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Chapter19

Jade groaned as she woke up. Her whole body was hurting as if she'd spent the whole of the previous day training with Steve and Logan. She opened her eyes, and frowned, not recognising her surroundings for a moment, but then she did. Why was she in the medical area of the Avengers mansion? Her mind was fuzzy. She was supposed to be in school, wasn't she? So why was she in America, and not Scotland?

Jade looked to her side and saw her parents both sitting in chairs, fast asleep, her mum's head on her dad's shoulder. "Mum, dad?" She asked. Her voice was hoarse, her throat felt dry. And she felt rather cold as well.

Tony stirred, and when he woke up, he saw Jade awake, and looking at him and Pepper, eyes clouded with confusion and tiredness. He shook Pepper awake and stood, before taking the one step needed to be right at Jade's side.

"Hey there kiddo. How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted and cold. Why am I here and not in school?"

"Don't you remember what happened sweetie?" Pepper asked, standing right beside Tony. She reached out, and brushed a strand of hair out of Jades face.

Jade was about to say no when the memories all rushed back to her. "Oh." She said. Her last memory was someone pulling her from the circle. "After I was pulled from the circle, what happened? And how did they stop the ritual?" She had an idea of how that had been done.

"Thor and Loki took care of the shield around the circle." Tony said. "Then Steve pulled you out, and Thor and Loki took care of Voldemort. No one except you needed any real medical attention. You've been asleep for a week. By the way, you are grounded for not saying anything about Loki."

"What? Why?"

"He could have hurt you if he had wanted to. He used to be on the opposite team to the avengers, remember?"

"Yeah, but he helped me with the dream walking. And good prank ideas." Jade said.

Tony face palmed. Trust Jade to place her trust in someone on the fact that they can help with pranks. "You're still grounded Jade. And before you ask, I don't know how long for yet. I still haven't decided."

Jade sighed. "Fine." She mumbled.

"You said you were cold?" Pepper asked.

"Cold and aching." Jade said. "Kind of like I've spent the whole previous day training and now I've been dumped into a heavily air conditioned room."

Tony rested his hand on her forehead. "You still have a temperature. Not as bad as it was before though. It's gone down. I'll call Hank." He walked away from the bed, to somewhere that Jade couldn't see. Probably to a phone.

"Will I be able to call my friends?"

"Not yet, sweetie. We'll have to get your things from school first. And notify them that you're being withdrawn from Hogwarts."

"You mean I can't go back?"

Pepper sighed. "I know you have made some very good friends there in the last few weeks, but it's just too dangerous. I mean, you were on the grounds when you were kidnapped! You hadn't even passed the ward boundaries. You should have been safe. No one should have been able to reach you. But they did. We very nearly lost you this time, Jade. We aren't willing to have a repeat of that incident."

Jade nodded. "I understand. But… can they come and visit?"

"Of course they can. And you can go and visit them- so long as the meetings in Britain are kept strictly in the muggle world." Pepper said.

"Neville and Ernie in the muggle world." Jade winced. "This might get painful." Suddenly she winced again, and hissed.

"Jade, what is it? What's wrong?" Pepper asked.

"My scar… it's hurting." Jade moaned in pain and her eyes squeezed shut. "Oh no…"

"What is it? Jade? Tony! Something's wrong with Jade!" Pepper said, panic lacing her tone as she began running her hand through Jade's hair. She noticed that Jade's scar looked raw. Right before her eyes, it began to bleed.

"Hell!" Tony cursed as he saw it. "Hank is on his way."

"He's back! They brought him back!" Jade said, her breathing heavy. Her tone was terrified.

"Calm down Jade, who's back?"

"Voldemort! They used my blood in a potion. And now he's back! He's trying to get into my head!"

"Do you think we should call the Professor?" Pepper asked.

Tony shook his head. "He won't be able to get here soon enough. Loki would be a better option."

"We still aren't sure if we can trust him!"

"He's our best shot." Tony said. "He helped save Jade back in Britain. He's our best bet at cutting that connection."

"What's happening?" Hank asked, as he entered the room.

"Voldemort is trying to get into her head. They have some sort of connection, it seems." Tony said. "I really think we should find Loki. He's bound to be around here somewhere."

"No one say anything!" Jade said. "He's listening."

Pepper continued to stroke Jade's hair, and she nodded to Tony. Hank set to work; he grabbed a sedative strong enough to ease Jade's pain, but not to knock her out. She would be even more vulnerable, if she was asleep. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything simply standing round, Tony ran out of the med bay and began searching for Loki. He found him talking with Thor about something or other.

"Tony, what is wrong?" Thor asked.

"It's Jade. Voldemort is trying to get into her head. Through a connection, which is probably created by the soul piece."

"She is awake, though?" Loki asked, standing from his seat.

"Yes. Hank has her sedated, just enough to ease the pain."

"Then I am confident I can remove it. I would have done so before, but it is not something to do while the person who harbours the fragment is sleeping. It could have adverse effects."

The three headed back quickly to the med bay, where Pepper was now holding a wet cloth to Jade's forehead. It was starting to turn pink from the blood. Jade had tears streaming from her eyes.

