Their Little Witch
Chapter 17
When the sun rose, the castle was silent. The only indication of the chaos from the night before was the damage to the castle itself, the crumbled walls and broken floors. The dead and injured had been collected in the hours after the battle, the death eaters and Voldemort's bodies had been collected by the ministry for identification purposes.
A few families had chosen to remain in the castle overnight, the Weasley's among them. The Avengers and Harry were still dozing in the Room of Requirement, oblivious to the fact that there were several people seeking the Potter heir out for interviews and congratulations.
Tony was the first to wake, at first he doesn't recognise where he is, the number of bodies makes his body tense and he begins to order his suit to him when the memory hits like a fist, knocking the air out of his lungs. He reaches for his phone, typing out a quick message to Pepper, his long time on and off again girlfriend,
If I'm ever lucky enough to have kids with you, they're not going to boarding school.
She knows where he is, what he's doing. When they'd gotten back together, he'd promised no more secrets, no lying. She hadn't had a chance to meet either of the witches yet, her position in Stark Enterprises keeping her busy, but she'd expressed a desire to take both women out for lunch on their return. His chest felt awfully heavy when he thought that the chances of that lunch happening were dauntingly slim.
He pulled himself out of Rhodey's grip, the man was like an octopus, and gave his back a stretch before walking around the room. His body was sore from the fight, he'd taken a few giant hits that meant his suit would need some repairs soon, and it had left him feeling bruised and sore. The sleep had been welcome, and the beds were comfortable, but it didn't take away his aches and pains and the tiredness that seemed to seep from his bones. He'd seen a lot of people fall yesterday, and while that wasn't unusual, the children had been a hard pill to swallow. Children shouldn't have even been there, the school should have been safe.
Luna stirred next, her large, sad eyes trapped Tony in her gaze like a deer in headlights.
She rose silently, grimacing at the sight of her clothes. She seemed to be searching for the words when she finally spoke to Tony,
"Should- Shall we go fetch some breakfast? The elves would bring it up, if we asked, but Hermione hates using the elves like that."
Tony nods slightly,
"Breakfast sounds like a great idea."
She nods, her hair would normally bob with her, but this morning it is stuck to her head, matted with dried blood and bits of stone and debris.
She leads Tony out of the room, taking him down various corridors and down the moving staircase which he found to be more entertaining than any rollercoaster.
Tony's heart almost stopped when some ghosts passed him, despite Luna's polite,
"Good Morning, Sir Nicholas."
Tony's heart is in his throat when he croaks out,
"Was-was he? Yesterday?"
Luna shakes her head,
"The ghosts here died a long time ago; some are almost as old as the castle itself."
Tony almost doesn't want to ask,
"Will there be ghosts after yesterday?"
Luna turned to him, taking his large hand in one of her smaller ones,
"I think it's unlikely, it's not a common practice anymore to stick around as a ghost, people prefer to move on, through to the next big adventure."
He's only reassured slightly, his guilt still gnawing at him, when she speaks again,
"If you hadn't come, the death toll on our side would be much higher. You saved far more than you lost, Mister Stark. Many parents and children owe their families to you."
He just nods, following along as she continues walking. She stops at a painting of a fruit bowl and turns to him with a small, tentative smile,
"Tickle the pear."
He blinks.
"Excuse me?"
"Tickle the pear."
He hesitantly reaches a hand out, a frown of confusion on his face as he tickled the pear, which then giggled and wriggled, making him jump and his eyes widen as a door that he hadn't seen swung open.
Luna steps inside, beckoning him to follow her. The room is bright, loud and filled with small creatures with large, flappy ears and happy faces. There's hundreds of them.
They all stop what they're doing when they enter, turning almost as one to look at the newcomers. Their large eyes go wide when they see Luna,
"Miss Moon!"
Luna offers them a small smile, giving one or two of them a hug as she passes through and they return to what they're doing. She sits at a table, pulling out a chair for Tony.
One of the elves approaches and Luna smiles softly at it,
"Would it please be possible to gather some breakfast for my friends and I?"
The elf looks sadly at her, shaking his large head,
"We's being told that food only goes to the great hall, Miss. Mistress be saying that no one's should be alone."
Luna scowls darkly,
"Of course she did. Thank you, anyway."
"Breakfast be's soon though."
Luna just nods sadly, letting go of her tension.
She grabs Tony's hand and apparates back to the Room of Requirement. His head spins and it takes him a moment to be able to speak,
"Why did we walk if you could do that?"
