Chapter Text
Dean ran his fingers over the silky fabric of the cloak sitting in his lap. He didn’t know what he’d done in his life to be entrusted with something so precious. This was big, almost as big as signing Harry's custody papers. The entire situation humbled him to his core.
Harry had pulled him aside at Owen’s house before they’d left for the airport to catch their portkey and return to England. “Dean, here, if you’re coming to England with us, then you need this more than I do,” he said, placing the familiar silvery fabric in Dean’s hands.
“Harry, no…you keep this. This is your cloak, and you’re in a hell of a lot more danger than I am. There is no way in hell that I’m taking your invisibility cloak,” he said emphatically, already trying to push it back into Harry’s hands.
Harry only crossed his arms though and stepped back, refusing to take it. “Dean, Sam and I both can cast solid disillusionment charms now, Snape saw to that, but you don’t have magic. If you’re going to be skulking around the countryside hunting horcruxes, then you need to be able to disappear. Take it, please.”
Dean only scoffed though, starting to panic that he really should not be trusted with this. “I can disappear fine without magic,” he tried next. “Kid, this your one and only family heirloom, all you have left of your parents, and I’ve assured you before that I’m not going to take it, so I’m not going back on that now.”
Harry shook his head stubbornly. “Dean, that may be a family heirloom, but you’re family. You’re family and I want you to be protected…I think my mum and dad would want you to be protected too, to keep you safe. Please, be safe for me. I care more about you than an old cloak.”
Harry didn’t let go of any of his possessions without a fight. Dean was still working on getting him to toss the old clothes he had from the Dursleys, and this was four years later! And here he was, handing over his most prized possession, begging Dean to take it.
Knowing Harry how he did, Dean realized that continuing to protest would only hurt the kid. So, as much as it freaking scared him, Dean folded the cloak into his arms like the precious possession it was. “Ok, Harry, I’ll keep it safe for you and make sure it doesn’t get any spills or rips or anything on it.”
Dean thought this entire distressing situation was done now, but Harry just shook his head again. “No, Dean, you’re not hearing me. I’m giving you the cloak. It’s yours now. It’s time for me to let it go because I know spells, and you trained me to use stealth and not be seen, and I can do all the things the cloak can do for me and some. But even after this, you hunt vampires and demons and all the nasties in the world, and you could use some invisibility. Sam and I need you to be safe and come home to us. So, take it, let my mum and dad keep you safe.”
Right, now Dean was freaking crying!
And now, sitting on this ridiculous jet still on the tarmac, his eyes were tearing up again. The plane suddenly started moving down the runway, and Dean gasped, clutching the cloak tighter. They were all going to die…!
“Just squeeze my hand tightly; it’s all going to be ok,” Candy pried his fingers loose from the cloak and clasped his right hand in both of hers.
He took in a deep breath and tried to pretend he wasn’t panicking yet again. “You don’t need to babysit me, Candy. Bobby’s here. You can read a magazine or something,” he remarked, knowing that Bobby had already fallen asleep and was snoring at the back of the plane.
Candy only scoffed and held his hand tighter when Dean tensed up more when the plane stopped. That had to mean they were about to take off, right? Right?!
“I already had the photoshoot with Burberry planned anyway, so I’m not babysitting. Now, I do actually have stronger bones than you, so you’re welcome to squeeze away, and just let me be here for you,” she assured him.
Dean did actually squeeze her hand when the plane suddenly darted forward. Fuck! Shit! Dammit! Was it too late to take a boat across the Atlantic?!
He closed his eyes and held his breath. The plane hadn’t fallen from the sky yet and had eventually started to level off. What if the engines just stopped working though? What if they ran out of jet fuel?
“See, we’re all good,” Candy attempted to assure him. "We're in the air, and we're safe."
“Just talk to me…tell me about…about anything, not planes...the wedding or whatever,” Dean said, his eyes still closed and as tense as he’d ever been in his life.
“Of course, Dean,” Candy squeezed his hand back. “Now, Owen’s family has already secured the lawn of the Getty Museum in LA for the ceremony, but my family is really pushing for the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans. If they would actually talk to each other, they would likely be yelling across the entire continental US. Personally, I say we screw all their plans and do something in Chicago, but that hasn’t quite been decided yet.”
“Screw their plans,” Dean gasped out, finally opening his eyes. “It’s your wedding, have it wherever you damn well want it. You and Owen both don’t really get along with your families, so why cater to them now?”
