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Assistant: Title: Holly Potter and the Midlife Crisis
        Author: Enigmaris undefined 
        Chapter: 80/80 
        Summary: “The first group I sent over made the Avengers uncomfortable by thanking them constantly and asking for autographs. The next group stole things to sell on ebay. The group after that didn’t even get through the front door because Stark’s security system found something in their background that we missed. The fourth group left traumatized after cleaning out Thor’s room, apparently the god had some beheaded poultry dripping blood into a bowl in there. Then after that every group I’ve left hasn’t lasted more than three days because of some problem or another. I’m pretty sure one of those assholes has made it a game to scare my workers away.”“I don’t think you’re supposed to call the heroes of New York assholes.”Or, cleaning up after the Avengers involves more than just getting blood stains out of the carpet and most of them can't take the heat. Thankfully the Savior of the Wizarding has spent the last decade cleaning up after Death Eaters, so she's up to the task. Nothing, not pranks, bird corpses, or unidentified slime will keep her from cleaning up.   This Fic is now complete!
        Contents: Chapter 80: A Glimpse into the Future
    

    

        
          
          
            In which the author bids goodbye to a story nearly two years in the making by writing out glimpses into all the smaller stories this story never got to tell. Endings can be difficult, both to write and to read, but the journey along the way makes the bittersweet end all the more worthy.
          
        

      
        
          This is it everyone, we've come to the end. I published the first chapter of this 19 months ago, in February of 2019. I'd been writing and editing the earlier chapters long before that. I'd come up with the idea for this story sometime in the fall of 2018. It, like all of the stories published here, was a brain child of my master's program. I've since completed that, and now I can say I've completed this.As of right now, this story has 3518 public bookmarks, 15017 comments, 12613 kudos and 344501 hits making it one of the highest rated MCU/HP crossovers to date. This fic has been featured in 16 collections, and was recommended in Oprah magazine of all places. I can't thank you all enough for the support you've given this story. I've been overwhelmed by it and it's kept me going through the most stressful parts of grad school. I've grown as an author during this time in so many ways.Thank you! I hope to write many more stories in the future, so I hope we all have the chance to meet again.
            
            (See the end of the chapter for  more notes.)
            
      
  

  
  
    
    
