Rose took a deep breath, crossing her legs as she looked at the beautiful carnation table decoration.

The scribbling of pen on paper made her close her eyes and take a deep breath.

"From 1 to 10, where's your stress level?"

She took another deep breath, "Right now? probably...an..8.5. 9, perhaps."

"That's quite a lot of stress"

"Yeah, being me isn't exactly easy and relaxing," she muttered, rubbing her neck and shoulders

"Hmm..." she scribbled some more. "And any of old habits you've fallen back to?"

Rose pressed her lips and gulped. She tried to look everywhere but at the woman in front of her.

"Overworking? Skipping meals? Alcohol?" Trish took a deep breath and slowly said, "Dru-."

"Smoking. Just smoking." Rose closed her eyes and took a breath, "Cigarettes, that is."

"Cigarette smoking." Trish noted, "And how often have you been smoking now?"

"Ever since this whole shit show? I've pretty much smoked an entire pack in the last month."

"And what's your usual?"

"A pack in six to eight months."

"That's drastic."

"Tell me about it," Rose muttered back

Trish nodded, writing it down, "And what about your sleep schedule?"

"I try to get my 6 hours every night."

"and how much do you actually get?"

Rose shrugged, leaning back on the couch, "4. Maybe 5. Something around that. But most of that is medically induced."

"You are going to run yourself to the ground if you keep that up."

"I've been told."

Trish sighed and looked at her, "Tell me about work. How's your work?"

"stressful, aggravating. Seems like if I don't do enough, I'll..." she gulped

"you'll fail." Trish nodded, "What else is going on?"

"Other than the fact that my life has the potential of blowing up to smithereens in the near future, everything else is great." she leaned back resting her neck on the couch's headrest and closed her eyes.

"Not exactly the positive outlook I was expecting. But we'll work on that. Now about this Winter soldier. Is he still in the same building as you?"

"That's correct."

"And how often do you bump into him?"

"I avoid him as if he's the plague."

"But..."

She sighed, "But Steve keeps asking me how or what he should do that'd help with breaking the brainwashing done by HYDRA."

"and why do you do it?"

"Because Steve's a friend and I've already done enough damage to fuck things up between us."

Trish nodded, "and how did you, as you put it your kind words, 'fuck things up?"

Rose sighed as began the tale.

Trish just nodded and calmly listened, occasionally writing things down.

After about 40 minutes the alarm rang.

"I guess this is it." Rose looked ahead

"I'd like to see you in two days and we'd move things forward."

"Of course." Rose got up and picked her jacket

Trish too got up and opened the door for her.

"Thanks, Trish for accommodating me on such short notice."

"No problem, dear. You are an old client. Besides, you are one of my very few clients who actually give me quite colorful cases to work on."

"I try." she chuckled, "Thanks. See ya."

"See you later too."

She a deep breath, she walked out and down the staircase. Just as she was about to exit the building.

"Excuse me? Hi,"

Rose turned and found a woman approach her. the woman's confused look suddenly turned to surprised.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Rose asked

The woman, who was probably in her late 20s or something, suddenly fumbled and took out her phone, "Can I get a picture?"

Rose looked at the phone ad then back at the woman, "I'm sorry I'm just not in the mood."

"It's just one pic."

"I understand but I have to be somewhere and I'm running late. If there isn't anything else, I...should get going."

Rose turned and started walking, not really waiting for the answer. This is the last moment she wanted to bump into a fangirl. she briskly walked away and turned around the corner to spot a coffee shop. Well, she could use some caffeine.

She tied her hair in a quick low bun and put on her glasses, hoping that doing a Clark Kent would keep people from recognizing her. It worked for him, it might as well work for her. Entering the place, she looked around. Since it was almost lunchtime, the place was sparsely occupied.

She took a seat closer to the window where she was approached by a waiter in the next few seconds and she was greeted by the regular customer service line.

"Yeah, I'd take a...mochaccino and a...cheese omelet."

"Anything else?"

"That'd be all. Thank you"

Her waiter left and she pulled out her phone. A few minutes later her order was placed in front of her. she thanked the person and began eating when her phone rang.

"Yeah?" she answered

"they just confirmed the ICW date"

She paused mid-sip, "And?"

"Did you talk to the Supreme Mugwump?"

"Does it matter? Just get to the point, Draco."

"It's the day after tomorrow. When's the UN thing?"

"Uh...a week from today."

"You got plenty of time then. When are you coming here?"

"Tonight." she took another sip, "New York time."


She headed back to the tower and rushed to her room, packed a small duffel bag of clothes, medicines, and essentials, made a call to the pilot who usually flew her to get a plane ready by tonight. She walked down to the communal to be greeted by pretty much everyone.

"Going somewhere?" Tony asked as he spotting her traveling bag

"UK. They got the ICW date." she responded,

"when is it?" Bruce asked

"Day after tomorrow. I need to do some stuff before I attend that."

"You know what, I'm coming with you."

Everyone looked at Clint.

"I can take care of myself, Clint."

"You have a broken arm, you just got back from therapy and you are taking heavy-duty meds." he folded his arms

"I'll be f-" she paused when Clint tilted his head and raised a brow. Oh. Now she got it.

