Their Little Witch
Chapter 21
After showing Hermione to the shower in Luna's room, Bucky had taken himself to his own, a heavy feeling in his chest. Watching her fall backwards had really affected him, his heart still hadn't slowed down.
He couldn't remember making the conscious choice to jump after her, but his feet had carried him without command and then he'd been falling, fighting back awful flashbacks of falling into another river, so long ago. But there was no snow in Wakanda, and if they hit anything other than water, Hermione would die. He'd pushed them both further, his panic coming out as he'd ripped her shirt when he'd pulled her close.
Landing in the water had forced awful memories at him, until he was suffocating in a whole new way. It was only the feeling of her ripping away from him that had returned him to his senses, albeit slower than he'd like. Her body had looked so small as the water overpowered her, and he'd been able to push his own discomfort out of his mind for a moment longer to reach her, and the overwhelming feeling of pure relief when she'd reached back for him had also helped.
He shook his head as he stood under his shower, the water almost scalding hot, trying desperately to fight the chill out of his bones. He leaned against the wall, letting the water cascade down his back. His second shower today.
Her eyes when she'd looked at him, before the jump, would haunt his dreams tonight. She'd looked so hurt, so vulnerable. Even worse, or perhaps better, was that the look was because of the idea of him actually being hurt. He didn't know how to reassure her, how do you promise someone that you'll be okay when you're in this line of work?
He'd almost collapsed when she'd spoken to him like that, so desperate and so afraid. He'd wanted nothing more than to pull her close, wrap her in bubblewrap and never let anyone else near her.
Then she'd jumped.
He could remember falling from the train, he could remember grabbing at the cliff edge to try and catch himself. He could remember thinking that he was going to die.
His own screams echoed in his mind and he pushed himself from the shower, drying himself quickly before dressing, making sure to throw his blue jumper on, the charms helped. He didn't feel the cold when it was on.
When he left the shower, Steve was sitting on his bed waiting for him, a concerned look on his face,
"You okay?"
Bucky just grunts, flopping onto the bed as he ran his hands through his hair. Steve looks at him for a while, a sad look of remembrance on his face,
"She wouldn't have done it if she'd known."
Bucky knows.
"You didn't have to jump after her."
Yes, yes he did.
"She would have forgiven you if you hadn't. She wouldn't have blamed you."
"No, but I would have."
Steve nods,
"I wish I'd jumped after you."
Bucky opens one eye, shooting a glare at Steve,
"This is different."
Steve crosses his arms,
"How is this different?"
"She chose to jump because she was afraid. I-I can't bear the thought of her being afraid of me. Anyone else? Sure. But she's never looked at me like that before."
Understanding filled Steve's eyes,
"You jumped to catch her, and so that she would know it's you."
Bucky doesn't say anything, he doesn't need to.
"She's waiting for you."
Bucky nods, but he can't find the strength to move.
Steve sighs, rising to his feet,
"I'll tell them you'll be five minutes."
He leaves the room, closing the door softly behind him and Bucky curls into a ball, fighting back the waves of nausea that accompany his memories.
Logically, he knows that the two situations were in no way similar, but the memories still packed the same punch.
Bucky grabs his pillow, clutching the softness to his chest, craving the warmth and comfort. He takes a deep breath, the pillow smells like Hermione. Like honey, strawberries and ink.
His door slides open, and he doesn't lift his face to meet whoever it is, probably Steve. Interfering git.
He feels the bed dip and a shaky arm loops over his stomach, a form too small to be Steve cuddling into his back. It radiates warmth and holds him tightly, anchoring him to the world. After a few moments of easier breathing, he turns on the bed, coming face-to-face with Hermione, her concerned face blinking up at him and he throws an arm over her, tucking her into him and breathing into her hair.
"I'm sorry."
He pulls her tighter,
"Don't be."
She leans up, placing a soft kiss on his chin,
"I'm okay, you're okay, we're okay."
He smiles softly at her, his heart rate finally starting to slow down,
"Did Steve snitch on me?"
She shook her head, her hair fluffing out over his silver arm,
"I wanted to check on you, you don't take this long to shower."
"You've been timing me?"
She looks up at him, a nervous smile on her face,
"I notice a lot about you, actually."
Bucky almost grins,
"Oh yeah?"
She just smiles at him, cupping one of his cheeks with her hand,
"You're adorable when you're fighting a smile."
