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Hermione was walking down the streets of New York when everything grew dark. Something was wrong. She looked up and she saw something was off. Something wasn’t right. There was an enormous ship hovering over the city.
She frowned.
That wasn’t right.
She began to take a few steps toward it to check it out, when she was completely enveloped in red fabric. Red fabric that appeared to be pulling her in the opposite direction and shoving her in an alleyway.
“What the—”
“I am so sorry,” a deep voice said, unraveling the fabric from her.
She fixed her hair, moving it from her face, and watched as a tall man with slicked back hair and a goatee, wearing some sort of Eastern inspired outfit, in the most brilliant blue she had ever seen. And just as she suspected, the fabric was sentient, it was actually a cloak, and it wrapped itself around his body.
“I don’t know what got into that,” the man continued saying. “But I think you should heed its’ advice and stay here, or go to this address,” he thrust a card into her hand. “It’ll be safe there from whatever this is.”
“Thank you…” she faltered, she didn’t know who this man was.
“Doctor Stephen Strange.”
“Hermione Granger.”
“Nice to meet you. Go. Take Cover.”
And then he was gone.
She looked down at the address on the paper. She closed her eyes and twisted on the spot, appearing on the street near the building. She looked up at it, and frowned. There was a large gaping hole in the roof. Why Dr. Strange thought she would be safer here, she had no idea. But on the other hand, the man had a sentient cloak, so maybe he knew what he was talking about.
She opened the door, and stepped inside. She found a couch, sat down and waited.
About an hour later, a portal opened up and an Asian jumped through. He looked rough. He noticed her and froze. “You the girl Strange said he sent here?”
She nodded. “I am. What’s happening out there?”
“I’m pretty sure we’ve been invaded.”
“Invaded?”
“Some asshole named Thanos is gathering Infinity Stones, and apparently he’s planning to use them to rid the Universe of half the population.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“What can I do to help?”
He looked at her skeptically.
“I’m a witch.”
“How are you at researching?”
“I’m a pro at researching.”
“I’m Wong.”
“Hermione.”
“Come with me, our library is this way. Let’s see if there’s anything in our books about Thanos and how to stop him.”
Hermione followed him into the vast library, and was floored. There were a lot of books.
“Pick one and just start reading. I honestly don’t even know where to start.t”
Hermione moved to one of the shelves, and began pulling books. She moved to one of the tables and settled in. She had a feeling she would be here a while.
“Wong?” she croaked, grasping at her stomach. There was something wrong. Something very, very wrong.
“Hermione?”
She looked up at him, as he began dissolving into black dust particles.
“Wh—” she didn’t get to finish that thought. In seconds, she knew nothing.
The next thing she was aware of, she was in the library. It was as if no time had passed at all. She looked across the room and noticed Wong was back. Or no longer dust, or whatever.
“What happened?”
“I have no idea.”
“A portal opened into the library and Doctor Strange hopped through. “We’re needed at the Avengers compound. Thanos.”
Wong moved, and Hermione moved to follow.
“Wait, what are you doing?”
“I’m coming. I’m helping.”
“I don’t—”
“I’m a witch, and I’ve seen combat. I’m helping.”
The two men just shrugged, and let her follow. Right into the middle of a battle that rivaled the Battle of Hogwarts.
The battle was over and Hermione had never been more exhausted. Thanos was a lot scarier than she could have ever imagined.
She collapsed to the ground and held her head in her hands. Funny how she ended up here. She was just in New York on vacation. Amazing how trouble seemed to find her wherever she went.
She felt a presence next to her. “Thank you for helping. You really weren’t obligated.”
“I can’t walk away from a cause apparently.” She paused. “How long…”
“Five years I’m told.”
“You too?”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Five years. That’s, a lot.”
“It is. Did you leave anyone behind?”
“Some friends. A job.”
“No husband? Kids?”
She shook her head. “Just me.”
“What were you doing in New York? You live there?”
“Vacation.”
“Well, you were really helpful. I’ve never seen your type of magic before.”
“I can say the same about your magic.”
He looked down at his hands. “Do you want to come back to the sanctum and maybe compare our types of magic?”
She smiled. “Can I take a nap first?”
He looked back up and smiled at her. “Well, I just assumed that was a given.”
She laughed.
He stood and held out his hand, she gladly took it. He turned and did this thing with his hands and a portal opened. He held out his hand again. She took it, interlacing their fingers. And she walked through the portal, back to the sanctum, into a future that had no plan. And at the moment, she didn’t mind.