“My thoughts exactly,” she smiled at him. “Now, for colors, I’m thinking pastels since it’s going to be summer. I’m leaning towards lavender with bright yellow accents. I think that would look with both mine and Owen's skin tones.”
"Nothing looks good with Owen's pasty ass, especially not yellow," Dean breathed a little easier, nodding and trying to keep his head in this conversation. “Candy, if you want me to wear a lavender suit, then I’ll damn well wear a lavender suit. It's your wedding.”
She laughed loudly, somehow still not waking up Bobby though. Did Bobby take something before they got on the plane? Why the hell hadn’t he shared?!
“I was thinking light gray suits with a lavender tie actually,” she explained.
“Oh, yeah…that makes more sense,” he said, clutching her hand tighter when the plane seemed to bounce in the air.
Sam walked into the Grimmauld Place kitchen in front of Harry. Whatever this insanity was that they were about to face, Harry didn’t deserve to have to deal with it in the slightest. He scoped out the situation automatically like he always did when entering a new situation. They had friendlies in the form of the Weasley parents, Snape, Sirius behind them, and hopefully Lupin over in the corner. The unknowns were a young woman with pink hair, Dumbledore standing at the head of the table, and a person who Sam really hoped was the actual Alastor Moody.
“Samuel,” Dumbledore said immediately, a look of something like resignation, understanding, and irritation crossing his face. “Of course, Harry has been staying with you over the summers.”
“Hullo, headmaster,” Harry said, putting on a brave face from behind Sam.
“Come in, come in, I just put the kettle on. You must be hungry after traveling,” Molly Weasley stepped around everyone and made room for them at the table.
“I fed them already Molly,” Sirius protested, still standing right behind them now, which Sam was grateful for because he was blocking anyone from attacking them from behind. “I took them for fish and chips right before we came here.”
“Well, a good cuppa wouldn’t go amiss then anyway. Portkey travel runs havoc on the digestive system,” Molly scoffed and pulled down mugs from the cabinet. Sam wondered where Kreacher was and how his ornery debate partner was dealing with his kitchen being taken over.
“How was your summer, boys?” Arthur Weasley asked with a kind smile.
“Er, it was good I suppose,” Harry shrugged, which Sam guessed was fair because none of them wanted to get into the nightmares and stress of Voldemort being back.
“How did this living situation come about? Harry was told very clearly to stay at his relatives’ house for his safety,” Dumbledore waved his hand between them, looking more constipated than anything right now. Sam supposed the relief at Harry not being dead in a ditch somewhere was short lasting.
Before they could answer, Snape scoffed from where he was nursing a cup of what was likely coffee and looking a little paler than normal. What had he been up to for the summer, Sam wondered. “Clearly, Mundungus wouldn’t agree that Harry was safer at his relatives' house,” Snape drawled offhandedly. “And I clearly did not either, which is why I facilitated the guardianship transfer.”
Dumbledore sighed and ran a hand down his beard. “Severus, my boy, you have to realize, you had no right to…”
“No right to what, Albus?” Snape sat his coffee cup down and gave Dumbledore a look that would have had first year Neville peeing in his pants. “I serve as Potter’s guardian during the school year as his head of house, not you. When Potter bought a plane ticket and flew himself to America without permission, I was the only contact Dean Winchester had to reach out to. So, it was my responsibility to go to Privet Drive and inform Potter’s guardians of the situation…imagine my surprise at what I found there and how so very easy it was to get them to sign away custody to someone else. And Dean Winchester was more than willing to take on that custody. All this was legal, exactly as we should have handled it when Potter’s actions came to light, and frankly, something that should have been handled well before Potter felt the need to buy an international plane ticket.”
“Really! But Harry…” Dumbledore whirled around to Harry next, and Sam stiffened, ready to jump in and start throwing punches if needed.
“Of course, Dean was happy to take on Harry’s custody,” Arthur Weasley was the one to cut off Dumbledore this time. “Dean is a very good man. He’s been so good to our family too. He helped get Percy a job with Dorothea Getty’s new house elf initiative after everything happened with the tournament.”
“Percy really is enjoying his new job,” Molly Weasley added on.
The pink haired woman cleared her throat. “Headmaster, it does actually seem legal,” she said tentatively before turning to them. “I’m Nymphadora Tonks by the way, please just call me Tonks though. My mum is your solicitor.”
