A/N: February 6th, 2022

I'm done. It's over. As you know from my last "update" I have been insanely busy with my art school portfolio and college applications, so I took a little break.

Well as of last Monday. I am done. Everything has been submitted. I have already received two early acceptances, both with scholarships due to my grades. I finished my portfolio which in the end took me over 300 hours to complete. I don't know if I will get in but I finished it and I put in my best effort, so that's all I can really do.

When I posted that update, I expected some of you to leave, not wanting to wait for updates and I was fully understanding of that. But I wasn't expecting the overwhelming amount of love and support from you guys. It is that support that reassured me that I would have something to come back to when this is all over. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you. You are the reason I got through these last few months and you all may be the reason that I get into my dream school.

Now for what's going on with me. I took a writer's craft course and I believe that my writing has improved greatly over the last few months. Let me know if it has in this chapter. I had a terrible, terrible English teacher this year who didn't know how to mark things properly, however, I got through it. I have been contemplating writing a novel based on a short story I wrote for class. A few months ago I saw a man have a heart attack at work and had to watch as people tried to revive him, that was terrifying, he is fine now but it was overall a really scary experience. Oh and I'm directing my high school musical this year, I chose Footloose the Musical and it is going really really well, I'm playing Vi Moore, Ariel's mom. I'm so excited about it. I have also had to resist the urge to write Hermione Granger x Jasper Whitlock fanfiction because I knew that I needed to get back into this one first, but let me know if you would read something like that. Lastly, I've been thinking about travelling this summer. Since I am leaving for Uni in the next 7 months I have been thinking about doing a summer abroad trip for a few weeks which would be incredible. So that's about it, I think I have caught you up to speed in the last 5 months of my life.

I have so much fanart in the works for when I upload a specific chapter so if you haven't already, 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.

Okay, so before I answer questions from chapter 10 here's something you need to know for this chapter, those of you who have read my other fic "Her Power In Time" know that, that fic includes music and dances that are specific to that scene. That will be happening in this chapter. The song is "Just That Girl" by Drew Seeley. You can find the scene on YouTube, it's the scene from "Another Cinderella Story." You can just search "Just That Girl" dance scene from Another Cinderella Story," and it should be one of the first ones to come up. Remember that this is only the dance from the scene and not the actual scene itself.

Now for questions, I do read every comment that is posted on here so if you have any leave it and I will respond:

Freyja-Njorda: So I believe that "for the greater good" is more just Hermione's belief in Dumbledore's philosophy. That will change just as it did canonically where she realized that maybe Dumbledore doesn't know it all. Maybe her time with the Avengers will change that. Hermione is so used to protecting and putting others first that I think that that is what she interprets the "greater good as" I hope that makes sense. I promise I didn't put that phrase in there for fun, it will come into play eventually.

crity2re: Man I have missed your comments over the last several months. Bucky and Hermione are so similar to me, which is why I set up this pairing the way I did. They both are the best friends/sidekick to someone who has the fate of the world on their shoulders. They both understand that burden and believe me I haven't even scratched the surface of their relationship. To be honest with you I haven't seen Agents of Shield but Luke told me about the Coulson thing after I wrote that chapter. I personally just prefer if Coulson stays alive, we all know Molly Weasley will take excellent care of him. I still haven't seen Loki so your comment doesn't make total sense here but I do get your point about Steve and Peggy. I will definitely be using your poll question suggestion in the future as Luke and I have been having the same debate and since No Way Home came out our answers completely differ.

CallaRose4ever: I missed your comments so much while I was gone but I'm back and can only hope that you haven't left. I agree the memes that came from Fat Thor are iconic. I totally understand the hatred of Hermione's manipulation but do try to see it from her perspective. She has been under Dumbledore's spell along with the rest of them and she honestly believes that what she's doing is okay. I'm not just doing this "greater good" thing for no reason, it will come into play in the future. You are right though, just like how Bucky has a dark side I wanted to bring that out more for Hermione as well in this fic. I love that poll questions and will definitely keep it in mind for future polls. Please try to see Hermione's perspective though, just like Harry believed Dumbledore, Hermione still believes in him so hopefully, her time with avengers will help her realize that Dumbledore is wrong. Trust me when I say "the greater good" is necessary for the story, for now, however, I promise it won't be forever. And you are truly welcome for saving Phil, I owed it to him.

Sora Loves Rain: To be fair, everyone is going to be bothering Hermione with magical world problems and questions lol.

KaseyKasey: I completely agree, I just hope that they will address this whole Thor thing in the new movie.

