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Hermione and the Cullen family were enjoying the sunny day lounging in the middle of Central Park. Instead of the picnics that other families had, they had a pile of what looked like lollipops in the middle of their group. They were really blood pops, though. Specifically made with dragon blood through a deal with Charlie and the twins. The Cullens never ceased to be thrilled to pieces when they could go out in the sun and act entirely human, all thanks to Hermione.
Hermione was snuggled in next to Edward, allowing him to occasionally read her thoughts. Currently, she was just thinking back to how she came to be “borrowed out” to MACUSA from the Magical Beings Liaison Office (formerly known as the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures). Jasper could sense her ire, and instead of manipulating her emotions he just gave her a sympathetic smile.
She had worked insane hours to reform the DRCMC into what it was today, a fair and balanced division of the Ministry that treated all beings and creatures properly. But on a trip in 2005 to liaise with the Volturi she was attacked in the crown room, enraging the three kings and forever changing her life, or unlife as it were. The attacker was torn apart and turned to ash before Hermione even had a chance to whimper in pain. She’d seen newborns turning, and luckily magicals had ways to make the process less excruciating, even if it was highly frowned on to turn a magical because they had an excellent chance of keeping some of their magic and some even had it enhanced.
Whipping out her wand she quickly summoned a pain potion and Draught of Living Death from her ever-present beaded bag. She gulped down the pain potion which allowed her to explain how the draught was going to work to the kings, and then she gave them Wiggenweld Potion and instructed them how to give it to her when they heard her heart stop completely instead of just slowed down. This way she wouldn’t feel any of the pain of the transformation. The venom would race through her veins just as fast if not faster than if her body was in a near-death state. “I’m also telling you right now, while I’m of a sound mind that I will NOT be a human drinker. I have nothing against your lifestyle, but in my position, it would do more harm than good. I know animal blood will suffice, so make sure you have some of that on hand when you wake me.” She glared at all three kings, and they nodded in acquiescence to her request seeing as she had been attacked in front of them.
Laid out in a guest suite, Hermione took the Draught of Living Death after again warning them that there would be hell to pay if they disobeyed her wishes. As soon as she was out, Aro was on the phone with Carlisle Cullen, he insisted that Carlisle and his whole family come from Forks on the very next flight, despite them just having moved there. Aro went on to explain that they would soon have a newborn in the citadel who would have unknown powers and desired to be a vegetarian, so who better to help her with the diet?
In the park, the family enjoyed savouring their candy while Hermione and Edward were reminiscing about her waking up and not being out of control. He was one of the first vampires she saw upon waking because he was hoping if he could hear her thoughts he might be able to help better control her. To his frustration, she had him blocked and mentally shouted at him to stop trying to read her mind. “It’s rude you arrogant prat!” He was dumbstruck, and Jasper was trying not to fall over in giggles over the emotions flying through the room. It was quite crowded, but it was a large room. Aside from Edward and Hermione, there was Jasper, Emmett and Felix for sheer size and strength, the twins to subdue her if needed, and Aro and Marcus. Caius was curious but did not want to further crowd the newborn.
Marcus gasped in shock as he saw a golden bond form between the newborn and Edward, and Edward gasped as well hearing his thoughts. Hermione found her magic enhanced and could do more than direct Legilimency, instead, she was able to hear just the barest whispers of thoughts around her and if she concentrated she could make out one voice. So all three realized at the same time that the pair were not just mates but soulmates.
Looking Edward dead in the eye, she said with complete seriousness, “I don’t care, we’re going to get to know each other properly, none of this jumping into a relationship business. I don’t care if we are fated, I don’t know you from Merlin.”
It took a month for her to master her impulses and tone down her seriously overpowered magic, but she explained the situation to Kingsley, the current Minister for Magic, and he had her second in command take over the department while she got a handle on her new life as it were. He encouraged her to take all the time she needed, but ever the overachiever she was ready to go back to London in a month.
