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"Someone's had a fun couple of days," Nick Fury greeted Hermione as she apparated into the warehouse.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know if I'd call it fun, but it was certainly more interesting than a normal day in the office."

"Here," he held out a thick folder to her. "You earned it."

"Thank you," she said, taking and holding it against her chest.

"No, thank you. I'm gonna make sure Tony Stark never forgets that one of his suits was instantly dismantled by slip of a thing like you." Fury said, with the ghost of a grin floating across his lips.

Hermione winced. "I shouldn't have done that really. I never want to use my abilities on people who don't have them, but the situation escalated rather quickly and that was the simplest way to diffuse it."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," Fury replied, holding up his hands. "Nobody got hurt apart from Stark's ego and that's a good thing anyway. Am I allowed to ask how your deception was carried out? Was it a spell, a device?"

"It was a, um, potion," she replied hesitantly, unsure whether it was wise to reveal the information.

"Potion, huh? You really are a witch. Do you have a cat and ride a broomstick too?" he laughed at his own joke but stopped when he noticed her almost guilty expression. "Oh."

She cleared her throat. "Thank you again, for this," she said, indicating the folder.

"There's a contact in there," Fury told her, "The person who told us about the nine realms theory in the first place. You might find it useful to talk to her; apparently she had more contact with Thor than anyone."

"Thank you, Director," she said and then paused. "You do understand why I've been so reluctant to share anything with you, don't you?"

He appraised her with his one eye. "You have to protect your people, I get that. I do the same for mine. Only difference is I consider your people, my people, too."

Hermione smiled gratefully and turned to leave.

"You know what the best way to protect them is, don't you?" he said, making her turn back. "How to make sure you're kept in the loop?" She looked at him quizzically. "Be in the loop," he explained, but as she still didn't understand, he continued, "Come work at S.H.I.E.L.D."

She felt her eyes widen. "You're not serious."

"Why not?" he countered. "Your abilities would easily make you the best asset the agency has ever had and I doubt I've even seen a fraction of what you can do."

"It was dangerous enough to show you, Coulson and Stark as much as I have!" she protested. "You just said you understood the need for secrecy but that was obviously only words."

"No, it wasn't," Fury maintained calmly. "Look, we don't have to reveal the truth about you – we'd have to come up with some sort of story to explain your abilities, but, given the number of people coming out of the woodwork at the moment, it wouldn't take much for people to believe you act on your own. And as long as you don't announce it to the world's press like some idiot I know, then your secret would stay within S.H.I.E.L.D, anyway."

She stared at him, struck dumb by his proposal.

"The skills you have," he continued meaningfully, "the knowledge you possess; you could help an awful lot of people around the world, save countless lives." He paused. "Don't tell me that's not something you're interested in."

"I-," she stammered. "I'm not the one you want. There are others-"

"No," Fury interrupted. "You were chosen by your people for a reason. I've seen you in action and more importantly so have Coulson and Stark. If we use someone else, they'll know there's more than one person like you."

"My friends at home," Hermione pointed out, "I couldn't just leave them."

"It's a big decision, I know. But somehow I don't think it would take too much effort to go home to visit them whenever you wanted, given your abilities," Fury pointed out.

Hermione couldn't believe that she was actually considering working with muggles, allowing them to see her abilities. It completely went against the statute of secrecy. Unless, as Fury suggested, they lie about where her magic came from?

"The one who sent me here, I'd have to talk to him," she said. "I don't know what he'd make of your suggestion."

"Do as you must," he replied simply. "Sleep on it and let me know. I'm sure you'll find a way of contacting me when you've made your decision. Either way, it's been most interesting to meet you, Hermione Granger."

He held out a glove covered hand.

Hermione shook it. "And you, Director."

"You do realise that if you accept this job and it all goes wrong, we will both be in a serious amount of trouble," Kingsley said, his voice sounding even more serious than normal.

Hermione wearily rubbed her temples. "You don't have to tell me that, Minister; I've been awake all night considering the possible repercussions and worst case scenarios of a decision like this."

"And what did you foresee?"

"Well," she said, shifting in her seat. "If the wrong muggles find out about me, then I could end up in a top secret scientific lab and be subjected to various experiments that I doubt I'll particularly enjoy. Or if the wizarding community discover how seriously I've broken the Statute of Secrecy, I expect I'd have to serve a life term prison sentence in our lovely, new-look Azkaban, or have my memory modified and be exiled to a desolate part of the world to live out the rest of my days in isolation, in complete ignorance of my past life!"

"Sounds cheery," Kingsley deadpanned.