“Oh, hi! It’s good to meet you!” Sam smiled, now pushing this woman into their friendlies column. Damn, but the friendlies were definitely outnumbering the others now. Awesome!
“A hunter should never be allowed guardianship of magical children. You should know that very well Severus after making one's acquaintance during the last war,” maybe real Moody remarked, staring Sam down as if he were a parasite. Yeah, Sam suddenly decided he liked the Death Eater masquerading as the man more than this guy. What the hell?!
“Alastor!” Molly Weasley rounded on Moody, giving him the most scandalized look Sam had ever seen on a person before. “I’m ashamed of you!”
“Hey, Dean’s my friend,” Sirius cut in, finally stepping away from his sheer enjoyment of the drama to take part in it. “Being a hunter in our society isn’t actually illegal. It’s a grey area because you aurors aren’t competent enough to protect the entire continent.”
“I’m not so sure competence is the issue…” Lupin tried, and Sam still wasn’t sure how he felt about this guy. “I think it’s more of a numbers issue.”
“Technically, being a hunter isn’t illegal, but killing sentient beings definitely is. We just tend to look the other way when that being was putting the Statute of Secrecy in danger or murdering innocents,” Tonks said with a wince. “However, Mr. Winchester hasn’t even been on this continent before, so he hasn’t committed any crimes here.”
“I still don’t understand how the Getty family is involved, even less so now with Mr. Winchester being a hunter. That is an old magical family who would never associate with hunters,” Dumbledore sighed and put both hands on the table as if resigned to coming up with another strategy or whatever he was planning.
“Oh, I thought that was obvious…” Harry raised and eyebrow at them over his teacup that Mrs. Weasley had just given them. “Dean is Owen Getty’s illegitimate son from a whole teenage pregnancy situation. Sam’s dad…Dean’s stepdad, was the hunter.”
The entire room was stunned into silence. Huh…Sam had thought that rumor had spread over here already. It seemed he was wrong. Even Snape shut his mouth and gave them both a dry look at facilitating this lie catching on even more. Well, no one really knew how old Owen was or how old Dean was, so they could all speculate, but how were they going to prove it?
“There is a hunter in the Getty family?” Moody growled lowly in indignation and what sounded like anger or disappointment. Clearly the guy had something against hunters.
Apparently, the Getty family was well respected over in England too…well, Owen didn’t get along with most of them, so Sam wasn’t upset that they were hurting their reputation. Aunt Dorothea should could handle herself and clearly wouldn’t care either based on the letters Sam and Harry had been getting from her recently, welcoming them to the family and setting up a time to get lunch during an upcoming Hogsmeade weekend.
“But that’s…not…” Dumbledore trailed off, seeming completely at a loss now, and Sam was absolutely loving it!
Sam gave a loud, fake yawn. “We’re really tired you know, with the jet lag and all…” It was actually about 1pm in Chicago, but whatever, it was still a good excuse. “Sirius, are we in the same rooms as we were Christmas break?”
Sirius stepped back, clearly to take them out of the kitchen, though Snape stood as well. “You’re sharing this time. We’re a full house at the moment. I put you both in Harry’s room from when you were here before.”
“Cool, no problem,” Sam stood and tugged on the back of Harry’s shirt. It was time to make an exit to let the adults have a meltdown in peace. This wasn’t their responsibility to handle, and Dean could deal with it all when he got into town. Should they warn the group that Dean was on his way…hell no! Again, not their responsibility.
“Come on, kiddos,” Sirius steered them out of the room above the protests of Dumbledore who clearly wanted to question them more.
Snape’s silent form followed them into the hallway and up the stairs. “You doing okay, Professor?” Harry asked even though Sam was about to ask himself. Snape seemed a little under the weather or tireder than usual or something.
“I am well,” Snape assured them, and yeah, Sam didn’t believe him. “I’m just tired from a long summer. I brought Ms. Granger with me earlier today, and she is excited to see you again. I believe your little friends are all waiting impatiently for you both in Mr. Ronald Weasley’s room.”
Sam grinned widely, so very happy to see Hermione and their friends again too. “So, Snape…how’d it go at the Grangers this summer? And how the hell did you get talked into staying there of all places?”
Snape rolled his eyes. “Meredith Granger is a menace,” he sighed though Sam thought he caught some fondness in the look. “And Ms. Granger asks too many questions. I had to put her on a ten question a day limit. I’m sure she will bemoan the situation with you when she sees you. Now, more importantly, Harry, how are you feeling? Are you still having trouble sleeping?”