"Okay. Pack light. We'll leave after lunch."

Clint nodded and left.

"How confident are you?" Bruce asked

She took a deep breath, "Honestly, I'm quite confident. I'm not quite optimistic. Magicals can be a tad bit...archaic with their thoughts. You have no idea how much of a hassle it was to get them to use technology."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Thor asked, "We will not have the support of the magical in our endeavor."

Rose sighed and settled on the armrest of the couch, "It's actually severe than that. Their lack of support means I'd be restricted in how much I can lend a hand. I'm half-and-half. They might even ask me to restrict my use of magic in the Avenger business. I don't know. But it could be worse than just lack of support."

"Then let's just hope you are adorable enough to convince them." Nat chuckled

"That makes two of us. Speaking of convincing, think you can dad can handle the work for a day or two? It's just Monday and Tuesday. I'll be back Wednesday morning."

Tony, who was in the kitchen turned and gave her a deadpanned look, "I ran this company for about 19 years before you came along. I can work two days."

Rose smiled softly and raised her hands in defense, "Didn't doubt you. It's just things have changed and you haven't been very hands-on...in quite some time."

Nat smiled, getting the dishes out for serving, "You worry too much. I have worked before. Tony has worked for 19 years before you, as he just informed us all. Pepper and JARVIS are there. Brittany's number is on my speed dial. Rose, we will be fine. The company won't be set on fire in your two-day absence."

"See, sentences like those are what give me trust issues."

"Rosie, baby, we'll be fine. You do your part."


After lunch, Rose and Clint were driven to the airport. Hannah had given her a strict no for any and every kind of apparition while she was allowed for air travel. Rose didn't ask further questions.

"You really sure you can do this by yourself?" Clint asked, sitting opposite to her, "I mean I won't mind coming with you."

She smiled, "I'll be fine. George would be there. The ICW is an elite congregation, Clint. No offense but I'd receive severe backlash if I brought in a mugg-mundane, I mean."

"I'm a hedgewizard. That's what you and Mia told me."

"Hedgewizards, in most communities receive as much respect as mundane or squib, which is pretty much none. They are entirely looked over. I wasn't kidding when I said the magical world thought process is archaic. they also have discrimination, classist behavior, and all kinds of nasty things. Not everyone is tolerable of those who cannot do proper magic." she tilted her head, "I'm sorry."

He shrugged, "there's nothing that can be done about it, is it?"

"Trust me, my generation is trying to change things."

He slightly nodded, picking up a magazine from the table, "Are things going to be hard for my kids?"

"Clint,"

he looked up.

"It'll take time for things to change." she pressed her lips for a moment and took a deep breath, "You know I'm technically a first-gen witch in my family."

Clint got a thinking face. "Tony doesn't have magic. Your mom did. doesn't that make you half-blood?"

"My mum was a first-gen witch too. Or as they call it in Europe, muggle-born."

"Muggle?"

"It's slang for non-magicals in Europe, mostly UK. US uses No-Maj. My generation started using the words mundane and First gen."

"Of course you did." he rolled his eyes with a smile

"Right. As I was sayin', my mum was a muggle-born too. And a kid born to a muggle and a muggle-born is a muggle-born."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you quite respected in the magical world?"

"That has nothing to do with my blood status. I'm respected for my power amongst other things. On that note, can you please keep that a secret? That I'm a muggle-born?"

Clint leaned forward, "Wanna talk about it?"

She exhaled loudly and leaned back with a soft smile, "It's way too complicated. I'd bore the hell outta you. I told you that I know what it is like to be bullied for something you had no control over. Mia's a muggle-born witch. I've seen her getting bullied first hand. Things have improved for the current batch of kids who are attending the schools and they have become more tolerant towards various types of people but the people who run ICW are not new blood. They are old stale blood. With old stale thought process."

Clint nodded and leaned back too, "Got it. Racist classist old assholes."

Rose chuckled, "Thanks."

They were sitting in silence for a while before Clint spoke up, "Speaking of schools, UK or US?"

"Europe has older schools with unparalleled knowledge. The US is a bit modern and more liberal but they do not offer the depth and expertise European schools do." she looked at him, "a councilor would explain this stuff better. I went to a European school so I can't say much about US schools. You still have time Clint. Right now, we have other things in hand."

Rose scanned the page of the novel as she flipped onto the next wide with magic.

"Why would George be there?"

"Because I usually don't attend ICW meetings. George does on my behalf, whenever I'm invited. He's my official proxy."

"Is that kinda thing allowed?"

She looked at him, amused, "Yes, Clint. That's why I do it."


About 8 hours of flight and an additional one hour drive later, they finally approached the house.

"Should've taken the quinjet," Clint muttered, rubbing the back of his neck

"You are telling that to me now?"

He glared at her.

"What? I always use my private jet for travel. Quinject didn't come to mind." she chuckled.

"Everyone's asleep, huh?"

"It's 5.30 in the morning." she pulled out her key and opening the door entered the house.

"I don't know about you, but I could use a nap before the kids wake up," Rose muttered ad softly dropped her bag on the ground and slumped on the couch, lying down.

