Fly or Die – Rock Mafia

For those who tread lightly, who need some enlightenment

The world is what you make of it

You fill it up and break it 'til

The pieces inside you

The pieces inside you

Help you find your way back home

The night Nick Fury visited

"What did that man want, Tony?"

"Nothing, Peps, nothing to worry about"

"I don't believe you"

"Trust me on this, Pepper"

She stayed quiet then, staring at him, trying to read him as worry filled her in spite of his words.

"Okay... Okay, Tony, I will."

And that was that. Tony knew it wasn't nearly as simple, but for the time being he pulled his girl into him, kissing her forehead and holding her tight.

"It will be okay." He said, and she clutched him tighter.

Washington, a week later

"That man, Stern, he had something funny going on about him." Hermione said, her book open in her lap. It was Little Women.

"He pinched me with my medal" Tony grumbled petulantly, making Hermione smirk amusedly and glance at him under her lashes.

"Maybe you were a jerk to him once or twice" the the girl shrugged. Tony, for his part, started to rub his goatee as he mock-thought about it.

"Nop, I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to him" he declared, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning.

Pepper snorted under her palm and Happy's shoulders shook in silent laughter.

"Why is it that I don't believe you?" Hermione asked with a laugh trying to break free from her lips.

Tony's smile became a bit tight, although Hermione didn't notice, she didn't knew him so well, but Pepper did, and her amused expression changed to one of support, she trusted him.

"I'm a very trustworthy kind of guy, why wouldn't you believe this face?" Tony continued, making fun of the situation only for Hermione's sake, besides, Pepper was there, her hand had sneaked into his, and was holding him, grounding him like nothing else.

Hermione snorted, "You're impossible" and went back to her book.

"I'll take that as a compliment, you know that"

Hermione smiled, but said nothing else for the rest of the ride.

Back in New York.

Hermione prepared her bag for the day ahead, dressed casually, and fixed her hair in two braids that rested on each of her shoulders. She had a formal robe inside her bag as well, the letter Kingsley sent, her wand, and a purse with both wizarding and muggle money. She planned a day out, there was nothing that could stop her.

Except, probably, Tony's sudden overprotectiveness.

"Happy can go with you."

"I am perfectly able to go by myself" she rebuked, glaring at him.

"I don't think it's safe to go wandering about New York without someone to watch your back. People has seen you with me by now, they know you, and the press will follow and pester you with questions." Tony explained, but his eyes were trained on whatever he was tinkering with at the moment, it only made it more condescending.

Hermione found herself at a crossroads. She couldn't hit him with a confundus– damn his arc reactor –so she had to go the old fashioned way. And she couldn't very well tell him the full truth. Maybe she could escape? Hermione groaned internally, she was too old for that, and had done enough escaping during the war for the idea to get her nauseous.

Maybe she could... But would the Congress let her? It was crazy, but it would save her a lot of trouble. She just knew Tony would be impossible to escape from without him discovering her secret, he had Jarvis everywhere as well, and he was already suspicious about her and her friends back in England, it was only a matter of time and Hermione knew it, what was she thinking? She walked in on this, she had to fix it, but couldn't help but think that she had been a complete idiot, totally not herself.

Then again, wasn't she allowed a bit of idiocy? Yes, but not with something so big as breaking the Statue of Secrecy. Right, she could go to prison just for that. Bugger.

"Give me an hour, if something pops out in the media, I call Happy and he can be with me the rest of the day." It was a poor attempt, but if she could convince whoever spoke to her at the Congress that Tony Stark needed to be in on the secret, then... Well, she could clear the table, so to speak.

Tony eyed her, evaluating her with curiosity, "I will have Jarvis on you." He said, and she nodded, there wasn't less she could ask for.

When she was about to leave the residence though, Hermione paused, her hand on the doorknob, "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Came the immediate response of the AI

"Keep my secrets from them? If I'm lucky, you won't have to do it for longer than today." She begged, nerves made her blood run loudly in her ears. Jesus, I hope this works.

"Very well, Miss Granger."

