I can't believe its been two years. Time really got away from me, not gonna lie. I'm a senior in college now, so this whole Corona thing is craaazzyy and it's definitely adjusted my schedule. That is all to say I have more time now to actually sit back and hammer out these chapters. I've had this chapter partially written for over a year, I just didn't have the motivation to finish it. As is the case for my other stories. I literally have 8 unfinished chapters for other stories that are both published and unpublished.
But sorry for this wait and I appreciate those of you have been understanding and haven't given up faith that I will continue this story. I've responded privately to some of you and publicly in the Reviews section, so if you ever want to hit me up, I will respond as soon as I can.
ANGSWIN I might have liked your review the most. It meant a lot and thank you for telling me to ignore those random Guests who like to leave comments and critics but don't have any published works to their names.
Disclaimer: You know my punk ass don't own Marvel or Harry Potter
He stood in the corner of the room just observing her, unsure if he should enter. The Stark girl had invited him to come to this floor to use the equipment and workout in peace, but he was quickly coming to the realization that this might not be the best environment for him to stay calm in as well.
Her body moved with an odd balance between fluidity and restraint that it took his breath away. Her muscles were rigid and taut as she lifted herself up on the bars before jumping down and swiftly moving into the proper push-up position. Each time her back remained perfectly poised and straight, she brought herself down low enough for her chest to just barely brush the ground, before she pulled back up and jumped into a squatting position so that she could jump up to the bar and lift herself once more.
He couldn't tell you how many times she had repeated this before taking a break and moving on to her next set of exercises on the gymnast bars. Once he dragged his eyes away from the trail, a droplet was making its journey from her temples to the crevice of her chest, he noticed her elbows shaking and immediately bounded over to her side.
He felt her body tense up quickly at his touch. "You have to tuck in your elbows tighter."
Hermione let out a measured breath, trying not to react to his unexpected appearance. She adjusted her stance and pulled herself onto the balance beam. She felt him mirror her movements below her and when his hand reached over into her space her magic alerted her to the intrusion.
"Straighten up your foot so that it is parallel to the bar, and bring it back some, so that you can place weight on it comfortably." His hoarse baritone broke through her slight pants.
She once again followed his advice and found that it felt a little more natural. She arched her back and poised her feet before exerting enough force that allowed her to fall into a backwards crouch. She pushed off her front feet and she stood on her hands. Slowly, she moved her hands to rotate her body a full rotation on the bar
"I thought the point of my invite was so that you would actually get some work done," she teased.
She wondered if he flinched because he wasn't expecting to hear her voice.
"Right, sorry," he cleared his throat and stepped away from the bar.
They worked out in silence for half an hour before she took a break and took a swig from her water bottle. She watched him run on the treadmill. His eyes were locked on the blank wall ahead of him and his face didn't give away any of his thoughts.
"What finally made you agree to my offer?" She asked him.
His head jerked in her direction, but his speed and accuracy on the treadmill never wavered. "Too crowded."
Hermione hummed. "People make you antsy?"
"Questions make me antsy. People annoy me. They remind me…"
"...about your past?"
"Yeah. Something like that." He answered gruffly.
Hermione nodded her head. "I can understand that."
His eyes flickered to her again and stayed for a few seconds. "You can, huh?"
"What were you like before? Do you remember?"
He slowed down on the treadmill to a walk. "I don't know. I get flashes every now and then. Steve...he...likes to tell me stories about us, when we were younger, sometimes when we were in the army. And sometimes I can remember things. But mostly, I don't know."
"Is it because of all the recalibration and torture HYDRA did or is it more of a side effect from the doctors in Wakanda attempts to break the mental blocks?"
"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?"
Hermione shrugged. "I'm very curious. Did they explain to you how they were able to get through to you?"
Bucky thought about his response for a minute. "They told me that the brainwashing and the constant freezing traumatized my brain and body. It made it difficult for me to remember anything before, because my brain was trying to save itself by only keeping what was necessary to survive. But it was hard to retain new information because it had gotten so used to constantly being brainwashed, that holding on to new things wasn't something my brain needed to do."
"Because it needed to reserve its energy and strength."
"Yeah, I guess. That's how they explained it to me." He turned off the machine and slowed down to a stand still.
"Do you-"
"How long were you in the service?"
Hermione paused, surprised by the sudden question."Um," she laughed, "I'm sorry, what?"
"You were in the Marines, right? How long were you in service?"
"A couple of years before I was injured."
"And you went in straight out of school?"
She laughed. "Now who's asking a lot of questions?"
He shrugged. "Just returning the favor."