"Same." Clint yawned a little and sat on the sofa chair.

"Want the sofa?" she asked, "It'd be more comfortable than that chair?"

He waved her off, "Just get some shut-eye."


Rose woke up to the sound of a loud bang.

"What?" she looked up, bleary-eyed. Clint slightly stirred but went back to sleep.

She got up, stretched, and then headed to the kitchen for some water.

Laura and Andy greeted her in the kitchen.

"What was the sound?" she asked, shaking off the sleep

"Just me being clumsy." Laura said sheepishly, "Sorry I woke you up."

"No biggie." Rose yawned, "What time is it?"

"5 minutes to 10," Andy answered, not looking up from whatever she was reading.

"Coulda slept longer" she yawned again.

"Clint's still asleep?"

"Yup."

Laura just snorted.

"Kids?"

"It's Sunday."

"Right." she muttered, "Do you have coffee?"

"Yeah, made a pot just for you and Clint."

"Thanks a ton, love." she smiled as Laura served her the coffee.

"George and Draco would be dropping by sometime today." she informed, "I could use a hand, Andy."

"Is it regarding the ICW meeting?"

"Yeah, the same. Draco told you?"

"That'd be right."

"Draco has been visiting quite often, isn't he? Is everything okay?"

"I guess he got attached to Ted. They often spend time together when he visits."

"Oh."

there was a shuffling of feet and Clint came in, looking more awake than she was.

"Good morning." Laura smiled

"Good morning, beautiful." Clint smiled and gave her a small kiss.

Laura broke up after a second, "Coffee's in the pot."

"Got it."

He poured himself coffee and leaned on the island.

"So, what's on your agenda, Rosie?"

"Gotta prepare for the meeting tomorrow. Why don't you guys go out with Lila and Coop and have some much-needed family time."

"Tomorrow? Wasn't it supposed to be the day after tomorrow?"

"Time difference, babe." Laura chuckled

Clint gave Rose a deadpanned look, "It's super confusing."

"Tell me about it." she chuckled

"Want us to take Ted?"

Rose took a deep breath, "It's okay. Your four are due some family time. Ted would feel awkward without me there anyway."

"If that's what you say." Clint nodded


While the happy family was away spending time together, Rose spent her time with Teddy. The kids were so happy to wake up and find the surprise of their parents visiting.

She stuck by Ted, teaching him bits and pieces of wandless magic that wouldn't strain her body when George and Draco arrived. Teddy was already tired from all the wandless magic spells he was doing that he easily and without much resistance went to a nap. Rose then went downstairs and the four of them spent the rest of the day talking and planning.

Clint had called her around dinner time and informed her that the family would be eating out. Rose didn't mind. She actually liked cooking and Teddy liked when she cooked. George helped her around the kitchen as she was 'partially disabled due to her own foolishness' as George put it. She smacked him with a pan. That made Teddy laugh, Draco rolled his eyes and even Andy softly chuckled.

It was around midnight. George had left but Draco decided to stay behind. The Barton family had returned and retired to their beds.

Knowing what was there the next day, started giving her anxiety. It was bad enough that she had brought the anxiety medications that she hadn't used in months with her just for this gig.

And as far as bad habits go, she pulled out a cigarette and started smoking. She heard a crunch of grass from behind her and her hand immediately went to throw away the cigarette. Lord forbid George, or worse, Andy found out.

"Thought you stopped." Draco's voice alerted her.

She sighed in relief. "Stop sneaking up on me."

"Andy could have seen you. And you know how she'd react to see you smoking in the lawn."

Rose exhaled, putting a hand in her trouser's pocket.

"And I hope you know that by smoking you are inviting all kinds of nasty issues like Tuberculosis, breathing issues, migraines, hyper-tensi-"

"Merlin, would you shut up."

Draco glared at her.

"And FYI, yes, I'm well aware of what I'm exposing my lungs to."

"And you are still smoking." he snorted, crossing his arms, "At least you are not smoking drugs."

She glared at him, "What are you doing awake anyway?"

"Saw you step out. Wanted to make sure you were fine."

"'Cause you care so much about me." she rolled her eyes

"Don't flatter yourself. I'll sell you for a sip of water."

"I know. I'd do the same."

They sat there for a while. Just silently comforting presence.

"Anxious?"

"Quite."

he snorted, "You've fought dark wizards, monsters, and dragons and a meeting with old men gives you anxiety?"

She exhaled, "Who's to say I didn't have anxiety then?" she exhaled again, "It's worse, Drake. You know how much I'm risking here."

"Which is why I'm still skeptical if this is a good idea."

She looked at him in question.

"I understand what you and your merry band of enhanced are trying to achieve here. But Magical world and Muggle world have been separate, for a reason, for centuries and they both have thrived at their own paces. I'm not sure if this is a good time to bring them together."

"I'm not bringing them together. I just want the support of this side. Besides, if we are attacked by outer space aliens, I'm quite they would not spare the magical world just because they are not associated with the mundane. It's the whole planet's safety that is being talked about. Not just a part of it."

Draco hummed.

She heard a pop and looked down to see Draco pull out a whole bottle of Firewhiskey and opened the bottle.

