Y/N had been sitting quietly for about ten minutes while Pomfrey was healing him.

"I'm sorry I missed your hand, Y/N. I was certain it was ok when I checked you over."

"It was. While you were out I punched an angel in the face. It felt like he was made of stone" Y/N replied with a straight face, Madam Pomfrey chuckling before concern slowly grew on her face.

"Wait, you're being-"

"Y/N I-" Dumbledore began to cut off the matron before he himself was abruptly interrupted.

"No, Albus. Enough. I'm sick of the lies. I'm sick of trying to think up excuses every time I come here. I've been going out on hunts, with Sam Winchester Madam, that's why I keep coming in here beaten to hell. Some of them are pretty brutal."

Hermione looked at her lover with sad eyes. Albus with anxious ones. Poppy looked like she was contemplating his words before eventually asking:

"You're telling me the truth, Y/N?"

"I am" Y/N added.

"He is" Hermione said with a forced smile.

Pomfrey looked at the Headmaster who simply nodded. A look of shock grew on the no-nonsense nurse's face before she answered:

"Thank you for your honesty? Y/N. I was concerned Ms Granger had a secret violent temper or something" she chuckled.

"That too" Y/N chuckled half heartedly, Hermione hugging his arm and whispering "babe."

"So what was this hunt, Y/N?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she healed.

"There's a group of evil witches and wizards that call themselves the Knights of Merlin. Myself, Sam, some others have been at war, I suppose, with them for a while now. This time we got word from an insider of the Knights of Merlin. A young muggle woman had escaped from an asylum in Birmingham. Knights work for demons you understand, Madam Pomfrey. Well the Knights and demons were all trying to find her. When we got there she knew everything Albus- seals, the war, his return, Lucifer, everything."

Y/N looked back at the matron:

"I have to leave you in the dark about some things, Madam Pomfrey."

She nodded as Y/N continued:

"We tracked her parents house but when we got there the demons had beaten us to it. Her parents were dead with slit throats and Sulfur residue was everywhere. We checked out her fathers church, he was a reverend, and found her there. We chatted briefly, she could hear the Angels speaking. Angel legilimency, it's why the demons wanted her. Next thing you know Ruby was there and the King of Hell, Alastair was on her trail. He'd been following us from the muggle's house. I told Ruby to get Anna out of there and that Sam and I would buy them time."

"Baby, you didn't" Hermione said as she grabbed his hand in shock. The two adults were taking in his words but not responding. Y/N looked at Hermione sadly:

"Love, I had to. If he'd gotten hold of her. The things he would have done..."

Y/N's voice trailed off and he continued:

"He threw Sam through a wall with his demon powers and since they don't work on me and Magic doesn't work on his, uh, exterior, we sort of had a fist fight."

"You had a fist fight with the King of Hell?" Pomfrey asked straight faced.

"More accurately he kicked the shit out of me. But I had to get close enough to try and use my blade."

"Again what, Mr. L/N?" Pomfrey asked as she struggled to keep up.

"Oh right. Ok step back Madam Pomfrey" Y/N said seriously. Pomfrey did as Y/N lifted his arm to the side and unsheathed his Angel Blade.

The matron shrieked in shock as it ripped through his skin and was amazed no blood came with it.

"What in Merlin's name?" Pomfrey asked in shock, quickly following up with:

"Can I touch it?"

"Uh. Sure just not the pointy end" Y/N said with a dry chuckle. Pomfrey reached out but quickly withdrew at the blade's cold touch. She looked at the blade that was emerging from her student's forearm mesmerised. She slowly touched the cold hard blade again, her analytical mind attempting to comprehend what was in front of her.

"Finished?" Y/N asked. Pomfrey nodded and he resheathed the blade. She looked amazed as his skin healed instantaneously.

"How is that? Y/N, what is that?" She asked in stunned disbelief.

"It's called an Angel Blade Poppy. It's created in heaven out of something called pure matter. The same Angel I punched a few minutes ago attached it to my arm. It kills anything in creation. Anything. I've killed wendigo, satanists, angry wraiths, demons..."

