Still don't own Marvel or HP
"Did you see that guard's face?" Ginny snickers, referring to one of the many guards giving us weird looks as we reenter the building, each of us holding a bird.
"I can't wait to see the look on the Colonel's face. Isn't that right Brook?" I pet the pitch-black Harpy Eagle balancing on my shoulder. I had wanted an owl but, as soon as I walked into the shop and saw Brooklyn in a painfully small cage, staring at me as if she knew me, I bought her. She looks down at me with her golden eyes and nuzzles my hair. Maybe I was being sentimental with her name but, Ginny doesn't say anything.
"I can't believe you bought an eagle." She laughs, feeding her Great Horned Owl, Remi, a treat.
"She bought a what?" Rhodes asks, taking the phone from his ear. "What the fuck. You bought an eagle?! I'll call you back Whiskey Sierra."
"Who's W.S?" I ask. I had made it a point to learn the Phonetic Alphabet during the trio's year on the run. Never knew when it would come in handy.
"Redacted." The phone ringing cuts the Colonel off again and he answers it with a huff. "Whiskey Mike – how do you already know about the eagle? Stop calling each other dumbasses. Goodbye."
"I feel like he's the dad of the group." Ginny nudges me playfully. "Reminds me of that time during the Tournament when Harry and Ron were using you as a messenger and you scolded them."
"Okay I get it I was the mum. Miss no fun. I had to be after they flew that car into the Whomping Willow and then let it run away into the Forbidden Forest." I groan, not missing the look of abject horror of Rhodeys' face. "I'm surprised they're not dead. I still have a huge scar on my side from that damn tree."
"You got beat up by a tree? What the hell is going on over the pond?"
"Weirder stuff than that." Ginny shrugs. "I already wrote out a letter to Ron and Harry, kind of explaining what's going on. Colonel, hold Remi while I grab it." She places the large bird on his arm before trotting off to her room. Aside form Luna, most of our friends were in the dark about Ginny's and I's job. They think we work for the Department of Mysteries as Unspeakable Time Researchers.
"A letter? We have phones." His shocked resentment in his voice causing me to laugh brightly.
"They don't, the magic messes with phone signals. We either send letters by owls or talk through the fire. Let me show you." I pull the befuddled man by the arm towards the fireplace and reheat the coals before calling out to Luna.
She doesn't answer and after a few moments Rhodes begins to stand, claiming that I had to be messing with him.
"Hello? Mia? Is everything okay? I called your flat yesterday and no one picked up." Luna airy voice calls over the crackling of the coals and her face pops up in a puff of ash.
"You're shitting me."
"I'm fine Luna. Kingsley sent Gin and I to America for a prolonged mission. How are you feeling? Are the babies doing well?" I was eager to know. She would be the first of our group of friends to have children. It was amazing seeing how happy it made her.
"Oh they're doing well, kicking up a storm."
"Is that Luna Lovegood-Scamander I hear?" Ginny yells, startling the birds.
"Hello Ginny and man I do not know."
The redhead takes the ruffed owl off of Rhodey's arm, ties her letter to its leg, before letting her out the window.
Rhodes looks at me with wide eyes and I nudge him towards the fire.
"H-Hello ma'am. I'm Rhodey."
"I'm assuming you're the person helping my girls settle in?" Luna presses.
"Yes ma'am."
"Good to know. I have to sign off, Rolf just came home, and I smell baby Knarls."
"What?" Ginny asks with a scrunched face. "Never mind. We'll talk to you later Luna."
The coals extinguish and I turn to Ginny with a perplexed face.
"Aren't Knarls those hedgehogs that attack the people who feed it?" I ask.
"Does it surprise you?" She rolls her eyes.
"No, it sadly doesn't but, I don't think she should be around them in her condition. She's so small." Rhodey's phone goes off again and this time he answers it like a normal person.