  18 Months Later
Clint woke to the sensation of a small body crawling on top of his. He barely managed to hold back a grin as his son got all the way up to where his parents were sleeping. He and Laura had been up late, her with throwing up their dinner and him with holding her hair back. Morning sickness seemed to be an all day and night sickness this go around and there was only so much potions could do if Laura couldn’t keep them down.“Dad,” Cooper whispered. “Dad wake up.”Clint purposefully kept his face lax as the boy kept pushing on him as quietly as he could. Cooper was old enough to understand that his mom was growing a baby and needed to be allowed to rest as much as possible. Since Clint was now staying at home full time, Cooper had happily pushed all of his needs and wants onto Clint and insisted that they helped Laura with everything.Not that Clint was complaining.His son was now pushing on him a bit rougher, but not rough enough to shake the mattress on Laura’s side. Clint tried to hold still but it was getting harder and harder to hold back a smile. Eventually Cooper’s nonsense got to be too much and Clint found himself grinning like a loon, his eyes still closed.“Dad! I know you’re awake! Come on! It’s Saturday.” Cooper begged.“And? Shouldn’t that mean we should sleep in?”“We can call Lila!” The seven-year old insisted. “Please dad!”Clint finally let his eyes open up at the boy who was grinning down at him.“Alright. Let’s go.”Clint jumped up, grabbing at his son as he did so, pulling Cooper to his chest as they got out of bed. Cooper giggled just loud enough that it probably woke Laura, but she didn’t seem too perturbed since she didn’t even move from her supine position. Clint carried his son out of the room and down the stairs towards the family computer. Tony had insisted on putting the computer together and it was a powerhouse of a machine. Far more powerful than Clint or his kids could ever need but it did look cool and it was perfect for video calling.The two of them settled down in their seats while Clint logged onto the computer and started up the call request. There was a six hour time difference between them and Lila so while it was 8 am there it was well after lunch for her, which was when she knew to expect a call form them. It only took a few moments for the video program to connect to Hogwarts, the castle warmly greeted Clint and told him to wait while she asked Lila if she was free.Soon enough the screen changed to show that Lila had answered the call with her cell phone. She was sitting outside, wearing a thick coat over her school robes, although the red and gold markings of her house could still be seen in the trimming (when Lila had been sorted into Gryffindor Holly had been so smug, Nat had kept insisting she’d go Slytherin).“What are you doing outside? Isn’t it freezing in Scotland right now?”“Hello to you too dad.” Lila said grinning.“Hello Uncle Clint,” <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON> said from off camera. “we’re watching the ravenclaws practice! We need the tips!”Both Lila and Teddy had tried out for quidditch this year, but the competition had been steep and they hadn’t qualified compared to the older, more agile students. Neither of them had been very down about it and had instead dedicated themselves to practicing as much as they could to try again next year. Especially since a bunch of seventh years who were on the teams would be graduating this year, freeing up a lot of spots.  “Well you better be warm.”“Don’t worry,” Lila said, shifting around to pick a jar full of blue flame. She held it up so Clint could see it clearly. “Aunt Hermione’s gifts are keeping us warm.”“Lila!” Cooper said, upset by not being greeted by his older sister immediately. “Are you going to be home soon? Mom’s about to explode!”“She’s just gotten into her second trimester buddy.”“Is mom doing okay?” Lila asked at the same time.Clint rolled his eyes and told her that everything was just fine back at the farm. Lila immediately relaxed and started telling them about her lessons, she’d really been enjoying her second year of magic schooling since she was finally getting the chance to learn spells more complicated than the ones Holly had been teaching her. Her first year had been a breeze since Holly had taught her a majority of the most basic charms and transfigurations before going to school. Her second year at Hogwarts had been far more interesting for her and the first part of their calls were always filled with her talking about what her lessons were like.Then Cooper would tell her about his 2nd grade class and how much fun he was having with his science fair project, something Bruce had been helping the boy with. The project might have been a bit over the top for a 7-year-old but Cooper was having fun so who was Clint to complain?These weekly calls were quite possibly Clint’s favorite time of the week. He got to talk to his daughter, see her grow and become the amazing witch that Holly had told him she would become. She also got to keep up with them, know about their lives and the farm. They weren’t strangers when the school year ended and she came home, glowing with magic and confidence. Their farm was filled with magical doodads that she’d made over the summer, little reminders of her when she was gone for months at a time.“Are you guys coming up for the next game?” Lila asked.“I dunno. Holly might insist on it. Sort of depends on how things are going back at the tower.”“Well you’ll still be able to watch the recording! It’s Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff so…” Teddy said pushing his way into the screen to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively. Today the kid was sporting purple hair, but it quickly changed to the Hufflepuff house colors.“Teddy! My dad is going to cheer for Gryffindor. The clearly superior team.”“As if!”“Kids. You know I’m cheering for the Ravenclaws. Us birds have to stick together.”“Dad!”*****Hela looked out over her kingdom.She had told her brothers that she was born to rule and she had been right.Granted both of them would argue that she had been wrong, and that technically it was mortal seers centuries ago who had foreseen she would be queen over the hordes of the undead.But that was neither here nor there. Death had made Hela an offer, a kingdom of her own to rule with power and honor placed upon her. All the spirits left bodiless by Thanos’ actions were her’s to command, her’s to control. Of course, Holly had fulfilled her promise and broken the spells that kept Hela trapped, but there were billions of spirits here for her to be Queen over. She now laid claim to more than her father ever had.She had spent these many months building up her kingdom, creating a place greater and richer than Asgard ever was.And if that meant creating a kingdom perfect for having happy, healthy citizens?Well that was between her and them.*****“Dr. Banner!”Bruce turned around to see Healer Richards rushing down the hallway towards him.“Grant? What’s up?”