Chapter Eight

Clint was ready to take on the challenge of locating Stark's daughter. He could understand his request for secrecy. After all, if he had a family, he would have tried to keep them out of the public eye too. His job had not helped make him many friends. He imagined being the "Stark" of Stark Industries and now Iron Man made it a thousand times worse. He wasn't sure what to make of the file Tony had given him. There was nothing on his daughter after the age of eleven. How in the world was he supposed to find her with next to no information? Especially if that information was already seven years old? He had asked Tony for more.

After a brief fight between Tony and Pepper, they agreed to tell him more. Unfortunately he was called into S.H.I.E.L.D by Director Fury before he could get the rest of the story.

It started out as an easy assignment. He was to be security and keep his eyes on a scientist and a special item called the Tesseract. He recalled the moment the man stepped through the portal. He was clad in green and gold armor. He had demanded the return of the Tesseract. Clint had sprung into action. The last thing he remembered was the man - Loki pointing his staff at his chest before the world turned blue and his body was no longer his own to control.

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He came to with a blinding headache. The red head next to him stiffened.

"Nat? What happened?" Clint asked, his head pounding.

She poured him a glass of water. Handing it to him, she told him how Loki had hijacked his mind and made him do his bidding.

"How'd I get free?" Clint asked curiously.

"Cognitive Reboot." Nat shrugged.

He snorted, "Must have clocked me hard."

Smirking, she said, "Well the railing helped."

The two friends shared a chuckle. They quickly pulled themselves together in order to get on with their mission to stop Loki.

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The scene that had unfolded in New York was terrible. The fight against Loki and his Chitauri army had left devastation in its wake. Sometime during the fight, an alert went off at Stark Tower. An alert that Tony had been waiting and longing to hear. Hermione had been found. The alert had gone off seconds before the building had been hit and the equipment destroyed. The alert had also gone unnoticed.

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Luna had found her sitting on the steps outside of what used to be the entrance to the castle. Ron was with his family, mourning the loss of his brother. Harry was answering questions with Kingsley. This left Hermione by herself. While some may feel the need the solitude after such a life changing event, Luna knew Hermione needed her friends now more than ever. She sat down beside her and touched Hermione's hand that was still clenched tightly around her wand.

Hermione's eyes were unseeing, as if she were reliving the entire ordeal. Being here would only make it harder for her to recover. So Luna slipped her arm under Hermione's and pulled her up. She led her a short distance from the stairs before she pulled her own wand out. While she normally would never do this without permission or against a mind that was usually as formidable as Hermione's; Luna softly said the spell to read her mind. With Hermione being unfocused it took a few moments for her to find the information she sought.

Once she had retrieved the needed location, Luna held tightly to Hermione and apparated them to the Stark family's London home. Going through the garden to the back door, a quick spell unlocked the door and let them in. A shrill alarm went off and Hermione blindly reacted. He hand reached out and entered the access code to deactivate the alarm.

Luna led her into the house, healing the few things she could, before running a bath for Hermione, who, despite the action earlier, was mostly catatonic. Helping her friend undress and settle into the tub brought a sigh from Hermione's lips. Luna could only imagine how nice it felt after everything she had been through. She was looking forward to one herself.

She left Hermione alone long enough to find her room and retrieve some clean clothing. When she returned to the bathroom, she helped Hermione wash her hair. Leaving her to soak once more, she made an attempt to rummage through the kitchen cupboards. Finding some tins that she didn't know how to open, and a box of crackers - she settled on the box of crackers. She returned to the bathroom to find Hermione had gotten out of the tub herself and was staring blankly at the mirror.

She held up the clothes she had found and softly coaxed Hermione into dressing. Then she led her to the kitchen and settled her into a seat. She managed to get her to eat a few crackers and drink a glass of water before her eyelids drooped heavily.

Taking this as a sign, Luna led her to her room and got her into bed, Hermione's eyes closing before she whispered, "Stay. Please." Luna stayed with her until she fell asleep, softly humming a lullaby she remembered her mother singing.

Then Luna took the time to take care of herself. Luckily she only had minor injuries. A bath, some food, some borrowed clothes and she tucked herself into bed beside Hermione. Hermione was whimpering in her sleep. Luna held her and soothed her as best she could. Hermione needed her family. She needed someone to watch over her. Vowing to send a letter in the morning, Luna fell asleep.