"Hey Tony, yeah the braces are fine. No, you are not going to deprogram Vision. It was an accident." My ears perk up at the mention of his leg braces but, I hold back my questions for another time. Ginny and I would be staying here for the foreseeable future. I'd get my answers eventually.
"We'll just leave you to it then. Mia, want to set up Brook's perch then go down to the gym?"
I nod my head and we wave goodbye to an exasperated War Machine.
A month passed by in a blur with no sign from the World Destroyer Fury was so worried about. Gin and I had settled into New York nicely. Currently Rhodey, Ginny and I were in the building's gym. I watched upside down from my position on the pull up bar as Ginny guided the Colonel through some rehabilitation exercises. Between the exercises and Gin's neurotherapy healing, he was able to stop using the leg braces and could now run on the treadmill for short periods of time.
I push through another set of crunches before letting myself hang once more.
"Looking good Colonel Rho-" The words catch in my throat as I watch a beam of light crash into a building through the window. "Gin!"
Her face pales when she turns.
"That's Manhattan, we can apparate. We know the streets well enough." She ties her bag onto her waist.
"Rhodey, are you staying?" I ask but, when I turn to him, he's already on the phone while calling his suit to him. "Let's go Ginny."
I feel the familiar pull at my naval as we apparate towards the crash and we manage to land on the roof of the neighboring building.
"Holy shit." Ginny gasps as we hop to the next roof and look down through the hole, where two men are trying to calm a third man down.
I know who that is.
Without hesitation, I leap into the hole, landing next to the three men with my hands out.
"Doctor Bruce Banner?" I ask, silently warding myself as Ginny leaps down next to me.
The skittish doctor looks at me with wide eyes.
"We work with Nick Fury." Ginny states, making him relax slightly.
"Who the hell are you two?" I turn to face the severe voice and am greeted with a plane of runes in front of me.
They have magic but, it's not like ours. I've never seen anything like this.
"I am Hermione Granger and that's Ginny Weasley. We're here to help."
"He killed half of the Asgardians." Banner's voice cracks in a heartbreaking way. "He's coming here. He's coming to Earth."
"Gin, call Rhodey. Tell him to get Stark on the next flight over here." Ginny and I had spoken to the famous Iron Man a few times, only when we walked in on he and Rhodey video chatting. Stark was adamant on being left alone but, this was bigger than his wants.
He's also kind of a prick.
"We can handle that. Wong, find him." The taller wizard orders while still eyeing us suspiciously.
"Who are you guys?" Gin finally huffs once she gets annoyed at the constant side eye.
"Doctor Steven Strange; Master of the Mystic Arts."
His drawl reminds me of Professor Snape as well as his arrogance.
Though, the way he holds himself and the runic magic he casts is so much different from what we learned at Hogwarts. It wasn't Wizardry-
"You're a sorcerer." I snap. "You were trained at Kamar-Taj."
It was an ancient form of magic; I had vaguely come across it while searching old magics for ways to destroy Horcruxes.
"How did you-"
"Get used to it. I've come to the conclusion that there isn't much she doesn't know." Ginny shrugs while healing Banner's wounds. "Brightest Witch of our Age and all."
"Witches?" Strange's calm façade drops, momentarily caught off guard.
"Steven. I have found him. Open the portal." I watch in fascination as a fiery orange portal opens to a sunny park, revealing a confused Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
"Tony Stark? I'm Doctor Steven Strange. I need you to come with me." I bite back the urge to roll my eyes at Strange's haughty tone. I'm sure Strange and Stark would get along just fine. "Oh and Congratulation on the wedding by the way." He adds in a more normal way.
"Are you selling tickets to something?" Tony barks angrily and I step though the portal, coming face to face with the man I had only seen on a holographic screen.
"Mr. Stark. We need you. It's not an exaggeration to say that the universe is at stake." I watch as recognition flares in his eyes.
