Dean glowered out the window at the never ending rain beating on the street below. "Man," he whined. "We can't go on the big Ferris wheel in this."

"It's not a Ferris wheel," Sam called from the bathroom.

"Tell me again why we decided to take our vacation here?"

"You didn't want to go anyplace where they didn't speak English," Sam said as he entered the bedroom, wiping his face on a towel, "and, I think it was also because of the off chance that you'd run into Kate Beckinsale."

"Kate Middleton."

Sam sighed, rolling his eyes. "She's the Duchess of Cambridge, Dean!"

Dean didn't see the royalty thing as an issue in this case. All he knew for certain was that he still had all of his hair, and her current husband did not.

"So?"

"You wouldn't be able to get a look at her from five hundred yards without some guard tackling you to the ground first."

Dean shrugged, his eyes moving back to the window. The layer of water seeping over the glass made it nearly impossible to see outside anymore.

"Kate's not going to be out in this!" he waved his hand at the window.

"Not without an umbrella," Sam joked. "There's a lot to see in the city, Dean. There are dozens of museums –"

Dean felt his breath catch in his chest at the idea. A museum? He could already picture himself collapsing onto a well-polished and expensive marble floor out of sheer boredom.

"Or," Sam continued, seeing Dean's expression. "There's the Tower of London. It's kind of a castle and a fortress all in one. It's got the crown jewels, an armory, and ancient prison cells."

"That sounds better," Dean said with some relief as he put on his coat. "Then maybe an Irish pub."

Sam shook his head as they went for the door. "Sure."

The rain lightened to a soft drizzle when Sam and Dean exited the bus. Due to Sam insisting that he wanted to get a look at the city, they still had a good walk ahead of them in order to reach the Tower.

Dean zipped up his coat and stuffed his hands in his pockets while Sam checked a map on his phone. He headed in what appeared to be a random direction and Dean followed.

The current weather didn't appear to have any impact on the locals. The streets were busy with vehicles and pedestrians, all with their own tasks and agendas for the day. Dean found himself feeling a little lost even though Sam acted like he knew where he was going.

It was strange not to have any job or work pressing on them at the moment. What possessed them to take this vacation anyway? Dean tried to recall, but he couldn't account for it. They never took a real vacation by the standards of your average person. They might take a break for a day or two and go somewhere, but never this far.

While Dean pondered their purpose in being there, his eyes passed over shop windows and passersby without seeing them as Sam led them around.

"Hey, do you remember why we decided to leave the country in the first place?" Dean asked his brother.

Sam shrugged. "I thought we both agreed we needed a break, right?"

"Sam, we always need a break. It's not like we ever get one."

"Yeah, but we've practically been everywhere in the continental U.S," Sam reasoned. "We decided to go somewhere farther, I thought."

Sam was beginning to look as confused as Dean felt while they walked down the street.

"Why didn't we pick Hawaii?"

Dean felt a brush on his arm and shoulder that pushed him a little off balance.

"Oh, I beg your pardon, I wasn't watching."

A woman, moving in front of him, turned to apologize. She spoke with a local accent, and held a red umbrella that fell to one side as she walked backwards and smiled with embarrassment.

"It's okay, not your fault," Dean said, getting a glimpse of her before she turned around, and continued down the street in front of them.

Dean watched her walk quickly, the red umbrella blocking the view of her head and shoulders, until she blended in with the pedestrians ahead of them. He tried to keep track of the red umbrella, but it was eventually obscured by other people.

"Weird," he muttered.

"What's weird?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Dean felt a shudder move through him and hitched his coat collar up around his neck. "I just feel weird. There's something … off. Do you remember what we did yesterday?"

Sam's brow furrowed. "I don't think we did anything yesterday."

"Come on. Nothing?"

"Yeah. Mrs. Happing made us something to eat because you were still feeling sick from the flight the day before. We watched those funky game shows, remember? You loved it, actually. You slept most of the day."

Dean had a vague recollection of something like that. Maybe he'd been sicker than he thought. It was very rare that either of them got sick enough that they would throw in the towel for the day.

But, that could be why he felt things were off. He'd slept most of the day yesterday, so his body must think it missed a day somewhere.

That was some weak-ass logic, but it was all he could come up with at the moment.

They continued on into the heart of the city where modern architecture stood out with shining glass and metal against much older, more detailed works made of stone or bronze. It was a unique look that Dean hadn't noticed about the many other cities he'd visited in his life.

