Chapter Twenty-Three

It was early in the morning and the only occupant in the motel room awake was Harry who was shuffling the cards Charlie gave him while the other two were sound asleep. Harry had woken up with a shuddering gasp of air; his mind still lost within the nightmare that was actually a memory. He barely was able to restrain himself from lashing out to get away from the punishing chains that wanted to sink into his bare skin and sighed in relief when the dream faded away, leaving Harry in bed with Dean by his side.

Hesitantly, he had reached out to Dean and as if sensing his needs even in sleep, Dean had gathered Harry into his strong arms; soothing him. Harry clung onto him, anchoring himself and praying that this moment wasn't the dream. He didn't know if he could take it if all this turned out to be unreal and he was still chained deep within the depths of Hell.

After an hour, he slowly disentangled himself from the safety of Dean's arms and made his way to the lone chair within the room to sit. With the pack of cards in hand, the repetitious motions of shuffling the cards lulled him into a meditative state that cleared all the troubling thoughts from his mind.

So lost within the depths of his meditation, he was surprised when he felt something bump into his foot. Pausing in his shuffling, he peered down to see a similar pair of worried emerald green eyes peering up at him from the floor. If not for its eyes, Harry was doubtful that he would've been able to spot the small creature at all.

Seeing that it caught its wizard's attention, Tribbles gave a small squeak before trying to crawl up Harry's leg. Or rather hop, to be more precise.

A small smile played on his lips as he placed the pack of cards onto the table before picking the hopping pygmy puff up and began to pet it. Tribbles gave a quiet hum of contentment and snuggled into Harry's lap.

It was times like these that Harry was able to let down the mask that he had recently begun to wear, not wanting to worry the Winchester brothers. They were good at hiding their anxieties but Harry could feel their probing glances, checking him over as if to see if he was going to shatter any moment now.

So far, he was pretty sure that he was doing a good job at keeping up his front but if he was truly honest with himself, he wasn't all right in the slightest sense. Nightmares still haunted him in a way that Voldemort never did back during his Hogwarts years and he felt like a part of him was missing or irreversibly broken from the years he spent in Hell. He could try to fool the world but it was getting harder and harder in trying to fool himself.

A snore emerged from Sam's bed and Harry tensed but seconds later relaxed when the taller Winchester remained asleep and rolled over onto his side. Running a hand through his messy locks of hair, Harry sighed and looked at Tribbles.

"Just what am I going to do, Tribbles?"

The only answer he received was a small squeak.

…

"So, what you're trying to tell me is that the people in this town are literally being scared to death?" Dean asked incredulously after Sam finished explaining his theory on what he believed was happening to the town.

"It seems like it." Sam responded, leaning back on their lone chair in the room that they had rented for their stay. Dean and Harry were currently sitting on their bed.

"Well, that's just nutty." The older Winchester said, swiftly snatching a fry from Harry's meal before he could slap the man's hand away. The young wizard sighed in exasperation at Dean's immaturity before feeding Tribbles one. The little pygmy puff ate with a pleased hum, delighted with the attention bestowed upon it.

"And what we need to figure out is what exactly is scaring them." Harry said in contemplation, running a mental list of the possible magical creatures that could be the culprit. He brought a knee up against his chest and rested his chin upon it.

"Whatever it is, we'll find it and kill it." Dean said with confidence and Harry had to smile at the older hunter's predictability at times like these. The solution to most of Dean's problem was to hunt down the creature responsible and extinguish its life from this world. An easy answer but carrying it out was not so easy when they didn't have a clue on what it was.

All the victims had been alone when they had encountered the being and since none of them survived the encounter, there had been no eyewitness accounts on what the thing looked like. No two attacks were in the same area and so, they had to assume the thing was moving about instead of staying put in one place.

Dean crumbled up his wrapper as he stuff the last bit of his burger into his mouth, getting a bit of ketchup on the side of his mouth.