Also when commenting please keep in mind that I have not seen Loki, no more than a couple of episodes of What If?, and more than 3 episodes of Hawkeye so please be mindful. I know I need to watch them but due to my portfolio, I haven't had any time. I will say that I have seen Spiderman and I loved it. Luke and I went to see it together on opening night, I made bingo cards with our predictions and I won of course. I'm not going to spoil anything for those who have not seen it but Luke and I had the best theatre ever. I couldn't speak the next day because I was yelling so much. In my opinion, it is the best Marvel movie to date.

Thank you to my Beta Luke, our marvel expert for going his expertise on this chapter. Luke who is the Willard to my Ren, The Emmett to my Jasper (I just finished making him watch twilight and as I suspected he hated it), and finally the Lane to my Rory. (Yes, I will keep adding more every week because Luke HATES it and also names these shows/references in the comments). A 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*

Well, it's good to be back guys, and I can't wait for you to read this chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline, the franchise belongs to Marvel and She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If I did own it I'd be rich and married to Sebastian Stan, or Tom Holland, or Andrew Garfield, or Tom Hiddleston or…I'll just quit while I'm ahead. ENJOY!

June 24th, 2012 Aboard the Mobile SHIELD Headquarters - (1:37 PM)

Hermione wanted a break, she was feeling just so...overwhelmed, with everything. She'd been so busy over the last several hours she hadn't even had time to think or mourn her parents, it made her feel guilty not thinking about them when they weren't even cold in the ground. She excused herself from Bucky's presence as she sought out a way to calm herself down. So she asked Agent Hill if there was a place where she could do something to calm her down. It was something she'd always done since she was a little girl. Whenever she felt overwhelmed, Hermione would dance.

So she entered a simple room that, to Hermione's surprise, was a dance studio/workout center. 'Who on earth would use a dance studio in the middle of a SHIELD ship?' The young witch asked herself. The room was empty, other than a couple of benches, a mirror covering one of the walls, a barre, and some weight lifting gear. It was odd to Hermione to have something so useful to her in the middle of nowhere, it was almost like…fate. She shrugged away her thoughts and began to connect her new phone's Bluetooth to the speakers in the room. She moved to the center of the room, looking at herself in the mirror as she let herself move to the beat of "Just That Girl," she'd taken a dance class to that song last summer. She'd fallen in love with the choreography that she did this dance often.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw someone enter the room. She immediately turned off the music and went to address the person who had seen her dance. It wasn't that she was ashamed or embarrassed, she knew she was a skilled dancer, but dance was something private to her. No one knew about it, well her parents but they didn't really count anymore. Not even Ron or Harry knew. It was something just for her to enjoy. Her own little secret. So for someone to have seen it, made her nervous.

"Sorry, Hill told me you'd be in here." Natasha told Hermione. Natasha did look very apologetic. She realized very quickly that she had interrupted a private moment for Hermione. However, the agent did need help with something but she knew that Hermione was not her biggest fan. After noticing the dancing Natasha knew that she could break the ice using something she knew very well, the power of dance. So she asked, "Mind if I join you?"

Hermione took a minute to think about the request. She didn't know what came over but she reluctantly agreed.

"Sure." The young witch said with a shrug, a nervous smile dancing on her face. "But only if you can keep up."

Natasha smirked knowingly, "Something tells me I'm not going to have a problem with that."

Hermione walked over to the speaker and began to play the song once again. Before she turned to look at Natasha, "Just follow my lead, you'll get it with some repetition."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Natasha said with that same cocky grin that Hermione couldn't understand. Hermione shrugged it off and began to count them in.

"5, 6, 5, 6, 7, 8,"

They began to dance. Natasha observed, doing slight gestures with her arms and legs as she studied Hermione's movement. Hermione closed her eyes and let the music take hold of her as she moved to the bead. The chorus played again and Hermione opened her eyes, she repeated the same moves as before, expecting to see Natasha still learning, however, she was dancing perfectly in sync with Hermione.

As the dance progressed it was almost as if the two were in some kind of dance battle, but nothing was competitive about this battle. It was a silent reconciliation between the two, an understanding. They moved together with the music in perfect harmony. They moved in sequence, never once breaking their synced movements.

As the music came to an end the two slid across the floor, finishing the dance with heavy breathes. Hermione looked at Natasha, who looked back at her. The two laughed airly through their quickened breaths.

"That was…" Natasha started, trying to put into words what an amazing experience that was for her. She hadn't been able to dance like that since the Red Room. Sure it wasn't ballet, her specialty, but hip-hop was a secret passion of hers and it was great to be able to share that with someone.

