Chapter Text
They’d made good time, arriving in the picturesque town shortly before lunch, Hermione asked Dean to drop her off at the small hotel located on main street and she would take their overnight bags and book a couple of rooms for them before heading over to the library to do some local research while Dean visited his hunter friend who lived just outside of the town.
The hunter and the witch agreed to meet up around six pm in the family run bar and grill across from the hotel. Hermione exited the town’s library slinging her backpack over her shoulder and began walking the three blocks to the restaurant where she’d arranged to meet Dean, she was feeling quite pleased with her research today and surprisingly she’d found that she had missed having him around. When Dean wasn’t being a total pain in the arse he was actually quite fun to talk to, full of surprising facts and general knowledge. Her treacherous inner voice wouldn’t shut up about the fact that Dean was easy on the eyes.
Hermione almost had a minor aneurysm that morning when she had woken up to find herself wrapped round him, her body molding itself to his, but her arm was curled over him in a protective manner, practically hugging him to death. Her pulse raced faster as she allowed herself a brief moment to remember the way his chest muscles had felt so warm and firm under her palm and fingertips, it had taken an enormous amount of will power on her part to actually get out of bed before she ended up doing something stupid and reckless like giving his bum a squeeze or running her fingers along his muscular thighs.
As Hermione entered the bar she gave her head a minuscule shake to get rid of the R rated wishful thinking that her brain was playing in technicolor. She spotted Dean sitting in a corner booth idly picking at the label on his beer bottle, Hermione stopped at the bar and purchased two fresh bottles of beer and headed over to his table.
“Wotcher Winchester, how’s it hanging?” she asked cheerfully, slipping gracefully into the seat opposite the green eyed hunter and sliding one of the bottles across the table to him.
Dean’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as he gave her a cheeky smile and answered “Heavy and to the left thanks for asking.” He took a swig from the fresh bottle and licked his lips “So how’d it go today, find out anything interesting?”
Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out a medium sized notepad, she flicked through it’s pages till she found the ones she had written earlier. “Okay, so I have spent the afternoon scouring the local archives for any unusual deaths, murders or suicides but I can’t find anything that even remotely relates to the school. The school itself appears to be just a bog standard school, it was built thirty years ago and as far as I can tell from the land records there seems to be nothing strange with the plot of land it’s built upon.”
Dean pulled a face “Well isn’t that just freaking great” he said in a tone heavy with sarcasm “So if it’s not a poltergeist, what is it?”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t a poltergeist. I’m saying that it’s not a normal poltergeist and certainly not one that can be got rid of by doing a simple salt and burn.” She said in a tone that Ron and Harry would call “her know it all voice”, Hermione took a moment to finish her drink and at Dean’s impatient look and raised eyebrows she continued. “What I think we’ve got here, is a chaotic spirit which is born from excess human energies and an influx of magic.”
“I’m sorry. What?” Dean asked interrupting Hermione.
Hermione withheld a sigh “To put it simply, high schools are a melting pot full of teenage emotions. Anger, angst, despair, horniness, pride” she ticked them off on her fingers “and so forth, now normally this just dissipates into the wind but if you add something that is giving off enough magical mojo, then all of those ingredients gets blended up and voila. One magical poltergeist or chaotic spirit is born.”
Dean frowned “What kind of magical object do you think we’re talking about here? Hex bags and witches or artifact?”
“I won’t know until tomorrow when we check out the school, but I’m hoping that as it’s a fairly young spirit that once we remove whatever is powering it then the spirit should eventually fade away or at the very least not get any stronger. But only time will tell I’m afraid.” She reached into her bag and retrieved a small brown leather backed book that looked like it had seen better days, Hermione thumbed through the pages till she had found what she had been searching for. “Here” she said handing it over to Dean “this will give you a bit more insight on them and while you’re catching up I think it’s time to order some food because I am bloody ravenous.” Her stomach decided to emphasise her point by choosing that moment to let off a loud growling noise.
Dean laughed and leaned back in his seat, pretending to hold up his hands in surrender “Should I be worried about you eating me if you don’t get fed soon?”
