"You know, this could be our last night on earth?" Stated Dean morbidly, holding his beer up in a mock salute. Harry raised his own bottle up in answer, as did the rest of the room. They were congregated in the house of one of the Winchester's friends, Bobby. Who, much to Harry's chagrin, had insisted on Harry being subjected to salt and a silver blade before he was so much as allowed through the threshold. Despite his initial hostility, Bobby had turned out to be a great host, or rather; his house was well stocked with alcohol. Jo's mother was also there, a middle aged woman who reminded Harry of Molly Weasley as she had been whilst fighting in the battle of Hogwarts. She'd endeavoured to beat Castiel in shots at the beginning of the night, but had only succeeded in getting him mildly tipsy, getting herself drunk in the process.

Harry was seated on a wooden stool, slightly removed from the rest of his companions. He watched them interact with each other, a half smile on his face. It was clear from the easy manner in which they acting that the five were close. It made Harry miss his own friends. He felt guilty for not contacting Ron and Hermione to let them know he was alright, but he didn't want to drag them into yet another war. Much to his delight, the couple had finally married six months earlier and, Ron had confided in Harry, they were trying for their first child. He didn't want to be responsible for destroying the life they had built for themselves.

"You look like you're deep in thought." Harry turned to see Jo grinning at him. "May I?" She continued, gesturing to a chair next to Harry.

"Feel free," he shrugged, taking another sip of his beer. She sat herself down and nodded her head over to the other side of the kitchen.

"Check those two out," she giggled. Harry followed he gaze to where a tipsy looking Castiel was trying to make his way to a chair. He was struggling to walk in a straight line, the massive amount of alcohol he had consumed earlier in the evening making it hard for him to control his legs. As Harry watched he put an arm out to steady himself and managed to catch Dean around the neck, sending him staggering. Dean rolled his eyes, grabbing the tipsy angel by his shoulders and steering him into a chair. As he started to let go Castiel grabbed his hand, saying something which made the other man grin broadly. They lingered like that for a brief moment, looking at each other, before Bobby called something to Dean and they broke apart.

"Are they..?" asked Harry, tearing his eyes away from Castiel who looked a little lost now that Dean was no longer next to him.

"Not that they're aware of," replied Jo mischievously.

"You two are looking mighty cosy over here," slurred Ellen as she leant against the wall and turned her head from Harry to her daughter and back again. Jo shook her head in embarrassment, looking apologetically at Harry.

"She's pissed," she mouthed. Harry nodded in understanding and fingered his wand in his pocket. He was glad that he'd got it back, even though he shuddered to think of it in the hands of a demon. Although he could manage some wandless magic, he found it only really worked in moments of high stress. He couldn't use it with the same finesse or power he would work magic with his wand. As Jo became distracted by the ramblings of her mother, he subtly pulled it out and cast a sobering charm on Ellen. She blinked; looking confused and shook her head. Harry quickly slipped his wand back into his pocket and cleared his throat loudly, drawing the attention of the people in the cramped kitchen.

"We've got a busy day tomorrow," he said when they were all paying attention to him. "Time for bed." Although he got a mutinous look from Dean, everyone nodded in agreement except for Castiel who was already snoring lightly in his chair. They trickled from the room, Dean half carrying the very drowsy angel from the room. Sam waved good night to Harry and Ellen and Jo also left. Finally just Harry and Bobby were left alone in the kitchen.

"Here, I'll show you'll be sleeping," said Bobby in a gruff voice, leading Harry over to a door which opened to reveal a basement. Bobby led the way, wheeling his chair down a makeshift ramp made from boards of wood lain over the stairs and Harry followed behind. "We don't have much space left so you'll be in there." He used his head to gesture to a heavy metal door set into the wall. "Would you mind getting the lock, I, well," he gestured at his legs and Harry took the hint and moved to unbolt the door. Bobby followed so closely behind that he bumped into Harry, muttering a gruff "sorry." Harry opened the door and stepped inside a barren room with a single bed in the middle of it.

"Cosy," he commented, stepping in to take a closer look. The door slammed shut behind him. Harry whirled around as he heard the sound of bolts clicking into place, confused and a little frightened. Then the small hatch on the door opened and Bobby's face peered through.

"I saw what you did to Ellen, boy," he growled. Harry gaped.

"I didn't do anything!" He exclaimed, putting his hand in his pocket to pull out his wand and unlock the door.

"Looking for this?" Asked Bobby, waving a familiar looking piece of wood at him. Harry lunged at the door, but it didn't budge.

"I don't know what you did, but I can recognise magic, I'm no idjit. " He snapped. "The boys don't have time to deal with you, so you're going to stay in here until we get back. We'll deal with you then."

"Wait a moment!" Cried Harry, but it was too late. Bobby shut the hatch and left, leaving Harry locked in yet another basement for the second time in less than a fortnight.

"Where's Harry?" Asked Sam the next morning as they left the house, about to leave for Carthage.

"Said he was going on ahead," grunted Bobby, wheeling himself towards the car. "Are you just going to stand there? Let's go." For some reason, Sam felt a little uneasy. The feeling only increased as they left the house, but he put it down to nerves. After all, it wasn't every day you tried to kill the devil.

A.N. Thanks for all your comments/faves. There are now more than 100 alerts on this fic.

Night.