"It shouldn't be possible..."
The man whispered.
Harry had to admit that he would never get used to the bizarre situations he found himself in, but it always made it a hundred times worse when Hermion and Ron weren't by his side. Merlin Harry knew he wasn't the brains of the group. It was his crazy luck that usually saved them, Hermione's knowledge of everything they came up across and Ron's common sense from growing up in the wizarding world where Harry and Hermione always turned to the muggle way of a view. But there was no muggle view of what had just happened to Harry, and Harry knew he had fucked up as he peered down at the wand in his hand and the motel room he had landed in, with the man in the trench coat still mumbling to himself loudly as he examined Harry.
The tension in the room turned suffocating at the mumbled word of magic, and Harry's nerves skyrocketed as his vivid green eyes tried to ignore the two men covered in blood who watched him closely, both men ready to strike if need be, but also they kept watch of the man in the trench coat who still continued to crouch in front of Harry. The man's blue eyes lit with astonishment as he studied Harry like a new puzzle, poking and prodding him.
"Can you please back off?" Harry asked once again to no avail as the man continued staring at him, making Harry's eye twitch in annoyance as the man disregarded his cries of protest. Harry watched as the man's hand reached out again to poke his forehead. Making Harry cringe. It was bad enough when people stared at his scar, but when they tried to touch it, it just creeped Harry out, so he pulled back sharply to avoid another prod, his left-hand throwing out behind him, hitting the floor to catch his balance. Harry gasped as the electrifying pain flared up his arm into his chest. Harry clenched his teeth harshly, but a whimper still slipped out, compelling the two men covered in blood to take a step forward.
"Cas, what's going on?" the particularly tall man requested. Harry could see his deep brown eyes filled with worry as he kept glancing between him and the man standing next to him, whose own greens eyes narrowed with vigilance on the man in the trench coat, waiting for his answer. A gun in hand, ready to shoot. Harry swallowed deeply at the gun honed in on him, understanding the man would shoot him if the man in the trench coat told them he was a threat. "I thought you had healed him?" The tall man questioned.
"I'm sorry." the man ignored the tall man's question and spoke to Harry ", I can't heal your chest fully." the man's blue eyes looked at Harry's chest with concern. "You were hit by significantly dark magic-" again, with the word magic, Harry could see the two men had both gone on alert, pointing their guns entirely at him. But Harry's vivid green eyes were locked on the blue eyes of the man crouched in front of him"-the wound has to heal on its own, or the curse scar will rip open if I try to heal it more." His blue eyes glance up at Harry's forehead." the same way that scar did." Harry's hand reached up to tentatively feel the scar. He had always thought the curse ripped it open on impact.
"Cas!" the gruff voice snaps out. Making Harry jump in fright, breaking his eye contact with the man in the trench coat. "Is HE a threat?" the gruff voice growled out. Harry's vivid green eyes widened as he examined the man who had helped him and gulped. The man had his gun readily pointed at Harry. His stance was fixed, but his forest green eyes harboured a small amount of distress, just looking slightly above Harry's nest of black hair. "Kid. Who are you?" Harry quickly opened his mouth to answer, hoping the gun would finally point away from him. Otherwise, his heart was going to leap out of his chest.
"No. I don't believe so", The man in the trench coat answered, cutting Harry off before he could speak, "though... he could be.", the man carried on nonchalantly as he stood up, making Harry's heart stop as he stared up at the man with wide horror-filled eyes, before quickly shifting to the guns pointed at him. "I don't know this child, to say for sure. Though I do know that it shouldn't be possible for him to be here." The man turned to look at the two men. His face scrunched up into a frown. "Something powerful has brought him here and has seemed to deem the two of you safe for allowing the boy-" Harry flinched "-to land in front of you, in his condition."
Harry watched as the tallest man put his gun on the table and dropped into the chair beside it, running his hand through his brown hair. "Condition?" He questioned, his deep brown eyes locking on Harry, squinting in concern. The man beside him sighed, rubbing his face and placing his gun down before leaning against the table facing Harry.
"Sammy, you saw the state the kid was in. He landed in front of us screaming bloody murder." the gruff voice deadpanned, looking down at the man with a raised eyebrow.
