The steady smacking of her sneakers against the sidewalk followed Hermione as she wandered down Bleecker Street looking around in confusion as she continued down the unfamiliar street.
Looking down at the mysterious card, she confirmed the address before forging ahead.
She hoped that she wasn't making a huge mistake.
Two days ago, she had woken up to an envelope that had been pushed under her apartment door in the middle of the night. All that was contained within it was a simple white note card reading:
177A Bleecker Street
Tuesday, 11 a.m.
-S.S
Rolling her eyes at the sorcerer's odd way of communication and presumption that she would be free, she, nonetheless, wouldn't miss the meeting for the world.
Finally finding the correct house number, Hermione stood in front of the door, trying to find the courage to knock. Sighing deeply, she bit the bullet, knocking loudly three times.
A solemn man answered the door, gazing down on her in a way that Hermione didn't quite understand.
"Hi. Um, my name is Hermione Granger. I think I'm supposed to be having a meeting here with Dr. Strange at 11 a.m.?..." She trailed off, becoming more unsure of herself the longer the stranger stared down at her silently.
"Oh. Um, maybe I have the wrong number then…" She began stuttering.
Without warning, the man's face transformed into a beaming smile. "I'm just messing with you. Come on in, Miss Granger. Master Strange will be down in a moment." He laughed loudly.
Letting out a breath that she didn't realize that she was holding, Hermione followed the strange man into the building, noticing that he was wearing the same type of robes that she had seen Stephen wear on previous occasions.
The man turned around and held his hand out for Hermione to shake. "I'm Wong, and this is the New York Sanctum - One of three Sanctums that create a protective barrier around Earth. I help Master Strange protect the Sanctum."
"DOCTOR Strange, Wong. DOCTOR." Stephen interjected as he began walking down the steps in the foyer of the Sanctum. "Hermione! I'm glad you were able to join us."
"And I'm glad to see you're still alive, apparently?" She retorted.
"Apparently." He smirked. "That's not to say that I didn't die."
"That doesn't make any sense." Hermione said, narrowing her eyes. Looking over at Wong, she continued. "Is he always such a smarmy git?"
Wong let out a guffaw and began steering Hermione towards the library. "Oh, Miss Hermione. You and I are going to get along just fine!"
"So you trapped Dormammu in a time loop until he agreed to bargain with you?" Hermione questioned.
The three were sitting in the Sanctum's kitchen, having just finished a lunch that Wong had so generously prepared for them with a little help from Hermione. Although the morning had started off a little slow, Hermione was surprised at how much fun she had been having for the past few hours.
"Essentially, yes. You can't break a time loop without the time stone, and because I had the time stone, it left Dormammu powerless to stop me." Stephen explained.
"Well," Wong interjected. "Powerless, in that he violently killed you over and over again."
"So," Hermione said, thinking carefully. "You, essentially, annoyed an intergalactic being to the point where he would literally rather admit defeat and give up his life-long dream of destroying Earth than be forced to spend another moment with you."
Wong roared in laughter from the sink where he was washing dishes while Stephen glared at the now laughing woman.
"That's not...exactly...right." Stephen grumbled.
"It's also not wrong!" Wong chuckled.
Laughing as she stood, Hermione glanced at Wong. "Here, Wong, let me help you with those." She said as she began making her way over to him.
"No, no. You are our guest, today. You can help me next time." Wong insisted with a smile before turning to Stephen. "Master Strange. Why don't you give Miss Hermione a tour of the Sanctum? I'm sure she'd be interested in seeing the library and the Chamber of Relics."
Hermione spun and looked at the two men. "You have a library?" She said excitedly with a wide grin.
"Of course, we have a library." Stephen replied, Hermione's joy infecting the room. "Come on, and I'll show it to you."
Hermione gave a wave to Wong before following Stephen out of the kitchen and up the stairs towards the library, the spring in her step a sign of her growing anticipation.
"So, do you and Wong live here, or is the Sanctum more of a workplace?"
"No, we actually live here full time. Wong was previously the librarian at Karmar-Taj in Kathmandu where I studied the mystic arts, but after I was appointed the Master of the Sanctum here in New York, he agreed to join me to help me protect it. The Sanctums protect the Earth, and sorcerers protect the Sanctums."
"Wow, that is fascinating. You and Wong must be very close for him to have given up his life in Nepal to come help you protect the Sanctum here." Hermione replied.