"Quite," Hermione replied. She sounded calm but inside, her heart was beating rapidly and fear was creeping along her nerves. "And if the worst should happen and the muggles become completely aware of magic worldwide, then I imagine some very scared muggle governments would declare war upon their own countries and there would be a world war unlike any earth has seen before. Quite simply, it would be the end of our lives as we know them."

"Hmm," Kingsley's voice rumbled. "And the best case scenarios, did you think about those as well?"

"Not as much," she admitted. "But it mainly involved saving innocent people's lives whilst letting magical communities exist as they have always done."

Kingsley nodded at her words. "It is quite the dilemma. Or, at least, it would have been, if we had not already opened that door."

Hermione looked at him in surprise. "Sir?"

Kinglsey placed a comforting hand upon her own. "Come now, Hermione, are you really telling me that in your heart, you have not already decided upon your answer?"

"I, I don't know," she stuttered, shaking her head. "I thought that you would tell me what to do."

The Minister chuckled. "The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D did not make this offer to me," he pointed out.

"But I was sent to represent you and your ministry," she argued. "I wouldn't accept this proposal without your backing."

"Hermione, do you honestly think I'd let you work with these people if I didn't want you to?" he asked exasperatedly.

"No, I suppose not," she muttered, finally allowing herself to accept what answer she was going to give to the Director.

"I will do my best to cover your tracks from this end," Kingsley assured her. "We'll come up with a cover story for your long absences. You are aware that you still can't tell Weasley or Potter anything about this, aren't you?"

Hermione's heart sank. She knew that was coming but hearing it confirmed still hurt. She wasn't looking forward to telling Ron about this at all. She was reasonably confident that their relationship would survive the long-distance separation – they'd managed it while she completed her seventh year at Hogwarts, after all.

"Yes, sir, I know."

"You've got a new job? Congratulations!" Ron pulled her into a quick hug. "That's great!" he said with a grin and then frowned. "Why don't you look happy?"

Hermione took a deep breath and took one of his hands in her own. "Because it's a long-term worldwide animal study." She could already feel the lie twisting in her gut. "I would be away for days at a time."

Ron's hand went limp in her grasp. "Oh."

"I haven't given an answer yet because I wanted to talk to you first," she said.

Ron nodded solemnly. "But you want to take it, don't you?"

"It's a great opportunity for me," she admitted, preferring to look at his hand rather than meet his gaze. "And I think that I'll really be able to make a difference."

"Uh, wow, OK, well…when would you start?" he asked.

Hermione bit her lip. "Pretty much straight away," she answered timidly. "Look, I know it's a bit of a stunning spell, but we've done long distance before and we got through it! My portkey license if pretty flexible so I can come home a lot."

Ron opened his mouth to speak but changed his mind and closed it again.

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No, of course not!" he objected. "You and I have always done what we've thought is best for our careers, I mean, we didn't agree about going back to Hogwarts but we were mature enough to respect each other's decision."

Hermione threw her arms around his shoulders and squeezed him tightly. "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, returning the embrace.

Nick Fury glanced up from the digital file he was perusing at his desk. "So, have you decided whether 'Agent Granger' has a nice ring to it or not?" he asked his sudden guest.

Hermione nodded. "It has a certain appeal, but I do come with some conditions."

Fury switched off the file and put it to one side. "I wouldn't expect anything less. Take a seat."

She glanced around the room. "Is this a secure area?"

"Yes," he replied confidently.

"Do you mind if I add a little security of my own?" she asked, taking out her wand. "It might make your electrical settings go a bit strange; magic and muggle technology doesn't always get on."

Fury waved his hand dismissively. "Go ahead."

Hermione muttered a few choice spells, while Fury watched in fascination as little bursts of light hit various points in his office. "There, done," she announced, taking the seat that had been offered. "Now, firstly, I need to know who is aware of the truth about me."

"I'm the only one who knows about you personally," he replied. "But there are the agents who sent me the intel on your kind."

"They won't be an issue?"

"No," Fury replied flatly. "They're both dead."

"What!" Hermione gasped.

"An occupational hazard when you specialize in recon."

"I, I see," she stammered, somewhat shocked at his matter of fact tone. "Is there anyone else?"

"The World Security Council were made aware of unexplained happenings in the UK, but as we were unable to find any more intelligence or contact anyone on your side, that was as much as they were told."

"And who exactly are the World Security Council?"

"An international organization with many aims," he replied vaguely. "But they're the people I answer to."

"And will you have to tell them about me?" Hermione asked nervously.

"I'll tell them your cover story."

"But not the truth?" she enquired. "Why not?"

"Honestly, Granger? I expect that would only make things a hell of a lot worse for us both."

"Oh," she said in surprise. "You're showing an awful lot of faith in me considering we only met a few days ago."

"It's a gut feeling," Fury shrugged. "And your reference wasn't too bad, either."

