A/N: Hey, I know the chapter took a long time. Alas, it just didn't want to be written. The next chapter will hopefully be a lot sooner.

Chapter 62: It was too Good to Last Long

After breakfast Narcissa, Draco, Sirius, Ellen and Jo – who had accompanied the others at the train station – came over and they all exchanged presents.

Sirius got Harry a large assortment of Muggle pranking supply, stating that those stuffed up purebloods wouldn't know what hit them. Harry was excited to use them but first wanted to let the twins have a look at the things. They were very creative and maybe it would give them some ideas for their own pranks.

Ellen, Narcissa and Lily though were more on the practical side and gifted Harry a book each. Lily's was about charms which, if used correctly, could also be employed differently than intended, was all she would say about that.

Lily wasn't exactly happy about Harry taking pranking more seriously than his studies. However, when she saw how happy it not only made his son but also others, she couldn't exactly complain about it. Especially since his grades were all straight EEs and even Os. Should they get lower though, she would have a word with her son. No matter what, his education was important. But that's neither here nor there.

Harry, on the other hand, got Draco a new Hogwarts themed chess set with four sets of playing pieces depicting figures fitting for the different houses from which you could choose.

They chatted, played games and all-around had a lot of fun.

It was in the afternoon of the first Christmas Day that their peace was disturbed.

They were all in the sitting room. Michael also came over some time ago and was now deeply engrossed in a chess match with Lily. Sirius, Loki, James and a highly amused Frank were sitting in a corner obviously planning something. Jo, Jor, Neville, Sam, Harry and Draco played exploding snap while Ellen, Alice and Narcissa were talking about god knows what.

Draco called out in joy as he won another round when a confused looking Dean and a worried Alastair walked in. Everyone stopped what they were doing in favour of looking at them.

"Has any of you seen Castiel?" Dean inquired.

Though upon the collective negation of the question, he grew more worried.

"When we woke up earlier, he was gone. We cannot find him anywhere," he elaborated.

"Give me a moment," Loki answered while closing his eyes.

Trying to track down the angel, he frowned in concentration. It took him a few minutes, but, in the end, he found him.

"Strange," he muttered. "Castiel is in heaven and from what I can tell, Uriel and Zachariah are with him."

"Uriel, you say?" Michael asked alarmed, following his brother's tracking. "Oh they don't..." he growled.

"What? What is it? Damned, talk to me!" Dean demanded, his worry rising tenfold.

Alastair laid a hand on Dean's shoulder to calm him down and prevent him from doing something stupid. It would be a horrible idea for him to try and storm into heaven to get Castiel out. Or attack Michael because he wasn't fast enough. She might not like angels in general, but Michael was trying to help them and that made him alright in her eyes. Not to mention that Michael never showed such a stuck up attitude that most angels displayed.

"Castiel originally belonged to Raphael's garrison with Uriel his superior. However, when I talked with him on Harry's birthday this summer, I reassigned him to mine as a measure of protection," Michael calmly explained, not showing his own worry. He knew that it wouldn't help the situation. "Now it seems that Zachariah and Uriel didn't get the memo or they just decided to ignore it. Anyway, I will deal with it. So, stay put and don't do something rash."

It would be an incredibly bad idea for the others to interfere with this. Not only might it reveal his disinterest in restarting his fight with Lucifer, but it might also show other things he would like to stay hidden.

All Castiel knew was that he was currently in a massive amount of pain. Everything hurt, even his grace. He remembered that he went to bed together with Dean and Alastair the night before and how exhausted he was later that night.

Castiel couldn't help it, but he loved the two demons.

It still surprised him how patient Alastair could be when she wanted to be. She never pushed him, never did anything he didn't want and was always there for him when something was on his mind. He would never have imagined the Chief Torturer of hell to be this considerate.

Oh, Castiel was very well aware that it was probably some ploy to make him fall. He might be a bit slow sometimes, but he wasn't stupid. However, he had to admit that it was working and to his utter surprise, he didn't mind it. Especially after he got his father's blessing.

Then there was Dean. Sweet Dean. In public, he always displayed the carefree womaniser who flirted with everything that had two legs much to Alastair's amusement.

Behind closed doors, he was different though. Loving, passionate, protective. Dean also worried a lot, about his brother, friends, family, what they were doing, but also most importantly Alastair and him. He always made sure that they were happy.

Once upon a time, Castiel would have fought tooth and nail had any demon so much as come too close to him, never mind tried to seduce him. Heaven had been his home and the demons were the enemy.

However, heaven changed. Only recently, he had become aware that Heaven wasn't what it was supposed to be anymore, a peaceful place for the angels to live. No oppression, no internal fighting and free will to do what they wanted to do.