Harry huffed. “I’m fine, and Dean made sure that I’m sticking to your Dreamless Sleep regimen. Candy even took me for a massage and spa day, which was bloody ridiculous!”
Harry’s hair really did look nicer with the sides cut down short and the curls on the top more artfully tousled. Sam approved and Candy was frankly a genius. Even Sam’s hair got a new style better than how Dean had always cut it before, and the hairdresser had told him that it would grow out nicely if he wanted to grow it longer now like he planned.
“Ah, so that’s why you look more heartthrob and less Dickensian orphan these days,” Sirius joked, ruffling the curls on top of Harry’s head with a grin. “You look good, Harry. You too Sam, I like the new do.”
“Thanks,” Sam grinned and pushed back his longer bangs that were just about long enough to push behind his ears now. Dean gave him grief for it, but Sam liked the look, and Candy said it was dashing.
“Now, I’m staying in that room until Dean is able to be here and look out for you two,” Snape pointed to a door at the end of the hallway. “You come get me if you need anything.”
Sirius scoffed indignantly. “I’m in that room,” he pointed to the room they all knew he was staying in since it was the room he’d been in before. “Come get me if you need anything.”
“Sure, Siri,” Harry patted his arm with a smile. They all knew he and Sam were getting Snape if they needed anything.
“Who’s all living here anyway?” Sam asked, needing to scope out where the danger was going to be coming from.
“Ah, so Hermione and Ginny are sharing what was Sam’s room over break,” Sirius continued walking. “Ron and the twins are all thrown into the master bedroom since it’s largest. We conjured cots for all of them. Molly and Arthur are in the guestroom across from you guys’ room with Snape at the end of the hallway. Dean will have that room when he gets here, and Snape can piss off back to his lair then.”
Snape rolled his eyes. “I’m only here as security since Andromeda doesn’t want either of you without a temporary guardian now that the Order knows about your living situation even if it’s only a day until Dean arrives. Dean had me file the letter he wrote last summer giving me temporary guardianship rights for Harry with Andromeda the minute she took on Harry as a client and sent another one for Samuel.”
“Oh…that’s…that’s really good thinking,” Sam raised a surprised eyebrow at his brother’s shocking ability to think ahead and plan. He knew Dean was really smart, but sometimes it still hit him when Dean caught things well before he did.
“Brilliant…wait, that was Remus’s room before. Where’s he staying now?” Harry asked. Oh, and it’s Remus now? Had those two been talking? Sam needed the scoop there.
Sirius blushed and Sam knew immediately what the answer was going to be. “Oh, er…Remus is bunking with me. It’s er, you know, a full house now.”
“Uh huh…” Sam gave Sirius a look that clearly said he knew exactly what was going on but wasn’t going to push.
“Yeah, cool,” Harry nodded as if that made perfect sense and went into their room. Sam sighed, yeah, Harry hadn’t caught on at all. They really needed to work on that.
“Rest up, and I’ll let your friends know you’re here now,” Sirius said, closing the door behind them quickly.
“So, Remus?” Sam whirled abruptly on Harry who sputtered.
“He’s been writing me. He apologized for being all distant and all. I don’t know…he’s trying now, and that’s important to me,” Harry rushed out.
Sam just looked at him, he still wasn’t sure how he felt about all this. He was willing to give the guy another chance though. Plus, they were leaving Dean in the same house with the guy, so Sam knew Lupin was going to be thoroughly vetted and threatened. “Ok, Remus then,” he nodded, getting a relieved sigh from Harry.
“Do you think it’s too soon to go ahead and write Neville?” Harry asked next, turning to open his trunk with a blush.
Sam laughed. “Nah, man, you should definitely go ahead and tell him we got in safe. I bet Hedwig is hanging out in Sirius’s parlor and impatient for a job anyway.”
“Oh, yeah! I should go check on my baby girl!” Harry forgot all about his letter and immediately ran out of the room. Yeah, this was all Sam’s fault. He’d introduced Dean and Harry, so the fact that his best friend was a mini-Dean now was literally all his fault.