"The pain's getting worse." Pepper said. "I don't know what he's doing, but it's not good."

"He's probably attempting to possess her." Loki said, striding over to Jade and standing on her other side. "Remove the cloth, Mrs Stark."

Pepper did so as Tony and Thor stood on the same side of Jade as Pepper. Hank was at the foot of the bed, ready to get anything he needed to treat Jade. Loki placed his hand on top of Jade's scar and closed his eyes. The others watched as Jade seemed to calm for a moment, before her whole body tensed again in pain. Her breathing increased rapidly and the heart rate monitors that Hank had hooked her up to started picking up speed. Jade's back arched, and she screamed, before Loki pulled away, what looked like black smoke coming away from Jade's scar.

Jade collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily. "He's gone." She mumbled. "I can't feel him."

With a flick of his wrist, Loki had the smoke in the shape of a ball, which he easily crushed. "I should have anticipated how painful that would have been for her."

"Painful? She was in agony!" Hank said.

"Jade, kiddo, look at me." Tony said softly, as he picked up Jade's hand. "Can you feel Voldemort in your head anymore?"

"No." Jade said. "It's like there's more room in my head now." She yawned and her eyes closed. She fell to sleep.

Pepper looked up at Loki. "Thank you." She said, tears filling her eyes. It had hurt her to see her daughter in so much pain, but that was over with now. Loki had done more good for Jade than harm. She and Tony were both in his debt.

Loki nodded, and moved away from the bed. Thor and Hank did the same, and allowed the Starks some privacy, by heading into an office.

"You've gained their trust." Thor said.

"I guessed." Loki said. "We need to find out why she is at the centre of this war. If we don't, then how are we supposed to change what we have seen in that recording?"

"I agree." Hank said, moving over to the filing cabinet, and pulling out a file. "But the question is; how?"

"I am willing to bet there is one man with the answer to our questions." Thor said. "Dumbledore."

"Yes, it does seem that way." Loki said. "It would definitely be worth paying him a little visit."

"We'll have to inform the school that she's safe." Pepper said. "And that she won't be returning."

"I'll take a couple of the others and we'll go collect her things and I'll inform Dumbledore in person that she's not going back to Hogwarts." Tony said.

"Are you sure? Couldn't we just send a letter?"

"Would they pay any attention to it?" Tony asked. "Pep, think about it, it has been more than a week, since Jade went missing from that school. Have we even had one letter notifying us of the event? No. So, why would they even read anything we sent?"

"I don't know Tony. What if it isn't safe?"

"Pep, I'll be fine. Look, I'll even take my armour, alright?"

"Ok Tony. But if you come back in a box, I'll have Jade learn Necromancy so I can kill you again."

I know you would Pep." He said, grinning. "I won't leave until Jade wakes up again though." He pulled out his phone. "But I think I should try to ring her mobile."

"Why?"

"Perhaps her friend Hermione is in the dorm. Her friends are probably worrying. Hermione did have the courtesy to ring us, after all. Unlike the school, so I'm going to tell her Jade's safe."

Pepper nodded.

The phone rang a couple of times until someone picked up. The voice sounded muffled though.

"Who is this?" Tony asked.

There was a sound of a scuffle, and then the voice of a girl came on the line. "I'm sorry about that, Ernie had the phone the wrong way round, Mr Stark."

"I take it you're Hermione?" He asked.

"Yes, I am."

"I was just calling to tell you we've found Jade, and she's safe. She's currently recovering from what happened to her, but we're sure she'll make a full recovery."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank merlin for that- Ernie, Neville, they found her. She's safe."

"Hermione, I want to thank you for trying to contact me and Pepper when Jade disappeared, and thank you for continuing until you got an answer from someone. If you hadn't, we may not have been able to find her in time."

"It was no trouble, Mr Stark. But, didn't the school inform you of her disappearance?"

"No, they didn't, Do me a favour, and don't tell anyone else that we have Jade until I arrive. Its better they hear it from me in person. I'm sure Jade would love to see you, so during the Christmas holidays; I'm willing to pay for you, your friends and your families to come over and visit. I'll pay for flights and accommodation."

"That's a very generous offer Mr Stark, but I'm sure it will have to be up to my parents, and Ernie's parents and Neville's gran."

"Well, I'll be there in a few days to collect Jade's things and inform Professor Dumbledore that I am pulling Jade out of Hogwarts. Talk to your friends, and give me an answer then."

"Alright- wait, you're pulling her out?"

"Yes, I am. When she wakes up, I'll get her to give you a call."

"Alright. Bye, Mr Stark."

"Goodbye, Hermione." He hung up and looked at Pepper. "The kid sounded like the end of the world had arrived when she heard we were pulling Jade from Hogwarts."

"Well, from what Jade told us, it seemed as if they were quickly becoming the best of friends. Jade hasn't had a friend who's a girl her age before. Her only friend near her age is Franklin. So, Hermione must have been quite a relief for her. And Jade indicated that Hermione had been in a similar position too." Pepper said. "That was a very generous offer, Tony."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to make this as easy on Jade as possible." Tony said. "And, like you said, they were becoming good friends. If it's one thing I don't want to do, is take her friends away from her."