"All right, Sammy. Suit up. We got some families to visit." He said, getting up from the bed. Harry resisted the urge to scowl at the older hunter. After all this time, he was still not allowed to officially go along on the interviews. Looking like a teenager dressed up like an authority figure wasn't going to appeal to the families that they were the real deal without some questions but it still irritated him that he couldn't come along. Granted, he could research other things while he was on his own but it was the principle of the matter. Whatever the principle of the matter was.

Lying onto his back while the Winchester brothers changed, Harry turned his head to unabashedly watch Dean as he slipped out of his pair of jeans to reveal well-developed muscled thighs. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of watching Dean. Or Sam, for that matter, he thought as his eyes slid from Dean's form to the youngest Winchester. Harry jerked in surprise when his eyes were covered by a hand only a couple of seconds later.

"If you keep looking at Sammy like that, I think I might have to punish you." Dean said softly in his ear, his breath tickling Harry. A small playful smile appeared on the young wizard's face as he pulled the hand away from his eyes to stare up at the older man.

"Punishment? You wouldn't hurt me." Harry replied, cupping the back of Dean's head with one of his hands to play with the short strands of hair. He lifted his head up to lick away the ketchup stain, wrinkling his nose at the taste.

"Who said it had to hurt?" Dean asked with a wolfish grin before leaning down to capture Harry's lips. Dean had just slipped his tongue into Harry's mouth when a cough interrupted them, bringing them back to reality and their attention on a somewhat blushing Sam.

"Get a room." He managed to get out but clearing his throat. "On second thought, nevermind. We need to get going, Dean." He said, giving the older Winchester a pointed look.

Groaning softly, Dean stood upright; separating from a red-faced Harry. Harry had forgotten that Sam was in the room when Dean had leant over him in his half-naked state.

"You ruin all the fun, Sammy." The older Winchester said, leaning down to give Harry another kiss before quickly getting dressed. Straightening out his suit, he gathered his keys and wallet. "All right. Let's go, princess. We'll be back soon, Harry."

Waving them off, Harry sighed; letting his hand fall down gently onto the bed when the door closed behind them. Tribbles squeaked from its spot before rolling towards its wizard, humming when Harry began to pet it. After a few minutes had passed, Harry sat up and stretched; getting up from the bed.

"I guess it's time for my own research." He said to Tribbles; changing into something he wouldn't mind getting dirty in. He was going to go visit all the spots the creature had struck and hoped he'd find something useful. Dean and Sam probably weren't going to be happy if they found out that he had gone to investigate the 'hunting' areas alone, but they would just have to deal. He was a grown wizard after all and quite capable of taking care of himself even if there were certain potion professors that would say otherwise.

Penning a brief note, Harry placed it securely on the table and after making sure that Tribbles would be all right by itself, he apparated with a pop to his destination. Within seconds, he reappeared in the sewers and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Of all places to strike, it would choose one of the most disgusting places you can find in a town." Harry muttered, making his way forward as he carefully tried to not fall into the water running in the center.

Not liking the darkness that clung to the sewers, Harry casted a silent 'lumos' and directed the small ball of light to float in front of him. Thirty minutes in, he huffed in irritation. There was nothing to be found. He had already gone over the area where the construction worker had died but he wasn't any closer to figuring out what could have possibly scared the man to death.

Deciding that there was nothing left for him to do in the area, he apparated and reappeared in a thankfully empty alleyway. After making sure that he didn't look like he had just spent some time in the town's lovely underground hotel, he stepped out onto the sidewalk as casually as he could while pondering on what they could be potentially facing.

Harry felt as if he should know what type of monster it is; the identity of the creature at the tip of his tongue. There was a niggling in his mind but the answer eluded him; mocking him while dancing at the very edge of his conscience.

The ringing of his cell phone snapped him out of his thoughts and he stared at it with a dumbfounded look on his face while he tried to remember how to answer the contraption.

"Hello?" He answered, unsure if he had pushed the correct button.

"Harry?" Sam's panicked voice floated out from the phone. "Where are you?"

