A/N: I don't know where this story idea came from. I was sitting there, minding my own business, when wham! It hit me. Then it wouldn't leave me alone. All I can say is that pretty much everything derived from the ending scene of the first chapter.

The year is 2008 and we start out in the midst of events that occur near the end of the first Iron Man movie.

Note that this is very, very AU — if any characters seem like they are acting out of character, they probably are... and there's probably a good reason for that.

A/N 2: Thanks to kenobisunryder for letting me use the artwork that the cover image is based on. What I have here is a cropped version, so visit her DeviantArt site to see the full version and other great images she's created. A special thanks as well to Mainsail and Bonnie for beta reading this story and making the the whole thing better.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, that's owned by J.K. Rowling. I don't own the Avengers, either. That's owned by Marvel. In a couple of places, a phrase or sentence or two of dialog from the movie Iron Man has been incorporated into the story to better blend this story with the movie.

Italics: people's thoughts.

Chapter 1 - Exit Natasha Romanoff

"Check, Coulson, I've arrived with Team 22. Everything is green. We'll be waiting downstairs. Black Widow out."

Natasha Romanoff was bored. Because of her career working as an undercover agent, an assassin, and more, she'd had to learn patience. A lot of patience. However, that didn't make her immune to boredom — especially when she felt that her skills were being underutilized or she had been assigned unnecessary grunt work.

That was essentially her situation now. Sitting in the basement parking garage of Stark Industries with a standard three-agent S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team, waiting in case Agent Coulson needed help picking up Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts, was not the sort of mission that Natasha believed someone of her skills and experience should be doing.

Ugh, arrogant much, Nat? she berated herself. OK, it is arrogant, but it's also true. I can do amazing things. I can kill with a whisper that only the target will ever hear — and it will be the last thing they ever hear, too. I can covertly enter any building and steal anything. I can pretend to be anyone. Yet here I am, sitting in a parking garage, twiddling my thumbs...

Shifting the rearview mirror so she could see the team she was babysitting, she said, "You boys still good back there?" Getting only nods in confirmation, she continued, "Good. Do a weapons, comms, and gear check, just to be sure." Maybe she wasn't allowed to do anything interesting or useful right now, but she'd be damned if she'd let them sit idle.

Returning the mirror to its original position, she did a visual sweep of the garage — or at least of what little she could see from this parking spot. Nothing. She rolled down the window to determine what she could hear. Nothing. Closing her eyes, she extended her senses outward — one of the few active forms of her special skills that she was willing to use anymore — to determine if any threats were in the immediate vicinity. Nothing.

She sighed inwardly at how useless she felt right now. Yes, she could do amazing things. Director Nick Fury knew of some of what she could do; in fact, he probably knew a lot more than he'd ever let on. But he didn't know everything, and no matter how much he suspected, there were some things he'd never learn, not unless she wanted him to. She smiled at the thought of how much that must rankle him. Well, she'd gotten her fill of nosey, manipulative old men long ago. Since she hadn't yet been able to entirely escape their type, she chose to tweak those noses whenever the opportunity presented itself.

A girl's gotta have a hobby.

Glancing down at the clock, she despaired when she saw that it had been a grand total of two minutes since she had checked in with Coulson.

Natasha's cell phone hadn't even completed its first ring before she answered it. "Widow here."

"Potts and I are en route to your location right now. Get everyone into a defensive position, something's gone wrong." Coulson was the most unflappable agent she'd ever met, but she could detect a subtle tone of concern in his voice. She was giving the hand signals to get her team out and moving even before Coulson finished speaking. Once outside the SUV herself, she silently pointed them to where she wanted them.

"Coulson," she spoke softly into the phone, "we're in position. ETA and threat assessment?"

"ETA two minutes; threat unknown, but for now treat all Stark employees as possible hostiles."

Shit. What has that damned playboy gone and done now? "Do you have a current location on Stark? Do you need me to take him?"