Castiel thought about it many times ever since he met his father. It had started when father left all those centuries ago. First, it was the quarrel between Lucifer and Michael that grew out of hand.

Sure, once Lucifer was banned to hell and imprisoned things calmed down again, but there was still some undercurrent tension.

This tension steadily rose until now when heaven suddenly geared up for another utterly unnecessary war.

However, no one saw it. No one except him and Michael that was.

Okay, he had to admit that he wouldn't have seen it either, hadn't Alastair and Dean opened his eyes.

How could it be that no one saw what was going on? Surely not every angel could be that blind.

The problem was that he had no idea what caused this change.

Now Uriel and Zachariah were torturing him because of some made-up accusation. They said it was because he dared to stop reporting to them and for becoming too friendly with that mud-monkey Dean. But also to get information about Dean from him.

Castiel tried to tell them that he was now in Michael's garrison but they didn't listen. Said, that he was lying and that Michael would never take on someone like him. That Michael was far too busy to concern himself with some low-ranking angel.

He didn't know for how long they were torturing him now. Only the thought about Dean and Alastair doing everything to get him back – even though some voice in the back of his mind tried to tell him that it was preposterous to think that two demons would care about some angel – was what kept him from losing his mind.

The nearly silent clicking of the door was drowned out by the constant pain he was in, but when he heard a new voice, it was like water for a thirsty man to him, soothing him like only very few things could.

"What, pray tell me, are you doing?" Michael asked in a pleasant voice with a dangerous undertone that would make even the most stupid of people stop and reconsider their answer.

However, it seemed that both Uriel and Zachariah were so occupied with their doings that they completely missed it.

Both angels jumped slightly but soon were overcome with their belief that they were doing the right thing.

"We're teaching him who his superiors are," Uriel said with a sneer towards Castiel. "Not only did he leave his assigned mission, but he also dared to lie to us. Said that he now belongs to your garrison and reports to you directly. Preposterous! As if some low-ranking angel is worth your time. Don't worry, we'll take care of him."

"So you presume to know with whom I converse?" Michael questioned, his tone not changing. "Whom I deem worthy enough of my time?"

Zachariah huffed a low laugh, but Uriel blanched slightly when he saw Michael's expression, obviously realising that something was seriously amiss.

"You want to say…," he began. "What would you want with this dunce?"

"This low-ranking dunce, as you called him, is in the perfect position to get us every intel we need on the Winchester brothers," Michael explained in a now much more threatening voice. "Since you two seemed to be unable to get the much-needed results, I reassigned him to me directly. Should you two now have endangered my plans…well, let's just say that it won't be pleasant."

Uriel gulped and took a step back from Michael, realising that what they did was the wrong thing to do and that they probably pissed off their superior with it. Though he wondered why he was never informed of the change.

Zachariah though took a self-righteous position. He wanted to prove to Michael that he was up to the task. Through all the millennia he had been the best. Revered by everyone for his efficiency and reliability. Not once did he fail.

However, ever since he was assigned with the task to break the seals as well as monitor the Winchesters, he constantly failed.

First, there was Dumbledore who was supposed to help him with Riddle by keeping Potter in check. Recently Dumbledore distanced himself from him. Zachariah had no logical explanation for why the man suddenly changed his mind.

Potter though was a liability. No matter what he did, that mud-monkey didn't do what he was supposed to do. The worst? That pathetic brat got the better of him. Not once…twice! It was only sheer luck that no one witnessed his folly, at least no one of importance.

That didn't do at all.

Then there were the Winchesters. Sure, at least Dean was doing what he was supposed to do with breaking the seals. But Zachariah had a feeling that it would get complicated when it was time for him to say yes to Michael. Zachariah sensed that the mud-monkey was very much disinclined to say yes.

However, the real problem was Sam.

Ruby had been assigned to him, to get him addicted to demon blood and therefore prepared to say yes to Lucifer. However, that stupid demon bint managed to get herself killed…by Potter of all people. How had that brat even crossed path with her? It still eluded him what Potter had done in America.

Anyway, after Ruby got killed, another demon took up the task of getting him addicted. The problem with that? Sam seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth for the last few months only to reappear in Potter manor recently.

What in the name of sanity was he doing in England? He was supposed to be in America hunting those disgusting monsters. But no, he was sitting in England with Potter and doing nothing except creating chaos.

Was that maybe why Potter was so unwilling to do what he was supposed to do? Was it Winchester's influence that made the teen rebel against him?

Zachariah had no idea, but what he knew was that he had to get Potter back on track and fast. However, only one way came to his mind. He would have to talk to Raphael about it.