She shrugs,
"I wanted you to see the castle while there isn't a war on."
He narrows his eyes at her, but she's not looking at him.
Everyone else has started to wake up, including Hermione who is shuffling around the room, her bag clutched tightly in her hand. Her eyes are still unfocussed and far away, her body shakes every time she moves, but she's up.
Bucky's watching her with desperate eyes. Luna sucks in a breath as Harry tries to coax Hermione into sitting down.
Hermione just snatches her arms out of his grasp, staring at the ceiling.
For the first time that she could remember, Luna didn't know what to do.
Harry looked at her helplessly,
"I thought she was better, when I woke up and she was out of bed."
Luna nods sharply, her eyes not straying from Hermione's face.
Bucky speaks softly,
"I thought she spoke to me last night."
Luna frowns, turning to him,
"That's not possible."
Bucky shrugs,
"Possible or not, she asked me if everyone was okay and then went to sleep."
Luna growls in frustration, attracting Hermione's attention. The girl shuffles over, her shaky fingers wind in Luna's hair.
Luna leans into her touch before turning to Harry,
"We have to go to the Great Hall for breakfast."
Harry just nods, like he'd expected it to be that way.
Natasha gently coaxes Hermione into following them out of the room, and the job certainly wasn't easy. The girl seemed to want to stay where she was and continued to stop after every few steps. Bucky had tried to carry her, but she'd simply rolled out of his arms, putting an end to that attempt.
They're almost at the staircase when Luna gives up, apparating herself and Hermione down, it wasn't safe to try and navigate the stairs with Hermione like this.
Luckily, no one else had arrived yet, and Luna was able to coax Hermione into sitting at the table. The others found them easily enough because Minerva had decided that only one table would be needed today. Harry slid onto the bench on Hermione's other side, Steve opting to sit next to Luna. Bucky, Nat, James and Tony sat opposite them.
They sat in silence while other people started to file in. The whole group tensed when Kingsley Shacklebolt approached them, his features soft and welcoming, but a certain twitch gave away the importance of whatever he was approaching for. He stopped behind Hermione, putting his hands on her shoulders in a way that had Bucky gripping the bench beneath him,
"Miss Granger, I need to borrow you for a few minutes to answer some questions."
Hermione fiddles with the fabric of her shirt, ignoring the man behind her, much to his surprise,
"Hermione?"
A sharp voice cuts through the tension,
"Kingsley Shacklebolt, I have never taken you for an idiot, don't make a fool of me now."
Bucky turns sharply, it's the older lady who'd blown Bellatrix away yesterday, and her features are set and hard,
"I'm going to work with the assumption that you haven't been made aware, because if you have, and are behaving this way, my vote will no longer be with you. Miss Granger is not currently able to answer anyone's questions."
Kingsley looks confused, turning to Harry for answers, but none of the group can bring themselves to tell him.
Augusta sighs, grabbing Kingsley and leading him to the other end of the table. Judging by the way Augusta is moving her hands; Harry can tell that Kingsley is receiving a verbal lashing.
When the food appears on the table, Luna has to reassure the Avengers that none of it is poisoned and that it's all real. The table is piled high with various different foods, toast, cereal, fried foods. Anything they could have fancied was there. Luna pours some orange juice into a glass for Hermione, and puts some toast on her plate, spreading jam over it.
Hermione doesn't notice that it's there.
Bucky watches her, feeling his chest hurt. His strong woman, his beautiful strong woman. He hadn't even gotten to really call her his yet.
A throat clears behind Hermione and Bucky's eyes snap up to Neville, who's standing there almost awkwardly,
"You're doing it wrong," He says softly before encouraging Harry to shuffle up the bench and taking the seat next to Hermione for himself, "My parents are like this."
The group just watches him as he pulls forward a bowl of yoghurt, scooping some onto a small spoon and raising it to Hermione's face, keeping his voice soft and light,
"Hermione, you need to open your mouth."
She does as asked and he feeds her the yoghurt, smiling sadly when she doesn't let go of the spoon,
"It's okay, there's more, I promise,"
She lets the spoon go and allows him to feed her, though her eyes are still locked on the ceiling.
Bucky eats a bowl of porridge while he watches Neville feed Hermione like a toddler. He looked at her juice and frowned, replacing it with apple and at Neville's curious looks he mutters,
"She prefers apple juice. It's her favourite."
