TITLE: Spellbound
DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling. Tony Stark, SHIELD, Nick Fury, and everyone else belong to Marvel Comics / Marvel studios, as does any of the characters in the MCU that get dragged kicking and screaming into this... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine… I'm just here for the fun.
"You look like I did when I first saw that," Tony chuckled as he looked over to see Pepper walking back into the living area with Molly following next to her along with several floating mugs, a bowl of sugar with some spoons sticking out of it, and a bottle of milk. "Tried to see the wires yet?" He asked with a smirk, knowing that was the first thing he'd tried to look for when he'd walked into the Weasley kitchen.
"This is all really real?" Pepper asked hesitantly as she came to the couches, watching as Molly directed the floating mugs and bits down to the table where they landed silently.
"It's real," Tony laughed. "My daughter is a witch." He said with a grin, missing how Hermione span around to look at him when he mentioned the 'daughter' word.
"Of course she is," Pepper muttered to herself, fighting the urge to rub her temples in frustration.
"Anyway, they were just telling me about this spell where they turn things into dragons!" Tony explained, bringing Pepper and Molly up to date with the conversation they'd missed.
"Dragons?" Pepper asked in shock, looking at the two girls.
"Not real dragons," Hermione explained with a little smile. "Only small ones."
"Wait, there's real dragons?" Tony interrupted with wide eyes. "Really real dragons?" He asked, parroting Pepper's expression.
"My brother Charlie's a dragon tamer," Ginny explained. "He works out in Romania at a dragon preserve there."
"We're not visiting dragons Tony!" Pepper said quickly when she saw Tony's face, quashing the idea before he could even vocalise it, much to the amusement of the two girls that laughed at her.
"Spoilsport," Tony grumbled to himself. "Anyway, they can't do the dragon spell thing anyway, they're not allowed to do magic outside of school."
"Oh?" Pepper looked up at this bit of news. "Why not?" She asked in confusion, from what she'd just seen in the kitchen she could imagine that magic was very handy to have around.
"It's the law," Hermione explained. "The law bans the use of underage magic outside of school." She said with a sigh.
"Until we're seventeen," Ginny explained further.
"Oh," Pepper frowned but accepted this for the moment.
"Anyway, dragons aside, and we will be talking more about dragons later on," Tony said with a grin. "We were talking about going shopping? Hermione needs... she needs to get a few things. We could go out, do her shopping, have a wander around, can get something to eat while we're out?"
"Ok," Pepper nodded hesitantly, wondering now what sort of things Hermione needed.
"I should really be off myself," Arthur said with a smile from his seat on the couch. "Back to the old grindstone." He said with a chuckle. "Are you going shopping with the girls then?" He asked, looking at Molly.
"Yes dear, I think I will," Molly smiled with a nod.
"Of course, I'll be..." Arthur smiled hesitantly, looking to the two girls. "I've got a meeting tonight, so It will be a late one." He explained, hoping Molly caught on that he was due to meet the rest of The Order tonight at Grimmauld Place to keep them up to date about what was going on inside the Ministry. "Well, it was lovely to meet you." He said, smiling to Pepper. "And good to see both of you are doing well." He said while looking at Ginny and Hermione. "Don't forget, lots of questions, I want to know everything." He said with a laugh, drawing an embarrassed blush from Ginny.
"Oh!" Tony bounced excitedly. "Are you going to do the thing? The vanishing twisty thing?" He asked hopefully, looking around to Hermione. "What's it called?"
"Apparating," Hermione said with a laugh. "Disapparition is when you leave." She explained.
"Apparating," Tony nodded, forcing himself to remember that.
"I was going to use the lift," Arthur smiled bashfully. "Remarkable engineering, really, I'd love to hear all about how..."
"Not now Arthur," Molly interrupted, swiping at his knee.
"Sorry dear," Arthur chuckled as he stood up. "Well, if you insist." He said with a smile. "Do you still want me to come around tomorrow?" He asked, looking between Molly and Tony.
"You're welcome any time," Tony shrugged.
"I think we'll see how things go," Molly nodded, feeling a bit more at ease now that she was sitting comfortably and talking with Tony and Pepper without any secrets between them.
"Then I shall see you when I see you," Arthur smiled, bowing with a grin to everyone before twisting his hand on the spot and vanishing with a crack, causing Pepper to jump in her seat slightly, startled by the noise and effect of someone vanishing into mid-air.
"So cool," Tony grinned, having eagerly watched Arthur vanish on the spot.
"What just happened?" Pepper demanded, staring at the spot where Arthur had just vanished.
"He... apparated? Am I saying it right?" Tony asked, looking to Hermione for confirmation. "Yes, got it right." He grinned happily.
"It's moving from one place to another, without going between," Hermione explained to the confused Pepper. "Really tricky magic."
"Can you do that?" Pepper asked, looking at the two girls.
"Not until sixth year," Hermione shook her head. "You have to be seventeen for that too." She explained.
"Charlie failed his apparition test first time," Ginny explained with a laugh. "He appeared five miles away in a muggle market." She said with a giggle.
"Don't make fun of your brother," Molly frowned over, admonishing her for sharing the story. "We'll see how you do when you take your test." She said firmly.
"Sorry mum," Ginny whispered bashfully.
"Five miles?" Tony nodded respectfully. "That's pretty far."
"Professor McGonagall apparated back to Hogwarts," Hermione explained with a smirk.
"Where's that?" Tony asked, thinking that in all the conversation upstairs, he hadn't even asked where this school of theirs was.
"Scotland," Hermione said, breaking into a grin when she saw the realisation dawn on Tony's face. "About seven hundred miles north."
"I take it back, that's cool!" Tony grinned back.
"Disappearing people aside for the moment," Pepper sighed, shaking her head at the antics of everyone in the room, and doing her best not to notice how similar Tony and Hermione's smiles were when they got excited about something. "Are you sure you're ok for some shopping?" She asked, looking to Hermione.
"I'm sure," Hermione nodded back. "I... I need to keep going, keep thinking about other things." She explained.
"Ok," Pepper smiled, accepting that for now. "Where do we need to go?"
"Charing Cross Road?" Hermione asked, looking to Molly to check. "We'll have to go through the Leaky Cauldron."
"JARVIS? What's the traffic like to Charing Cross?" Tony asked aloud.
"Approximately twenty minutes' drive sir," JARVIS responded.
