Need You Now

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: Still don't own, no matter how much I wish it.

AN: So this chapter had to be rewritten several times, cause I decided to change directions with it. Anyway, that's about all I can say here. Enjoy.

Chapter 3

Sev stood in the middle of a deserted stretch of road in a backwater town he couldn't be bothered to know the name of. It had been a few months since he had met Dean in that Djinn induced reality and the elder Winchester had yet to contact him. He had hoped he had gotten through to the elder brunet, but obviously not, and he was getting desperate.

He knelt down and dug a small hole before placing a small box into it and covering it up again. Green eyes slipped closed and he took a deep breath in. He exhaled slowly as he settled back on his haunches. All he had to do now was wait.

"Hello, luv."

Apparently not that long. A smirk danced across his features as he pushed slowly to his feet. He turned around and came face to face with a stout man in a fine tailored suit with short brown hair.

"Hello, Crowley," the bespectacled man nodded in greeting. "It's good to see you again."

"Harry!" the demon grinned, closing the gap between them and pulling the other into a hug. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Its Sev now," the wizard chuckled, returning the embrace. "Severus Remus Black. I changed it a few years ago. So, how've you been?"

"Can't complain," the other shrugged. "Been keeping busy. But I really don't think you called me here to chew the fat."

"You know," Sev shook his head, "if it wasn't so hard to contact you, we'd talk more frequently."

"You're stalling, luv."

"Fine," he sighed. "I'm kinda hoping you'll do me a favor."

"You know I can't make a deal with you, luv," Crowley ran his hand through his hair. "It's against the rules. In fact, I shouldn't even be here now."

"Yeah, I know," the raven bit his lip. "But admit it, you missed me." Brown eyes rolled at this but he didn't protest. "Anyway, that's why I'm asking for a favor, not a deal."

"A favor?" a brow rose incredulously. "I don't do favors, luv."

"I figured that might be a sticking point, but we're friends, aren't we?" Sev gave him his best puppy dog eyes.

"Friendship aside, Harry," the demon shook his head, "if word got out that I did a favor for someone, then no one would do business with me again."

"Okay, I get it," he held up his hands in surrender. "So, I'm willing to pay," he pulled a pouch out of his pocket. "It may not be your normal currency, but I have a few potions here that might interest you." He opened the pouch and began listing them off. "I've got an aging potion, eh, you might not actually be interested in that one; a brain elixir; beautification potion; couple love potions, not Amortentia; Draught of Living Death; Dreamless Sleep; a bit of Polyjuice Potion; Veritaserum; ah, and one small vial of Felix Felicis."

"And what would you want in exchange for this goldmine worth of potions?" Sev smirked as the other was practically salivating over the offering.

"I just need information," the wizard shook his head, getting back to the matter at hand. "I need the location of Sam and Dean Winchester."

"Wait," the brown gaze tore itself from the potions to stare incredulously into green. "You are looking for Hunters? Are you suicidal, Harry?"

"Look, I know it's crazy," he ran his hand through his hair in agitation, "but they won't hurt me. I've earned Dean's trust, and Sam… Sam was my boyfriend."

"You really do have a knack for trouble, don't you?"

"That's how I met you. But what can I say? I'm Harry Freakin' Potter, trouble magnet," the raven scoffed. "So do you have any information or not?"

"I'll do you one better," the demon shook his head. "You give me that bag of potions, and I'll drop you in the town they're currently in."

"Deal," he held out the pouch.

"You want to kiss on it for posterity's sake?"

"Ha ha," Sev rolled his eyes, "nice try, Crowley. I have a boyfriend."

"Can't blame a guy for tryin'," Crowley shrugged as he placed the pouch in his pocket.

Then with a snap of his fingers, the two of them disappeared.

888888

Sev scowled as he walked down the road of the small town Crowley had dumped him in, a small little town outside Buffalo, New York. He spotted a diner a short way off and decided to head inside, at least he could start his search on a full stomach. He entered the diner, Biggersons, and looked around for an empty table. His eyes narrowed as one of the other customers bumped into a waiter, causing him to drop his tray. Well, at least Crowley had pulled through.

