[Fic] A Ghost of a Chance (Cont.)
Previous
Harry pulled Clarrisa away from Hedwig's cage and set her on the seat on the other side of him. This was the third time that day he'd had to do it. Waking up from a nap to Hedwig's screeching as Clarrisa pulled out feathers so that she could eat them was not fun.
"Damnit Clarrisa! I told you to stop that!" Dean said, frowning into the rearview mirror.
"They're pretty." Clarrisa pouted. "They'll make me pretty too."
"Clarrisa you're already pretty." Sam said reassuring the doll.
"Really, Uncle Sam?" Clarrisa asked.
"Really. See Harry agrees." Sam pointed at Harry who nodded.
"Leave Hedwig's feathers alone please, Clarrisa. She needs her feathers." Harry asked.
"I don't know, maybe she needs a pet or something to get her to stop," Dean muttered.
Sam and Harry blinked in surprise. "That might work."
"Yeah. If it's not a problem I can get her something from the pound. It'll only be until the end of summer." Harry said leaning forward to try and get a look at Dean's face.
"What? No!"
"It'll probably get her to stop plucking Hedwig." Sam pointed out.
"No," Dean stated firmly.
~~~~~
"I can't believe we're doing this," Dean grumbled as he walked into the pound behind Harry and Clarrisa.
"Come on, you suggested it," Sam said smirking in amusement.
"Yeah, but I was joking." Sighing Dean walked up to the counter and drummed his hands on it as they waited for someone to come out of the back.
"Can I help you?"
"Can we take a look at your dogs? Smallish or puppies?" Dean asked.
"Sure. Right this way." The man led them into the kennels.
Dean followed and frowned as he looked down at his hand and rubbed his fingers together. After taking a sniff he nudged Sam and held out his hand that was faintly yellow on the bottom.
Sam arched his eyebrows in surprise before looking down and gesturing towards the floor with his chin. With a sinking feeling Dean took in the painted lines on the cement floor then turned his eyes towards the pound manager that was talking to Harry as he showed him the caged animals.
Dean slowly walked down the aisle running a cursory eye over the animals only to stop when he saw a large dogs eyes turn red briefly. "That's interesting."
"He's an interesting dog. Pure mutt on his mother's side, pure blood on his fathers," the kennel keeper said from right behind him.
"Really?"
"How about this cat?" Harry asked pointing half grown orange bobtailed cat.
"That one's a Manx. The owner got rid of her and her litter because their pure breed show cat got out one night and got pregnant."
"Can I get her?" Harry asked Dean.
Sighing Dean nodded. "Fine."
~~~~~
"Okay what's going on?" Harry demanded when the three of them walked into their motel room after letting Hedwig out of her cage to hunt.
"We think that kennel guy might be up to something." Sam said.
Harry sighed and nodded. "I'll stay here and watch TV."
"Sure." Dean said nodding as he started sorting through what they would need for when they went investigating the pound again. "By the way, Xanthia*3?"
"She was a witch in the sixteen hundreds. I read about her in a book," Harry explained.
"Sounds a little too much like Xanth to me," Dean quipped.
"Xanth?" asked Harry, looking up confused.
"It's a series of fantasy books," Sam explained.
Harry nodded slowly, "Can I see if they have a local book store and see if they have any? Maybe get a jump on some of the jokes I know Dean's going to make about Xanthia's name."
"Sure, I'll look it up for you in a minute," Sam offered. "Maybe I can grab something for me to read too."
Dean snorted. "Nerds."
"Dean, I'm the Seeker on my house Quidditch team. I need something to do while we're traveling," Harry explained. "Besides, you're the one that brought up Xanth."
Sam cackled at Dean's flummoxed look.
~~~~~
Harry looked up from where he was sitting on his bed petting Xanthia and watching The Rock. Sam and Dean limped into the hotel room.
"Kennel guy was up to something?" Harry hazarded a guess.
"Yeah, you could say that," Sam observed.
"Yup, summoning hell critters and breeding them," Dean groaned, as he slowly lowered himself into a chair.
"There's icepacks in the cooler and the med kits next to the TV," Harry said.
"Thanks," Dean said as he grabbed one of the icepacks.
"You guys finished up or are we going to hang around a little longer?" Harry asked.
"Finished up. Looked like he had been in business for a while. The dogs turned on him though, when they got loose in the fight," Sam explained.
"They didn't come after us though. They even let us send them back home. Any idea why that is?" Dean asked.
"I think I might know," Harry muttered in embarrassment.
"Why's that."
"Xanthia."
"Your cat? How could she have anything to do with it? She wasn't part of his breeding program."
"Actually I think she inadvertently was. Earlier I ran into a gremlin on my way back from the diner," Harry explained.
"Gremlin? It didn't touch my car did it?" Dean demanded.
"No, Xanthia kinda transformed into a bigger size and ate it before it could do more than sniff at the tires." Harry shrugged.
"How big?"
"About knee high on Sam. Clarrisa said she could see the demon, that's why she chose her."
"So Xanthia's a demon cat?"
"I think only half." Harry shifted uncomfortably. "Am I going to have to get rid of her?"
Dean eyed the cat that was lying on her back on Harry's lap purring up a storm as her stomach was scratched by the nervous teen. With a sigh he capitulated to the inevitable. "No, no. She hasn't done anything except save my car. We'll do a wait and see like Clarrisa."
Harry gave Dean a blinding smile. "Thanks Dean."
"No problem kid. Now where's dinner?"
~~~~~
"Hi dad," Dean said standing next to the taller man sitting at a table.
"Dean. What are you doing here?" John said with a nod of greeting.
"We need to talk."
"Were's Sam?"
"Staying with why we need to talk."
Sighing, John threw down the money for his beer and followed Dean out of the bar. He blinked in surprise when he saw a teenaged boy and a young girl standing next to the Impala. Eying the boy he was surprised to see a familiar face, but when he shifted his gaze he was startled to realize the girl wasn't a girl but rather a porcelain doll.
"Is that a doll?" John demanded.
"Yeah, I found her at a flea market and decided that she was better with me than some unsuspecting muggle," the boy explained.
"And you are?"
"I'm Harry Potter, sir." The boy held out a tentative hand that John shook with a frown.
"Harry? Lily and James' son?"
"You knew my parents?" Harry asked perking up. He was always pleased to learn more about his parents, though he was surprised to find out that they had met John Winchester.
"I met them about seventeen years ago. They were over here chasing a Death Eater. I'm sorry you never knew them, they were good Aurors," John explained.
"Thank you sir." Harry smiled in gratitude at the man.
"Why don't we continue this at the hotel," Dean broke in.
"I'll meet you there." John said.
"Here's where we're staying," Sam said handing over a paper.
~~~~~
An hour later found the four of them sitting around a hotel room as Clarrisa was happily petting Xanthia on the bed behind Harry.
"Dad, Harry's here because we're related. Closely," Sam said to get the ball rolling.
John scowled, "How closely?"
"The spell I did showed me living blood relatives, closest first. You showed up first. Before my Aunt Petunia," Harry explained in a low voice.
"Petunia?" John asked.
"My mother's sister."
John frowned in thought before realization dawned. "Damn!"
"What?" Sam demanded.
"I think I know how," John sighed and scrubbed his face. "You ever hear of polyjuice?"
"Yes."
"Well, when they were here they had to go to this club. James had a problem; the Death Eater knew what he looked like, so we decided that he would polyjuice to look like me. It was in exchange for their help with what I was hunting at the time."
"How would that explain how we're related sir?" Harry asked curiously.
"Lily apologized to me later. Apparently as part of their cover they had sex while in the club. A friend of mine that taught me some about potions later told me that polyjuice can lead to some mixed up inheritances. If someone's conceived while one of the parent's is polyjuiced, then they have three parents or sometimes four." John shrugged at the uncomfortable incredulous looks he was getting.
"So technically you're Harry's dad?" Sam demanded.
A horrendously blushing Harry opened his mouth to speak but only a squeak emerged.
"That's weird even for us Dad," Dean agreed.
John sighed and shrugged before asking, "Why did you come here?" The answer he got wasn't quite what he was expecting and led to him growling and pacing the room.
~~~~~
After a lot of talking they decided by mutual agreement that Harry was a Winchester, and that he should learn to defend himself as such. So John started to travel with his sons again, though three now rather than just the two he was used to.
They found that Harry not only had a knack for getting in trouble, he seemed to be able to home in on trouble with an unnatural accuracy to such a degree that it couldn't be just luck. He also had a brilliant tactical mind and an ability to bring out the best of a group's talents as proven by his managing to get a group of kids out of a dark forest during the new moon while being chased by a child sacrificing cult with only himself and Clarrisa being over the age of eight.
Clarrisa they discovered was like, "Chucky's scarier cousin, the one that picked on him and thought his evil ways were 'cute'," in Dean's words. For one she could heal from injuries; and because of her fondness for eating metal she had metal talons*4 that lengthened from her fingers to six inches and were very sharp. She had also turned out to have been the one killing the people that bought her, but for Harry she was trying to be good.