Stopping at a street corner with a handful of other pedestrians, Sam and Dean waited for the light to change. As it did so, a flash of red caught Dean's eye and he jerked his head around in time to see a red umbrella close and slip through a narrow door.

"Hey, hang on," Dean said, craning his neck in order to keep one eye on the door that was now closed.

Reaching the opposite side of the street, Dean grabbed onto Sam's arm and pulled him to the adjacent crosswalk. Sam waved his arm in the direction they were supposed to be going, but allowed Dean to lead him across the street when the signal changed.

"Where are we going?"

"I – uh – I saw something that looked interesting."

"Interesting," Sam repeated skeptically. "You saw something that you thought looked interesting. Dean, there are no strip clubs around here."
Dean rolled his eyes, but didn't reply to Sam's bait as he led them to another corner, and down the walk a few paces until he stood in front of the door.

Sam caught up with him and looked at the sign above them.

"It's a book store," Sam said suspiciously.

Dean glanced at the sign which read "Little Worms Rare and Used Books" in faded, capital letters. It was a narrow space that Dean never would have noticed otherwise.

"So?"

"Okay. Along with everything you were saying before, you knowingly and willingly setting foot into a bookstore is the weirdest thing that's happened all week."

Dean chewed his tongue and knew Sam was right. When it came to entertainment, he was much more of a movie person. Most good books were made into movies or television shows anyway. Dean figured it wasn't worth the effort to do both, not when the movie did most of the work for you and no matter what Sam said about the The Lord of the Rings movies.

"Just … come on," Dean said gruffly and marched up to the shop.

He had to duck through the doorway and immediately turned sideways so he could fit through the ridiculously tight aisles of dusty volumes.

Crouching a little, Sam followed him in and instantly wandered off on his own, squeezing into an aisle that caught his interest.

Walking along the perimeter of the store, Dean peered down the long rows of books until he caught sight of the now rolled up red umbrella which hung from the arm of the same woman who bumped into him earlier.

She stood alone, her dark brown eyes reading each spine carefully before moving to the next one. Dean watched her with a fascination he didn't quite understand as a loose piece of hair fell from the clip at the nape of her neck, brushing at her smooth cheek.

The woman absently pushed it away with a slender finger, when Dean noticed two books she held in her hand. The covers were tattered and worn, but the titles were still legible and caused Dean to move toward her, swallowing back his panic.

Clearing his throat to gain her attention, he pointed to the books she held once he'd caught her eye. "Uh – are you planning on getting those?"

She smiled a little which made his brain malfunction to the point that he'd forgotten what he was talking about.

"I was, yes," she said in an almost musical voice made even more so by her English accent.

"I just wanted to warn you. That writer, Carver Edlund, he's not very good."

Her eyebrows lifted in curious amusement. "Oh? These were highly recommended by a friend of mine."

"It was probably a prank," Dean said quickly, making her laugh.

"Good God!"

The pair of them started at the loud exclamation coming from the next aisle over.

"Hermione, look at this!" A male voice preceded its owner as he came around a corner and shoved an open book under the woman's nose.

"Since when was Cedric ever nice to me?" he said haughtily, pointing at a passage in the thick volume. "That drunken bastard."

"Your name is Hermione?" Dean asked, trying to ignore the bespectacled man with disobedient dark hair.

Hermione nodded, elbowing the man in his ribs. "Yes, this is my friend – er – James."

"Dean," Dean said, extending his hand.

Hermione took it and smiled that captivating smile of hers again. "Dean," she said as though trying it out for size. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Will you give me a chance to talk you out of getting those books?" Dean asked.

"Oh, I don't think that's possible," she said, gripping onto the novels as though they were something precious to her. "But, I'll give you the chance anyway."

Dean smiled with some relief while taking notice of James' silent retreat back into the next aisle.

"Hermione," Dean said again.

It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. The name was unique but a pain in the ass to say. Dean preferred simpler names, typically containing two syllables at the most.

"Do you mind if I call you H?" he asked.

"Not at all," she replied.

Hermione looked at him with a warmth in her eyes that he didn't expect, especially from someone he'd just met. It was as if she already knew him and had been waiting for him in that little bookstore. But what were the odds of that happening? Dean was sure he never would have forgotten meeting someone like her before.

Note:
Sorry it took me so long to get this last chapter up. I was distracted by other writing projects.

Thanks so much for reading! This was a lot of fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it. :)