1988 – unknown location, or month.
Sam Winchester liked to read. He had learned to read at a young age. One of his favorite things to read about when he was younger, was soulmates tattoos, what they are, when they started showing up, etc. Sam’s words appeared on his left forearm when he was five. He could sort of read by then, but sometimes he would have his older brother, Dean, help.
So, Dean helped him read the words on his arm.
“Man, I can’t believe Dumbledore dies.” Sam spoke the words, but was concerned for this ‘Dumbledore’, “Dean? Who is Dumbledore?”
“Don’t know Sammy.” Eight-year-old dean replied, focused on the episode of Scooby-Doo on the Motel television.
“Dumbledore doesn’t sound like a real name.”
“Who knows Sammy, now shut up. I’m trying to watch.”
July 1997-one month after the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, unknown town in the US.
Sam Winchester, fourteen, still loved to read, he actually read as much as he could. He spent most of his time after school or hunts at the local library of whatever town they were in. They were currently in the outskirts of a large city that Sam hadn’t bothered to remember the name of.
On a boring Tuesday afternoon, hours after school, Sam was again at the local library, waiting for Dean to pick him up. Walking up and down the aisles of books hoping something would catch his eye. Sam eventually came across a table with a sign saying, “New Releases” and on that table he saw quite a few books. The one that almost immediately caught his eye was a book with a boy on a flying broomstick, it was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Sam picked up a copy from the pile and moved towards a comfortable looking chair tucked away in a back corner. He opened to the first page and began to read.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense."
Sam snorted, if the Dursleys ever found out about him and his “family business” they would have a heart attack.
Sam continued reading for several more pages when he heard someone walking towards him. He looked up to find the elderly librarian coming towards him with a soft smile.
“How are you enjoying the book, dearie? It only came out about a month ago.” The elderly woman, Helga, asked as she patted him softly on the shoulder.
“I just started but I think I’m-“ Sam began but was interrupted by Dean walking up to the little nook that Sam had found.
“Sammy!” Dean crowed, “Time to go, little brother!”
“Dean!” Sam whisper-yelled, “This is a library! You need to be quiet.” Sam glanced apologetically at Helga, then grabbed his school bag and headed towards the check-out lanes, with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
“Ah. Sorry, Sammy!” Dean whispered glancing over towards Helga who was glaring at him, “Sorry I was loud ma’am. I’m easily excited, ‘Specially around my little brother.” Dean gave Helga the “Dean Winchester puppy dog eyes”, as Sam rolled his. Helga glared at Dean, before giving Sam a grandmotherly smile and whispering to Sam, “I know how older brothers are. Enjoy your book, dearie.” Glaring one more time at Dean, she walked back to her cart of books that needed to be shelved.
Sam, after checking out the book, headed outside, barely glancing back at Dean. When he did though he saw Dean giving him a strange look. He shrugged and continued out to Dean’s ‘baby’ the 1967 Chevy Impala that Dad had given Dean when he had gotten a truck.
Halloween, 2005, Stanford University, California - canonically back into the series start.
It had been eight years since Sam Winchester, 22, had read the first book in the Harry Potter series. He never read anything other than lore books, and textbooks now. John had made sure of that, after finding the battered copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, buried in his duffel, burning it in front of Sam, to “teach him a lesson”. After that, well, Sam learned his lesson. Books that weren’t about the lore or the hunt were worthless in John’s eyes. But Sam was away from John, he was in college, at Stanford, he could read fiction if he wanted! So, why, Sam mentally berating himself, why can’t he just go buy the book?
It didn’t matter, when he heard the words pouring out of Dean’s mouth, after he had just broken into his and Jessica’s apartment, “Dad’s on a hunting trip… and he hasn’t been home in a few days.” He knew that his chances of reading Harry Potter were running out.