In that month Hermione both gained the respect of the Volturi and also scared them. She was at least thrice as strong magically as she had been before, and she had been fairly formidable already. Added to her newborn strength and even faster mind, now she was more than a force to be reckoned with, she was on a whole new level. There were at least a few times she’d left the throne room after giving them an earful and while they tried to look and remain impassive, as she left a small poof of dust would come out of a certain orifice that had not seen action in millennia. They were happy to let her go with the Cullens and basically take over the coven to keep them in line. They’d worked out a deal where she and the family would be on call to deal with rogue vampires as needed with their unique skill sets, and all were happy with the arrangement.
The Cullens all moved to the heart of London with Hermione when she went back. Sure, it was known for rain and cloud cover, but clever witch that she was Hermione had made amulets that could be worn however the vampire desired, and when touched they would glamour the vampire to be less glitterball and more fleshy looking. The Volturi as a whole were thrilled because it meant every single one of them could go out in the Italian sun, and it drastically changed their lives. Hermione was paid handsomely by the kings and left them with enough extras for any vampires that came through that they felt were deserving.
Life was not all sunshine and roses back in London, though. While a little wary at first, her co-workers quickly realized she was the same Hermione, just faster and frustratingly didn’t need to sleep anymore so could now work whatever crazy hours she wanted. She was already the head of the renamed Magical Beings Liaison Office, but there was growing resentment over the next several years that she never aged and seemed like she would never leave the post. Now that she was immortal there really was no reason for her to leave the position. So tensions in the ministry grew that a department head could potentially be there, forever. What if she decided to run for Minister?
So now it was 2012, and she was sitting with her family in New York City, doing some sightseeing before she started her new job at MACUSA. She was technically liaising between the two ministries so no one would feel like their toes were being trodden upon, and the Americans were thrilled to get the input from such a knowledgeable witch. It did not matter that she was a vampire, if anything that just made her more qualified to help the Americans control their own vampire population - both magical and no-maj vampires - by having a Volturi endorsed branch basically in their own backyards.
Everyone in the park turned toward Stark Tower when they heard an explosion. The vampires were the only ones who could see Iron Man shooting at some device at the top of the tower, but they knew trouble was coming. With everyone’s attention towards the tower, the family ran at vampire speed behind a rock formation to formulate a plan.
They saw a wormhole open up and Hermione quickly disillusioned the others minus Edward and handed out Befuddlement potions to everyone from her bag. She told them all that things were going to get worse, and to take as many humans and run them to safety as possible. Since they now couldn’t be seen at all thanks to her overpowered charms, she instructed the vampires to give one drop to each person they rescued to confuse them on how they were suddenly somewhere very different. They all agreed to get as many people out of harm's way as possible and to help where they could. Edward refused to leave her side, though.
“Fine,” she huffed at her mate. “But you stay invisible, and I’m silencing you so no one can detect you, hopefully. If Iron Man is here, other enhanced people or superheroes might show up.”
“That’s fine, I just don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t, idiot.” They kissed quickly and then she made him invisible as well and handed him a potion just in case. “You are the fastest of us,” she replied to his unspoken question.
Next, she sent a Patronus to MACUSA calling for all available witches and wizards to help evacuate people and help where they could but stressed they needed to be disillusioned and all standard safety precautions were to be taken since they were facing an unknown threat.
It maybe wasn’t entirely unknown for Hermione, however, but she didn’t mention to anyone the extremely strong magical presence she felt atop Stark Tower. Feeling Edward grasp her hand, she Apparated the both of them to the top of the tower with a silent pop. Her stomach dropped when she saw Loki staring around proudly.
Edward nudged her to open up her mind, and she mentally explained, ‘That’s Loki, God of Mischief and Lies. We met once at the twin’s shop because they’d been boasting they were better tricksters than even a god, and I happened to be in the store as he bought a ton of their products to investigate, and then pranked them. They never did figure out who did it but suspected each other ever since. Loki and I made eye contact and I just smiled, and he smirked. He very politely introduced himself as the real Loki since he could tell I was a witch, and I told him I’d suspected. We then parted ways, but he didn’t seem evil or anything, just a prankster. I also wondered at his looks because I still swear he could be a distant relative of Harry’s with the black hair and bright green eyes. But look! His eyes are blue now! Not a bright blue but that’s not green in the slightest.’