Neville just nods at him understandingly. The doors swing open and the Weasley's walk in. Ron gives Harry a sorry look as his mother pushes past them, taking a seat at the other end of the table. Fred and George sit next to Steve, away from their mother.
Neville doesn't pay them any mind, but Bucky thinks that although he's never hit a woman, the Weasley Mother might just be the first if she opens her mouth.
Neville pops a straw into the juice, bringing it to Hermione's lips and she looks right at Bucky, smiling when she took a sip, Neville looks at her curiously as he nibbles on his toast. Harry nudges Neville with his foot,
"Thank you, Nev, thank you."
He just shrugs the thanks off. If he's honest with himself, he feels an awful weight of guilt over what had happened to Hermione. If he'd been faster with his wand, stronger, she wouldn't have been tortured. Both Draco and his Gran had told him not to be ridiculous, but helping her like this helped him feel a bit better.
Although, he thinks, it's awfully curious about that smile. In the nineteen years of his parents being the way they were, he'd never seen such an obvious reaction of recognition. Hermione knew that Bucky had swapped the drink; she had smiled at him, almost in thanks. That was certainly unusual.
Harry almost groaned when Kingsley approached him, his expression just promising trouble,
"I'm truly sorry for disturbing your breakfast, but you see, I have to take Miss Granger into custody."
Harry was on his feet in seconds, as were the other Avengers,
"Excuse me?"
Kingsley sighs, running a hand down his exhausted face,
"Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix's husband, is pressing charges on her for ending the line of an ancient and noble house."
It's Neville who speaks up,
"On what grounds? Hermione certainly didn't kill Bellatrix."
A couple of aurors came through the doors next and Kingsley looked at Harry in desperation,
"The country is grieving, Harry. I just need to show that I'm following procedure."
Harry's temper flares,
"By arresting a mentally ill innocent woman, a war hero?"
Natasha places herself between Hermione and the aurors, a fierce glare on her face. Kingsley puts a hand on Harry's shoulder,
"Let's not fight, Harry, it'll just be few days. A week at most."
Luna's voice is like steel,
"Where?"
"Well, first we'll take her to the ministry for questioning, and then she'll be in a holding cell at Azkaban until we get this settled."
Luna bristles, grabbing Harry's hand,
"If you want her, you go through us. A war hero and six Avengers."
Neville pipes up,
"Two war heroes. I did, after all, kill the snake."
Bucky shields Hermione with Natasha, putting his hands over his guns.
Kingsley scowls,
"Honestly, this is temporary. I just need to do an investigation-"
"That will not be necessary."
A thick Wakandan accent cuts Kingsley off. At the double doors stand King T'Challa and Princess Shuri. Both have their arms crossed and chins forward. T'Challa approaches confidently, addressing Kingsley without a shred of fear in his voice,
"Hermione Granger is now an official ward of Wakanda. If you arrest her, Temporary Acting Minister, you face the very real threat of war."
Shuri takes Hermione's hands gingerly, pulling the girl to her,
"This woman requires immediate medical attention. Anyone accompanying her will need to do it now."
Kingsley sputters,
"I am acting Minister of Magic!"
T'Challa smirks at the man, placing a reassuring hand on Bucky's shoulder,
"I am T'Challa, King of Wakanda, if you wish to pull rank."
Augusta approaches Kingsley furiously,
"What did we just discuss 'Minister'?"
Shuri is trying to lead Hermione away, but her feet are planted to the ground. Her eyes are fixed on Bucky's back, and Shuri grins cheekily,
"Mister Barnes, I believe that someone would like your attention."
He turns sharply, expecting to come face-to-face with an auror, but is instead greeted by a staring Hermione. Her face gives nothing away, but she is definitely staring at him. He approaches her slowly, holding his arms out and she shuffles into them, gently tugging on his hair. He smiles down at her, slowly scooping her into his arms.
The Avengers are at his side as he begins to walk out of the hall. Hermione doesn't try to leave his embrace this time. Harry goes to follow, stopped by Kingsley's voice,
"Harry, you can't leave. Wizarding Britain needs you."
Mrs Weasley approaches him, trying to pull him into a hug,
"Come to The Burrow with us, Harry Dear. We'll help you get back on your feet."
Luna turns to him, her face blank and her tone dry,
"She might forgive you if you stay, Harry. Actually, she would probably insist on it, but I won't."
And with that, his mind is made up. He jogs over to Ginny, gripping her in a hug with a promise of writing, and does the same for Ron before rushing to catch up with The Avengers before they leave without him.