2009 – Set when Sam and Dean split up in Season 5 Episode “Free to Be you and Me.” (I’m making it so it’s one of the days immediately after HPatHBP movie was released.) – Small town, USA
Five years had passed since he last thought about Harry Potter, and, really, Sam snorted to himself, the only reason he was thinking of it now was because he was pretty sure he was either going to die, or be tortured for the rest of eternity as the devil’s meatsuit, he wasn’t sure which one yet. So, he borrowed the first five movies from the library of whatever small town he was in, he tried to remember but he was just so exhausted and watched them all in one sitting. He was grateful that the first five movies, Dumbledore remained alive. However, as he walked into the movie theater to watch the sixth movie, Harry potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he overheard someone say:
“Man, I can’t believe Dumbledore dies.”
Sam turned and saw a short man walking away mumbling to himself about the movie. Something about the man reminded him of someone but Sam couldn’t care about past people. He was too furious at the person who a) had just ruined the movie for him and b) had just said the words that had been tattooed on his body since he was five.
“You! You asshole! You’re the one!” Sam angrily stomped towards the man, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around pulling up his own sleeve to show the man the soulmate tattoo, “You’re the fucking asshole who basically spoiled a series for me before it came out and-“ Sam physically stopped. The man he had started yelling at was the Trickster, the one who had ruined Asia for him, the one who killed Dean for months.
“Um… who are you?”
“You’re the Trickster! Tell me why I shouldn’t -“
“Whoa, there moose! I’m not a trickster! I’m just a normal dude who ruined a movie for you. Which by the way! I am so sorry! I never thought I would even have a soulmate let alone ruin a series for them!”
“Not the trickster? But you look just like them! How are you not The Trickster?”
“I don’t even know who you’re talking about buddy, but wanna sneak me into the movie? I’ll buy snacks to apologize?”
“Fine, but then we’re talking.” Sam grumbled and walked into the theater, the other man following.
“I never even told you my name. I’m Gabriel, what’s your name moose? Or am I just going to have to come up with nicknames until you tell me or I figure out?” the man, Gabriel, asked.
“Sam.” Sam huffed.
“Well, Samoose, nice to meetcha! I never thought I’d get a soulmate, so this is a surprise.”
Sam stopped, in all his research he had never come across anything detailing people not having soulmate tattoos, let alone soulmates. “What do you mean, ‘never thought you get a soulmate’?”
“That’s just it, Samarino. That’s part of what we need to talk about.” Gabriel said, “But talking can wait for after the movie. You need to see it!”
2009 – After the movie – same Small town, USA
Sam and Gabriel walked to Gabriel’s apartment, which was not far from the town center.
“Sorry, again, for ruining to movie for you. But now that you’ve seen it, what did you think?” Gabriel asked as they stepped inside, the second-floor apartment.
“It was definitely darker than the other movies.”
“Yes! But how does it compare to the books!”
“I haven’t read the books…” Sam mumbled.
“What!” Gabriel sputtered.
“I started reading the series, back when it originally came out, but never finished it. My dad was really against anything other than non-fiction, or research.” Sam said wearily, like he was afraid Gabriel was gonna beat him up for not reading the books.
“Well that’s something to fix! As your soulmate I will make sure you read the books!”
“I’ve already seen the movies, so why –“ Sam started to argue, but was abruptly cut off.
“Nope! No arguing with me Sammy! You and I are gonna have book club after we talk! I have extra copies of all the books, so it’ll be ok for you to borrow them!”
Sam watched, bemused, as his apparent soulmate ran to a bookshelf, one of many, and started pulling books off a shelf.
“How about we talk first?” Sam asked, trying not to smile slightly, as Gabriel turned around with a pile of six hardcover books.
“Oh fine! But, let’s get this over with! I want to pop your Harry Potter book cherry!” Gabriel gushed, his entire body seeming to glow with excitement.
“ok. So you’ve seen my soulmate tattoo, and those were the first word I apparently heard you say, while not exactly to me, but they were the exact words on my arm.” Sam said again, pulling up his sleeve to show Gabriel.
“Yup, those are the words I said.” Gabriel grinned.
