Hermione: Can I Beat Him to Death?

Hermione leaned against the window, watching the long trail of white smoke left by Tony's exhaust, lost in thought.

She had won, but it had been a pretty cheap victory.

She had dragged him back with the Summoning Charm and tripped him up with the Impediment Jinx. Ultimately, her broomstick was just too slow.

The Nimbus 2000 was already top of the line in the Wizarding World. Beyond that, magic alone could do little to improve its flying speed.

Unless she mastered Apparition well enough to make repeated long-distance jumps, or learned to fly without a broomstick.

But the narcissist in front of her could help.

A reactor, thrusters, JARVIS... if I could install a set on my broomstick...

Hermione licked her lips, looking at Tony as though he were a walking ATM.

Stark Tower.

In the laboratory, Tony worked on upgrading his suit while looking over at Hermione, who was sprawled on the nearby sofa, mashing buttons on a controller.

"So you wizards have your own Wizard School? What was it called? Hog, Hog..."

"Hogwarts."

Hermione corrected him. "There are lots of wizard schools, not just Hogwarts. It's simply the most famous one, something like your Stanford or MIT."

Tony looked a little surprised.

"So you're a student at an elite school. Not bad, not bad. Still nowhere near my level, of course, but I suppose that's about as high as ordinary people can reach."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Looking at Pepper, who had just entered with a platter of fruit, she asked expressionlessly:

"Pepper, can I beat him to death?"

Pepper had naturally heard Tony's remarks. Looking helpless, she gave Hermione an apologetic glance.

She knew exactly what Tony was like. Although the kidnapping had changed him somewhat, a person's character did not change overnight.

After so many years, she was used to it. She was only worried that Hermione might be upset.

Fortunately, little Hermione was merely complaining and made no move to act. Clearly, she already understood what sort of person Tony was.

Pepper walked over to Hermione and patted her little head.

"Don't play games lying down. It's bad for your eyes. Sit up and have some fruit."

Hermione readily complied, springing upright with a kip-up and opening her mouth.

"Ah-"

"A girl shouldn't make such unladylike movements. You might never find a boyfriend." Pepper looked helplessly at Hermione's uninhibited manner.

Then she speared a piece of cantaloupe and fed it to Hermione, her eyes full of affection.

At Pepper's words, Hermione's expression darkened. The cantaloupe suddenly lost all its sweetness.

I'm a handsome... forget it, forget it...

Watching their closeness from the side, Tony felt a little jealous.

Pepper had never been that affectionate with him.

Ever since Hermione arrived, his standing had plummeted. He could only soothe his wounded heart by upgrading his Iron Man Armor.

After he lost their last race, Pepper had eventually learned why he had barked like a puppy, which had sent her into peals of laughter.

Since his assistant had not laughed that happily in a long time, Tony had swallowed his pride and endured it.

Since then, Pepper had invited Hermione over every few days and even forced Tony to thank her, leaving him feeling rather overwhelmed.

I escaped through my own hard work and sweat! How did this little imp end up getting all the credit?

But when he heard that Hermione had paid a steep price for her prophecy, even damaging her health, something seemed to cross Tony's mind, and he suddenly fell silent.

In the end, he obediently thanked her.

Hermione had visited frequently lately, and the two of them were getting along fairly well.

Although the little girl's sharp tongue sometimes infuriated him so much that he wanted to put on his Iron Man Armor and give her a beating right then and there.

"By the way, how exactly does your magic work? Why do you have to chant spells, and how do you cast them through those so-called wands?"

Seeing Hermione resting her head on Pepper's lap with no intention of moving, Tony curled his lip and asked another question.

There was even a trace of envy in his eyes.

"Basically, you use your own magical power as energy and spells as a medium to manipulate the rules of the world. As for wands, they let you channel magical power more steadily... oh, forget it. Explaining this stuff to you Muggles is too much trouble. I'll bring you a first-year textbook on basic magical theory next time. Read it yourself. You're such a genius, so you should be able to understand it, right?"

Hermione spoke distractedly.

The corner of Tony's mouth twitched.

Damn it. This brat's looking down on me again.

"Sooner or later, I'll figure out how magic works and build some Anti-Wizard Armor. Then I'll beat you until you're crying for Mommy and Daddy..." Tony muttered.

"By the way, Pepper, have you been busy lately? I need a favor."

After a brief silence, Tony seemed to remember something. He suddenly stopped working and looked up at Pepper.

"What is it?"

Tony handed her a device resembling a USB drive.

"I need you to go to my office, hack into the company server, and get all the recent shipping manifests. They're probably in the executive files, or on the Ghost Drive..."

He had figured it out now. If weapons from Stark Industries were still ending up in terrorists' hands, someone inside the company had to be secretly selling them behind his back. He wanted to find evidence of the transactions and identify that person.

Tony was still rattling off the details when Pepper suddenly interrupted him.

"If I bring back the information, what are you going to do?"

Her expression grew serious, her eyes fixed on Tony.

Unfortunately, Tony failed to notice the change in Pepper and continued talking.

"Same as before. They're making deals behind the scenes. I'm going to stop them, find my weapons, and destroy them..."

An unreadable look entered Pepper's eyes, and her voice gradually grew subdued.

"Tony, you know I'd do anything for you. But if you're going to be this reckless again, don't blame me for refusing to help."

At some point, the atmosphere had grown heavy.

Hermione quietly slipped out of Pepper's embrace without saying a word, her gaze moving between the two of them.

Whether he failed to feel the suffocating tension or deliberately ignored it, Tony simply continued.

"There's nothing else but this. No art exhibitions, no charity galas, no autograph sessions. This is the only mission I have. Nothing else."

His voice grew colder, and his expression became somewhat frightening. He abruptly raised his head and glared at Pepper, seemingly angered by her refusal.

But Pepper was not intimidated. Instead, disappointment and sadness showed in her eyes.

"Is that so?" she said quietly. "Then I quit."

Tony raised his voice. "All these years, you've stayed by my side and watched my weapons hurt innocent people. Now I want to protect the people I've put in danger, and you're going to walk away?"

Pepper shook her head.

"You're going to get yourself killed, Tony."

"I don't care!"

Tony's voice was almost hysterical.

Pepper said nothing. She merely gave him a long look, then turned and left.

Hermione had also risen at some point, and she shook her head slightly.

"Pepper, wait!"

Tony shoved his chair aside and strode after her.

"Hermione, don't let him come over." Pepper looked at Hermione, then continued walking out.

She had seen the little girl's body-binding spell firsthand at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.

Before Tony could react, Hermione had drawn her wand from her sleeve and pointed it at him.

"Full Body-Bind."

A faint flash of light streaked past.

Tony suddenly felt himself lose control of his body. He froze stiffly in place, with only his eyes still barely able to move.