A sigh of relief, and she was out towards the Woolworth Building.

It was midmorning, and the streets bustled with life. She found an empty alleyway, with a huge dumpster on one side of the wall, big enough to hide her so she could perform a few charms on herself. First, a subtle Notice-Me-Not, so the press wouldn't follow her, never mind find her. She also changed her appearance a bit, made her hair shorter, darker.

Her charms done, Hermione walked back towards the city.

Pepper had given her a camera the first time they all went out. It wasn't a magical camera, and technomancy wasn't something she excelled at, so the pictures didn't move, but that was okay.

She walked without much of a hurry, it would take a while to get where she wanted, and getting a cab seemed like a bad idea, considering the traffic. She took pictures, lots of them, there was just so much to see, so different from London.

The entrance to the Woolworth Building was nothing like the Muggle entrance to its British counterpart. As Hermione went through the doors, she felt the magic separating her from the Muggle world and letting her into the Magical Congress of the United States of America.

It was impressive, she had to admit to that. Witches and wizards in working and business robes walked everywhere, memos sipping through the air and hitting people in the head, even Goblins walking by. Hermione even thought she saw brief glimpse of a grinning vampire as the doors of a in lift slid close.

Yeah, MACUSA was nothing like the British Ministry of Magic.

A huge, round desk was in the middle of the enormous hall, dividing it in two to check in anyone wanting to go further. Hermione waited patiently as the line advanced. A witch in working robes in front of her kept checking her wrist, Hermione noted that a strange looking watch adorned her wrist. It was nothing like a muggle watch, and she wondered if technomancy in America was a common thing or if this witch was just wealthy, it looked so expensive.

The witch growled a stomped over to the desk, pushing aside a wizard with a suitcase about to talk to the secretary.

"Excuse me, sir, sorry. Malcolm! This is ridiculous, I have an appointment with the President in less than ten minutes and you have me here waiting like an idiot!" Well, if she had a meeting with the President, then that woman was more than just well connected.

"You have to wait in the like, Miss Burchard." Said the secretary with a cold gleam in his eyes that made Hermione weary. "And it's Mr Roberts, Miss Burchard."

Ow. Lovers quarrel? Hermione pressed her palm to her mouth to hide her laugh, it wasn't something to laugh about. However amusing it was.

Miss Burchard bristled, and the man that had been pushed aside timidly stepped in to talk quietly to the secretary.

"You're being a complete jerk." She hissed. The secretary completely ignored her and tended to the man before him.

The witch was about to say something else, when a wizard impeccably dressed in Slytherin green cleared his throat at the top of the stairs behind the receiving desk.

"Miss Penélope Burchard, a pleasure to see you, as always." His voice was deep, low, predatory. Many of the people around her shifted uncomfortably, even the witch he was talking to.

"Mister Yorker." She nodded. The man took his sweet time to walk down, and when he did, he took the witch's hand to kiss over her knuckles. She blushed, and her feet shifted anxiously.

"Whatever brings you to the Congress, Miss Burchard?" He asked. His eyes scanned the crowd, and Hermione carefully turned her head to face away from the couple.

"I have an appointment with the President."

"Really? How odd, I was to understand that your appointment had been moved to the next month." He replied, as nonchalant as ever, he reminded her of Blaise Zabini in Professor Slughorn's parties. "In fact, I was here to escort someone else to the President's Office."

"What? I was not informed of this!" The witch hissed.

The man sent her a scathing look, the woman glared at him, then at the man behind the desk, who was discreetly grinning, and walked away to the floo network.

The wizard then turned in her direction and smiled pleasantly. "Miss Granger, I believe."

She froze. Merlin's beard... He walked towards her with such confidence that Hermione could only stare. How had he seen through her glamours?

She looked down at herself, the glamours where gone and she never noticed. Blushing deeply, Hermione stepped aside and out of the line of waiting witches and wizards, who were shooting her looks of mixed emotions.

"I wanted to go through like anyone else." She replied, seeing as it was now useless to keep hiding.