"This boy-" Harry flinched again, gripping the elder wand in his hand tighter"-was hit with magic so powerful that the moment it touches you, you would be dead." the man in the trench coat turned to look down at Harry, his blue eyes still looking fascinated by him "yet he's not." Harry shrunk in on himself, bowed his head down and pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, holding the elder wand in both hands against his legs to make himself small as possible as all three men peered down at him. Placing his forehead onto his knees to avoid their stares, Harry mumbled under his breath that he did.
"What?" the green-eyed man asked, quickly pushing away from the table in alert. His eyes widened in horror as he stared at Harry. "Kid. What did you say?" he repeated, moving closer to Harry.
Harry lifts his head slightly to look up at the man and repeats, "I did die." shrinking quickly back in on himself as he watches the green-eyed man clenches his fist, shut his eyes tightly and take a deep breath in. The man in the chair, who had leaned forward, his mouth fell open and looked at Harry with wide eyes filled with alarm. The last man looked at Harry with so much sadness that it made Harry's stomach clench. "I just didn't stay dead." Harry carried on, his vivid green eyes staring at his hands, twirling the elder wand, not paying attention as the tallest man sat up straight, his eyes lightening up in awareness.
"Dean, We just came back from the dead... " the tallest man suddenly said as he looked at the green-eyed man, his own deep brown eye shining with clarity.
"I know, Sammy. I was there." The green-eyed man pulled a face. Making the tall man roll his eyes.
"Dean, we just got back and woke up in that bed, and this kid fell into the room. Right after he had just died." the man turned his deep brown eyes to the man in the trench coat with a knowing look "Cas, could all our deaths be a connection?" Before the man could speak, Harry finally asked the question he had wanted to know since his eyes fell on the two men.
"Is that why you two are covered in blood?" Harry raised his hand slightly to ask, feeling a bit stupid as all three men turned to look at Harry. The two men nodded in acknowledgement, the green-eyed man's lip turning up at Harry's hand still in the air. "Oh, I'm sorry," Harry said softly, the heat burning in his ears, feeling horrible for asking them.
"Not your fault, kid", the green-eyed man shrugged, his own gruff voice sounding soft, as he gazed down at Harry with gentle eyes ", but I'm sorry for yours too."
"It's okay." Harry shrugs. "It was what was expected of me." Harry tried to ignore the man's horrified face as Snape's voice rang in his head, 'you raised him as a pig for slaughter!' his stomach churned. Harry closed his eyes tight. He had already excepted that he had to die, Merlin. He just did. But these men looking at Harry showed so much emotion for him, and they didn't know him. They showed they would've stepped in to save him, which they had just done, but it made Harry's heart hurt. Why had no adult back home helped him? Why had every adult he came across taken Dumbledore's word instead of actually looking at Harry? Why didn't anyone want to save Harry?
"Kid", the green-eyed man called out, bringing Harry back from his thoughts, " A child should never be expected to die. Even if it's to save the world. " he gave Harry a hard look. His forest green eyes looked determined " The adults should always be the ones to deal with it."
Harry snorted, turning away from the three men, a tear falling down his cheek that he aggressively wiped away. "The adults are the ones who guided me to that ending." Harry glanced at the elder wand in his hand, his anger rising at how easy he was to manipulate. He didn't understand. He had shown off having a strong mind by being able to fight off the Imperio curse, but a few words from Dumbledore and he was putty in the man's hands. Fuck. Harry's eyes widened at his thoughts. Was he that weak-willed that it was the Horcrux that fought off the Imperio curse? Harry pinched his hand to stop thinking. He wasn't in the right place to get lost in his mind just yet. Harry didn't want to have a breakdown in front of three strangers that were willing to shoot him if he turned out to be a threat because a breakdown equals a magical outburst for Harry. Forcing himself to look back at the three men, Harry came across the enraged look on the green-eyed man's face, big puppy eyes full of pitty from the tall man, and the man in the trench coat stared at Harry with a thoughtful look, then looked at the two men as though he could see the connection between the three.
"Boy", Harry flinches. "Where were you before you ended up here?" the man in the trench coat asks.
"Yeah, wait a moment, first Cas", the green-eyed man interrupted, his eyes narrowed in on Harry's flinch, making Harry squirm under the look. " the kid's name is Harry. Let's all start using it." He gives the man in the trench coat a stern look. Before putting his hand out to Harry, "I'm Dean, Dean Winchester" Harry tentatively takes his hand to shake, heat rising to his ears. The green-eyed man, Dean, then nods his head towards the tall man "that's my little brother, Sam-" Harry looks over to the tall man, Sam, to see his closed-mouth smile with a little hand wave. "-and the man whos been studying you like a new toy is Castiel" Harry turned to the man in the trench coat, Castiel, who looked at Dean impatiently. "He's an Angel." Harry whipped his eyes back to Dean and gave him a weirded-out look.