"Fine, forward directions to my phone," Tony nodded. "Have one of the cars brought around to the parking lot, the Audi, enough space for us all."
"I will notify the attendants sir." JARVIS' voice came back.
"Who was that?" Molly asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Hermione said he's like a ghost or a house elf?"
"JARVIS?" Tony asked. "Yeah, he's a... Sorry, I've got no clue how to explain him to someone without talking about computers." He said, looking to Hermione for help.
"Just think of him as a ghost Mrs... Molly," Hermione explained, correcting herself at the last second. "He's like a personal assistant, but without a body."
"Without magic?" Molly asked dubiously.
"Definitely," Hermione nodded firmly. "I can't really explain it any more though, I don't know enough about computers to explain him."
"And I don't know enough about magic to compare him to anything," Tony filled in with a shrug. "What's a house elf anyway? I got the ghost part... which means ghosts are real, and we'll be having that discussion as well some time."
"Tony," Pepper muttered, shaking her head at him. "Come on, we should get going before traffic picks up for the lunch hour."
"Right," Tony nodded, standing up from his seat. "Discussion tabled until after shopping." He grinned, making sure he had his wallet in his back pocket where he'd stored the British money Pepper had arranged for the office reception to have ready for him. "Bathrooms first before we go?" He asked, making sure everyone was ready. "Ok then, let's go." He smiled when the girls shook their head and stood up ready to follow him through to the lift.
Charing Cross Road
Tony frowned as he followed the two girls through the busy streets, inwardly keeping an eye out for any press or photographers that would be ready to mob them at a moment's notice. The drive through the city had been oddly relaxing, despite being stuck in traffic most of the way, the girls had filled in the time by talking about Diagon Alley and what sort of shops they wanted to visit there.
"What am I looking for?" Tony asked as the girls pointed towards a few shops down the road from where they were walking. He could see an old book shop and what looked to be a vintage record shop, but neither looked like what they were looking for.
"Girls, Mr... Tony and Pepper can't see The Leaky Cauldron," Molly explained quietly.
"Right, sorry." Hermione shook her head bashfully. "Professor McGonagall led... my mum and dad through before." She explained quietly.
"I'll show Pepper the way, why don't you take Tony," Molly said with a nod, holding out her hand towards Pepper. "Doesn't hurt dear, nothing to be afraid of." She explained when she saw Pepper's hesitant look.
"Whatever," Tony nodded, taking Hermione's hand and letting her lead him between the two shops. His eyes kept focusing over to the record store and his feet seemed to want to walk there automatically, but Hermione kept pulling him forward and after a few steps more the urge to walk away left his body in a rush. "Whoa," He muttered to himself, shaking his head as the strange feeling passed over him. "You feel that?" He asked, looking around to Pepper.
He was sure they'd been outside a moment ago, and didn't remember walking through a door, but as he looked around to check on Pepper and Molly, he could see the old wooden door behind them and a gritty old stone wall between them and the road outside.
"Weasleys,"
Tony instantly flicked his head back at the voice after seeing Pepper was as confused as he was, seeing that they were in a rather small and old-fashioned bar, it definitely had an old-world aesthetic that grated on him instantly, with wood slab tables dotted around and a few customers talking and smoking on long pipes as they moved around the floor area.
"Tom, good to see you again." Molly smiled over, letting go of Pepper's hand as she walked through. "Just passing through dear."
"Bit early for the school shopping ain't it?" The man from behind the bar asked, raising an eyebrow. "Go on through, quite day for it." He said with a nod.
"Come on," Hermione nodded, letting go of Tony's hand gingerly, feeling a bit awkward that that had been the first real physical contact they'd had been each other.
"What is this place?" Tony asked as he followed Hermione's lead, looking around the bar and trying to figure out how he'd missed such an obviously dirty and out of place bar from the outside.
"The Leaky Cauldron," Hermione explained as she led him through the pub. "It's actually the oldest pub in London, there's history here going all the way back to the fifteen hundreds." She explained, looking up at Tony happily.
"Looks it," Tony nodded, feeling that if anything the bar can't have changed much in the last five hundred years at all.
"Here we are," Hermione said as she led him through to a small courtyard out the back of the pub itself, breathing in a bit easier now that the smell of tobacco and huffleweed wasn't permeating anything from the pipe smoking wizards inside the pub.
"I've got it dear," Molly smiled, stepping between the two and bringing her wand up, tapping one of the bricks three times in quick succession.
"The entrance is hidden away," Hermione explained at Tony's curious look, watching as his eyes went wide when the bricks on the wall started to move and rearrange themselves, creating a large stone arch in what had been a solid brick wall before.
"You saw that right?" Tony asked, looking over at Pepper who was looking just as dumbfounded as he felt.
"Come on dears, we haven't got all day." Molly chided gently, walking through the archway onto the street that opened up on the other side.
"This is Diagon Alley," Hermione explained, gently tapping Tony on the arm to get him to walk forwards alongside her.
"This is all hidden in the middle of London?" Pepper asked in amazement, taking a couple of quick steps to walk up next to Tony and the two girls.
Tony on the other hand couldn't reply, his eyes were darting all around the various shops as Hermione led them down the old cobbled street. "Self-stirring cauldrons?" He asked aloud in a whisper, his head turning to try and glance in the window to get a better look before he was interrupted by loud screeching noises, causing him to turn his head again to the other side of the street.
"There's owl emporiums," Hermione explained, seeing where his attention was. "Harry got his owl from there, I think that's where... where Pigwidgeon came from as well." She explained, quickly omitting the fact that Sirius had bought Ron the little owl after Scabbers had turned out to be Peter Pettigrew.
"Right," Tony nodded at this, trying to take that bit of information on board while being faced with all the shops and sights around him. "It's like I walked back in time a hundred years." He muttered to himself, seeing the various candle lit lamps outside each store that were extinguished at the moment.
"There's the bank," Hermione said, breaking Tony out of his thoughts, pointing down the street to a large white building with heavy bronze doors.
"Oh look mum, they've got the new Firebolts!"
Tony looked from where Hermione was pointing to the impressive white building over to the store Ginny was looking at. "Quality Quidditch Supplies?" He asked, looking to Hermione.
"The flying game," Hermione explained.
"It's a sport!" Ginny corrected her with a long-suffering smile. "That's where you get your brooms, quaffles and broom wax from, they've got books and uniforms and..."
