There was the agony. He was freezing. He didn't remember freezing in hell, but then, sometimes they did like to switch things up. Vaguely he could feel cold grass against his cheek and some distant noise that sounded a bit like Sam swearing.
Sam, Dean thought, he wanted to yell out to him, but he couldn't seem to make a sound. Maybe he had removed his vocal chords. Sometimes he did that...sometimes he liked it when Dean couldn't scream...couldn't drown out his words.
He couldn't remember feeling cold grass against his cheek or Sam swearing in hell though. This was new. This was different.
Then suddenly the world shifted, grew blue where it had been red. He found himself lying in frosted grass in a park, a silvery-blue otter was beside him, and then it vanished the same instant that Dean heard a woman's voice screaming short commands in Latin behind him. The Dementor swooped back towards him, and Dean brought the other tazer up on instinct, fired and watched in satisfaction as the Dementor dropped out of the sky. This all happened in a second's time.
Dean rolled up on his feet and saw a man crouched with a knife to Harry's throat, a hand in Harry's hair. Dean acted on reflex, and before he realized what he had done, Ruby's knife had been launched through the air with a practiced hand, and found it's mark in the demon's back. Dean watched as both the demon and Harry fell over.
There was a demon holding Ron, looking confused, a knife held loosely in its hand. Dean pulled out his flask and launched himself towards it, but Hermione was quicker, and Dean had to duck as the demon sailed over his head a half-second later. Hermione was standing in a devil's trap - standing in the very centre and hurling demons away from her with spells when they got too close...hurling them into smaller devil's traps that seemed to appear underneath them where they landed.
Dean's eyes fell on where Sam lay pinned down, the demons holding him cursing, distracted. Sam was able to get an arm free just as Dean ran over and sprayed holy water on the rest, causing them to scream and lose their grips. Sam threw most of them off, throwing wild punches. His face was covered with blood, and Dean's heart skipped in worry, then he realized that the blood all seemed to be coming from Sam's nose - and now he could see the scorch marks on the grass around where Sam had been pinned - and his worry turned into something even more unpleasant.
Sam was watching transfixed as Hermione didn't seem to breathe between spells, then, finally, began to recite an exorcism in perfect beautiful Latin. Dean looked around and realized that all the demons that were still alive were trapped, snarling. Six demons. Hermione had taken on six demons...and won.
"Sam..." Dean all but breathed.
"She's married," Sam replied, and Dean felt himself smile at the disappointment in Sam's voice.
After the last of the demons had been sent back to the pit, Hermione gave a satisfied nod and then ran over to her husband.
Dean jogged over to check on Harry, and found him lying bonelessly in the grass smiling up at him proudly.
"Dude," Dean said, "Hermione is awesome!"
"I know" Harry said, "can you pick me up?"
Dean's brow furrowed, but he dutifully bent over and pulled Harry up so that he was sitting. Dean realized that he basically had to sit there with him though, or Harry was just going to fall over again. Harry was so pale, Dean could tell he was using the last of his strength to stay conscious. His eyes kept trying to roll back into his head. He glanced at Sam, but Sam was busy furiously wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve and looking guilty.
"That was a close one," Dean said, turning back to Harry, "one more second they would have got you."
"Harry was never the target," Hermione voice suddenly said from behind him. Dean turned to see Hermione and Ron walking over. Ron looked extremely confused. Hermione just looked relieved.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"They needed a saviour to sacrifice," Hermione answered.
"Exactly..." Sam said slowly, furrowing his brow, "they were going to sacrifice..."
"No," Hermione said, "saviour is in the nominative, not the accusative. We lost the distinction in English, but in most Indo-European languages..."
"Wait, what?" Dean asked.
"The saviour isn't the one being sacrificed," Hermione said, rolling her eyes, "he's the one that is doing the sacrificing."
"Holy..." Sam said, staring with wide-eyes at Harry.
"They gave you a choice, didn't they Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Ron and Dean or..." Harry started to say weakly, then broke off and started again, "I couldn't..."
Dean realized that there were tears in Harry's eyes.
"It's alright," Hermione said, sitting down next to Harry, and looking worriedly at him, "Harry? What did they do to you?"
Dean watched as Harry's eyes rolled their way up to glance at Sam for a minute, then flicked to Dean, and then back to Hermione.
"It was an accident," Harry answered.
Dean turned to look at Sam, who was starring at Harry as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Dean was confused for an instant. It wasn't the first time they had seen Harry weak. When he had taken them to the chamber, it had been similar...oh.
"I'm going to pass out now," Harry announced and then he did.
Dean carefully checked his pulse, then slid an arm around his shoulders and another under his legs and scooped him off the ground.
"He just needs sleep right?" Dean asked.
