A/N This takes place a month or two after the final battle in the Harry Potter Universe and sometime between Steve being unfrozen and the Avengers movie in the marvelverse. And yes, I know the timelines don't match up.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own.
Chapter 3
Steve felt terrible as he led Hermione through the hallways of the agency with every corridor and security door they passed she looked more and more closed off and less like the girl who had smiled so brightly up at him a few minutes ago. He hoped that Fury would be reasonable because, from the few interactions he's had with her, he could tell that SHIELD would benefit from having someone like her around. She had a soldiers pragmatism and bravery tempered with a kind heart and a thirst for equality. And while SHIELD had plenty of people who were pragmatic and a few that were brave they were severely lacking in the other categories.
Though the Ministry of Magic looked nothing like this building Hermione was having a difficult time not relating the industrious nature and oppressive feel of the place with it. It was making her more paranoid than necessary and she needed to be at her best for this interview. She started to clear her mind. While she knew that these muggles had no way of getting into her head despite their best tries, she thought it better for her peace of mind that she put up her Occlumency walls, however weak they were. No one had ever taught her the skill, but when she had learned of it from Harry in their fifth year she had read a dozen books on it and during that awful year on the run, between hunting down horcruxes, trying to decipher what meager clues Dumbledore had left them, and learning as much combat magic as she could, she had begun the process of learning how to block her mind from others. It would have never held up against Dumbledore, Voldemort, or even Professor Snape, but it had been enough to let her keep her mind while Bellatrix tortured her.
Steve had swiped her through no less than six secure doors before they reached a solid oak door. At Steve's nod she stepped forward and wiped the remaining traces of emotion from her face and any and all thoughts of the wizarding world. If she wasn't thinking about it then they couldn't find a lie in what she was saying. She thought of water as calm as glass and forced her anger and pain to sink below the surface. It's difficult and unfamiliar after a year on the run, but Hermione pulled up her pre-war persona, that of an over-eager scholar and defender of the downtrodden. It wasn't perfect and she isn't sure that it ever will be again. She had seen and done too much in the shadows. She looked at Steve and when he tilted his lips upward reassuringly she looked straight at the door took one last deep breath and knocked.
From the depths of the room she heard a deep male voice say, "Come in."
The office was exactly how she expected a modern agency to look. Tall windows and light colored wood, maybe oak decorated the room for a very open feel to the room. In the middle of the room sat a desk with tidy papers and a desktop. Standing behind the desk was a tall gentleman in all dark clothes. The most striking thing about him was his eyes, one was obscured by an eye patch, but the other one was intense and staring right at her.
"Ms. Granger I assume?" His voice lacked warmth. Hermione sensed this was a man who liked to keep confidences and operated in secrecy.
"Yes, that's me. I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name," she said as she walked to the desk and offered her hand to shake.
He took her hand after a cursory look over her. She was average height, decently pretty, though by no means a knockout like Agent Romanoff, underweight, not muscled in the right places, and very young which likely meant she wasn't spy for someone else. It could mean that she had her own agenda, but if he was honest with himself she looked like a lost waif trying to right her life. Her grip was firm in his as they shook hands.
"Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD. Please sit down Ms. Granger and tell me why you're looking for a job with us."
"To be honest, I didn't know this was an intelligence agency until I walked up. I imagine it was by your design that it wasn't mentioned. However, in general I'm looking for a job, because I'm just starting out in this country and I want to do something meaningful rather than sit at my apartment."
He sensed she was being truthful even though she was holding back. "If I were to hire you what do you consider your strengths?" He was very interested in her answer to this one. This one could tell him the nature of her involvement with whatever conflict she was being awarded for.
"My strengths?" Hermione had to think about this one for a second. She couldn't tell him about magic obviously and she wasn't sure what skills she could actually provide an intelligence agency. "Research, I've a decent head for strategy, I'm a fast learner, and in a pinch I'm a pretty good tracker." Hermione tried to keep the dark look off her face. She supposed after having tracked pieces of Voldemort down and all the times she had to find a teacher or Merlin forbid, one of her boys in that giant castle she probably qualified as being a decent tracker.
"And your weaknesses?"
She smiled privately, "Technology, things tend to go a little haywire around me."
Fury was intrigued at this point. In this day and age for a researcher not to be good at technology was a little strange and no commander sent a researcher or tracker into open combat or anywhere near the front lines. It was asinine since their skills were better off utilized elsewhere, but he didn't believe for even a moment that this girl hadn't seen combat.