The first person Dean saw when he got off the plane, was definitely Meredith Granger. He didn’t even know what Hermione looked like, but the tall woman with curly dark hair and an air of being able to kill him with her pinky finger, was most definitely his friend Meredith. Well, that and she was supposed to be meeting them because Dean and Bobby weren’t exactly in the country legally, or at least in a standard way. Meredith was clearing their presence and their weapons somehow with the government, and Dean definitely wasn’t asking questions.
Meredith shook Candy’s hand, then her gaze skirted over Dean without recognition to land on Bobby. Dean saw when she finally got it, when she frowned and looked right back at Dean. “Well…of course you’re Dean,” she sighed tiredly as if Dean had somehow made her infinitely sad all of a sudden. “Well, I told you that you were due a hug when we officially met, so come on over here.”
Meredith opened her arms and glared him into walking over and letting her squeeze the life out of him. It was kind of nice. “Hey, Meredith. Good to finally see you…so, I’m what you were expecting?” He asked with a grin when she finally let go of him.
“Bloody hell,” she breathed out, not actually answering his question. She turned to Bobby. “You must be Mr. Singer?”
“I am,” he reached forward and shook her hand. “I hear good things.”
“As do I, and my Richard too. Hopefully, you'll get to meet him in a few days,” she smiled. “Now, tell me about what’s being done to handle this John Winchester then?”
Dean sputtered as Meredith was then nabbed by Candy who suddenly knew plans. Like, where had this all come from? Was Dean’s dad really under investigation from MACUSA for murdering a witch in El Paso? When had that happened? Why would John Winchester have gone after an innocent person not hurting anyone else…actually no, Dean knew the answer to that. If she was a witch, then John wouldn’t have been able to see shades of gray there. When had all this happened though?!
“Did you know anything about this?” He hissed at Bobby while they followed after the women, attempting to keep up.
“Nah,” Bobby grinned widely at him as if his year had just been made. He then threw an arm around Dean’s shoulders. “So, how does my shirt look? Not too much hat hair?”
Damn, but Bobby had actually cleaned up, and Dean had just then noticed. Dean suddenly decided he didn’t want to know what all Candy, Owen, and now Meredith were doing to John Winchester. That wasn’t his problem anymore, and he frankly didn't want to deal with it or ever think about it ever again. This though…this was apparently his problem.
“Stay still,” Dean pulled out of Bobby’s arms to unbutton the top couple buttons of his shirt, flatten the side of his hair that was standing up a little bit, and give the man a sniff to make sure he passed. “Right, you smell fine at least. Did you bring her a gift?”
Bobby scoffed. “Why’d I need to bring Augusta a gift?”
Dean glared for a second before looking over at Candy. “Candy! Can Bobby have your scarf? He didn’t bring Augusta a gift.”
“Sure, baby,” Candy paused in her discussion with a Meredith and untied the silk scarf around her neck to hand over. “Here, that’s Hermès, so respect it,” she glared.
“Yes, ma’am, thank you,” Bobby nodded firmly before folding up the scarf as if it were sacred and not something that neither Dean nor Bobby knew anything about.
“Follow me,” Meredith rolled her eyes but looped her arm through Candy’s again like they were best friends now. “Mr. Black and Madam Longbottom are waiting for you outside the hanger.”
Sirius couldn’t stand still; he was almost vibrating in excitement. Madam Longbottom sighed at him and patted his arm on his third pass by her in his pacing. “It will be fine, Sirius,” she assured him. “Dean and Robert are good, solid people.”
Sirius held back his scoff since that would be disrespectful. “I know they are, but Dean is like…I don’t know, like my best friend and big brother, and I don’t want him to be disappointed in me. Plus, we’re going to walk into sheer chaos when we get back to my house. How are you so calm?”
Madam Longbottom only gave him a smile. “Because Robert and I are not having to deal with that chaos. Also, isn’t Dean only, what, 26? You are 35 if you remember, dear. He can’t be your big brother.”
“I’m basically 23 after 12 years in Azkaban, according to my mind-healer at least,” he tried to stop pacing and calm his breathing. “So, Dean can definitely be my big brother.”
“I do actually know what you mean,” Madam Longbottom unexpectedly said. “I know my Neville has been looking up to that man for three years like a father-figure. I think Dean gets more letters from my grandson than I do. We can’t put this all on him though. Dean is new in this country and is only here to help. We can’t look to him to solve our dark lord issues.”
Sirius nodded and squared his shoulders. “Yes…but also, Dean’s a hunter, so if he wanted to...”