He squeezed her hand as Thor arrived on the balcony and the two gods fought. It was evident that Thor hoped Loki would change his mind, but the way in which Loki said, “It’s too late,” made Hermione think more was at play than him suddenly deciding he wanted to rule Earth. A Quinjet soon arrived, and Nat and Hermione made quick eye contact and a subtle nod to each other, the longtime friends quickly acknowledging the other. When they started to crash, Hermione cast a spell to slow them slightly, and Nat smiled just faintly. As Loki fell off the building and onto a passing flying scooter Hermione apparated herself and Edward down to where the jet had landed.
All of the Avengers had arrived or were arriving, and weapons of all sorts were soon pointed at Hermione. Nat stepped in front of her and vouched for the witch, “She’s a friend, and she can help. Hermione, you probably know most of these people, everyone, this is Hermione.”
Hermione just nodded, but Tony snarked, “Just how can she help? She doesn’t look all that special.”
Nat and Hermione raised identical eyebrows that sent a chill down just about everyone’s spine. “I’m a witch, I can do more than you can possibly imagine, Mr Stark.” As she said this, she was shooting Chitauri out of the air without blinking and at a speed that was astonishing. Clint was impressed. The group soon split up, and everyone went to take down as many of the enemy as possible. Hermione stayed with Clint and Nat, though, Edward running civilians to safety unnoticed nearby.
She didn’t participate much in the banter of the group because she didn’t have an ear com, but she was paying attention to everything around her and keeping up a connection with Edward since even she could see him now.
Natasha was calmly shooting aliens and said to Clint, “This is just like Budapest all over again.”
He responded with a small frown. “You and I remember Budapest very differently.”
Hermione let out a small chuckle as she silently refilled their bullets and arrows. “That would be my fault. I promise when we’ve sorted this mess I’ll restore your memory of what actually happened.” Which made Clint’s frown deepen because he was tired of people messing with his head.
“Fine, but I want to know everything. I’m tired of people taking over my mind.”
“I can help a bit with that, too.”
He nodded, and they all kept shooting aliens out of the sky and down on the ground.
Suddenly Iron Man was back, and the Hulk was punching a Leviathan who’s momentum would have crushed the group if not for Hermione’s quick shielding. Everyone, even the Hulk, had a new appreciation for the witch. “Nice witch,” he grunted as he jumped away to kill more aliens.
Everyone got separated at some point but soon rejoined. The fighting was pure chaos, so no one noticed invisible vampires carrying people far away, or stopping things from crushing people, or the random alien just dropping dead. Also, no one saw the random people popping out of existence only to end up safe and with no memory of what happened. MACUSA could only concentrate on saving the No-Maj’s because if they repaired the damage being caused, they risked too much exposure.
Edward warned Hermione that he suddenly could hear the mind of Dr Selvig on the roof of the tower, so Hermione said, “Something is going on up there. Nat come with me!” She grabbed Nat’s arm and Edward’s and apparated them to the roof. Nat tried to talk to Dr Selvig who was still confused and distraught, while Hermione and Edward popped down into the living room at the top of the tower to meet face to face with Loki.
“Hello Loki, it’s been awhile,” Hermione greeted him casually.
He sneered. “Witchling, what are you doing here?”
“Well, see I was transferred to the states, and before I even get to start my new job, I find an alien invasion. What’s going on? You seem different. And what’s with your eyes? They’re blue now, and they were definitely green when we met before.”
He twitched at the mention of his eyes and just glared at her. “You know nothing, but you’ll make an excellent addition to my army,” he said as he touched the sceptre to her heart.
Loki had no idea that Hermione was known as the Smartest Witch of Her Age (which was going to be a very very long time now), and that she could sense something strange about the sceptre. She sensed the stone inside the orb on it, and her vampire fast mind connected the dots and realized how lucky she was that he touched the point to her chest and not her head. The Mind Stone was hidden in that orb, and if it had touched her head, she would be under his complete control. As it stood, well, she didn’t have a beating heart.
“What is wrong with this thing!? First, it wouldn’t work on Stark, now you? What in the nine-realms is going on here!?”
