August 15, 2021

A/N

It happened again, and as usual I have left off writing this chapter for far too long. 17 days to be exact. However, as I have said before, I have a life. Honestly, I've been going through some shit. Personal shit. Also, disclaimer, I'm a little too tipsy to write this author's note right now so, I'm forcing Luke to write this. These chapters aren't pre-written like some other fics, so the chapters will be posted eventually, just not on a specific schedule.

As promised this is a spoiler free zone and it will stay that way. But did you guys watch the new episode of What If? What did you think about it? Luke and I watched it together and had to admit we had a lot of mixed feelings about it.

Once again please follow my Instagram page for this fic, (delaneys . world . of . fanfiction). Hopefully, spacing out the words will help you guys see what the page is. If not, message me and we can figure it out together.

Thank you to my Beta Luke, our marvel expert for editing this chapter. Luke who is the Derek Morgan to my Penelope Garcia, The Watson to my Sherlock Holmes, The Sam to my Dean Winchester. (Yes, I will keep adding more every week because Luke HATES it and also names these shows/references in the comments). One last massive shoutout to my amazing ghostwriter ElianaIsabella who literally edited this chapter at the drop of a hat. I couldn't have gotten this chapter out to you guys without her. *insert clapping emoji*

Now for questions! If you have any pressing questions or just want to make some observations about the fic, ask any questions and I will try to answer them. Now I do read all the comments so if I didn't answer yours it is because I didn't think it was in a question format so just ask again in the comments with a different format.

CallaRose4ever: Yes, I totally agree, Bucky would never have done anything he did as the Winter Soldier if he was aware of his actions. Luke doesn't know what he's talking about. Idiot. Or should I say .Idiot. As always, lovely to see your comments and hope you enjoy the chapter.

crity2re: Totally agree with you. Bucky's behavior as the Winter Soldier completely different from his behavior as, well… Bucky. He and the Winter Soldier are completely different in most ways, and I'm glad to see that he's righting his wrong doings, even if it costs him everything. Thank you again for your reviews as they always bring a smile to my face.

Rose Jean Everdean: Here is Luke's response seeing as this question directly relates to him: Personally, I don't really care for Nat, Wanda, or Pietro, so I also don't believe they deserve a redemption arc. They all need to be held accountable for their actions. However, that's my personal opinion, and I respect that others have their own opinions.

ImmortalsDoItForever: I. LOVE. THIS. STORYLINE. IDEA.

annieharper84: Honestly, Lockhart messed it up so much when he helped Harry that I just wanted a different and easier version of the spell. So that it really was just Lockhart showing off.

Stille und regen: I couldn't agree more.

Special shoutout to the person who wrote this comment because it made me cry. "OK I've been reading fanfiction for a very long time, and And recently I've been quite frankly disappointed and a lot of fanfiction's, I have to say yours is THE BEST HP related fanfic I've read in at least a year. The way you've structured this story has me HOOKED. Keep up the good work!" It's comments like this that keep me going.

Also, I have not seen anything other than the 1st episode of Loki and I still haven't seen Black Widow so please no spoilers please, and thank you. I don't know how either of these shows/films affect what is happening in this first Avengers film but everything that we knew before these two films will remain that way. Pretend you know nothing.

I own nothing but the storyline. If I owned Marvel or Harry Potter I would've starred in the films. Oh and married Sebastian Stan or Tom Hiddleston, or maybe Tom Felton, I can't make up my mind.

Last Time on A Stark Contrast:

Hermione and Bucky didn't understand what they were supposed to be running from. That was until the great green rage monster that Tony was such a big fan of, came lumbering quickly towards them from behind Natasha.

They were about to come face to face with the Incredible Hulk.

June 24th, 2012 Aboard the Mobile SHIELD Headquarters (12:13 PM) - Known Location

"Shit." Bucky spat out as he began to run in the opposite direction of the Hulk, he grabbed Hermione's hand trying to pull her with him, but she wouldn't budge. "Hermione?" He asked politely at first but then began to pull harder on her arm, but she showed no sign of movement. She was thinking. He could read it on her face, but they didn't have time to think. Only run. "Hermione c'mon!" He yelled trying to get her attention.