“This isn’t his war,” she cut him off with a warning glare. Sirius seemed to get that look a lot, from a lot of different people.
“Yes, okay, you’re right,” he nodded quickly because she was…even if Sirius secretly thought that Dean was likely going to solve everything for them anyway.
Sirius was facing away when the door opened to the empty office area Mrs. Granger had said they could apparate from. Sirius kept himself from looking for a second to steady his nerves. “Dear Merlin,” Augusta breathed out, and suddenly Sirius was concerned.
“What…?” He spun around and caught sight of the four people walking towards them. There was Mrs. Granger who he had already met, Candy (who was still the most beautiful woman he’d probably seen in his entire life), an elderly man who must be Mr. Singer…and Dean, who looked exactly how Sirius thought he would look, Metallica t-shirt and all.
“Dean!” He yelled and ran forward, attacking the man into a hug.
“Hey, Siri! Good to meet you in person!” Dean returned the hug and patted him on the back. Dean was such a good hugger. Sirius hoped Harry got a lot of these hugs.
Mr. Singer and Madam Longbottom were doing a whole thing with a scarf and hugs too, but Sirius just had to take in his best friend. “Wow, you look good!” He grinned broadly. “You have such a baby face unlike me!”
Sirius pulled Dean over to the others now, so happy they were all together. “I can’t wait until the Order meets you! You should have seen Dumbledore’s expression when Harry walked in with Sam, it was like he saw a thestral in a pink tutu or something! Oh, and Harry showed me his new tattoo! At this rate he’s going to have more than me by the time it’s actually legal for him to have any! It looks so good though! I can’t believe he designed it!”
“Hello, Dean, dear,” Madam Longbottom removed her hand from her mouth in a stunned expression as she looked at Dean as if she were completely flabbergasted. Sirius didn’t know why though. Maybe she thought he would be taller or something.
“Augusta, hello,” Dean awkwardly stepped forward from beside Sirius. “I’m um…well, I’m yeah…”
“Not what I expected,” she said, finishing the thought, with a watery look in her eyes. What was Sirius missing? Why was Madam Longbottom being weird?
“Well, come here then,” she cleared her throat and held her arms out. “If that nincompoop gets a hug, then I should as well.”
“Hey!” Sirius protested with a smile since he was just happy to be there, really.
“Dean, this isn’t your fight,” Madam Longbottom said firmly when Dean was in her arms. “You shouldn’t have to do this…any of it.”
“They’re my kids, of course this is my fight,” Dean scoffed and just gave her a fond look when he pulled back.
“Dear, I need to ask…how old are you actually?” She gave him a deeply knowing look.
Sirius frowned. Dean was twenty-six; she knew that; they'd just been talking about it. Yeah, he looked young, but whatever. Wait…Dean looked really young…like…nah, he was Harry and Sam’s dad basically, he must just have great skin care. Plus, he was dating Snape, or at least sort-of dating Snape. Sirius couldn’t get an actual explanation there, and anyway, Snape was old and like responsible and all.
“Don’t you know…I’m twenty-six,” Dean smirked at her with a wink. What was the wink for? Was Dean not really twenty-six?
Madam Longbottom scoffed and rolled her eyes at him fondly before turning to Mr. Singer. “And you approve of him being here?”
“Augusta, have you ever tried to convince that idjit of anything?” Mr. Singer snorted a laugh. “I was lucky he gave me a heads up so I could insist on coming along.”
“Hmm,” she hummed consideringly. “Robert, maybe you should stay with Dean…”
“No, he’s our secret weapon,” Dean immediately disagreed. “We need a face the rest of this Order thing has never seen before. I’m going to be throwing my weight around a lot, so Bobby needs to be our person under the radar.”
“What if Bobby pretended to be you, and you went with Madam Longbottom?” Meredith suggested, making both Bobby and Dean scoff and just confuse Sirius more.
“Can you really imagine any scenario where Bobby passes as Sam’s brother?” Dean threw back with a laugh, and yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Sirius had to laugh at the thought too.
“Dean’s capable Augusta, you know this,” Mr. Singer put an arm around her, and Sirius’s brain short-circuited. Wait…was there something going on there?! What the bloody hell?!
She only sighed loudly before looking at Sirius. She seemed to be weighing him now. “You look after Dean,” she ordered before shaking her head. “Merlin, who am I talking to? I’ll owl Severus.”
“Hey!” Sirius scoffed again, this time actually offended.