He made his way over as the man searched his pockets for something. Whatever he was looking for didn't seem to be there.

"Son of a bitch," another man, still sitting at the table, cursed.

"That's not a nice thing to say about your mother, Dean," the raven shook his head as he approached the booth.

"What the…?" the elder Winchester's head snapped up. "Who the… Sev?"

"Hello, Dean," the wizard flashed a smile in his direction. "It's nice to finally meet you in this reality. Thanks for calling and letting me know where you were by the way."

"Hey," the short haired brunet held up his hands defensively, as both younger males stared at him, "I passed along your message. It was up to Sammy from there."

"Okay, fair enough," Sev conceded.

"Look," Sam cut in, his gaze darting around taking in the scene they were causing, "let's just get out of here. We can… talk in the car."

"Fine," the shorter male agreed as Dean slid out of his seat.

The trio beat a hasty retreat for the exit. As they reached the parking lot to the Impala, that Sev was kicking himself for not noticing on his way in, Sam seemed to trip over his feet and landed face down on the asphalt. The bespectacled man backtracked to his side and offered his hand.

"What the hell, Sam?" he frowned as he helped the other to his feet. "You've never been this clumsy in all the time I've known you. What gives? Are you drunk or something?"

"No," Sam flinched slightly as he looked down at his skinned up knees. "Just bad luck is all."

"That's some shitty luck you've got there," Sev scoffed. "What'd you do, get on the bad side of a leprechaun?"

"That's just ridiculous, Sev," the shaggy haired brunet sighed. "Leprechauns aren't real."

A dark brow rose incredulously, before the emerald gaze shifted to the elder brother.

"Care to tell me what's going on, Dean?"

"Cursed rabbit's foot," Dean shook his head, choosing to ignore his brother's disgruntled look.

"Cursed rabbit's foot doesn't sound too bad," the raven frowned. "What kind of curse are we talking here?"

"You own it, you have the best luck ever," the elder Winchester shrugged. "You lose it, you die."

Sev gave a soft whistle, "That's some potent magic there. Whoever created it had to have a grudge. So, I take it Sam lost it?"

"Yep," Dean nodded.

"I see," the bespectacled man pursed his lips in thought. "Get in the car, we'll figure something out."

The two brothers had no real choice but to agree. They got into the front seat while Sev climbed into the back. As Dean started the car, the raven began rummaging through his bag. After a moment, he pulled out a small vial.

"Here, Sam," he passed it to the taller male. "Take a small sip of that and it should reduce the bad luck at least for a bit. It's not a cure all, but it should work as a temporary solution until we find the damn thing and destroy it."

"What is this?" Sam frowned as he examined the bottle.

"Felix Felicis, Sam," green eyes rolled in annoyance at the other's stubbornness. "Just drink it."

"Fine," the shaggy haired brunet sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get the truth out of his former boyfriend.

He uncorked the vial and took a small sip before recapping it and handing it back. Sev nodded and placed it back in his bag.

"So, we need to get the foot back," he ran his hand through his hair, "and then figure out how to break the curse, cause just destroying it might not break the curse. Dean, do you have any contacts who could help with either of those?"

"I got a few," the short haired brunet nodded. "I'll make some calls. But first, I think we should find the guys who originally stole the foot. They might know who took it from us."

"Wait," Sam held up his hands. "Dean, we can do this on our own. Sev does not have to be involved in this."

"Look, Sam," the bespectacled male cut in, "you don't get a say in this right now. One, you're cursed. And two, I had to find you. And believe me, I had to resort to some pretty unconventional means to do so."

"What kind of means?" Dean frowned at him in the rearview mirror.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Sev chuckled. "Let's just say I have some contacts of my own. Speaking of, I'll make some phone calls myself, see if I can't scrounge up something that might help."

"Great," the elder Winchester nodded, as he pulled into the parking lot of a rundown apartment complex and put the car in park. "You get on that, I'll take the walking disaster with me and see what we can get out of these guys in here."

"Sounds good," he nodded, pulling out his phone. "Just keep an eye on him. He should be fine, but can't be too careful."

As soon as the brothers disappeared into the building, Sev dialed a number from memory and placed the device to his ear. It rang three times, and he was about to give up, before it was finally picked up.