She ran a hand through her hair. "Uh, yeah. I didn't really know what I wanted to do after school. And I had gotten so used to...fighting for something that it felt odd to go into some boring day job."
"Social justice or something more personal?"
She mulled over the question for a few seconds.
"Both. I'm a female who was at the top of my school academic ranks all 7 years, so fighting for respect and acknowledgement became habitual. And as far as socially, well, let's just say where I grew up was really behind in political and social ideals. I like to fight for the little guy."
Something about that made him chuckle. "I think my 'little guy' was Steve."
At her confused look he explained. "Steve wasn't always that big. He was really small and fragile. He looked like a wind could blow him away. And for some reason he always found himself in the middle of a fight. I think...I think I looked up to him because of that."
She expected him to continue his line of thought, but he didn't. He turned off the machine and stepped off. She noted how dry he still looked. She followed him over to the weights and sat on the leg press. As she started her second rep, she finally saw the first droplet of sweat make its way from the left side of his temple, down his neck, and disappear from her line of sight.
I really need to get laid, she thought. But that only brought forth the image of bulging arm muscles and metal.
Bucky looked over at the sound of the weights coming down too hard against the machine.
She apologized and turned away quickly, hoping he didn't realize the blush making its way across her cheeks wasn't due to her workout. She finished up her fifth rep and took a break, taking several swigs from her water bottle.
The neckline of his gray, long sleeve was now darkened with sweat. His shirt was a size too large, so she couldn't tell how large his arms were, but the weights he lifted were rounding twice his body size and he didn't seem to be struggling too much with them.
The shrill ringing of a cell phone disturbed the pressure that was building up in the room and caused both of them to flinch at the sudden noise. Hermione got the phone out of her gym bag and answered.
"Hello? No, I'm not busy at the moment, what's going on?"
Bucky watched her through the reflection of the mirror that made up the entire south wall near the weights. She rolled her eyes and began packing up her things to leave.
"Is there an actual reason for this call, or did you just call to annoy me?"
Bucky took note of the small smile that was on her face, despite the words she was saying. Whoever she was talking to knew her well.
"Well do you think that's necessary? He is a bit of a drama king. But you fell in love with him knowing that." She laughed. "Hang in there. It'll all be worth it in the end." She ended with a sigh.
She was quiet for a few more seconds and then something the other person said to her made her frown. She made eye contact with him through the mirror and he quickly looked away.
"Um, give me a minute Harry," she said in a lower voice. She adjusted the cell phone to her other shoulder and she threw her gym bag over her once-occupied shoulder.
"Same time tomorrow?" She asked Bucky.
Bucky grunted and nodded to her, not pausing in his set. His eyes followed her figure out the room. The closing of the door was quickly followed by a long sigh that left his mouth.
"Who was that?"
"Never you mind, Harry. What was the new information you came across?"
"Theo said they're gaining momentum amongst the pure blood community in support, but it's all very hush hush, still. And they starting to get suspicious about Wakanda. Theo thinks they're starting to realize that something is repelling them away from the core."
"Tony and his old teammates are still trying to analyze the magical signatures to understand them." Hermione threw her bag down in her closet and brought her wand out of the hiding spot, before waving it in an intricate motion, changing the layout of her bedroom.
"You don't sound too worried."
Hermione smirked. "Tony's brilliant, and so is the Wakandan princess, but their tech and their brain won't let them leap to magic. But they are aware of the repelling nature between the vibranium energy and magical energy. They're still trying to ID the Neo group."
"Isn't one of them a witch?"
Hermione thought back to Wanda, "Not quite our branch of magic Harry. I haven't been able to do much of my own assessment, but from what I gathered her powers originate from a source other than the core. It's possible she had latent powers or had a squib in her line, but her magic is slightly different. If I had a chance I'm sure her signature would look more similar to that of the energy emitted from a mutant."
There was hum from Harry and then a pause.
"...Hermione."
Hermione paused at his tone. "Harry."
"How long are you planning on keeping this secret from them?"
"Harry, we've been over this already." She scoffed.
"I know, I know. But your original plan didn't account for this anomaly with the neo Deatheaters . If they decide to make another hit on your life, I don't know how you're gonna hide your magic this time. Maybe it would be better to just come clean now. It could get really messy, Mia."
Hermione sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "I...Tony and I are finally in a really good place. And he's just now relaxing with the old Avengers back in the tower. It's just not the right time, okay?"
"It's never going to feel like the right time Mia."
"How did the board take Neville's proposal for tech usage in Hogwarts?"
Harry sighed but ignored her change in subject. "It went over well, which is good. And Neville is in the midst of adopting the new modern material for the lesson plans."