“I know,” Sam retorted sarcastically, “I was there?”
“Yikes, Sammy! You’ve got quite the sharp tongue!”
“Anyway. How do you not have a soulmate tattoo?” Everyone gets them when they’re five. I spent two semesters at Stanford in courses that specialized in soulmate tattoo research. I’ve never heard of someone not having a soulmate tattoo.”
“That, Sam-a-lam, is what I’ve got to tell you.” Gabriel’s bright, fun self seemed to disappear. In its place was something that felt inhuman. The hair on the back of Sam’s neck raised slightly and the tension in the air. “I’m not entirely human. Actually, I’m not human at all.”
“Fuck.” Sam breathed as the lights in the apartment flickered and shadows began to move.
“I am Gabriel. I am the deliverer of Justice and His Word. I am the Messenger. I am the fourth borne Archangel of Heaven.”
The shadow of six wings flickering against the wall behind Gabriel.
Sam couldn’t move. Sam couldn’t breathe. His soulmate was a fucking Archangel? Him, the Boy with the Demon Blood and an Archangel?
“Sam?” Gabriel asked, seemingly back to his bright self. “Sam? Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. I think so. But there’s something I need to tell you. You may be an archangel, so you might already know this. But I’m the Boy with the Demon Blood. I set Lucifer free. And now I’m supposedly his vessel.” Sam shrunk in on himself, a feat because of his tall frame and muscular body structure.
“Oh Sam, I knew that, when I first saw your soul, I knew that.”
“But why? All the other angels despise me. Dean’s Angel called me The Abomination.”
“’Dean’s Angel’?” Gabriel asked.
“Castiel. I had always believed in angels when we were kids and then I actually got to meet an angel, and they looked at me like I was bacteria and called me that. I just couldn’t believe that I had believed in them so much only for them to take my beliefs and treat them like dirt.”
“Oh Sammy,” Gabriel comforted, reaching out slowly, as to not spook Sam, and pulling him into a hug. “As you can clearly tell, not all angels are like that. Besides, Castiel is still just a baby in my eyes. Not that that excuses him for calling you anything. I still want you as my soulmate.”
Sam huffed a small laugh, “Really? You still want me. Even if I’m tainted?”
“Repeat after me, kiddo! ‘I am not tainted.’” Gabriel declared, arms still around Sam’s larger frame.
“I’mnottainted.” Sam mumbled, incoherently.
“Nope!” Gabriel quipped, “Try again! With feeling! You are a beautiful human being!”
“I am not tainted.” Sam said in a slightly more coherent mumble.
“I said, with feeling!” Gabriel cheered, “but that was close, we’ll work on it!”
Sam gave a soft smile. No one, since Jessica, had given him pep talks and hugs like this.
“Gabriel, what’s going to happen if I go back to hunting?”
“I’ll come with you.” Gabriel decided, after a moment’s thought.
“but what about that you’ve got here? Your life – “ Sam started to argue.
“Ah this? It just kind of follows me. It’s sort of a temporary house in an alternate dimension.”
Sam stared at Gabriel in shock.
“Don’t look at me like that kiddo! I’ve got a bunch of these! Doesn’t take much power, and with a snap of a finger and fully decked out apartment, in an alternate dimension, that no one can get to. Ultimate protection. So, I’m coming with you. No arguments.”
Sam nodded his agreement, looked at Gabriel for a moment. Then pulled himself towards the sofa and the pile of forgotten Harry Potter books. While he had the time, he could at least read them with Gabriel.
Gabriel plonked himself next to Sam on the sofa, pulled a soft blanket around Sam and the grabbed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Sam protested, “I can read to myself Gabriel!”
“Sam, you’re my soulmate, let me have a little bit and spoil you! You deserve it!”
Sam pouted slightly and eventually scooted down on the sofa to where he could lean against Gabriel’s shoulder.
“That’s the idea, Sammy!” Gabriel chirped, “Now… let’s see.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense…”
FIN