"Dean, you can't just dump that on someone." Sam groaned, rubbing his face as he stared at his elder brother in exhaustion.
"Dude. The kid just fell out of a hole in our room after he died. I think he's fine knowing the supernatural stuff?"
"I thought we were calling him Harry now." Castiel looked at the brothers with a confused face as Harry just stared blandly at the three men's weird argument about telling him the truth about supernatural creatures and using his name instead of boy or kid. In the end, Dean won and turned back to look at Harry.
"Kid," Dean started before glancing at Castiel, rolling his green eyes ", Harry. Everything you know about fairytale monsters and supernature creatures is that it's all true." Harry gazed into Dean's serious gaze and nodded.
"I know," Harry replied simply, with a little shrug. " I was given a crash course of it all at eleven", Harry smiled a little bit at Dean "the first person I met in that world was a half-giant carrying a pink umbrella" Harry caught Sam mouthing what he had just said with a bewildered look, before watching Dean turn to Sam in triumph.
"Not the strangest thing I've heard... but see, Sammy, Harry already knows about the supernatural world. I'm not dumping anything on him." Dean smiled widely before turning to Castiel "Cas. You can start your questioning now." He looked gently at Harry, "Tell us if you need a break. You have just died and deserve the right to rest, but it's best to ask everything now with it all still fresh in your mind." Harry nodded and watched as Dean took in his appearance before looking down at himself with a grimace "let's hope it's over with quickly, as we all need a shower," He said before moving away to let Castiel take the lead.
Harry watched Castiel move to sit on the floor in front of him, looking very uncomfortable with himself before declaring, " Sam said you are a child and that I should make you feel comfortable by talking to you at the same level" His blue eyes stared right into Harry's green eyes "he also said you have shown signs of abuse and that being on the same level makes me look less threatening." his eyes scrunch up at Harry "He also said I shouldn't tell you any of this." Harry did not know how to take this man- angel? But from the mumbles of "for fuck sake Cas." Harry knew that the brothers were already done with him. So Harry just nodded at the man and waited for the questioning to start.
"Where were you when you died?" Castiel looked at Harry intensely.
"Uh, in the middle of a forest in Scotland." Harry watched as the two brothers glanced at each other, talking with their eyes. That look probably meant he was nowhere near Scotland anymore. Harry concluded as he looked back at Castiel.
"Where did you go after that?"
"Dumbledore said we were in the in-between." Harry tilted his head, feeling uncertain as he said it aloud, "I'm a little unsure if it actually happened or if it was all just in my head." Harry confessed, but from the look he was getting from Dean, it seemed like something similar happened to them when they died.
"Who is Dumbledore?" Sam asked, interrupting Castiels next question. Harry looked over to Sam, feeling strange to hear that question, remembering the crazy look Ron gave him when he had asked the same question on the train.
Harry sighed before replying, "He was the headmaster of my school. He died last year." Harry twirled the elder wand in his hand as the brothers glanced at each other again. Harry was sure they were having telepathic conversations about him, though he was not sure if that was good or bad; he was pulled from that thought before he could come to a conclusion as Castiel asked another question.
"You said the adult led you to your death. What was their reason for that?" Castiel looked closely at Harry.
Harry took a deep breath in, shutting his eyes tight.
"A prophecy said I had to die for Voldemort to die. This led all the adults in my life to believe I was the only one who could defeat Voldemort, so they did nothing to stop him." Harry answered bitterly as Castiel looked at Harry at the mention of prophecy. His blue eyes flickered to the brothers with understanding. "The Chosen One", Harry scoffed ", that's what the newspaper called me, but I suppose that's better than the crazy liar title they had given me two years prior."
"And who is Voldemort?" Dean's Gruff voice pulled Harry's attention back to him. Dean's forest green eyes focused on Harry, and Harry could see him filing away what he had just said, but Voldemort was the more important question.