"I'll send him an outline of a guide to follow. And Luna?"
"Two more matches. People have begun to ask for childcare tips with the influx of birth rates."
Hermione chuckled. "Maybe we'll recruit Mrs. Weasley to assist Luna with that. Otherwise, everything sounds good. I told Blaise that the deadline for final modifications is the end of the month. I want advertising and distribution to begin soon after. I can't meet with Blaise this week. Rogers followed me and I don't want to get in the habit of a routine at the risk of exposing myself."
"Another reason why you should probably come clean, sooner rather than later."
"Oh, look at the time. Gotta go."
"That's the oldest trick in the book."
"No, the tunnel bit is the oldest trick in the book. I'll be sure to use that next time. Be safe."
"You too. Love you Mia."
Hermione repeated the sentiment and hung up the phone. She plopped down on the bed and exhaled several times.
"Bunny!" Tony's voice startled her over the speaker.
"Merlin, Tony. A little warning would suffice."
"Get dressed, we have lunch plans with Happy. And then, pause for dramatic effect, we're spending the entire day Museum hopping. I've been to most of them, of course, but I know you haven't and we really need to get you out into the world."
"Tony…"
"No, I won't hear of any excuses…"
"Tony…"
"...these plans are solid, and I promised Happy a formal meeting between you two…"
"Tony!
"Why are you yelling, Bunny?"
"I just wanted to say thank you. This is really...thoughtful of you, and I appreciate it." Hermione sat up on the bed. "And I am actually honored to finally meet, Happy."
"Yeah well, save all the compliments for Happy. He doesn't have much else going for him, so this will really make his day."
Hermione smiled and shook her head. "Whatever you say, Tony."
"Hermione, huh? Where'd, uh, your parents get the idea for that name?" Happy asked around a bite of a hotdog from the vending truck outside of the museum.
"My mother was obsessed with mythology. Helen of Troy? Hermione was her daughter."
Happy nodded, "Ah. The most beautiful woman in the world. It fits." He stated matter of factly.
Hermione looked at him confused while Tony glared at him and cleared his throat.
"So, how's May doing, Hap? Things going good?" Tony changed the subject.
Happy made of face. "Something like that. You know, I don't understand women." He turned to Hermione. "Don't women like to settle down eventually. You know, move in together, get married, maybe get a dog."
"Woah, Hap. Relax, man. You're ready for all of that?" Tony had his hands up in a calming gesture.
"Well I'm not not ready for that. But the problem isn't me, it's her! She's not ready for that. She doesn't even say we're together. She introduces me to the kid as her friend, every time I'm over. The kid doesn't even believe her!" Happy's tone bordered on hysterical at this point.
Tony laughed, "Ouch."
Hermione wiped her mouth and swallowed the remaining food in her mouth before speaking. "Okay, well first, I feel like Peter, myself, and May would appreciate it if you stopped referring to him as a kid. Peter will be 17 soon and he has a name. And to answer your question, not all women are the same Happy. Some people don't want to get married and pop out a few kids right away."
Happy laughed nervously, "Well, uh, nobody said anything about kids…"
Hermione continued as if she didn't hear him at all, eyes focused on something else as she continued her passionate speech. "Some women would prefer to do things much later in life or never at all! Careers are just as important to us as they are to men, and we have plans that may not always include getting shacked, and waiting at home barefoot and pregnant with a hot meal waiting to-to—"
Tony whistled loudly and waved his hot dog in front of her face. "Time out. Bunny, calm down, okay. I don't think Happy meant anything like that. The guys kind of helpless without me, especially in the area of women. I think at this stage he's not thinking about kids, he just wants her to call him her boyfriend. Despite how juvenile that sounds, you know?"
Hermione shook her head and gave a crooked smile. She shrugged,"Right, yes. I know."
Tony shared a look with Happy, wondering what that was about. Happy quickly moved on to another topic, and Tony watched Hermione get pulled into a conversation. But he couldn't ignore that rant just now. She spoke as a woman with experience, but what man would ask a twenty year old woman to settle down and pop out a few kids?
Hermione, and God knew he loved her, but was an infuriating enigma to him. Admittedly he ignored a lot of things about her when they first met: the friend who let her stay in his apartment that he never met, the fact that she never told him anything about the boarding school she went to, the ignorance of current events and technology. I mean, it was like the woman lived completely separate from modern life. And don't get him started on her aversion for the names of her friends that she mentioned quite often. And it was fine at first.
