The Witch and The Hunters

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

Page count: 7

"It's been five days," Dean muttered from his place in the chair, sitting beside the bed Hermione's sleeping form was occupying.

"And she's fine," Sam spoke up from his position, lounging on his bed with one of Hermione's Wizarding History books held open on his lap. "You've been feeding her those Nutrition Potions so we know she's healthy, and Cas dropped by the other day to check on her. If he had any concerns he would've said."

Dean sighed and ran his hands through his hair, his eyes glued to his slumbering wife. He was worried about her, he knew her magic needed to recharge itself but he'd only been expecting her to be asleep for three days maximum, like she'd said, and now they were on day five. He'd made sure he gave her the Nutrition Potions he had to the last time she'd been in a coma, and he could visibly see that she wasn't injured or hurting, she looked completely fine.

He'd finally managed to get Castiel to answer his call and when he visited two days ago, he'd not only checked Sam's stab wound which was all but healed by that point and largely thanks to Hermione, but he checked Hermione, too, assuring Dean that she was perfectly healthy and just sleeping, and that when her magic was settled she'd wake.

Even though they'd been holed up in the same motel room for the last week, he missed her. He missed being able to hear her voice, he missed seeing her smile, he missed her affectionate touches and behaviour, he missed her scolding him and arguing with Sam about the existence of magical creatures. He missed being able to sleep next to her, and in the last five days, he'd gotten some sleep, but it didn't last long due to his nightmares and the uncomfortable chair he was perched in. He could feel the longing inside of him beginning to set in, for obvious reasons they hadn't been intimate in almost a week and he hoped Hermione woke before he started getting headaches, and their health began to suffer. He never wanted to feel that again, especially when she was so close to him, yet so far away.

He heard Sam's voice and lifted his head, his eyes looking around the room they were staying in, the one Sam had been abducted from. Although they had righted the furniture, broken glass still littered the ground in some areas and the blood stain still remained on the carpet. He hoped Hermione could do something with her magic to get rid of it, otherwise it would be difficult to explain to the owners of the motel, and due to the sheer size of the stain, they'd likely get the police involved and he was not risking ending up back on their radar, especially since Hermione had only just had their records cleared.

"Dean? Dean?"

"What?" He said tiredly, stifling a yawn.

"Dinner? What do you want?"

He sighed. "I don't really care, whatever you want," he replied, turning his eyes back to Hermione.

Sam was worried for his brother, though this time he now understood the extenuating circumstances that surrounded his relationship with Hermione. At least this time he knew why Dean's behaviour was so worrying, and at least this time Dean ate, showered and slept, it wasn't as much as he'd have liked, but he'd take what he could get.

"Fine, I'll be back in about an hour."

"Take your time, it's not like I'm going anywhere," he muttered in reply.

Sam sighed, before closing his book and placing it on the mattress, he climbed off the bed and retrieved the car keys from the table and left the room, taking the motel key so he could lock the door from the outside. Dean stood and re-salted the door; now he knew that Crowley was interested in Hermione and likely wouldn't stop trying to discover her secret, he wasn't taking any chances with her safety.