~Hello?~ a female voice answered.

"Hey, Mione," he couldn't help the smile that crossed his face.

~H-H-Sev,~ she chuckled. ~It's been forever since you've called. Everything's okay, right?~ her tone turned suspicious.

"I'm not in trouble," he was quick to reassure her. "But Sam is."

~Wait, Sam?~ he could tell she was frowning. ~Stanford Sam? The guy who up and disappeared on you three years ago?~

"Yes, Hermione," he sighed. "Let's skip the lecture, shall we? I found him. It's my life, my choice. Moving on. Sam's been cursed, and I'm calling you because you're the smartest person I know."

~Flattery will get you nowhere,~ she huffed. ~Fine. What's he cursed with?~

"A rabbit's foot, as long as he had it, good luck, as soon as he lost it, bad luck."

~That's some pretty complex spellwork,~ she said thoughtfully. ~It's not going to be easy. You're not just going to be able to wave your wand and end it. The curse will have to be removed from the object before it's destroyed. Give me some time to look and I'll call you back.~

"Fine," he ran his hand through his hair. "Please hurry, Mione. I don't know how long he has. I gave him some Felix Felicis to counter the effects, but I have no clue how long that will last."

~It'll give you twenty-four hours at most,~ she said distractedly, and Sev could tell she was already looking for answers. ~But if the curse is as bad as you are implying, I wouldn't count on more than two or three hours.~

"Thanks, Mione," green eyes rolled in fond annoyance. "I'll keep that in mind. Call me when you get something."

~Right,~ his friend agreed. ~Oh, and Harry, please be careful. I don't want you to get hurt by him again.~

"Goodbye, Hermione," he said firmly and ended the call.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket and turned around. It seemed he ended it just in time as the two Winchesters exited the building. He made his way over to them as the elder brother pulled his phone out of his own pocket and answered it.

"So," he said once he reached his former boyfriend, "find anything out?"

"We got a name," Sam shrugged. "Most likely an alias, but we'll see if we can't track it down. Look, Sev, my brother and I can handle things from here. It was really great seeing you again, but I can't risk anything happening to you, so it would be best if you just forget about me and…"

"No," the raven held up his hand to cut him off. "You don't get to tell me to leave. Not like this. Not after I had to practically sell my soul to find you. You owe me more than just a quick goodbye."

"You didn't, did you?" the taller male asked seriously.

"Didn't what?" Sev sighed heavily.

"Sell your soul."

"No, Sam, it's just an expression," he ran his hand through his hair. "I had to give away some really expensive shit to get here, some of it I'll be hard pressed to replace. But let me tell you, you Hunters are a really suspicious group of people. Besides, if I could sell my soul it wouldn't be for something as petty as finding your sorry ass."

"Okay," Dean cut into their conversation. "So, Bobby thinks he can get some information on the chick who stole the foot."

"Great," the shorter male turned to look at him. "Let's get off the street. I can't be sure how long this band-aid cure I gave Sam is going to last. And I called my friend, she's looking into how we can possibly break this curse."

"Right," the elder Winchester nodded, moving over to the driver's side door. "So this friend of yours, this the same one who died in the other reality?"

"Actually, yes," the bespectacled man smirked. "She's the smartest person I know, and has helped me out of more scrapes than I can count. She'll know how to break this curse, I'm sure of it."

"Ya know," he said as they got in the car and he started the engine, "you still owe me an explanation on how you know about all this stuff."

"After we get Sam uncursed," the raven shook his head.

"But you said you'd answer any questions I had if we met in this reality," Dean pouted.

"I said I would answer your questions if you contacted me," he countered. "So first, we're gonna fix up Sam, then, if he doesn't kick me to the curb, we should all sit down and have a very long discussion about all of this."

"Deal."

"Oh, should we kiss on it for posterity's sake?" green eyes rolled sarcastically.

Both brothers turned to stare incredulously at him.

"What?" he held up his hands. "It was just a joke. You guys really need to lighten up."

Ammie: Okay, so there it is. Please do not kill me for the direction this fic took, these fuckers wanted it that way. On a side note, they're back together, at last. Anyway, please let me know what you think.