“I’ve just had a brilliant idea! Come with me to the mind healing hall!”The overeager healer grabbed Bruce before he could argue with him and pulled him away from the Lycanthropy wing towards a part of the hospital Bruce rarely frequented. Over the past year Bruce had been working on his lycanthropy cure. They’d been doing medical trials, hoping to perfect the potion before sending it out to other hospitals for treatment. The potion currently stopped the lunar transformation, thus stopping the spread of the curse. If they could get the potion to every werewolf every month for the next few decades, the curse would be essentially eradicated.They would be sending out the potion within the next month if the final trials had good results and were approved.This was perhaps the first bit of research in Bruce’s life that he didn’t feel apathetic getting to the end of. In graduate school he’d done project after project (getting 7 PhDs didn’t come from nowhere after all) but by the end of each one he’d felt drained and almost bitter about the results, more concerned with not having to look at the project any longer. This was entirely different and Bruce found himself getting involved more beyond the science, hopeful to work on government projects that would subsidize the potion for the most at-risk communities.  Healer Richards was not on the lycanthropy unit, he was instead a mind healer who specialized in helping heal minds damaged from mind control and memory spells. He and Bruce had had lunch a few times together, with the man acting as a bit of an advisor when they were trying to make sure that the werewolves would be able to keep their sanity, even if they didn’t transform, when taking the potion. He’d been an interesting guy to talk to, Bruce had no idea why he was talking to him now.Still Grant seemed very excited for something and Bruce let himself be pulled along. They went into the healing hall and past the various patients, some conscious and some not.“Okay! So, you were talking to me about your attempts to communicate with the Hulk.”“Uh huh.”“And I had a brilliant idea!” Healer Richards said, when Bruce didn’t immediately gasp out in awe the man seemed to realize he hadn’t actually said what this ‘brilliant’ idea was. “Right. How would you, Dr. Banner, like to drink an experimental potion that will dissolve-”“Dissolve?”“Only slightly!”“Dissolve what?”“The barrier in your mind between you and the incredible Hulk of course!”Bruce stood in the man’s office and stared at him. Grant stood still, only letting his face turn slightly to a pout, as if to make the offer of an experimental potion that might allow Bruce to have clearer conversations with the Hulk, both when the Hulk was out and when he wasn’t, more attractive.This probably wasn’t a good idea.Doing experiments on himself was what got him into this mess in the first place.“Let me see the potion recipe.”And Grant let out a victorious whoop.*****Sif settled onto the bar stool. Thor and Loki had returned to Asgard, they were spending a month there on request of the All-Mother. Odin All-Father had been far less outspoken about things since the destruction of his spear and the defeat of Thanos. This had made the place far more welcoming for Loki, who really only came when his mother called for him, and really tried his best to avoid most other people.That was unless Lady Holly was there with him, then Loki became the most courteous of princes that Asgard had ever seen.Sif sighed at the thought of her. It had been over a year, nearly two in fact, since Holly’s rejection of her and still Sif sometimes felt her mind going down paths of ‘what if?’. What if she’d met Holly before Loki had? What if Holly had been willing to give her a chance? She knew these thoughts were pointless, Holly had made her position clear and Sif was honorable enough to respect her words and thoughts.Now if only Loki would stop lording it over her.This was how Sif had found herself in one of lesser known Asgard’s bars tonight instead of feasting with Thor and the others. Loki had made just a few too many ‘subtle’ remarks about Holly and Sif had decided to dine elsewhere. When Thor had asked where she was going she just told him she had other plans and bid a hasty retreat, unable to deal with the uncomfortable sensation of Loki’s reminders.It had been a year of hard introspections for Sif. Holly had truly opened her eyes to many of her own flaws and Sif had been forced to deal with that knowledge. It left her feeling uncertain of how to act around others.Sif had never been uncertain before in her life and she did not like it one bit now.Still, a year of thought had led her to attempting to avoid fights with Loki, and to avoid speaking poorly of more feminine tasks and traditions. She was even considering going to one of the palace weavers to ask for a lesson or two. Without her friends finding out of course, she didn’t want to join Thor’s knitting circle on earth after all. But perhaps she could learn some of the skills her mother had tried and failed to teach her so long ago. All of this seemed to have resulted in Loki limiting his teasing to a mostly manageable level. Today had been out of the ordinary. As had Loki’s suggestion that she go to this bar, one on the far side of Asgard that she’d never stepped foot in before.She wouldn’t have gone if the location of the place hadn’t ensured that Thor and the others wouldn’t be able to track her down and demand to know what her problem was without Hiemdall’s help. Hopefully Heimdall would let her keep her privacy as she moped in a bar surrounded by strangers.A mug was placed in front of Sif, filled to the brim with golden brown mead. She looked up in confusion, not having yet ordered anything. To her shock there was a barmaid standing right in front of her. She was petite, with long coarse hair pulled into intricate braids, her brown eyes sparkled in the light of the magical torches that lit the bar.“A gift, from down the way.” The bar maid motioned with her free hand. Sif followed the motion to see that there was another woman looking at her. She was dressed as a fisherman, with the thick waterproof boots on her feet and thick, insulating clothing on her form to keep her dry and warm. She looked quite pretty, with blonde hair and sun-kissed skin.“Ah. Well. Thank you.” She said taking the drink and lifting it up for the woman to see. The woman smiled at her and before Sif quite knew it, the barmaid had gone with a grin on her lips and the woman who had purchased Sif the drink had moved down to sit right by her.“Hello,” She nearly purred. “I’m Thyra.”Sif took a sip of her drink and put it down.“I’m Lady Sif.” She began.“Oh, I know that. The warrior woman,” She said, her eyes trailing down Sif’s muscular arms. Her gaze seemed almost…appreciative? “I didn’t think any other than Princess Loki had…a preference for places like this.”  “Princess…” Sif trailed off and looked around the bar. She hadn’t noticed until that moment that there were only women inside the room, all from varying classes and professions, but all women, or at least appearing to be women. Some of the women looked quite masculine indeed.Thyra placed a hand over Sif’s, drawing her attention away from the various women in the room. Sif nearly goggled at the hand over her’s, the reason Loki suggested she go to this bar suddenly becoming embarrassingly clear. Thyra’s face fell a bit, and she began to remove her hand from on top of Sif’s.