They had found this out after Harry had been kidnapped by the evil power hungry librarian who wanted to kill him and steal his power.
Clarrisa had found him before the librarian could even get halfway through the spell and had rather messily and quickly killed her before Harry's horrified eyes; then cut him loose with her new talons that retracted once she was finished.
When Harry made it back to his family both he and especially Clarrisa were covered in blood. After his explanation of what had happened John had interrogated the doll and led to them finding out her history.
It turns out her original owner was the daughter of an army officer that was in India and he and his entire family were rather brutally killed. The daughter died holding Clarrisa.
The family's effects were shipped back to England where she ended up in the hands of a girl that was killed in a home invasion. The third owner was the one that enchanted her to move and sent her to a relative in the colonies. She was sent as a hidden assassin to kill the family so the gift giver could inherit.
After that Clarrisa exchanged hands several times sometimes killing her owners sometimes not, having been tainted and twisted by her violent history. Eventually she ended up in Harry's hands. Pretty much, she's an evil murderous doll with some very interesting abilities.
After discovering this it led to Harry standing and watching as Dean drew out the spellwork to cleanse and exorcise Clarrisa, to rid her of all her magic. Sighing Harry turned his eyes to the animate doll who was sadly saying goodbye to Xanthia. She was going to be his first exorcism.
"There." Dean dusted off his hands and handed over the spell book.
Sighing Harry accepted, he knew she was evil, but he wasn't looking forward to this. After all, Clarrisa had been protecting him from the evil witch; okay she killed her, but she was still protecting him.
"Clarrisa it's time," Harry called over to her.
"Yes Daddy." Clarrisa got up and went to stand in the middle of the array.*5
"Do you know what I'm going to do?" Harry asked frowning down at her; over the last three weeks he never once doubted that Clarrisa was smart. She was very smart, and apparently evil.
"Yes Daddy. You're going to cleanse me of all my magic and make me a normal doll again," Clarrisa explained patiently.
"And you're going to let me?" Harry asked.
"If that's what Daddy wants. I know what I did was bad, but I was made that way. This is a good thing." Clarrisa smiled at him.
Harry stared at Clarrisa then looked at the book only to hand it over to Sam. "I can't do it. You do it."
Sam accepted the book only to do the same thing, this time, handing the book to Dean.
"Wusses," Dean muttered as he started to do it only to stop mid chant, feeling Clarrisa's sadly patient gaze on him, and looked over at John. "I don't think I can either."
John sighed, "Fine, we can keep her. But only if she's good." He shook his head incredulously; his boys got into the strangest trouble. Even Harry and he had only known the boy for three weeks.
"Thank you, Grandfather," Clarrisa said running up and hugging his legs.
Patting her awkwardly on the head he looked at the three boys who were smirking at his expression, though Harry only with his eyes. "Get your stuff together; we need to get to the next town." Harry tentatively raised his hand. "What is it Harry?"
"Um, wouldn't the librarian lady have had spell books?" Harry asked tentatively then shrank down at the incredulous looks he got turned on him by the other three. "I mean, she was a witch right? So..."
"You're right," Sam said heading back to the Impala. "I'll go look up her address."
John clapped Harry on the shoulder, "Good thinking son. Let's get going. What we don't keep or burn, we can probably sell."
Harry glowed under the praise.
"Good work little bro." Dean threw an arm over Harry's shoulder. "See, you fit right in."
"Thanks."
~~~~~
Harry carefully cleaned a gun under John's stern gaze in the hotel room they were sharing. They had decided on the first night all together that Harry would share with John, while Sam and Dean would continue to share, seeing as the Winchester patriarch was older and nastier than any of his sons.
Not that it stopped them for spending a lot of time in the same room, they just slept split up. And with the added protections of Clarrisa and Xanthia, who after the first time John had woken up to find her blanketing Harry in her large form had accepted that, it roughly evened out. He figured that anything Sam and Dean could handle, he, Harry and his pets could handle.
While traveling though, it varied who Harry rode with. Sometimes it was with his brothers, sometimes it was with John; although, Clarrisa and Hedwig usually rode in the Impala due to it having more room. Either way it worked.
Harry was having what was probably the best summer of his life and he was learning a lot from his new family. He'd even had a birthday party; on his birthday. Dean had somehow gotten him the entire Xanth series; Sam had gotten him an iPod with music that in his words, "didn't suck"; and John had gotten him a few books on legends and a knife.
This was one summer that he actually wasn't looking forward to going to school. While yes he would see his friends again, he would also have to see everyone else. That, he wasn't looking forward to at all.
Smiling sadly at the thought of school Harry was just setting down the piece he had just finished when there was a knock at the door. Looking up he watched as John cautiously opened the door, only to freeze when he heard the familiar voice speak from the other side.
"I'm looking for - John?" Snape asked mid-demand.
"Severus! What are you doing here?" John asked opening the door further and clapping Snape on the shoulder. "I didn't know you were coming."
"I didn't know you were here or I would have informed you," Snape said. "Is Mr. Potter here?"
"What makes you think 'Mr. Potter' is here?" John asked.
"Because this led me here."
"Dad is something going on?" Sam's voice asked from further outside.
"I'm finding out. Well, Severus, you heard my son."
"I'm looking for Harry Potter. Now is he here?"
"I'm here sir," Harry said coming up behind John after having carefully sat aside the gun parts. "Did Professor Dumbledore send you for me?"
"Indeed. What are you doing here of all places?" Snape demanded.
"Turns out he's my son. Come in and I'll explain," John said leading in an incredulous Snape and curious Sam.
"Your son." Snape stated taking a seat in one of the chairs. "This had better be good."
"His father was polyjuiced as me when he was conceived." John shrugged. "Looks like that chance you warned me about happened."
"James was polyjuiced as you when he and Lily..." Snape snapped his mouth shut and shook his head. "I need a drink."
~~~~~
Dean, Sam, and Harry watched in horror as Snape and John traded stories and jokes.
"That is so wrong," Dean muttered when their father laughed at a story Snape had just finished.
"You have no concept of just how wrong," Harry whispered in shock. "I think I need a drink."
"I'm almost at the point I'd let you," Sam said.
"Maybe they're possessed?" Dean asked hopefully.
"That's always your answer," Harry snipped.
"Maybe we should check just to make sure?" Sam asked cautiously edging away from the two jovial men.
"I think that might be a good idea," Dean agreed.
"Can I stay with you two tonight? I don't think I can handle them," Harry asked turning wide eyes on his brothers. "They might eat my brain in my sleep."
"I knew we shouldn't have let you watch that monster movie marathon," Dean grumbled though he nodded his consent.
"Right, I think we should go now," Sam said standing up.
"Um, yeah. Dad we're going to the mall to get me some new shoes okay?" Harry asked standing up as well.
"Be careful and look out for your brothers Dean," John ordered giving the boys a stern look.
"Yes sir," Dead said before bolting out of the bar with the other two. The mall at four was a whole world less disturbing for him than that scene had been.
~~~~~
"Food time," Dean said stopping the car in a grocery store parking lot. "Dad said he and Snape are going to go ahead and check in and look around. We just gotta get the food."
"Why did he have to come with us anyway?" Sam asked getting out of the car. "You stay here Clarrisa. Guard the car okay." He added on to her when she started to get out after Harry.
"Okay."
"I think it's to keep an eye on me," Harry said stretching. "That and to be around someone he actually likes and respects anyway."
"Rare thing?" Dean asked.
"Rare thing," Harry agreed. "Can we get some more pizza?"
"Sure," Sam agreed.
~~~~~
Walking back out to the car with the groceries Dean almost shot the Impala when Clarrisa suddenly thumped against the side window doing a credible Garfield-window-cat*6 impression.
"Damn it Clarrisa, don't do that."
Sam snickered next to him, although he had almost done the same thing.
"Here Clarrisa I got you some plastic spoons." Harry handed her a box of picnic spoons after they opened the car.
"Thank you Daddy," She chirped before eagerly opening the box and happily began eating one.
"And to think that used to be creepy," Dean muttered as he started got into the driver's seat.
~~~~~
"Harvelle's?" Dean asked looking at the dingy roadhouse they were parked in front of.
"It may not look like much, but it's a Hunter friendly," John explained. "Only thing is, the owner doesn't like me."
"Right. So why are we here if the owner's going to shoot you?" Sam asked incredulous.
"We need to talk to someone that lives here," John said before biting the bullet and leading the way inside. "Wait here."
Shrugging Dean looked over at the other two Winchester's, only to have his eye caught by a black clad Clarrisa crouched next to a mud puddle and about to put something she had found in her mouth. "Clarrisa drop it. You don't know where it's been," Dean snapped and rubbed his forehead where he could feel a headache forming. "Did I just admonish the evil doll?"
"I'd say so," Sam agreed, voice dripping amusement.
"Damnit," Dean sighed and looked over at the tall man. "What do you think our chances of not getting run off are?"