"Amazing?" Hermione finished, breathless from the dance. The young witch had to admit that she was not expecting Agent Romanoff to be a dancer. "Though many people would say the same thing about me," Hermione thought to herself. Hermione walked over to the speaker and turned it off before another song played. She wiped some sweat off her brow with a towel she found in the gym. She only had one water bottle but with a quick 'Gemino' she was able to duplicate one for Natasha. She passed Nat the water bottle, the red-haired agent took it with caution, it's not every day that someone duplicates something with a simple word. "I didn't peg you as a dancer."

"I didn't know humans could duplicate water bottles but here we are," Natasha said with a smirk on her face before taking a sip from the water bottle. Hermione laughed shyly at the comment. "When I was younger, my father sold me to a covert government agency. They said they were willing to pay a heavy sum for a child with so much genetic potential. I never did understand how they got my DNA samples, but it was Soviet Russia, the whole system was corrupt. This organization is called the Red Room. They didn't only teach me to be an assassin but techniques that would come into play on missions. Dance was one of them. It became an escape for me. I've used it as such ever since."

Hermione didn't know what to say. Sure she'd been through a lot in the last few years with Ron and Harry, evening lost her parents but to be sold by your family? It was unimaginable.

"I'm so sor-" Hermione said as she began to apologize out of habit but was interrupted by Natasha.

"Don't apologize. I don't need sympathy. It happened and I'm working on cleaning the red off my ledger. Hence, me now working with SHIELD." Natasha said, closing herself off once again. There was a pregnant pause before Hermione said,

"I've been dancing since I was 4. I studied everything I could do: ballet, hip-hop, ballroom, and just, well...everything really. It helped me calm down and kept me busy." Hermione confessed to the red-haired agent. Natasha gave her a confused look at the confession.

"Why would you need to do that?" Natasha asked curiously. Hermione sighed at the memories that were coming back to her but reluctantly told Natasha her story.

"Before I found out I was a witch nothing made sense. I was a genius and people found me odd. I enjoyed reading more than I did playing with my peers. I loved chess more than I loved Barbie. I could read Tolstoy before I was 8. I solved the Hodge conjecture by the time I was 10. Not to mention whenever I lost control of my emotions, I could move things with my mind, blow up technology, and even make my toys dance one time. No one liked me and as much as they loved me, my mom and dad just didn't get it, didn't get me, Uncle Tom was the only one who did. Now I know why. He's a bloody Norse god and I'm Tony Stark's daughter, of course, I'm a fucking genius! I literally couldn't help it!" Hermione confessed, frustrated at the memories of her childhood, a time when no one understood her. She had been bottling this up ever since Tony showed up, there hadn't really been time to process any of this, between her parent's death, Uncle To-Loki, and now this whole secret father situation. But right now, even for a brief moment, she could.

There had been an explanation this whole time. She wasn't a freak of nature, she was just a genius, she got it from Tony. Hermione always thought there was something wrong with her like she had been switched at birth or something. Her parents had tried and she knew that. They read books on every subject she showed an interest in, just so they could keep up with her, but they just didn't understand. But Tony, Pepper, and even Bruce now, would understand. Even Natasha knows what it is like to be an outsider. Hermione realized that this is the first time in her life that she felt understood, and it felt great.

"Hey…you okay?" Natasha asked her, placing a gentle hand on Hermione's shoulder, not unlike an older sister who comforts a younger sibling. The red-haired beauty noticed that Hermione had gone into a sort of trance and figured the girl needed to be broken out of it. It took a few seconds for the bushy-haired brunette to shake her head and break out of her thoughts. It took a moment for Hermione to realize where she was. Once she had her bearings she looked towards Natasha to answer.

"Um, yeah. Just reminiscing. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that this is my life now." Hermione confessed shyly. The girls didn't know why but they felt a connection between them but it was there. Even if it started off rocky, they knew now that they would have a strong friendship. They understood each other in a messed-up kind of way.

"If it helps…I know what that's like." Natasha told the young witch. That sparked some interest from Hermione. She went to sit down on a bench in the room, nodding her head towards the empty space beside her. Hermione walked towards the bench and sat down, facing Natasha. "Before I joined SHIELD, I was their target. Barton, my partner who-"

"I'm sorry, partner? Or partner?" Hermione asked curiously, she didn't want to pry but figured she should get all the facts from the start so she didn't make any assumptions.

Natasha laughed breathily at the question. She was used to it by now of course, but it was still hysterical to imagine her and Barton together.

"My mission partner, it's not like that at all, he's my best friend," Natasha explained simply.

"Oh, I'm sorry for implying that-" Hermione started to apologize, somehow without fail, she always seemed to make a situation awkward. Natasha shrugged it off saying,

"Don't apologize. Everyone makes that assumption with me and Barton." Natasha told her.