"Just finished checking the sewers." Harry answered, a feeling of dread forming in the bottom of his stomach. Something was wrong. "Why? What's wrong?" There was a brief pause before Sam responded.

"Dean's missing."

Harry felt as if the air was knocked out of him at the admission. The dread was quickly becoming a knot of fear.

"Where are you?"

"Back at the motel."

"I'll be right there." Without much ado, Harry stuffed the phone in his pocket and with a pop, he apparated the third time that day to where he knew a panicking Winchester was waiting. "What happened?" He asked as soon as he reappeared within the motel, startling Sam.

"I don't know. He just vanished."

Harry bit his bottom lip in worry. Sam was getting too worked up and that wouldn't do them any good in the long run. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind.

As far as Harry knew, magic wise or not, people did not simply vanish into thin air. Well, not permanently anyway. They always ended somewhere. They just need to figure out who could've spirited Dean away and just where they could've taken him. That was simple enough. Not to mention that they also had to track down the monster killing the people in town.

Harry resisted the urge to sigh, rubbing his forehead. If only simple was a vocabulary word that actually liked them. Closing his emerald green eyes for a brief moment, he reopened them with a glint of purpose in them.

"Sam, calm down." He said, manipulating the taller Winchester to take a seat on the bed. "I need you to listen to me." Having the worried puppy dog eyes fixed on him, he tried to wipe the worry away from his own expression. "I'll go search for Dean while you finish up this hunt." Seeing Sam about to protest, he continued on. "I'll be able to cover more ground and you know we still need to kill that monster, we can't leave these people to die either."

Harry knew the internal conflict that was warring within Sam. He wouldn't be satisfied either if he was told that he couldn't go searching for the older Winchester but they had two tasks before them and this was the most efficient solution that Harry could think of. Apparently, so did Sam; since a couple seconds later, he gave a stiff nod. It was clear that he wasn't happy with the situation but he knew that it was the only way.

"Focus on the hunt," Harry said gently. "And I'll do my best to find Dean."

"Yeah, all right." Sam said. "Be careful."

"You, too." Was the response before they went their separate ways.

…

Once Sam had left the motel room, Harry took a deep breath before sending tendrils of his magic outwards in an attempt to see if he could sense the wayward Winchester. Sensing that Dean wasn't in the immediate area, he tried to push his magic out as far as he could without giving into the wild magic keening at him to use it.

It wasn't long until his magic hit a kind of barrier, making it recoil from the power residing behind it before pushing forward once more in an attempt to get past it. Harry himself didn't know how far he had stretched his magic but once he was able to locate Dean, he'd be able to apparate to the man using his magic to direct him.

The barrier gave off a familiar pulse of energy that Harry was slowly beginning to associate with the angels and he frowned. Could it be possible?

"Castiel!" He called out, unsure if the angel would be able to hear him or even appear before him. "Castiel!" A sudden flux of energy was the only warning Harry got before the trench coated angel appeared before.

"Hello, Harry."

"Where's Dean?" Harry asked, not wasting any time. The angel didn't appear ruffled from his lack of greeting.

"He is getting us answers." Was the answer. Harry had a bad feeling in his gut at the admission.

"From where?" Castiel remained silent, so Harry added, "From what?"

"From the demon named Alastair."

Harry felt his insides clenched; memories of the torture the demon put him through cycling through his mind. He repressed a shiver and pushed his own issues aside for now. He had Dean to think about.

"By himself?" He asked, his emerald green eyes practically glowing from anger.

"We have taken precautions to prevent Dean from coming to harm."

Are you bloody out of your fucking mind? Harry wanted to shout but refrained himself.

"Take me to him." He said instead.

"I cannot."

"Why not?"

"No one is to disturb him until we get the answers that we seek." He didn't stop himself from letting out a growl of frustration.

"And is there anyone there to make sure that nothing goes wrong?"

"I have left Uriel there when I came to answer your call." Harry felt as if his heart had come to a stop, feeling faint as he struggled to keep breathing.