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After the incident in New York, Tony had opened up his tower to the other Avengers. He had even gone so far as to rename it Avengers Tower. They each had their own room, should they choose to stay. Bruce was there permanently. He and Tony often worked together in their labs. Steve usually stayed in his own apartment, but he had stayed at the Tower once or twice. Nat was there when she wasn't on a mission. Clint was there as a permanent resident too. He was taking a break from missions, wanting to work through the issues he had with the things he had done while controlled by Loki.

He had been wandering around the large family room and had seen multiple pictures of Tony's daughter. He smiled at the younger images of her, with her rather bushy hair. It was clear that both she and Tony adored each other. The pictures changed as she aged. The wide smile that had once graced her face seemed a little strained. The innocence in her eyes faded. Her hair had tamed and became sleek, glossy curls. Her eyes were the most expressive parts of her. Each picture was like looking at a window to her soul. He admitted to himself that she was indeed a beautiful young woman. And though he knew that he shouldn't want to, he wanted to be the one to comfort her and chase away the sadness from her eyes. He didn't know what had caused it, but he knew if he wanted a chance to help - he had to find her first.

After the sacrifice Tony was willing to make, helping him find his daughter was the least he could do. Clint hadn't had much information to go on, and even though Tony and Pepper had finally agreed, he had yet to get the rest. Clint knew where Hermione's room was. He headed in that direction, intending to look for anything that might help. The door was locked, and Jarvis could be heard telling him that the door was not to be opened by anyone other than a Stark.

Most people would have given up, just knowing that Jarvis was watching the door. But Clint already knew of a way to access the room. While Tony had security on all doors and windows, he did not have it on the ventilation system.

Smirking, Clint made his way back to his own room. Once inside he climbed the shelf against the back wall. Perched there, he quickly worked the panel off the vent in his room. He had been through the system a time or two. Usually when Nat was here and he was trying to get the drop on her, or when he just needed to be left alone. While he was in the vents, no one would bother him.

He followed the system in the direction he needed, and soon found another access panel he could use to enter Hermione's bedroom. Whatever he had expected to find in her room, he wasn't entirely sure. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary bedroom. There were several shelves full of books on either side of an organized looking desk, a few momentos and picture frames scattered about. The large bed had a thick purple comforter, several pillows and a well loved stuffed animal sitting in a place of honor. The stuffed animal made him smile. He turned his attention to the shelves and desk.

He started shuffling through the books and papers on the desk. He noted the titles of the books as he went - Pride and Prejudice, The Bell Jar, and To Kill A Mockingbird. Next he glanced at the few letters she had saved from Luna and Harry, friends of hers obviously. He didn't want to read them and completely invade her privacy just yet. But he would remember they were here to examine for clues later. The ones from Harry looked normal. The ones from Luna were odd. The paper was thick and old looking, the writing halted as if the pen had run out of ink. It was almost like old world parchment. A movement from the corner of his eye had him turning. It took him several moments to understand just exactly what he was seeing.

He blinked and looked at the photograph of Hermione talking to a blonde girl. Both were wearing their school uniforms, neither looking at the camera. Lost to their conversation. Then the girls both looked at him, smiled and waved before they returned to their conversation.

His mouth opened and closed several times, doing a fair impression of a fish. He could feel his eyes bugging out. He looked away from the picture and back again. Once again the girls waved at him. He shook his head to clear it. He must be seeing things. As his eyes focused again he noticed the titles on the bookshelf. A Practical Magic, Defense Against Dark Arts, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Advanced Potion Making. What in the world? Magic and Potions? It made no sense.

Maybe he should just talk to Tony. He was walking past her bed on the way back to the vent, when something furry zoomed out and started attacking his shoe. He shuffled his leg to get what he thought was a cat off of him. The so called cat wasn't deterred and came after his boot again. This time he noticed it was definitely not a cat. It was a flat rectangle that had multiple eyes, brown fur and teeth that began snapping. He jumped on the bed to escape the odd creature as it scuttled under the bed. He waited several minutes. Then he removed his boot and lowered it over the edge. Immediately the creature attacked.

He pulled his boot back up and examined the teeth marks in the leather. The creature once again returned to the dark space under the bed. The occasional snarl still reached Clint's ears.. He would just have to wait it out then. Surely it wouldn't be too long. He laid back in the bed. The scent of vanilla and cinnamon came from the covers. Was that how Hermione smelled? It was quite soothing. He closed his eyes, convinced it wouldn't take much longer.