"With John's charm?" Snape asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Maybe we should start the car?" Sam asked after a moment of silence.
"Get in here boys," John called reappearing at the door.
~~~~~
"Alright now shoot," Dean instructed from across the pool table from Harry. The boy was defiantly a Winchester; he was learning the game pretty well. They hadn't started him on any of the hustling techniques yet, but he was building up his skills quickly.
"So you guys are brothers huh?" Jo asked Sam from where they sat watching the other two.
"Yeah. Harry's going back to school with Snape at the end of the summer though. It's been an interesting few weeks."
"You guy's seem really close."
"Yeah we are. It's kinda nice to have the whole family together." Sam smiled slightly, "Even some of our new odder members."
Jo looked over at a Clarrisa who was reading Night Mare to Xanthia.
"She's..."
"A long story; and she also seems to have taken a liking to Snape as shown by her clothes." Sam shook his head. "Harry can find the weirdest things on accident.
~~~~~
Harry yawned and stumbled out of the Impala thanking Snape again mentally for doing the spell that increased the space inside the car, it made traveling more comfortable now that he and the others could stretch out if they wanted. Sam had actually hugged Snape in gratitude for that, Dean had hugged him for doing the same for the weapon compartment.
"Why are we at a house?" Harry asked Sam in surprise as he eyed the well kept Victorian style house they had stopped in front of.
"Boarding house. We're going to be here for at least a week with the new case," Sam explained, "so we're going to stay here rather than a hotel."
"Why so long?" Harry asked
"Some sort of spirit is supposed to show up every year on the same date in a couple weeks, we're here early to take a look around and gather information." Sam gave Harry a reassuring smile. "Dad also wants us to stay in the same place for a few days anyway. He won't say why though."
"I heard the talk you to had over that," Harry quipped referring to the blow up fight that the two had had over that order.
"Sorry about that. Me and Dad have... problems." Sam shrugged and looked over at John. "So are we staying here or elsewhere?"
"Here. Come on boys." John said, leading the way as Harry picked up Clarrisa and followed.
~~~~~
Not long later Harry set down his trunk on the floor of his room in the boarding house. Looking around the small room he sighed as he rubbed his shoulder.
"It's not as bad as it could have been." Sam reassured Harry with a small smile as he set down the other end of the trunk.
"How?" He asked genuinely curious as to what Sam was referring to.
"At least we're not going to have to worry about drowning in ruffles and flowers like some places." Sam gave a theatrical shudder at the memory of a few places they'd stayed in over the years.
Harry laughed softly, "That's true. Do you guys need me for anything or can I take a look around?"
"Check with Dad first, but I think its okay, just take Clarrisa or Xanthia with you." Sam said after a moments thought. "I'll probably be at the library for most of the day with Dean."
"If I take Clarrisa out people will notice I'm carrying a doll." Harry pointed out.
"I can help with that." Snape's dry voice said from the doorway.
"How sir?" Harry asked. He had felt bad about not being able to allow Clarrisa to move around muggles.
Snape flicked his wand at Clarrisa and cast a minor illusion on her. "There."
Sam and Harry eyed Clarrisa thoughtfully, the illusion, which was very well done actually, made her look completely human. "Can you make a pendant or something for her so we don't have to come to you for it?"
Harry nodded thoughtfully, "That's a good idea, and wouldn't that require some rather delicate potion work to make? I mean for it to be a permanent effect of the pendant?" Harry asked turning questioning eyes to Snape.
After giving him a thoughtful look Snape shook his head and chuckled, "You are defiantly Lily and John's son. I'll see what I can do." With that he turned and swept out of the room.
Harry shook his head incredulously, "I think he's decided to completely ignore the Potter part of my ancestry."
Sam shook his head, "It's probably a good thing. Come on lets go check with Dad."
Shaking off the weirdness that was Snape, Harry took Clarrisa's hand and followed Sam. Some things just really shouldn't be thought about, and Snape's line of reasoning was one of them. Every time he tried he always ended up depressed and usually almost dead.
~~~~~
Harry slowly walked over to the old man that sat on the porch of the house next the boarding house they were staying in. He had heard fiddles a couple of times, but this was different. There was something almost... magic for lack of a better word, about the man's playing.
"You just going to stand there boy? Or are you going to come up here?" The old man's cankerous voice startled Harry.
Blushing Harry climbed the stairs to stand in front of the man who had laid his fiddle across his lap as he eyed Harry. "S-sorry sir. I've just never heard music like that before."
The man snorted, "This time of year always put me in the mood for it. What's you're name boy?"
"Harry sir. Harry Potter."
"Harry huh? Good, strong name. Not pretentious like some of the one's I've heard for your kind." The old man snorted obviously thinking of some of those 'pretentious names'.
"My kind sir?" Harry asked confused.
"Wizards. Only met few in all my years that was worth their salt, the rest..." The man snorted again, "Well they soon learn better than to think I don't know my stuff, backwoods or no."
"You know of wizards sir?"
"You live as long as I have you see things. So Harry have a seat. My names Johnny." The man held out his hand to Harry after he tentatively sat down. "So you like music?"
"I guess as much as anyone sir. Dean's more the music fan than me, and he's mostly into classic rock though." Harry paused before pressing on, "It's just... It's just there was something almost magical about your playing."
Johnny gave a startled laugh, "That's 'cause there is boy. You think you wizards have magic all tied up with your wands?"
"No, I know there's different kinds of magic, I've seen enough of it so far to know that much at least, but I didn't know music had it." Harry said.
"Why wouldn't have magic? There's nothing that calls to emotions easier than music, and nothing can affect magic more than emotions."
"I suppose so sir." Harry said thoughtfully as he thought over his past experiences with magic.
Johnny gave Harry a stern look before coming to some internal decision. "You want to try?"
"Try?" Harry asked confused.
"Playing. Judging by your accent you probably go to one of those fancy schools, so you must have some idea of music."
"Not really sir, Hogwarts doesn't teach music." Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I wouldn't mind trying though, it looked interesting."
"Well here," The man handed over his fiddle and bow. "Now this is how you position yourself."
The rest of the afternoon passed in a pleasant blur as Johnny patiently taught Harry both magical philosophy along with scales all mixed up in such a way where Harry didn't even realize that Johnny had been teaching him anything but scales.
~~~~~
"So what's with you and the old man?" Dean asked Harry as they sorted through John's notebook. "You've been spending every afternoon for the last three days with him."
"Johnny?" Harry asked confused carefully typing a copy from one of the carefully cleaned up journal pages on the laptop he had bought himself for his birthday. "He's teaching me how to play the fiddle. How are we going to do the sketches and stuff?"
"Probably scan them or something. Why would you want to play the fiddle?"
"It's interesting, and there's a kind of magic when Johnny plays. I want to be able to do that someday if I get good enough." Harry explained. "Alright I finished this entry. I didn't know this would this much work to organize Dad's journal. Why are we doing it anyway?"
"'Cause Dad, Sammy, and Snape are off chasing down leads on the case right now, and since it's still in the look stuff up phase I might as well be doing something useful." Dean said.
"So you got banished to keep from driving them crazy?" Harry teased.
Dean laughed and shook his head, "Pretty much. Besides it'll be nice to clean up Dad's stuff so we don't have to decode it."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "And I thought some of the homework I had to grade for Professor Binns was bad. Maybe when we're done with Dad's we should offer it up as a research or start up book for hunters. You know so it's a reliable source of what's actually out there and what works?"
Dean looked thoughtful at Harry's suggestion, "That's actually a good idea, especially if we can get other hunters to add to it. I can think of a few times where something like that would have come in really handy. Especially since a few hunters specialize in certain creatures or areas. Maybe even get a vanity press to run off copies or something so it looks more legit."
Harry snorted in amusement, "If we do that I'm going to have to get Hermione a copy. She'd love it. What about these cases that are taken care of?" Harry asked looking at another paper.
"Put them in. They make for good reference if nothing else. Pretty much a 'this is something that was going on and how it went down' kinda thing."
Nodding Harry started carefully typing down the information on a new page. "You guys will have to go through and fill in the information."
Dean chuckled nervously, "You don't mean like a report right?"
"Pretty much."
Sighing Dean rubbed his face tiredly, "Great, more work."
Harry threw Dean an amused look, already knowing his oldest brother well enough to know he'd do it if only to give another hunter that much more of a chance to survive.
~~~~~
Sam looked over at John thoughtfully, "So Dad, why are we really here?"
John gave Sam a sharp look before sighing, "Harry."
"I know he's leaving on the thirty-first but..." Sam began, knowing that they were all sad that Harry would be leaving with Snape.
"I don't think he'll be leaving if I'm reading him right. I've had a lawyer friend of mine working on transferring custody of Harry over to me. We need to stay in one place for a couple weeks as he finishes things up."
"Really?" Sam asked surprised.
John snorted. "You've been around him longer; do you think he's anything less than a true Winchester?"
"No, no I don't." Sam snorted. "I think he gets into just as much trouble as the rest of us."
"Just wait till he's ready to hunt." John added.