Y/N trailed off as Albus looked at him wide-eyed and shook his head. Y/N disregarded his headmasters opinion:

"...Dementors."

Pomfrey continued to examine Y/N's forearm before his words registered with her. She looked up into his eyes and asked shocked:

"Wait that was you?"

"Yes. Anyway I was close enough and took my shot but missed. He knew it was coming somehow. He held my arm up and continued beating me. Sam snuck up behind him and managed to shoot holy water in his mouth which distracted him long enough for us to get away. We went to a hotel, magically fixed what we could. Sam had a deep cut he had to stitch, I managed to fix my broken nose and cheekbone but Sam had to put my dislocated shoulder back in place manually."

"Oh baby" Hermione said sadly as she rubbed his leg. It broke her heart hearing about him being hurt like this. Y/N smiled sadly at his girlfriend before he continued:

"Anyway Ruby tracked us down, we got to where they were hiding, suddenly Castiel
and Uriel turn up."

"The angels?" Poppy asked. Y/N nodded.

"They demanded to be given Anna. They wanted to kill her. There was another fight. Sam was knocked out with a finger to the temple by Cass. Uriel knocked six shades of shit out of me. Me and him, we hate each other..."

Y/N's voice grew cold at his as he began speaking about the Angel. His next words and the coldness of their delivery shocked even Hermione:

"The next time I see him, I'm gonna kill him."

The three looked at each other as Y/N's face contorted in rage before he shook himself back to the present:

"Anyway they were suddenly shot out of existence. I went into the back room where Anna was hiding and she was bleeding, bad. She had used a blood sigil to banish them. I need to teach it to you. Tonight love." Y/N finished looking at Hermione who nodded.

"She didn't know how she did it and blah blah blah psychic... regression, it turned out she was an Angel."

The three looked even more stunned.

"She chose to fall and become human by ripping out something called her 'grace'. Kind of like Angel Ooze. We tracked it down but someone had taken it."

Y/N sighed again, Hermione noticing he was becoming more fidgety:

"Next thing she was getting a message on Angel Radio- Y/N L/N gives us the girl by midnight or we send him back to hell."

"Back to hell?" Pomfrey asked loudly in fear. Y/N sighed again, looking at the saddened faces of his Headmaster and girlfriend.

"I take it you read about my torture at Azkaban in the Daily Prophet, Madam?" Y/N asked. She nodded sadly and answered:

"It didn't go into much detail."

"Most of my time there was spent in the Hole. The public know it as a torture chamber, sensory deprivation. It's so much worst than that. It's a cursed chamber from the First Age. When you're in there your mind it goes to... it goes to hell."

Albus closed his eyes. Pomfrey covered her mouth in horror. Hermione whimpered and hugged into Y/N's side.

"You don't have to say anything baby" Hermione said in another whimper.

"It's ok, love. I need to explain." Y/N replied.

"But it wasn't nine days. Time works differently down there. It was more like nine years. They uh- they sliced and they carved and they tore at me in ways that you..."

Y/N's voice faltered as he trailed off- Hermione squeezed him even tighter as tears ran down her cheeks.  Y/N cleared his throat then continued:

"... until there was nothing left. And then suddenly I would be whole again, like.. heh... like magic. So when they said either give up Anna or we send you back, well-"

Y/N was cut off as Hermione gripped him impossibly tight round the neck sobbing. Y/N held her tight, rubbing a hand on her back. The four stayed in silence before Hermione leant back with tear stained cheeks and blood shot eyes:

"Baby I'm so sorry, but you didn't have a-"

"I haven't finished sweetheart" Y/N said, forcing a big of a smile as he could. He steadied himself and continued:

"Midnight rolled around, Sam and Anna were uh... making the most of her last night on earth. In the bloody car that I have to ride in..."

Hermione chuckled at his disgusted response.

"...so I went for a nap. We'd been on the move for 48 hours. Next thing I know I was standing in a barn. Uriel was in front of me. He said time was up. So I told him."

Y/N paused. He wasn't ready for this part of the conversation. He couldn't look the three present in the eye for their pitying looks.

"I told him to do it. That I'd fight my way out of hell in a week."