"Barton? Is that his name?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Yeah. Barton, Clint Barton." Natasha replied before continuing the story. "Anyways, Barton was ordered to take me out. I was the best spy the Red Room had at that point. I was too dangerous so Fury ordered Barton to take me out. But when the time came he just couldn't. He took me with him to the states and begged Fury to give me a chance."

"I got better. Started to see a therapist and trained to be an agent the SHIELD way. I was partnered with Barton since we worked so well together and the rest is history."

"So why isn't he on board?" Hermione asked the agent, once again allowing her curiosity to get the better of her. Natasha sighed at having to tell the young witch the honest truth about the damage her "Uncle" had done.

"He is, now. He was AWOL. Loki got to him and put him under some kind of spell. I just got back from seeing him. He's okay now…back to himself but unconscious." Natasha said bluntly, she didn't see the point in beating around the bush with Hermione, she was going to find out sooner or later the extent of the damage her "Uncle" had done.

"Oh my goodness I am so sorry-" Hermione started apologizing profusely. Even though she knew this was her Uncle under the imperious and not in his own mind, it was still a horrible thing to happen to Natasha's friend.

"You gotta stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault. I'm sure your magic will be able to help him right?" Natasha asked the witch. That's actually what the red-haired agent has been wanting to ask Hermione, it's why she came looking for her in the first place. The young witch nodded in confirmation,

"Yes, if there's any residual magic I can help remove the dark magic or if he's struggling with the weight of the memories I can lock them away until he's mentally ready to see them. It'll take a couple of hours but he'll be fine." Hermione explained, giving the agent all the options she and SHIELD had when it came to Barton's recovery.

"Wow that magic thing must really come in handy," Natasha commented with a smile. She was glad to hear that the young witch was willing to help them; it could come in handy someday.

"Yeah…" Hermione trailed off. She just realized that Natasha was seriously affected by her uncles 'actions'. She needed to know what would happen to him. "Listen about my uncle…"

Natasha caught onto what the girl was thinking, "You aren't your uncle. Just like I'm not my parents and what happened to Coulson wasn't your fault. Loki would've killed him anyway. You made the right choice, you tried."

Hermione felt extremely guilty at this point. But she couldn't risk Natasha knowing the secret. It was better just between her and Bucky. It was for the greater good. There was an awkward silence between the two of them after that until Hermione decided to break the ice,

"I can take a look at Barton now if you want…prepare him for another round with Loki, I know what it's like to work without a partner."

"You do?" Natasha asked her, normally people didn't work with partners the way she had at such a young age. Hermione realized her slip up and once again came up with a half-truth. She couldn't have anyone know about the order…especially what happened in the Department of Mysteries.

"Yeah, at my school we have a defence class to learn how to defend ourselves against all sorts of magical creatures. My best friend Harry is my partner in sparring and whenever we do partner battles against other duos. He gets injured all the time from quidditch and I'm left without a partner." Hermione explained. It wasn't a total lie. She and Harry were partners in defence, but not just for magical creatures, but dark wizards as well.

"Quidditch?" Natasha asked her, she was clearly not familiar with the sport, not that Hermione expected her to be.

"I'll explain on the way," Hermione told her, starting to move towards the door, heading for the med bay.

June 24th, 2012 Aboard the Mobile SHIELD Headquarters (2:34 PM) - Med Bay

Hermione sat adjacent to Clint, locking eyes with him as she performed a form of healing Legilimency. She knew it would be painful but she had to remove the leftover dark magic. If not, Clint could be easily reactivated as one of Loki's lackeys. Natasha sat beside Clint, allowing him to grasp her hand to try to help him get through the pain. After a particularly loud grunt of pain, Natasha decided to reassure Clint more vocally.

"It's going to be okay Clint." She said softly, the tone of her voice not unlike the one she used to comfort Hermione. However, Clint didn't seem to appreciate the reassurance

"And you know that how? I don't exactly see you getting some fucker's magic out of your head." Clint grunted angrily. He didn't yell but he certainly did express some extreme anger.

Natasha looked towards Hermione, the girl hadn't looked away from Clint for a good 45 minutes and from the looks of it, the young witch was exhausted. Natasha knew that this would help Clint but she didn't want it to cost the young girl all of her energy.

The archer then began to repeat, "I got no window. I have to flush him out."

He said this over and over until finally, Natasha had to interrupt him, it was giving her a headache.

"Clint, that's what Hermione's here for. It'll all be over soon."

"Do you know what it's like to undo the shit that's going through your mind?" Clint retorted in an exasperated laugh.

"I know what it's like to be flushed out and if this is like the pain I had, you know I understand this more than anyone," Natasha told him softly. She didn't take offence to his answers. She knew that this is exactly what she did when SHIELD was deprogramming her from the Red Room.