"Voldemort is the dark lord of the magical community in Europe." Harry stilled as he watched as the brothers went ridged, and their eyes became steel, concealing their emotions towards him; the word magic seemed to implant strike first and ask questions later in them. And that look made Harry's heart shut. It was so similar to the looks the Dursleys gave him. Harry quickly looked to the floor. Missing Castiel's stern look, he threw the brothers.
"Dean, Sam," Castiel called out. "Harry is not like the witches, you know," he told them firmly. "Harry here was born with magic; his magic is pure. There's is no lingering demotic claim to his magic. It is purely his." Harry kept his eyes on the floor, peaking up a little bit to see the brother's bodies slightly relaxed at Castiel's words, but Harry was ready to move if they chose to strike. He was used to adults striking him to know the signs. Castiel looked back at Harry, his blue eyes conveying Harry to calm down. "In the in-between, were you given a choice?" Harry peered into Castiel's eyes and knew Castiel already knew the answer.
"Yes," Harry replied softly.
"What was it?"
Harry looked at the elder wand melancholy and replied, "Go on or go back."
"How would that bring you here?" Sam asked, looking confused between Harry and Castiel. Harry felt the heat rush up, and his face flushed bright red as he avoided eye contact with the forest green eyes that were locked in on him. He heard Dean groan.
"Kid, what did you do?" Dean's gruff voice demanded.
"I was feeling petty and said something foolish." Harry kept his vivid green eyes on the floor to avoid the looks the three men gave him. Harry already knew he was stupid; he didn't need to be told it.
"Kid... Harry, what does that mean?" Dean's eyebrow rose at him in question.
"When I was given a choice to 'go on or go back'." Harry looked up at Dean, abashed, his vivid green eyes wide. "I told Dumbledore I would go where I'm needed." Harry brushed his hand back through his hair. "Next thing I know, I'm falling. And I end up here, wherever here is?" Harry glanced around the motel room that defiantly wasn't in Scotland.
"I still don't understand how that would bring you here?" Sam frowned as Castiel stared at Harry in realisation.
"I do." Castiel answered, "Harry, explain exactly what happened at the in-between?" Castiel's blue eyes narrowed at Harry, who shrunk at the gaze.
"Uh, after the killing curse hit me, I woke up in a ghostly version of king cross station; it was all white and peaceful, with a train waiting at the platform." Harry squints his eyes as he recalls what happened. "Dumbledore was there. He told me that we were in the in-between and how proud he was of my bravery before mentioning that I had been given a choice. To take the train and go on or go back to the war and finish Voldemort off for good." Harry watched the brother's reaction. Their eyes widened at the word war before they looked at each other, silently communicating again as Harry continued, "We talked only for a little bit as there wasn't much time to pick. I had chosen to go back, I couldn't leave my friends to fight on their own, but then something clicked. I had realised that Dumbledore had once again manipulated me to hear the answer he wanted." Harry looked up at the brothers, his green eyes glowing with anger. "I just wanted that one fuck you. You know?" Harry watched the brothers nod, both their eyes showing a small bit of respect. They understood. Harry squeezed his eyes shut before he spoke again, "So I said, I'll go where I'm needed."
"That was stupid", Castiel deadpanned. His blue eyes looked at Harry as though he was Earth's most stupid man.
"Cas!" the brother both shot up and shouted in unison.
"I Know", Harry mumbles.
"It was stupid," Castiel told the brothers ignoring Harry's mumble. "Words have power." Castiel pointed at Harry, "and this boy," Harry flinched. " Harry, He is pure magic and in a place like Limbo. Making a statement will change your life. Thus the child ending up here."
"So you're saying the kid speaking 'he'll go where he's needed' brought him here? To a crappy motel?" Dean rolled his eyes.
"No", Castiel looked at Dean ", his proclamation brought him here to you two" Harry looked at Castiel, confused. "A death prophecy is the connection," Castiel stated firmly, looking at them all ", and something higher up wanted all three of you together. So much so that they sealed on to Harry's vow and extracted him into this world."
"World ?" Sam looked intrigued "there are different worlds - dimensions?" Castiel ignored Sam's question.
"Death Prophecy? " Harry asked. His heart jumped in his chest as he stared at Castiel. Harry didn't want to believe it.
"Yours was to die. For someone else to die, thus allowing peace to your word and the Winchesters being the vesicles of Micheal and Lucifer during the apocalypse—the end of the world." Castiel told Harry, "When Death is involved in a prophecy, the law around a prophecy gets messy."