“Well, come here,” Candy stepped forward and pulled down Dean to kiss him on the cheek. “I’m in town for a week, so call the Ritz and ask for me if you need anything,” she instructed.
“Thanks Candy,” he said, blushing slightly.
“You be good,” she pointed her finger at Sirius, and yeah, he resembled that remark. Two days together at the end of the tournament, and she already had Sirius’s measure.
“I’ll walk you out to the main area since we aren’t apparating,” Meredith said to Candy before she told them all goodbye and made Dean promise to call before taking Candy with her towards the public side of the airport.
“You ready?!” Sirius bounced on the balls of his feet again, grinning at Dean. This was going to be brilliant!
“Neville has a lot to answer for,” Augusta sighed but put a hand on Mr. Singer’s arm. “Please be safe, and owl often.”
“You got it!” Dean saluted just as the others disappeared off to wherever Longbottom Manor was.
“What does she mean that Neville has a lot to answer for?” Sirius asked when he put an arm around Dean, so excited he got his friend here in person with him finally.
Dean gave him a very incredulous look. What? What was he missing?
“Let’s go, Siri, I already feel dead on my feet after about a nine-hour flight,” Dean sighed. “I didn’t get any sleep because Bobby didn’t share his drugs with me.”
“Drugs? Like cocaine?” Sirius paused, not having any idea his best friend was into that and not liking it at all.
“No, like Ambien…or Dreamless Sleep, you know,” Dean laughed loudly.
“Oh, ok, don’t take Dreamless Sleep, it’s not muggle safe,” Sirius warned before turning on the spot and apparating them away.
Dean threw up everything he'd eaten on the pavement and decided he was renting a car or stealing one or something because he was never apparating again in his life! Was it this bad for magical people?! Why did they do it if it was?!
“Sorry! First time is rough,” Sirius winced and banished the vomit with a flick of his wand.
Dean got his bearings and tried to breathe. “No, I’m good. That was just…ergh!” He put a hand on Sirius’s arm to steady himself on the dimly lit street corner.
He breathed in again. “Ok, which one is your house?” Dean looked over at the smiling man who he was surprisingly certain still thought he was twenty-six. Yeah…Sirius wasn’t healthy yet. Still, better than that first few conversations they’d had over the phone. This was actually significantly better.
Sirius produced a small slip of paper. “Read this. I kept it on me from bringing Harry and Sam here, but I need to destroy it after you read it,” he said shoving the paper into Dean’s hands. “It should work now that muggle-repelling wards don’t affect you.”
“The Order of the Phoenix is at 12 Grimmauld Place?” Dean read incredulously, then dropped the piece of paper when another fucking house appeared on the street. “What the hell?!”
Sirius swore and picked up the paper really quickly before setting it on fire. “It’s a Fidelus Ward. I can explain it to you later, but we need to get inside.”
“Right yeah,” Dean hurried forward behind Sirius and tried to calm his breathing. Damn, but he was more scared to see Sev again than literally anyone else behind that door. He didn’t care what anyone else thought of him (well, maybe Arthur Weasley), but he hadn’t seen Sev in over a year at this point, and it had been a painful year.
Sirius hurried in, and Dean tried to take in the ancient home, the portrait that was suddenly screaming and that Dean would have shot if his gun hadn’t been in his bag, the magical torches on the walls, and the fact that he could fucking see the magic infused into the house. It was sooo trippy!
Goddammit! He was going to murder Loki when he saw him next! The trickster said he might be able to see wards a little more, but not like this! He could literally see the aura of magic bleeding out of the walls, likely on a much smaller scale than Owen. Damn, but he had a stronger appreciation for Owen now!
“Hey, so look at the stray I picked up!” Sirius shoved him into what looked like a kitchen, though not like one Dean had ever seen before in his life. Was this a normal British kitchen or only a magical one?
The room was full of people, most of them sitting around the table, but a few on the edges of the room too. “Dean!” Sammy was suddenly up and hugging him, and there Harry was too on his other side both wrapping him in their arms.
“Hey, boys, I missed you,” he hugged them tightly back. He was so damn glad it wasn’t going to be nine months before he saw his kids again this time. He wasn’t so sure he could keep doing that.
“Mr. Winchester?” A voice he recognized as Lupin’s asked in a surprised question, clearly surprised at his age than the fact he was there since Sirius would have told him Dean was coming.