Potts' angry voice was loud enough that it came through in stereo — once through the phone and again echoing from somewhere in the parking garage. "Tony is not a threat! He's the one in danger! The threat is Stane. Obadiah Stane. He paid to have Tony murdered in Afghanistan!"

Natasha stilled. Obadiah Stane was responsible for Stark's kidnapping? Was now the current threat? None of the files she'd read considered him to be even a potential threat. He was regarded as a shrewd businessman, but nothing more. Well, Natasha thought, it looks like the pencil-pushers were wrong in their assessment of the man and his motives.

With the arrival of Coulson and Pepper, the team took up new positions to form a defensive perimeter. "What now?" Natasha asked.

"Let me try to reach Tony," Pepper said with a hint of desperation in her voice. "If I can warn him, this will all go a lot better." She hit the speed dial button and waited for more than a minute for him to answer. "He's still not picking up. I... wait, let me try Rhodey." Hitting a different speed dial number, she only had to wait a couple of seconds before Rhodey Rhodes picked up.

"Rhodey! I'm so glad I could reach you. This is an emergency. I'm at Stark Headquarters. I found out that Obi tried to murder Tony. Yes, Obi! I saw the evidence on his computer! He paid people in Afghanistan to murder Tony! And he's still a threat! He's selling Stark weapons to terrorists around the world, I think."

Natasha and Coulson gave each other a concerned look on hearing that bit of information. Until Stark's return from Afghanistan, his company had been making some of the most advanced weaponry in the world. If the top man in Stark Industries was funneling those weapons to terrorists, then a lot of people were going to get killed. Coulson wasted no time using his own cell phone to deliver the bad news to Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director.

"I don't know where Tony is now," Pepper continued, "I've been trying to call him, but he never answers. I thought you'd know where he is. Can you get to him? I'd go to his home myself, but I have government agents here with me and we have something we need to look into. Thanks!"

Turning to Agent Coulson, she said "Rhodey is going to go check on Tony for me. When I was looking through Stane's computer files, I found information on a project he's working on — something that could be really bad. Come on, I'll take you there."

Pepper immediately started moving in a new direction with Natasha and Coulson taking positions on either side of her. The S.H.I.E.L.D. team automatically took up their own positions: one covering the rear and one on each flank. "We need to go to Section 16 of the Stark research area. I know a shortcut," Potts told them.

Looking at the black-clad woman to her left, Pepper introduced herself. "I'm Pepper Potts, by the way."

Natasha nodded, saying, "Natasha Romanoff, S.H.I.E.L.D. special operations. What is it that's so bad that we have to all go check it out, Ms. Potts?"

Pepper looked back at the green-eyed woman briefly before answering, "What I saw in those computer files looked like a powered suit similar to the Iron Man suit, but much larger and much more powerful. Since he tried to have Tony killed and is selling or wants to sell weapons to terrorists, I don't think Stane will be using such a suit to promote world peace. With a personal weapon like that, he could become unstoppable."

Natasha shuddered at this revelation. S.H.I.E.L.D. had done a threat assessment on Iron Man, in case Tony ever went rogue or the wrong people ever got ahold of his suit. The assessment team's conclusions were pretty grim: in the hands of someone who knew how to use the suit and didn't flinch at violence, they would be able to cause a tremendous amount of death and destruction before they could be stopped — and that was assuming they consented to a stand-up fight. If they were smart in their use of hit-and-run tactics, the destruction could become incalculable.

Natasha had done her own personal threat assessment on Iron Man, just in case she herself was ever tasked with the job of taking him out. Using her normal skillset, it would be difficult if not impossible. If she was lucky and the suit was being used by Stark or someone like him, she might be able to use psychological tactics to get inside their head. Otherwise, she'd be completely outclassed.

If she were to use her... other skillset, the one she had been mostly suppressing for several years, then the game changed quite a bit. She would still be outclassed in many ways, but some of the weapons she could bring to bear would be beyond the suit's ability to defend against, no matter how skilled the driver.