Hermione jerked her hand out of Bucky's. He looked at her with worry and panic. "Go! I've got this." She informed him. She had a plan. Not a smart one, but a plan nonetheless.

"No you don't Granger." Natasha yelled hearing the conversation they were having faintly, still running as fast as she could away from the Hulk. "This isn't Bruce. He's not going to show you mercy!"

He was only a few meters away from them. She could still get out of this plan of hers if she wanted to. But she wouldn't. Not if there was a chance her plan would work.

"Get behind me!" Hermione ordered Bucky and Natasha once Natasha got close enough. She then turned to the Hulk, her focus solely on him. She prayed that this worked. Theoretically, The Hulk isn't much different from a giant. Mentally and Physically they are similar. Thanks to all of her time with Hagrid, she knew some techniques in calming angry giants. She just prayed one of them would work. She recalled the steps.

Step 1. Get their attention. Assess whether you need to use a calm or firm voice.

"Hey!" Hermione said firmly. The Hulk stopped, looking down towards her. She ignored everything else. Natasha and Bucky were no longer there in her mind. This was between her and the Hulk. Before he could move another step towards her she enacted step 2.

Step 2. Compliment their size and assert their dominance over you. This is when you use a more gentle and vulnerable sounding tone.

"Hey big guy." Hermione said in a calmer voice, beginning to stretch her hand out slowly to show that she isn't a threat. The Hulk dropped his shoulders slightly and his angry demeanor faltered slightly. She'd broken through, slightly, however she had still broken through. This next step was crucial. This could make or break the plan.

Step 3. Bring them to their happy place. Somewhere that will immediately calm them.

That's what had her stumped. She didn't know Bruce well enough on a personal level to know where exactly his happy place was. However, he and her were quite similar as far as smarts go. Maybe their happy places would be similar. Hermione knew it was a long shot but it was their only hope.

Her happy place was the beach house they'd stay at during summer holidays in the south of France. They started going every summer after she started Hogwarts. Every night just before the sun started to set she would run along the pier. Stopping to watch the sunset on the way back to my house. It was her time, her quiet place where it seemed time stood still for a minute or two. Her time of absolute peace and tranquility. That's it. It had to work.

"Sun's getting real low, big guy." Hermione said calmly, hand still stretched out towards him. She began to walk slowly towards him, being careful not to make any sudden movement or noise. She walked towards him until they were less than 3 meters apart.

The Hulk looked towards her hand and completely lowered his angry demeanor. He moved his arm warily. He was aware of his actions and his strength, how much he could hurt people. He moved his arm gently, down towards Hermione. He moved his hand to align with hers. It was huge in comparison. Hermione, who'd had her sights completely on their aligned hands, looked up to meet his eyes.

Maintaining eye contact, she flipped her palm upwards, seeing if he would pick up on the next que. Still looking her in the eyes, the Hulk moved his hand upwards as well, placing his heavy hand over hers gently. Hermione struggled to hold up the weight of his enormous hand in her palm but did her best so not to scare him.

Hermione then decided to take a risk. She removed her hand from underneath his, moving her arm to hover his. She allowed her ring finger to trail his arm. Starting from the inner part of his elbow down to the tip of his middle finger. Once she reached the end of his middle finger, she made a point to tap it lightly. For a moment the Hulk's eyes changed. They weren't the big, angry eyes that Hermione had gotten used to seeing. They were full of knowledge and fear. Bruce.

That's when the Hulk stumbled back. It's as if he was battling with himself. Which, I guess he was. Bruce was fighting against the Hulk. Fighting for control. Hermione's plan worked, she just hoped that Bruce was strong enough to regain control.

The Hulk/Bruce bashed themselves against the metal pillars, as well as anything else that they could smash themselves against. Until the Hulk got smaller and smaller until finally Dr. Banner was back.