“Dean?” And there was Arthur Weasley, someone who also would have known he was coming to England.
Dean looked up from Sam and smiled at the redheaded man. “Well, you look just like Ron,” he smiled fondly to his friend. He was looking forward to geeking out over magic stuff with Arthur at some point if they could ever get past his age now.
“Hey, no he doesn’t!” Ron protested automatically from the table.
“Oh, hey, long time, no see,” he nodded at the only Weasley he’d met in person before.
“Which one is Hermione…Ah, that would be you,” he smiled at the girl who had her mother’s hair. “It’s good to finally meet you after four years of stories.”
Hermione frowned at him and blinked. Dean was proud of his kids. It seemed that they had followed directions and no one had filled their friend in on his actual age.
Dean didn’t have eyes for anyone else though when he met the dark eyes trained on him from the corner of the room. He smiled at Sev, not wanted to greet the man and out how well they knew each other, but also not able to look away. “So…I hear this is the Order of the Phoenix,” he said, physically tearing his eyes away from Sev’s look that was somewhere between hungry and soft. That he was going to deal with later.
“Mr. Winchester?” An older man wearing a garish dress and with a long white beard looked at him incredulously. Gay Gandalf definitely.
Dean inclined a head at him. “Albus Dumbledore,” he guessed, knowing he was right.
“You are…a child…” Dumbledore said in what was definitely an accusation.
“I’m a legal adult, and legally these two’s guardian,” he said, steering the boys back to where they sat again at the table. “Now, I clearly can’t trust you all to keep them safe, so tell me about this Order. What are we doing to off ol’Voldy before he can get to Harry again?”
“Dean…what…how…?” Arthur started but stopped when Dean shot him a look. He wasn’t going to get into the age thing now. They had much more important things to handle before he crashed from jetlag and stress.
“How did you get past the muggle-repelling wards?” A man with a fake-eye and scars asked him in an angered growl.
“A little help from a trickster,” Dean shrugged, not planning on explaining at all. “Now, fill me in on where we are before I go unpack and catch up with the boys.”
“The teenagers should leave first before any meeting business,” a red-headed woman, likely Molly Weasley, spoke up.
Dean looked at her and raised an eyebrow. He liked Arthur's wife, but she was maybe a little too sheltered in his opinion...or maybe just not jaded enough. “We have a demon after Sam, a dark lord and his minions after Harry, and all their friends caught in the crossfire. While I don’t want them in the middle of the action, I want them to know exactly what’s being done and what is important for them to be looking out for. My kids stay; you can do whatever you want with yours.”
“Molly…he does have a point,” Arthur Weasley put his hand on his wife’s arm, both of them looking much paler than when Dean started talking. "More information can only help them better prepare."
The man with the fake eye growled again. “The hell if I’m helping a hunter step a foot into our business!” He pulled something out of his sleeve (definitely a wand), but Sam was already handling it, so Dean stood down. Sam had the man’s wand and a knife pulled between one blink and the next. His little brother really was scary, and Dean was so proud!
It was the next moment though that had Dean not making any new friends in this group at all. The problem was, not everyone was willing to let Sam handle the situation like Dean had been. The headmaster pulled his wand just as Sam’s switchblade flipped open in his hand.
Dean didn’t put any thought into it at all. Later he would thank Meredith Granger for suggesting years ago that he take a few Krav Maga classes, but for now, he reacted without even thinking. Dean redirected the headmaster’s wand away from Sam, hit the man’s elbow with a sharp upwards thrust, and twisted his wrist, disarming the man and holding the wand in his own hand now and safely away from the kids.
Dean held the wand clutched tightly in his fist and stepped back far enough that he was out of reach. “How dare you point a wand at my kid!” He seethed dangerously. Frankly, the man had been lucky his gun was still packed away.
There was complete silence in the kitchen, even the grizzled man with a knife pointed at him didn’t make a noise. Dumbledore head out his suddenly shaking hand. “Accio wand,” he said, a spell that Dean recognized from Harry and Sam using it over the summer.
Dean smiled suddenly much more grateful to Loki and slightly less murderous when nothing happened. Apparently the anti-summoning rune worked wonders. “You pointed a wand at a child, so you’ve lost privileges to this,” he told the man chidingly and with a glare. “Now…who’s going to tell me what you incompetent bunch are doing, or do I need to take my kids and go stay at Longbottom Manor for the rest of the summer? Huh?”