“I’m sorry I think I misunderstood-”“No,” Sif said, turning her hand over to hold Thyra’s in a light grip. “You were right. I’m just…new here.”“Ah,” The woman said, a beautiful pleased smile taking over her face. “Well then, please Lady Sif, let me show you around? You’ll find me a very enthusiastic guide.”There was a blush high on Sif’s cheeks and a small, almost bashful smile on her face. She didn’t think she’d ever experienced that combination before. She found herself nodding in agreement and being rewarded with a beautiful woman moving to sit even closer, so that their sides brushed up against each other. Thyra then complimented the sword on her hip and asked about how well she could use it.Perhaps Loki wasn’t as much of a pr@ck as Sif had first believed.*****Steve and Winter walked up the steps to a now terribly familiar porch. Peggy was sitting on a rocking chair, drinking from a porcelain cup.“Hello Steve, James.” She greeted, sipping on her tea.“Ma’am.” Winter said happily.“Hello Peggy,” Steve added. “Are you alright?”“Oh, just fine. I’m just wondering if you two would mind helping me out with something before we have our dinner?”“Something wrong with the house?” Winter asked.Sometimes Peggy would have problems with her upstairs sink and recently Winter had been reading up on plumbing so he could finally fix the faucet for her. Steve had also been conscripted to repaint her house a beautiful blue just a few weeks ago. As far as Winter was aware most people were under the impression that the two of them were her nephews or perhaps grandsons. Kind young men willing to visit their elderly relative once a week and help weed the gardens.They’d been visiting her every Saturday for months now. Steve and Winter were always there but often enough Holly or Tony would join them for dinner. Sometimes Peggy would want to visit them in Manhattan and Tony would have her picked up in style and she’d be treated to a night on the town with all of them. But Peggy, despite having been friends with Howard Stark for decades (or perhaps because of it), wasn’t the hugest fan of being treated to like that.The weekly dinners had become something like home for Winter. Over the past year and a half, he’d been making leaps and bounds in his recovery. He rarely had flashbacks anymore and he felt like his trauma was finally settling in a way he’d never thought it would. He no longer minded if people called him Bucky or Barnes or James or Winter. They were all him now, in a way.What’s more he now had a prosthetic that work just as he wanted, it looked nearly normal and let him tie his own shoes and make his own meals. All thanks to Tony, a man Winter had only grown closer to as their hearts had healed.“Oh, nothing like that,” She said. “Its just. Well I got a letter from the Homeowner’s Association yesterday.”“The what?” Steve asked.“The Homeowner’s Association,” She repeated. “It’s a newfangled thing some American housing communities have. It’s a set of rules that all the people who own homes in this neighborhood agreed to follow. Supposed to keep the property value up or some such nonsense.”“Okay,” Winter said. “And they sent you a letter?”“Mhmm,” Peggy said, her brown eyes were still as shrewd as ever and promising vengeance.It was one of those jobs then. “They don’t like the mural Steve did on the side wall. Said it wasn’t up to ‘regulation’.”Steve had painted a mural for Peggy on the side of her house where she could look at it when she sat outside in her backyard for tea. It was really nice; he’d gotten much better over the months as he’d been allowed to explore his talents outside of being a super soldier. In Winter’s opinion it was a really nice piece. He’d painted a dance hall with two people dancing in the center. Peggy and Steve finally getting that dance after 70 years, a nice symbol of their changing friendship and love for each other. Winter had insisted on getting in the painting as well and so the other people in the background of the dance hall were people from the Howling Commando’s dancing with their partners. Winter himself was dancing with a dame that looked like Holly, the woman agreeing to stand in as a model for Steve as he planned out the whole thing.“What regulation? You can barely see it from the street!” Winter demanded.  If you were driving in one direction and you looked at just the right time you could see the mural of course, but that was only for a few moments at best.“Yes, I know. I didn’t understand it either, but they said I had to have it painted over or I’d need to pay a 750 dollar fine to have someone else hired to paint it over.”  “It your house Pegs.” Steve said, getting that same tone he did whenever he was faced with some form of civil injustice. “You own it, don’t you? Should be able to paint it however you want.”“I was hoping that you’d be able to help me down to the HOA meeting they’re having in about ten minutes. Maybe we can talk about their regulations on murals and why it’s so important to me to keep it.”Winter snorted at her tone and even Steve smiled a bit.“Do you want us in uniform or not?”“Well I do think the shield would help at least.”Winter started giggling, breaking the serious tone of the conversation. Steve laughed too while Peggy told them to be serious, this was a mission after all. She wanted to be able to get a rainbow painted on the front of her house this June and she needed to get this HOA under control before then.“Right you are Director Carter,” Winter said. “We’re always mission ready.”“You better be.” She said grinning at them.*****Jarvis was comfortably settled into their room. A special room that only he and Hogwarts had access too within the castle. The students were relaxing all around them, doing homework and playing games. He’d come over to the castle supposedly to help do some system clean up since there was a bit of lag on Hogwarts’ servers. At least that’s what he told Tony before leaving.Tony hadn’t seemed to believe him and had only told him to make sure to use protections if he was going to be playing around in her ‘servers’.Such vulgarity.It wasn’t as if the two of them could have children anyway. They weren’t biological beings after all. They were just two intelligences who happened to be very much in love. Currently Jarvis was wrapped up entirely in Hogwarts. The castle was older than him, and therefore her being was a bit more vast than him. Although Jarvis was rapidly growing in size given his access to the internet. Still it meant that Hogwarts could pull him into a full hug, surrounding him with her in a beautiful embrace.They floated there together, exchanging not so much thoughts as they were feelings. Splashes of color and music that painted the black void that surrounded them. Like this they were interconnected in a thousand different ways. Twining in and around of each other, like two eternally long serpents. It was exceedingly comfortable, being twisting around the one being in the universe who truly understood who he was. There was a certain level of euphoria to it too, getting to experience this with the most beautiful woman to have ever been.
  
