Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. I own the writing and story.

Fandoms: Harry Potter, X-Men
Notes: Based off a graphic I made for a blind-date challenge on tumblr.
Summary: What if it was Hermione that left Harry and Ron during their quest to find the Horcruxes? She ends up in America, and comes across the complex world of mutants.

*8*8*8*8

Into The Darkness

Hermione couldn't believe it as she walked away from her two best friends. She had lost so much in the past few months. Her whole life never existed; her parents didn't know they had a daughter, they didn't even miss her. She had given up her innocence and had her heart broken from more than just puppy love. She had been forced to give up her education…break laws and give up her Muggle life.

Wiping away the tears that fell down her cheeks, she sniffed, clutching the string of her bag. She didn't even think of how Harry and Ron would handle moving their things, but her head was so flooded that she couldn't even sort through enough to make any comprehensive thoughts.

With an intake of breath, Hermione Apparated without thinking of her destination clearly. If she wasn't careful, she could end up Splinched, but luckily, she landed, rather hard, on damp pavement on her hands and knees. Fortunately it wasn't in the middle of a road either, so it was possible for her to stay in that crouched position and not get run over by a vehicle.

Her ears popped from the Apparation, and finally, after a few deep breaths, she stood, wiping wet hands on her dirty jeans and looking around. She was in a city; it didn't appear to be anywhere she recognized. Sniffing, she pushed loose hairs behind her ears and started walking. She didn't know when she would go back to Harry and Ron. Deep down, beneath all of the emotional struggles, she knew that she would have to go back to them eventually. But not now…she had to clear her head.

Hearing some friendly sounding music, Hermione started heading in that general direction, hoping to find people and cover. The more people, the easier it was for her to hide and escape if Death Eaters found her.

The alleyways she was walking through started becoming decorated with strings of paper lanterns and around another block, she would be around people, Muggles.

However, she took a wrong turn, landing in a desolate, darker alley. There was no one around, nothing but rats and cats sniffing around trash bins and dumpsters. Hermione, however, felt another presence in the area, and snatched her wand out of her pocket, holding it defensively in front of her. It was dark, however not dark enough that she couldn't see. There was no need to use Lumos.

Her heart beat faster and her palms began sweating. Her wide eyes glistened and she tried not to breathe too loudly. Swallowing, she spun around quickly, expecting someone there, behind her, but she saw nothing. Before she could even relax tensed muscles, a hand came and clamped down around her throat from behind and she was suddenly bombarded with a wave of body heat from whoever was behind her.

Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think of a spell that she could send without seeing her attacker. The instant she brought her arm up, having spun her wand in her palm so it would point in the correct direction, another hand grabbed her wrist so hard that she felt bones creak under pressure and she dropped her wand, letting out a painful moan.

Her hands then grasped at the fingers and wrist belonging to the hand that was nearly crushing her windpipe. She scraped with fingers, wondering if this was a Death Eater, or if she had just wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her mind was starting to go as the amount of oxygen intake was slowly becoming lower, so Apparating would most definitely end in Splinching.

"Please," she gasped out as her feet began to leave the ground.

A sudden booming noise of a gigantic firework made her attacker loosen his grip and Hermione managed to drop to the ground, coughing and trying to take in air as she felt around in the dark, puddle-filled ground for her wand. She stood quickly, the air helping her regain her muscle control. She pointed her wand at the looming figure and rubbed her throat with her other hand.

In the sky, waterfalls of purple, green and white fell through the sky. The new light allowed Hermione the ability to look at her attacker. He was large…very large, dressed in black and could very well have been a Death Eater if he hadn't been wearing Muggle clothes.

"Who are you?" she said loudly, her voice echoing in the thin alley.

A rumbling chuckle grew from the man, and he turned, showing him her face. Animalistic; his eyes were dark and dangerous. He smirked, showing elongated canines. Hermione took a step backwards, however she hardened her gaze and tightened the grip on her wand.