Hermione bit her lip to keep from laughing. She suspected the sceptre was also used against him, and if it’s wielder had touched his chest and not head as well that would explain why he seemed conflicted at times and like he’d been tortured. She sadly realized he probably had.
They’re quickly distracted by the Hulk bursting into the room and throwing Loki around like a rag doll, walking away muttering, “Puny god,” to Loki, and “Nice witch,” to Hermione as he passed.
She ran a quick scan over the injured god and saw he’d been knocked about but would be fine. And his eyes were back to green. ‘Edward stay and watch him. He shouldn’t be able to move any time soon after that, but just in case he likes to cast illusions of himself. They won’t have their own thoughts, though, so you should be fine.’
As she rushed up to the roof, she saw Nat ready to shut down the portal, and watched as Iron Man flew what looked like a nuke into the wormhole. She held her breath unnecessarily waiting for him to come back and as he fell back through as the portal closed she saw he was free falling but was scared to use her magic because she doesn’t know how it would react with his arc reactor. Luckily Hulk swept in and saved him.
As the dust settled and Loki was put in restraints, Hermione pulled Thor to the side. “Look, I know you don’t know me, but you know your brother. That was not him today! I’ll admit I’ve only met him once before but please, please, plead with the All-Father that something or someone was controlling him. I truly don’t believe these were all his own actions. Have your healers look him over as well, I strongly suspect he’s been tortured.”
“I will take that into consideration Lady Hermione, but I cannot guarantee my father will listen. But I will try my best.” They shared a small, sad smile, both knowing the likely outcome and parted ways.
Since the group was all gathered together, Tony turned to Hermione, “So Glinda, want to be an Avenger?”
“Thank you for the offer Mr Stark, truly, but if I accept it will have to be on an on-call basis. I have my own job and responsibilities. I’m supposed to be altering your collective memories, but the reason I’m not is that you’re all special too and have your own secrets to keep.” She looked them each in the eye, and although they did not know it, they were silently being bound to not speak about magic.
When she got to Clint, she sat him down. “I’m truly sorry for having to alter your memory of Budapest. If you can promise me you will never speak of anything you remember once I restore the memory to anyone but myself or Natasha, I will also put barriers around your mind to make it nearly impossible for someone to alter your mind again without your consent.”
“Do it,” he replied. Hermione pointed her wand at him and restored his memory of Budapest. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped as he remembered the horde of newborn vampires they had all battled off with seasoned vampires. He also recalled that he’d had to be protected until Hermione had charmed his arrows to all be incendiary so he could help in the fight.
‘You and Natasha now know both about magicals like me and vampires. Vampires, however, are even more secret and that’s why I had to alter your memory. They’d have killed you otherwise because humans aren’t to know about us.’
‘Us?’ Clint asked in his mind, still shocked she could speak to him like this and at what happened.
‘Yes, I’m a witch, but I’m also a vampire. I only eat animals though, just like the rest of my coven. Nat knows of us from her training. She was taught how to take down all kinds of magical creatures, which is why she didn’t need to have her memory altered, but you, sadly, did.’
“Thank you,” was all he said that could be heard by anyone other than Edward, who no one had yet realized was there.
After a tight hug with Nat and promises to meet up more often now that they lived on the same continent, she exchanged her contact information with the others and vice versa, then casually held Edward’s hand behind her back and Apparated them back to the park where the family had all last been together. They heard sighs of relief from the whole family and one by one she removed the disillusionment charms and hugged her family, happy to see them safe and sound. Then she turned and snogged her mate until they both would have blushed if they could have. “You were amazing, and thank you for letting me take the lead.”
“I love you, and I know there are things you can do that I can’t. You’re sure you’re not taking on too much by joining them?”
Hermione just laughed, “Well it’s not like we need to sleep, and I still have the time-turner I never gave back.” She smiled mischievously, and the whole family just chuckled and made their way through the crowds at a human pace to the safe zones.
When Hermione would catch the eye of another witch or wizard in the crowd scanning memories to make sure no one remembered magic she could just nod at them. She knew MACUSA had to do its own version of damage control, but she was betting her first official day on the job tomorrow would start with a massive stack of paperwork.