"Stand down," Natasha said in her earpiece as she slowly put away her own gun. She and the SHIELD agents that had surrounded the house had gotten worried that the other guy was about to make an appearance, but Dr. Banner was simply staring there smiling, as if he found the whole situation amusing. What worried Natasha though was that there was no confirmation from her team and instead dead silence. "Report!"
"There a bit busy being unconscious," A new voice said and Bruce's smile seem to grow as the petite brunette made her appearance known. This had apparently just gotten a lot more complicated if what the newcomer had just said was true.
"Are you alright?" Bruce asked in concern and moved to hug the newcomer.
"Of course," The woman scoffed, "It's not the first time that I've had to take on a group, and truthfully they weren't that well trained." Natasha's estimation of the woman rose as she knew that even those that weren't considered well trained by her standards in SHIELD were still nothing to take lightly. "So, which government wants you now and why?"
"The Black Widow here apparently represents SHIELD and needs my brains not my brawn to track something down."
"And were you just going to snatch my husband away from me without letting me know?" The unidentified woman asked with a raised eyebrow and Natasha knew that she would have to ask how she did that since the face made even her feel guilty.
"Who are you?" The Widow asked, "There's nothing about Dr. Banner being married in SHIELDs dossier."
"Well since you asked so nicely," You could feel the sarcasm roll off the brunettes tongue, "I'm Hermione Banner, and formerly I was a Granger."
"Granger," Natasha said in surprise, "You wouldn't be…" She was interrupted by her phone and she angrily answered it. "I'm kind of in the middle of something so this better be important Harry."
"It is," The voice on the other side assured her, "You're with Banner right now aren't you?"
"Yes, he's standing right in front of me with his apparently irate and dangerous wife."
"Ah, I see. Tell his wife that someone from her past will be there in a few seconds, he is a friend, and to not wipe your memory."
Before Natasha could retort the line went dead and she put her phone away. "Problems in SHIELD?" Hermione asked tersely.
"I don't know," She admitted grudgingly. "Apparently my partner is an old friend of yours and he told me to tell you not to wipe my memory."
"Who could-" Hermione was interrupted by a sharp crack just outside of the house and then the door opened to reveal a man of average height who was trimmed like a runner and had startlingly green eyes that reminded the three others of emeralds. "Harry…"
The newly revealed Harry Potter grinned at his oldest friend and moved to wrap her in a hug that she happily reciprocated. "Well, this wasn't how I wanted us to meet up again, but I won't say that it isn't good to see you again Mione."
The other two tensed at seeing their partners hug someone that they had never seen before in a more than simple acquaintance way. They broke the hug quick enough though and Hermione was the first to speak. "Why are you here Harry and dressed in a suit?"
Harry sighed and raked his hand through his messy hair while moving to Natasha and placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. "I'm with SHIELD Hermione and before you start on me, no I did not tell them where you two were located because they already knew. When I heard that they sent Natasha after Dr. Banner though, I kind of rushed over here to stop you from permanently hurting someone. I remember how protective you got while we were in school and how you lost that sense of moral justice in the war. Plus I finally get to meet your husband and threaten him like any good brother figure should do."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop her grin from forming on her face. She hadn't seen Harry in almost two years because of her husband's condition and the fact they had to be on the move almost constantly. She truthfully didn't care too much about Ron as he thought that Hermione belonged to him and they had left on rather vicious terms, but her and Harry had always had a close relationship since that fateful Halloween. "So, did you come for me, Bruce, or your partner?" Hermione asked with a pointed glance at Natasha.
"It's a mix between you and Natasha with her edging you out, I couldn't really care about Dr. Banner truth be told," Harry answered and Hermione sent a questioning look Harry's way to figure out why the agent would rank higher than her. Harry drew her eyes to his left hand where she noticed the gold band on his finger and the closeness the two were displaying. She tried to suppress it, she really did, but it didn't do too good before she squealed and launched herself at the two and wrapped them in a rather tight hug.
Natasha was surprised, but Harry simply laughed and wrapped his best friend in a return hug which prompted Natasha to do the same. "Oh no, I'm so sorry that I threatened you!" Hermione said horrified at the prospect of basically harming her sister-in-law.
"That is okay," Natasha reassured her, "I have done the same thing when someone threatened Harry." Harry simply nodded beside her, those people never lasted long and she was effective against the few fan girls that he couldn't avoid.
"We'll have to talk soon," Hermione stated in a way that left no room for discussion, "I'm sure no one has told you about Harry's past mistakes while we were in school and Harry refuses to tell me any embarrassing stories anymore. Come on Bruce, we're leaving with Harry and Natasha."
Bruce simply stared at his wife as she led the other woman out of the house and chattered away. Harry came up to the man and sighed in agreement, "Hermione was always a bit forceful as I'm sure you already know. If it's any consolation, we really don't need the other guy, at least not yet. If we fail to find what we're looking for though, we might need an appearance. Oh and if you ever hurt her, I don't care what you turn into, I will kill you." Harry whistled merrily as he followed the two women and left Bruce slightly fearful along with confused. In the end there was nothing more to do than simply follow the three before him.