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" He asked, his reserves tossed into oblivion. "You left him with that arse of an angel?"

"Uriel can be trusted." Castiel said with a frown.

"With what? I wouldn't put it past him to kick an injured puppy that accidently stumbled onto his path." Before the angel before him could say another word in an attempt to defend his partner, a surge of dark magic manifested and within seconds, the angelic barrier that was in place had shattered.

Harry could feel the unmistakable presence of Alastair now that the barrier had been broken and threw Castiel a dirty look while trying to calm his terror-filled mind.

"Some precaution." He muttered before gathering in his magic and apparating away towards the demon that had been occupying his nightmares ever since he came back.

Appearing in small containment room, he arrived just in time to watch as Alastair threw Dean across the room, the hunter crashing against the brick wall.

"Dean!" Harry cried out, drawing the demon's attention away from the elder Winchester and towards his own person.

"Well, well," Alastair said, looking over Harry with a hunger in his eyes. "If it isn't little Harry Potter. I've missed your presence in Hell. Your screams were always music to my ears."

"Confringo." Was Harry's response. The demon before him dodged, a mocking smile still adorning his face.

"Now that wasn't very nice."

"I'm not really in a nice mood." Harry replied, his magic humming around him; waiting for his command. "Stupefy." The red spell flew out from his hand and towards his target, surprising Alastair when it followed him and threw him off his feet.

A choking wet cough distracted him and he looked over at Dean to see Castiel leaning over him, attempting to cure him. Turning his attention back to where Alastair laid, he was frustrated to find that the demon had vanished.

'Constant vigilance.' He reminded himself but for now, his main worry was whether Dean was going to be all right or not. Running over, he was able to see that Castiel had managed to cure most of the damage but the Winchester still looked to be worse for wear. He carefully took Dean's hand into his own, worry reflecting from his eyes.

"We need to get him to the hospital." Without a word, Castiel grabbed a hold of Harry and Dean and feeling the foreign energy wash over him, he let it carry him to their destination.

It was a couple of hours later that had Dean stable and settled into a hospital room. He had yet gained consciousness but the doctor assured Harry that he was going to be okay, although he was going to feel some discomfort due to his fractured ribs. After calling Sam to inform the youngest Winchester where they were, Harry took a seat by Dean's bed and kept watch over the man and Tribbles who was tucked in the crook of Dean's neck.

He had gone home for a brief moment to retrieve the small creature and his backpack. He had a few potions that would be able to heal the man faster but they would have to wait until the muggle medicine was flushed out of his system.

A fluttering of wings interrupted the silence that the room was bathed in and Harry turned his green eyes towards the angel. He was thankful that Castiel had healed the majority of the hunter's wounds but he didn't forget that the only reason that Dean had those wounds in the first place was because of the angel.

"What do you want, Castiel?" He asked tiredly.

"I have come to see how Dean is doing." Was the reply. "And to apologize. The seal should not have failed."

"Well, it did. Your plan obviously wasn't foolproof since Dean was practically near death's door." Harry pointed out, keeping his voice low. He didn't want to disturb Dean's healing slumber. "Did you find out what went wrong?"

"Not yet. I am still investigating."

"Well, you should investigate your partner."

"Uriel?"

"Where was he when Dean was being thrown around the room like a ragdoll by Alastair? Or better yet, where was he when the seal was broken?" He could tell that Castiel didn't want to suspect the dark angel but Harry had no such qualms. He didn't trust Uriel from the moment the man opened his mouth. His views were entirely too similar to those of Voldemort's circle for Harry's comfort.

Castiel frowned in contemplation.

"I will continue my investigation and return at a later time."

Harry waved him off and sighed when the angel left. Brushing a hand lightly against the older man's cheek, he allowed his mask to drop; the angst and sorrow he held inside clearly expressed within his emerald green eyes.

"Dean." He murmured softly. Harry wondered what answers Alastair held that the angels wanted and why of all people did they have to use Dean. Placing his elbows on the edge of the bed, Harry covered his face with his hands.