Hermione's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What reference?"

"You didn't know anything about it?" he asked but she shook her head. "I would show it to you but it burst into flames about ten seconds after I read it. It was initialled with the letters KS. Does they mean anything to you?"

Hermione pursed her lips and nodded. She was surprised that Kingsley would take the risk in sending something directly to S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Well, whoever they were, they gave about as much away as you normally do, so don't worry about anything specific being divulged. It was more a summary of your qualities and achievements; loyal, trustworthy, resourceful, diligent." Hermione could feel her cheeks reddening as Fury reeled off the list from memory. "Brightest of your kind for about fifty years and experienced in dangerous situations from a young age," he finished. "Just how young are we talking here?"

She tensed, as she nearly always did when he asked her a question, but she reasoned that it wasn't a potentially perilous answer. "Twelve."

Fury nodded slowly. "Wanna give me any details?"

"Nope," she replied shortly. She almost felt bad that she was leaving him in the dark so much, but there really wasn't a need for him to know about the past. Voldemort was gone, as had a vast majority of his Death Eaters. The wizarding world was not a threat to muggles and that's all the Director needed to know for now. "If there's something that I believe you should be made aware of then, believe me, I'll tell you. I'll help you to save lives, I'll lend you a bit of magical assistance in terms of healing and defence but the sources of that knowledge will not pass my lips under any circumstances. If I find that you've attempted to use anything magic-related without my approval, then I'll make sure that you and everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D never know you've even heard of me. And believe me when I say that's entirely possible."

Fury scowled slightly. "That won't be necessary; I'll make sure of it."

Hermione nodded. "Good. And in terms of your secrets, how much am I allowed to know?"

"The majority of newly qualified agents would start with Level One clearance," Fury told her, but he shrugged his shoulders. "As we've already established, you're not in the majority. Given what you know about New Mexico and key S.H.I.E.L.D locations, I would say that will easily qualify you for Level Four – if you gain 'Agent' status, that is. If I move you too high, too fast, it'll raise questions that neither of us will want to answer."

Hermione thought that sounded reasonable given how recently they had started working together. She didn't doubt that she was going to be attracting attention to herself but there had to be a sensible way to go about it. "Thank you. And can I ask exactly what you have planned for me in the coming weeks?"

He appraised her with his single eye. "How do you feel about hard work?"

She felt her lips twitch into a smile and a slight pulse of excitement tingled along her nerves. "There's nothing I love better."

"Sir, Miss Potts is approaching," J.A.R.V.I.S announced, causing Tony to glance up from where he was working.

"You know, I'm not sure I'm ever going to believe you when you say that anymore," he replied, recalling yesterday's strange incident.

Pepper (or who he assumed was Pepper) walked into the lab carrying what looked suspiciously like a large, white box for a cake. "Hi," she greeted with a smile. "Someone left this outside for you."

"What and you just carried it in?" Tony asked in surprise. "What if there's a bomb in there or something?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "No one's going to leave a bomb on your doorstep."

"How do you know? Have you opened it?" he retorted.

"No, it's addressed to you," she replied, handing him an envelope that had been resting on top. "Maybe the bomb's in there instead," she joked.

If there hadn't been a number of threats to his life in the last couple of years, Tony would've opened the letter and box without fear, but it was better to be safe than have your hands blown off. "J.A.R.V.I.S scan the box and envelope," he ordered.

"The box contains a chocolate cake with the word 'sorry' iced on top," J.A.R.V.I.S answered.

"Sorry?" Pepper repeated with a frown. "Since when has someone had to apologise to you and not the other way round?"

Tony was about to make a witty reply but the envelope started quivering in his hands. He dropped it in surprise and moved backwards a couple of steps, dragging Pepper with him. The envelope raised itself off the floor and floated in mid-air in front of them, showing the reverse side. A couple of slits formed where the final flap had been folded, to become what looked very much like a pair of eyes, and a small wax seal had formed into lips.

Tony hadn't been this perplexed since… yesterday. He scowled as a voice with an English-accent radiated from the envelope.

"Good evening, Mr Stark. I wanted to apologise for the events of yesterday evening. I would never normally enter someone else's home uninvited, particularly under a false identity, but I had a point to prove to the Director. I would like to reassure you that, despite me impersonating someone close to you and dismantling your Iron Man suit, I mean you no harm. Please accept the cake as an apology and a gesture of goodwill. I hope that, should we ever meet in the future, it will be on good terms." This astonishing speech was followed by the envelope bursting in to flames… of course.

Pepper turned to him with an accusatory stare. "So, I guess there's something you've neglected to tell me."

Tony glared at the small pile of ash on his floor. He wasn't feeling in a particularly forgiving mood at that moment.