He could see the cracks in the projection she was putting on. She was doing a fairly good job of pretending that she was carefree, but he could see that underneath she was hurting just like any other soldier after a conflict. Though he wasn't aware of any current conflict in the UK it didn't mean that she hadn't been sent elsewhere.
He folded his hands and leaned across the desk. "Ms. Granger, simple researchers and trackers don't bear the signs of soldiers, get awarded the highest honor available to civilians, nor have their files blanked out so that not even I can read it. There is something you aren't telling me." His tone stayed even until the very end, but it was intense and had Hermione not stood up to truly evil men, she might even have been intimidated.
"Director Fury, I'm not at liberty to discuss what happened. If you can't read my redacted file there's a reason and I'm not about to reveal it to you."
He could tell she was inclined towards rules and order. God he should stick her on Stark detail that ought to be miserable for both of them. She could keep a secret though, which was important for an intelligence agency.
She sighed. "Clearly, what I did was nothing bad if I'm getting rewarded for it." Which wasn't even strictly true considering she had broken more rules than she could count and evaded her government for nearly a year, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
That was more than Fury could say about some of the other people in his employ. He supposed he would see if there was anyone else he could get more information from, but he would rather hire her and be able to keep an eye on her than have her roaming around unaccounted for and continuing to evade intelligence. Besides, from the limited interaction with her he approved of her and could see why Rogers liked her.
"And yet, Ms. Granger you can't tell me a thing about it."
"Director, read the Newspaper. I'm sure they have some version of the truth in them. The UK can't just grant me a high ranking award and not have something printed about it."
"I could have it dragged out of you," he said with forced indifference. He didn't actually like torture and would never resort to it. He might resort to other ways though.
He saw her eyes darken and her posture become more closed off. She leaned back in her chair, but looked directly at him as she spoke. "You wouldn't and even if you could you wouldn't get anything out of me."
Well that was actually the most insightful thing she had told him all day. She had been tortured at some point and from the conviction in her voice could tell that she hadn't told them a thing. That was valuable in an intelligence agency and as a person.
Hermione could see that he was eyeing her with wary acceptance. Her opinion of Director Fury was that he was that rare person in power who wasn't corrupt. He was hard, brisk, and difficult to please, but he was incorruptible. She wouldn't mind working for him though she sensed it would be trying at times, especially since she felt that she would be heavily watched initially.
"You're right. I wouldn't resort to torture, but beware that others might."
She nodded at him. Damn, Fury thought he must be going soft, because he was going to offer another lost waif a job. "If you choose to accept then I would like to offer you a position here at SHIELD."
"What would I be doing?"
"That remains to be seen Ms. Granger. I'd like to run a few tests to see where your strengths and weaknesses are and depending on the results I might keep you in the office, have you as an agent, or perhaps as a consultant. Your friend Rogers, works as a consultant for us."
She raised her brows. "Not an agent?" It was hard to imagine SHIELD not wanting him in the field. He was clearly well trained and fit as a fiddle.
"Well, he's a special kind of agent." Fury allowed.
Sensing that she wouldn't get any more out of Fury about Rogers she asked, "When would these tests be? And of what nature would they be?"
"Tomorrow, right at eight am and they are a set of tests designed to test field capability."
She eyed Fury warily, "I won't be subjected to intense scrutiny for details of my past?"
Fury leaned back in his chair though his muscles didn't appear any more relaxed. "No, much as it galls me to admit it, SHIELD has little business digging into your past so long as it doesn't affect national security." However, even if it never went on the record Fury intended to do some digging on his own time. It didn't sit right with him that they didn't have anything on her. He would have to ask Rogers exactly what she had told him on their first meeting and see if any of his contacts in the UK had some knowledge of her.
Hermione nodded, "Then I accept and I'll be in first thing in the morning. If that's all?"
Fury stood and following proper protocol shook her hand one last time and walked her to the door. "Ask for Agent Hill in the morning at the front desk."
Hermione let out a small sigh when the door closed behind her. That was probably the best she could have hoped for. She didn't get interrogated, she had a seemingly worthwhile job, and she hadn't accidently set anything on fire. There was no telling if the Director would look into her past further or not, but she was confident that he wouldn't find out much more about her as long as she was careful. As far as she was concerned he didn't need to know about the existence of extraordinary humans who could do magic.
Steve was leaning up against a wall further down the hall. She broke out into a small smile of relief as she walked towards him. He had of course heard Director Fury tell her to come back in the morning, but since no normal human could have heard that he waited until she smiled at him to let out a grin.