"Uh, yeah," Ron said, "How'd you-"
"Um, promised we wouldn't talk about it, sorry," Dean said.
"This isn't the first time this has happened since he met you?" Ron asked then, and Dean saw his eyes slid sideways towards Sam. Dean bit his lip, but nodded.
"Last time Malfoy was able to-" Sam started.
"Wow, promises really mean nothing to you, do they!?" Dean cut him off. He watched as Sam snapped his mouth shut and glared at him angrily.
"You had the knife Dean, what was I supposed to do?" Sam ground out.
Dean sighed.
"Nevermind," Dean said, "forget I mentioned it. Hey Hermione? Can you apparate two people at once?"
"Yes," Hermione said, "but I thought you didn't-"
"I think we should get Harry to the safe-house so he can rest up." Dean said, "Sam, Ron, why don't you see if any of these poor bastards around us are still alive...then, you know...clean up."
"Dean-" Sam started to say, but Dean cut him off.
"Drive my baby to the safe-house for me, ok?"
He watched as Sam decided how angry he wanted to be, and was relieved when he saw a familiar resigned expression come across his face.
"Yeah, ok" Sam said.
"Thanks," Dean replied, then turned to Hermione, "alright, let's get this over with. Harry's heavier than he looks."
Hermione smiled as she gripped his arm tightly, and Dean reflexively tightened his grip around Harry as everything momentarily went black.
Chapter 32
Master post
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 05:24 am (UTC)All evidence seems to point to Sam and Dean being attracted to strong women, so it only seemed logical for them to be a little smitten with Hermione ;-)
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Date: 2009-09-30 01:55 am (UTC)Love that Dean's in charge and willing to be apparated, Hermione's spontaneous linguistic lesson, and really this whole thing.
I'm actually really sad this fic only has one chapter remaining. It's such a ride.
Thanks for posting :D
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Date: 2009-09-30 05:27 am (UTC)I'm sad that there's only one chapter left too! I must admit, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do with myself most evenings when I would ordinarily be working on this.
Thanks for reading!
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Date: 2009-09-30 02:42 am (UTC)also love the fact that winchesters have crush on hermione after she blasts the demons *cue mad giggling*
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Date: 2009-09-30 05:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 02:56 am (UTC)Lucky lucky Ron.
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Date: 2009-09-30 05:32 am (UTC)Thanks for reading!
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Date: 2009-09-30 03:26 am (UTC)By the way...Awesome!
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Date: 2009-09-30 05:34 am (UTC)And yes, what happened to Dean will be touched on briefly in the relatively safe environment of the conclusion :-)
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Date: 2009-09-30 09:12 am (UTC)This I VERY LIKE, though:
"Sam..." Dean all but breathed.
"She's married," Sam replied
YUS HERMIONE SAAAAVES THE DAY!!! Awesome. Six demons!! Wow. Perfect timing! Now we just have to find out how she knew when to come, and where to come...
Wow, that seal twist was amazing and totally unexpected! I thought it was a bit suspicious that the demons were offering to let Harry live. I mean, that's just not demon style, you know? A perfect twist.
"I'm going to pass out now," Harry announced and then he did.
LMAO!! Typical Harry; he even has to pass out with style! :D
LOVE IT!! The next one had better come just as quickly!! And, you know, if you're in the mood, feel free to make it novel length... :D
Ooooh, and can we have some Cas??? Pleaaassey?
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Date: 2009-09-30 05:52 pm (UTC)I'm glad you didn't see my little twist coming! Who knew grammar could come in so handy. :-)
Next one should be up by the end of the day (my day, at least).
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Date: 2009-09-30 10:14 am (UTC)No, really.
I mean, wow.
I've read so freakin' much that I can usually spot plot-twists a mile away, but you managed to surprise me - you deserve cookies.
And I love how Dean's a little besotted after Hermione shows and kicks ass.
But I think the most heartbreakingly in-character bit you managed to include was this: "Wow, promises really mean nothing to you, do they!?"
And I know what you mean about coming to the end of a story and not knowing what to do next - just give yourself a couple of days before writing anything new and you'll be fine.
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Date: 2009-09-30 05:56 pm (UTC)And yeah, as much as I love the Winchesters when they are getting along and everything is great...this fic is set mid-s4, and I had to keep it true to the brother's relationship at that time. :-(
I'm very happy that you liked it!
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Date: 2009-09-30 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 05:57 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading :-)
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Date: 2009-09-30 09:01 pm (UTC)Dean and Sam both crushing on Hermione is absloutly cute, oh Hermione how much you have grown :)
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Date: 2009-09-30 09:27 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading (everything)! :-)
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Date: 2009-10-12 06:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-12 08:29 am (UTC)