Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the MCU or any of the characters therein. And, sadly, I make no moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.

Just a quick note. Sorry, but I completely skipped over the action scene with the destroyer from the movie Thor. Honestly, they did it right the first time around and me rewriting it with Hermione included wouldn't have done this story any favors. Just wanted you to know. Thanks.

Time for a new chapter. Are you ready? Well, here it is! I hope you like it.

…

Chapter Ten

Puente Antiguo, New Mexico

September 15th, 2011

"That is one big hammer," Clint said from his perch overlooking the newly constructed area surrounding the mysterious artifact that so far no one there could lift.

"That's one way of putting it," Hermione said from next to him. "Why do I get the feeling that whomever the owner is uses the term 'hammer' as a way to describe their masculinity and why am I having the urge to say, 'That's what she said'?"

Clint let out a snort even as Phil said over their headsets, "I really didn't need to hear that."

Hermione looked over to Clint and said, "He needs to get out more. And more than to just date cellists in Portland."

"Oooh! Dad is dating again?" Clint asked, making Phil groan.

"Enough you two," Phil ordered. "Any activity?"

"Just the scientist and that big blond guy breaking in," Hermione said casually. "Nothing that big."

Clint looked over at her in a way to ask if she was joking, even as Phil said over the headset, "Are you kidding?"

"One never kids about things of this nature," she told them. She pointed towards where they were. "That way." Clint pulled out his binoculars and looked.

"She wasn't kidding boss. They're in. Orders?"

Phil was silent a moment. "See what they want. If he manages to pick up the hammer, we'll go to confront."

"I doubt he'll do it," Hermione said, sitting down. "He would have done so by now if that were the case."

"True," Phil told her quietly. "But there's no telling what could have happened."

"Yes, like you coming back out of the minimart at the gas station covered in flour…"

"I'm still not telling," he repeated. "You should have been awake."

"You're only saying that because I have the utter gall to not have a driver's license."

"Wait—you don't know how to drive?" Clint asked her.

"I know how to drive. It's just advisable that I don't," she said casually.

"Yes, I was there. Trust me, Clint. You don't want her behind the wheel," came from Phil.

"I do believe that Director Fury said it was for the best of mankind." She pouted. "I may have been bad, but surely not that bad."

"Yes that bad," Phil told her, making Clint laugh even as he was watching his friend rolling her eyes. "Hermione, you parked the car…"

"It wasn't that bad of a parking job!" she told him, even as she turned to Clint and added, "I didn't hit a single person."

"…inside a Red Robin and proceeded to ask if they could just serve you right there in the car so you could all wait for the police to show up."

"They took my license after that and told me that mass transit wasn't as bad as advertised," she sighed, turning to look at where the hammer was. "We have action."

…

Main Street, Puente Antiguo, New Mexico

Post-Battle with the Destroyer…

"How did you keep from becoming crispy, Hermione?" Clint asked her.

"I would like to know that as well," Phil said, studying her intently. "I don't know how you managed to do it, but you kept it from setting all the SHIELD agents there on fire as well."

She nodded, just as Fury entered the café. He sat down next to her, studying her intently.

"There's a statute of secrecy," she said quietly. "There are those who wouldn't be very happy that I did what I did, even if it was to save lives."

"I spoke to a man named Kingsley Shacklebolt. We came to an understanding."

"That's good to know." She let the tension flow from her body. "So I may speak of my gifts?" Her employer nodded. Hermione looked over towards Clint and Phil. "I want to make this clear—if I thought I could tell you about this, I would have years ago. I hate secrets. They make life so much more complicated than it should be." Clearing her throat, she said, "I'm an elemental mage. I was born one to two non-magical people. There's an entire world of magic out there, but it's all underground. It has been so for well over a thousand years."

"So you can do magic?" Clint asked her to which she nodded. "I'm shocked you aren't doing it all the time."

"Who says that I don't?" she inquired, studying him. "I'm just very covert about it all. And there's that saying about there being a time and place for everything. Magic is no different."

She picked up a paper napkin, looking around them and seeing that no one was paying attention. Quickly she crumpled up the paper into a ball, tapping it, and sent it rolling over towards Clint. It rolled once or twice before it seemed to reform into a running boy that jumped up and turned into a paper bluebird that flew back over towards Hermione. She ended the charm and flattened out the napkin once again.

"Wow," Clint murmured in awe.

"There has to be more you can do than that," Fury said.