His eyes widen in mock-horror and quicker than a flash, he's straddling her, her arms pinned above her head again,
"Evil witch, you should be punished."
And then he's tickling her, her body squirming beneath him as she shrieks, loud giggles tearing from her mouth as she tries in vain to bat him away,
"B-Bucky! St-Stop!"
He doesn't, he continues to tickle her on her sides, under her armpits, on her stomach and she's going red in the face as her laughter fills the room, a wicked smile spreads across Bucky's face,
"B-Bucky! P-Please! I'm gon-gonna pee!"
He relents, watching as she pants, a wide smile on her face and he slowly trails his fingers down her sides,
"What did you call me, Doll?"
She looks up at him, her breathing heavier now,
"I think the word I used was handsome."
He winks,
"I'm sure it was."
When he goes to move off her, she grips his hips, keeping him in place. She runs her hand up his chest, making goose bumps appear on his skin, she runs her fingers along his collarbone and up his neck, gripping his hair softly as she pulls his head down to hers. She positions herself so close to his lips that he can feel the warmth of her breath, then she leans slightly for his ear, gently nipping his earlobe with her teeth before whispering hoarsely,
"I'll get you back for that, Mister Barnes."
He finds himself frozen, delicious shivers going up his spine as he looks at her, his cheeks are probably as pink as hers now.
Hermione looks up at Bucky, her heart is beating hard in her chest and his eyes are intense, staring right into her. She can feel her lower lip slip between her teeth, nibbling on it under his scrutiny. Then his eyes flicker down to her mouth, darkening still and he brings his thumb to her lower lip, gently pulling it free,
"Now, Doll, I can't have you hurting that pretty mouth of yours." His voice is husky, making her squirm. The room feels warmer now and her breathing is heavier.
The door swings open and Bucky glares, a gun suddenly in his hand that's aiming directly at Steve, who's laughing with his hands raised,
"Just thought I'd let you know that we're ready for you both."
Bucky's finger itched to pull the trigger, just for a moment, before he relaxed, slumping his shoulders slightly as he climbed off the bed, offering Hermione a hand. When she's on her feet, he watches her straighten her clothes, her face is a delicious shade of pink and she's avoiding meeting his gaze. So she wasn't unaffected then. That's good to know, he thought somewhat smugly.
They followed a still smirking Steve to Shuri's lounge room, Hermione taking it all in with wide eyes.
Shuri almost throws herself at Hermione, much to a blushing Harry's relief. Hermione barely has time to catch the girl before she's trying to hold both their weights,
"It is so good to finally meet you properly! Your brain is really quite impressive!"
Hermione's eyes flicker to Bucky's, her earlier embarrassment now gone,
"Thank you, I think. I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?"
Shuri steps back, grinning widely,
"I am Shuri, Sister of T'Challa, Princess of Wakanda and resident genius. I'd love to collab with you when you're feeling better."
Hermione smiles softly,
"I think I'd like that."
Harry groans, flopping down on the sofa,
"I warned you all. I told you not to let them get together. We're all doomed now."
Shuri flipped her middle finger at him and Hermione swatted the back of his head as she sat down, sitting between Harry and Bucky.
Shuri places herself on Harry's lap again, much to his discomfort, which has Hermione giving him a curious look.
Luna and Steve are cuddled together on an arm chair.
Hermione suddenly feels a bit self-conscious with everyone watching her, and without noticing, her hand goes to Bucky's leg. He grins to himself, covering her tiny hand with his larger one.
It's Luna who breaks the silence, her tone slightly cold,
"Why didn't you call for help when you realised you were alone with Bellatrix?"
Hermione stiffens, a frown making its way onto her face,
"There wasn't time. She blasted Neville, he wasn't even on the ground when her wand turned on me. I didn't ask for this."
Luna softens, her voice cracking,
"I know, I just needed to hear you say that. When you started screaming, I turned and it was so obvious that you'd been being tortured for a while, how did you hold it in?"
Hermione turns her gaze to the ground,
"She wanted me to scream, I couldn't give her that. I didn't want to break, not there. And I was afraid that if I screamed, you'd get distracted and one of you would be hurt. So, blame me if you want, but I don't regret trying to keep you all safe."
Steve puts his hand on Luna's shoulder, his tone softer than hers,
"We were scared, Hermione. One moment you'd been fine, we'd seen you fighting, and then by the time we got to you, in the nicest possible way, you were gone. I actually thought you were dead at first."