"Thought you stopped," she said

Draco snorted before drinking from it.

After a few minutes, she felt a nudge from him.

"Drop that cancer maker," he said

She rolled her eyes but did drop the cigarette to crush under her foot as she took the bottle from him.

"Let's just hope you don't you don't mess things tomorrow, Potter."

"Don't fret about it, Malfoy"


Rose looked in the mirror, checked her face. She took a deep breath as she popped two of her prescribed anti-anxiety meds and downed them. That should calm her nerves down a little. She patted her hair, which she had glamoured to appear black, down. the last thing she wanted right now is certain people realizing she was both Rose Potter and Rose Stark. Though they were not smart enough to realize that even when she actively lived in the muggle world, they would once they'd found out that she was an Avenger. From that, it won't take much of genius to figure things out.

Without ruining them and with a final look over, she pushed back her fringes and walked out of the washroom.

"Hey, doing good?" George smiled at her as she came to stand in front of him.

"I don't know." she straightened her blazer, "Do I look nervous?"

"Kinda."

She just took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders, "It'll be over, soon."

"Sooner than you'll know." George took her small hand in his. "How come you are so tiny and still have so much ego."

"Shut up!"

George chuckled which made her smile softly.

"Meeting starts in 20 minutes. Hall 2."

"Hall 2. 20 minutes. Got it."

"Would you stop that?"

She looked at him, "Stop what?"

"Tapping your foot. chewing your nails. Merlin, you just came back from the Washroom. Did you even wash your hands?"

Rose dropped her hands and struggled a little to keep them still before she folded them around her chest.

"Here, come sit." George shifted and patted the seat next to her. "Everything's gonna be fine."

"I know. But...you know crowds...overwhelm me." she took a deep breath, "Especially unknown crowds."

"I know you don't like and avoid giving speeches at your Expo or attending press conferences."

Rose nodded, lips pressed. She looked around and spotted a familiar blonde heading the Hall down the corridor. She quickly turned to face George.

"Who's the British Representative?"

"You don't know? They made a lot of fuss when the new one was appointed."

"When was it? And wait, Shafiq retired?"

"Yup."

"When was it?"

"Around Christmas. Last year."

Rose narrowed her eyes, "You know what happened at Christmas last year?"

George looked at her for a few seconds and realization set in.

"No wonder you didn't hear anything. You were getting patched up in the hospital after the whole firework drug."

She snorted. EXTREMIS, the firework drug.

"And they chose a pureblood?"

"Wizengamot voted for the new rep. They still follow the Old Magical World Laws. But hey, on the bright side, it ain't a former Death Eater."

Rose just rolled her eyes.

"The meeting in Hall 2 with Supreme Mugwump is to commence in 15 minutes. Everyone attending is requested to make their way to Hall 2."

As the announcement was repeated, Rose stood up, straightened her blazer once again.

"Come on." George placed his hand on the small of her back.

The two made it to the hall and went up to the seats designated to them. She grabbed the water bottle that was kept there and gulped putting it back. The Hall was starting to fill in with people she had never really seen. A few faces were familiar, mostly from the MACUSA and Scandinavian Ministry.

"Long time no see, Potter."

Rose turned to her right and softly smiled.

"Could say the same, Greengrass."

She smiled back before she looked at George, "Mr. Weasley." and gave him a nod.

"Lady Greengrass."

"So, the new English rep, huh?"

"Yeah. After Zephan retired, they needed someone with a broader horizon to replace him. And as I have been told, our generation is turning out to be quite broad-minded and acceptable along with being cretins for ignoring the century-old laws." she smiled, "I'm sure you can relate."

"Oh trust me, I've heard similar things." Rose rolled her eyes, "Though, congratulations."

"Thank you. How come you are out of the woods today of all days?"

"Do you know what today's agenda is?"

"HYDRA."

"Have you heard of the Avengers?" George asked, cheekily

"Yes, I have." she frowned a little, "what do the Avengers have to do with anything?"

"Uh, I'll explain later. But long story short, I work with Avengers and we were hoping we could get some backup from the magical world."

"Hmmm. Kingsley did mention this a little. Though he failed to mention you would be present."

Rose shrugged. "Wanna have coffee after this? I could use some catching up."

"I'd like that."

"Sorry to disturb your date planning, ladies, but they are starting now," George whispered to them which made both women sit straight and look ahead. Though Rose may or may not have kicked him under the table.

The Supreme Mugwump entered and everyone stood up. Somchai Charoensuk was rather fit looking for his age. He had salt-pepper hair and was dressed in Wizarding robes that highly reflected the East Asian culture.

He sat down on his chair and adjusted it, following which everyone else sat down too.

He looked up straight and cleared his throat loudly.

"The session for today has now commenced." he paused for a second and then continued, "The rumors about the terrorist organization HYDRA being active again after years have proven to be true. There is no intelligence so far as to what they are plotting but I believe we all can unanimously agree that they do not have any good intentions. They have proven to be a dangerous threat in the past and I can only imagine how much they would have advanced." he shuffled some papers.

"Today's session was hastened on the request of Lady Potter."

Rose softly gulped.

"As someone who has been active in the Muggle world and has worked along with Muggle Intelligence, I ask Lady Potter to speak about the agenda on hand."