"Of course there is," she told him. "But there is a time and place for everything, remember?" She looked over to Phil. "I wish I could have told you sooner, but that being said why were you covered in flour?"

"Secret for a secret?" he asked her.

"Whatever works," she replied. "Why were you covered in flour?"

"That's a state secret," he replied, getting up. "Get ready to hit the road, Hermione. We're out of here in ten." He strolled away without another word.

She looked over towards Fury. "If I can give you the address can you get the security footage…Of course you can! Silly me." She pulled out the address and handed it to him. "I'm not joking, he was covered in a fine layer of flour. I so want to know what happened in that place."

Fury smiled and said, "The man has some skills." He pocketed the address. "I'll have it to you once I get to it."

"Thank you, sir," she murmured with a grin, getting up from the table.

It wasn't until she was in the restroom that Clint asked, "Do you have plans for her, sir?"

"Of course I do," he replied. "I do believe that the Avengers could use a magic user, don't you?"

…

They were silent for the first half an hour of the drive. Hermione thinking that Phil might be upset and Phil wondering what he could ask without insulting her.

"I'm sorry," she told him. "If there was anyone I should have told, statute of secrecy or not, it should have been you."

Shocked, he asked, "Why? What makes me so special to know?"

"Because I work not only for SHIELD, but you. And you're not only my boss, but my friend. You're the first one I tell anything to other than Harry and his wife."

He nodded to that. "And you're so far the only person I've let touch Lola."

"She's a beauty," she murmured with clear understanding. "She needs to be treated with care."

"Exactly," he said quietly. "So tell me the truth. Is the reason you don't know how to drive worth a damn because you're magical?"

She gave him a mischievous grin and said, "I wish I could say that was it, but I can't even fly on a broom with any skill never mind drive a car."

He was silent a moment before asking, "That war you spoke of…"

"It was a magical war," she told him. "I lost more than a few friends in it."

He flicked a look at her. "PTSD?"

"Of course," she sighed. "Along with a few other traumatic things, leaving me with not only physical scars but mental ones as well."

Phil was silent a moment before he muttered, "You were so damn young."

There was no arguing with that. It was the truth. They had been so damn young. This brought up questions though—if they hadn't fought for their rights, not only to their magic but the right to live, what would have happened? No, Hermione thought, they had to fight, not only for themselves, but for everyone.

"You've been in battle," she said quietly. "You know what price everyone pays. And you weren't all that old yourself when you started to do so. Would you expect anything less of me?"

"Of course not," he sighed. "But is it so wrong that I wish you didn't have to go through that?"

Smiling softly, she said, "Just as long as it's okay that I wish the same for you as well."

He nodded to that. "Fair enough."

She was silent for a moment and asked, "You really won't tell me what happened in that gas station minimart?"

He nearly grinned. "No."

"Just for that I should make you listen to my music selection," she told him.

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Fine. Put in your disc."

Soon enough the Clash was playing and she was rocking her head to the tunes. In truth, he liked her musical tastes, but Phil wasn't about to tell her that or she would actually press for more music time while traveling. He might like it, but that didn't mean that he wanted to hear it all the time.

The Clash song finished and an old time radio show about Captain America started to play, shocking Phil.

"I went over to the Museum of Radio and Television. They allowed me to make some copies of the old broadcasts of some of the shows. I was even able to get a few of the Newsreel audio as well."

He blushed as he asked, "How did you know?"

"I'm your admin, Phil. I have been for some time now," she murmured. "If I didn't know you had a deep love for our national icon by now, I wouldn't be very good at my job."

His face went scarlet. "I-I…"

"He's your hero and there's a part of you that wants to have his babies if you could. And that's okay too."

He frowned. "Clint told you that."

"Of course he did." She smiled. "If it means anything, I have a tattoo of a Bucky Bear on my arse." He blinked at her, as she explained, "My Gran had loads of photos of the Captain as well as all of the men working with him. The first time I saw a photo of Bucky…" She sighed as only a lovelorn teen could, pressing a hand to her chest. "…he just melted my twelve year old heart. My feelings about the man may have matured with me, but they're still there as displayed by my need to get that damn bear tattooed on me when I managed to get drunk off that same said arse."

That had him laughing and both relaxed for the road trip ahead.

TBC…

…

Another chapter done! Wow, this is moving faster than I thought. Thanks for joining me for the ride and I hope you all are having a wonderful day.