A/N - If you received a notification, it was one word added to clear up confusion.
Chapter 3 - Tower
A few days later, Hermione finally found her courage and redid the blood ritual in her hotel room. The result was a building in Manhattan, she decided to go try her luck despite the late hour.
Just before 9 pm, Hermione found herself standing in front of Stark Tower, a recently built skyscraper. She was wearing a nice long sleeves cashmere dress in dark red and small black heels. She had expected an apartment building and to have to try and find Anthony, she hadn't expected this.
She noticed the security and the front desk, she knew he was in there but she clearly couldn't simply knock on the door.
Instead, she went in a back alley and disillusioned herself as thoroughly as she could and followed the first person she saw in the elevator. Her ride was a petite red-headed woman wearing a fancy beige pantsuit, who reminded her of Ginny and she followed her when she stepped out, the woman went to a desk and starting working on a laptop. Hermione wandered around for a little while, until she found a man tinkering with something in some sort of lab. He was wearing an AC/DC t-shirt and ripped jeans, his hair was short and spiky and he had a goatee. So far she couldn't see the resemblance but she had to at least try, so she removed the spell.
"Anthony Stark?" she asked in a quiet voice, but loud enough for him to hear and startle him quite violently and the sounds of crashing metal were heard echoing through the room.
"Who are you? How did you get here?" he asked instead of confirming his identify.
"I apologise for coming in unannounced, I am looking for Anthony Stark."
"Only my parents called me Anthony, I go by Tony. Who are you?"
"My name is Hermione Granger, I've been looking for you for a while." She explained, her eyes filled with pain.
"Why?" he asked in a wary tone.
"I found out I was adopted last year, and my own research led me to you." Hermione replied with a small smile that did not reach her eyes.
"I can assure you I am not your father!" Tony exclaimed immediately.
"WHAT! No, of course not, you're 9 years older than me, you're my brother."
"My dad could be a right bastard but I'm quite sure he never cheated on my mom."
"He didn't, you're my full brother."
"And how is that possible? I never had a little sister." He replied back, his voice tight.
"It's a long story, do whatever tests you need to do to confirm it, please."
"Why now?"
"My adoptive parents died last Summer and I found out about the adoption a couple of months after, there wasn't a lot of information so it took me a while to get here."
Tony hummed at that and suddenly spoke to what seemed like the air, or the ceiling, "Jarvis, run a background check on Hermione Granger from England, or whoever she is."
"Yes, sir." a British voice replied immediately, and Hermione looked around widely trying to found the source.
"He's an AI." Tony explained.
"AI?"
"Artificial Intelligence Miss. Granger. I am Mr. Stark personal assistant in all matters from scheduling his days to assisting his engineering needs. Mr. Stark, Miss. Granger is exactly who she claims to be, adopted by Emma and Daniel Granger in September 1979, a bright child with excellent grades all throughout primary school. Her education records stop before her 12th birthday however and I cannot find her following that."
"Intriguing, where did you disappear to then?" Tony asked her.
"Scotland, but it's a long story, one I can't tell you until your confirm we are siblings."
"Fine, let's just do it. I can just chuck you out after I find out how you got here when it says it doesn't match. Jarvis, do the honours."
"Miss. Granger, please set on the chair in the corner to your right and I will collect a blood sample."
Hermione followed dumbly the instructions of the British personal assistant she couldn't see and sat down. She remembered enough from Muggle hospitals to roll up her left sleeve, and an metal arm came to her with a needle and took her blood. The entire situation felt surreal but she was glad Magic was sentient enough to not be visible in blood tests.
"I am running the test now Mr. Stark."
Tony grunted and looked at her, "Nice ink." he said with an appreciative smile, she didn't know if it was the shape or the colours he seemed to like.
Hermione blushed and rolled the sleeve back down, hiding the red and gold phoenix tattoo she had gotten after the war to cover the scar left by Bellatrix.
They waited in heavy silence while Jarvis worked, not daring to cut the tension.
"I have run the test several times, you and Miss. Granger are indeed full siblings. I also used the samples I have from your parents and it matches as well. Welcome back home Miss. Stark."
"How? How is this possible?" Tony muttered and looked at the British woman, his siter, who was sobbing and curled around on herself in the chair, so he got up and uncurled her to take her in a tight hug, "You'll have to explain how any of this makes sense later, but Jarvis is right, welcome home Hermione."
Eventually, the pair made it out of the lab and Tony lead Hermione to a living room that was clearly still under construction but there was a couch, a few armchairs and a coffee table anyway, he had ordered Chinese on the way and they sat down to eat.