"Ridiculous, the magic on the doors has registered your incoming, and has notified the International Department," he began, as he extended his arm towards the stairs where he came from, telling her to follow, "the Wand Regulation Department and the President's Office. Your incoming was notified by your Minister, Miss Granger, we were expecting you."

Hermione blushed, then thought about strangling Kingsley.

She was then escorted towards the WRD to get her permit, which came with a very lengthy pamphlet on the uses she could give her wand when in the no-maj world. The consequences over the incorrect use of her wand seemed rather severe when a simple memory charm could be used. But then, that thought sent a shiver down her spine and her mouth to taste like ashes.

Then, after what seemed like infinite paperwork just to be able to use her bloody wand, Hermione was taken –escorted– again by Mr Yorker, to the President's Office. The whole way there, Mr Yorker chatted about the history of MACUSA, some of their best witches and wizards to ever step foot inside these walls, and so on and on. It was fascinating, in truth, but her nerves never disappeared.

"President Breastbone has been in touch with your Minister for quite some time, Minister Shacklebolt leaded a team not only to protect the Muggle Minister, but also directed several extraditions over to the States with their help. With a terrorist threat like Tom Riddle, we at MACUSA decided to act as a neutral ground until a direct attack was issued." Hermione glanced, surprised, in his direction, but Mr Yorker kept her eyes straight ahead. "I believe it is because of this association that they kept in touch, in fact, we have sent some witches and wizards over to help with the reconstructions."

"I never heard of that." She replied, as it was true, but nevertheless, she had nothing else to say to such tale.

"It is a very recent development, I wouldn't have hoped that you knew so far away from England as you are now." He paused before a door. "Here we are," he pushed the door open and greeted a witch at the desk. "Miranda, here is Miss Hermione Granger to meet President Breastbone."

"Alright, give me a sec, I'll see if he finished his call." The woman replied as she stood up and approached the big double doors at the end of a short corridor to her left. Her head popped inside the office and then back out to look at them and wave them to come in.

"Perfect." Said Mr Yorker, motioning her forward with a barely there touch at her back.

She was so nervous she could have vomited, she surely felt more than a little bit green.

How many people got a meeting with the President just like that!? This was crazy. She was nothing special, nothing remarkable, she was just Hermione.

"Hermione Granger, it is a pleasure to meet the girl who helped defeat Tom Riddle Jr." Said a tall man in finely cut wizarding robes in the deepest of black, under it he had what looked like a muggle suit, complete with tie and vest. He wasn't particularly handsome, he was strangely average for a wizard. "I'm President Breastbone, and welcome to the US, although I'm sure Mr Stark has made sure you're comfortable, the wizarding side is, as well, here to make you feel at home."

"Oh... Thank you, Mr President," Hermione babbled, then blushed at her lack of vocal skills. Then her brain caught up with his words and she paled a bit. "You know about Mr Stark?"

"Of course! He's what the no-majs call a 'superhero', very impressive, very impressive." President Breastbone motioned to the sofas at the side of his desk, the sofas surrounded a small coffee table which was already prepared with a pot of coffee, milk, sugar cubes and pastries. "I find myself fascinated by no-maj technology, How you like your coffee, Miss Granger? ingenious really, their advances in the field. Did you know that the Asians are working on combining magic with technology? They call it Technomancy, although there are not many wizards and witches willing to experiment here in the US. In fact, our Research Department lacks such an investigation." As he talked he waved his wand and the coffee set began to serve each a cup, as they liked it.

Hermione sipped her coffee and wondered if the President was asking her to take the job. Not that she would mind, it just felt too soon to go back to researching. She wanted to relax, to find herself again, not start working for the government.

"It is a shame, muggles... Ugh... No-majs have developed a lot over the years, even I was surprised when I went back to their world." She said.

"Did you not spent much time outside the wizarding world?" Mr Yorker asked, speaking for the first time since they entered the office.

"No... Things were too dangerous." She left it at that, letting the unsaid things to hang in the air between them.