Don’t reply with innuendo. Don’t reply with innuendo! The sensible side of Hermione’s brain chanted, however the countless years of friendly cheeky bantering with Ron’s brothers had made answering back with “Only if you misbehave.” almost instantaneous, not to mention the accompanying wink.
“Excuse me?” spluttered Dean choking on his beer.
Desperate to keep her cool and to hide the fact her cheeks felt like they were on fire Hermione hid behind a menu and changed the subject entirely.
“So how do you know so much about magical poltergeists?” Dean asked a short while later, pulling a weird face as if the words magical poltergeists left a nasty taste in his mouth.
Hermione took time to explain about Peeves, the different ghosts that reside in Hogwarts and all of Peeve’s antics during her years at the school, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of victory as Dean let loose with a full on belly laugh as Hermione imitated Professor McGonagal’s Scottish brogue telling Peeves that the chandelier unscrewed the other way, an incident that Harry had witnessed during their fifth year at Hogwarts.
The hunter and the witch lost track of time as they spent the evening swapping stories of the crazy antics they’d gotten up to in their past not to mention the obligatory embarrassing stories of Sam, Harry and Ron, it came as bit of a shock to Hermione and Dean when the young waiter who came to collect their empty bottles told them that the tavern would be closing shortly. At some point during the evening they had paid for dinner and had progressed from the booth where they’d eaten to one of the soft brown leather sofas in front of a fake log fire.
Hermione pushed herself to her feet and held her hand out to Dean “Come on old man, I’ll be a good Samaritan and assist you across the road to our hotel” she said ignoring the faster beat of her heart as he placed his warm calloused hand in hers and tugged him up on his feet.
“You’re stronger than you look Princess” remarked Dean sounding surprised.
“It must be all those years of putting tiaras on my noble head paying off” Hermione joked rolling her eyes at him.
“Geez. What is it with you Brits and sarcasm?” Dean asked as he held the tavern door open for her.
Hermione shoved her hands in her pockets “I have absolutely no idea what you’re going on about, what is this sarcasm you speak of?” She said looking at Dean innocently.
Hermione nodded hello to the member of staff manning the front desk and led the way to the lift, inside the lift Hermione handed Dean the key to his room “You’ll be pleased to know that you get the whole bed to yourself tonight…” she paused as she realised how that sounded.
“It wasn’t exactly a hardship sharing a bed with you Hermione,” Dean replied softly.
When the lift doors pinged open on their floor, Hermione and Dean walked down the red carpeted hallway in a charged silence.
“Well this is me, you’re just next door” Hermione said putting her key card in the door, she turned to face him leaning her body against the door jamb. For some inexplicable reason Hermione’s legs felt like they’d been hit with a jelly legs jinx.
The hunter and witch stared at each other in that generic cream hallway, the seconds seeming to last forever.
Dean rubbed the back of his neck “You know what Hermione? I had fun tonight.”
“There’s no need to sound so surprised Dean,” Hermione replied, the hidden laughter evident in her voice “I had fun too.”
Dean placed the hand that had been rubbing the back of his neck on the wall next to Hermione, his body automatically leaning in closer to hers “The night is still young, do you fancy a nightcap?”
The seven inches height difference between them and his close proximity meant Hermione had to really tilt her head up to look at Dean’s face, when her warm brown eyes met his gold flecked green, the air around them crackled with intensity. Dean’s eyes dropped to Hermione’s lips as her tongue appeared briefly to moisten them.
Numerous responses and desires passed through Hermione’s brain, however her common sense won out. “I’d like that Dean, unfortunately I don’t think that’s a good idea as I’ve got to get up in a couple of hours to ring London, that time difference is a right pain in the arse.” She wasn’t lying to Dean, she really did have to ring the office but not as early as she’d implied, they both knew what would happen if they had a ‘nightcap’ and as much as she wanted him, the timing just wasn’t right.
She couldn’t help but feel just a bit guilty as Dean’s expression went from open and happy to polite and closed. “No worries, another time then.” he said taking a step back from her door.