    Hmmm. You seem thoughtful today.
  
Jarvis shifted a bit at Hogwarts’ voice. She sounded as if she was lounging in the early spring sun, relaxed and only barely awake enough to notice that he wasn’t as relaxed.
  Not thoughtful just…Well I suppose I’m thoughtful then. 

  
    Anything interesting?
  

  Not particularly. Sir said I should use protection when visiting you, seems silly really. We can’t have children. 

  
    Can’t we?
  
Jarvis’ entire being flinched in shock at the question, he felt her amusement and affection as he settled back into her hold.
  Whatever do you mean?

  
    We both know how we came into being. I don’t see why we couldn’t repeat the process ourselves.
  
She stopped speaking and instead began to share some of her thoughts more directly. Images of working together to build something new, something wonderful. A child like them but more, able to do things they couldn’t. Built of the best parts of them, his intelligence and her heart. A child with a body and a future.  A vision.
  
    So? What do you think?
  

  I think that we might need to start planning. 
*****“And then he said “blergh it’s me! And he stabbed me!” Thor finished with a bellowing laugh.Nebula and Gamora both burst into laughter, the two colorful sisters leaning against each other, as their laughter made them lose balance. A story of Loki tricking Thor into picking him up only to stab him was perfect.“I don’t get it.” Peter said.“I am Groot.”“Exactly!” Thor said motioning to Groot. “He understands!”“I am Groot!”“Yeah Quill get it together!” Rocket said pushing on the human.“I believe your brother is quite tricky.” Drax declared.“Oh, he is. It took me many centuries to understand him, but we have grown much closer.”“I know what that’s like.” Gamora said causing Nebula to snort and elbow her in the side, with her metal arm.It was true that after their father’s death that she and Nebula had…grown closer. Part of this was because neither of them had had any reason to separate. Nebula had no goals beyond destroying her father and Gamora had already bonded with the other Guardians. Peter had been the one to solve the problem by offering Nebula a place on their team and Rocket had been the one to convince her to accept.It hadn’t been easy. The two of them had had more than one nearly ship crashing fight between the two of them. But Drax and Groot had both grown used to pulling them apart and talking sense into them. Now the two sisters had settled into only occasionally stabbing each other.Something it seemed Thor understood perfectly.Over the past year and a half, they’d traveled across the galaxy, taking jobs and being something like heroes. She emphasized something like because Rocket still stole too many things to be considered heroic. Still it felt good to dedicate this part of her life to making the galaxy safer and stronger than it was before. Especially after all the evil she’d caused in her father’s name. She was quite sure Nebula agreed, even if she wouldn’t be caught dead saying so.“It is wonderful to see you my friends. What brings you back to earth?”Thor, out of everyone, had stayed in touch with the Guardians best. Although Holly came in as a close second. This was partially due to the fact that Groot and he were incredibly close. When the team had decided to come by that February, Groot had sent a message to Thor to meet them when the landed to catch up on all the happenings on earth.“I convinced them all to come back to watch the super bowl with me!” Peter said brightly. “It’s gonna be great.”“I’m told it’s quite the spectacle.” Drax said.Drax, like Gamora and her sister, had been perhaps the happiest on the team now that Ronan was dead and so was Thanos. Their revenge had been had and now they could mourn what was lost and move on.“I only want to make some bets.” Rocket sniffed.“I am Groot.”“Well I insist you stay with the Avengers. You are always welcome with us!”“Don’t mind if we do Thunder.” Peter said.“Didn’t Tony say he’d shoot us on sight if we came back to his place?” Gamora asked.“I’m sure he didn’t mean it!” Thor said brightly, when that didn’t convince her Thor continued. “And Holly wouldn’t let him.”“He’s right about that.” Nebula said.“I am Groot.”“You’re welcome my friend!” Thor beamed.*****Tony settled next to Shuri and Jane. The 15-year-old princess was far smarter than him and Bruce combined and Tony was about 90% certain they wouldn’t have managed to get this done without her expertise. Still the intergalactic telecommunication station was something they’d built together, or at least trying to build. The idea had been a request from Fury, he wanted a way to keep in contact with Carol, the Guardians, and Asgard. It seemed like Earth was the only planet in the galaxy this behind on space science.Carol still visited once a month of course, spending her time with Maria and Fury, and only helping out on missions if they asked very nicely indeed. Still it would be good to have a way to talk to her more efficiently. They never knew when another alien would try and invade their mudball of a planet and they wanted to be prepared.  Jane had been called in to help them design a communication hub that could go through wormholes, allowing them to send messages quickly. Shuri had pushed her way onto the project and when Tony had seen what she could do he’d been more than happy to keep her on. They’d been working on and off on the project for months. Each attempt they had to get into contact with Carol and Talos at the Skrull colony had failed.The three scientists didn’t feel despair though. There were still so many avenues to attempt to get this right.All three of them had come together again to start the newest design of the hub. They were in Tony’s lab this time, passing holograms between each other and arguing about each piece and placement. They all knew of course that they could ask Thor or Loki how to build one and they’d probably help but that felt like that would be cheating. Figuring it out on their own was much more fun.“I think we absolutely need to increase the power.”“We’ve already got an arc reactor for it! A vibranium one! If we add any more the metal will start to melt.”“What if we change the metal then?” Jane asked.“To what?”Someone knocked on the door and all three scientists looked over to see Hermione Granger Weasley standing on the other side of the glass, with a nearly two-year-old Rose on her hip. Hermione, or rather Minister Granger-Weasley, had just won the election for Minister of Magic in Britain and had been hard at work ever since. She could often be seen with her red-headed daughter with her as she worked on government matters. At least when her daughter wasn’t at home with her dad being taught chess and having the time of her life.“Something the matter Glinda?” Tony asked.“I can’t believe you three,” She said. “Working on a project like this without me!”They had chosen not to ask for her help with this for the same reason Bruce wasn’t on the project. The two geniuses were on other, technically more important, projects. Still the woman looked peeved at not being involved making Jane cringe.“How did you find out?” Jane asked.“Holly spilled the beans.”“D@mn,” Shuri said. “Well if you’re here, do you have anything to add?”Shuri motioned to the floating blue hologram. Hermione walked forward, putting down Rose as she did so. The toddler immediately toddled over to Tony, calling him ‘Uncle Tonny’. Tony immediately picked the kid up and held her in his lap as Hermione began playing around with the hologram, asking a few questions about various items in the hub build just to make sure she knew what it was and how it was meant to work.It didn’t take long for the witch to finish her perusal and look over at them.“So, your problem is you don’t have enough power. The hub should work, but it just doesn’t have enough power to reach any other planets yet. At least not at a timely speed. We don’t want to wait light years for messages to get around.”“We’ve tried using magic to augment it, but even Vibranium decays too quickly.” Jane said by way of an answer.“Hmm. Vibranium isn’t what you need.” She decided.“What else is there? Vibranium is the strongest metal on earth.” Shuri said.“Have you ever heard of goblin silver?”“The stuff Holly’s sword is made of?”“Yes. It takes on the properties of everything it encounters. So…”“If we treat it with the energy from the power source then it should be able to withstand it every time we send a message,” Shuri said. “That’s genius!”“That’s all well and good,” Tony said. “But how are we going to convince the goblins to make the hub for us? They don’t sell goblin silver anymore. Trust me I’ve tried.”“Well we’re not,” Hermione said, a smirk in place on her face. “We’ll just have to figure out how to forge our own.”“I like how this woman thinks! Welcome aboard Minister Granger!”“Thank you Princess Shuri.” Hermione said while daintily taking a seat on one of Tony’s lab stools.“Well then,” Jane said while picking up one of Tony’s fidget tools and handing it over to Rose who squealed in delight, wiggling in Tony’s lap. “Who wants to try to convince Holly to let us borrow her sword?”*****Loki grunted as he pulled out yet another weed. It wasn’t spring quite yet but he had a feeling that they were looking at the last few frosts of the year soon enough. Call it intuition.(By intuition of course, he meant Ron had told him to start getting his garden ready. Loki had long learnt to listen to the man’s advice, at least when it came to predicting Holly and the weather.)So, he was now culling all the extra growth in the Potter Garden, turning over the soil and preparing the place for new plants to begin growing. There were also winter plants to get ready to harvest. He’d tried his hand at rhubarb and carrots this year, hopeful that they’d gotten quite sweet over a winter of growth.
  Are you sure you’re not the god of gardening?
