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“I need to get to the portkey office before it closes.” Hermione muttered as she shuffled pacers on her desk. “I have not been planning this holiday for six months to miss my portkey by five minutes.”
“Mione, you could leave sooner if you would quit muttering to yourself.” Harry pushed off the door frame he had been leaning against to walk into her office. “My wife sent me to find you . She said to tell you that grumbling only makes it take longer and you need to go on this holiday.”
“I have a few things you could tell your wife.” Hermione tossed a stress ball in Harry’s direction, without looking. “I am almost done and she had better not let my cat or my plants die while I am gone.”
“You should have asked Neville to flatsit if you are worried about your plants.” Harry laughed as he caught the stress ball and threw it back at Hermione. “I am not guaranteeing anything other than that my brothers-in-law will not be allowed around your cat.”
Tony looked around his lab and sighed. He had hoped being at the London lab would make working on the latest iterations of the Iron man and War Machine armour go easier.
“WHy is it that everytime I fix one thing, another stops working?” Tony growled at the helmet he had been working on as he set his tools on the table. “I do not understand why this is not working when it worked three hous=rs ago.”
“Perhaps you need to step away from the helmet for a while.” The disembodied voice of JARVIS filled the empty lab. “You have been working in this room for more than twelve hours. A break and a bite to eat might be in order.”
“I am perfectly fine, Jarvis.” Tony shook his head as he started to argue with his virtual butler. “But, stepping away from this job might not be a bad idea. There is a decent coffee shop around the corner.”
Hermione looked at the small wallet the clerk at the PortKey Office had handed her. “Are you sure this is a portkey?”
“Yes, Minister. It is a portkey,” the clerk replied. “You asked for discrete, portable and Muggle-like. So this is what we could find. There is a west strap to help you keep track of it.”
“Thank you. I’m looking forward to this getaway.” Hermione took the strap of the wallet and placed it around her wrist. “What time does it activate?”
“The portkey to your location will activate in an hour and the return portkey will activate one week from the first activation.” The clerk handed Hermione a map as she finished securing the strap around her wrist. “Please make sure you are near the Quidditch pitch in Hyde Park when the portkey first activates. It would be best to be in your accommodations when the return activation happens. There is less chance of being seen and having issues.”
“So much for a stress free trip to paradise.”
Tony was looking at the directions on his phone as he walked through one of entrances to Hyde Park. JARVIS had recommend he get some fresh air and food before he threw something through a wall at the lab. Hangry was not a good look on him.
“This had better be worth it” Tony mumbled as he continued on the path toward the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen. “I need to be working on that software issue not …omph”
With a bump and a flash of bright light, Tony knew he wasn’t in London anymore.
Hermione struggled to untangle herself from the limbs and luggage that seemed to be trying to strangle her.
“What the bloody hell were you thinking?” she asked the stranger who was tangled with her. “Do you not know better than to be walking through a busy park without looking where you are going? You are lucky the portkey managed to take all of you along for this holiday.”
“I was trying to figure out where in the hell I was supposed to be going to get some food.” The dark haired stranger looked as angry as she felt trying to untangle himself. “I could ask you the same questions. In addition, where the hell am I am, who the hell are you, and how the hell did I get here?”
“My rented bungalow for my holiday on Bonaire Island, Hermione Granger - Minister of Magic, and portkey.” Hermione growled at the man who had tossed the questions at her. “One could ask you the exact same questions.”
“I haven’t the slightest idea, Tony Stark - billionaire playboy businessman and superhero, and what the hell is a portkey?”
“Shall we try this again?” Hermione stood up and shook grass out of her hair. “Hello. My name is Hermione Granger and I’m the Minister of Magic for the magical world in England. I am assuming, based on the look of confusion on your face, that you are a Muggle and not aware of the magical world.”
“If we are starting over, I guess I can go with that.” Tony looked up at Hermione from where he was sitting. “I’m Tony Stark. I usually live in New York but I had been in my London labs to work on a new project. I own a lot of stuff and I tinker with technology to help save the world. I don’t know anything about magic other than what I’ve seen in Vegas and would love to know what just happened to get us so far from home.”
