Dried Leather and Withered Flowers

Chapter 5

It's immediately obvious to Harry what's wrong with his sister. Riding around and eating at roadside diners with their brothers was fine. They were on neutral territory. Now the scales are out of balance. They're in their brothers' home. They haven't been given any ground rules. Azalea is obviously floundering in fear of exposing their magic and anxiety of not knowing the rules they should follow.

The same anxiety sits in his own chest. It's easy to fall into the routine of a docile housekeeper in the face of three men that are more strangers to them than anything else. There's only room for one of them to fall apart though. Harry supposes that he'll let Lea have it this time since she was the one kidnapped by vampires. Payback for his breakdown after the graveyard incident, he guesses.

Lea sits on the edge of the sofa in the cluttered living room, backpack on the floor at her feet. Harry sinks into the seat next to her.

"You're about to freak out on me, aren't you?"

His sister shoots him a glare, clasping her hands tightly in her lap. "Don't use that word."

Harry bristles, realizing at once what she means. "Sorry." He sighs, leaning further into the back of the couch. "You're about to have a breakdown on me, then?"

Lea lets out a slow breath, leaning back as well. "I just don't know what we're supposed to do. What they expect of us. If Sam would sign the papers, we could plan our next step. I feel stuck and I hate it." She takes another breath before turning toward Harry. "It's like being confined to the cupboard except now I'm confining my-" She breaks off, gesturing to herself.

Magic. She's confining her magic. Harry reaches out and squeezes her collapsed hands. "I get it. Me too." It's hard to control his ambient magic when it's been allowed to roam free all school year. Lea's grip has always been looser than his, but he still feels the same confinement. As if he's binding one of his limbs.

The two sit in comfortable silence for a moment, leaning into each other as they stare unseeingly at the dark screen of the television. Harry breaks the quiet.

"We'll figure it out, though. We've got each other and that's always been enough."

-

The twins settle into a routine over the next several days. They wake up early and make breakfast, a habit from the Dursleys that Harry is pretty sure they'll never break, then they hover around the house until Bobby sighs and gives them a chore to do. Bobby is nice, if a little standoffish. He refuses to let them make lunch or dinner, but doesn't stop them from making breakfast. He answers any questions they ask about himself, Sam and Dean, John, or the salvage yard. Dean answers the questions they have about hunting, much to Sam's consternation it seems. Sam does let them read his books on the different creatures they hunt. Lea thinks the knowledge within them would have Hagrid salivating and begging to keep a wendigo as a pet. Harry thinks she's not far off.

It's about a week into their stay that their routine goes off the rails. Sitting around the kitchen table at lunch, grilled cheese in hand, Harry almost startles when Sam breaks the silence.

"We've got a case." He slides the laptop set in front of him to Dean. Harry and Lea share a look, watching their brothers with anticipation. More vampires? "Haunting. Kripke's Hollow, Ohio."

Three out of four of the words mean nothing to Harry. He's left to assume that 'Crypt Key Hollow Oh Hi Oh' is a location. Or maybe it's a creature he hasn't heard of. A glance at his twin shows Lea in similar confusion.

"We don't need a case." Dean shoves the computer back, rolling his eyes. He takes a large bite of his sandwich.

Sam scowls, pushing the laptop back. "So you're just going to leave this ghost terrorizing people?"