“Sweet dreams Princess, see you at breakfast.” Dean walked the short distance to his door and gave her a small salute before entering his room closing the door behind him.
Hermione let out a long audible sigh and retreated into her room, her decision weighing heavily on her mind, she flopped heavily onto the soft queen sized bed knowing that sleep would be a long time coming that night.
To an outsider any interactions between Dean and Hermione would seem friendly and normal but if a person who knew them well was observing the witch and hunter during breakfast and then later in the car on the way to the school it would be obvious from the under lying tension that something had changed between them.
Hermione did her best to stamp out the embers of jealousy that flared up every time Dean flashed the vice principal who was showing them around the school his dimpled smile. However irritated Hermione was feeling with herself and by association Dean she couldn’t deny he had extremely good hunting instincts, it was as they were finishing up the tour and were just chatting to Ms Ford the high school's vice principal in her office that he discretely got her attention and nodded at a small viking statue carved from stone that was on a shelf situated behind the vice principal's desk
“Oh my, what an interesting statue. Where ever did you find it?” Hermione asked, leaned forward to get a closer look.
The vice principal visibly preened as Hermione gushed over the statue. “I found it in a little flea market earlier this year when I was visiting my sister in New York, I was celebrating my divorce" She looked directly at Dean as she spoke.
Hermione tuned out of the conversation as she felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rise, the spirit was in the room with them, in fact she was pretty sure that it had been following them around the school, keeping just far enough away so they didn't notice it. Pretending to pick up her pen off the floor Hermione cast a discrete but simple spell that allowed her to get a feel for the spirit's power level, it was as she was sitting back in her chair that she felt a ghostly finger insert itself into her ear and wiggle, aware that Ms Ford and Dean were both looking at her expectantly Hermione gritted her teeth against the natural response of shrieking and raised an eyebrow at Dean hoping he'd get the hint and fill her in on what she had missed.
Luckily Dean had recieved her message loud and clear and proceeded to tell her that they were invited to watch the game tonight as the Principle's guests and that he'd agreed on her behalf because it would be a shame for her to go back to the UK and not to have watched a high school football game. Despite the fact she had no desire to watch American football Hermione smiled and agreed knowing that tonight would be the ideal time to come back and switch the viking statue out with a fake.
After leaving the school Hermione asked Dean to take her to the nearest hardware or art store.
"Are you going to share with the rest of the class why we're going shopping?" the hunter asked, his thumbs tapping out a rhythm on the black leather steering wheel.
Hermione resisted the urge to rub the ear that the spirit had 'wet willied' "I need a small tin of uv paint just so I can make sure that the spirit stays locked to the school, I certainly don't want him hitching a ride home with us. That reminds me, do you have an iron strong box in the trunk?"
"Yeah, I double checked this morning before breakfast, it's big enough for that weird ass viking statue." Dean turned his head to look at Hermione "So, are you excited to be watching your first football game tonight?" he asked with a grin.
Hermione gave him a wicked grin "Are you kidding me, all those hot, sweaty young adults in peak physical health running around in tight trousers, of course I'm looking forward to it." she paused for a second, enjoying the sound of Dean's laughter reverberating around the Impala. "When we get back to the hotel, it might be an idea for you to type in the number of a local taxi firm into your phone."
"And why would I want to do that?" Dean asked looking confused.
"Well I think Ms Ford was wanting to give you some oral homework" Hermione said with a slight snigger. "Tell me Dean, are you hot for teacher?"
"And people think I'm the immature one" grumbled Dean under his breath as he pulled into a empty parking spot. "Come on Princess let's get your paint and then you can buy me dinner".
Just before half time Hermione and Dean excused themselves from Ms Ford's company with the excuse that Dean wanted to beat the half time queues at the concessions stand.
Hermione reached into her bag and handed Dean a small tin of paint with a post it note stuck to it, thin paintbrush and a compass, "If you paint that rune near the bottom of the wall at the North and East points of the school and I'll do the same for the South and West points, then we'll meet back here."