"Yes... Dark times that have, thankfully, finished." Said the President with a soft reassurance. He was staring straight at her, and Hermione realized why he was the President. The man had an aura about himself, of surety and resolve, of security.

"Have you visited the shopping district yet, Mis Granger?" Asked Mr Yorker after minute of silence.

"I haven't, I was planning to, but I don't know where the entrance is." She confessed, blushing slightly.

"I'll send for someone, if you like, to take you there." Nodded the President, then pressed the tip of his wand to a button on his robe and spoke quietly. Hermione didn't got time to deny the offer, much less anything else.

Diamond District

When she stood before the entrance to the magical district, Hermione took a big, deep breath. There where no muggles watching her, she made sure of that, the enchantment preventing such a thing held strong at the entrance.

She stepped in, letting the magic wash over her like a comfortable blanket she didn't know she missed. The air smelled like magic, prickling her skin pleasantly. She smiled, this was her world.

It wasn't at all like Diagon Alley, however the stores were similar. She walked slowly, appreciating the front of the stores, doing a bit of window shopping in her mind. Maybe once she was over she could buy a few things for her friends and family back in England.

She crossed a menagerie, it made her remember Crookshanks, and wondered if her old cat would like a companion. She snorted, probably not. Her cat was very selective, although the big ball of fur had accepted Sirius alright. A sad smile crossed her lips.

Hermione kept walking, after she told the woman that had taken her there to let her do this alone Hermione wasn't about to regret her decision to map out the district on her own. She saw far ahead what looked like a branch of Gringotts, it wasn't as big as the one in Diagon Alley, but that didn't mean it wasn't a sight to behold. It had tall, white walls that hurt the eyes when the sun hit them right, golden statues of fierce-looking Goblins on each side of the entrance. One had a business suit, the other a set of armour. Hermione was awed, how had they managed to make them look equally scary was a mystery to her.

Idly, she wondered if they would let her in. The Goblins at home hadn't let her go back in after she broke in their bank and freed they poor dragon, burned down one of their most old vaults, and killed that one nasty Goblin. She had felt sorry for that last one, had a whole breakdown when she found out after the battle. But then she had killed during that battle, she had seen the adults do it. It was self-preservation, she was protecting herself and her friends. But that Goblin had been an accident, collateral damage. That felt different.

Her mood soured. Now she only wanted to go hide in her new room. Great.

Hermione walked pass a bookshop, and for the first time didn't go inside, although she stopped right in front of it, looking through the window. The shop wasn't crowded, only a few patrons perusing the shelves, a kid seated cross-legged by a children's section, reading a sparkling book.

She walked away.

And stumbled into someone.

"I'm sorry!" The other person said, female. Hermione looked up, she was thin, although healthy looking, with big dark brown eyes hidden behind glasses.

"No. I... I'm sorry, I wasn't the one looking." Hermione replied, helping her up.

"Thanks..." And the girl walked away. Hermione stood there, feeling a bit stupid, stumbling into people wasn't her, she should be more careful.

She resumed her walk, thinking about everything back home. About how her life had gone down in a matter of months. She wondered if maybe she was getting depression, counted the days in her head, what was what people said? If after three months you didn't got better it really was depression? She scoffed. Right. But it all circled around three months, you would know if you are depressed after three months, if you're in love... Give it all three months!

She rolled her eyes.

"Stupid. Everything's stupid." Hermione muttered under her breath.

As if she could overcome the aftereffects of fighting a war in three months.

Hermione looked up to the sky, to the clouds going lazily about, shapeless. The sky was the same everywhere, she guessed. Although the air smelled different from back home.

Looking back at the shops, she saw a bookstore a few shops down from where she was. The building was incredibly thin, just wide enough for there to be a door, and the only thing marking it as a bookstore was a hanging sign by the name of "Craig's Antique Books". Why, everything was always antique in the wizarding world, Hermione thought to herself with some amusement.

Deciding to at least get new reading material, and wondering if there could be a book that had little to none magical aura so it wouldn't interfere too badly with all the technology at the residence.