It was a couple of minutes later that he heard footsteps approaching the room and with his mask securely on, he looked up to see a worried Sam at the door.

"How is he?"

"He's going to be okay. The doctor said he just needs some time to heal." Watching Sam collapse into the seat next to him after checking on Dean, Harry noticed that the younger Winchester was looking a bit peaky and he didn't think it was entirely due to Dean's condition.

"Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah," was the unconvincing answer. "What happened?" Taking a deep breath, Harry brought Sam up to date on their situation.

"How was the hunt?" Harry asked once he finished. If it was possible, Sam's face lost the little color it had left before he regained his composure.

"I killed it." He answered grimly.

"What was it?"

"What does it matter now? It's dead." Harry resisted the urge to frown at Sam's evasion from answering the question.

"Sam?" Harry knew now that there was something seriously bothering the Winchester. He reached out to hesitantly touch Sam's arm, making the taller man look at him.

Sam let out a breath of air.

"I'm not sure what it was." He admitted. "I heard a scream and when I ran towards it, I saw this overgrown wolf but when it looked at me, it began to change. It turned into…" He stopped, looking away. Harry recalled his third year then and gripped onto Sam's arm tighter.

"It turned into what you feared the most." Sam turned back to look at him surprise.

"How did you-"

"People in this town were dying from being scared to death. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." Harry said, leaning back against his seat. "The only creature I can think of that's capable of doing this is a boggart, but since it's moving rather than staying in place, it probably has been in America for a while now." His emerald green eyes regarded Sam with solemn eyes. "It takes on the form of your fear and makes you face it." He hated to think what the boggart might've shown Sam. "Back home, we were taught to defeat it by changing it into something we can laugh about. Apparently the thing that feeds off of fear doesn't like being laughed at."

Sam looked down at that.

"Wh-what if it's something you can't laugh about?" He asked quietly. Harry thought about his own personal fear of dementors.

"Then you find another way to conquer your fears." Feeling something was still off about Sam, he got up and wrapped his arms around the Winchester's shoulders from behind. "Of course, you don't have to do it alone. You have me and Dean afterall."

Sam raised a hand and placed it onto Harry's arm.

"Yeah, I do." He said faintly but Harry couldn't seem to shake away the uneasy feeling he felt slowly growing in the pit of his stomach.

…

It was later when Harry quietly left the hospital room with a slumbering Sam in the hard hospital chair and Dean still unconscious. Biting his lip, he casted a ward around the room to keep the two Winchesters safe and a minor notice-me-not charm to keep any unwanted company out.

Giving a polite nod to a passing nurse, he exited the hospital but before he could apparate away to where Dean had nearly met his death, a hand had clasped onto his shoulder. Startled, he turned around only to see Zepar.

"What do you want now? I'm busy."

"Your words are so cruel, Little Master." The demon said, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulder. He tried to shake it off. "Actually, what I've come to tell you might be very beneficial to you."

"And what is that?" Harry asked, his magic giving a pulse of warning but the taller man didn't seem to pay any mind to it.

"Why, about Alastair and your precious Dean Winchester's role, of course." Seeing that he had caught the wizard's attention, he smiled charmingly. "I'll be happy to tell you if you award me with a kiss first." Harry scowled, escaping from the other's grasp.

"I'll find out on my own, thanks." He said. Zepar sighed.

"Such a hard man to sway." He took a hold of Harry's hand before he could react. A chill went through Harry at the demon's display of speed. "That's what makes you so endearing." Leaning in close so that his lips were just centimeters away from Harry's ear, he whispered. "Keep in mind when you go, Little Master. Supposedly, only an angel is able to kill another angel." With that, Zepar vanished but not before licking the shell of Harry's ear.

Wiping his ear in disgust and confused about Zepar's parting words, Harry apparated away. Upon his arrival, he spotted Castiel eyeing the seal with a somewhat troubled look on his face. The angel didn't seem surprised that he had appeared.