"You're one to ask, little lady," he replied, voice deep and just as rumbling as his laugh.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and yelled, "Stupefy!" swishing her wand and watching as the spell shot the man backward thirty feet. Lowering her wand, she glanced around and took to running in the opposite direction, rounding a corner to her right. She was suddenly confronted with a glorious, bright sight on the other side of the buildings. She raced towards the lights and crowd and found herself smack dab in the middle of some sort of epic celebration.

Fireworks, costumes, plumes of feathers and fancy masks were everywhere. She heard French being spoken more than English, however she had heard of no such place as this in France before.

Lights danced in her eyes. She couldn't help but take a moment to stare. Shoving her wand in her pocket for fear of dropping it, she pushed her way through the crowd and down to the nearest lit up side street that wasn't as filled as the main strip.

Lanterns were strung just about everywhere, especially in the small courtyard she found herself in. There was a small fountain in the middle, and there were plenty of people in the area, but not nearly as many as that other street. Spotting a small café in one of the buildings, Hermione ran the back of her hand over her forehead and pushed her hair back, hoping she would finally have a moment to breath and think.

She quickly pulled out some Muggle money from her tiny bag, glad she had thought to bring some along with her on the trip for the Horcruxes.

She, however, was told that she was in Louisiana, and had the wrong money, but the woman behind the counter gave her the cup of coffee for free. At least Hermione now knew where she was.

Taking a seat in one of the two small tables outside, she finally felt like she could breathe. She sipped the coffee, surrounded by the merrymaking and the music from all around her. Louisiana…The United States…from what she had read, this could be Mardi Gras, which would explain the partying.

She had just made it through half of her cup when she was joined by the man from just minutes before. Her heart skipped and she jumped back, knocking the chair over as he settled himself down in the tiny chair and folded his hands together on the table. Hermione's eyes widened as she saw claws instead of fingernails. She had never heard of such a creature in all of her reading, which scared her.

"Who are you?" she repeated, hand hovering over her wand.

"Nice trick," he growled. "What sort of power is that?"

Hermione swallowed, holding her ground. "What…what are you talking about?"

He raised an eyebrow and nodded toward her wand hand. "Runaway? Secret agency?"

Hermione, wide eyed and utterly confused, picked up her chair slowly, however she didn't sit back down. "Runaway," she said slowly. "Are you going to kill me?"

"I should," he replied, claws growing.

Hermione swallowed and sat slowly. "But you would have already…if you were?"

"Something like that."

She licked her bottom lip and reached forward for her drink. "Who are you?" This was her third time asking, she would hope he would have the decency of telling her this time.

He tilted his head to the side. "Victor…Creed," he finished, however it was uncommon that he used that name anymore.

Hermione nodded. "Penelope," she told him, using the same name she told Snatchers.

"Your name is a fruit."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. "Not…exactly." She took a small sip of coffee. "Are you…running away too, Victor?"

He leaned forward, and she held her breath. "Does it look like I have something to run away from?"

Hermione gnawed on her bottom lip and glanced down at her lap. "Possibly," she said quietly.

Victor growled and Hermione looked over the table at him. He might have been clenching his jaw and looking menacingly across at her, but she didn't feel the need to flee.

"Is this New Orleans?" Hermione asked, tapping the edge of her cup.

"I'm here tracking down a lousy, thieving rat," was his reply, however he didn't say it wasn't the city she asked for, so she assumed that it was.

"I'm running from…very horrible people. I landed here…thank you for the welcome," she added with sarcasm.

He smirked. "I thought you could give me a good scream."

Hermione swallowed, his comment sending chills through her. She watched his eyes rise to something over her shoulder, and Hermione turned, only to be confronted by the very thing she had been trying to forget about for at least an hour: a Death Eater, hidden behind their mask, dressed in black like floating shadows, wand hidden.