Hermione then surprised them both by pulling out of Barton's mind, gasping for air. She could only gasp a 'water' before losing her voice completely. Natasha quickly handed her an open bottle and handed it to her. Hermione took it quickly and downed it, coming up for more air. She looked at Barton and nodded.

"It's gone. All the dark magic has been flushed out." She said, catching her breath slowly, she could feel Natasha's hand running up and down her back, consoling the young witch.

"So in other words, he's out?" Barton clarified, rubbing his temple which is still throbbing in pain.

"Yes. Any ties to Loki are gone. He's been completely flushed out." Hermione told him. "I'm so sorry that it took so long, there was more dark residue than I've ever seen before."

"So you can just, magic him out?" Clint asked exasperated. Hermione gave a breathy laugh before responding,

"It's slightly more complicated than that," Hermione told him slyly. "So before I tell you you're cleared I have to ask, can you remember anything? Anything at all about your time with To-Loki"

Clint looked at her after her slip up of the name. 'I really need to stop doing that' she told herself. The archer ignored it and told her,

"Everything is kind of a haze. I can remember anything concrete. Why is that bad?" He asked her, his voice slightly panicked. Hermione shook her head.

"On the contrary. It's a great sign. I had to put memory blockers on your mind. I didn't have a choice as the damage was extensive. You will get the memories back slowly over an extended period of time. This is for your own safety and mostly to protect your mind from anything it is not ready for." Hermione told him and Natasha, they both looked concerned but knew that Hermione knew more about this than them. It gave her some peace of mind to know that they trust her. The next part would be difficult for him. She knew that he would be hesitant in trusting her and her magic because of his experience with Loki,she knew that he needed to be reassured. "Don't be frightened by what I am about to tell you, but I have implanted something in your mind. It is a sensor that will be able to know when you are ready for the next memory. This is to help your healing process. I would never do anything to your mind that would negatively impact it."

Clint nodded quietly at the information she was giving him, Hermione could tell that he was processing what she had told him. She could also tell that he was trusting her so far, "So how long will it take to remember everything?"

"That is entirely up to your mind and your mind alone. It could be a week or it could be 6 months. Believe me when I tell you that this sensor is in your best interest, Agent Barton. This will allow the PTSD you experience from this event to be minimal." Hermione reassured him.

"Clint. Please, you've been inside my mind, I think we are beyond formalities…Miss…" Clint didn't know what to call her. Natasha and Hermione had already told him about her true parentage and her being a witch before they began the healing. However, he didn't know what surname she went by.

Hermione hadn't thought about it. She knew Tony wouldn't force her to change her name to Stark, but what happens when the press gets wind of who she is to Tony? Would they respect Granger or force the title of Stark on her? Then there's the whole SHIELD environment. Even though Sharon was Sharon Moore by birth, SHIELD calls her Agent Carter. Would they force the same standard on her as well?

"Granger, well if you want to get technical Granger-Stark-Carter, but you can call me Hermione," Hermione said with a smile, holding out a hand to introduce herself.

"Hermione Granger got it. A bit of a mouthful though isn't it?" Clint pointed out jokingly.

"My parents cursed me, what can I say?" She shrugged playfully before going back into serious mode. "Your mind just went through a lot, you should get some rest. We'll wake you up if anything major happens. Just take it easy, yeah?"

"Will do." He told her. Hermione looked to Natasha as a hint that she needed to leave so that Clint could get some sleep. Natasha got the hint and turned to Clint.

"I'm gonna go check on the group, with Coulson and all…" Natasha trailed off, not sure she could even finish the sentence, it would make it all too real. They had already told Clint what happened and though he was sad to hear about Phil's death, he knew that Coulson wouldn't have wanted to die in any other way, in service to someone else.

"I'll be here," Clint told her reassuringly before allowing himself to doze off.

Hermione and Natasha went out into the hallway, walking towards the lab.

"So, have you ever thought about being a magical doctor or something? You seemed to really know your stuff in there." Natasha commented, truly in awe of what the witch knew at such a young age.

"You mean a healer, that's the term in the magical world." Hermione informed her confidently but quickly became shy as she continued. "I mean yeah, but it's more of a hobby to me. I can heal broken bones much quicker than I did with Clint's mind. I mostly learned because Ron and Harry are always getting injured. Mind healing is just a hobby. I found a book in the library at Hogwarts and was hooked. Believe me, what I did back there is not normal for someone my age. The only reason I know I can do it is because my best friend's godfather let me practice on him after he had a near death experience."