"Hermione? Ginny?" Pepper gasps. Like her fiancee, we had spoken to Pepper a few times in the past month. She was nicer than Tony and didn't call our magic Hocus Pocus.
"Hello, future Mrs. Stark." Ginny glibs from New York. "Congrats on the engagement!"
"Tony. Pepper." Bruce sighs before hugging the couple. "We need you to come with us."
Tony shares a sorrowful look with Pepper before saying goodbye and following us back through the portal.
"Take a seat man." I watch Bruce lead Stark to a couch as I take a seat on the mangled stair next to Ginny.
"At the beginning of the universe, there was nothing but, then the Big Bang happened and sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe." Wong demonstrates, using his strange magic. "These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence."
Strange calls the projection to him and lists them off until finally, his necklace shifts open, revealing the final stone; time.
"Tell me his name again." Tony asks, rising from his seat.
"Thanos. He's a menace that goes from planet to planet, wiping out half of the population." Tony continues circling the room while listening to Bruce. "He sent Loki. The attack on New York? That was him."
"He's a plague, and he already has the space and power stone, right Doctor?" Ginny shivers next to me. This was bigger than anything either of us had dealt with.
"Yes, and that already makes him the strongest creature in the universe. If he gets his hands on all six stones, Tony…"
"He could destroy life on a scale hither to and undreamt of." Strange finishes.
I activate Ginny and I's mindweb, wanting to tune out the overload of testosterone in the room.
"Are they seriously bickering right now?" I huff.
"Boys, they're the same everywhere. Do you think we should destroy the time stone?"
I chew on my answer for a while before nodding.
"It's the most efficient way to make sure Thanos doesn't get all six stones but, I have a feeling Strange and Wong would never allow that. Are they talking about ice cream now?"
"We know where this stone is. Vision is out there somewhere with the mind stone; we need to find him." Bruce mediates and Tony scoffs.
"Oh I'm sure Banner is going to love what Tony has to say next." Gin chuckles.
"Yeah, that's the thing. Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline."
"What?! Tony, you lost another super bot?" Gin and I had been in the room when Tony called with the news that Vision was AWOL. Rhodey's response mirrored Bruce's to a tee.
"I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving." I mouth Tony's word behind his back with a roll of my eyes. He should be taking this more seriously.
"Who could find Vision then?" Stark finally stops his pacing at Strange's question and swears under his breath.
A sickly feeling comes to my stomach when I realize Tony's answer.
"Probably Steve Rogers." He groans. "Maybe. But-"
"Call him."
"It's not that easy. God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we? The Avengers broke up. We're toast." Stark explains while fiddling with an old flip phone. "Cap and I fell out, hard."
Before he can continue, I accio the phone into my hands.
"I don't want to do this either Tony but, we can't waste time on petty grudges." I press the call button and after one ring, he picks up.
"Tony?" The sound of Steve Rogers voice nearly makes me nauseous.
"No, but he's next to me. We have a situation in New York. An alien named Thanos is coming for Vision's mind stone. We have the time stone with us but, Vision turned off his transponder two weeks ago and we need you to find him before Thanos does." I silently applaud myself for keeping my tone neutral as I explain the situation. I hand the phone to Bruce who, in turn, turns of the speaker
"Listen to her Cap. He is on his way. Thor's gone and-"
Ginny bolts to an upright position next to me, latching onto my arm when I feel the first tremor.
"He's here." Ginny gasps.
"Gin, I'm going smoke I want an aerial view of what's happening. Protect that stone." She nods and I cast the spell before Tony makes it to the door, launching myself into the air in a cloud of black smoke.
It had taken Gin and I years of infiltration to figure out what spell the Death Eaters used for flight but, once we did, it became one of the most useful spells in our arsenal. Though even flight wouldn't help against the giant ship that had parked over the city.
Well… Fuck.
I spot the team making their way towards the beam of blue light, casting away any large debris in their path. Once I'm sure I don't spot any other ships, I make my way down, landing behind what I'm guessing are two followers of Thanos.