No, really, he was fine with it. As fine with it as a man who was used to knowing everything could be, because she was his sister, his family. He didn't want to ask too many questions because she seemed skittish enough as it was. But she'd established a home with him. There was no way she was leaving him anytime soon, so why not question her now?
Oh that's right, because his jackass teammates had returned and Golden Boy watched her like she was up to no good. He would not give Steve the Honorable, insert eye roll, anymore ammunition to believe that Hermione had ulterior motives.
Besides, there was a new threat in Wakanda that they need to address before the end of the world comes. Tony scoffed, when isn't it the end of the world with these people?
Tony needed to figure out what that energy signature was so they could ID these new threats and get his backstabbing teammates out of his hair and his house.
"...on the contrary, I don't hate heights, I just hate not being off the ground. There is a difference." Hermione's posh accent came through his senses.
Tony interjected, "Don't even bother trying to argue this with her Hap. Arguing with her is like talking to a brick wall."
Happy turned to him with a smile at Hermione's offended look and she snorted. "And arguing with you isn't like that?"
"Please. Hermione is way more stubborn than I am."
Hermione crossed her arms. "That is not true!"
Happy watched the pair of siblings go back and forth and smiled. He had never seen Stark like this, not with that smile on his face. Even with Pepper, Tony had tempted himself a bit, not wanting to give the redhead reason to believe he wasn't ready for a serious relationship. Don't get him wrong, Happy loved Pepper, he did. But Tony and Pepper wouldn't last in the long run. They wanted different things out of life, and as brilliant as the woman was, she never could understand that it was impossible to separate Tony from Iron Man. Tony ceased being just Tony the day he was kidnapped back in '08.
He liked Hermione. Tony had a reason to live again that wasn't just keeping the world safe. She had her secrets, sure, that much was obvious. But she was a Stark. Starks are born with secrets. Happy had faith that whatever it was, the siblings would be able to work it out.
"You actually came back," Hermione panted from her place on the treadmill. She noticed his hunched form enter the gym space as discreetly as possible. But he couldn't escape her notice. Her reflexes from the war had only sharpened since. And the energy in the room always felt different when he was near. That she couldn't explain.
He took off his baseball cap and placed it on the floor near the weights.
"I said I would," he responded, voice rough. He sounded as though he had just woken up. His hair was also messy and tangled, but Hermione had gotten used to that look from him.
Hermione shrugged, "Yeah, but I thought I had scared you off a bit." She pressed a few buttons on the machine slowing her run down to the pace of a brisk walk.
"I've been told I'm a bit pushy," she smiled at him.
He gave a small smile. "No. Steve is pushy. You're...you're bold."
Hermione frowned.
He noticed her lack of response and looked up to see the frown on her face and quickly corrected himself. The panicked look in his eye could be seen across the room. "I didn't mean that in a bad way. Bold is good. In my day, women weren't usually bold. They were very timid and soft spoken, often leaving innuendo to be interpreted."
She mulled over what he said. "You remember that much?"
He looked away and gave a more tight-lipped smile that bordered on a smirk. "Most of the memories I have been able to get back don't include Steve. They include women. Many different women."
She smirked, "I can assume you weren't reading books with them in a library."
"There was never any reading going on ma'am." He looked into her eyes and his lips stretched, becoming a full blown smile.
Hermione felt a warmth spread in her at that smirk. The smirk looked just right, sitting there on his face. The man had a face that wasn't meant to frown. And the fire in his eyes…
Okay, this is getting to be too much. I need to call Charlie and get laid. Soon.
Hermione made a vow right then. Well, she made two vows. One, to set up a time and place to see Charlie and handle certain, well, needs. Two, to see that fire in Bucky's eyes again.
Hermione, and she was ashamed to admit it, but, had gotten used to the dead look in that man's eyes. He walked around, hunched over, trying to disappear. And she had gotten used to seeing him that way; she was content to let the man handle his issues on his own and with the help of his friends. But what they were doing wasn't working and that thing inside of her that screamed to help the downtrodden man began drumming inside her again, building on tempo and until it beat loudly inside of her.
She was going to help this shell of man back to his former glory. She wasn't sure how, but she would.
Tony probably would take kindly to a complete change in the way she treated the mall, so she would have to be subtle about it, something her Hogwarts house wasn't. She smiled to herself at her brother's antics. Sometimes he reminded her of Crookshanks. They marched to the beat of their own drum and didn't like many people, but they were extremely loyal and protective.
Hermione pressed another button on the treadmill until it slowed to a stop. She stepped off and took a few swigs off her water bottle.
Bucky's eyes were drawn to the young woman's form in front of him. A foreign yet familiar in him were dredged from the recesses of his mind as he watched the woman drink from her canteen.