And that was the truth. After Sirius nearly fell through the Veil, he had a lot of trauma associated with it. He needed help but due to his current legal status, he couldn't go to St. Mungo's. The Order didn't have or know of anyone that would be willing to help and Hermione merely offered her research not skills. It was Sirius and Dumbledore who encouraged the practice. She had only done it for a few days during her recovery from the Department of Mysteries at Grimmauld place before her parents came to get her. 'That's when they…' Hermione couldn't even think about it.

But Natasha didn't need to know about any of it.

"We could use someone like you to heal our agents." Natasha told her. She was serious, with magical healing they wouldn't need to replace so many agents while they heal after missions.

"I bet I could, however, that would require me to use magic and if you'll remember I can only tell a select few of you." Hermione knew that Natasha was trying to be nice but, to be honest, healing just wasn't her passion anymore. It may have been her ambition at the beginning of her time at Hogwarts. However, with the outcome of the war being unknown, and with her likelihood of survival being so low, she didn't have the drive to be a healer anymore. She didn't even know if she'd live past this war, let alone have a future.

"Ah good point," Natasha told her. It was hard to remember that the magical community isn't supposed to exist. The red-headed agent knew she had come across much weirder things in the last week than witches and wizards; it almost seemed normal to her.

The girls walked in silence until they heard Tony and Cap talking.

"He made it personal." They could hear Tony say.

"That's not the point," Cap responded firmly.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?" Tony tried to point out to Steve, hoping he would understand.

"To tear us apart," Cap responded.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win right? That's what he wants." Tony said, clearly thinking out loud. "He wants to beat us. He wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart." Cap responded, finally starting to catch on.

"Yeah, that's just the previews. This is opening night and Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered…" Tony stopped in realization. He had just figured out exactly what Loki wanted. "Son of a bitch."

Tony runs out of the room to warn the others, only to find Natasha and Hermione standing in front of the door.

"You heard all that right?" Tony asked them. The girls nodded. Tony turned to Natasha, "Go get Barton, tell him to suit up. You," He said pointing to Hermione. "Follow me."

Natasha runs off to wake Barton from his much too short nap. Hermione followed Tony who was moving at such a quickened pace, it could be called running. They were in Banner's lab, Bruce was eating some kind of cafeteria-grade sandwich when he saw Tony and Hermione run in.

"What's going on?" He asked with a mouthful of bologna sandwich. Tony had started quickly pressing buttons and ordering JARVIS around, but he didn't hear Bruce. Hermione could see some kind of construction station come out of the wall, building something rapidly as Tony typed away.

"Tony figured out what Loki wants and where he's going. I'm not really sure what the hell he's doing right now but all I know is that we are going to need your help." Hermione then remembered that Bucky needed to be informed of the present circumstances. She quickly activated her comms, "Bucky?" she asked awkwardly, she still didn't know the right way to talk into these things.

"Yeah, I'm here." She could hear him reply.

"Tony figured out where and what Loki is after, we need you and Steve in the lab now." She could hear Bucky chuckle breathly at her message. "Is something about that funny?" She asked, slightly peeved.

"I'm with Steve now Doll, he just came to find me, I'm just suiting up and I'll be there in a few," Bucky told her. Hermione blushed slightly at the pet name.

"Doll?" She clarified cheekily. Just because something was urgent didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun while she had nothing to do but wait.

"Yeah, yeah you can kick my ass about it later. I'll see you in a minute." Bucky told her before logging off his comms. Hermione could practically hear the smug look on his face from his comment.

Hermione looked at Bruce who was triangulating their location and informing the flight crew of their next destination. The young witch then looked over at Tony who was still working on something on the construction table. Hermione decided enough was enough, they needed him more than ever right now and he was building something. She was all for acting upon creative instinct but this was a little ridiculous.

"Tony?" She asked the billionaire, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.

"What?" He asked impatiently. Hermione knew that he probably didn't know that it was her interrupting his craft so she didn't take his brusqueness personally.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Tony but I am curious as to what you're doing at a time like this," Hermione gently asked him. Tony sighed loudly before turning around and seeing his daughter, a sudden look of apology visible on his face.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry-" He began, he didn't mean to yell at her, he really didn't. Whenever he got into a groove with his work, it was hard to snap him out of it.

"Don't apologize, just tell me what's so important that you need to build it now." Hermione gently demanded. Tony looked at her, putting both hands on her shoulders, looking intensely into her eyes.

"I'm not going to be able to keep you out of this fight am I?" Tony already knew the answer but figured he needed to ask her. She shook her head,

"Probably not." She told him, and he sighed in defeat.