When the group was on the plane that SHIELD had sent, Hermione had decided that she was going to get answers from her best friend. "Alright, now spill Mr. Potter. When did you join SHIELD and why is this the first time I've ever heard about you marrying? I thought you had given up your thrill seeking days."
Harry smiled and simply rubbed his wife's hand. "As much as you knew me, did you honestly think that I had given up thrill seeking and was simply traveling? I owed SHIELD too much and it didn't hurt that I already knew Natasha who joined SHIELD a few months after we defeated Voldemort."
"What do you mean Harry? What did you owe SHIELD and how did you know her? I thought you were isolated during the summers."
"Didn't you ever wonder how I was so cool under pressure and seemed to know exactly how to react when we were battling?" Hermione had to admit to herself that that had always been nagging her when they were younger and nodded her head. "SHIELD knows about the magical world, but generally leaves us undisturbed. Fortunately, they didn't feel that Voldemort was a threat to take lightly and when they saw that I was being targeted but not trained, they were there. They couldn't help me with my spell work, but they did give me pointers in tactics as well as physical education and made me think a bit more. There was a good reason that I was such a good teacher in the DA. I met Natasha that next summer and she helped me move past Sirius' death. She also kicked my butt in martial arts all in the effort of training of course."
Natasha just smiled and kiss Harry's hand that she held. Hermione wanted to ask the obvious question, but she didn't want to sound like a whiney child, but apparently Harry expected her question. "You're wondering why I didn't tell you fifth or even sixth year aren't you?"
"Well yeah, I mean we were best friends and told each other everything. How could you hide something this big from me?"
Harry shrugged, "You have to remember that I was alone that summer after the tournament. I was a rather moody bastard because I had been kept in the dark by my friends. Sure I had somewhat forgiven you, but that was my hint of teenage rebellion in fifth year since no one would allow me any other freedom so I withheld the information. I had planned on telling you when we got to Hogwarts, but that was a rather busy year and it never seemed to be the right time to tell you, especially after those occulmency lessons with Snape. That was what convinced me that he wasn't teaching me since he always brought my worst memories to the forefront and didn't even touch on my training.
"After Sirius died, I met Natasha on one of her jobs, not that I knew it of course, and she helped me get over Sirius' death, the prophecy, and casting an unforgivable on Bellatrix. You know how that year turned out and when we were on the hunt, it never really came up. After all, you both probably would have left if you knew that I was gaining more training but we were never getting anywhere on the hunt."
Hermione had the decency to blush at the reminder of those two years where she acted extremely out of character. If she had listened to Harry, then the war may not have lasted as long, but she had been so certain she was right. That, more than anything, had woken her up to the realities of the world. "I really can't blame you Harry for keeping those secrets. Me and Ron didn't really do anything to inspire confidence and I'm kind of surprised you trusted us with the knowledge of the horcruxes and the hunt."
"You two were my best friends, not like I wouldn't tell you, but I don't know, it just never seemed right. Then, I pretty much joined SHIELD right after our crash course in eighth year when we started drifting away from the Weasleys and I technically couldn't tell you."
"Harry Potter, the boy who rebelled, actually listening to the rules," Hermione laughed and Natasha was right after her.
"Trust me," Widow said, "He's apparently just as bad."
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you two. You had decided to go to uni Hermione, so I didn't want to add to your stress and what could I have told Ron and Ginny. Besides, it's like I said, I owed SHIELD and Natasha too much to tell you."
Hermione sighed, "I understand Harry and now at least I do know."
"True… So introduce me," Harry said with a grin, "I know Dr. Banner is your husband and I know who he is, but how did you two meet?"
Hermione smiled fondly and leaned into Bruce's side, which was mirrored by Natasha and Harry and she launched into her story. Hermione, after she graduated, had taken to traveling the world and supposedly, Harry's saving people thing had rubbed off on he as she tried to do everything she could to those she met that were down on their luck. That was how she met Bruce as she had been working in one of the local houses, simply helping where she could. "Bruce tried to get me to leave him, but I had experience with the hero types that seemed to think they were cursed to never know love," She stared pointedly at Harry for a moment, "I'll have to thank Remus the next time I see him."
"Oh ha ha," Harry drawled, "You are just a riot. The Lupins are actually the only ones that know about what I do. Tonks noticed the way I carried myself and how I reacted just after the final battle. Well Luna knows to, but she's always known more than what seemed natural."
"True, so where are we going?" Hermione asked as the four of them settled in for the long flight to the heli-carrier.
A/N: This will most likely be continued this summer by me, but like all 'chapters' in this story, it is up for adoption. Just remember to tell me if you take it up as there are others that want to read it too.