"Yes, we have been much closer ever since I turned back time to reverse his mortal wound from the pipe that had impaled him." Stephen said absentmindedly.
"What?!" Hermione asked, shocked.
"Oh, don't worry about it." Stephen replied with a smile. "He bounced right back."
Reaching for the handle of a door, Stephen pushed it open to reveal a larger room filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves overflowing with ancient texts.
"And this is our library." Stephen said as he breezed into the middle of the room and looked around. "With the exception of only the most ancient and/or sacred tomes, which are housed in the Kamar-Taj library, I think we have almost every text written concerning the Mystic Arts."
Looking back at Hermione, he realized the woman was looking around the room in a daze, seemingly overwhelmed by the collection he and Wong had procured.
"There are so many books…" Hermione murmured as she ran her hands over the spines of those closest to her.
"Of course." Stephen replied. "Wong was the librarian for years at the Kamar-Taj. He has a love for the tomes that surpasses all others. He wouldn't be able to survive in a place without a respectable library."
Hermione continued slowly making her way along the shelves of books. "So all of these are about the mystic arts?" She asked in wonder.
"More or less." Stephen replied. "There may be a few of my medical texts leftover, but, the vast majority concern the mystic arts."
Seeing Hermione's eyes widened in anticipation, Stephen coughed awkwardly. "You know, uh, you're welcome to come and read any time, if you'd like. Wong doesn't like for the books to leave the Sanctum, but you could either read in here, or you could try to sweet talk him into letting you borrow a few at a time." He offered.
Hermione beamed at him. "Seriously? You'd let me come and use your library?"
"Anytime you'd like." Stephen replied.
"Are you sure it wouldn't be an imposition?"
"Of course it wouldn't be." Wong replied for him as he walked around the corner. "We would love to see more of you."
Hermione flew towards the men, hugging them both tightly. "Thank you both so much! I'm so excited!" She said.
Stepping back, she looked over both of them again, still beaming. "Well, I've got to run. It's getting late, and Pepper is in town, and we're having dinner tonight."
The trio walked to the door, with Wong opening it for Hermione to step out. Turning on the stoop, she looked back at the two men. "Again, guys, thank you so much for answering my questions and for offering the use of your library. If it's alright, I may come back in a few days to pick out a book to read?..." She asked, hoping she wasn't being too presumptuous.
"Of course, that's alright." Wong replied. "Just come when the urge strikes you. You have an open invitation to our Sanctum."
Hugging Wong quickly once more, Hermione smiled brightly as she waved goodbye to them both. Closing the door gently behind her, Wong slowly turned and leveled a silent look at Stephen.
Failing to remain indifferent to the attention, Stephen began to squirm under his friends' gaze.
Continuing his silent assault, Wong raised an eyebrow, the unsaid question hanging in the air between the two friends.
"Arrgh!" Stephen yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "I KNOW, alright. I KNOW." He said as he stomped off, defeated.
Chuckling loudly, Wong merely followed behind the sorcerer without another word.
After her initial visit to the Sanctum, Hermione became a common fixture in Stephen and Wong's lives. What began with her visiting a couple of times a week turned into Hermione visiting most afternoons. As her friendship with the two sorcerers continued to grow, she began the habit of helping Wong cook dinner in the kitchen most nights. She felt it was the least she could do in return for the access they had granted her to the world of the mystic arts. Additionally, she found herself greatly enjoying her time spent at the Sanctum. She and Wong got along splendidly, while she and Stephen would debate for hours in the library over topics contained in whatever book she was reading.
As the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months, Hermione couldn't remember a time when she had been so content.
Stepping off on the top floor of Avengers Tower, Hermione was greeted by Tony in his full Iron Man suit.
"Erm, are we in danger, or did you just feel like getting dressed up for me?" Hermione said with a smirk.
"Glenda, I didn't know you were coming up today!" Tony called out jovially. "You aren't visiting the wizarding gang this afternoon?"
Rolling her eyes, Hermione answered. "Pepper's flight landed an hour ago. She should be arriving soon, and we are going to dinner tonight."
"Well, I'm glad she told YOU." Tony said, miffed that he'd been left out. "Thanks for the invite." He grumbled.
"You were invited." She replied with a smile. "I was here when Pepper called you and told you about it. We were in your lab, and you were making those adjustments to your thrusters, remember?" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmmm. Not ringing a bell." Tony shot back, though it was obvious he had just not been listening at the time.