Though, that didn't take into account the risks to herself, the reason why she'd been avoiding active use of those skills for so many years.

On top of that, Potts was claiming that Stane had started construction of a much larger and much more powerful version of the Iron Man suit. Natasha wasn't sure if she could go toe-to-toe with something like that. Certainly not without potentially levelling a couple of city blocks as well as increasing the risks to herself.

If that was a shortcut, then I'd hate to see the long route, Natasha thought. Got to give Potts credit, though — she did it in heels without slowing down.

"Well," Coulson said when they arrived at the door to Section 16, "you promised me the meeting of my life, Ms. Potts. What have you got to show us?" As the other three agents took up defensive positions, Natasha did a visual sweep for potential threats and cover. It was an empty area, so there wasn't much of either.

Natasha returned her attention to Potts, who was fiddling with the door. "My key isn't working. I can't get this door open. I don't understand, I have full authorization over everything in this company — there is nothing that I'm not allowed to see or inspect. Nothing!"

Coulson wasn't going to let a little thing like a locked door stop him and pulled out a small explosive that he began attaching to the door. That was one of the reasons why Natasha respected Coulson so much: he never resorted to force or violence unless he had to, but once committed, he never hesitated to use the amount necessary to get a job done. Several years ago, not long after she had been recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson was assigned to train her on the organization's policies and tactics. It was as a consequence of those lessons that she had ended up adopting a similar philosophy herself — quite a shift from what her mentor at school had expected from her.

"What's that?" Potts asked Coulson somewhat excitedly. "What does that device do? Does it automatically pick the lock for us?"

Coulson's reply was delivered in a completely neutral, matter-of-fact tone of voice. "You might want to take a few steps back, Ms. Potts. And perhaps cover your ears." With a push of the button on the detonator in his hand, Coulson blew the door apart in an explosion that was quite spectacular given the size of the device.

Once the echoes of the explosion had faded, Natasha could hear someone running inside. She doubted the others would have picked it up because their senses hadn't been enhanced like hers. "Coulson," she said, "There's at least one runner in there." He nodded in understanding — he hadn't heard anything, but he always trusted her in such matters.

Coulson and Natasha stayed close to Potts while the three agents of Team 22 spread out to track down whoever was inside. Moving through the building, they discovered that it was an odd combination of factory and storage facility. There was old equipment all over, but there were also areas where it looked like some sort of manufacturing had occurred recently. It didn't seem like the sort of place where anything modern and high-tech would be constructed.

Potts was the first to spot a dented, dirty, and heavily damaged set of metal parts that looked like it could have been a suit of armor. This doesn't look larger and more powerful to me, Natasha thought.

"Looks like your information was good, Ms. Potts," Coulson said as he examined the hunks of metal. "He was indeed building a suit."

Potts looked confused, though. "Based on what I saw on Stane's computer, I thought this would be a lot larger. This looks like something I could fight against." She looked around, trying to see if there were any more clues as to what was going on here.

Suddenly, a massive shape started moving behind and above the three people. Natasha was the first to detect the threat and shouted, "Take it out! Stop it!" Everyone with a weapon started firing on the moving mass of metal, but their bullets bounced off. Apparently dismissing the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as inconsequential, it started stomping towards Pepper Potts, who promptly ran.

On flat, open ground, Pepper wouldn't have stood a chance at outrunning the metal behemoth behind her. In the crowded, cluttered factory, though, she managed to keep her distance because it was too hemmed in to get up to speed. In an attempt to catch up, the armored monstrosity shouldered aside a tall set of industrial shelving that was used to store heavy equipment. As it fell, Natasha heard a high-pitched scream that couldn't have come from Pepper or any of the agents.

"I need to go check something," Natasha started to tell Coulson when she saw Potts run through a door that led in the same direction she had heard the scream come from. The powered suit, presumably being driven by Stane, was unable to follow through the thick concrete wall. "Well," Natasha continued, "I guess I'll take care of Potts, too."