"We're not here for Quidditch dear," Molly interrupted, cutting off Ginny's excited explanation of the store. "The bank is just ahead, have you got your key?" She asked, looking to Hermione.
"I keep it on a necklace," Hermione explained, touching where it was hidden under her t-shirt. Inwardly thankful that the hospital hadn't damaged or lost it after the accident. Thankfully it had been neatly placed in the bag Tony had given her, with her broken wand, keys and purse along with her other things.
"Always a good way to keep it safe," Molly smiled over reassuringly as she led the way through the bank doors, holding them open for everyone to walk by and smiling in good humour at the way Tony's eyes went wide at the goblin guards at either side inside the doors.
"Goblins," Hermione whispered up to him, watching as he looked at the small magical beings in shock. "They run Gringotts," She explained, moving forward to open the second silver doors that led into the main bank itself.
"Goblins?" Tony asked, looking over to Pepper who was trying to be as discreet as she could while staring at the two goblins in question. "What do they..."
"Bill, how are you dear!" Molly practically squealed as she moved into the bank, stepping around Tony easily to see her eldest son. "I didn't know you were working today!" She exclaimed.
Tony stepped back to let Molly through, watching as she strode a few steps towards a tall man in a rumpled shirt and leather waistcoat, his long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail but a quick glance to Ginny's smile showed similarities in the face and the same red hair.
"Mum, what are you doing here?" Bill asked, looking at the strange group. "I'm on desk duty today, just helping out with things really." He explained. "Sorry to hear about... you know." He said softly, looking to Hermione.
"Thanks," Hermione whispered back, smiling sadly to Bill in response.
"This is Tony, and Pepper." Molly said, introducing the two strangers. "This is Bill, our eldest." She said proudly as Bill stepped forwards to shake Tony's hand.
"Muggles," Molly whispered. "Hermione's... family." She explained, not wanting to say anything else before Hermione had chance to explain everything.
"Gotcha," Bill nodded as he shook Tony's hand and then Pepper's. "Nice to meet you both." He said with a smile. "Here to exchange some money?" He asked, looking back to Tony. "Spegoth can help there, he's on the exchange counter today. Pretty quiet day for him really, but he's getting on a bit now." He said with a wry chuckle.
"Yes, that," Tony nodded, catching on to what Bill was asking. "Exchange money and find out about how I transfer money through from my account into hers." He explained, nodding to Hermione.
"Ah right," Bill nodded along. "You'll want to go up a floor for that," He said with a grin. "Fleur's up there in the Muggle Accepted Transfers and Trade department." He explained. "I'll show you up." He said eagerly.
"Fleur's working here?" Hermione whispered, looking at Ginny who frowned back in response to the news.
"We'll wait here dears," Molly interrupted, putting her hand on Ginny's shoulder. "Vault transfers are family business only." She said when she caught Ginny's despondent look.
"Right," Hermione nodded, remembering that.
"I'll wait too then," Pepper said, still in awe of the building and looking around the polished white marble and gold inlay that ran through the entire hall, making it far more opulent than any bank she'd ever been in before.
"We could meet you at Floreans?" Hermione suggested. "That way you're not just sitting around here." She explained.
"Good idea dear," Molly nodded over. "Ice cream while we wait?" She asked, looking at Pepper then down to Ginny.
"Sounds good," Tony smiled back. "I'll get this done then meet you there?" He said with a reassuring smile to Pepper before letting Bill lead him off with Hermione towards a set of marble stairs leading upwards.
Tony tried to keep his eyes off of the small 'goblins' that were scurrying around as Bill led them up the stairs to the next floor then along a corridor and past several offices that were behind closed and blacked off doors.
"In here," Bill nodded, pointing to the door that had M.A.T.T. stencilled on the glass in gold filigree before pushing the door open and stepping through, holding the door from the other side so that Tony and Hermione could enter.
"Bill! What are you doing 'ere?"
Tony looked over to where the voice had come from and faltered a few steps, the girl speaking was obviously a few years older than Hermione but not by much more than that, but was physically stunning to look at. He watched as she stood up to greet them, and must have equalled Pepper's own height at least, with long blonde hair that was practically golden and shimmering in the light where it was tied back from her face.
"Just bringing these two up for you," Bill chuckled as he walked over. "Hermione, you already know Fleur," He said with a smile. "This is Tony." He said, gesturing to where Tony was trying to shake himself out of staring at Fleur.
"Tony Stark, nice to meet you," Tony managed to force out, stepping forwards from Hermione and offering his hand.
"And you," Fleur smiled, shaking the offered hand. "'ow can I 'elp you?" She asked, gesturing for them to sit down at the seats by her desk.
"I didn't know you were working here." Hermione said quickly, feeling a bit put out over the way she'd just seen Tony looking at Fleur.
"Eet iz a quiet job, ze goblins wanted someone to 'elp with the muggle side so zey did not 'ave to bother wiz it." Fleur explained. "It iz 'elping me with my eenglish, but iz only part time during ze school 'olidays." She said with a smile.
"Oh," Hermione nodded at that, understanding that obviously the goblins in Gringotts must have wizards to help them transfer muggle money back into circulation, as they'd stand out far too much in the muggle world.
"Right, yes," Tony nodded, shaking his head again to clear his vision a bit. He was sure for a second he'd seen the girls' skin glowing a feint silver when Bill had sat next to her, but it had obviously just been his imagination from a lack of sleep or coffee, or possibly both. "Hermione already has an account here. I'd set up a trust fund for her, but obviously it'd be better for her to have the money here rather than a bank."
"Naturelle," Fleur nodded in agreement. "You wiish to tranzfer ze money from zis muggle bank into 'er vault?"
"Yes," Tony said after translating the broken English for a second. "She can access it whenever she wants from wherever she wants right?" He asked, checking between the three people at the desk.
"Gringotts have branches in all the major wizarding cities," Bill confirmed with a nod. "They can transfer access to the vault to whichever branch she visits."
"Great," Tony nodded at that, pulling out his phone. "How do we do this then? Do you have a sort code or bank details I can do the transfer with?" He asked, looking back to Fleur. "I'm guessing you don't have a website or anything for me to transfer it through there?"
"Non," Fleur chuckled for a moment, shaking her head. "Ze goblins are partnered with ze muggle banks in London." She explained. "Ze..." She paused, looking to Bill for clarification.