Sam snorted in amusement, "True."
~~~~~
John eyed Harry as they stood beside his truck. "You stay with Johnny and Severus and look over that folder." John ordered gruffly, trying to not let onto how nervous he was over Harry's reaction to being offered to staying with them rather than be sent back to a school that John knew was a danger to his youngest boy. The boy had said himself he's learned more in the last two months with them than he had in the last two years at his fancy school.
First things first though, John, Sam, and Dean had to take care of this case before they could do anything else. Reminding himself again that Harry had a good head on his shoulders he clapped him on the shoulder and turned to look at Severus and Johnny who were standing on the old man's porch. "He's my youngest boy."
"We'll keep an eye on John." Severus said with a serious look. "Just don't die so I won't have to take him in for you."
"Bye Grandpa," Clarrisa said hugging a startled John around the knees. "Can you bring me back something to eat?"
John patted her on the head marveling internally again at Clarrisa, "We'll see. Keep a good eye Harry. He tends to get into trouble."
"I'll eat anything that tries to eat him." The threat was adorable coming from what appeared to be a five year old, but John knew she was not only serious, but fully capable of following through with her promise.
"Good, you do that. Thank you again for loaning us Xanthia." Dean said as he picked up Clarrisa in a brief hug before handing her to Harry. "And be good. No eating something you shouldn't."
Clarrisa gave him a serious look from Harry's arms, "Maybe I should be calling you Daddy instead."
Sam and Harry burst out laughing at the confused and offended look on Dean's face.
"Thanks again Johnny for doing this for us."
"Why wouldn't I. The boy actually listens," the old man grumbled, though he did look pleased at the gratitude and respect the Winchester clan and company had shown him in their stay at the boarding house. "Get going and do you're work. I want my house back as soon as possible."
Shaking his head John climbed into his truck and led the way to the meadow the apparition appeared in.
~~~~~
Harry was lying asleep on the couch in Johnny's living room when the Winchesters returned tired and bruised, but thankfully mostly uninjured. Xanthia ran past Dean's legs to greet Clarrisa who was sitting and calmly coloring at the coffee table.
"I take it that you managed to take care of the problem."
"It was nasty but, yeah, we solved it." Dean said as he grimacing lowered himself into a kitchen chair across from Johnny. "Xanthia really helped. Good thinking Sammy about using Xanthia's Hellcat nature to track the thing."
"Don't call me Sammy, but thanks. Although I didn't know that she could absorb magic like that." Sam added on thoughtfully thinking of the way Xanthia had just shrugged off every spell the demon had flung at her. That part had been vaguely surreal, especially when she managed to pull off a very credible Predator imitation and go invisible, or creepy-good camouflage. Whatever it was.
"We need to research what Hellcat's can actually do soon." John commented as he gratefully accepted the potion from Snape. "Did he get through the folder?"
"He did, and said the only reason he'd go back is to see his friends." Snape informed his friend. "He also said either way he wants to change his name to Winchester."
"He's tired of being 'The Great Harry Potter.'" Dean commented with a grimace at the taste of the potion he had just downed. "What the hell did you put in that?"
"Are you sure you really want to know?"
"No? But I probably need to." Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
Sam smirked at his brother, "I caught you looking through Harry's spell books. Taking an interest in magic?"
"No! I just want to know how it works. Besides you never know if it might come in handy. And this..." Dean said shaking the empty glass his potion had been in, "...is useful."
"Yeah, but the DADA books are useless." Sam said with a snort.
"They haven't been able to hold a DADA teacher for more than a year." Snape commented dryly. "And he's only had one truly competent one, and he was fired when they found out he was a werewolf." Snape paused before grudgingly adding on, "One that did everything possible to keep from injuring or infecting others."
"Thank you for reaffirming that Harry's not going back to that school." Sam grimaced in disgust. "How do you think they're going to react to Harry Potter leaving to go overseas?"
"With the current administration, probably declare him traitor."
Johnny shook his head in disgust. "Makes me glad we wised up and broke of from England." The old man stood up with a groan. "Now you boys go get some sleep. You look like you've just fought a war."
Nodding their accent they gathered Harry, Clarrisa, and Xanthia up and went back to the boarding house to catch some sleep.
~~~~~
After nearly three days rest the Winchester clan, including their newest members were packing up the vehicles preparing to head off to their next job. Snape had already left the day before to spend the last to days before term started finishing up last minute details that he hadn't had time or materials for while traveling.
Harry was finishing securing his trunk in the back of John's truck, complete with a sticking charm, when Johnny approached them holding a cooler with a box on top of it. "Here let me help with that." Sam said taking it from the old man.
"Good, give me the box." Taking back the box Johnny turned to Harry and handed it over. "A parting gift."
"A gift?" Harry asked surprised as he accepted the gift. Setting the box down on the Impala's hood he opened the top flaps to find a fiddle case and underneath it what looked to be music books.
"I expect you to keep practicing." Johnny ordered. "I don't like wasting my time."
"Shouldn't this go to one of your kids? Or grandkids?" Harry asked wide eyed.
Johnny just snorted in disgust. "That useless lot? Not a one of them has any talent in fiddling, let alone interest. No I'd rather this lot goes to someone who'll appreciate it. The coolers some food and drinks, should last you a few days. Had that Snape boy spell it for me."
"Johnny you didn't have to do this." John protested.
"This is the least I could do. You cleaned up my mess. Least I could give you was a little help. The fiddle and the like are for young Harry for appreciating them." Johnny waved off the protests. "Get going and back to your work."
John laughed and shook his head. "It's been nice knowing you Johnny."
The Winchesters said their final greetings to the locals that they had met over the last couple weeks, though they all liked Johnny the best. He understood them in a way that few others could. They all wondered if the man had been a hunter when he was younger, but were all too polite to intrude on the man's much valued privacy in that way.
~~~~~
That night Harry was looking through the music books next to Sam who was petting Hedwig as he watched TV. Opening up one he was surprised to find an envelope addressed to him inside. Frowning he pulled it out and opened it only to find a letter.
Harry,
I won't waste words.
You once asked how the demon could be my fault, and as you recall I told you that it was "blind, youthful stupidity." That's correct, but like all stories there's more.
When I was not much older than you a demon approached me with a deal. A fiddling contest, me versus him for my soul. I being a youthful, immortal fool took up the bet. Long story short I won. I believe there was even a song written about it. Every year since on the day of the contest the demon would return to try to tempt me into another contest so it could reclaim what it lost.
I've always refused. Unfortunately others aren't so wise.
I owe your family a debt for cleaning up this old fool's mess, but I know your family's kind so won't bother trying to convince you. Instead I've left you boys as my heirs. On the dawn of the seventh day after the demon dies I'll follow him.
The demon was keeping me alive to try to duel me again. Don't mourn me. It is more than past my time to pass Good luck in your life.
Johnny
P.S. The prize is in the fiddle case, just take out the fiddle and bow then close the box again and press in the two embossed stars on top and open the case again.
Harry read over the brief but surprising letter three times before Dean's voice cut into his thoughts. "Hey whatcha reading?"
"Johnny left me a letter in one of the music books." Harry frowned before reading the letter out loud so that his brothers knew the contents.
"So what's the prize?" Sam asked.
"I don't know I haven't checked." Harry said.
"Wait a second." Dean said grabbing a gun. "Okay, open it up."
Taking a deep breath Harry nodded and did as the letter instructed. When the case was opened to display the prize.
"No way." Dean breathed.
"I can't believe it." Sam muttered.
Harry just silently stared at the sold gold fiddle and bow that lay in the worn velvet lining of the case.*7
~~~~~
*1: I know it's a very unimaginative name, but one Professor Binns is probably translating, and two I couldn't really think of anything else, but I'm open to suggestions.
*2: I really like the idea for Clarrisa. More will be revealed as it continues.
*3: Xanthia is a name I got from a book, I was checking out some romance novels and that was the heroine's name. Thought it was good and it's odd enough to have been a good witch name (which the character was).
*4: Think of them as a cross between Wolverine's and Deathstrike' (was that her name, the mutant from the second movie that was way too Wolverine-like?) claws. They extend like hers but are bladed like his.
*5: Damnit yes I know that's from Fullmetal Alchemist, but I couldn't think of the word, so I'm going to use array.
*6: You know, those stuffed Garfield's that have suction cups on their paws and you hand in your car windows.
*7: Okay that story has to be explained a bit. I was playing a video game just leveling up my characters and listening to the radio when suddenly The Devil Went Down to Georgia cam on. I love the song, and I had this idle thought that that would make for a great adventure for Harry to have running into Johnny some fifty to sixty years later. Then it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it, but the problem was I was having a problem with how to start it. I'm talking a couple weeks just staring at the part where they reach the boarding house before I finally managed to get through the block, then I finished it up in one night. (Yay me.) And no, Harry is not going back to Hogwarts. There is no way in hell any of the Winchesters would let him with Harry having almost been killed there every single year. So instead he's going to be staying with them and doing home schooling on the road. He'll visit his friends, but he won't be staying.