The store had been magically expanded. Something Hermione had guessed at first glance. It wasn't too big though, the tent she had shared with the boys had been bigger on the inside, but what the store made for it with four floors connected by a spiralling staircase on both sides of the store.

Hermione walked slowly through each shelve, reading the spines and covers, looking for what, she didn't know, and guessed that whatever caught her attention then it would be it. She was halfway through the second floor when she found a book on Technomancy, and her eyes filled with curiosity, the talk with the President still on her mind. She took the book, placing it carefully on a casket she summoned from a rack filled with several others, and continued her walk with a smile. The brunette found other books, but there had been one that seemed to glow an eerie blue as she approached, the title depicted a fight of Gods, she recognized Thor and Loki, fighting with forest-green magic and lighting, but couldn't be sure if they were fighting each other or someone else.

She considered taking the book as well, but before her fingers could touch it to flick through the pages, another hand grabbed hers and stopped her nails from even scratching the cover.

It was the same girl of before. Or maybe she wasn't, there was something missing, but Hermione couldn't identify what.

The girl quickly released her hand, but not before making sure she had taken a step back from the book.

"I'm sorry for that, but you shouldn't touch that book, we believe is cursed." Hermione looked back at the book, then at the girl, there was a small plate on her chest with her name engraved in it. Vanessa.

"You work here?" The girl nodded, "if it's cursed then why keep it there where anyone can find it?"

"We can't move it" she frowned at the book, then gestured to Hermione to move away from it. "It appeared one day, just a few days ago, and anyone who touches it gets this strong snap of magic and ends up crushed onto the shelves." The girl explained as she gestured to an empty space in front of the cursed book with one hand, while with the other grabbing another book and giving it to Hermione, "Here, this one is also about Norse Mythology, and much better than any book I've read so far." She turned with a smile and Hermione followed, curious about the other book. "We tried placing a ward around it, but they just never hold. So we just keep and eye on it and try to stop anyone getting near it."

"That's not actually foolproof" Hermione mused out loud, then smiled sheepishly when the other woman turned to her and smiled apologetically.

"Not really, no. But we do what we can."

"I'm sorry, but did I bumped into you earlier on the street?" Hermione asked, the thought just kept coming back to her mind, they looked so much alike.

Vanessa turned fully, and studied her with amusement. "Must have been my sister, she was here a few minutes ago."

"Oh..." Hermione turned, touching the spine of another book although she wasn't paying real attention to the title.

After that Vanessa talked Hermione's ear off about books, most of which she found truly interesting, and by the end of the tour Hermione had several more books on her casket, hoping against hope that the magic contained in them would affect too badly anything in her room.

She was paying the grown man at the counter, Vanessa had scampered off towards another client, when Hermione thought about the hour. Quickly, she cast a Tempus charm, her eyes widened, it had been hours since she left the residence, and she could swear that no more than a few hours had passed since she left. MACUSA must have took longer than she thought, or maybe, looking at the stack of books, she had once again lost herself among the bookshelves.

"It's six dragots, ma'am." Hermione stared at him blankly. Dragots?

"Uh... I'm sorry, I only have... Eh... British currency?" The man stared at her with annoyance and tipped something in his ledger with his wand.

"Five Galeons with two sickles." Hurriedly, she payed an extra galeon for the bother and exited the bookstore, thinking to herself that she better went to the bank and changed her money.

How did the currency worked here anyway? It was just great, her luck sucked.

As she walked, Hermione placed her new books on her bag, it was time to go back.

Back at the Residence

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?" Hermione looked up from her book on her lap, Tony was staring down at her from the floor above with a frown on his face.

"Disappear. How did you do it?" He crossed his arms over the railing and leaned forward.

Hermione looked back down at her book to hide her smile. "I don't know what are you talking about, I simply went out." Then she stared ahead towards the windowpanes that formed the wall, "Though, why are you trying to track me down is another thing altogether."

"I worry about you, kid" Tony grumbled, Hermione's smile grew bigger.

"I can take care of myself good enough" she replied, and went back to her book.

"I hope so..." Tony said in a whisper that was probably meant not to be heard, but Hermione did, and spent the night wondering the meaning of it.