"So, how did you get adopted all the way in England?" Tony finally asked.
"I was taken when I was a few days old at most and brought to England."
"When is your birthday?"
"19th September 1979."
Tony closed his eyes in pain, "Right, mom gave birth to a daughter that day, she died less than three days later, stillborn. We mourned her, mourned you."
"That makes sense. He never explained how he was able to do it."
"Who? Who did this?" Tony asked.
"Albus Dumbledore." Hermione replied in a small voice.
"And who is that?"
"He was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, where I went to school in Scotland when I was 11."
"A school headmaster kidnapped you and faked your death, what the fuck?!" Tony exclaimed.
"He wasn't just a school Headmaster, he was much more." Hermione replied, then took a deep breath and continued, "He was also the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. He was the Leader of the Light, well known for having defeated Gellert Grindelwald in the 1940'."
"You said a lot of words but none of them made any sense. Are you insane? Do I have to commit you? I'd rather not, I imagine it's a lot of paperwork." Tony said.
Hermione laughed weakly, "Not insane, I'm afraid. Just, watch this." she said.
She got up from the couch and flicked her wrist to have her wand in hand, she cast a few protective wards around them to make sure the multiple security cameras she had seen around wouldn't record anything.
She started simple, she took one of the fork and transfigured it into a white rabbit that took off running around the room.
"What the fuck?! Did you spike my drink? I'm hallucinating!"
"You're not hallucinating Tony, I'm a witch."
Before he could reply and have a complete mental breakdown, she summoned the rabbit, cancelled the transfiguration and then conjured a few yellow canaries that hovered around them in flight.
Finally, she conjured her Patronus. While it had been a cute and playful otter when she had first mastered the spell in 5th year, her Patronus had changed after the war. Which is why Tony was now being approached by a silver blue King Cobra who spoke to him in Hermione's voice, "A witch."
"A witch, you're a witch." Tony muttered with a dazed look.
"Yes, I am. I went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when I was 11 years old, in Scotland."
"How did this happen? Did dad experiment on you?"
"What? No, I was born a witch. We're called muggleborns in the UK, first generation witch or wizard, it's not common but it does happen every year. I received my letter when I turned 11 to attend Hogwarts." Hermione explained.
"Right, okay. Is that how you found me then? Magic? Because you clearly know nothing about me since you've called me Anthony."
Hermione grimaced, "Yeah, I cast a blood ritual to pinpoint where you were. I had your name and our parents' names but nothing else until I talked to Professor Dumbledore."
"You talked to him? The man who kidnapped you? Where is he? I'd like to have a few words too." Tony said, fury in his eyes.
"He's dead Tony. He died in 1997, but he has a portrait. A magical portrait with the person's memories and feelings, I talked to his portrait."
"Fine. Magical portrait, okay, this is a weird day. What did he have to say for himself?"
"He's convinced he did what he did for the Greater Good, I was important in taking down a Dark Lord and therefore he had to kidnap me to make sure I would be at Hogwarts at the right time. He didn't remember where he found me, beyond the country, but he did say the Stark name was known for making weapons." Hermione explained.
Tony sighed, "We were, that's true. I even did it myself. I stopped all of that a few years ago though, we're focused on clean energy now."
"That's good to know." Hermione replied, before she put her whole arm into her small handbag, ignoring Tony's wide eyes stare and handed him a book from within, "You should read this, I'm sure you'll have a lot of questions afterwards. I can come back tomorrow night?"
Tony nodded and took the book, it was titled Hogwarts: A History, 2000 edition, "Yes, tomorrow night is fine. Although I make my own hours so you came come earlier, 4 pm?"
"Yes, I'll be there." Hermione said and apparated away with a small pop.
"Right, sister who isn't dead but a witch and can fucking teleport apparently, let's see what else is out there." He muttered to himself before opening the book.
"Hello Miss, you seem better today."
Hermione looked up from staring off into nothing to find Steve walking towards her, he was wearing dark jeans with a light blue jumper and the same coat as before, he sat down next to her, sipping what she assumed was coffee in a to-go cardboard cup.
"Hello Steve, I am better yes."
Steve nodded, "Did you meet your relative?"
"Yes, last night. It was eventful but it went as well as can be expected, I'm going back again tonight." Hermione replied with a smile.
"That's good, family is important, whether chosen or by blood, it's good you have him."
"I quite agree yes."
"Can I ask, who is to you exactly?"
"Oh, he's my older brother actually."
Steve nodded, "That's good. How much older was he to not know about you though?"