“Muggles and their ideas about magic,” she muttered under her breath. “Let’s finish getting this mess untangled and go inside. I think it may take me a while to explain exactly what is going on.”
Tony sighed heavily as he sat on the sofa in the living room of the bungalow. He watched Hermione set her backpack on the low table in front of the place he had chosen to sit down.
“Where to start?” Hermione opened the bag and started pulling out items. “I need my wand, a cauldron, my set of runes and…”
“Excuse me, Mary Poppins,” Tony sat forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. “What exactly do you have in that bag and where can I get one? And, just for the record, how exactly did we get here?”
“My name is Hermione and, if you must know, it is a charm that any 4th year Hogwarts student can learn.” Hermione shook her head as she continued to pull items out of her bag. “Because you are a Muggle, you cannot have it or make it work. Where did that bloody thing go?”
“What bloody thing?” Tony asked as he continued to watch her pull items out of her bag. “Not that I mind being in paradise with a beautiful woman, but at some point, I am going to need to let someone know where I am and for how long I am going to be here.”
“For Merlin’s sake, you are an infuriating man.” Hermione shook her arm. “I am looking for the bloody portkey but this wallet keeps getting caught on everything. This wallet …”
“I don’t like the way you are looking at that wallet.” Tony slid back on the couch, away from Hermione. “Is it going to become a snake? Or explode?”
“No, it is the bloody portkey.” Hermione pulled the wallet off her wrist and held it out to Tony. “This bloody wallet is the reason I am on an island in the Dutch Caribbean with a complete stranger when I was supposed to be here by myself. So much for escaping the world and relaxing’
“How did this wallet get us from London to Bonaire Island in a flash?” Tony took the wallet from Hermione and looked at it closely. “This looks like something that you could pick up at any shop. What makes it special?”
“A portkey is a magical object that allows witches and wizards, and, apparently, nosey Muggles to travel over large distances with ease.” Hermione gestured for Tony to give the wallet back to her. “It is created from a seemingly innocuous object by enchantment. It is assigned a time to become active and a final destination. Once it is activated, it transports whoever touches it to wherever they want to go.”
“Well, that would explain the flash and the trip halfway around the world.” Tony continued to look at the wallet. “But that fails to explain why I am here with you and how we are getting back to London.”
“This happens to be a portkey with two charms.” Hermione touched the sun and moon charms that were dangling from the strap on the wallet. “The first charm activated as you plowed into me. The second will activate in a week and return whoever is touching it to London. If you want to go back before then, you might want to find a phone box and make a call.”
“So, what you are saying is I’ve been kidnapped by magic to paradise and can do nothing about it.” Tony smirked as he watched Hermione play with the charms on the wallet. “I guess I could use my cell and call for help, but I don’t know that I want to. I’ll call Pepper later and let her know I’ll be out for the next week.”
“Who’s Pepper?” Hermione watched Tony search his pockets and pull out a mobile phone. “Wife? Girlfriend? Magical familiar?”
“Pepper is the woman who hates me but keeps my world and empire running smoothly.” Tony tried not to laugh as he watched more questions flash across hermione’s face. “Don’t worry. She is my administrative assistant. She may know how to run Stark Enterprises better than me.”
“So, now that we have bpth settled in, what do you want to do?” Tony settled into an overstuffed chair on the veranda. “A walk on the beach? A late dinner? Netflix?”
“I have a strict policy against any of those things until I have known a person for at least 24 hours. '' Hermione closed the book she had been reading and set it on the low table beside her chair. “I will settle for watching the sun set and quiet meditation for now.”
“But, what fun is that?” Tony leaned forward in his chair. “Can’t you break the policy for me? We have been thrown together by magic and are in paradise. Why not?”
“I think I will make it 48 hours in your case, Mr. Stark.” Hermione stood and began to walk back into the villa. “Good night. I hope you have a better day tomorrow. I have an excursion planned. Lots of wildlife, magical and Mugglel to see.”
“Good night, Ms. Granger.” Tony turned to watch her walk back into the house. “I’ll be here if you change your mind about your adventure tomorrow. I make a pretty good travel companion.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. But not tomorrow.”