Water bottle, he reminded himself, this isn't the war days.
She had worked up a light sheen that covered her forehead, neck, and chest. She had tight, black coverings on her legs that none of the women in his day wore, but are on par with the women of today. And her chest, well, he looked down at the weight he was curling to his bicep, willing the heat in his cheeks to go away. Her chest was covered in a very small and tight brassiere that was made of a stretchy material that molded to the shapes of her round breasts.
The squelching sound of her mouth releasing the nozzle of the bottle from her lips made him look up again and he shrunk a little at the look in her eyes. Those brown eyes of hers that glittered with...mischief?
"You should cut your hair. You don't seem like the type to fret much with it and it would be easier to keep up with. Not too short, though."
Bucky wanted to look away from the intensity in her eyes but refused to back down. When he didn't say anything, she shrugged and packed up her gym bag and left.
Hermione was sitting at the breakfast bar calmly sipping her tea as she listened to Peter ramble about making progress with a girl he liked. Peter liked to stop by Tony's on the way to school to fill her in on his life once a week. She thinks it's really because he suspected she didn't go out much and needed a friend, but she didn't have the heart to tell him to stop coming over.
Romanoff came in after a jog, barely having broken a sweat and no hairs out of place. Hermione started at her longingly, wishing that her hair could be that cooperative.
Sam and Rhodes strolled in not long after discussing some cartoon that got Sam really worked up. T'Challa followed closely behind them, amused but looking very confused.
But it was the next pair who came in just as Peter was leaving for school that made her pause. She waved at the excitable teen on his way out and shook her lead as he almost bumped into Captain Rogers. Rogers quickly righted him and smiled awkwardly at the teen who stuttered in an apology for bumping into him. Her eyes were drawn to the usually unassuming man beside Rogers. His face, something that had always been by the long, thick, dark locs of his hair, was not visible on display for everyone in the room.
His jaw was sharply defined and, and despite his head hanging downwards, she could see high cheekbones. His nose was slightly crooked, as though it had been broken a couple of times. And his lips, the bottom fuller than the top, were pressed tightly together. Her eyes travelled back up to his and found them looking straight at her searching for something.
"I like the look Sergeant," Romanoff tossed a small smile at the quiet man, who gave a short nod and shyly ran a hand over his shorter hair. He had gone slightly shorter on the sides than the top giving him the chance to sweep some of the stray hairs at the front off his forehead.
"Hot date?" Sam scoffed causing Bucky to glare at him.
"Bucky was just feeling something different. He came with me this morning when I went in for my haircut."
Tony strolled in off the elevator in jeans and a rumpled t-shirt, looking like he didn't sleep last night. "Well then you probably shouldn't have brought Ice Pop to the only barber on this side of town that does haircuts from the '40s." He quipped.
Hermione noticed Bucky frown as he sat down on the far side of the room by himself. Hermione pursed her lips.
"Tony," she admonished him with a shake of her head before pouring him a cup of coffee.
He gave her an innocent looking before grabbing the cup and gulping down its contents.
"What are you doing today Bunny? I got a little project I wanted to show you and get your advice on." He spoke into the cup making his voice sound distorted.
"I'm meeting Happy for a quick brunch before seeing a friend later. I should be back some time this afternoon."
"What friend?" He asked, finally taking his face out of the cup and putting it in the sink.
"Just an old friend from school." She waved off. "How about you show me the appropriate outfit for brunch."
"Fine. Don't see why you need to dress for Happy, but whatever. Oh and T'Challa I sent your sister the readings from yesterday's energy spike. She's gonna get back to me around 12, my time." He started walking towards the elevator and she followed him.
"By the way Barnes, I like the new haircut. I think it suits you better." She gave him a small smirk before pressing the close button on the elevator, purposely ignoring Tony complaints and Rogers' bewildered look between her and his best friend.
My Beta has been on my ass about updating guys, I saw her everyday before this whole Corona pandemic and trust me, she feels as strongly about me updating as you guys. But I still LOOOVEEE the reviews, even if its just telling me to hurry up and update.
As always, leave me any comments or questions you have about this chapter or where the story is headed. I am in the process of working on more chapters for this story and a couple others, as well as a HP X Bones fic which I wont release until I publish a lot more chapters for BR, FE, and AGT.
Some of my Beta's comments:
"major workout goals"
"OKAYYYYY Totally to help her out. sureeeee"
"SHE WANNA KNOW WHY HIS DICK AIN'T WET FOR HER"
"How many swigs is she taking?"
"He needs to get laid too. The sexual tension is REAL"