Coulson only nodded as he began to follow Stane, who was using the suit to climb up and out of the factory.

Moving nimbly through piles of now-ruined equipment, Natasha caught a glimpse of Pepper's red hair and moved in her direction. As she got close, she saw Potts was kneeling over a body on the ground — hopefully a live body, but from her perspective it didn't look good to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

In addition to finding the injured person, it sounded like Pepper had also finally gotten through to Tony Stark. "Tony? Are you OK," she said into her cell phone. "Obadiah's gone insane. He's built this massive suit... and there's been injuries here in the factory." She paused for a moment before saying "Tony? Tony?"

Turning quickly at the sound of Natasha's footsteps, Pepper was clearly relieved to see who it was. "Ms. Romanoff! I'm so glad it's you. Can you help me here? This person is..."

Natasha reached the two and saw that the body on the ground was a woman in a lab coat. Eyes moving up the slim figure, she reached the woman's face and recognition crashed into her like a runaway lorry. Memories, fear, pain, grief, and sorrow flooded her mind, driving out everything else.

"Hermione!" she gasped, reaching out with one hand as she collapsed to her knees next to the one person she never expected to see again. The one person she wanted above all to be able to see every day.

Shocked, Pepper asked "Do you know her?" Upon seeing how pale the female agent had become and the horror on her face, she quickly added "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Never mind about me! What about Hermione! Is she alive? Where is she hurt?" Finally able to focus again, Natasha's hands were moving all over Hermione's body, trying to find any source of injury.

"She's breathing and has a pulse, but both are weak. I can't find any injury," Pepper said. "I'm sorry, but do you know Hermione here? Ms. Granger is one of our top researchers, despite not having been with us for long. I don't know what exactly she does, but I know that Tony has been impressed with her work."

Ignoring the redhead, Natasha removed one of her ubiquitous gloves and gently placed a hand against Hermione's cheek. Leaning over the unconscious and injured woman until their faces nearly touched, she moaned softly, "Oh, Hermione. Dear, sweet Hermione. What were you doing here? It's been ten years, Hermione. Ten years! What am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to protect you and still stop the one who did this to you?" Brushing aside a tear, she rested her forehead against the other woman's while trying to figure out what to do.

Without warning, Natasha sat back up and started pulling off her other glove. I don't know how injured she is and I can't take the risk that whatever damage she's suffered is too serious to be easily survived without immediate medical attention, Natasha realized. I have to intervene now so I can go after Stane.

Gasping when she saw Natasha's green eyes start to glow, Pepper wondered who this woman was. "Did you know your eyes..."

"Quiet," Natasha barked. "I need to concentrate." Slipping her bare hands under Hermione's shirt, making direct skin contact with the friend she had abandoned without a word a decade earlier, she pushed, and raw power flowed from her into the injured woman. Hermione's entire body glowed briefly, then her breathing improved as her chest visibly rose and fell.

Natasha took a deep breath herself before putting her gloves back on, then she leaned forward again and gave a light kiss to the injured woman's cheek. With a slight glow still emanating from her eyes, she turned to Pepper and said, "I'm making you responsible for Hermione Granger's well-being. Watch over her. Call the paramedics. Make sure they take care of her. Don't let her be left alone."

"Yes, I'll take care of her. Of course. But what are you going to do?"

"Stane hurt Hermione." Natasha balled up her fists and Pepper could see sparks of energy running across the black, scaly material of her gloves. "Nobody hurts Hermione," she continued as her voice deepened and she slowly stood up. Pepper could feel waves of anger and power crashing over her. It was almost suffocating.

"I. Will. Tear. Him. To. PIECES."

In a single, swift motion, Natasha stood, twisted, and disappeared with a pop.

No one knew yet, not even the woman in question, but Natasha Romanoff was no more.