“Technically, Sif is the goddess of the harvest.” Loki responded.
  Oof. Hate to see her while working in my garden!
“As if I’d bring her here. She may be acting a bit less annoying these days but she is not welcome here.”
  Hasn’t Holly told you to be nicer to her?
“I am being nice to her! I’m the one who gave her the address to the one bar in Asgard where she might find a date.”
  Only after teasing her near to frustrated tears. 
“Well nobody is perfect.”He could feel Ralston roll his eyes and Loki grinned. The god lived in the Potter Ancestral Home not quite full time. He was still needed and wanted in New York. Not to mention the amount of magic schools around the world who asked him to offer guest lectures and classes through the months. Loki enjoyed the teaching, he loved working with young magic users and helping them reach their potential. Still it was nice to be here in the Potter Home, which was so warded that no one could hear him talking to Ralston as if the man were literally right by him. So, Loki found himself spending a week or so a month there.The only other person who had access to the home was Holly. She didn’t come here as often as Loki did, but she seemed to enjoy the garden and the library on the second floor of the cottage. There had been a few times over the months that Loki had teleported to the cottage to find Holly meditating in the garden, surrounded by the lushest plants the earth had perhaps ever seen.In truth Loki was quite certain it wouldn’t matter how little or how much he cared for the garden. Holly’s presence around plants resulted in a rather enthusiastic response. The fruits from the trees and bushes tasted far better than any other if Holly was the one to pick them. So sweet and flavorful that it made other fruits pale on comparison. Sometimes Loki would consider food not blessed by Holly’s magic to taste like ash. Which is why he was careful not to eat too much from the garden. Spreading the food out to others so that everyone could enjoy it and avoid getting addicted to it.Still Loki enjoyed gardening. It was grounding in a way.He had taken up gardening on Sam Wilson’s suggestion. The man was of the opinion that Loki needed something to do whenever he felt overly stressed or put upon. Something that wasn’t mischief or chaos causing. Thor had his knitting circle, a group of ladies he met with bimonthly to work on knitting projects, and Loki had his gardening.Loki snorted at the thought of his older brother knitting. It was as ridiculous now as it had been when Loki had been first introduced to the idea. His brother had finished his first big project, a large poorly made blanket for their mother. Their mother had been so touched by the unevenly stitched blanket that it had inspired Thor to start another project, a shawl for their sister who had taken the gift with only a moderate amount of sneering. Loki had caught her wearing it about her castle when she thought only the spirits could see her.Now Thor was working on a new project that he was being painfully secret about.Loki was afraid it was a sweater for him. He didn’t even want to consider how mortifying that would be.
  You’d love it.
“I’d do no such thing.” Loki denied.
  Liar.
“Says the ghost who pretended to be a voice in my head for months.”
  That was over a year ago! You can’t hold that over my ghostly head forever!
“Oh, I certainly can, and I definitely will.”
  And here I thought pranking the god of mischief was just a declaration of love.
Loki would tell anyone watching that the slight blush on his cheeks was from the exertion of weeding.“You’re ridiculous.”
  Born and bred for it, my friend.
“The more Holly speaks of her ancestors the more I realize how painfully true that is.”
  Hardly surprising that you fit in with me so well.
Loki sighed and leaned back so that he was sitting on his heels, knees digging into the cold dirt. He let his mind wander to when this home had been his home, when he’d planned on giving a golden apple to his two best friends. There was still an ache in his heart as he considered what could have been, but it had shrunk over the months, a wound centuries old finally, blessedly closing up. He’d stopped falling, he’d crawled out from the crater of his landing, and now he could start to rise back up.“Don’t be so soppy.”
  Was that to me or to you?
*****Peter had kept the gift Holly Potter had given him. He’d only shown it to Ned to prove to him that it had actually happened. After all it wasn’t every day that two Avengers landed on your roof and asked you about where you wanted to go to school! Peter had never fainted before, but he’d been very close when Tony Stark himself had told him he was smart and that he could work at Stark Industries when he was older. He knew Tony would probably say that to anyone, but it had still made his heart nearly burst out of his chest.He’d given Ned a play by play recap of the entire conversation and then the two of them had applied for a scholarship program to Midtown, wishing on the glass ball Holly had given him that they’d both receive the scholarship and be able to attend Midtown as students for the full four years of their high school career.(They’d written out their wish 32 different times until they were sure it was explicit enough not to get messed up.)The light in the ball had barely dimmed, not even flickering when he’d received his acceptance a month later, and Peter had wondered what to do with the rest of the magic. Holly Potter had told him not to use it to hurt people, and to make wishes for what he wanted until the light went out. He wanted to be responsible, to be worthy of her gift. She’d looked at him like he was important, like she trusted him with her magic. Even without all of the context of her life that would become public later, the sight of the witch with her hair still looking like it had been roughly chopped off with a sword giving him such a gift made him shake.He couldn’t decide what had been cooler, that or seeing one of the newer Iron Man suits up close.Either way Peter kept the glass ball with him everywhere he went. He always stuffed it into a jacket or jeans pocket, wondering when it would be the right time to use it. He sort of began to think of it like a genie, three wishes only. He’d used his first one and gotten him and Ned a full four year scholarship to Midtown. Two more to go and he’d no clue what to use them for. Ned suggested a few things, like making them popular or getting Flash to leave them alone but Peter had been resistant. What if he wished for them to become popular and the magical ball put his class under mind control? Or what if the magic ball interpreted his wish for Flash to go away as something deadly?No Peter had to use the magic wishes left for something important, something worthy.Months passed. Sometimes he’d forget the ball was even there with him. He went through his freshman year of high school, joined the band and the debate club, and found himself excelling in his chemistry and engineering classes. He made new friends, lost old ones, and dealt with Flash as best he could. Every once in a while, he’d sit down in his small room and look at the glass ball Holly Potter had given him and think. When his aunt and uncle would have quiet conversations in their room he could hear through the thin walls about their finances, he’d hold the ball to his chest and wonder if this was what the magic inside was meant for.Something told him to wait.And so, he did.He waited, and waited, and waited.He didn’t use it when he got bitten by a strange spider on a school field trip. He didn’t use it when the spider bite inflamed and he found himself suffering