"Holy shit." Bucky muttered behind her.

"You did it." Natasha said in disbelief. "You actually did it."

Hermione ignored them both, only wanting to help Bruce. The first thing that she noticed was that he was completely naked. With a flick of her wand, she conjured some clothes for him to wear until he had access to something of his own. Which due to the circumstances at the moment seemed like it would be awhile. It was a simple pair of grey undergarments, a green button up, and some dark grey trousers. She also 'accio'd' his glasses from the rubble, muttering a quick 'Occulous Reparo' to fix the shattered lenses.

Not wanting to look anymore at the man in his vulnerable state, Hermione turned around and levitated the clothes to him. Before they reached him, however she decided to give him some warning. He'd be coming out of a blank period wondering what happened, he didn't need to be scared to death by flying clothes.

"Dr. Banner?" Hermione asked out loud, stepping beside Bucky and Natasha who had already turned their backs on the naked man. She looked to them both and smiled awkwardly awaiting the doctors response. After hearing a startled noise come from the doctor Hermione heard a confused:

"Hermione?"

"Yes." She responded simply, not wanting to overwhelm him with information before he was ready for it.

"What happened?" He asked weakly.

"There was a bit of an incident. Tony and Steve are looking into it, but they do need help, so we need to hurry. If you look behind you there're some clothes for you." Hermione stated simply. She thought it best not to mention the whole turning into the Hulk thing. It took a moment for Bruce to respond.

"Shit. It happened didn't it?" Bruce asked them already knowing the answer. But as always, praying for a different response.

"Yes, however-" Hermione was cut off by Natasha who thought it was best to now mention the fact that Hermione found a way to get through to the Hulk.

"However it was a good thing it did." Natasha told him.

"In what way?" Bruce asked a little insulted. In his mind there's absolutely no reason why the Hulk would ever be a good thing.

"We discovered a way of pushing the Hulk out and bringing you back." Natasha informed him, but before he could respond to that discovery she felt inclined to inform him of the fact that Hermione is the one who figured it out. "It was actually Granger here but-"

"She did what?" Bruce clarified in disbelief. He tucked in the last bit of his shirt quickly before telling them awkwardly, "You guys can turn around now."

They all turned around to see a very tired and confused Bruce Banner. His eyes were full of guilt and confusion whereas his body looked exhausted. Hermione silently summoned a Pepper Up potion that she always had on hand in her pocket using an undetectable extension charm. That charm was honestly the best thing she ever learned. In all her pockets there was a first aid kit, potion supply, and of course books. Ron and Harry had thought it was ridiculous that she did that but look what happened. Especially with those two, you never know when you need to be prepared.

With the Pepper Up potion in hand she carefully walked over to Bruce. When she stretched her arm to hand him the potion, he flinched backwards as if he was afraid he was going to hurt her.

"Bruce? It's okay you aren't going to hurt me." Hermione said gently, she slowly moved her hand to grab his. He pulled back slightly but eventually gave in. She gently placed the potion in his hand. He looked up at her, confused, and she decided to explain. "This is a Pepper Up Potion. It helps when the body and mind are exhausted. It in the best terms quite literally pepper's you up."

Bruce opened the bottle, taking a sniff, then scowling at the scent being omitted from the bottle. Hermione laughed lightly, "I'm going to warn you now, the way it smells is way better than the way it tastes. You'll feel quite weird as the potion is taking effect, it's a...different sensation."

"It's not gonna hurt, is it? Cause-" Bruce started to grow out nervously. Which of course was understandable, he was still in shock and had no control of his emotions. He didn't want something to happen if he was feeling pain due to the potion.

"No, no, no, no pain. I promise. However, it is a new sensation that you may not have felt before." Hermione said, "It is quite entertaining however for the rest of us who are watching." At Bruce's clearly confused expression Hermione felt the need to remind him that they were running out of time. "With all due respect Dr. Banner, we are in a bit of a time crunch so if you could just take that potion, we can be on our way."