Harry pulled Clarrisa away from Hedwig's cage and set her on the seat on the other side of him. This was the third time that day he'd had to do it. Waking up from a nap to Hedwig's screeching as Clarrisa pulled out feathers so that she could eat them was not fun.
"Damnit Clarrisa! I told you to stop that!" Dean said, frowning into the rearview mirror.
"They're pretty." Clarrisa pouted. "They'll make me pretty too."
"Clarrisa you're already pretty." Sam said reassuring the doll.
"Really, Uncle Sam?" Clarrisa asked.
"Really. See Harry agrees." Sam pointed at Harry who nodded.
"Leave Hedwig's feathers alone please, Clarrisa. She needs her feathers." Harry asked.
"I don't know, maybe she needs a pet or something to get her to stop," Dean muttered.
Sam and Harry blinked in surprise. "That might work."
"Yeah. If it's not a problem I can get her something from the pound. It'll only be until the end of summer." Harry said leaning forward to try and get a look at Dean's face.
"What? No!"
"It'll probably get her to stop plucking Hedwig." Sam pointed out.
"No," Dean stated firmly.
~~~~~
"I can't believe we're doing this," Dean grumbled as he walked into the pound behind Harry and Clarrisa.
"Come on, you suggested it," Sam said smirking in amusement.
"Yeah, but I was joking." Sighing Dean walked up to the counter and drummed his hands on it as they waited for someone to come out of the back.
"Can I help you?"
"Can we take a look at your dogs? Smallish or puppies?" Dean asked.
"Sure. Right this way." The man led them into the kennels.
Dean followed and frowned as he looked down at his hand and rubbed his fingers together. After taking a sniff he nudged Sam and held out his hand that was faintly yellow on the bottom.
Sam arched his eyebrows in surprise before looking down and gesturing towards the floor with his chin. With a sinking feeling Dean took in the painted lines on the cement floor then turned his eyes towards the pound manager that was talking to Harry as he showed him the caged animals.
Dean slowly walked down the aisle running a cursory eye over the animals only to stop when he saw a large dogs eyes turn red briefly. "That's interesting."
"He's an interesting dog. Pure mutt on his mother's side, pure blood on his fathers," the kennel keeper said from right behind him.
"Really?"
"How about this cat?" Harry asked pointing half grown orange bobtailed cat.
"That one's a Manx. The owner got rid of her and her litter because their pure breed show cat got out one night and got pregnant."
"Can I get her?" Harry asked Dean.
Sighing Dean nodded. "Fine."
~~~~~
"Okay what's going on?" Harry demanded when the three of them walked into their motel room after letting Hedwig out of her cage to hunt.
"We think that kennel guy might be up to something." Sam said.
Harry sighed and nodded. "I'll stay here and watch TV."
"Sure." Dean said nodding as he started sorting through what they would need for when they went investigating the pound again. "By the way, Xanthia*3?"
"She was a witch in the sixteen hundreds. I read about her in a book," Harry explained.
"Sounds a little too much like Xanth to me," Dean quipped.
"Xanth?" asked Harry, looking up confused.
"It's a series of fantasy books," Sam explained.
Harry nodded slowly, "Can I see if they have a local book store and see if they have any? Maybe get a jump on some of the jokes I know Dean's going to make about Xanthia's name."
"Sure, I'll look it up for you in a minute," Sam offered. "Maybe I can grab something for me to read too."
Dean snorted. "Nerds."
"Dean, I'm the Seeker on my house Quidditch team. I need something to do while we're traveling," Harry explained. "Besides, you're the one that brought up Xanth."
Sam cackled at Dean's flummoxed look.
~~~~~
Harry looked up from where he was sitting on his bed petting Xanthia and watching The Rock. Sam and Dean limped into the hotel room.
"Kennel guy was up to something?" Harry hazarded a guess.
"Yeah, you could say that," Sam observed.
"Yup, summoning hell critters and breeding them," Dean groaned, as he slowly lowered himself into a chair.
"There's icepacks in the cooler and the med kits next to the TV," Harry said.
"Thanks," Dean said as he grabbed one of the icepacks.
"You guys finished up or are we going to hang around a little longer?" Harry asked.
"Finished up. Looked like he had been in business for a while. The dogs turned on him though, when they got loose in the fight," Sam explained.
"They didn't come after us though. They even let us send them back home. Any idea why that is?" Dean asked.
"I think I might know," Harry muttered in embarrassment.
"Why's that."
"Xanthia."
"Your cat? How could she have anything to do with it? She wasn't part of his breeding program."
"Actually I think she inadvertently was. Earlier I ran into a gremlin on my way back from the diner," Harry explained.
"Gremlin? It didn't touch my car did it?" Dean demanded.
"No, Xanthia kinda transformed into a bigger size and ate it before it could do more than sniff at the tires." Harry shrugged.
"How big?"
"About knee high on Sam. Clarrisa said she could see the demon, that's why she chose her."
"So Xanthia's a demon cat?"
"I think only half." Harry shifted uncomfortably. "Am I going to have to get rid of her?"
Dean eyed the cat that was lying on her back on Harry's lap purring up a storm as her stomach was scratched by the nervous teen. With a sigh he capitulated to the inevitable. "No, no. She hasn't done anything except save my car. We'll do a wait and see like Clarrisa."
Harry gave Dean a blinding smile. "Thanks Dean."
"No problem kid. Now where's dinner?"
~~~~~
"Hi dad," Dean said standing next to the taller man sitting at a table.
"Dean. What are you doing here?" John said with a nod of greeting.
"We need to talk."
"Were's Sam?"
"Staying with why we need to talk."
Sighing, John threw down the money for his beer and followed Dean out of the bar. He blinked in surprise when he saw a teenaged boy and a young girl standing next to the Impala. Eying the boy he was surprised to see a familiar face, but when he shifted his gaze he was startled to realize the girl wasn't a girl but rather a porcelain doll.
"Is that a doll?" John demanded.
"Yeah, I found her at a flea market and decided that she was better with me than some unsuspecting muggle," the boy explained.
"And you are?"
"I'm Harry Potter, sir." The boy held out a tentative hand that John shook with a frown.
"Harry? Lily and James' son?"
"You knew my parents?" Harry asked perking up. He was always pleased to learn more about his parents, though he was surprised to find out that they had met John Winchester.
"I met them about seventeen years ago. They were over here chasing a Death Eater. I'm sorry you never knew them, they were good Aurors," John explained.
"Thank you sir." Harry smiled in gratitude at the man.
"Why don't we continue this at the hotel," Dean broke in.
"I'll meet you there." John said.
"Here's where we're staying," Sam said handing over a paper.
~~~~~
An hour later found the four of them sitting around a hotel room as Clarrisa was happily petting Xanthia on the bed behind Harry.
"Dad, Harry's here because we're related. Closely," Sam said to get the ball rolling.
John scowled, "How closely?"
"The spell I did showed me living blood relatives, closest first. You showed up first. Before my Aunt Petunia," Harry explained in a low voice.
"Petunia?" John asked.
"My mother's sister."
John frowned in thought before realization dawned. "Damn!"
"What?" Sam demanded.
"I think I know how," John sighed and scrubbed his face. "You ever hear of polyjuice?"
"Yes."
"Well, when they were here they had to go to this club. James had a problem; the Death Eater knew what he looked like, so we decided that he would polyjuice to look like me. It was in exchange for their help with what I was hunting at the time."
"How would that explain how we're related sir?" Harry asked curiously.
"Lily apologized to me later. Apparently as part of their cover they had sex while in the club. A friend of mine that taught me some about potions later told me that polyjuice can lead to some mixed up inheritances. If someone's conceived while one of the parent's is polyjuiced, then they have three parents or sometimes four." John shrugged at the uncomfortable incredulous looks he was getting.
"So technically you're Harry's dad?" Sam demanded.
A horrendously blushing Harry opened his mouth to speak but only a squeak emerged.
"That's weird even for us Dad," Dean agreed.
John sighed and shrugged before asking, "Why did you come here?" The answer he got wasn't quite what he was expecting and led to him growling and pacing the room.
~~~~~
After a lot of talking they decided by mutual agreement that Harry was a Winchester, and that he should learn to defend himself as such. So John started to travel with his sons again, though three now rather than just the two he was used to.
They found that Harry not only had a knack for getting in trouble, he seemed to be able to home in on trouble with an unnatural accuracy to such a degree that it couldn't be just luck. He also had a brilliant tactical mind and an ability to bring out the best of a group's talents as proven by his managing to get a group of kids out of a dark forest during the new moon while being chased by a child sacrificing cult with only himself and Clarrisa being over the age of eight.
Clarrisa they discovered was like, "Chucky's scarier cousin, the one that picked on him and thought his evil ways were 'cute'," in Dean's words. For one she could heal from injuries; and because of her fondness for eating metal she had metal talons*4 that lengthened from her fingers to six inches and were very sharp. She had also turned out to have been the one killing the people that bought her, but for Harry she was trying to be good.