"The Bank of England," Bill explained. "We can open an account with an adjoining vault with them, or use your vault details to open an account there," He said, gesturing to Hermione. "Since Hermione already has a vault, it's a simple matter of transferring her details to the Bank of England to set up an adjoining account."
"Great, how long will that take?" Tony asked curiously, hoping that he at least had enough money on him to exchange so that Hermione could get her wand today.
"Ten minutes, probably less, it's a pretty quiet day before the school rush starts." Bill explained, nodding to where Fleur was already bringing out some papers from her files along with a quill and a small bottle of ink.
"Fill 'zese in," Fleur explained, sliding the paper in front of Hermione. "I need your key as well," She said with a smile.
"Right," Hermione nodded, reaching to her neck and unclasping the thin gold chain her mum had bought her to keep the small key on, sliding it off of the chain before placing it on the desk next to the parchment Fleur had got ready for her.
"Want me to hold that?" Tony asked, looking at where Hermione was touching the gold chain with tears welling up in her eyes.
"It... it was the last thing mum bought for me," Hermione explained, shaking her head. "Last Christmas she bought it so I wouldn't have to keep the key in my purse." She said softly, remembering the Christmas present fondly.
Tony nodded at that, seeing the fond attachment Hermione had to the chain and understanding why she'd never take it off now.
"'ow much will you be tranzferring?" Fleur asked, looking to Tony now as Hermione wiped her eyes quietly before looking down to the parchment.
"Ten million, US." Tony said simply, catching how Fleur and Bill both immediately stopped what they were doing and looked up at that, even Hermione nearly dropped the quill she'd been picking up when he spoke.
"Really, you... I can't..." Hermione stammered out quickly.
"Look, it's already in a trust fund for you," Tony said with a shrug. "You can have it there, or have it here? But it's yours, either way." He explained. "I'll transfer it straight to the account when it's ready." He said, looking back to Fleur.
"I cannot aut'rise a tranzfer zat large," Fleur said with wide eyes. "Ze bank manag'r iz ze only person zat could." She said quickly.
"I'll get him," Bill said, standing up from the desk. "He'll want to be involved in this." He explained before moving away from the desk and leaving the room, closing the door behind his nearly jogging movements before he practically ran to the stairs to head up to the bank managers office.
"I can't just take..." Hermione started but was cut off by Tony shaking his head.
"You're my daughter, it's my responsibility to make sure you're taken care of like this." Tony explained firmly, not catching the way Fleur's eyes went wide again when he mentioned Hermione was his daughter. "You're going to have shares in the company as well, it'll all go to you if anything happens to me." He explained, seeing her wide-eyed reaction to that news before he turned back to Fleur. "Ten million, US." He said with a nod.
"I... I see," Fleur nodded quickly, realising she'd drastically underestimated the muggle in t-shirt and jeans now. "Will zere be..."
"Hmph, Mr Weasley says you need my authorisation."
Tony looked around at the strange nasally voice, seeing an old bald goblin with a wiry beard and half-moon glasses walking slowly into the room with Bill behind him, watching as he saw the goblin was measuring him up just as much as he was staring at the goblin.
"Mr Warwick," Fleur immediately stood up respectfully. "Zis is Meester Stark, 'e wishes to tranzfer ten million dollars into Miss Grangerz vault."
"Ah, I see." The goblin nodded, grinning and baring his teeth at the pair sitting down. "You are filling out your vault details?" He asked, staring at Hermione.
"Yes sir," Hermione said quickly, bowing her head slightly in respect to the old goblin that was talking to her.
"Good," The Goblin smiled again, baring his teeth as he looked at Mr Stark. "Such a large transfer, you can accommodate this easily yes?"
"Easily," Tony parroted back, staring back at the goblin and refusing to flinch from the sharpened teeth he was displaying.
"We will have to move your vault to accommodate this influx of capitol Miss Granger," The Goblin explained. "A new Granger vault will be made available to you in our high security floor."
"Can I see the vault?" Tony asked curiously.
"You doubt our security?" The goblin snarled, looking back to Tony and baring his teeth again.
"I'd be a fool not to double check security when it's my money we're dealing with." Tony said, staring back at the goblin without blinking.
"Good!" The goblin spat out with a wide grin. "Bah, wizards think they know everything, never checking anything!" The goblin chuckled darkly. "Good to see muggles aren't as ignorant."
"Are you ok with zat?" Fleur asked, looking at where Hermione was trying to fill in the parchment with her details on while at the same time following the talk between Tony and the goblin.
"Yes... yes, sorry." Hermione said, shaking her head as she finished off putting her details down. "I'm... I'm not living here anymore though." She said quietly where she'd written down her parents address on the parchment automatically. "My mum and dad... there was an accident." She explained, rubbing at her eyes.
"Quelle terrible nouvelle. Je suis désolé pour toi et ta famille," Fleur bowed her head at the news, slipping back into French automatically before correcting herself. "I... I am sorry, I 'ad not 'eard."
"Thank you," Hermione whispered back. "Tony... Mr Stark... he's... he's my real father." She explained. "He came when he heard... about the accident."
"I see," Fleur nodded, trying to understand what had happened. "You can c'ange your address later, it iz not important now." She said with a small smile, trying her best to make things easier for Hermione.
"Is that all done?" The goblin asked, looking over as Fleur took the parchment from Hermione to look over.
"Yes Mr Warwick," Fleur nodded, checking the account details were correct before picking up the key Hermione had left on the table.
"Have the account set up," The goblin said firmly. "Vault seven twenty will be renamed to The Granger Vault." He said, his voice taking on a very official tone as he spoke.
"Yes Mr Warwick," Fleur said quickly, taking the key and parchment over to the filing area to send over to the wizards working at The Bank of England so they could set up the account on their side.
"Now we wait," The goblin snarled, looking over at Hermione and Tony and nodding with grudging respect to him for how he'd acted.
"Are you sure?" Pepper asked hesitantly, looking down at her Chocolate Frog ice cream cone where little brown frogs were jumping in and out of the ice cream, burrowing holes in it before coming out the other side.
"Quite sure dear," Molly smiled as she gestured for them all to take a seat. "I'm sure you're providing Ginny with enough food, an ice cream treat each is hardly a bother." She said as she took one of the seats at an empty table outside.
"They're not real frogs," Ginny smiled, enjoying her own strawberry and kiwi cone. "It's just chocolate that's been charmed like that." She explained.