Bruce pinched his nose and took a deep breath before downing the contents of the bottle. As he lowered the bottle he made a distasteful noise and a sour face, clearly disgusted with what he just drank. Then his face became confused once again as the potion began to set in.

That's when his face turned bright red and the smoke began to fire from his ears.

"Holy fuck!" Hermione heard Bucky shout from beside her.

"Shit." Natasha commented in disbelief. Hermione just chuckled at both of their reactions. She had the exact same reaction when she first saw the effects of Pepper Up kick in.

Luckily Bruce's effects of the potion were short-lived as the smoke cleared from his ears and his face returned to normal. Once he returned to normal he was breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon, and could run 10 more.

"Wow! That stuff actually works. I feel great!" Bruce said enthusiastically with a hint of disbelief. With a wave of her wand, the potion bottle disappeared.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. But as I mentioned before Steve and Tony are in need of some assistance." Hermione pointed out.

"I saw an exit that way," Natasha pointed out to the group before looking in another direction. "I'm going to check on our levels with the flight crew, I want to make sure nothing was damaged in the explosion."

Hermione nodded, "You have a phone?"

Natasha nodded in response pulling it out of one of her many pockets that were included on her suit. "I'm gonna put my number in your phone and vice versa to keep you updated. I have a feeling that your ear comms were taken out in the explosion."

Natasha put a hand up to her ear testing her comms but found that they didn't work. Hermione handed Natasha her phone and Natasha did the same. They exchanged numbers and promised to keep each other updated with anything they thought would be relevant before parting separate ways.

Bucky, Hermione and Bruce all headed towards an exit at the end of the hall. That's when Hermione's cell phone rang. It was Tony.

"Tony?"

"It was an external detonation. Engine 3 is down. Turbine needs some repairs but SHIELD can't do that repair while in the air."

"Tony you aren't seriously telling me that-"

"You're the one who wanted to be informed kid. I'm just telling you the information." Tony interrupted, being quite frank with her.

"Be careful. Worse comes to worse, I'm going to have to start apperating people off the ship." Hermione concluded. She knew it was unrealistic to save everyone in this scenario, but she'd be damned if she didn't do her best.

"Didn't I read in one of those books that apperating takes a lot out of you? I don't want you taking too much of this one yourself." Tony said protectively.

"It's what I do Tony. Help people. You'd do the same thing." Hermione pointed out.

"I know and I promised you that I wouldn't try to control you in this just...be careful." Tony asked.

"Back at you." Hermione said smiling to herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bruce and Bucky looking at her. It was a mix of 'hurry up' and 'aw what a sweet moment between a father and his daughter' even though they could only hear one side of the conversation. That's when Hermione realized something. "You said it was an eternal detonation? Would have done that? Unless it was to distract us…"

Hermione's thoughts trailed off as she realises that she was right. This was all Loki. It had to be. Which means there was a plan. She needed to get to his cell and fast.

"Tony, I've got to go." Hermione said quickly before hanging up she said a quick, "Love you, be safe." Before running the other direction. Her, Bruce and Bucky rushed up a flight of stairs and began to hear the chaos that began during their time with the Hulk.

Bruce looked at the chaos nervously. He did not need to turn into the Big Guy again today. However, he still felt compelled to help in some way or another. He didn't know where his particular skills would be useful, but he would still find a way to help. Where better to do that than on the command deck.

"Hey!" he shouted to Hermione and Bucky, attempting to gain their attention. "I'm going to head to the command deck and see if I could be any help there. It's probably best if I'm as far away from Loki as possible since The Other Guy is his play."

Hermione and Bucky looked at each other, giving a silent agreement, before looking back to Bruce. Bruce began to head in another direction but was stopped by Hermione's voice.

"Dr. Banner!" She beckoned. "Be safe."