All three covered their mouths, completely shocked. The bravery or stupidity of this teen, they couldn't decide on which one.

"Uriel was furious. Said I was just crazy enough to go. I spat back at him that I don't break easy. Then he laughed. Said I do, if they know where to apply the right pressure."

A tear rolled down Y/N's cheek. All three members of the audience had a terrible idea where this was going.

"Then he said it. He told me that either they kill Anna, or they kill you, Hermione."

Hermione gasped, as did Pomfrey. Dumbledore felt a great sense of overwhelming pity for his student, despite how they had been ostracised in recent weeks.

"I fucking did it Hermione. I sold her out. I broke my word. The thing I swore I would never do."

More tears fell as Hermione stood and hugged him tight. She didn't say any words, just reassured him with a calming shh shh shh in his ear. She eventually released him and sat back down as he wiped his eyes.

"I woke and started drinking, a bottle of scotch from the boot of the car. I felt so... I don't know the word, dirty. I sat there drinking all night. The next morning Sam and Anna entered the barn. Anna asked if I was ok. She knew. Somehow she knew. Cass and Uriel turned up. Sam asked how they found us and Uriel smirked at me. Sam was furious. Asking me why? Why? Why? Anna knew somehow. Said what Uriel had said. Castiel was furious. Said they hadn't been authorised to go after an innocent and especially not you. He punched Uriel through a wall. Anna rubbed my cheek and said she forgave me. That I did my best."

Y/N looked down at the floor as more tears escaped his eyes and he was flooded with self pity, worthlessness and self contempt. Hermione's heart broke for him. He betrayed one of his most sacred personal laws, one of the things he prided himself on most, for her. To protect her. She couldn't express how deeply she hurt for him right now, nor how much she loved him.

"Ruby had had the same idea and just as they were going to kill Anna Alastair and a couple of other demons turned up with her. She'd been brutally tortured. A demon/angel fight broke out. I tried to heal Ruby best I could before I noticed Alastair killing Cass. I rushed over and took a shot but missed. Alastair smashed me into a wall, said I was a disappointment, that I had so much potential. He knows about my condition, Albus. Anyway turns out Uriel had Anna's grace on a chain round his neck. She grabbed it back during the fight, Angeled up, evaporated Alastair and disappeared. I wanted to gut Uriel right then and there but Cass said he would be punished in heaven and and they disappeared. I told Sam to get her medical aid and came right back here. And you heard what I told Cass. So here we are."

The room went quiet again before Dumbledore finally replied:

"Y/N there aren't words for-"

"Save it Albus. I'm not good in the field. I've made too many mistakes. I... I need to focus on school for a while. School and Hermione. I don't want to leave her again. I can't, not right now. I'll explain to Sam on Sunday."

Dumbledore sighed:

"I don't agree with any of those statements, Y/N. Despite our... falling outs... recently, I have no qualms in saying you are incredibly skilled. Incredibly brave and courageous. It's not only Sam who has reported that to me. But I understand why you are thinking this way. I can't imagine what you are feeling right now and if that is your decision it may be for the best, at least for a while. Rest up now Y/N. You've earned it."

He smiled at the couple as Madam Pomfrey started to heal Y/N again. He motioned with his head for Hermione to follow him out the cubicle and she did. When they were out of earshot he stopped and turned to the third year witch:

"I'm worried about him, Ms.Granger, as I'm sure you are. He truly feels the things he does. No choice is ever easy on the battlefield. It's easy with hindsight, but in the moment-"

Hermione quickly and assertively cut her Headmaster off:

"I've never judged Y/N for his choices, Headmaster. Right or wrong, he's my boyfriend and I love him. I'll stand with him no matter what."

Albus smiled at the girl. These two truly were more mature than their years suggested.

"I know Ms.Granger. No one has ever doubted that. Now not that you've ever needed it or indeed asked for it, but I give you both permission to stay in the Room as long as required. I don't think this will be easy for him to get over. He needs you, now more than ever."

Hermione looked at the Headmaster with determination and nodded. They smiled at each other as he left.

—~—

As Hermione went to the side with Dumbledore Madam Pomfrey continued healing Y/N's injuries.