"Is that a dried-out mermaid and a space Hulk?" Ginny's thought pops into my mind unwarranted as I quietly pull a pair of dual blades out of my bag.
I had finally gotten my magic to fuse with them sometime last week, after realizing I needed to use a core, much how wandmakers do. After hunting the occult shops of the Magic District, I had gotten my hand on Rougarou Hair, and Curupira hair. Both cores were notorious for being unpredictable but, I was eager to test them out.
I watch Ginny apparate away with Banner before returning without him and I take my chance, sliding past the smaller alien, slicing behind his knees as Tony get thrown through a building. The asphalt tore at my legs but, that was nothing compared to a car slamming me into a wall, slightly softened by a charm Ginny managed to cast.
"Bombarda!" The force of the blow, sends the car careening back towards him, making him lose his concentration as Wong returns the barrage of spikes that had been thrown. I felt as if I were moving in slow motion.
I watch in horror as Gin and Wong are flung back by a jet of water and the doctor is strangled by wires.
It's like nothing hurts this guy. His legs are bleeding heavily but it's like it doesn't affect him.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Gin stand and I take my chances.
I fling a cutting hex towards Strange, allowing his cloak to carry him away and am repaid by a block of stone I just barely had time to cast away. "Expulso!"
I cast my hex just as he sends another slab of concrete towards me, hitting me square in the ribs, causing me to cry out in pain.
C'mon Granger. Get back up.
I force myself to stand and throw a slicing hex at the alien, hitting him square in his retreating back and cutting it open.
"You chattering animal." He hisses, flinging a street sign that I somehow manage to sidestep while sending an array of hexes his way.
Oh you don't know the half of it.
"You're one to talk asshole." The words barely leave my moth before I'm slammed with another piece of debris and I fall into unconsciousness.
"We are not going Ginny!" I had to put my foot down. She had dragged me around all of New York today and my legs were crying from the effort.
"But we said-"
"No, you said we'd go. I never agreed to anything." It was nearing eight at night and we had somehow circled back to the theatre from earlier. Now she wanted to drag me to the bloody dance hall.
"Please Mia? When are we going to be in New York again? More than that when are we going to be in New York in the 1940s again?" She pouts, using the same puppy dog eyes Harry used whenever he wanted something.
Bollocks, they always work too.
I feel my resolve begin to weaken but, I try to stay strong.
"Not to mention, you need a night of fun. Think of it as a Fuck You Ronald Weasley night. While he's at home moping, we'll be dancing the night away, across the world, in one of the most iconic times in American history."
Oh, she was playing dirty. I had just broken up with Ronald the week before hand, after catching him and Pavarti Patil shagging in our bedroom.
"Too far?" She winces at the severe look on my face.
I thought on her words for a few moments. It was rare that she and I did anything for ourselves. Not to mention, there is absolutely no one here who would recognize us. This could be the first night in years that we could just have fun and not worry about Death Eaters or Voldemort or sleazy ex-boyfriends.
And I wanted to see James again despite how much of an awful idea it was.
"Okay." I nod and nearly get knock over as Gin latches onto me in a bone crushing hug.
"Yes! Okay let's go I think it's this way!"
As we got closer to the flow of music, my stomach tightened. I couldn't get James' smirk out of mind all day. He wore it much better than Malfoy ever had, and the thought made my heart pound. It was utterly ridiculous. I was so lost in thought that I hadn't realized we were in another darkened alley until Ginny gasps.
"Wait come here. Let's change." I snatch the wand out of her hand before she could cast.
"I'll be doing my own clothing this time, thank you." I very nearly hiss the words before cautiously handing the wand back to her. I had learnt my lesson after today. Never let Ginny transfigure shoes for me again. The sundress she made wasn't bad but, these shoes must have a bloodstain somewhere on them. I draw my own wand and within minutes, my blue sundress had turned to a red velvet number that stopped just above my knees and had a neckline that plunged just deep enough to push the hypothetical envelope. Tonight, I didn't have a reputation to uphold.