Rose took a deep breath as about 100-150 something pairs of eyes looked at her.

Rose got up and looked around.

"You got it," George whispered.

She took a deep breath and began.

"Thank you, Supreme Mugwump Charoensuk for accepting my request and giving me a chance to speak at the ICW."

He gave her a nod and she began.

"HYDRA has been known for being trouble for both mundane and magical world. In the past, they had formed strong alliances with dark wizards such as Gellert Grindelwald and later Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort before they went back into hiding and making everyone believe that they had ceased functioning and simply vanished.

Unfortunately, recent events have evidence that HYDRA never vanished but remained undetected while still disrupting global peace and security. I witnessed those pieces of evidence myself. And I'm afraid to say this, but I have reasons to believe that HYDRA is getting stronger day by day.

Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, or SHIELD as many of you would know of it, used to be a phantom global security agency overseen by the World Security Council. Amongst other things, their prowess, and connections under Director Nicholas Fury kept HYDRA from acting out in the open. But SHIELD was recently destroyed, courtesy of HYDRA. This means nothing is stopping HYDRA anymore." she took a deep breath.

"Avengers Initiative was started by Director Fury in an attempt to bring forth a group of people with dexterity in different fields to protect the Earth from outside and inside threats. I have worked closely with the Avengers. Under the permission of both American and British Ministers of Magic, the existence of magic was revealed to them. They were sworn to keep its existence a secret and so far they have.

These people, the Avengers, will be soon establishing a new global security agency. Their aim is to do a better job than SHEILD. They are, as of now, the first line of defense of the Earth. But they cannot be through with their job without the support of the other side of the world: the Wizarding World. And they can offer the help, support, expertise, and counsel in matters that are foreign to the Wizarding World. As a witch who has worked closely with the Avengers, I believe a lot of good can be achieved if the magical world would support this initiative." she looked at the Supreme Mugwump and gave him a nod.

"Thank you, Lady Potter, for clarifying the agenda. Questions may be asked now."

A couple of hands shot up to the sky and a guy from the second row was asked to speak. He stood up and looked at her.

"Jaren Montes, Brazilian Representative. What personal agenda do you have with the Avengers? As you have spoken on their behalf, I believe we should be made aware of it."

Great. The one question she was dreading.

She took a deep breath and she began speaking, "About a year and a half ago, I was approached by Director Fury with the proposal of joining the Avengers. I have had enough wars to last a lifetime." she smiled, "I rather accepted the offer of working with SHIELD due to my specialty with magical technology. I have since then been appointed as one of the magical experts and am close to the team members. As they are well aware of magic, it only seemed fit for me to speak on their behalf."

"One of the?" someone else asked

"Ms. Hermione Granger has worked as the Handler and Team Manager for the Avengers for a brief period of time. They also consult to her in the matters of magic."

Another hand was raised as the woman stood up, "Imka Masuku, Southern Afrika. the magical world has been able to defend itself without the interference of Ni-Mag for the past several centuries. Do you not have faith that we can protect ourselves yet again without their help?"

Rose licked her lips, "My apologies, Ms. Masuku if it seemed like I have lost faith in the Wizarding World's defense. That is not the case. I'm very well aware of what the Wizarding World and its inhabitants are capable of when it comes to defense. My point was that while magic remains our strongest suit, technology is still where we lack. The Mundane World is far advanced in terms of technology and weaponry. I have a speculation that HYDRA may have managed, or at least are experimenting, to combine technology and magic.

It is no small feat to integrate them both. It took me years of study and research to achieve the magical world's technological advances. But it is still in its infancy in comparison to the Mundane world. The Avengers have specializations in terms of mundane weaponry. Mr. Stark, Iron Man, has been a former weapons developer as well. They can offer expertise, I'm afraid no one else can. Since HYDRA is using both magic and technology to sow the seeds of chaos, it only seems appropriate that we fight against them with both magic and science."

Suddenly she felt her phone vibrate from her pocket but ignored it, as another woman stood up.

"Ms. Han Yiren. I'm sorry if this seems like a repetition but Muggles don't seem to be as powerful as you claim. As much as you claim that they have higher technological advantages compared to us, they sure don't seem to be smart enough to use them. Or we would have been discovered by now. I believe our magic is far stronger, superior, and capable of protecting us and defending what is ours. I mean no disrespect to Avengers but asking help from them seems unconventional.

And do correct me if I'm wrong, the first two times HYDRA has made alliances with dark magical forces, we have been able to win against them without the use of muggles and their technology. I don't see why we should do it now."

Rose took a deep breath. How was she to explain that her father, the technological Da Vinci of their time, had her back the entire time without revealing her secret?

"Please take your time to answer." Supreme Mugwump quipped

"Ms. Han, I'm sure you aware that iron can be quite...painful to us?"

"I am."