"Oh," Pepper nodded but didn't really take in the explanation, still watching the small frogs jump around.
"Don't let it melt," Molly smiled as she enjoyed her own pecan and caramel truffle cone, doing her best to hide a laugh when one of the small frogs jumped off of the chocolate and landed on Pepper's hand, making her squeak in shock.
"It's just chocolate," Ginny explained again, reaching out and plucking the small frog off of Pepper's hand with her thumb and forefinger. "They only have a few good jumps in them before the charm wears off."
"Just chocolate?" Pepper asked hesitantly, looking at where the frog was indeed melting in Ginny's fingers.
"See," Ginny nodded, popping the small frog into her mouth and enjoying the taste before rubbing her fingers on her top. "Chocolate."
Pepper nodded at that, picking one of the small frogs up with her own fingers this time, ignoring the fact that it was wriggling and trying to jump from her fingers before she swallowed her nerves and quickly put it in her mouth, half expecting it to jump out but then sighing when it melted almost instantly on her tongue, dissolving into the most delicious chocolate she'd ever tasted.
"See," Ginny smiled over. "It's a Honeydukes mix, they make it for Mr Fortescue special."
"It's delicious," Pepper said in amazement.
"I like the strawberry," Ginny explained. "Chocolate is good, but strawberry is my favourite."
"I'm allergic," Pepper said with a sad smile towards Ginny's red ice cream. "It makes me break out in a rash."
"Oh," Ginny nodded, not knowing what else to say to that.
"Tell us about you dear," Molly smiled over. "How long have you and Tony been together?" She asked, wanting to know a bit more about the woman now. "Careful you don't get chocolate on those clothes, white stains dreadfully you know."
Pepper nodded at that, using her finger to wipe up some of the melted ice cream that was dripping down her cone before licking it off. "May, well April really." Pepper explained. "I've been working for Tony for years now, but it's only really been official since April."
"Oh my, still all new to you then," Molly smiled wistfully. "I do hope Hermione hasn't put any pressure on either of you." She said hopefully, looking over to watch Pepper's reaction. "It must be hard taking in a young girl like that."
"Hermione? No, not at all." Pepper shook her head quickly. "I came to be with Tony as soon as he told me about her." She explained. "I'd... I never thought about kids myself, taking care of Tony is a big enough job without throwing children in the mix." She said with a laugh. "Hermione... she's part of Tony now, I see how he looks when he's talking about her. He might not have been able to see her growing up, but he's never going to let her out of his sight now he's got her."
"I hope you don't mind me asking dear," Molly started hesitantly. "It's just... well, Tony hasn't said much about why he wasn't there for Hermione before." She explained. "Did he leave her to focus on his job?" She asked, voicing one of the various situations that had come into her mind when thinking about what must have happened.
"Oh, oh no, nothing like that." Pepper said quickly. "Tony... he didn't know about Hermione before." She explained, glancing at Ginny to remind herself to censor the story somewhat. "He told me he met Hermione's mom at a party in London years before I even met him." She explained.
"Hermione said she knew that she'd been born before her parents got married," Ginny nodded along with the story.
"Oh I see," Molly said, catching on to what Pepper was saying. "So... Hermione's mother didn't tell Tony about her?"
"I... She contacted someone," Pepper hesitated, trying to figure out how to word this. "But the news didn't get through to Tony." She explained. "It was kept from him on purpose." She said with a sigh. "The person responsible... he isn't with the company anymore." She said, inwardly happy with how she'd phrased that without saying that they'd actually blown him up inside a giant arc reactor, killing him and destroying his crazy giant iron suit in one go.
"Oh that's terrible," Molly whispered, her hand covering her mouth automatically at that news. "Someone actually kept the poor man's daughter from him?"
"If he'd known, he'd have been there for her. I'm sure of that." Pepper said solemnly.
"Of course dear," Molly smiled, reassured now she'd heard the real story. "I just worry about Hermione, she's had such a hard time lately, I just wanted to make sure things were going to be alright for her." She explained.
"I'm sure they will," Pepper promised with a nod. "It was good to see Tony actually taking an interest in Hermione's education with those letters this morning."
"Oh yes," Molly beamed at that. "Ilvermorny and Salem, I can't say I've actually been to either dear, but Ginny knows all about the Salem Institute." She explained. "In fact, Tony did invite us to join Hermione when she visits them."
"I'm so jealous," Ginny grinned, her smile showing she was only kidding. "Salem is amazing, they teach animagus studies there in the class, Hogwarts has nothing like that!" She explained excitedly. "And their quidditch team, the Sirens are known all over the world!"
"I'd actually completely forgot Hermione was talking about a magic school," Pepper breathed out, eating some more of her ice cream absently while it sank in. "What's... Ani...?"
"Animagus," Ginny nodded. "It's really advanced magic where you can turn yourself into an animal whenever you want." She explained.
"Wow," Pepper nodded, trying to understand that. "Can you... chose the animal I guess?"
"No dear," Molly shook her head with a smile. "An animagus form is determined by a witches personality, it's not something you can change."
"Oh," Pepper nodded, saving that bit of information to remind herself to talk to Tony about it later on. "What's the Sirens?" She asked, looking at Ginny.
"Oh no you don't," Molly chided, looking at Ginny. "If we start her talking about Quidditch, we'll be here all day listening to her go on and on," Molly said, shaking her head in amusement. "I swear, you're worse than the boys sometimes with that sport of yours."
"Mum!" Ginny flushed, her ears tinging red with embarrassment as her mum chuckled at her. "They're the Salem team for Quidditch, it's a sport played on flying brooms." She explained quickly, seeing the question coming from Pepper but doing her best not get drawn into it.
"Flying... brooms?" Pepper asked, her eyes going wide at that news. "Does... Hermione?"
"Oh no," Ginny shook her head. "She comes to cheer on the house team at school, but she doesn't really like brooms for some reason." She explained with a shrug. "I think she's afraid of heights or something."
"Ok," Pepper nodded at that, making another mental note to tell Tony that Hermione was scared of heights. "Sorry, you said Tony invited you both to visit these schools?" She asked, catching on to what Molly had said. "In America?" She asked, wondering what Tony had arranged now when before he'd been set on leaving Hermione with her friends.
"Oh yes," Molly nodded. "Both Ilvermorny and Salem are American schools, I hear they're both quite excited to approach Hermione." She said with a chuckle.