"Look when I found out about you, I started building you an Iron Man suit. Pepper has one as well and it's just in case of emergencies. I started building it on the plane and when we left to go to Germany I brought yours along with mine just in case something happened. This," He gestured to the suit on the table, "Is your suit. I'm making some modifications to the design so that you can have the mobility to do your magic. Also since you told me magic and technology don't mesh well together I made some changes so that hopefully your suit doesn't malfunction if your magic comes in contact with it. "

Tony then pushed a button which instantly drew the suit to her body, the next thing she knew her suit was on her body. It fit perfectly. Hermione summoned her wand and conjured a mirror so she could see herself.

It was beautiful, I mean as beautiful as a suit could be. Unlike Tony's suit, it was not completely made of iron. It had a beautiful periwinkle iron chest plate with matching boots. Her forearms also had iron gauntlets, Since her right arm is her wand-wielding arm Tony had it completely made of iron, with bending room in the elbow, as well as a plate to protect herself. Her left arm had a brown leather binding to attach the gauntlet to the rest of the suit. She noticed that her suit came with a comms set for her left ear but did not have a helmet. She was appreciative of that because she really didn't need it. She could project a 'Confundus' charm on the suit and no one would be able to recognize her. Including all wizards, all they would be able to see is a witch with a wand.

The chest plate extended down into a strange metal skirt, it was surprisingly comfortable and could move just as well as any normal skirt. Leave it to Tony to figure out how to make metal move comfortably. She had a pair of dark grey, bulletproof tights, not unlike the material that Natasha's suit was made out of. The suit was complete with a matching periwinkle cape, from the blueprints she'd seen this was something new to the design.

She had included the cape on her Germany suit because of Uncle To-Loki. She knew who he was when she saw him on T.V and even though he was doing a bad thing, she still felt obligated to include him in her design. It may sound sappy but it made Hermione feel closer to him.

"Really? It's mine?" The young witch asked excitedly, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the suit on her body. It seemed so surreal.

"Yes." Tony said reluctantly. He knew he would regret letting her fight, but if she was anything like him, she'd find a way to join anyway. He at least wanted to give her a suit that could protect her. He watched as Hermione ran her hands over the length of the suit, admiring its beauty. Then she walked over to his construction table and began looking over the suit designs. Tony watched as she began to build.

Tony watched as she began giving JARVIS orders to build something, in awe as he basically saw a younger, female version of himself design a new component for her suit. She looked over the boots, making sure that they would be compatible with her design. When it was finished she looked at him before showing him her new equipment. He was surprised she had been able to finish something so fast.

"What's a witch without a broom?" She asked him rhetorically, with a playful glint in her eyes.

Tony looked over the design, it's a hover broom. A gravity manipulating hoverboard in the shape of a broom. He looked towards his daughter, his mini-me, with such pride in his eyes.

"And the best part…" Hermione pressed a button on the button of the board and watched as the board contracted into a wristwatch that she clipped onto her wrist.

Tony didn't care that she had basically just solved his father's greatest failure. Of course, his father's creation was a hovercar, but Hermione's was definitely more stable than he had ever been able to acheive. It almost seemed like fate that she would be able to solve it and not her grandfather.

"I am so proud of you." Tony told her with watery eyes, before pulling her into a tight hug. He pulled back, wanting to ask her so many questions, "How do you know how to use it?"

"I just watched you. I've been working on a hoverbroom for a long time because of my friend Harry. I actually memorized my blueprints since I looked over them so much, but I never had the materials to actually make it. Now I have them." She explained, looking at her wrist when the hoverbroom watch resided, she was still in awe that she had actually been able to make it.

"Any more brilliant inventions in that genius mind of yours?" Tony asked with a laugh and a smile.

"So many." She told him, and it was true. She had come up with so many designs over the years but never had the budget to build them. It was a pipe dream.

"Well, I don't know if anyone told you this but I'm loaded and always looking for new inventions so if you ever want to build something like this again, I'll make it happen,'' Tony reassured her, giving her one last hug. Hermione could see from over her shoulder that Steve and Bucky had suited up. Steve was in the same uniform as before, but Bucky's was newer. His was simpler than Steve's. It was a black leather jacket with the left sleeve removed, allowing his metal arm to be on full display. He wore matching black cargo pants which Hermione could only assume were bulletproof since Natasha, Steve, and herself had bulletproof fabric. He wore black combat boots with a grey and black mask covering his face from the nose down. It was more for appearance than for a disguise because he, like Steve, had already had his identity exposed for decades.

Hermione watched as he and Steve looked over her, taking in the new suit. Natasha and Clint soon followed them, giving her the same look.

"Are you crazy? Or just plain stupid?" Steve said, taking his eyes off of Hermione to look at Tony.

"I know you didn't just call me stupid Capsicle," Tony said, giving Steve a glare. "What's the problem?"