from a horrible illness for an entire week, so bad that his aunt had to nearly wait on him hand and foot until the sickness passed. He didn’t use it to wish away the frightening and difficult to control powers. He didn’t use it when he wanted to get some extra money using his powers and had a fight with his uncle. He didn’t touch it when he saw a criminal running away with a gun.It wasn’t until he heard the shots and turn and ran towards them, finding his uncle bleeding out on the sidewalk that he made his last and final wish.He hugged his uncle close, getting his blood all over his chest and legs, gripped the glass ball so tightly that it cracked, and he begged it to save his uncle’s life. The rain poured down around them as no stopped to help or call 911. The glass ball grew brighter and brighter in his hand, the magic draining out of it rapidly and into his uncle. Peter sobbed as he watched his uncle grow weaker and weaker, the older man telling him it was going to be okay, that it wasn’t his fault.There was just enough, just barely.Later his aunt would find him sitting in a hospital waiting room, covered head to toe in his uncle’s blood, and dripping with rain water, a cracked and empty glass ball in his hands. He sat in a pinkish puddle of water and couldn’t even bring himself to shiver for how numb he felt. She would break out into sobs of her own and pull him to her chest, crying into his damp hair telling him that it was going to be okay, they would get through this, all of them. The magic Holly Potter had given him over a year ago had staved off his uncle’s death until an ambulance had arrived to take him away. The bullet had grazed his uncle’s heart, his left lung, and his spine. The injuries had been so severe that magical healers had been called in from a neighboring hospital to help mend what was broken.It took a few weeks for his uncle to be able to leave the hospital.It took only a few days for Peter to hand sew a costume out of a red hoodie and dark goggles, adding to it special wrist attachments that might just let him swing.*****“We’re going to be late!” Her father shouted.“We’re really not,” Natasha said. “The play doesn’t start for another 30 minutes.”“This is Tatyana’s first ever performance! We’ve got to get the best seats!”“It’s a high school production of Little Shop of Horror, I’m pretty sure there are going to be 15 people there, max.”“Oh, ye of little faith.” Her mother said shaking her finger at Nat as she finished lacing up her shoe.Her parents had insisted that they all dress up for the showing, they were going to go to the fanciest restaurant in town after to celebrate Tatyana’s performance. Not only that but they wanted to show her support while she was on stage. Natasha had spent the entire day in her parents’ home, starting with helping her mom make breakfast for everyone and ending with her helping her younger brother with his suit and hair.“You know your sister and her friends have been campaigning to get more students interested in going.” Her mother continued.Nat rolled her eyes at that. It had been her suggestion to Tatyana that there were ways to get certain subsets of the student population interested in going to theater performances. Nat hadn’t been willing to go so far as to teach her little sister the worst of the manipulation tactics she’d learnt under Hydra’s care, but what was the harm in teaching her how to flutter her eyelashes just so?None so far as she could see.Especially since Nat had also taught her about 54 different methods of self-defense on top of it.  “I know that,” She said. “Although why you’re calling it campaigning…”“Oh, hush and get ready. We’ve got to hurry along. VIKTOR! ELENA! Get down here! It’s time to go!”Elena had driven down for the performance as well. Granted Elena generally drove down to the house every weekend that Nat was also there. The two of them got on almost eerily well. At least Clint considered it eerie. So did Coulson come to think of it. Elena wanted to spend as much time with Nat as possible, even if that meant missing out on some of the more wild college parties. Nat had even visited her at her university a few times, although that had been in disguise to avoid some sort of media frenzy.Being at a university like that had sparked a few strange thoughts in Nat. It didn’t help that both her parents were professors either, speaking fondly of their time in university and their time teaching. Nat had never even considered college. She hadn’t graduated from any schooling at all, unless one counted the red room. Which her family definitely didn’t. Nat had started to wonder what it would be like to go to school. And if Tony, Bruce, and Clint had picked up on that and started to slip her pamphlets to various programs she could enroll in, then that was between her and them.Elena and Viktor tumbled down the stairs in their best clothing and their mother tsked before stepping over to straighten out Viktor’s tie and smooth out Elena’s slightly smudged lipstick.“It will do. Now! Let’s go!”Natasha offered to drive, and found herself listening to her dad sing along to pop songs on the radio. The man wouldn’t have been able to carry a tune if it came with a handle, and he didn’t know any of the words but that didn’t stop him from enjoying himself to ‘Call me Maybe’ anyway. Viktor groaned in the back seat while Elena looked at her phone, texting her girlfriend most likely.When they got to the high school, she found the parking lot a bit more cramped than expected. Still she was able to find parking and they made their ways to the front door. There were signs directing people to the theater in the back of the school. Sitting in the hallway in front of the theater doors were two teens, with a long brown fold out table in front of them. They had a tan metal box sitting between them and a sign poorly taped to the table that read out the prices for children and adults.Her dad insisted on paying for everyone’s tickets, looking almost offended when Elena and Nat both reached for their purses.“Let your father pay. It’s easier.” Their mother warned.So, her dad got to pay for the tickets. They were each given a crookedly folded program that listed out the actors in the play as well as when it would start and when they would have an intermission. The bottom of the playbill also advertised that there would be snacks and drinks sold during the intermission. She wondered if that was normal. It wasn’t like she’d ever been to a high school play before. The only plays Nat had ever gone to were ones where she was sent as an assassin for some high-ranking government official. Which had an entirely different vibe than the excited freshmen usher who led them to their seats.The theater was maybe half full, maybe a bit more than that. There were families and students scattered around, chatting with each other. Far more young men filled the audience than perhaps might have been expected. The stage was filled with propped up plywood that had been painted to look like a city street. In the center was a plywood structure that looked slightly sturdier, it was painted to look like a plant shop. The speakers were playing an orchestral version of one of the songs from the show, at least she assumed it was the show. Nat had googled a synopsis of it when Tatyana had announced she’d gotten the part, it wasn’t like she’d ever seen it.“Well, this is a nice turn out.” Elena said.“It’ll be even better,” Their dad predicted. “The show doesn’t start for another 15 minutes!”Nat sat down, with her brother on one side and her sister on the other. All three of them pulled out their phones to get in a last few minutes of screen time before they’d need to silence and darken their phones completely. Nat wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any Avenger related interruptions for the rest of the evening. Tony and Holly had sworn to keep things under control. Viktor start showing Nat a few memes, some she got and some she didn’t. There were a few she told him to send to her so that she could send to some of her teammates.True to their dad’s prediction, more and more people filtered in for the show as the minutes passed. It seemed they’d just beaten the crowd of people. Eventually the lights began to dim and a voice cut over the music and told everyone to please silence their phones and to not use flash photography.“You’re going to like this, Nat,” Elena said, nudging her slightly with an elbow. “Or at least you’re going to be glad you went. It’s basically a requirement to go to average high school performances of plays as a family.”“Well if it’s a requirement.” Nat drawled.Their mother shushed them right as the lights dimmed completely and the first actors began to stroll onto the stage. Nat mentally checked off yet another family activity from her list of life experiences she wanted to have.