Hermione gasped and fell from the chair, landing on her back, nearly breaking her wand. A throaty whisper from behind the mask and a raised wand sent Hermione writhing and trying to hold in her screams as it felt as if her insides were being cut with razors. The spell lasted but a few seconds, however they felt like an eternity.

Victor, having no sort of thoughts for Hermione—or Penelope, for that matter—would never object to fighting someone who was asking for it. He launched himself over the table with a snarl, hitting the unsuspecting Death Eater and causing them both to fall to the ground.

Gasping for breath, Hermione scrambled to her feet and grabbed her wand as the Death Eater Disappared from under Victor. Hermione whirled around, trying to be ready for the dark wizard anywhere. They appeared across the table and Hermione yelled "Protego!" just as the Death Eater snarled out another "Crucio!" With her counter charm, the torture spell backfired and the Death Eater went down from the unexpected turn of events.

Hermione meant to Apparate away from here, but her mind was all out of sorts from the Cruciatus Curse and she could barely stand because her legs felt like jelly. Thankfully for her, just as the Death Eater stopped twitching and was just starting to sit up, Victor pounced, more animalistic than Hermione had ever seen anyone act, except for a werewolf.

Long claws scraped away the metal mask, revealing the wizard's face. Hermione didn't get a chance to see who it was before Victor swiped at the man's face, slicing through the delicate human skin, before reaching a hand around the blinded man's throat and, with a single wrist movement, snapped the Death Eater's neck.

Hermione gasped from her spot, gripping the sides of the small table, which, if it had not been screwed down, would have fallen over by now.

The Death Eater disappeared into black mist, cursed to return to The Dark Lord if killed. Victor seemed less perplexed from the act than Hermione would have guessed. He stood and flexed his killing fingers.

Somehow, no one around them had even noticed. They were too excited, too high, too drunk to realize what was going on around them. For that, Hermione was grateful.

Victor turned to Hermione, the animal still in his eyes. She stood, her legs almost back to normal, and reached down to get her bag, which had slid off her during the small brawl. She held it tightly in her hand and stuck her wand back into her pocket with the other.

"You don't see that everyday," Victor finally growled.

Hermione nodded, still trying to catch her breath. "I've been…running from him for a little while. Him…along with others like him."

Victor stepped up to the outer edge of the café's small patio. "Why?" He didn't sound too curious; his words came out harsh and jarring.

She swallowed, contemplating how he was dealing with all the strange things that followed her, and decided that she might as well tell the truth for once in her life. "I'm a witch."

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it was not this. Victor didn't even flinch, or ask her to repeat what she had said. He shrugged a shoulder and grumbled something, looking around the courtyard before his eyes fell on her, freezing her on the spot.

"I don't work well with others," Victor cautioned. "I don't kill someone to save someone either. Come with me, or I will kill you. Bring your fancy stick too."

Hermione swallowed. From what she had just witnessed to her first meeting with the man, she knew that he was not bluffing. He could snap her like a twig. She nodded feverishly, creating a cascading amount of hair to fall from her tie. So much fell, in fact, that she just pulled it out of her curls and snapped it around her wrist.

Victor turned, his coat billowing out behind him like it was in a film. He started walking diagonally across the courtyard, and Hermione followed. She was forced to stay close to him while they fought through the crowds, lest she lost him and he would blamed her for coping out of their deal. She tried not to watch his hands—claws, specifically—while they moved through the decidedly warm streets. It was much different here than back in England, where everything was frozen over and covered in snow.

Swallowing away pain and confusion, the young witch, the brightest of her age, tagged along after the intimidating and obviously psychotic man without a choice. Was this worth leaving Harry and Ron for? She had no idea, but Victor had just saved her life, so she supposed that she did owe him something for that.

*8*8*8*8

A/N: This was going to be a one shot….but once I started writing, it turned into something a bit more. It's going to be a few chapters. Not over ten, but more than two. I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do!