He was wrong. He had waited so long he had fallen asleep in the large comfy bed. He dreamed of her smiling at him, her eyes aglow with happiness. She was reaching out for him when he was rudely awakened. The door opened, lights came on and Tony Stark stood in the doorway. At first he looked pissed. Then the creature dashed out from under the bed towards him. He jumped at it, quickly holding its mouth shut as he stroked its side. Looking up at Clint with eyes full of mirth he said, "Really? Trapped by a book? And here I thought you were the big tough Avenger."

Confused, he asked, "Book? What on Earth are you talking about?"

Tony held up the creature, which was oddly book shaped. "This is the Monster Book of Monsters."

"The what now? I don't understand. How does that even work?" Clint asked, scratching his head.

A grin spread across Tony's face, eyes dancing with mischief. "Magic!"

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Tony knew he probably wasn't supposed to tell Clint about magic. But technically, he had discovered it on his own. If not for the incident with the Monster Book of Monsters, who knew what else he would have found? Tony knew Hermione had kept all her old textbooks and had several magical items in her room too. It was why Tony had locked her door and restricted access to it before the other Avengers had been allowed to stay in the tower. He should have thought about the vents. But honestly he couldn't think of anyone else who would even think to use them.

Knowing the secret of magic was supposed to be kept and the desire to find his daughter warred within him. In the end he made Clint promise not to ever reveal the secret to another soul before he told his tale. From the first moment he laid eyes on his daughter, to the last time he had talked to her, Tony told him everything. One small detail could be the very thing that led them to her.

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Magic. Clint had thought his mind had been overwhelmed before. But if magic was real, then it made the things Loki had done seem less impressive. Sure there was the fear that another bad guy - wizard, could be lurking about. Like this Voldemort character. But knowing there was good, light magic - the kind Hermione and her friends used to counter it made a big difference. Clint vowed he would never tell anyone about the existence of magic. He could only imagine what those in power would do with the knowledge. The last thing he wanted to think about was someone being corrupted or forced to use their magic for someone else's gain.

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Clint thought long and hard about where to start looking for Hermione. From what Tony had told him, things were not pleasant in the wizarding world. In fact, they had been on the brink of war from the sound of it. It had been awhile since Tony had received any information. Even his muggle born contacts had not answered his inquiries. If Harry Potter was one of her best friends, and the so called savior, then perhaps there would be some gossip to be had. The best place for that kind of information sounded like the Leaky Cauldron. He heard how Tony had gotten access and decided it would be best if he were a little, okay a lot more discreet. He informed Tony of his plan to go to London and packed a quick bag. Best to travel light.

Once in London he used the directions Tony had given him and made his way to what was hopefully the Leaky Cauldron. He hid himself in the shadows nearby and kept an eye on the entrance. All he needed was someone to enter or even exit.

After nearly an hour, someone stumbled their way out of the exit. Acting quickly, Clint slipped inside before the entrance hid itself again. He stayed near the wall, preferring to slink in the shadows. His eyes quickly assessed the place. There were several patrons already there. Not sure who to approach or even where to sit, he came up with a better idea. There were stairs that led to what he presumed were rooms. Off the side of those stairs he noticed the high beams of the ceiling. Timing things just right he slipped up the stairs and out onto the rafters. He started with one cluster of people, where he learned that the war was over and Voldemort had been defeated. Though there was talk about rebuilding, there was no mention of the missing Hermione. Noticing a somewhat nefarious looking lot, he made his way to them. The closer he got a strange buzzing noise filled his ears. He silently crept until he was directly above them, and the buzzing sound ceased. He crouched down to hear their conversation. Snippets and mutters proved this group was plotting something. Retribution against the "Potter Brat, the Blood Traitor and the Mudblood Bint." Obviously these fellows had been on the losing side of things. And if they were plotting against the trio, that meant they were still alive. But where were they?

One of the fellows speculated they could be holed up in the old Black place, Grimmauld Place in muggle London. Perhaps he should try there himself. They had already mentioned the Weasley hovel had been burned down. If they had been to Hermione's birth parents home, Tony would have already known. Deciding to take the chance of her being at Grimmauld Place, Clint slipped away and left the pub. Best to beat them there. Besides if they were indeed there, he could give them warning. He was looking at the map he had, trying to determine the quickest route when his phone rang. A quick glance showed him Tony's name. Maybe he had more information for him.