Hermione had watched Steve go into the apartment, before she leaned back and looked at the sky. The white fluffy clouds looked like little animals sometimes and occasionally she would think she'd see Hedwig or sometimes Hagrids form with his huge dog standing next to him. Shaking her head, Hermione stood and went in the apartment and to her bedroom, it was now decorated with light blues and greys like the ocean next to Shell Cottage. There were bookcases now, three of them and they were filled with all sorts of books that she'd already read more than once. Hermione looked at a painting on her wall that her therapist urged her to paint, it was of Hogwarts. There was another one that she did shortly after the first painting and that one was of Shell Cottage, it was the last time she'd been with Harry and Ron, the last time they'd been happy together. It was a good memory and whenever she was feeling particularly upset, she would look at the picture and fantasize a whole other world, one where her best friends were alive, and they all had families. That Molly would be a grandmother and not have had her life cut short by an Acromantula when she refused to give up the hiding places of her children. Arthur wasn't killed with a killing curse for not giving up his magic but showing the children different interesting muggle inventions. Ginny would be a mother and aunt having fun and laughing, not the girl who'd been gang raped and who ended up killing herself.

"Hermione" Steve spoke through the door "We'd like to talk to you" She looked at the door for a moment before calling out that she was on her way and then she waited for a moment to wonder what they would say.

"Took you long enough" Wanda teased as she sat down next to her "I was going to go in and lure you out with the promise of treacle tart"

"If I go back into my room, is that still an option?" Hermione asked with a devilish grin.

"Nope" The other girl grinned "Lost your chance"

"Hermione" Tony said "You've expressed an interest in going back to England to fight 'that snake-bastard' did I say it right?"

"Yes" She answered.

"We'd like to help you" He told her, her eyebrow raised and she wanted to ask at least a million questions but only one forced its way out of her mouth.

"Why?" She asked.

"We're the Avengers" Tony answered "Saving people is what we do"

"Some of us" Clint spoke up, she'd been there for so long and had only heard him speak a few times "Have families, we know how it feels to fear for their lives and we know what would happen to those families if by some chance this man took over America as well" He looked at the bow in his hands, she could tell what he said next would be admitting something to not only her but the others as well "I will fight with you for my family's future, for other families in danger and to avenge the ones who have already fallen"

"I know loss" Wanda told her "I fight so no other sister loses a brother and no one loses their loved ones"

"And the Hulk just likes to smash things" Bruce said, making the others laugh, this was the first time he'd spoken of the 'other guy' without hatred in his voice "I might as well unleash him on those who need to be smashed, right?"

"But you guys don't know me" Hermione reminded them, she tried to hide the sob working its way up her throat but lost that battle.

"What needs to happen first" Steve said, ignoring her completely "You need to tell us everything we need to know about your world, the magic, the creatures...everything we need to be weary about in that world so we're not taken by surprise once we're there"

"I can do that" Hermione answered, as much as she hated to admit it, the way they were coming together for her made her heart begin to swell in a way it hadn't in years.

"Next we need to find other survivors" Tony told her "More like you, more who have seen what he can do, the more allies you have the better"

"But what if there aren't any?" Hermione asked them, she wanted to find people who may have survived but in a way she didn't. She was supposed to be the smartest witch of her age and she'd been caught and tortured for three years, what if they blamed her for not saving more people?

"Then we cross that bridge when we come to it" Steve told her "Where do we start to find survivors?"

"I don't know" Hermione admitted "I suppose I can visit the magical community here in America, find out if they know of any survivors and where they may be"

"Why do you think they would know?" Natasha asked.

"They contacted Fury about me when you guys took me, right?" Hermione asked and Tony nodded "And they were searching for me, that means they were likely taking in refugees from the war and hiding them in safe locations. The hard part is going to be convincing them to allow me to contact the refugees to help with this fight"

"We find them" Tony said "We make them fight and they can go home if they want to"

"No" Hermione said sternly "I am choosing to go back to this fight, but if they don't want to, I will not make them, I won't shame them into it...this is my fight and mine alone and whoever chooses to fight with me is welcome but it's not required"

"Then let's start with step one" Tony said "Tell us all about what we can expect to face there"

"No" Hermione told him "Step one is convincing the magical president that I need to know where the refugees are so I can ask them to fight with me" They slowly nodded "Then, while we wait for the refugees to answer me back, I will tell you all you need to know"