"Figures," Pepper nodded, licking her ice cream patiently while wondering what exactly Tony had done to get these schools to pay attention to Hermione now.
"'ere you are," Fleur announced as she came back over to the desk, the owl flying in the window had already caught everyone's attention, waiting eagerly as Fleur unwrapped the small parchment parcel the owl had carried before bringing it over to the desk.
"That was fast," Tony nodded respectfully as Fleur handed the contents of the parcel over to Hermione, who was looking at the black bank card in amazement. "They normally take weeks to send out." He explained, seeing how Bill and Fleur were looking at him.
"Muggles," The goblin muttered, shaking his head. "Very well, transfer your funds and I will see you down to your vault."
"Right," Tony said, bringing out his phone and looking over at the card Hermione had been given. "JARVIS, transfer the trust fund I set up for Hermione." He announced into the phone while keeping his eyes on Hermione's bank card. "You mind?" He asked, reaching out to take the card from her before reading off the account number and sort code from the black card, eyeing the curious swirling 'G' logo that was embossed in gold in the top right corner of the card.
"Yes sir, transfer is in progress." JARVIS announced from the phone.
"Convert that into British money for me will you?" Tony asked, curious now as he didn't know the exchange rate off by heart and wanted to make sure Hermione had enough money regardless of what might happen with her schooling.
"Of course sir, the current exchange rate is zero point six one four to the dollar." JARVIS' voice came back. "Total transferred in sterling. Six million, one hundred and eighty-nine thousand, six hundred and thirty-six pounds, and forty-one pence."
"Got it," Tony nodded, sliding his phone back into his pocket again and looking over to where Bill, Fleur and the goblin were staring at him, or more precisely staring at where he'd just pocketed his phone again. "Is everyone going to be staring at me every time I do that?" He asked, turning to Hermione.
"We don't really have anything like that," Hermione explained quietly, still a bit dumbfounded at the numbers Tony was talking about. "It's a muggle version of a house elf." She explained to Bill and Fleur. "Like an assistant."
"Right," Bill nodded at that, able to understand the idea of a personal assistant easily enough.
"Very well," The goblin mused, snarling a bit at the muggle technology brought into his bank. "This way to your vault." He explained, turning on the spot and starting to walk to the door.
"Don't I need my key?" Hermione asked as she stood up from the desk.
The goblin snorted at that, rolling his glassy eyes behind the half-moon glasses. "The named vaults do not require a key," The goblin explained, shaking his head at the ignorance displayed. "We will secure the vault to your finger once we have determined your transfer was successful."
"What would happen if someone else touched it?" Hermione asked, curious at the warning and magic the goblin was talking about. "Can I... can I keep the key?" She asked, looking to where Fleur was still holding it. "It's... it's sentimental." She explained.
"If your transfer is successful," The goblin mused, looking from Tony over to Hermione. "I will consider your purchase of the key." He said with a nod before continuing. "To answer your question, they would be sucked inside," The goblin warned, showing his sharpened teeth as he led the way out of the office with Hermione and Tony following, Bill and Fleur behind them. "The access they wanted would be granted." He explained.
"Not a great security measure," Tony frowned.
"They would be unable to open the vault door from the inside to leave," The goblin finished off, grinning wildly at Tony and showing far too many teeth for him to be comfortable with.
"Riiiiight," Tony drawled out, falling back a few steps away from the goblin and mentally upgrading the small creatures to small, vicious and possibly crazy creatures.
"Nobody's ever stolen from Gringotts," Bill explained in a hushed voice to Tony as they walked down the stairs to the main floor of the bank. "Not in over five hundred years."
"Yeah, I can see why." Tony nodded emphatically. Being arrested for robbing a bank was one thing, but to be sucked inside a vault to die of suffocation and starvation? That was definitely a warning worth remembering.
"This way," The goblin ordered as they reached the bottom of the stairs, leading them back through the bank and through to a side corridor away from the main tellers and patrons and into a darker corridor that sloped down, lit by torches that burst into flame as they walked down.
"Ominous," Tony quipped as he followed along, watching as both Fleur and Bill both looked at his chest in the darkness, seeing the glow of the arc reactor coming through his shirt in the darkness, but neither one asked any questions as they walked. "You been down here before?" Tony asked, looking down to Hermione.
"Only to the first level," Hermione shook her head. "I only had a small vault my mum opened for me," She explained quietly. "We didn't go down this way."
"Smaller vaults are kept on the level under the bank," Bill explained. "The deeper down, the more security that goes into protecting them."
"Gotcha," Tony nodded, seeing the drastic difference between the goblin bank and the way normal banks were run with the same security over everyone's account.
They paused as the goblin stopped, putting his fingers to his mouth and whistling sharply, the noise echoing in the narrow stone walkways. Then barely a second later, a large cart came down towards them, running on tracks that were set into the carved stone floor, stopping barely a foot from where the goblin was stood.
"In," The goblin said firmly, climbing in the front of the cart and standing by a complicated set of levers and a hanging lantern.
Hermione climbed in first, with Tony moving to sit alongside her in the front of the cart next to where the goblin was stood, letting Bill and Fleur in to the back of the cart to sit on the wooden and leather bench behind them.
"Keep your hands inside," Bill whispered, leaning forward to make sure Tony heard him.
"Why would..." Tony started to ask but was cut off as the goblin pointed his fingers forward, causing the cart to start moving at a speed he was damn sure should have been impossible given the old metal tracks and rattling cart they were travelling in.
The track twisted and turned, leaving Tony to grab onto the front of the cart, squeezing the metal and praying that the thing held together for their trip, a glance over to Hermione showed she was having a very similar reaction to him as the cart followed the track down a very steep incline, causing Hermione and Fleur, along with him, to let out screeches before it angled around on an angle that Tony was pretty damn sure should have forced his stomach to come out of his nose.
The only explanation was magic, and it was an explanation Tony now hated even more than when he'd used it to explain the Weasley house. The goblin wasn't steering the cart either, it seemed to automatically switch tracks at junctions and travel under its own mind, completely ignoring and breaking several of the laws of physics as it twisted and turned on its way down the tracks.
Several knee jerking minutes later, the cart slowed down, giving Bill a chance to tap Tony on the shoulder and point further down the tracks. "Thief's Downfall," He explained when Tony angled his neck around to look at him before looking ahead to where Bill was pointing. "The water's been cursed, it'll break any disguise or enchantment, washes away magic like nothing." He explained with a grin as the cart approached the waterfall, the water washing over them all and soaking into their clothes.