She nodded once, "Iron can block our powers temporarily and with added properties such as runes, they can be used against our magic. I live in the muggle world. And believe me when I say this, it isn't hard to find iron weapons. Our magic can be superior or powerful, and I do believe it is, but we can't underestimate the muggles. Especially the ones with ill intentions and who seek to hurt and abuse us. I have a feeling if I dare say so, that HYDRA is well aware of this as well. They are counting on us being ignorant about the muggle world, their technologies, and their weaponry. We can fight magic with magic, yes definitely. But what do you have in mind to do when the enemy takes out something made of Iron. Our shields won't hold forever. What if they have some kind of armor made of iron. Our spells might be useless.

This of course is an example as I have no idea of how worse things are or have the potential to be. In such cases, our grasp of modern weaponry and technology might not be something they expect. Avengers can provide us with help and expertise in those areas.

I'm afraid I can't speak for whatever happened during the First Wizarding War as I wasn't even born then. As for the second war, I did have help from the muggle world. It wasn't extensive or anything but yes. I never mentioned it before as no one ever asked me about it."

She nodded as she finished.

"In that case what is stopping your Avengers from using that knowledge against us and our people?"

Her eyes scanned around the crowd to figure out the speaker but she didn't seem to know who it was. Instead, she chose to answer.

"They won't. The team also has a hedgewizard who was discovered just months ago. He's registered so with the MACUSA."

Derek Hyland, MACUSA Rep, gave her a nod at that. She felt her phone vibrate again. She ignored it and continued.

"Or they would have done so already. As I said, they are already well aware of us and our magic. And they are not interested in hurting anyone, no matter who it is. They just want to protect people."

"We have been fine for centuries with several wars, witch-hunts, and numerous other things are thrown our way. We never had to take help from the muggle world. I don't see why we should start now." someone commented

Jesus Christ! Mia was right. Magicals did trade common sense for magic.

"Fuckers," George muttered from next to her and she pressed her lips to hide her snicker.

"And how are we to know that they would not reveal us to the rest of the World, Lady Potter? How are we to know that the History of Salem Witch Trials will not be repeated?" the man sneered at her, "Kieryn Jørgensen. Scandinavia."

Rose gritted her teeth. This was someone she knew. and hated. this guy was a known traditionalist and conservative who pretty much always had issues when changes were brought to be discussed in ICW sessions.

"The Avengers have been aware of magic and the magical world for about a whole year now. If they had such intentions, Mr. Jørgensen, they would have done so already. May I remind you that the team also consists of Thor, a god, who has access to magic as well and wields a magical hammer.

the whole team is quite empathetic and understanding and they are too aware of the Salem witch trials and I can guarantee you that they condone any such practices. The team only has the intention of the welfare of people of this planet, irrespective of their caste, creed, colour, race, nationality, and presence of magic, and will do anything and everything in their power to do what they do best; protect people."

"And what exactly are the Avengers expecting from the Magical World?" came from next to her. She looked at Daphne, who raised a brow.

"Just support. They do not seek power nor do they seek to abuse our magic. Amongst other things, they expect a straight communication channel with the Magical World. They merely ask to share information that would concern them or their operations. They also might request aid from our law enforcement should the need arise as they are susceptible to magic as magicals are susceptible to technology. The Avengers are not educated on how deep the Magical World goes. Everything they do know is from what I, Ms. Granger, President of MACUSA, and Director Fury have informed them. They would be more than happy to provide us with as much support and aid as we would provide them. It's a barter."

She gulped again, "May I add that this is solely about one common enemy we all have, HYDRA. Our individual efforts may not be sufficient is stopping them. In such case, combining efforts to achieve a common goal is far more beneficial for us all."

The only sound was murmuring amongst the reps as they discussed.

"Are there any more questions?"

No hands were raised.

The Supreme Mugwump looked at her and nodded and she sat down.

"Thank You, Lady Potter. Now the session will be paused for a much-required break so this issue can be discussed amongst, I believe. The session will continue after 30 minutes."

Some of the reps got up and left, probably to eat or drink something from the cafeteria.

"an hour passed already." Rose exhaled, "Didn't realize."

"You did well."

"Thanks, Daph."

"I don't why you were so worried about it? You are such a good speaker."

She exhaled, leaning back, "Tell that to my anxiety that decides to pop-up whenever it feels like." she muttered before looking at George, "Whatcha say?"

"Compelling arguments but honestly what's Jørgensen's problem?" he frowned, "It's like he hates everyone and everything here."

"That's probably the case." Daphne snorted, "Senile old men. They are bound to lose their marbles sooner than later."

Rose chuckled.

"Well, I'm going to get something to eat. You ladies want something?"

"Coffee, please. And something light to eat. Ooh, bring calcannon if they have it on the menu today. Or Treacle Tart. though it is as good as Molly's"

"Same for me minus the calcannon or tart. Thanks, George."

"No problem." he smiled and left.

"You think they'll go for it?" she looked at the blonde

"I want to be optimistic but..." Daphne softly smiled

Rose nodded, "Yeah, no, I got it. Trust me, I'm the same."

Daphne chuckled and leaned back, "Tell me the truth."

"About what?"

"Iron weapons?"

"Oh, they are real, very real. But are also quite rare. People actually prefer weapons made of mixed metals rather than pure iron." she smiled at the blonde, "Just a little white lie."

Daphne snorted, rolling her eyes, "After all these years, I still wonder why you were not sorted in Slytherin."