Only myself to impress. It was time for me to call on my Gryffindor courage everyone always says I have.
"I hate you sometimes. You literally have the perfect figure. I'll never understand how I'm the only girl and I didn't get my mum's breast genes." I hold back a laugh at her distressed face. I had never thought of myself as having the perfect figure but, I didn't want to argue with her tonight. "How does it look?"
She twirls in her now green dress and we share a chuckle at the taboo color. Despite the war being over, Harry and Ron still got miffed if anyone in the burrow wore Slytherin Green.
"They are idiots, aren't they?" I ask, referring the boys that were, quite literally, a world away from us as we leave the alley and enter the hall.
"My brother especially. Now, where is your man." I pointedly ignore her comment as I take in the scene before me. It was just like how the old films portrayed it; lively, crowded, and a live band was playing the music of the time. It was almost magical. "What are they doing?"
"It's called swing dancing Gin. It's the most popular dance of the forties; I wouldn't be surprised to see people jiving later into the night."
"I was going to ask how you know so much about this but, then I remembered who you are. Let's dance Mia." This time, I follow behind her willingly as we dive into the crowd of moving bodies. This was nothing like the Yule Ball and I loved it. It was fast paced, and we caught on quickly. We were even asked to dance by two men who were not as coordinated but still nice to spin around with.
It wasn't until well after our third dance that I felt eyes burning into my back.
"Those girls do not look happy." I barely hear Ginny snicker over the music and the urge to see what she was talking about pulsed through me but, my body refused to move. "Are you okay?"
"If I don't move, do you think he'll see me?" I didn't need to see the eyes to know who they belonged to. The chills that had been running down my spine all day had intensified three-fold. Gone was my Gryffindor courage.
This was unlike me. I wanted to run through the door and never look back. Viktor Krum gave me butterflies the night of the Ball but, this muggle gave me wasps that swarmed restlessly in my stomach.
"Woman up Granger." Ginny snorts before shoving me backwards and disappearing.
"You bitch!" The words barely leave my throat before two arms wrap around my waist, stopping what would have been an embarrassing fall. Though, as James lifts be back to a standing position, I would have taken the fall over this mortification.
"Well, if I didn't already recognize you, your language for sure would have let me know who you were." I could hear the smirk in his voice and my eyes roll on their own accord. "Never have I heard a woman curse as much as you do."
"While I appreciate the help Mr. Barnes, you can let go of me now." I turn to face him, arms across my chest and a half-hearted glare at the ready when an ear-piercing voice nearly makes me wince.
"Yeah Bucky, let go of the drip and come dance with us. You promised us last week and you disappeared." My eyes fall on the pair of pretty women who were beckoning the man who still hadn't let go of me. Their glares didn't faze me but, their words did. It was odd how people from a different decade could remind me of my old classmates. They were snobbish, rude, and rubbed me the wrong way.
I took one look at the duo and could tell they were the type that never got told no. They didn't have to want for a thing, they always had it given to them. I bet that if I did say something to them, they'd scurry off like rats.
My wand hand itched and I bite my tongue against the barrage of insults that want to fly from my mouth. It was a long list of expletives that I had been compiling against one, Pansy Parkinson for the past several years.
One of the girls scoffs and looks me up and down in disgust; just like Pansy the Pureblood Priss.
James' grasp on my waist tightening shocks me from my thoughts and he gives me a smirk that screams are you just going to take that?
Emboldened by his eyes on me, I level a glare at the two women, who stiffen at my retaliation.
"I didn't ask two dead from the neck up, mangy slags for their input, and considering his hands are on my waist, he's developed past wanting you pikey bints. Makhaĭ se ot litseto mi, kuchki." The women's wide eyes tell me that they have no idea what I said, and I silently curse the English/American language barrier though, it may have been the Bulgarian that threw them off. "It means take a powder, ladies. Get lost."