"Thanks," Tony sighed, ruffling his hair to get some of the water out and inwardly thankful that he'd designed all Starktech phones with IP-Sixty-Eight water resistance.
"I didn't know about that," Hermione muttered from her seat beside him where the water had drenched her bushy hair, soaking it down to her head and clothes. "I'm going to be frizzy all day now." She grumbled to herself, pulling her hair around and wringing some of the water out in her hands.
"We'll find a towel somewhere," Tony nodded, not happy at the thought of spending the rest of the day soaking wet either and frowning over to the goblin as the cart came to a stop.
"Here," Bill smiled as he got out of the cart with the goblin, offering his hand to Hermione to help her out. "Drying charm?" He asked, offering his wand.
"Yes!" Hermione breathed out in relief. "Thank you." She said, putting as much gratitude into her voice as she could as Bill flicked his wand over her, drying her clothes and hair instantly.
"You mind?" Bill asked hesitantly, looking over as Tony climbed out of the card, unsure what the muggle's stance on magic was at the moment.
"Hell yeah," Tony nodded eagerly, causing Bill to grin at him before flicking his wand over him in the same way he'd done for Hermione before doing the same for himself, noting that Fleur had already taken care of herself. "Thanks." He smiled over.
"Anytime," Bill smiled back.
"Thief's downfall is but one of the security measures in place," The goblin said with a snarl. "Once I have confirmed your transfer, The Granger Vault will have extensive protection placed upon it, traditionally guarded by a dragon or sphinx, upon the vault managers choice."
"Um," Hermione frowned, not liking the idea of forcing a dragon or sphinx to guard her vault. "Do any vaults just have magical protection? No guards?" She asked, thinking quickly. "Creatures like that shouldn't be forced to guard the vault for me." She said firmly.
"If you wish," The goblin nodded back as he continued leading the way through the large cavernous opening.
"Dragons?" Tony asked in a whisper, eager to actually see one with his own eyes.
"Well, look father, the mudblood has come down to see how real wizards keep their money!"
Hermione groaned aloud at the voice, cringing at the thought of how badly things were about to go as she looked up, seeing both Draco and Lucius Malfoy walking down the path the goblin was currently leading them down. "Malfoy," She frowned.
"Don't be crass Draco," Lucius chided mockingly as they approached the larger group. "On a tour are we?" He asked with a smirk, looking over everyone before fixing his glare at Tony. "A muggle, a muggleborn and a half-breed," He tutted, looking over at Bill. "And a Weasley, of course." He said, shaking his head.
"We were just in father's vault," Draco announced proudly. "Yearly tallying up, took hours." He smirked. "How long does it take you to count your vault Granger? Less than a minute?"
"They are not on a tour Mr Malfoy," The goblin frowned up, baring his teeth. "You know well that Gringotts does not bring people down to the secure level without reason."
"What reason is that?" Draco smirked back, ignoring the goblin entirely. "Offering her a job? Sweeping the dust away from the real vaults?" He said with a snide laugh.
"We're opening a vault," Tony said offhand, inwardly rolling his eyes at the stupid little blonde that seemed intent on aggravating Hermione as much as possible. "You don't mind, but we've got places to be." He said dismissively with a smirk.
"Opening a vault? Down here?" Draco asked in shock. "But father, I thought this was only for the rich families? purebloods, not mudbloods like her." He asked, looking up at Lucius.
"Oh it is," The goblin snarled over. "In fact, I'd say The Granger Vault is now larger than the Malfoys." The goblin said, baring his teeth happily, fed up with the wizards posturing and disrespectful nature already.
"Father!" Draco demanded, unable to believe what the goblin was saying.
"Surely there has to be some mistake," Lucius questioned smoothly, pushing Draco to the side with his cane as he walked to face the goblin before managing to identify him as the manager of the bank itself. "My apologies Master Warwick, I failed to recognise you in the light."
"Are you questioning our accounting?" The goblin demanded, looking up at Lucius menacingly.
"Not at all Master Warwick," Lucius said quickly before Draco could say anything. "But surely, this... The Granger Vault did you say? Cannot equal the size of the vault our family has had for generations."
"Hermione's finances are her own business," Tony said simply, refusing to rise to the bait. "You don't need to boast about money all the time to have it."
"Indeed," Lucius frowned, his attention back to Tony now. "And who are you?" He said, inwardly already dismissing the man in messy muggle clothing. "No one of import I'm sure." He said before Tony could even reply. "Come Draco, let us leave these persons to their business, it would be uncouth to bother the rabble further." He said, striding away.
"Mudblood lies," Draco muttered to Hermione as he walked past, making sure she saw his disgusted look before he strode off after his father.
"Nice family," Tony quipped with a grin. "Real peaches I can tell." He smirked, drawing a small smile out of Hermione.
"Miss Granger, I..." The goblin snarled, struggling with the words. "I... apologise for my words." He forced out, biting out each syllable. "The Gringotts vaults are highly secure, I should not have mentioned the size of your vault to another family."
"Oh," Hermione whispered, realising that this was apparently a big deal for the goblin. "Um, I accept your apology, no harm was done." She said, trying to be as formal as she could be.
"My thanks," The goblin bowed. "Such a breach of trust will not happen again." He said with a nod. "Even when the Malfoy family insist on treating goblins with such disrespect, breaching your trust was not my intent. You may keep your vault key, I will have Miss Delacour retrieve it for you when your business is concluded." He said, nodding deeply to Hermione.
"Seemed like a dick," Tony nodded over. "What's that thing he kept calling you? Muddy?"
"Mudblood," Hermione said, shaking her head in disgust. "A disgusting name, not something you'd expect to hear anyone call someone else, at least not from anyone with manners anyway."
"'Eet is a 'orrible thing to call someone," Fleur confirmed. "Ze same people would call me creeture or 'alf-breed." She said, shaking her head in disgust.
"He's an idiot," Bill said, shaking his head as he put his arm around Fleur. "Just ignore his pure blood crap." He explained with a wink.
"I didn't get most of that," Tony admitted, looking between Bill and Fleur then back to Hermione. "But he's right, just ignore him." He said with a nod, seeing that Hermione was more angry than upset at the insult. "Bullies are all talk and no balls, it's not like you need his respect or approval for anything anyway." He said with a shrug, reaching down and squeezing Hermione's shoulder.