"11-year-old me was kinda stupid."

"You won't hear me arguing." she chuckled which also made Rose chuckle. "But honestly, I'm not stupid like these people. What is your real deal with Avengers?"

Rose eyed Daphne.

"Hey," Daphne leaned ahead, "I'm on your side."

Rose took a deep breath, "Fine. But it stays between us."

She hated being the extremist but she had to. So she extended her hand towards Daphne. Daphne understood a moment later and intertwined her hand with hers. "I swear."

Their hands glowed a little as the magic did its work.

Rose nodded, pulling her hand back, "the Avengers, they are a group of 7 people."

"I'm aware."

Rose took a deep breath, "I'm one of the seven. I'm an Avenger."

Daphne narrowed her eyes, wearing a thinking face before it dawned on her, "Rose Stark."

Rose pressed her lips.

"Wait, that means James Potter isn't your father."

Rose nodded.

"You are i-"

"adopted by James Potter. Blood adopted."

"Oh." Daphne leaned back, "No wonder you had me make the vow."

"And you didn't ask me why before you made the vow? Careful there, Greengrass."

Daphne rolled her eyes, "I trust you. And I know that you will not make me do stupid useless vows. And I can see. If people found out that you..."

"Yup."

"Great going, Potter."

Her phone buzzed again.

"You might wanna take that. Seems urgent."

Rose apologetically smiled and pulled out her phone. It was Natasha.

"Excuse me."

"Of course."

Rose got up and walked outside the hall to the corridor, finding herself a secluded spot.

"Yeah, Nat?"

"Hey. Is the meet over?"

"Uh.. no. we are having a 15 as of now. Everything okay?"

"Where did you keep the file from budgeting?"

This was followed by some shuffling noises.

"Monthly or Quarterly?"

"Monthly."

Rose blinked, thinking, "I think it's in my room."

"What is it doing in your room?"

"I was going over it. where are you looking for it?"

"Your entire office, 'cause I know you had it on you on Friday. I even checked my desk. JARVIS didn't seem to know either."

"Then it's definitely in my room."

"Stay on call."

"Why do you need that file? The budget meeting isn't until Wednesday."

"Tony wanted to go over it. How's it looking?"

"Honestly I can't say. I don't know, Nat. I really want this to work."

"So do we all. George there?"

"He went to grab something to eat before we continue."

"How's Missouri?"

"They're great. Clint definitely needed this after everything."

"I could tell. He really wanted to go but didn't know how to say it to others."

Rose pressed her lips as she leaned on the wall. All Clint had told Nat was that Rose had offered him a better safe-house and after inspection, he was going to move his family there.

"Okay, I'm in your room. Where is it?"

"Uh...shelf next to the balcony door...second rack from below."

"There are more than..." she blew a raspberry, "10 files in here."

"It'd be the one in a maroonish folder."

"...yeah, got it. Thanks."

"No problem." she saw movement to her right, "I gotta go. I'll call later."

"Yeah, okay. Take care."

"Here. They didn't have calcannon so here's the tart."

"Thanks." Rose smiled, peeling off the packaging to eat.

"Romanoff?"

Rose nodded as George came to stand next to her.

"Rose...are you sure about this?"

"It's a little too late to back off, isn't it?"

"I'm not talking about the magical liaison thing. I'm talking about your double life. Is this mix-up, is it a good idea?"

"I don't have a lot of options here. If we need to stop HYDRA, magic and mundane have to come together. After that happens, I don't care if they even look in the other's direction."

"but is it worth it? Have you even tried to explore other options?"

"There aren't any other than this." she frowned at him, "Why are you being so worried about this?"

"Because, genius, you just told a whole bunch of international delegates that you work with Avengers rather than the fact that you are an Avenger. You wanna bet how long it takes before one of these dunderheads figures your biggest secret? Or reveals your secrets to the other side?"

"I have considered that and I have contingencies ready."

"I really hope those contingencies don't involve murder."

She elbowed him.

"Watch it, woman." he rolled his eyes, "Let's get Greengrass her coffee. You done shoving the tart?"

"Almost there," she muttered, putting about a quarter remaining piece of tart wholly into her mouth. She then tossed the plastic container in the dustbin.

"Seriously if I didn't know better, I'd say you were dragged in a barn with pigs."

Rose swallowed the last of it, "That's rich coming from someone who has Ron for a brother."

"Oh you and he both, actually."

She just rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll them too much or they'll get stuck behind your eyes."

"Shut up."

They climbed to their seats and George passed their coffees to them.

"Thank you, George." Daphne smiled

"Anything?" Rose asked

"Not yet. We still have 5 and I have a bunch of questions."

"Why don't you save them for your coffee date?" George asked, "International issue at hand here."

The girls gave him a look but didn't complain. They sat there for 10 minutes as the hall once again filled with all the delegates.

The Supreme Mugwump cleared his throat loudly, "The meeting is in session again. Now, are there any other queries that need to be addressed?"

"I have a question, if I may."

Rose didn't know the guy and neither did he introduce himself. Rude.

"You propose an alliance between magical and muggles you call Avengers. Would the Avengers be available whenever we ask for their help?"