They had found this out after Harry had been kidnapped by the evil power hungry librarian who wanted to kill him and steal his power.
Clarrisa had found him before the librarian could even get halfway through the spell and had rather messily and quickly killed her before Harry's horrified eyes; then cut him loose with her new talons that retracted once she was finished.
When Harry made it back to his family both he and especially Clarrisa were covered in blood. After his explanation of what had happened John had interrogated the doll and led to them finding out her history.
It turns out her original owner was the daughter of an army officer that was in India and he and his entire family were rather brutally killed. The daughter died holding Clarrisa.
The family's effects were shipped back to England where she ended up in the hands of a girl that was killed in a home invasion. The third owner was the one that enchanted her to move and sent her to a relative in the colonies. She was sent as a hidden assassin to kill the family so the gift giver could inherit.
After that Clarrisa exchanged hands several times sometimes killing her owners sometimes not, having been tainted and twisted by her violent history. Eventually she ended up in Harry's hands. Pretty much, she's an evil murderous doll with some very interesting abilities.
After discovering this it led to Harry standing and watching as Dean drew out the spellwork to cleanse and exorcise Clarrisa, to rid her of all her magic. Sighing Harry turned his eyes to the animate doll who was sadly saying goodbye to Xanthia. She was going to be his first exorcism.
"There." Dean dusted off his hands and handed over the spell book.
Sighing Harry accepted, he knew she was evil, but he wasn't looking forward to this. After all, Clarrisa had been protecting him from the evil witch; okay she killed her, but she was still protecting him.
"Clarrisa it's time," Harry called over to her.
"Yes Daddy." Clarrisa got up and went to stand in the middle of the array.*5
"Do you know what I'm going to do?" Harry asked frowning down at her; over the last three weeks he never once doubted that Clarrisa was smart. She was very smart, and apparently evil.
"Yes Daddy. You're going to cleanse me of all my magic and make me a normal doll again," Clarrisa explained patiently.
"And you're going to let me?" Harry asked.
"If that's what Daddy wants. I know what I did was bad, but I was made that way. This is a good thing." Clarrisa smiled at him.
Harry stared at Clarrisa then looked at the book only to hand it over to Sam. "I can't do it. You do it."
Sam accepted the book only to do the same thing, this time, handing the book to Dean.
"Wusses," Dean muttered as he started to do it only to stop mid chant, feeling Clarrisa's sadly patient gaze on him, and looked over at John. "I don't think I can either."
John sighed, "Fine, we can keep her. But only if she's good." He shook his head incredulously; his boys got into the strangest trouble. Even Harry and he had only known the boy for three weeks.
"Thank you, Grandfather," Clarrisa said running up and hugging his legs.
Patting her awkwardly on the head he looked at the three boys who were smirking at his expression, though Harry only with his eyes. "Get your stuff together; we need to get to the next town." Harry tentatively raised his hand. "What is it Harry?"
"Um, wouldn't the librarian lady have had spell books?" Harry asked tentatively then shrank down at the incredulous looks he got turned on him by the other three. "I mean, she was a witch right? So..."
"You're right," Sam said heading back to the Impala. "I'll go look up her address."
John clapped Harry on the shoulder, "Good thinking son. Let's get going. What we don't keep or burn, we can probably sell."
Harry glowed under the praise.
"Good work little bro." Dean threw an arm over Harry's shoulder. "See, you fit right in."
"Thanks."
~~~~~
Harry carefully cleaned a gun under John's stern gaze in the hotel room they were sharing. They had decided on the first night all together that Harry would share with John, while Sam and Dean would continue to share, seeing as the Winchester patriarch was older and nastier than any of his sons.
Not that it stopped them for spending a lot of time in the same room, they just slept split up. And with the added protections of Clarrisa and Xanthia, who after the first time John had woken up to find her blanketing Harry in her large form had accepted that, it roughly evened out. He figured that anything Sam and Dean could handle, he, Harry and his pets could handle.
While traveling though, it varied who Harry rode with. Sometimes it was with his brothers, sometimes it was with John; although, Clarrisa and Hedwig usually rode in the Impala due to it having more room. Either way it worked.
Harry was having what was probably the best summer of his life and he was learning a lot from his new family. He'd even had a birthday party; on his birthday. Dean had somehow gotten him the entire Xanth series; Sam had gotten him an iPod with music that in his words, "didn't suck"; and John had gotten him a few books on legends and a knife.
This was one summer that he actually wasn't looking forward to going to school. While yes he would see his friends again, he would also have to see everyone else. That, he wasn't looking forward to at all.
Smiling sadly at the thought of school Harry was just setting down the piece he had just finished when there was a knock at the door. Looking up he watched as John cautiously opened the door, only to freeze when he heard the familiar voice speak from the other side.
"I'm looking for - John?" Snape asked mid-demand.
"Severus! What are you doing here?" John asked opening the door further and clapping Snape on the shoulder. "I didn't know you were coming."
"I didn't know you were here or I would have informed you," Snape said. "Is Mr. Potter here?"
"What makes you think 'Mr. Potter' is here?" John asked.
"Because this led me here."
"Dad is something going on?" Sam's voice asked from further outside.
"I'm finding out. Well, Severus, you heard my son."
"I'm looking for Harry Potter. Now is he here?"
"I'm here sir," Harry said coming up behind John after having carefully sat aside the gun parts. "Did Professor Dumbledore send you for me?"
"Indeed. What are you doing here of all places?" Snape demanded.
"Turns out he's my son. Come in and I'll explain," John said leading in an incredulous Snape and curious Sam.
"Your son." Snape stated taking a seat in one of the chairs. "This had better be good."
"His father was polyjuiced as me when he was conceived." John shrugged. "Looks like that chance you warned me about happened."
"James was polyjuiced as you when he and Lily..." Snape snapped his mouth shut and shook his head. "I need a drink."
~~~~~
Dean, Sam, and Harry watched in horror as Snape and John traded stories and jokes.
"That is so wrong," Dean muttered when their father laughed at a story Snape had just finished.
"You have no concept of just how wrong," Harry whispered in shock. "I think I need a drink."
"I'm almost at the point I'd let you," Sam said.
"Maybe they're possessed?" Dean asked hopefully.
"That's always your answer," Harry snipped.
"Maybe we should check just to make sure?" Sam asked cautiously edging away from the two jovial men.
"I think that might be a good idea," Dean agreed.
"Can I stay with you two tonight? I don't think I can handle them," Harry asked turning wide eyes on his brothers. "They might eat my brain in my sleep."
"I knew we shouldn't have let you watch that monster movie marathon," Dean grumbled though he nodded his consent.
"Right, I think we should go now," Sam said standing up.
"Um, yeah. Dad we're going to the mall to get me some new shoes okay?" Harry asked standing up as well.
"Be careful and look out for your brothers Dean," John ordered giving the boys a stern look.
"Yes sir," Dead said before bolting out of the bar with the other two. The mall at four was a whole world less disturbing for him than that scene had been.
~~~~~
"Food time," Dean said stopping the car in a grocery store parking lot. "Dad said he and Snape are going to go ahead and check in and look around. We just gotta get the food."
"Why did he have to come with us anyway?" Sam asked getting out of the car. "You stay here Clarrisa. Guard the car okay." He added on to her when she started to get out after Harry.
"Okay."
"I think it's to keep an eye on me," Harry said stretching. "That and to be around someone he actually likes and respects anyway."
"Rare thing?" Dean asked.
"Rare thing," Harry agreed. "Can we get some more pizza?"
"Sure," Sam agreed.
~~~~~
Walking back out to the car with the groceries Dean almost shot the Impala when Clarrisa suddenly thumped against the side window doing a credible Garfield-window-cat*6 impression.
"Damn it Clarrisa, don't do that."
Sam snickered next to him, although he had almost done the same thing.
"Here Clarrisa I got you some plastic spoons." Harry handed her a box of picnic spoons after they opened the car.
"Thank you Daddy," She chirped before eagerly opening the box and happily began eating one.
"And to think that used to be creepy," Dean muttered as he started got into the driver's seat.
~~~~~
"Harvelle's?" Dean asked looking at the dingy roadhouse they were parked in front of.
"It may not look like much, but it's a Hunter friendly," John explained. "Only thing is, the owner doesn't like me."
"Right. So why are we here if the owner's going to shoot you?" Sam asked incredulous.
"We need to talk to someone that lives here," John said before biting the bullet and leading the way inside. "Wait here."
Shrugging Dean looked over at the other two Winchester's, only to have his eye caught by a black clad Clarrisa crouched next to a mud puddle and about to put something she had found in her mouth. "Clarrisa drop it. You don't know where it's been," Dean snapped and rubbed his forehead where he could feel a headache forming. "Did I just admonish the evil doll?"
"I'd say so," Sam agreed, voice dripping amusement.
"Damnit," Dean sighed and looked over at the tall man. "What do you think our chances of not getting run off are?"
"With John's charm?" Snape asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Maybe we should start the car?" Sam asked after a moment of silence.