Pepper smiled at him. "Why do I get the feeling you're planning something?"

"What, like convincing her friends parents to let them go to school somewhere else?" Tony asked.

"Exactly." Pepper said.

"Because I am, Pep." Tony said, shrugging.

Pepper just rolled her eyes.

It was nearing midday the following day, when Jade woke up again. She felt better than she had the last time she had woken up, and her mind felt strangely free, as if a constriction she hadn't known existed until it was removed was gone. This time, only her dad was there. He was reading a newspaper.

"How long was I out?"

"Only since yesterday morning. It's nearly midday on Tuesday now kiddo. How are you?"

"Better. Thirsty though."

Tony grinned and grabbed a bottle of water from the table. Jade carefully pulled herself into a sitting position, aware of her still sore muscles. She accepted the water from her dad, and downed half the bottle very quickly.

"Hey, slow down Jade. You don't want to make yourself sick." Tony said, plucking the bottle from her hands. "Better now?"

"Much." She said, nodding. "Where's mum?"

"She's gone to get some food." Tony rested his hand on Jade's forehead. "Your temperature has gone down considerably. It's almost normal now."

"Well, it seems that I slept through the worst of it then."

"It seems so. Come here." He pulled her into a tight hug.

"I was so scared, daddy." She whispered, tears pricking her eyes.

"I know you were." He said, a hand running through her hair. "And it's fine that you were scared, but you're safe now. And it's not going to happen again, I promise."

"Is everyone else alright?"

"They're fine. All of them are worried for you, but they were relatively unharmed. Now, about you being grounded…"

"It's not going to happen?" She asked, hopefully.

"No, it's still on. You're grounded until when the Christmas holidays would have begun kiddo. No phone and limited computer time."

"So I can't call Hermione?"

"I'll be going to Hogwarts to collect your things soon. I'll tell her why you aren't calling then. I was going to let you call her beforehand, but I changed my mind."

"Why?"

"You'll find out after you're no longer grounded." He ruffled her hair. "It's also for giving us a real scare. It wouldn't have been so long, but we were terrified of how close we came to loosing you."

"I know daddy. I am sorry. I didn't mean to get in trouble." She looked up at him with the kicked puppy expression, but for the first time ever, he managed (barely) to shrug it off.

"I know you didn't. But that still doesn't change the fact that you're grounded."

Damn. She thought. "Alright." She'd probably be able to get hold of her phone for a couple of minutes every now and again, so she'd be able to talk to Hermione for a while at least And maybe Ernie and Neville too, if she had enough time. "Wait, you aren't going to just ask them to mail us my things?"

"Can't trust them." Tony said, shaking his head. "I'll be fine. Loki and Steve are coming along. While we are gone, you're to stay in the Avengers mansion, got it?"

"Got it." Jade nodded.

"Good. Dr Strange is staying for a while, just in case, and Thor is going to be here as well as all the others, so I don't want you wandering off from the safety of this place while I'm gone."

"I won't dad." Jade assured. "Did anyone get my wand?"

"No, we were a bit preoccupied. But, we'll talk about that when I get back, alright?"

"Alright dad." Jade raised a hand to her scar, and felt that it was a lot smoother than before. "Do you know how Voldemort and I shared that connection?" Jade asked.

"Yes. It turns out that Voldemort created something called Horcruxes. A Horcrux is created when a dark witch or wizard splits their soul and places it in a container, which anchors them to this world, giving them a type of immortality. By the time he reached Godric's Hollow, Voldemort had split his soul five times. When the curse rebounded on him, his soul was so unstable; a part tore off and latched onto you. When Loki removed the connection, it was because he had removed and destroyed the soul piece. Now, we are expecting him to create another Horcrux, but we aren't sure if he will."

"What do you mean?" Jade asked.

"We received some information from the future. That will be another conversation best saved for when I get back."

Just then Pepper re-entered the room, a plate of sandwiches in one hand and two bottle of water in the other.

"You're awake!" She said, smiling. She hurried towards the bed and placed the food and drinks on the small table before hugging Jade tightly. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

"Mum, I'm fine." Jade said, laughing slightly.

Pepper pulled back, surveyed Jade, and then grabbed one of the sandwiches and handed it to Jade. "I knew there was a reason I made extra." She said.

Jade ate the sandwich quickly, only just realising how hungry she was. She ate another two before leaving the rest.

"I ate half your lunch. Sorry." She said.

"That's fine, Sweetie. You needed it more than either of us." Pepper said.

Tony stood. "I'd better get this visit out of the way." He said. "And I'm sure Steve and Loki are itching to ask a few questions of their own to a certain headmaster."

"Don't forget the suit." Pepper said.

Tony looked incredulous. "Would I really forget the suit when I'm heading into a potentially dangerous situation?"

"Yes." Jade and Pepper chorused.

"Thank you for that vote of no confidence." He rolled his eyes. "I'll be back soon. Perhaps we should subscribe to a magical newspaper, because I can see the next headline- Hogwarts faculty threatened by two muggles and a god." He hugged Jade, before kissing Pepper, and leaving the room.

A/N: Please review!