The girls scurry off at my hiss and the man behind me chuckles deeply.
"Oh don't you start laughing, you flirt. I won't be fending off your flames all night." My stern face melts when he smiles at me.
"You really are a rare bird. It's not every day the Ford twins get told off. Most people are too afraid to tell them no and no one looked as good as you did while doing it." He finally takes his hands from my waist and my body misses their warmth instantly. I watch as his eyes wander down my body before climbing back up to meet my eyes with a roguish grin. He really is a flirt.
A handsome, charming, flirt.
"You'll find that there isn't much I am afraid of Mr. Barnes."
"That's Sargent Barnes, or Bucky to you Miss Mina." The subtle brag about his rank didn't slip past me but, it brought a smile to my face anyway. His brashness was a welcome and exciting change from the men of my time; most of which were too intimidated by me to actually approach me. Of course, then there were the men who were brave enough to try but not smart enough to keep up. He was making me feel that same rush of adrenaline I got before a fight and bantering with me easily.
"I'm afraid I'm not one for nicknames James." Though, his name for me wasn't one I hadn't heard before and it wasn't awful. "But I am a fan of Mina."
"Then I'm trademarking it." I scoff at his words. "Anyone else calls you that, tell them it's taken."
"I must write up a contract then. When do you ship off Sergeant?" His grin falters for a moment and my chest tightens.
"First thing tomorrow. I'm headed to Camp Davis in Pender. How quickly do can you write? I expect nothing less than three pages. This is a very serious document." I could tell he was masking; hiding his worry behind humor and pride. I had done the same for such a long time, I could spot it from kilometers away.
"Have you got a pen? I'll start right now." I stand on my toes and try to see above the crowd around us, looking for something to write on.
"Swing a wing with me first." His hand circles my wrist, pulling me towards him. "You were knockin it out earlier."
"And people think English slang is difficult." I huff, causing him to laugh. "Wait, were you watching Ginny and I dance?" A sly grin creeps onto my face as I expect him to stumble over his words.
"No sugar." To my dismay he didn't stumble or stutter; instead, he leant down closer to my face. "I was watching you dance."
"Aren't you a cheeky bastard?" I huff, hoping the dim lights hide my blush.
"Is that a no?" He presses, placing his other hand back on my waist and spinning us before I can answer.
"James!" A laugh bursts from my lungs as we swing around the dance floor.
"Mina!" He teases swinging me around with ease.
"Mia! Bucky! Say cheese!" I hear Gin yell and I spot her with a camera which I'm too dizzy to ask about where she got it.
"You heard the lady, say cheese." I look up at the man next to me, grinning at the camera and I get the sudden urge to surprise him, catch him off guard like he had been doing to me since this morning.
Hermione Grange would never kiss a stranger but…
Mina Granger would.
I did just that, standing on the tips of my toes, I plant a red stained kiss to James' cheek, just as the flash goes off.
"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?" Ginny gasps, snapping another picture and disappearing back into the crowd before I can tell her off.
"Am I to assume you don't do that often?" James pulls be back to him, wearing a bright smile.
And? Is that a slight blush?
"I don't do that ever." I grin. "You lave a lip print, let me wipe it off for you."
He catches my hand centimeters from his face, looking at me with intense eyes as he kisses my fingers, causing a flare of heat to consume my body.
"No way sugar. This here is my lucky charm now." He spins me swiftly then pulls me close and I get lost in his gaze. It was surreal, a room filled with beautiful women and Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes was dancing and flirting with me; looking only at me. Looking as if he wanted to stay here forever just as I did.
"One of a kind." I sigh dizzily, whether it be from the spinning or him, I don't know nor care.
"One of a kind." He echoes, leading us into a slow dance despite the fast tempo music.