"So I'm guessing this angel is why you have an essay on your rib cage, Y/N?" she chuckled.

"Yes ma'am" Y/N replied quietly.

"You have a time turner don't you? It's the only way you could be out on hunts like this for days without your absences being noticed at school."

"I do ma'am. A real one. I trust you remember my connections at the Department of Mysteries."

Poppy chuckled at the memory of the impossible Unspeakables who often frequented her ward when Y/N was involved. She smiled at the teen:

"I want to thank you, Y/N. For your trust. And your honesty. I know that you were instructed not to tell me anything, but it is a relief to know why you've been injured so much. You know you can trust me to keep silent..."

Y/N nodded.

"...but I just want to say- you shouldn't judge yourself too harshly. You were put in an impossible situation, unfairly, by.... It wasn't your fault, Y/N. I know that's cold comfort but I am incredibly proud of the man you are becoming. The man you are. And I know your father would be too."

Y/N's eyes shot up.

"Yes I knew your father, quite well. Tom was one of my closest friends dating from our time in Hogwarts together. I miss him everyday. He was just like you. Brash, sometimes arrogant, fearless."

She chuckled.

"Smart, kind, loving and accepting. The kind of man who never knew how much strength he gave the people around him just by his presence. I see so much of him in you. And I know he is smiling down on you. Just the way you love and care for Ms... for Hermione. You don't give yourself enough credit, Y/N. I truly think you are incredible."

Y/N took in her words but remained silent. He simply nodded. She finished as Hermione came round the corner.

"I need to get some potions. You need a good sleep, and some quiet alone time with Hermione here. What was it you said the medical term was? Cuddles?"

She smiled at the pair and went to get more supplies. Hermione walked up to Y/N and placed her arms round his neck. She lifted his face to hers and noticed he avoided her stare.

"I love you so much baby. I am so sorry you were put in that position but I'm so grateful for you" she said compassionately.

Y/N's head lowered and she continued.

"Hey. I mean it. Look at me Y/N. I'm so sorry you had to do what you did but thank you. Thank you for always doing whatever it takes to protect me. I can't tell you how much it means to me. How much I love you for it. You said Anna got away right, and she's an angel now?"

Y/N nodded.

"So it worked out ok. I hope she's happy wherever she is."

"Somehow I doubt that babe" Y/N replied quietly.

Hermione smiled sweetly at her lover. She leaned forward and kissed him, gently, on the lips.

"I know you feel like you can't trust yourself in the field but you're wrong about that love. You're amazing. The things you've done. The lives you've saved. If I start now it would take the rest of our lives and I still couldn't express just how proud I am of you. But you take all the time you need. I'll be right here with you. Always."

She smiled and kissed him again as Madam Pomfrey re-entered and resumed healing him.

—~—

Several hours later it was dark in the infirmary, the middle of the night. The two young lovers were asleep next to each other, Y/N propped up on pillows, his arm round Hermione.

Hermione was lying with her head on his chest, her arm draped over his midsection and a leg draped over his lower half.

Castiel stood and watched the young couple sleeping, standing in an angelic dimension. None could see him, even if they were present in the room at the time.

Castiel was in discomfort. He had... feelings... for the first time in his many millenia of existence. This was new to him. It was frightening. He wasn't sure what was happening or why. He was suddenly aware of a presence behind him.

"Anna" he remarked without turning.

"Castiel" the now reborn angel said as she stood next to him.

"I see you've kept your human form."

Anna smiled as she looked down at her body.

"What can I say? My original body may have been incinerated but I've grown accustomed to it."

The smile left her face again as she looked at Y/N's sleeping form.

"What Uriel did to him. Made him do. It's unforgivable Castiel. Something broke inside him. He may never be the same."

"I followed him here. Apologised. Offered to heal him. He... struck me. Cursed me and our home and our father. Said he would kill the next of our brothers he saw."

"What do you expect Castiel? And what would have happened if Uriel had killed Hermione?"

"I... I'm having feelings Anna. I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do."

"I'm sorry Castiel. You need to figure this out on your own. Think for yourself."

With a flutter she was gone. Castiel looked at the couple with even more concern before returning to heaven.