"Almost 10 years, but he didn't know. They thought I died a few days old, I was kidnapped. He mourned me, they mourned me, and I was just over the pond the whole time." Hermione said with watery eyes.
"That's terrible, I'm sorry they had to go through that, at least your adopted family loved you from what you said."
"Yes, they did and I loved them as well. Meeting my brother won't erase their loss, and they didn't know, they were lied to as well."
"Grief is a complicated beast." Steve replied.
"Speaking from experience?"
"I lost my father before I was even born, and my mother when I was very young. But I always had Bucky, my brother, my best friend, and then I lost him as well, around the same time I lost someone else I had come to care a great deal about."
"A woman?" Hermione wondered.
"Yes, Peggy, she was British like you actually."
Hermione hummed, "Did you love her?"
"I did, I think I did at least, it's been a long time and like a few months at the same time. I do know I would have loved her, I would have fallen in love with her if I had the time." Steve replied, closing in eyes in pain and memories.
"I'm sorry, for her, for Bucky and your parents. You've dealt with loss far more than you should have."
"Any loss is more than anyone should have. I am, or was, a soldier though, mourning and grief becomes a part of everyday life quite early and often. I'm not over it, but I am slowly getting better about moving on, they wouldn't want me to wallow in misery without them." Steve said with a watery smile.
Hermione clasped one of his hand and squeezed, "No, they wouldn't have. I read a quote once, it said What is grief, if not love persevering? and I think it's quite fitting. We have to honour them by living."
He squeezed back, "We do. I have to get back, and while I hope to run into your by chance again, you wouldn't happen to have a mobile phone?"
"I'm sorry I don't, I'm not very big on technology." Hermione said with a apologetic smile.
"Me neither, I come here almost everyday though so I'll be sure to be on the lookout." Steve said before he stood up and left, waving at her until he was out of sight.
"God! You can't just teleport yourself in front of me with no warning!" Tony shrieked, when Hermione came in Stark Tower later that day.
"It's called apparating." Hermione replied while rolling her eyes.
"Right, I read your book and I have questions." Tony said while seating up straight and clasping his hands in his lap, so Hermione mimicked him while sitting on an armchair in front of him.
What are house-elves and how is it not slavery? How does the food just appear? Are they just walking around while invisible? The whole thing is super creepy.
How exactly does the magic behind the moving staircases work? Are they sentient or just enchanted with complex algorithms? Is the castle itself sentient? Is magic sentient?
Is potions really fancy chemistry, and how can I learn?
The whole 'no electricity at Hogwarts' thing, have they ever tried to combine magical and non-magical tech? Like, is there a reason why you can't have both? Is that why you don't seem to own a phone?
The Room of Requirement seems like the ultimate adaptive space, does it have a limit to what it can create, or could it theoretically produce anything?
What's keeping the creatures in the Forbidden Forest from invading the castle? Is it a magical barrier or just good old-fashioned fear? How big are Acromantulas and can they be trained? Where do I get one? For security reasons.
The magical portraits, like the one of the babynapper, they seem to have a consciousness, are they sentient, or is it more like an advanced AI? Could I paint Jarvis on canvas?
Is there a way to scale up the magical protection around Hogwarts for other buildings or even cities? Seems like that could be useful for, you know, security.
The Triwizard Tournament seems like a PR nightmare. Why would Hogwarts participate in something so dangerous? And how do you get insurance for that? And I did notice the pictures, an international sports star at 15? You really are a Stark.
Questions and answers were exchanged back and forth, they purposefully avoided any talk about the war, not willing to get into that just yet but Hermione did see the look of fury in his eyes and the subject was mentioned in periphery, she knew by giving him the 2000 edition he would be able to read about the Second War and her role in it, it was better than going through the whole thing herself.
"By the way, where are you staying?" Tony suddenly asked, temporarily running out of questions on Hogwarts and the British Wizarding World.
"Oh, a hotel in Brooklyn." Hermione replied absentmindedly.
"Absolutely not, many of the floors here are living spaces, I'm on floor 99, you can move into 98 right now, it has a full kitchen, dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom." Tony stated.
"I'm fine at the hotel, really there's no need."
"There is every need, we are family, I'm not letting you stay in a hotel no matter how fancy it is. Move in, right now. You can teleport there and back with your things."
Hermione huffed, "It's called apparating." but did it anyway. She came back around 15 minutes later with a suitcase full of her belongings, all mostly shrunken down and Tony lead her to her floor, gave her a custom card for the elevator and left her to go to sleep after pestering her with a few more questions, he backed off when she threatened to hex him.