"Of course." Hermione laughed. "So, where's the team?"
Tony disarmed and removed his suit before answering her. "Lagos. Cap said something about an arms dealer they were going to try to take down." He said with a nonchalant shrug.
"Sounds exciting. Mad you weren't invited?"
"Not at all. Using Iron Man on an arms dealer is like using a baseball bat against an ant - Just doesn't make any sense." Tony replied, with an arrogant smile.
Hermione rolled her eyes as the door clicked open to reveal Pepper.
"Hermione!" Pepper squealed as the two women met in the middle of the floor to embrace. Still holding onto her friend, Pepper looked over at Tony.
"Hey, Tony!"
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Tony complained.
Laughing, Pepper let go of Hermione, walking over to Tony and pecking him on the lips. Hugging him tightly, she responded. "I missed you too, of course."
"Too little, too late, I'm afraid." Tony said, turning his head and insisting on pouting.
"Suit yourself." Pepper replied with a smile. Popping an olive from the wet bar into her mouth, she continued. "So, Hermione. Tell me about these wizards you've been hanging out with."
Hermione immediately shot a glare at Tony. "Seriously?" She complained at him.
The annoying man had the audacity to give her one of those shit-eating grins she despised so much.
Looking back at Pepper, she shrugged. "There's nothing really to tell. They have a huge library containing all of this information about the mystic arts, and it's just been-"
"Oh, you lost me with 'mystic arts'." Tony said with a huff.
"Well, I think it's great." Pepper said with a look towards her friend. "You should invite them over sometime and we can all have dinner. It probably wouldn't hurt to befriend a few wizards with the life we are currently leading."
"That feels like the beginning of a horror movie…" Tony mumbled.
Sighing heavily at Tony's behavior, Pepper turned back towards Hermione. "Are you ready to go?" Slinging an arm around her shoulder, she began walking them towards the door. "Call a car, will you, Tony? I want to talk a little more to Hermione about these wizards."
"I live to serve!" Tony yelled out to their retreating forms.
"How many books have you burned through this week?"
Hermione looked up from her reading to the other occupant in the room. It was a few days after her dinner with Tony and Pepper, and she had spent a glorious afternoon buried in the books of the New York Sanctum.
Having grown tired of being alone in the library, she had brought her book out to the living room and continued reading with Stephen's quiet companionship.
"Three." She replied proudly.
"Impressive...considering it's Thursday."
"Well, I think I'm going to have to learn Sanskrit if I continue at this pace. Wong told me that some of the more complex volumes are all going to be in Sanskrit. But I've really enjoyed everything I've read so far - I couldn't put the book on Ancient Relics down. It was absolutely fascinating!"
"Well, let me know if you need any help when you start. I tried to use Google Translate after I had first arrived to Kamar-Taj. Needless to say, it was a disaster." Stephen replied, smiling broadly at her enthusiasm.
"I can imagine." She laughed. "I know that Natasha is fluent in at least seven languages, but I'll bet Sanskrit isn't one of them."
"Natasha is the assassin, right? The redhead?"
"She would probably prefer the term 'agent', but I suppose you're right." She conceded.
Stephen looked like he was thinking before he continued. "So you seem pretty close to the team and especially Tony and Pepper - Just out of curiosity, what's your role in the Avengers?"
"Well," Hermione began, a little caught off guard at the turn of conversation. "as you know, I was there for the Battle of New York. It was just a classic case of the wrong place at the wrong time. I ended up joining them during the chaos and we fought together. After all was said and done, Tony began an all out assault to recruit me to the team, but I refused."
Stephen looked a little surprised at her refusing the Avengers.
"I didn't want that. I still don't want that. I don't want to have to fight every day of my life. I like my business, and I like my life. That's enough for me right now." She continued with a smile. "But, of course, that wasn't enough for Tony." She said with a snort. "So, we came to a compromise. They basically bring me in on a consultant type basis. When they need to talk through a situation or have a need for another set of eyes for strategy."
Leaning back, Stephen mulled over everything she had said before speaking. Before he was able to respond, both Hermione and Stephen turned their heads as they were both distracted by the sudden tune from the television that had been running in the background.
"CNN BREAKING NEWS: An explosion occurring in Lagos, Nigeria has killed at least 31 people according to the Lagos police. Reports confirm the explosion was a result of a raid gone wrong that was being conducted by the vigilante group known as "The Avengers"-..."