In her rooms

Hermione stared at the roof, lying on her bed with her hands clasped under her breast and one of her knees pulled up.

She was remembering her conversation with the President and Mr Yorker about letting her reveal their secret to Tony.

"Is that wise?" Asked the President with a glance at Mr Yorker.

"Not really. Mr Stark is known for being outspoken, loud, not for discretion," replied Mr Yorker, placing his elbows on the arms of his chair and pressing his fingers together under his nose. "Intelligence has found evidence of a recent association with a secret agency called SHIELD, we don't know how deep he will be, or if he's even really a member, but the head of the Agency, Director Nick Fury, has been seen talking with Mr Stark. It is also a well known fact that Mr Stark's father, Howard Stark, was a founding member of this secret agency."

The President seemed to contemplate his options. In truth, what Mr Yorker said didn't place Tony in good light. And this SHIELD thing was something she didn't know about, surely because of the secret part. Hermione kept hope, though, that maybe she wouldn't have to keep such a big part of herself hidden from them.

"You may speak about yourself and our world..." The President started, and Hermione straightened in her chair at attention, she knew a but was coming, "but Mr Stark will have to sing a magical contract, that will bind him to only speak of us and our world with people into the secret, people approved by yourself or this office, will be keyed into the contract.

Hermione blinked. Then blinked again. And just like that a smile broke into her face that illuminated the whole office.

With great effort, Hermione composed herself, placing her hands on her lap, she nodded once, "Thank you, Mr President."

"I hope you consider Technomancy, Miss Granger, I'm sure Mr Stark would be delighted to help you in this endeavour" replied the President casually, as if just thinking the possibility of including Tony in the research. Hermione had dealed with manipulative men, she knew she was being set, but in all honesty, she couldn't see the wrong turn it could take.

"And if he refuses?" She asked, just as casually, a mere question which purpose was to fill in a blank space.

"Nothing bad, just erasing Mr Stark's memories, as normal procedure would dictate, in case he is revealed the secret and refused to participate." Mr Yorker responded this time.

"What about me?"

"Nothing, you are free to accept or not our offer, we are not here to make you do anything. If you tell him, and he says no, a team will arrive and erase his memory. Simple. No consequences for yourself." Explained Mr Yorker with a shrug.

Hermione stared at them, her options playing in her mind. She could try, it was the least she could do. If he refused, she would have to live with it. "I will think about it and send a response as soon as I have one."

"Very well" said the President with a smile.

Hermione considered her options again.

She turned over, hugging her pillow. She would tell him.

Hermione snorted, she was thinking about this like she was a girl with a crush. Tony was too much of a manchild to attract her attention, and him and Pepper just clicked like no couple could, they were becoming her aunt and uncle, along with Happy. As fast and sudden as it was.

She went to sleep with thoughts of her parents, and what would they think of her now.

This chapter comes incredibly late by my standards. I just couldn't make it flow (I believe stress was to blame there). But here it is... Not as good as I wanted it to be, it feels like a filler, but anyway. Also, if any of you knows ANYTHING about changing Galeons, Sickles and Knuts into Dragots and Sprinks... Please let me know, I would appreciate it, I know nothing about that and I don't have much time to investigate or doing equations to figure it out...

Also, I don't like how in much crossovers one world goes totally to the background, I will try my best so this doesn't happen here. Hermione is a muggle-born witch, she belongs as much to the Muggle world as to the magic world.

To all of you that came back to read and have the patience to wait for an update... Thank you, you guys are the best! And for all new readers, welcome! And for all of you, I have a question, who do you think I should pair up Hermione with in the future? It's too soon for her to be thinking about love and stuff like that, but there will come a time where she might open up with someone, and I would love to know your suggestions and, more importantly, why should I pair her up with that character. I might construct the story in that direction...

Ps; it took me ages to find a song that fitted this chapter, I couldn't find one that I though , even now I'm not fully convinced.

2Ps; I would love to have a beta! Thank you for offering ElianaxIsabella