"Messy, how, Cas?" Dean's gruff voice asks, sounding sharp.
Castiel looked up at Dean "A prophecy that involves death involves the Horsemen of Death themselves."
"And what does that mean?" Dean growled out.
"A prophecy that Death is directly involved with gives them a small amount of power to manipulate it, to bring a champion of sorts", Castiel explained.
"But Death is bound to Lucifer's command. How would they be able to get around that?" Sam inquired as Harry froze up, staring at the wand in his hand, and Hermione's beaded bag felt heavy on his chest. Harry's head was running through all the times he had hold of a hallow, still not understanding why the wand was in his hand. It was in Voldemort's hand, shooting the deathly green curse at him.
"That I do not know." Castiel paused momentarily, his blue eyes lighting up "it would also allow someone higher, more powerful than Death, to manipulate it."
"So what does that have to do with Harry? He's a kid."Dean rubbed his face.
"The Boy", Causing Harry to flinch, Castiel bowed his head in apology to him ", Is very powerful, and to have him appear in front of you two means that whoever brought him here believes he can help you two stop the apocalypse."
"You believe God has brought him here?" Sam connected Castiels trail of thought. Dean's face turned into a scowl. Harry watched as his jaw clenched, holding something back as he looked away from them.
Castiel nodded as he looked at Sam. "Harry's foolish choice of words in a place like limbo from a world that Odin wardens, Harry's words would have lit up like a beacon," Castiel confessed. Sam's brown eyes scrunched at Castiel.
"Odin, as in a pagan god?"
Castiel tilts his head " when the pagan gods appeared. God invited them to heaven for a meeting that adjourned in the pagan gods, allowing them to have more control in certain dimensions. Harry mentions a school of magic, prophecy, war and death. This all points to Odin's control. And from what I can tell in Harry's dimension, people are born with magic. They don't have to sell their souls for it," Harry's face turned pale in disgust. "Meaning magic in that world is intuitive and alive" Castiel turned to Harry with a turned-down face " They would have to be careful when proclaiming, or magic will take it as a vow."
Oh, Harry thought as he listened to Castiel, forcing his hand to stay still not to hit himself in the head. That made so much more sense than anything Hermione and Ron told him. Why had they never said magic was alive?
Sam looked at Harry in wonder, and Harry could see he was desperately holding back about asking to see some magic before shifting back to Castiel. "Could Odin have brought him here?"
Castiel shuck his head, "No. The pagan gods can travel dimensions, but they can't bring anyone to or from one."
"And that's why you believe God brought Harry here with Death being chained up..." Sam sighed. Harry watched as Sam looked at his brother, who had become very ridged, listening to the conversation. But all Harry knew was he preferred the idea of God bringing him here to thinking about his connection to death and the three hallows in his possession.
A loud crash makes Harry jump, his head whipping to the sound of seeing Dean had kicked the table over.
"Well, too bad, Cas, because God's gone!" Dean shouts bitterly as he glares at Catiel. "He's somewhere on Earth and left us a message. To back the fuck off. " Harry watches as Castiels face falls, and his heart breaks. "He's abandoned us all. And he's not going to help us."
Harry stays quiet as he watches the three men, Sam's eyes cast down to the floor, Dean looking defeated, and Castiel turns his face to the ceiling and snarls, " You son of a bitch. I believed in you." before turning slowly to look at Dean, passing him an amulet "Here. I don't need this anymore." His blue eyes glared at it "it's worthless." Then he vanished.
Harry didn't know what was going on, but their emotions were high, so Harry decided to be silent and pretend he didn't exist as he watched the brothers.
"Dean, we can still stop it." Sam insisted as he stared determinedly at Dean.
"How?" Dean asks, looking at the amulet.
"I don't know... but we'll find a way together." Sam looks at Harry. "We have Harry now!"
Dean looks at Sam coldly. "The kid just died for his war. I'm not making him fight ours." then he walked to the front door of the motel room, pausing for a moment to drop the amulet in the bin and leave out the door, not looking back.
Harry watched as Sam stared after him, crushed, not knowing what to say or do before Sam looked at Harry with a sad, defeated smile and said, "I'm gonna wash up first", and quickly stud up, moving silently into the bathroom.
Leaving Harry still sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, flopping back, Harry whispered.
"Ron, Hermione...what am I going to do?"
***