"So good news then?" he asked.
"Yup, I have a job though I'll need to come in for testing tomorrow."
"Are they going to decide where to put you then?"
"That's what the Director said."
"I take it by the length of your interview that you didn't get interrogated too badly?" he asked.
She looked over at him without moving her head as they proceeded out the door. "No, we agreed that it was none of SHIELD's business what my past was as long as it was exemplary, though I have a feeling that Fury will try and look into it anyway."
Steve raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"
"Fury doesn't look like the kind of man to let sleeping dragons lie."
He looked at her curiously, "I thought the expression was sleeping dogs?"
Hermione blinked. "So it is." She would have to remember that she was in the muggle world now and stop talking like she was a witch. As far as muggles were concerned there was no such thing as dragons.
After a long pause with no explanation Steve let it go and continued on. "And no, Fury isn't the type to let anything go."
Steve tossed her his extra bike helmet, "Would you prefer to go straight home or would you like some lunch first?" He wasn't sure what had prompted him to ask her to lunch, but he hoped she would accept, because he wanted to find out more about her. Not just because no one else knew anything about her, but because she seemed relatable and like a good person underneath the trauma. Besides maybe it was about time for him to make some normal friends in this time.
She smiled up at him, "Lunch would be wonderful. I haven't the slightest idea what restaurants are good here."
"Pizza sound good?" He threw a leg over his bike and waited till she had scooted comfortably around in her seat to start the engine. The engine roared to life when he turned the key.
"That will work," she shouted over the noise as they sped off. Wind whipped through her curls and tugged at her clothes. She giggled gleefully and wondered if this is what Harry felt like when he flew; the intoxicating freedom and giddiness of escape. If it was she now understood why he was willing to buy top of the line broomsticks and skirt curfew at night to fly.
Hermione looked around the city as they rode from headquarters to whichever pizza place Steve was taking her. It was a truly diverse city with an interesting collection of old and new.
All too soon Steve slowed them to a stop outside a whole in the wall pizza place. He swung himself off the bike and held out a hand to help Hermione. She placed her hand in his and clamored off the seat. Her hand was small and the softest skin he had ever felt. He dropped it and scratched the back of his neck. "This place has been serving pizza since I was a boy."
Glancing up at the sign that read George's Pizza established 1930 Hermione smiled at him, "And for quite some time before that too."
He shrugged noncommittally, "I suppose so." He was glad she hadn't read too far into that. He could tell she was observant and if he let slip too many of those unintentional secrets about his life than she would definitely find out that he was Captain America. Although he supposed if she was going to work with SHIELD she would probably find out eventually. However as much as he wanted to be friends with her he wasn't sure how she would react to his other identity and he couldn't be friends with her or help her if she took it badly or worse, started hero worshipping him. Besides he had to make sure she understood the necessity of keeping it an absolute secret.
They ordered a pizza and sat down to talk while they waited. Conversation was a little stilted here and there when one of them came up against a secret, but overall flowed pretty smoothly when they stuck to safe topics.
"That big building with STARK written on it what's that supposed to be for?" she asked nodding her head towards the view of it out the window.
Steve rolled his eyes, "It's Stark Industries and it's supposed to be about clean energy I think, but the owner of it Mr. Stark, is flashy and conceited."
"I can see that. I suppose it's lucky that we are unlikely to interact with him then."
He smiled. "You're right." After a pause in the conversation where they were both lost in their own thoughts. "Well let's get you home so you are in peak condition for your testing tomorrow."
She frowned knowing that her body still had the vestiges of malnutrition and curse wounds on it. That though it was still tougher than the average muggle's body it was frail and beat up from the war still. It bothered her that if she pulled up her shirt her ribs were too visible and her hip bone stuck out far too much. Not to mention the words carved in her arms or the other wounds still in the process of healing littered over her body
Steve wondered what he said that made her so quiet and contemplative. She was quiet the whole way home until they got to her apartment.
She slipped off her borrowed helmet. "Thank you for the ride and the interview opportunity."
"It was no problem. Do you want a ride tomorrow for your testing as well?"
She turned halfway from her door. "If it isn't any trouble than it would save me from having to call a cab."
He smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Thank you again and goodnight."
A/N So I don't have a good excuse why I haven't been writing, except that I went through a bunch of life changes recently. And since I never intended this to be more than just a one shot if anyone has any suggestions then pm me or leave it in a review. I'm always happy to hear from readers.
Thanks for reading!
BlushinRosie