Bruce smiled before turning and heading the other way. Bucky and Hermione began heading towards Loki's cell. Which proved to be difficult. Agents around them were scrambling everywhere making it nearly impossible to move. But eventually they made it to the cell. Only problem, they didn't have access to the room.

Hermione tried a quick 'Alohamora' to open the door, however it didn't work. The spell was too weak for such advance technology.

"Shit. My unlocking spell won't work on this type of technology." Hermione said disappointed and frustrated.

"Doll, who needs an unlocking spell when you've got this." Bucky said with a flirty wink, gesturing towards his metal arm. He used the arm to gently pry open the door. They could hear talking between Loki and someone else, however they couldn't make out who it was.

Beside the door was a ladder leading up to a higher viewing area of the cell. Bucky nodded to Hermione and helped her climb up the latter, before following closely behind her. They got to the higher level of the cell area and carefully walked over to get a better view of the scene as it unfolded.

It was Loki, talking to Thor. Hermione wondered where he had gotten to during the explosion, he must've done what they all had. He must have looked for the cause of the explosion but came to the same conclusion as Hermione.

That's when she noticed Thor was in the cell where Loki had once been. Loki was free. Bucky must've noticed the same thing as he began to move towards Loki, as if trying to get the jump on him. Hermione knew that Loki was too good for that. She gently stopped him, giving him a look of 'just wait a moment.' He looked confused and went to talk but Hermione reminded him with a quick 'if you talk right now I will murder you' glance.

Hermione and Bucky turned to watch the scene unfold in front of them. Thor went to hit the glass with Mjolnir but quickly realized that might not be the best idea. The entire cell began to slip before begin catching itself before it fell to far.

Loki airily laughed at Thor predicament. Hermione knew it was because he finally had the power. Loki had the leg up on his brother. Thor's life was in Loki's hand and the god of mischief was basking in the glory.

"The humans think us immortal." Loki stated with a cocky smile, that turned into a look of evil. "Should we test that?"

Loki went to pull a level but was interrupted by a grunt of pain coming from one of SHIELD brainwashed men. The culprit causing this pain was not visible to Bucky or Hermione. They hoped all would be revealed soon as they wanted to be ready should the need arise for them to help this mystery aid.

"Move away please." They heard the mysterious voice say.

'Coulson?' Hermione mouthed in shock to Bucky.

They could see Loki backing away, much more fearful than before. Thor had a look of hope on his face, blood running from his nose. They must've missed a lot while dealing with the Hulk!

"You like this?" They hear Coulson ask rhetorically. He must have been holding something...a weapon of some kind probably. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does."

With the more steps Coulson took they were able to see more and more of him. At the moment they could see his weapon. And it was huge. Hermione could feel the energyy raidating off of the gun that Couslon appeared to be holding.

They could see and hear the gun being powered up, which only raised the amount of power Hermione sensed.

"Do you want to find out?" Coulson asked Loki.

That's when Loki disappeared. Almost immediately after disappearing they heard Thor yell 'No!' followed by a groan of pain coming from Coulson. Hermione quickly gripped Bucky's shoulder and apperated them to the lower level. Hermione gasped in horror of what she saw.

Loki's staff, pierced through Coulson's chest. Loki watched as Hermione's eyes scanned the scene in horror. Hermione took a step towards Coulson but Bucky pulled her back. He knew that she was Loki's niece that that doesn't mean he couldn't hurt her.

"You're a monster." Hermione managed to whisper out in utter shock.

"Dear niece, did you really not think me capable of this? Really I thought you smarter than this" Loki asked with a smirk, he pulled the staff out of Coulson's chest, but still held his body upright. "You, however, have a choice to make."

"And what pray tell, might that choice be?" Hermione asked challenging him for Coulson's sake.

"You can either save him or catch me." Loki disappeared in that moment, leaving Coulson to fall to the ground, Bucky however caught him. Hermione rushed beside Coulson.

"Coulson? Coulson?" She asked, checking to see whether or not he was conscious. She didn't even hear Loki behind her, pulling the level releasing Thor into the abyss until it was too late.