"What's the problem? You're putting a civilian in danger, you think that suit is going to help her fight? She doesn't have the training for this Stark." Steve said angrily, Bucky just stood behind him, not saying a word; however, Hermione could tell that he had the same concerns.

"Does it look like I need your opinion, Rogers? she's my daughter and you can't just-" Tony started to argue.

"Well as the leader of this team I think I get a say in-" Steve started

"Woah and who the hell made you leader anyway-"

Hermione had had enough of this cat and mouse game between these two. She could feel her magic rising and her hair began to crackle with power. Her eyes began to glow gold with more power coursing through her veins.

"SHUT IT!" The young witch roared, just like before, Tony and Steve found themselves unable to speak. "Honestly you two, this is a team, not a dictatorship, there is no leader and we are all equals. Now as for you," She started pointing at Steve, "I can handle myself just fine. We have a defence and duelling club at school, which specializes in combat. They teach us this because they hope that we will become Aurors, which can be the equivalent of a SHIELD agent. Do not underestimate me, Captain Rogers. Tony Stark is my biological father, Howard Stark is my grandfather and Peggy Carter is my grandmother. The fight is in my blood even if I didn't have the training. I don't need your approval or anyone else's to fight, got it?'' She glared deeply until he nodded, albeit reluctantly.

With a wave of her wand she allowed Tony and Steve to speak again before she continued, "Merlin I swear you two are worse than Ron and Harry debating quidditch. Look I get it, we all get it, you two aren't going to get along and that is fine. But it shouldn't interfere with the task at hand." She then looked at Steve, "I know you are concerned for my safety or whatever but you'll need me when it comes to Uncle To-Loki. With Thor being AWOL you have no one who has a connection to him. He trained me, I know his patterns and his weaknesses. Whether you want to admit it or not you need me."

Steve contemplated her words before looking at the rest of the room. They all knew she was right, she was needed more than anyone. She knew Loki better than anyone in this room.

"You're right," Steve said to her sincerely, with that serious look of his. "I apologize for my assumptions."

"Apology accepted." Hermione smiled at the soldier, knowing that they had restarted with a clean slate. The young witch hoped that that would stick this time around. However it then occurred to her that time may not be on their side so she decided to begin with "So since you and Tony have figured it out, what do we do?"

"First we need someone to fly a jet," Tony started, taking the lead of the conversation.

"I can," Clint said loudly but shyly. Everyone looked at him strangely, knowing that he should be recovering from Loki's mind tricks. "I'm Barton, Clint Barton."

"Nice to meet you Katniss," Tony said gleefully, Clint glared at the nickname but knew it was Tony's way out of awkward situations so didn't take too much offence to it. "Everyone suited up?" At everyone's confirmation, he continued, "I'll explain everything on the way but first, we need to steal a jet."

The crew walked towards the cargo bay, heading towards the first ship they could take. Steve and Tony took the lead while the others followed. They stepped on a ship that had a terrified agent, staring right at them.

"Y-You can be in here-" He started nervously but Steve held out his hand stopping the agent from speaking further.

"Son, just don't," Steve said sassily. Hermione nearly burst out laughing as the young agent ran off the ship, scared out of his mind.

Clint jumped into the pilot seat with Natasha as his co-pilot, everyone else got strapped up except for Tony, his suit was far more comfortable standing up. Clint and Nat quickly started up the engine preparing for take-off.

"Not that the mystery isn't exciting but where exactly are we going Stark?" Bucky asked, yelling over the engines. Tony looked him dead in the eyes before looking at Clint and Natasha who were both looking for the same answer.

"New York." He answered, the disappointment of the location evident in his voice.

Okay so as far as the last chapter's poll question, I win by a longshot so suck it, again, Luke. This means that the score is now,

Delaney-8

Luke-2

This week's poll question is out of all the 2021 tv releases for Marvel, Wandavision, FATWS, What If? What is your favourite?

Luke's is What If?, which from what I saw was good but I think that mine was The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I just really liked the storyline, the pacing, and the new characters/character arcs.

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

This is the LAST WEEK to submit ideas for Hermione's Avengers name. Next week I will be revealing either a name created or got from a suggestion. If I choose your name, you will get credit! I'm pretty stuck on one but I think if there was a good enough suggestion, I could be swayed to change it.

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), it might not be totally consistent, but I will be updated constantly now, no more 5 month breaks I promise.

I love you all so much and thank you so much for sticking with me through these last few months. I'm glad to be back.

-Delaney

P.S: I reread the fic to catch myself up lol and noticed SO MANY mistakes from before I had editors so I will be re-editing everything in the next few weeks.