"Someone had tampered with the seal." The celestial being said in lieu of a greeting. Harry walked over to where Castiel was standing in order to have a better look at the broken seal. He wasn't an expert on seals but even it was clear to him that the seal had been purposely damaged.

"You know who did it." It wasn't a question.

"I have my suspicions though I wish they are untrue."

"Then you wouldn't mind standing out of the way while I find out." Harry said, feeling the rage simmering underneath his skin. He was a bit surprised when Castiel gave a nod of consent, albeit reluctantly.

"Very well."

With that said, Castiel took a step back and vanished. Harry was sure that the angel hadn't left but rather had masked his presence, leaving the illusion that the young wizard was alone.

"Would've been nice to tell me how to get the arse here before you disappeared." Harry muttered, positioning himself in an area where he would be able to get the full view of the room. Fingering his wand, he called out, "Uriel! Come and face me, you arrogant son of a bitch!"

An influx of energy was all he had for a warning before the dark angel appeared before him looking as ugly as ever. A sneer adorned the man's face and his eyes reflected the disgust he felt as he stared at the wizard.

"I'd watch what you say, you degenerate." Harry gave him a smirk.

"But it got you here, didn't it?" His magic was slowly pooling out of him and surrounded his entire frame as if it were armor. "What was your plan involving Dean and Alastair?" At that question, a gleam of amusement can be detected from the angel.

"I'm surprised my brother did not tell you." He said mockingly. "Seven angels were killed. We needed the Winchester to find out who."

"And you suspected that Alastair would know?" He asked; Zepar's words echoing through his mind. He was unsure whether to believe the demon or not but he was sure on one thing and that was the angel before him was not his ally.

"We believe that the demons are behind it." His tone oozed with insincerity and Harry's grip tightened on his wand. He decided on a different approach.

"Angels aren't so invincible, after all." He said, smirking at the dark angel. "No wonder you all have such huge superiority complexes. It's to cover up your inferiority."

Uriel snarled in anger, energy gathering in the palm of his hand.

"You dare mock us, filth?"

"Did I strike a nerve? You think you're the most superior but it must hurt your oversized ego to find that you're so easily defeated by demons."

"You know nothing." The dark angel hissed and launched at Harry, a glowing sword in his hands. Harry dodged, angling his body so he wouldn't have his back towards the other. Bypassing his wand, the Gryffindor sword appeared in his hand just in time for him to block the incoming sword.

"I know enough." The wizard responded, parrying an attack coming from the side. He jumped back before launching an attack of his own, his magic reinforcing his strength. "I know that you aren't to be trusted and-," He took a swipe at the other's head only to miss when the other sidestepped the attack. "I know that you're the one who broke the seal that held Alastair." Uriel scoffed, a cruel smirk on his face.

"And what if I did?"

Harry snarled at the dark angel, steadying the Gryffindor sword. It was one thing to have a personal vendetta against him but it was another when it involved Dean. The angel would pay dearly for having a part in hurting the older Winchester.

"Then you'll pay with your life." He wasn't going to let anyone hurt his loved ones. Not again.

Uriel laughed.

"And I suppose you're the one who'll make me pay?" He asked, angling his sword. "Tell me, wizard, how are you going to do that?" He struck out at Harry and threw him back against the wall. "As I see it, you should fear me and grovel at my feet."

Harry growled.

"I should fear you?" He questioned. The magic crackling around his being. "There are only several things that I'm scared of and believe me when I say this, you aren't one of them." Gathering his magic, he apparated and appeared behind the angel; managing to catch him off guard.

He slashed at the darker man, catching him in the back. Uriel cried out in rage and pain, turning around and ready to strike. Harry blocked the attack, putting some distance between the two.

"You knew that Alastair wouldn't know who were killing the angels but you went along with the plan anyway." Harry pointed out. "You broke the seal to let him escape. Why?"

"Who are you to demand answers from me, mud monkey?" Uriel said, blood dripping onto the floor from his back. "Humanity disgusts me. Lucifer will be doing us all a favor once he rises and eradicates all the filth in the world." The dark angel had a gleam in his eye that Harry had seen in the many deatheaters he had encountered when they talked about Voldemort.