"No!" Hermione said after hearing Thor's screams.

"Last chance niece. Catch me. Or save him and lose me forever." Loki said, once again giving her an ultimatum.

"Hermione, go." Coulson told her weakly, Hermione turned to look at Coulson. He was fading fast, but he was still alive.

"Hell no." She told Coulson, before looking back to Loki. "You'll never win. Besides, I've faced worse than you."

Loki smirked at her words, "Don't say I didn't warn you niece, I did offer you a chance to join me. From here on out whatever happens will be entirely your undoing."

"Goodbye Uncle." Hermione said simply, looking back at Coulson then at Bucky.

"Accio knapsack." Hermione said quickly, holding her arm out to catch the bag as it came flying to her hand. She opened it and began pulling out potions like crazy, before passing some to Bucky, "Here, give him his blood replenishers while I heal the internal wounds."

"Hermione." Coulson coughed. "It's no use, I'm done for. Find a way to help Thor."

"No offense to him but Thor's a big boy, he can handle himself." Hermione said healing the damaged tissue surrounding his heart. "Now shut up and let me save your life got it. Keep talking."

"About what?" Coulson asked, his voice sounding stronger. Hermione healed most of his heart but was making sure that there wasn't any curses involved that would force his wounds to open up later.

"Anything? Like why did you join SHIELD?" Hermione asked, trying to distract him, she looked at Bucky and said, "Enough of the potion I healed his major artery so the bleeding should slow down significantly." She turned back to Coulson, "Sorry, continue."

"I joined SHIELD because of Captain America actually.'' He said, chuckling while nodding his head slowly towards Bucky. "My dad lived in Brooklyn during the second world war and was actually the first person Captain America saved. The HYDRA agent who broke into the viewing of the birth of the first super soldier, took my dad as a temporary hostage. The Captain saved him and from then on my dad followed his story and passed it along to me. Been collecting everything Captain America since. I actually have some trading cards in my locket, meant to ask Mr. Roger to sign them."

"Steve would kill you if he ever heard the words, 'Mr. Rogers' come out of your mouth.'' Bucky told him, "So you must have been freaking out when you met Steve for the first time." Bucky chuckled at the irony. He wondered if Steve knew Coulsons story.

"The first time I met him actually I was on 'Cap Watch' as we called it. He was asleep but it was the greatest moment of my life. It was cool seeing his best friend beside him too." Coulson said trying to include Bucky in his 'fangirling' moment.

"And you're okay. For now. I still need someone to keep you monitored-" That is when Hermione got the most brilliant idea. Something that would bring this merry band of mischief together. "Can I pitch you something crazy?"

"Sure." Coulson said, leaning up against the wall.

"Fury's goal is to bring everyone together right?" Hermione asked.

"I mean, yes that was the original plan." Coulson said, not understanding what she was getting at.

"I might just have a way to do that." Hermione told him before asking, "How would you feel about playing dead for a little while?"

Okay guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Once again sorry for the long wait, I swear I don't mean for these updates to take so long

Ok for last week's poll question, I win which means the score is now:

Delaney-6

Luke-2

This weeks poll question is...Would you prefer Steve to have ended up with Natasha or Peggy? I firmly and strongly believe that Steve and Nat should've been endgame. They had the chemistry and honestly it means Nat may not have died in the end and Steve wouldn't have gone back for Peggy. Luke as always disagrees so here is his argument:

I believe that Steve should have ended up with Peggy, because they had a pretty decent love story. They fell in love throughout the missions they went on, even if we didn't get to see it on screen. They had a sort of awkward relationship that I loved seeing how they interacted.

Anyways leave your thoughts in the comments because seriously we can't let Luke win!

Please leave any name suggestions for Hermione's Avenger's name in the comments because I'm really loving some of the names suggested!

Alright, that's all for me this week, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Finally, I just want to thank you all so much for reading and for giving me all the support. It is what keeps me going. See you all next week! (Hopefully)

-Delaney