Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Marvel, or any of their characters from either realm. Nor, sadly, do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.

Here we are at the end of our story. Enjoy.

Please read and review.

…

Chapter Six

For the next five hours they explained in detail what could very well happen and the benefits for everyone if the enclaves were to be left in peace. By the time they were finished presenting their case, Hermione felt ready to sleep for a week.

"Okay," Dr. Richards murmured, as he got to his feet. "We will discontinue our support for the international law…for now."

"Oh Doctor," Hermione sighed. "Don't even go there. You wouldn't like the results."

Soon enough they were leaving. Hermione said goodbye to the others of the enclaves, sitting down hard once most of the visitors were gone.

"I thought you were normal." She looked over to see Bucky watching her from the corner of the room.

"Really?" she asked, too tired to think of much else to say.

"I thought…I thought we could make something good between us."

"And because I'm not what you see as normal, we can't?" she inquired.

Shaking his head sadly he whispered, "I have enough weird in my life." And with that, he turned and left the meeting room.

Hermione sat there with absent tears running down her face for a half an hour before getting to her feet and appariting away.

…

Everything seemed to happen at once. Captain Steve Rogers was killed and the attempt to make the Superhuman Registration Act an international law was dropped, much to the dismay and upset of H.Y.D.R.A.. But Hermione had accomplished what she had been working towards and her work for that time was over.

Hermione slipped into the bar, taking one of the stools at the bar itself. She ordered her whiskey, watching the TV set news of what was going on now with the Superhuman Registration Act. It was being mellowed out so that it wasn't as stringent as it had been in the past. She knew that this had more to do with Tony Stark than Dr. Reed Richards, who if he had things his way would have the world no better off than a stringent communist state.

The fact that the U.S. Congress & House of Representatives, the President, the Supreme Court and the American press were all mailed the same anonymous letter outlining the unconstitutionality of the law as it stood had a lot to do with it as well, she was sure. She took up her whiskey, when someone sat next to her.

"I'll have what she's having," came the weary voice of Tony Stark from next to her.

They sat there next to each other drinking for a time without saying anything, both watching the news as they did so.

"Pepper left me," he said softly. "She agreed with you. Said I was being an elitist, hypocritical prig."

"I never called you that," she murmured. "A hypocrite, yes, but not the rest."

"But you were thinking it," he accused her.

She shrugged, adding, "I must call it the way I see it. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it must be a pigeon."

He turned to look at her.

"I'm drunk," she murmured, making him grin. "Did you hear—Bucky doesn't want a relationship with me because I'm not normal."

"Really?" He paused to take a sip of his whiskey. "What is normal?"

"I'll let you know when someone can explain it to me. But don't expect that answer anytime soon. No one I know has a dictionary with the definition of normal in it." She tossed back the rest of her drink, muttering hoarsely, "And myself? I've not known what normal is for longer than I can recall clearly." She got to her feet, tossing money onto the bar for both Tony's and her own drinks. "But as I'm intoxicated, I wouldn't put much stock into that statement one way or the other."

"So what are you going to do now that your work here is done?" Tony asked her.

She shrugged. "Take time off, I guess." Casually she walked away without saying goodbye.

When Tony went to leave, he found Hermione waiting outside. He went over to her and asked, "I thought you left."

"I'm waiting for my bus," she told him. "It'll get me over to where I need to go and then I'm off to wherever it is I'm going." She looked at her watch. "Are the buses ever on time here?"

"Not that I know of," he answered.

But just then a blur solidified into a bus directly in front of her.

"Well, it's about time," she said, as she stepped on board. Turning to Tony, she told him, "Take care of yourself, Mr. Stark."

"You as well, Miss Granger," he said formally.

This formality only managed to make her chuckle, as she turned to the driver and told him where she was going. With one last wave to him, the bus vanished.

…

On the roof of a building overlooking where Hermione and Tony had been was none other than Bucky. He had turned her away because she wasn't what he had thought she had been. He had even explained so to Steve. His friend just stared at him for a time before asking him a question.

"We aren't normal guys anymore, Bucky. Lord only knows I wish we were, but we're not. So that being the case what can possibly be normal for us now?"

"I…I don't know," he answered. "She's a witch!"

"And you're a mind washed super soldier/assassin who was put on ice for longer than she's been alive," Steve replied dryly. "You aren't exactly normal either."

Bucky looked over to Steve and asked, "Do you think I made a mistake?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "But by not giving her or you a chance to find out, you did her a disservice."

Bucky had admitted, if only to himself, that he had given up on her before they had a chance to be anything not because of her, but because of himself. Everything was so damn new to him in this time and place. Finding out she was a powerful witch with more connections than even he had within the supposed community he was now a part of was a bit disconcerting. Chances are, he thought, he would have found a reason not to remain in a relationship with her if this hadn't presented itself to him. He didn't know if he had made a mistake or not. But until he could straighten out his head and life, he couldn't handle a commitment to Hermione like she deserved.

Once she had left on the bus, Bucky sighed, "Goodbye, Hermione." Turned and jumped down into the alleyway, vanishing into the city.

The End!

…

And there we are, at the end of another journey. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Yes, I know, it's not the ending most of you were hoping for, but keep in mind this does leave things open for a sequel (Which by the way, I'm already working on. This relationship is not over by a long shot!). Thanks for reading, reviewing, and following/favoriting. You guys are the best. Take care and until next we meet—blijven geweldig (Dutch).