Augusta turns to Kingsley,
"The boy died yesterday. He deserves a break, you leave him be, understand?"
Neville stays with her, giving the Aurors a fierce glare.
T'Challa gives Kingsley one last sharp look,
"Let's not pretend that this is anything but racism, Minister. I know enough of your world to know this. I am only glad that I had the good fortune of arriving when I did, because I can now advise my own Magical Community to cease trade with a nation this barbaric."
Then he turns on his heel, marching away. Kingsley pales.
Luna sighs in relief when she sees Harry catching up to them, of course she knew that he would have duties to attend to now, but she also felt that this was his chance of redemption, a chance to make up to himself and Hermione for their lost time.
Harry doesn't say anything when he does catch up, but he does blush when Natasha gives him a knowing smirk.
Tony is chatting Shuri about the possibility of himself, Rhodes and Natasha being dropped off at the compound, she smiles cheekily at him,
"I assure you, Mister Stark, Wakanda is more than willing to accommodate you all."
He smiles, in an attempt to be charming while covered in various messes from battle,
"I don't doubt that, but I think some of us would appreciate some home comforts."
Shuri rolls her eyes but nods, despite herself. She leads the group out to the jet that her brother and she had arrived in. There certainly wouldn't be a space issue.
Bucky climbed in, clutching Hermione gently to his chest. She was running her fingers down his metal arm; apparently it felt funny on her hand. He didn't mind, though. Not so long as she let him hold her like this. He'd been more hurt than he'd like to admit when she had pulled away from him earlier. Even before they'd become friends, she'd never pulled away from him like that. He wanted, needed to believe that he hadn't dreamt her talking last night, that somewhere in that brain of hers, Hermione was still in there. He needed that hope.
Shuri caught his eye as he sat down and she crouched in front of him,
"If I can fix your dumb brain, then you must know that I won't rest until I've fixed her too, right?"
Bucky nods, because he does know that. Shuri was a competent woman, and if anyone could do it, besides Hermione, it would be her. He then pulled Hermione's arm out, exposing the damaged limb to Shuri,
"Is there anything you can do for this? A sorcerer has put it into stasis, but if there's anything you can do, I'll find a way to finance it."
At this, Harry speaks up,
"I'll fund whatever you need for Hermione. She's my sister in everything but blood, whatever you need."
Bucky nods gratefully and Shuri laughs,
"I am sure that you and I, wonder boy, can come to some arrangement."
Bucky almost laughs at the look on Harry's face, but swallows it when Hermione threads her fingers into his hair, sitting herself up on his lap, almost straddling him as she begins to play with the strands of his hair. He gently grips her hands,
"Hey, Doll, let me wash it first?"
She just shakes him off, breathing deeply and continues to play with it, twisting it into little plaits.
Natasha does laugh,
"Some big bad assassin you are, Barnes. Don't you look pretty now."
Bucky wants to glare at her, but he doesn't want to scare Hermione, so he flicks his eyes to Steve who gently kicks her shin, making Natasha's mouth drop open,
"He's been a bad influence on you, Rogers."
Steve smiles,
"Actually, I think I was a bad influence on him."
Bucky smirks,
"Too right, Punk."
Luna steps onto the jet, debating on where to sit. Steve watches her for a moment before his eyes flick to Hermione and his resolve steels, he reaches out, tugging Luna down to sit on his lap. Luna smiled brightly at him and he stubbornly refused to meet anyone's eyes.
Rhodes was sat, massaging his legs with the braces off, much to Tony's amusement,
"If they're not comfortable, let me design a new set."
James gives him an exasperated look,
"If it shuts you up, I'll let you buy the empire state building."
T'Challa finally arrives, putting his sister into a headlock as he passes,
"Will I ever be done saving you, Captain?"
Steve smiles apologetically,
"I highly doubt it."
Shuri grins,
"At least life is never boring!"
Bucky thinks he could do with a bit of boring.
Shuri and Tony head to the front of the jet, James trailing behind them.
T'Challa sits opposite Luna and Steve, closing his eyes and leaning back,
"You'll have to forgive me for sleeping, Tony Stark had me on a plane at four in the morning."
Steve waves him off,
"Sleep, please. I doubt any of us are really capable of conversation right now, anyway."
A.N. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Marvel. Please review! Please remember that this doesn't follow canon at all, so some of the characters may behave a bit differently to what you are used to! If anyone wants to design me a cover, please feel free!