"Exactly!" Hermione nodded, looking up to him thankfully. "You're right, The Malfoy's don't mean anything to me, and I'd sooner forget they even exist."
"Good for you," Bill grinned over.
"Exactement!" Fleur nodded.
"Your vault is this way," The goblin interrupted, showing teeth as he grinned in recognition at what the wizards and witches were saying.
"Thank you Master Goblin," Hermione nodded respectfully as she continued on, following the goblin alongside Tony round the stone path for a few more yards before the goblin stopped outside a dark wrought iron door that was easily twelve feet high and six feet across.
"I need one," Tony grinned. "The doors I mean, this is neo-gothic gone mad." He laughed, looking at the ornate carvings that flowed around the door. "Pepper would love this!" He said enthusiastically.
"Vault doors are goblin craft exclusively for Gringotts," The goblin frowned, stepping forwards and placing his hand on the door. "Your hand." He ordered, looking to Hermione. "Above mine, five fingers splayed open." He directed, making sure Hermione was listening before he nodded for her to press her hand to the vault door in the space above his hand.
Hermione hissed quickly but kept her hand there as a burning sensation passed over the skin on her palm, then a pinch made her wince and the doors literally melted away, dissolving into black metallic sludge that vanished into the ornate carved archway around the gap left in the doors place.
"Ow," Hermione whispered as she brought her hand back to look at it, eying the red mark that covered her entire palm and fingers, along with five little marks in the shape of a star on the palm itself. "Blood magic," She whispered, realising that the door itself had taken her blood into itself to ensure her blood was the only thing capable of opening the door.
"Your transfer was successful," The goblin bowed deeply, looking at both Hermione and Tony before reaching for a scroll of parchment that was hanging from the wall by the entrance. "The Granger Vault on opening contains two million, seventy-nine thousand, one hundred and nine Galleons, eight Sickles, and seventeen Knuts." He announced, bringing up a quill before handing both to Hermione. "Prior to the current transfer, the contents were Four Galleons, and six Knuts in your old vault. Do you accept these figures?"
"I... I..." Hermione whispered, looking up from her hand at the giant mound of gold coins that was in the center of the room, with smaller piles taking up various side chambers that had been carved into the rock of the vault walls. "I do," She whispered finally when the goblin coughed loudly.
"Sign here." The goblin ordered, handing the quill and parchment over for Hermione to sign.
"Ok, this is impressive," Tony admitted, walking into the vault and looking around in awe, trying to figure out exactly how the large cavern had been carved into the rock like this, and the magic melting door had really blown him away.
"The Goblins of Gringotts wish the Granger Family prosperous years and inept enemies to fall at your teeth." The goblin said formally, bowing to them both. "I will wait outside for you to conduct your business." He said before walking out of the vault.
"I can get on board with that guy," Tony grinned, admiring the sentiment from the goblin with a chuckle. "Think I could get him to do my finances?" He asked with a smirk, seeing the shell-shocked face on Hermione as she looked around the vault.
"That... that..." Hermione whispered, unable to comprehend the number of galleons in front of her. Millions of gold coils, literally, and they were all in her name. "I can't... I can't accept this." She whispered, looking at Tony where he'd walked to one side and was flipping a bronze coin in the air with his thumb.
"It's yours now," Tony shrugged. "You're part of the family, and this..." He said, waving his hands around the vault. "Ok, seeing it like this is actually pretty impressive." He admitted with a grin to the piles of gold. "This is just part of it. You're a Stark, maybe not in name, but you are." He said with a smile, resting his hand on her shoulder gently. "Ok, what's this one?" He asked, holding up the bronze coin. "Because all this money means nothing to me?" He said with a grin.
"That... that's a Knut," Hermione said as she looked over, seeing what Tony was trying to do by distracting her, and smiled to him, thankful for it.
"I'm never making fun of the quarter again," Tony laughed, flipping the coin in his fingers before tossing it back on the pile where he'd picked it up from.
"Those are Sickles," Hermione explained, pointing to the silver pile in one of the carved-out sections in the wall. "And... Galleons." She whispered to herself, looking around the gold with wide eyes, still in disbelief over what Tony had done for her.
"Cool," Tony nodded, knowing he wouldn't remember any of those names aside from Knuts, where he was already making up a few jokes about them to tell Pepper later on. "Ok, grab what you want, then we can go shopping." He said with a smile, looking back to where Bill and Fleur were stood just outside of the vault door. "You said I can exchange some money here as well?" He asked.
"Upstairs," Bill nodded, a bit taken aback by the amount of gold in the vault and the way the muggle was treating it like it was nothing to him. "I'll show you on our way through."
"Great," Tony smiled in thanks before looking back to Hermione and seeing she hadn't moved an inch from where she was stood. "So what are these worth?" He asked, walking over to Hermione and picking up a few of the gold coins to examine. "You know, in normal money?" He asked curiously.
"A... a galleon?" Hermione said, breaking herself out of her awestruck thoughts. "About five pounds." She explained, looking at the coins in Tony's hand. "That's twenty pounds." She said, noting the four coins he'd picked up.
"Heads or..." Tony mused, flipping the coin over in his hand. "Heads or dragons apparently," He said with a snort of laughter as he saw the embossed design on the back of the coin. "You want to take anything? I'll get some money upstairs anyway, but take what you want, it's yours now." He explained with a smile then held up his hand. "And don't say you can't take this again." He said with a smirk. "Like the goblin said, it's your vault now." He said, holding out his hand for her to take the four gold coins from him. "What do you want to buy?"
"A new wand," Hermione said softly after a moment. "And some new books?" She asked hesitantly. "And some clothes?"
"How much do you need then?" Tony asked, already intent on replacing however much she withdrew automatically anyway.
"If I... thirty galleons should be enough," Hermione said quietly, thinking about what she needed to buy.
"Got it," Tony nodded, reaching down and pulling up a pile like poker chips. "Eight," He said, handing them over to Hermione to add to the four in her hand before reaching for some more. "Eleven here." He said with a shrug as he picked up another pile. "And ten, thirty-three, that enough?" He asked, checking with her.
"Definitely," Hermione nodded back.
"Great, let's go." Tony grinned. "I miss daylight already." He said with a laugh as he led Hermione out of the vault back to Bill and Fleur, and then back to where the goblin was waiting outside with the rolled parchment ledger for Hermione to take.