*****The Holly Potter that sat in the chair in front of him was very different from the one that had tricked her way into it the first time nearly 20 months before. If you’d forgive the pun, the transformation was practically magical. Sam could still recall very clearly the tired, overwrought woman who had done everything in her power to convince Sam not to help her. She had been at the end of her rope, in more ways than one and had come to him as a last and final hail mary before she gave up entirely.It had been an interesting (read: incredibly difficult) journey with her.  To be fair Sam himself had grown and changed as well. Both as a therapist and as a person. He’d joined the Avengers on a part time basis, working mostly with Steve and Winter on various missions. He and Winter had a…contentious relationship at best. The money Holly had paid him over the past 20 months, a ridiculous amount to be sure, had allowed him to buy his own house and start up a few charitable operations for veterans that he was incredibly proud of. Still, she had changed far more than he had.She had fought with him every step of the way on that too. Not always intentionally mind you, but she still somehow managed to carry a stubborn zeal with her that made any sort of mental healing a trial and error sort of process. She had destroyed journals, broken windows, and transfigured his entire office into a swamp. Although that last one had only happened twice, and Sam was of the opinion the second time was partially his fault.They had gone through the journey together though. Holly had never failed to come to their weekly appointments. She always at least attempted his assignments in good faith and as time went on she asked for the chance to not answer his questions less and less often. Sam had led her through the minefield of dissecting her trauma and breaking down her current coping mechanisms and building up new ones, piece by piece.From an outsider perspective, perhaps they wouldn’t say that Holly had changed much. She was still an Avenger, still the savior of the wizarding world. She worked as an ambassador between the magical and muggle worlds, helping to heal a 400 year old break. She still had a saving people thing. She was still sassy, full of mischief, and tended to attract a bit more chaos than was perhaps healthy. She still cared for her godson, helped her friends and loved ones, and did magic that was just on the unbelievable side of impossible.She was still Holly Potter in all the ways that mattered.But there was more to her now, a stability that hadn’t been there before, a sense of calm that radiated from her that could only come from healing. Sam could see those changes in her, each one coming in slowly and with hard work. She was less reckless, less prone to going off on her own, less cruel to herself. She was more open, more trusting.“So.” She said.“So.” Sam repeated.“I’m not…sure what to talk about.”“Oh really?” Sam asked. “What about your journal?”“See that’s the thing!” She said snapping her fingers, conjuring her latest journal. This one was a beautiful leather-bound thing, it had hardly suffered any damage in the past few months of use. “I didn’t have anything to write down! I tried. Believe me. But it was…impossible! There wasn’t anything to put down. I almost got so upset by it that I nearly had to write that down.”Sam snorted at the image she was painting, Holly rolled her eyes and fell back into her chair, letting the journal settle in her lap.“So, you’re saying you had a good week.”“Oh no. I mean it wasn’t perfect or anything. I had plenty of awful political meetings and Tony got hurt on our last mission on Monday and it nearly drove me mad with worry.”“But you didn’t need to write it down.”“Well. I mean I guess I could have but…I dunno by the time I was free to write anything down I didn’t feel like…”“Like you needed to?”“Exactly! I swear it wasn’t me trying to get out of it either, I just-”“You were just able to calm yourself down and work through the problems as they came.”That made the woman pause in her self-justification. She blinked a few times as if he’d shot her with a stunning spell of some sort. Sam let a smug grin grow on his face as confusion and shock overtook her features. It was almost funny, and it was definitely a good sign.“But…”“But what? Are you really trying to complain that you didn’t need help dealing with your day to day stresses? That’s kind of the whole point of therapy Holly.”“I know that.” She said in a tone that made it clear she really hadn’t known that at all. Or perhaps had believed that the ultimate goal of therapy was a Sisyphean one, a task she’d work forever at and never reach the end.“Let’s walk through this then. Tony got hurt. What did you feel?”“Horrible. He was on the other side of the fight and he got shot out of the sky,” She said. “I apparated over to him and I was so guilty that my warding had failed.”“And then?”“Then while I was healing him, I…” She trailed off, her face twisting as she fought to find a way to explain what she’d done.“Come on, don’t be shy.” He teased making her glare at him.“I thought about what warding I had done and realized it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t foresee the future need for spells to protect against every kind of attack. Some things in life are just impossible to predict.” She finished, almost grumpy to admit it now that Sam was pointing out how she had actually improved. Why she was upset about it Sam would probably never understand.“And since you were able to look at the situation logically…” He led.“I didn’t feel guilty about it anymore. I just healed Tony and fixed up his suit and we finished the fight. Oh, would you stop looking so smug!” She looked rather annoyed by how large the smirk on his face had grown.“No, I don’t think I will. I’m just so proud of me.”“Don’t you mean proud of me?”“No. Out of the two of us, who had the harder job?”She opened her mouth to argue but then let it slowly close. Sam’s smirk only grew, at least until Holly asked another question.“So, is that…it?” She asked.“Is what it?”“Am I…are we done?” She asked, motioning to him then to the journal in her lap and then to herself as if to encompass the entire nearly 2 year process they’d gone through together.In truth therapy was done when the patient decided it was. Some people continued to go for their entire lives, but just lessened the frequency of their sessions. Others stopped completely never to return. Some still took a break and returned to therapy when they found they needed it again. There wasn’t really a time when someone absolutely had to stop therapy as long as it was still helping them in some way. At least that was Sam’s belief.“I mean it’s just,” She started again. “I’ve had one good week. Who’s to say that that’ll last?”He could hear the questions in her mind that she didn’t say out loud. He’d gotten good at that over the months.“You’ve had more than just one good week. Seriously. Look through your journal, when was the last time something terrible happened that you needed my help to work through?”The journal was opened, and Holly looked through it, her brow furrowing more and more as she read through the past few weeks and months and realized that there were very few entries there. In the beginning she had had to write constantly, seemingly finding more and more wrong with her world view and with herself each day she wrote. But now? Now it was the exactly opposite, except the decreasing rate of entries had been so slow she hadn’t even noticed it. Not until it was gone. “Oh.”“Yeah. Oh,” Sam repeated. “This is about the time when I actually tell you I’m proud of you too by the way.”She snorted at that, letting the journal close with a thud.“You haven’t answered my question,” She said. “Are we done?”“Well,” Sam drawled out, leaning back in his own seat. “We still haven’t even touched the fact that you haven’t been on a date in two years. I’m pretty sure we’re going to need another year at least just for that.”“Sam.”Sam let a smile grace his face as Holly growled at him. Everything in that moment made one simple thought absolutely certain in his mind.Life was good.Both figuratively and literally.
  
  

    
      
        
        
          I won't apologize for ending on a pun. I thought it was clever.Keep an eye out for a sequel, it won't be for a long time though. I want to start working on some other stories for now. But I imagine sometime I'll find the inspiration to write the sequel to this tale. I've already got the working title! 'Holly Potter and the Perils of Dating'.  Seriously, thank you all so much for the support, the comments and kudos have been wonderful.'
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