Hermione flinches,
"I didn't mean to scare any of you."
"We know that, I think Luna just wanted to know why. She took it really hard when you fell."
Hermione locks eyes with Luna, neither of them says anything and yet it feels like a thousand words passed through them, until soft smiles appeared on both girls faces. Hermione turned to Harry,
"What happened to you?"
Harry sighs, leaning back,
"I was a horcrux. Snape's memories proved it, so I went out to the forest. The ring, it had the resurrection stone in it. My parents came out to me, and Remus and Sirius. It gave me the strength I needed. I let him kill me," Here he pauses, taking a deep breath, "Except, I ended up talking to Dumbledore. He told me how proud he was, answered some questions of mine. I woke up on the forest floor; Narcissa Malfoy told him I was dead in return for news on her son. The battle happened, then I duelled Voldemort, but I think you were out of it by then."
Hermione frowns,
"You won?"
Harry shrugs,
"I don't know if it was me or Luna's bullet that actually killed him."
Hermione's eyes turn to Luna, her eyes wide and her limbs shaking,
"You shot Voldemort?"
Luna shrugs nonchalantly,
"I was preoccupied. I would have shot Lucius Bloody Malfoy too, if I could have gotten away with it."
Hermione takes a deep breath, taking a moment to gather her thoughts,
"Okay, but why are we here? How long has it been?"
Steve smiles at her,
"Tony contacted T'Challa about finding a way to bring you back from inside your mind. We bought you here the next morning; it's been a little over a week now."
Hermione nods slowly, turning to Harry,
"Wizarding Britain? If you've been here the whole time, who's rebuilding the economy?"
Harry frowns,
"Do what?"
"Who's being the poster boy for the Ministry?"
Shuri fist bumps the air,
"I told T'Challa that you'd work it out before he got here, now he owes me a pizza."
Harry just winces,
"Actually, 'Mione, that's part of what we need to talk about."
She glares at him,
"Then start talking."
She's aware of Bucky's silence; clearly whatever they had yet to talk about was bothering him.
Harry hesitates, so it's Luna who tells her,
"Harry left with us because the Minister plans to have you arrested for line theft."
Hermione's head snaps up,
"Line theft?"
Luna nods sagely,
"Bellatrix was killed, and Rodolphus Lestrange is claiming that it was you, and that it's line theft of an ancient and noble house. It carries an Azkaban sentence."
Hermione rises to her feet, pacing around the room,
"It's because I'm muggleborn, obviously. I certainly didn't kill Bellatrix, which means that one you did."
A new voice meets hers and she turns,
"Actually, Miss Granger, she died to multiple bullet wounds. It's a pleasure to meet you, officially. I am T'Challa, King of Wakanda. I have been having daily meetings with this Minister of yours, he is very put out."
Hermione nods her head to the man, smiling softly,
"Yes, I rather expect he is. It would make his job a lot easier if he could arrest me."
Harry stands, taking her hands in his,
"We won't let that happen. I swear, Hermione. We're working on it."
She pauses, looking around the room,
"Actually, it might be for the best if I allow him to arrest me."
At that, the whole room in on their feet, angrily talking over each other. Bucky is giving her a dark look, stalking towards her,
"We just get you back, and now you want to leave again? You'd better have a damned good reason."
Hermione gulps, placing her hands on his biceps,
"We have the power to finally do something about the pureblood agenda. I've spent the last ten years of my life fighting this fight, Bucky. I was tortured for this for a year. I've been branded, discriminated against and belittled at every turn over who I was born to. But now, I'm in a position to make a difference, just hear me out?"
Bucky wants to yell, scream, pick her up and run away, but he also knows when to listen, and he wouldn't lose her to a moment of anger. He nodded, swallowing his pride and sitting down, taking her with him, placing her protectively on his lap with his arms around her,
"It would be best if we get Fury and Stark on the phone."
Steve nods, dialling both numbers and putting them on speaker phone,
"Granger, I trust you're feeling better."
"Hermione! Good to hear from you!"
Hermione swallowed thickly, being hit with how good it was to hear Stark's stupid voice. She hadn't asked if there were any casualties.
As if sensing her mood, Stark's voice fills the air,
"We all made it, Hermione."
She lets out a sigh of relief, letting go of the tension she'd been holding. Then she clapped her hands,
"How do we feel about starting a revolution that will rock wizarding Britain?"
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!