"Of course, yes," she replied

"May I propose a counter offer. We know HYDRA is brewing something. Why don't you offer us intelligence and we try our best? If, and that is a massive if, we fail to protect ourselves and for the sake of this meeting, let's say you are right and we are not ready for the assault by HYDRA, we can always call for their aid later on. In such case, we do not need to form an alliance this early and we won't have any responsibilities towards them nor would they have towards us."

Rose took a deep calming breath, "Thank you for the counter offer. And I'm happy to hear that a compromise is willing to be made. I don't know if I said this before but as a witch, I worry about the safety of this world quite a lot more than the mundane. And yes, if agreed upon, the Avengers will withhold their support and help until and unless that is asked of them. They will provide intelligence if it does seem relevant for the Magical World.

And I'm quite happy to take this offer to the Avengers but I do have a reservation. Let me elaborate, please bear with me. HYDRA attacks, we defend ourselves. They attack the second time. We manage to get a victory again. This cycle repeats again and again until either they are able to break our defenses entirely are we do that to them. Everyone with me? Good.

Such assaults, as we all know don't leave without death. With Avengers maybe we are able to defeat them the second or third time. I'm pretty sure just us defending, with the amount of technology HYDRA has at their disposal, it might take five or seven or even more tries until we manage so. We are all smart and we can estimate the life lost in both cases.

With all due respect to everyone here, if all the delegates here, who represent their countries and nations are willing to take responsibility for the lives that would be lost, I have no issue whatsoever with this offer. And property damage that might occur on top of that." she nodded, "That's all."

Supreme Mugwump nodded as he scribbled something on a paper and then looked up.

"Anything else anyone wants to say?"

A few seconds and a familiar hand shot up.

"Derek Hyland, the USA. I believe we should make an alliance with Avengers. As Lady Potter said, the Avengers would not insert themselves in any of our situations until asked of such. An alliance like that would do more good than harm. I have interacted with the Avengers and they are all grounded and sensible beings. I know I cannot speak for everyone but on the behalf of MACUSA, I will say that I'd rather have an alliance with Avengers resulting in less to no lives lost and minimum collateral damage rather than exhausting our manpower trying to defend against someone we have bare limited knowledge of defending against. Thank you."

"Gotta say, sometimes your ex-boyfriends do come in handy," George muttered close to her and she shot him a dirty glare.

Daphne hummed and straightened her posture, "I agree with Mr. Hyland. I also say this as I've known Lady Potter for over a decade, this alliance would do more good than harm. I trust her to not lead us all into more trouble than we already are in."

Silence reigned for about 5 minutes and then Supreme Mugwump spoke up.

"Mr. Hyland and Lady Greengrass, your arguments are duly noted," Supreme Mugwump said, "Now as no other arguments are presented, the time for voting has begun. All in favor of the Magical World forming an alliance with muggle defendants called Avengers for intelligence and aid against the terrorist organization HYDRA and providing the same in return."

Rose pressed her lips tight and grabbed George's hand. Derek and Daphne were first to raise their hands. This was followed by a few more delegates including Imka.

Rose crossed her fingers as she counted the raised hands. She needed at least 2/3rd votes to get this passing. A few more hands were raised.

"Oh god!" Rose groaned and slammed her forehead to the table.

George squeezed her hand from under.

The silence around them was irritating her. She didn't know how much time had passed and she wasn't sure she had the courage to look up.

"With 67% of delegates voting in favor of this motion, the said motion has passed."

"What?" Rose got up so fast that she pulled a muscle in her neck and winced.

"Pretty much they all agreed." George chuckled

"A liaison would be appointed to facilitate communication between the Avengers and the Magical World. Or would you like to take up that position, Lady Potter?"

"He's talking to you!"

Rose looked at Supreme Mugwump "What? No! I'm honored you'd consider me but I'd appreciate if a liaison is appointed."

Supreme Mugwump nodded, "This meeting is henceforth, adjourned. Thank you for attending."

"Good job, Potter," Daphne smirked and gave Rose a half hug, who returned it.

"I owe you lunch or something."

"Make it a dinner and I'm good."

"You got it."

"But seriously, with the amount of white lies you've spoken here, you should have in Slytherin all those years ago."

"Whoa whoa, hey! Greengrass! Do not try to corrupt my little sister to the dark side. She's a Gryffindor through and through."

"She'd have done so much better in Slytherin."

"Agree to disagree!"

"Guys! Enough with Slytherin-Gryffindor thing. Can we go and eat now?"


Okay, first things first. Pretty long chapter. Spent quite some time editing it.

I have said this before and I'll say it again, I'm a Physics-Maths major, so Pol. Science isn't my forte. I did try my best to make valid arguments and replies but if something seems weird please lmk!

Third, I know y'all have questions after this chapter. This brings me to an important question- should I start writing a prequel to it all? Basically from when Rose got into Tony's custody all the way to Avengers(2012). I might post it side-by-side or at a later date so do lmk so I can start plotting. I know how many people actively read this story so I might require 2/3rd votes on both AO3 and FFN for this motion to pass.

Also please do not put your question in the comments as I will answer those questions if the prequel is made.

Again, y'all know the drill.

Ciao