"Lucifer is powerful, beautiful, and he was punished for defending us." There was no question on who Uriel was referring to. "God is gone and he doesn't care what we do."

"So you decided to be the naughty children that you are. For beings that must be millennium years old, you still need daddy to watch over you for you to behave?"

Uriel snarled and attacked with a ferocity that he hadn't before. He sent Harry crashing into another wall and Harry winced in pain. He managed to dodge in time to avoid being skewered but his arm was slashed. Ducking, he kicked out at the other and drew another cut on the angel's body.

He bit his tongue in an attempt from screaming when Uriel stabbed his sword through his shoulder, blood instantly flooding his mouth.

"I should've killed you long before now." Uriel said, twisting his sword in Harry's wound. The injured wizard spat his blood in the other's face.

"You could try." He challenged but before the dark angel could respond, a sword protruded from his body from behind. The malicious smirk on Uriel's face faded into surprise and Harry looked behind the man to see a sorrowful Castiel.

"I'm sorry." He said before yanking the sword upward and out. Uriel's grip on his own sword laxed and throwing his head back, an explosive light erupted from within him. Castiel had covered Harry's eyes just in time to prevent the other from being blinded.

When the light faded, Castiel removed his hand from the smaller man's eyes and Harry could see that the only thing that remained of Uriel was a black imprint on the ground with what appeared to be wings. He stared at it for a while.

"Only an angel could kill another angel, huh?" He murmured. With trembling hands, he reached up and grabbed the hilt of Uriel's sword. Preparing himself, he yanked it out and dropped it onto the ground. The clanging of the sword seemed to bring Castiel out of his thoughts and drew his attention to the injured wizard.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Was Harry's automatic answer from ever since he was in Hogwarts.

"You're injured." The angel said, pointing out the obvious. "I apologize for not stepping in earlier." Harry waved off the apology.

"It's fine."

Castiel placed a hand on his head and immediately he could feel the angel's energy flowing through him; healing the wounds that he had accumulated from his fight with Uriel. Once he was sufficiently healed, he was helped up from the floor.

The Gryffindor sword that was covered with Uriel's blood was beginning to fade away from Harry's hand now that it was no longer needed but before it faded away completely, it gave off a faint glow that failed to draw the young wizard's attention. When the glow died away, the sword was once again clean and gleamed unnaturally before disappearing completely.

"I don't know what to say." Castiel said, allowing Harry to use him a crutch.

"It's not too surprising that you don't." Harry said, leaning tiredly against the other. "It's a lot for anyone to take in." They stood there for a bit, one lost in thought while the other tried to regain his strength. "I need to get back to Dean and Sam."

"I will take you." The angel offered and taking Harry into a firmer grip, they reappeared in Dean's hospital room. Harry got out of Castiel's embrace and approached the bed. The older Winchester was still unconscious and he frowned when he noticed that Sam wasn't there. "I have much to think about. I will return at a later time." Were the angel's words of departure before Harry found himself to be alone.

Thinking that Sam was just out for a food run, Harry gave into the temptation and crawled into the hospital bed to lie next to Dean. The ward and charm were still in place and were set to dispel if the hunter needed some medical assistance.

Carefully tucking himself into the older man's side, he breathed in the scent that was specifically Dean before letting sleep claim him.

…

A/N: So, it took me a while to get around to write up this chapter. I was hoping to finish on Sunday but then I realized I didn't remember some parts of the storyline so I had to go back and read it to get the essential details since I seemed to have misplaced my notebook for this story.

Hmm.. but at least, I got the chapter out. =]

I wanted to thank everyone that have read and continued on reading the story and thanks for the patience. Also, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS =] and I apologize for not responding to them individually.

I put off studying and playing catch up reading for my classes to get this chapter up but I really do appreciate all your reviews and comments. So once again, thank you to all who are following and enjoying my story and for your patience. =]