For now, he would have to deal with Michael and his apparent bout of insanity. What in father's name did Michael want with this pathetically stupid angel?

"My apologies, I had no idea that Castiel was reassigned to you, Michael," Uriel replied with a low bow while Zachariah had his internal musing.

This surprised Michael.

"This is strange," he mused. "You should have been informed by Raphael. Anyway, I'll take over here now. Next time you have a problem with one of my garrison, inform me. I'll take care of it."

Uriel bowed before him again and went to leave.

"Come, Zachariah, we have to talk to Raphael," Uriel commanded.

Zacharia left after Uriel but not without shooting a last glance at Michael, who didn't miss the glint in the other angel's eyes. It seemed that he would have to watch Zachariah more closely in the future. The other angel planned something, and from what he knew, it couldn't be anything good.

For now, however, he had other things to care about, namely Castiel.

"How are you?" Michael asked, concerned while scanning the other angel.

He had to bite back a wince. Those two idiots really did a number on poor Castiel. The angel was heavily injured, even his grace was affected, and Michael bemoaned the fact that his brother Lucifer wasn't here.

From all of them, Lucifer always had been the best at healing. Sure, he and Gabriel could also heal Castiel together but it would take far longer than was necessary since he couldn't risk asking someone else from the heavenly host. Unfortunately, Michael had no idea whom he could trust and who not.

Castiel was still in a lot of pain, but it quickly faded when Michael went to numb it and heal it as far as possible.

"Like shit," Castiel groaned out but then remembered whom he was talking to. "My apologies."

"It seems that Dean is rubbing off on you," Michael replied with a smile while helping the angel to sit up. "Don't worry, as long as you're not disrespectful towards me, I don't particularly care. Now, I'll get you back to Potter Manor. Dean and Alastair are highly worried. Loki and I will then proceed to heal you as much as possible. Though, unfortunately, it will take a lot longer for you to be back to full health. Neither he nor I am adept enough in healing to speed up the process much."

"Loki?" Castiel asked confused.

"Ah yes, you'll see," Michael said with a mischievous grin. "Now let's go."

Castiel carefully leaned against Michael, but it became quickly evident that he was unable to move on his own. So, without any further ado, Michael picked him up bridal style and carried him out of the room much to the other angel's indignation. It took them about ten minutes to reach the closest exit. Luckily they didn't come across any other angel that might question why Michael was carrying the other angel towards a doorway to the mortal plane.

Not a second later, they landed in the sitting room of Potter manor. As soon as they touched the ground, Alastair and Dean jumped up and all but ran towards Castiel, fussing around him like overbearing mother hens. Seeing this, Castiel smiled at the two but winced, when that brought a wave of pain through his body.

Dean and Alastair's faces darkened when they saw that.

"Who did this to you?" Dean asked in a threatening voice, fully prepared to bring hell down on whoever was stupid enough to hurt what was theirs.

"Dean, calm down," Michael addressed the demon in a commanding tone while placing Castiel on the closest sofa. "Storming heaven won't do any good. I understand that you're furious but getting yourself killed in a hairbrained attempt on revenge is the least you should do now."

"Michael is right," Alastair added, pulling Dean to his chest in a hug to prevent the man from doing something he would regret. "Besides, Castiel needs us."

That did the trick and Dean deflated against the other demon. He would always put Castiel and Alastair over everything, even revenge. Taking a deep breath to calm his demon side, he went over to Castiel and in a show of support, took the angel's hand.

"How bad is it?" he demanded to know.

Michael, who again was scanning Castiel to make sure that he knew the full extent of the damage those two fools inflicted on the angel, answered.

"Loki and I should be able to heal most of his wounds, but it will take a few months for him to heal fully," he explained while waving his brother over.

They both went to work and mended the other angel as much as they could. When Castiel felt what or better yet who Loki really was, his eyes went wide.

"Gabriel?!" he breathed out.

"Hey there, brother," Loki replied with a mischievous smirk before he went back to restoring him.

"So, that is what father meant," Castiel muttered, instantly drawing Loki and Michael's attention.

"You talked to father?" Michael wanted to know with longing in his voice. "He is back?!"

"Briefly, but he wants to remain hidden for now," the angel answered, biting back a wince as another wave of pain went through him.

That spurred Michael and Loki into action. They could question Castiel when he was better. It took them together over an hour to patch the angel back up. Once they were done, they both collapsed in exhaustion while Alastair and Dean took Castiel back to their room.

What none of the people in the room saw or realised in their worry over Castiel was, that when Harry realised what had happened, he vanished. Another thing that they didn't know was that a certain toad had snuck into the hood of Harry's hoody and left with him.

A/N: Yes, things are about to pick up. 'til next chapter!