"Get in here boys," John called reappearing at the door.
~~~~~
"Alright now shoot," Dean instructed from across the pool table from Harry. The boy was defiantly a Winchester; he was learning the game pretty well. They hadn't started him on any of the hustling techniques yet, but he was building up his skills quickly.
"So you guys are brothers huh?" Jo asked Sam from where they sat watching the other two.
"Yeah. Harry's going back to school with Snape at the end of the summer though. It's been an interesting few weeks."
"You guy's seem really close."
"Yeah we are. It's kinda nice to have the whole family together." Sam smiled slightly, "Even some of our new odder members."
Jo looked over at a Clarrisa who was reading Night Mare to Xanthia.
"She's..."
"A long story; and she also seems to have taken a liking to Snape as shown by her clothes." Sam shook his head. "Harry can find the weirdest things on accident.
~~~~~
Harry yawned and stumbled out of the Impala thanking Snape again mentally for doing the spell that increased the space inside the car, it made traveling more comfortable now that he and the others could stretch out if they wanted. Sam had actually hugged Snape in gratitude for that, Dean had hugged him for doing the same for the weapon compartment.
"Why are we at a house?" Harry asked Sam in surprise as he eyed the well kept Victorian style house they had stopped in front of.
"Boarding house. We're going to be here for at least a week with the new case," Sam explained, "so we're going to stay here rather than a hotel."
"Why so long?" Harry asked
"Some sort of spirit is supposed to show up every year on the same date in a couple weeks, we're here early to take a look around and gather information." Sam gave Harry a reassuring smile. "Dad also wants us to stay in the same place for a few days anyway. He won't say why though."
"I heard the talk you to had over that," Harry quipped referring to the blow up fight that the two had had over that order.
"Sorry about that. Me and Dad have... problems." Sam shrugged and looked over at John. "So are we staying here or elsewhere?"
"Here. Come on boys." John said, leading the way as Harry picked up Clarrisa and followed.
~~~~~
Not long later Harry set down his trunk on the floor of his room in the boarding house. Looking around the small room he sighed as he rubbed his shoulder.
"It's not as bad as it could have been." Sam reassured Harry with a small smile as he set down the other end of the trunk.
"How?" He asked genuinely curious as to what Sam was referring to.
"At least we're not going to have to worry about drowning in ruffles and flowers like some places." Sam gave a theatrical shudder at the memory of a few places they'd stayed in over the years.
Harry laughed softly, "That's true. Do you guys need me for anything or can I take a look around?"
"Check with Dad first, but I think its okay, just take Clarrisa or Xanthia with you." Sam said after a moments thought. "I'll probably be at the library for most of the day with Dean."
"If I take Clarrisa out people will notice I'm carrying a doll." Harry pointed out.
"I can help with that." Snape's dry voice said from the doorway.
"How sir?" Harry asked. He had felt bad about not being able to allow Clarrisa to move around muggles.
Snape flicked his wand at Clarrisa and cast a minor illusion on her. "There."
Sam and Harry eyed Clarrisa thoughtfully, the illusion, which was very well done actually, made her look completely human. "Can you make a pendant or something for her so we don't have to come to you for it?"
Harry nodded thoughtfully, "That's a good idea, and wouldn't that require some rather delicate potion work to make? I mean for it to be a permanent effect of the pendant?" Harry asked turning questioning eyes to Snape.
After giving him a thoughtful look Snape shook his head and chuckled, "You are defiantly Lily and John's son. I'll see what I can do." With that he turned and swept out of the room.
Harry shook his head incredulously, "I think he's decided to completely ignore the Potter part of my ancestry."
Sam shook his head, "It's probably a good thing. Come on lets go check with Dad."
Shaking off the weirdness that was Snape, Harry took Clarrisa's hand and followed Sam. Some things just really shouldn't be thought about, and Snape's line of reasoning was one of them. Every time he tried he always ended up depressed and usually almost dead.
~~~~~
Harry slowly walked over to the old man that sat on the porch of the house next the boarding house they were staying in. He had heard fiddles a couple of times, but this was different. There was something almost... magic for lack of a better word, about the man's playing.
"You just going to stand there boy? Or are you going to come up here?" The old man's cankerous voice startled Harry.
Blushing Harry climbed the stairs to stand in front of the man who had laid his fiddle across his lap as he eyed Harry. "S-sorry sir. I've just never heard music like that before."
The man snorted, "This time of year always put me in the mood for it. What's you're name boy?"
"Harry sir. Harry Potter."
"Harry huh? Good, strong name. Not pretentious like some of the one's I've heard for your kind." The old man snorted obviously thinking of some of those 'pretentious names'.
"My kind sir?" Harry asked confused.
"Wizards. Only met few in all my years that was worth their salt, the rest..." The man snorted again, "Well they soon learn better than to think I don't know my stuff, backwoods or no."
"You know of wizards sir?"
"You live as long as I have you see things. So Harry have a seat. My names Johnny." The man held out his hand to Harry after he tentatively sat down. "So you like music?"
"I guess as much as anyone sir. Dean's more the music fan than me, and he's mostly into classic rock though." Harry paused before pressing on, "It's just... It's just there was something almost magical about your playing."
Johnny gave a startled laugh, "That's 'cause there is boy. You think you wizards have magic all tied up with your wands?"
"No, I know there's different kinds of magic, I've seen enough of it so far to know that much at least, but I didn't know music had it." Harry said.
"Why wouldn't have magic? There's nothing that calls to emotions easier than music, and nothing can affect magic more than emotions."
"I suppose so sir." Harry said thoughtfully as he thought over his past experiences with magic.
Johnny gave Harry a stern look before coming to some internal decision. "You want to try?"
"Try?" Harry asked confused.
"Playing. Judging by your accent you probably go to one of those fancy schools, so you must have some idea of music."
"Not really sir, Hogwarts doesn't teach music." Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I wouldn't mind trying though, it looked interesting."
"Well here," The man handed over his fiddle and bow. "Now this is how you position yourself."
The rest of the afternoon passed in a pleasant blur as Johnny patiently taught Harry both magical philosophy along with scales all mixed up in such a way where Harry didn't even realize that Johnny had been teaching him anything but scales.
~~~~~
"So what's with you and the old man?" Dean asked Harry as they sorted through John's notebook. "You've been spending every afternoon for the last three days with him."
"Johnny?" Harry asked confused carefully typing a copy from one of the carefully cleaned up journal pages on the laptop he had bought himself for his birthday. "He's teaching me how to play the fiddle. How are we going to do the sketches and stuff?"
"Probably scan them or something. Why would you want to play the fiddle?"
"It's interesting, and there's a kind of magic when Johnny plays. I want to be able to do that someday if I get good enough." Harry explained. "Alright I finished this entry. I didn't know this would this much work to organize Dad's journal. Why are we doing it anyway?"
"'Cause Dad, Sammy, and Snape are off chasing down leads on the case right now, and since it's still in the look stuff up phase I might as well be doing something useful." Dean said.
"So you got banished to keep from driving them crazy?" Harry teased.
Dean laughed and shook his head, "Pretty much. Besides it'll be nice to clean up Dad's stuff so we don't have to decode it."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "And I thought some of the homework I had to grade for Professor Binns was bad. Maybe when we're done with Dad's we should offer it up as a research or start up book for hunters. You know so it's a reliable source of what's actually out there and what works?"
Dean looked thoughtful at Harry's suggestion, "That's actually a good idea, especially if we can get other hunters to add to it. I can think of a few times where something like that would have come in really handy. Especially since a few hunters specialize in certain creatures or areas. Maybe even get a vanity press to run off copies or something so it looks more legit."
Harry snorted in amusement, "If we do that I'm going to have to get Hermione a copy. She'd love it. What about these cases that are taken care of?" Harry asked looking at another paper.
"Put them in. They make for good reference if nothing else. Pretty much a 'this is something that was going on and how it went down' kinda thing."
Nodding Harry started carefully typing down the information on a new page. "You guys will have to go through and fill in the information."
Dean chuckled nervously, "You don't mean like a report right?"
"Pretty much."
Sighing Dean rubbed his face tiredly, "Great, more work."
Harry threw Dean an amused look, already knowing his oldest brother well enough to know he'd do it if only to give another hunter that much more of a chance to survive.
~~~~~
Sam looked over at John thoughtfully, "So Dad, why are we really here?"
John gave Sam a sharp look before sighing, "Harry."
"I know he's leaving on the thirty-first but..." Sam began, knowing that they were all sad that Harry would be leaving with Snape.
"I don't think he'll be leaving if I'm reading him right. I've had a lawyer friend of mine working on transferring custody of Harry over to me. We need to stay in one place for a couple weeks as he finishes things up."
"Really?" Sam asked surprised.
John snorted. "You've been around him longer; do you think he's anything less than a true Winchester?"
"No, no I don't." Sam snorted. "I think he gets into just as much trouble as the rest of us."
"Just wait till he's ready to hunt." John added.
Sam snorted in amusement, "True."