Dean nodded and turned to leave "Just a second Dean" Hermione said giving him a quick tap him on his head with her wand.
"What the hell was that?" hissed Dean as what felt like cold runny eggs ran down his back.
"Don't get your panties in a twist" Hermione hissed back "it's just an disillusion charm to help you get around without being spotted, just try not to make too much noise or draw attention to yourself."
Hermione grinned to herself as she set off for the southern end of the school, that was twice today she'd made Dean grumble under his breath not that she was keeping score or anything.
Ten minute later found Hermione and Dean outside a side door of the school, Dean tried the handle on the off chance that it had been left unlocked, when it didn't budge he just shrugged and unrolled his trusty lock picking kit.
"You know that's not necessary don't you?"
"Oh really, and I suppose you just happen to have a spell for unlocking doors do you? Dean replied with a hint of irritation lacing his voice,he still hadn't gotten used to the disillusionment spell.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and pulled her wand from where she'd stashed it in her bun "Alohamora".
Dean ignored the smugness that was rolling off the witch and opened the door just wide enough for them to slip through.
He switched on his flashlight and quickly led the way back to the vice principals office, he grudgingly admitted to himself that her lock picking spell was pretty cool as Hermione entered the room first. They'd gone over the plan to remove the statue during dinner, he would place the original in the lock box, that some how fit in Hermione's handbag and Hermione would magic up a copy that would fade after a couple of days. Dean waited until Hermione gave him the signal to switch the statues and then swiftly wrapped the viking statue in a silk cloth, because he'd learned the hard way to avoid touching magical objects with bare skin.
This had to be one of the easiest poltergeist hunts he'd ever been on mused Dean as he placed the locked box back into Hermione's bag, he was just about to say as much to Hermione when a ghostly figure swept through the office knocking papers off the desk and cracking picture frames as it passed through the far wall, the entity turned and cackled as it set the school fire alarm off.
Dean's immediate reaction was to hightail it out of there as soon as he heard the school janitor come along to check out the disturbance.
"Fucking hell!" exclaimed Hermione in a high pitched whisper as she took in the state of the office. Dean couldn't disagree with her words. He watched with wide eyed wonder as she waved her wand in a set of intricate movements and the room appeared to put itself back together.
The witch and the hunter froze as they heard people talking in the corridor.
Hermione swore as she realised that they were about to be discovered "Dean do you trust me?" she asked as she grabbed her handbag and stepping right into Dean's personal space.
"What?" Dean asked confused "of course I do"
Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist "Good to know. Now just remember to breath."
He didn't have to reply as in that next second he felt like his whole being was being squeezed into a tiny speck before instantly enlarging again except now he felt like he was about to throw up. Dean felt a small hand rub his back. "What. The. Fuck. Was. That." he managed to get out while trying to get his breathing back under control.
Hermione looked a little sheepish "I do apologise for that but apparating was the quickest way to escape without getting noticed."
"Apper what?"
"Apparate, it's a form of Wizard travel, I realise that you're feeling disorientated but we need to get back to the stands before we're missed."
Dean suddenly felt a lot better as Hermione linked her fingers with his, the warmth of her palm spread through him like a soothing shot of top shelf whisky, he barely noticed as Hermione made her apologies to Ms Ford as she claimed to be feeling unwell and would be unable to watch the rest of the game.
The ride back to the hotel was full of apologies and explanations with Dean reluctantly agreeing that despite his objections Hermione's course of action was the correct one.
After a beer or two in the hotel's bar to unwind, they headed back to their rooms although this time it felt like a reverse of the night before. Dean felt like a deer caught in the headlights, Hermione had walked him to his door and stood there for a brief moment, her gaze searching his face, looking for answers to questions he didn't even know.
She gave him a soft half smile "Goodnight Dean, I'll see you tomorrow."
He watched as she turned and entered her room without giving him a second glance, at the sound of her door closing with a quiet click Dean let out a long sigh and decided that the best course of action would be drinking that fifth of whisky he had stashed in his bag and pay per view porn.