~~~~~
John eyed Harry as they stood beside his truck. "You stay with Johnny and Severus and look over that folder." John ordered gruffly, trying to not let onto how nervous he was over Harry's reaction to being offered to staying with them rather than be sent back to a school that John knew was a danger to his youngest boy. The boy had said himself he's learned more in the last two months with them than he had in the last two years at his fancy school.
First things first though, John, Sam, and Dean had to take care of this case before they could do anything else. Reminding himself again that Harry had a good head on his shoulders he clapped him on the shoulder and turned to look at Severus and Johnny who were standing on the old man's porch. "He's my youngest boy."
"We'll keep an eye on John." Severus said with a serious look. "Just don't die so I won't have to take him in for you."
"Bye Grandpa," Clarrisa said hugging a startled John around the knees. "Can you bring me back something to eat?"
John patted her on the head marveling internally again at Clarrisa, "We'll see. Keep a good eye Harry. He tends to get into trouble."
"I'll eat anything that tries to eat him." The threat was adorable coming from what appeared to be a five year old, but John knew she was not only serious, but fully capable of following through with her promise.
"Good, you do that. Thank you again for loaning us Xanthia." Dean said as he picked up Clarrisa in a brief hug before handing her to Harry. "And be good. No eating something you shouldn't."
Clarrisa gave him a serious look from Harry's arms, "Maybe I should be calling you Daddy instead."
Sam and Harry burst out laughing at the confused and offended look on Dean's face.
"Thanks again Johnny for doing this for us."
"Why wouldn't I. The boy actually listens," the old man grumbled, though he did look pleased at the gratitude and respect the Winchester clan and company had shown him in their stay at the boarding house. "Get going and do you're work. I want my house back as soon as possible."
Shaking his head John climbed into his truck and led the way to the meadow the apparition appeared in.
~~~~~
Harry was lying asleep on the couch in Johnny's living room when the Winchesters returned tired and bruised, but thankfully mostly uninjured. Xanthia ran past Dean's legs to greet Clarrisa who was sitting and calmly coloring at the coffee table.
"I take it that you managed to take care of the problem."
"It was nasty but, yeah, we solved it." Dean said as he grimacing lowered himself into a kitchen chair across from Johnny. "Xanthia really helped. Good thinking Sammy about using Xanthia's Hellcat nature to track the thing."
"Don't call me Sammy, but thanks. Although I didn't know that she could absorb magic like that." Sam added on thoughtfully thinking of the way Xanthia had just shrugged off every spell the demon had flung at her. That part had been vaguely surreal, especially when she managed to pull off a very credible Predator imitation and go invisible, or creepy-good camouflage. Whatever it was.
"We need to research what Hellcat's can actually do soon." John commented as he gratefully accepted the potion from Snape. "Did he get through the folder?"
"He did, and said the only reason he'd go back is to see his friends." Snape informed his friend. "He also said either way he wants to change his name to Winchester."
"He's tired of being 'The Great Harry Potter.'" Dean commented with a grimace at the taste of the potion he had just downed. "What the hell did you put in that?"
"Are you sure you really want to know?"
"No? But I probably need to." Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
Sam smirked at his brother, "I caught you looking through Harry's spell books. Taking an interest in magic?"
"No! I just want to know how it works. Besides you never know if it might come in handy. And this..." Dean said shaking the empty glass his potion had been in, "...is useful."
"Yeah, but the DADA books are useless." Sam said with a snort.
"They haven't been able to hold a DADA teacher for more than a year." Snape commented dryly. "And he's only had one truly competent one, and he was fired when they found out he was a werewolf." Snape paused before grudgingly adding on, "One that did everything possible to keep from injuring or infecting others."
"Thank you for reaffirming that Harry's not going back to that school." Sam grimaced in disgust. "How do you think they're going to react to Harry Potter leaving to go overseas?"
"With the current administration, probably declare him traitor."
Johnny shook his head in disgust. "Makes me glad we wised up and broke of from England." The old man stood up with a groan. "Now you boys go get some sleep. You look like you've just fought a war."
Nodding their accent they gathered Harry, Clarrisa, and Xanthia up and went back to the boarding house to catch some sleep.
~~~~~
After nearly three days rest the Winchester clan, including their newest members were packing up the vehicles preparing to head off to their next job. Snape had already left the day before to spend the last to days before term started finishing up last minute details that he hadn't had time or materials for while traveling.
Harry was finishing securing his trunk in the back of John's truck, complete with a sticking charm, when Johnny approached them holding a cooler with a box on top of it. "Here let me help with that." Sam said taking it from the old man.
"Good, give me the box." Taking back the box Johnny turned to Harry and handed it over. "A parting gift."
"A gift?" Harry asked surprised as he accepted the gift. Setting the box down on the Impala's hood he opened the top flaps to find a fiddle case and underneath it what looked to be music books.
"I expect you to keep practicing." Johnny ordered. "I don't like wasting my time."
"Shouldn't this go to one of your kids? Or grandkids?" Harry asked wide eyed.
Johnny just snorted in disgust. "That useless lot? Not a one of them has any talent in fiddling, let alone interest. No I'd rather this lot goes to someone who'll appreciate it. The coolers some food and drinks, should last you a few days. Had that Snape boy spell it for me."
"Johnny you didn't have to do this." John protested.
"This is the least I could do. You cleaned up my mess. Least I could give you was a little help. The fiddle and the like are for young Harry for appreciating them." Johnny waved off the protests. "Get going and back to your work."
John laughed and shook his head. "It's been nice knowing you Johnny."
The Winchesters said their final greetings to the locals that they had met over the last couple weeks, though they all liked Johnny the best. He understood them in a way that few others could. They all wondered if the man had been a hunter when he was younger, but were all too polite to intrude on the man's much valued privacy in that way.
~~~~~
That night Harry was looking through the music books next to Sam who was petting Hedwig as he watched TV. Opening up one he was surprised to find an envelope addressed to him inside. Frowning he pulled it out and opened it only to find a letter.
Harry,
I won't waste words.
You once asked how the demon could be my fault, and as you recall I told you that it was "blind, youthful stupidity." That's correct, but like all stories there's more.
When I was not much older than you a demon approached me with a deal. A fiddling contest, me versus him for my soul. I being a youthful, immortal fool took up the bet. Long story short I won. I believe there was even a song written about it. Every year since on the day of the contest the demon would return to try to tempt me into another contest so it could reclaim what it lost.
I've always refused. Unfortunately others aren't so wise.
I owe your family a debt for cleaning up this old fool's mess, but I know your family's kind so won't bother trying to convince you. Instead I've left you boys as my heirs. On the dawn of the seventh day after the demon dies I'll follow him.
The demon was keeping me alive to try to duel me again. Don't mourn me. It is more than past my time to pass Good luck in your life.
Johnny
P.S. The prize is in the fiddle case, just take out the fiddle and bow then close the box again and press in the two embossed stars on top and open the case again.
Harry read over the brief but surprising letter three times before Dean's voice cut into his thoughts. "Hey whatcha reading?"
"Johnny left me a letter in one of the music books." Harry frowned before reading the letter out loud so that his brothers knew the contents.
"So what's the prize?" Sam asked.
"I don't know I haven't checked." Harry said.
"Wait a second." Dean said grabbing a gun. "Okay, open it up."
Taking a deep breath Harry nodded and did as the letter instructed. When the case was opened to display the prize.
"No way." Dean breathed.
"I can't believe it." Sam muttered.
Harry just silently stared at the sold gold fiddle and bow that lay in the worn velvet lining of the case.*7
~~~~~
*1: I know it's a very unimaginative name, but one Professor Binns is probably translating, and two I couldn't really think of anything else, but I'm open to suggestions.
*2: I really like the idea for Clarrisa. More will be revealed as it continues.
*3: Xanthia is a name I got from a book, I was checking out some romance novels and that was the heroine's name. Thought it was good and it's odd enough to have been a good witch name (which the character was).
*4: Think of them as a cross between Wolverine's and Deathstrike' (was that her name, the mutant from the second movie that was way too Wolverine-like?) claws. They extend like hers but are bladed like his.
*5: Damnit yes I know that's from Fullmetal Alchemist, but I couldn't think of the word, so I'm going to use array.
*6: You know, those stuffed Garfield's that have suction cups on their paws and you hand in your car windows.
*7: Okay that story has to be explained a bit. I was playing a video game just leveling up my characters and listening to the radio when suddenly The Devil Went Down to Georgia cam on. I love the song, and I had this idle thought that that would make for a great adventure for Harry to have running into Johnny some fifty to sixty years later. Then it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it, but the problem was I was having a problem with how to start it. I'm talking a couple weeks just staring at the part where they reach the boarding house before I finally managed to get through the block, then I finished it up in one night. (Yay me.) And no, Harry is not going back to Hogwarts. There is no way in hell any of the Winchesters would let him with Harry having almost been killed there every single year. So instead he's going to be staying with them and doing home schooling on the road. He'll visit his friends, but he won't be staying.