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This wasn't a nickname. It was a fact.
"I... I was wrong..."
Rita's voice trembled, thick with the terror of someone who had barely made it out alive.
"I'll retract the papers right away... I'll publish a new article, say yesterday was nonsense, that I slandered you..."
"Please. Please don't torture me anymore..."
Hermione shook her head gently, something like distress crossing her face.
"That won't do."
She crouched down, leaning in close. "It'll look like I coerced you."
Wasn't that exactly what happened?
Lockhart and Tom Riddle stood off to the side, watching Hermione say this with a completely straight face. Neither of them could find a single word to contribute.
Hermione ignored the look on Rita's face, the one that said she was about two seconds from completely falling apart, and carried on.
"So you can't retract it."
"Not only can't you retract it, you have to keep publishing."
Rita jerked her head up, eyes blank with confusion.
"Pub... publish what?"
"The things I told you yesterday, of course." Hermione's tone was breezy. "I'm a Transmigrator, Voldemort is my underling, I can predict the future because I've read the source material — write all of it down."
"Oh, and one more thing." Hermione seemed to remember something. "While you're at it, throw in some stories about the Ministry officials too."
"Fudge, Umbridge, and this gentleman Lockhart here — make up whatever you like. The more outrageous the better. The more scandalous the better."
"Drag everyone down with you."
Rita's mind went completely blank.
What did that mean?
She wanted her to keep making things up, and go even further?
Tom Riddle's brow furrowed. He clearly wasn't following Hermione's logic either.
Only Lockhart wore a knowing smile.
He stepped forward and patted Rita on the shoulder. She flinched so hard she nearly fell over.
"Ms. Skeeter, still not seeing it?" Lockhart said. "Think about it. If you retract the story now and claim you were talking nonsense, everyone will simply assume you were forced to change your tune because you're afraid of the Witch's retaliation. Wouldn't that just confirm that Miss Granger threatened you?"
Rita listened in a daze, the pieces slowly beginning to fit.
Lockhart pressed on, patient and persuasive. "But if you do the opposite, not only refusing to retract it, but doubling down, dragging everyone else into the chaos, writing reports that are even more outrageous, even more insane..."
"What will people think?"
"They'll think: has Rita Skeeter run out of material and started making things up? And once they think that, the reports you already wrote about Miss Granger and me will naturally stop being taken seriously."
A flicker of understanding crossed Tom Riddle's eyes.
So that's her game.
He muttered under his breath, "You really are devious."
"Now then," Hermione said, "to ensure you can better fulfill your duties as a journalist going forward..."
She paused, her gaze settling on Rita again.
"I'll give you a gift."
"...Huh?" Rita stared at her, completely lost. What was this sudden kindness?
All she wanted right now was to survive. Gifts didn't factor into it.
Hermione's smile deepened, carrying something strange and coaxing.
"Immortality. How about it?"
Rita's pupils shrank.
Immortality?
She didn't understand.
She didn't get a chance to.
Hermione raised her wand, and Rita felt an irresistible force rip her out of her own body.
She watched in horror as her body crumpled to the ground, while she herself floated in the air as a pale, translucent shape.
"No! What are you doing?!"
She screamed.
Hermione paid no attention. A light flick of her wand, and another Horcrux took shape.
When it was done, she waved her wand again and shoved Rita's mutilated soul back into her body.
Then she turned to look at Lockhart.
"Professor Lockhart."
She pointed at Rita's heap on the floor.
"You'll have someone to wave your flag and build your name from now on. Her credibility might take a bit of a hit, but she is still from the Daily Prophet."
"As for how exactly you use her — I'll leave that to you."
Lockhart's eyes lit up. He stepped forward, his smile warm and gracious.
"Ms. Skeeter. It seems we're going to be working very closely together."
...
Hermione had barely finished dealing with Rita when she reappeared in the Marvel world.
Her phone picked up signal, and the ringtone cut through the air in sharp, urgent bursts.
She'd assumed it was Bald Egg again, that man had an uncanny gift for calling at exactly the wrong moment. But the voice on the other end was Natasha's, breathless and frantic.
"Hermione!"
"Fury's been shot! The Captain and I are being hunted by S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
Natasha spoke fast, each word pushed out between audible gasps.
Hermione blinked.
Bald Egg got shot?
So that meant the ultimate air conditioning system had finally arrived.
She reached out with her senses, tracking the illusion bracelet she'd given Natasha, drew one finger through the air, and a portal crackled open, gold sparks spilling from its edges.
Two figures dove through it and basically hit the floor.
The instant they were through, Hermione snapped her wrist and the portal slammed shut. A muffled boom rolled through from the other side.
Natasha shook dust out of her hair. The Captain pushed himself up from the ground with a grunt, jaw tight.
"So." Hermione tilted her head, looking the two of them over, they looked like they'd just crawled off a battlefield. "Did you two defect? S.H.I.E.L.D. brought out the missiles. That's a serious amount of wanting you dead."
Before Natasha could catch enough breath to answer, Hermione's gaze swept between the two of them, and something clicked.
"Bald Egg gets shot."
"And then S.H.I.E.L.D. immediately goes after the two of you."
"Oh, I've got it."
She clapped her hands together.
"You're the assassins. You teamed up and took Bald Egg out!"
Steve: "..."
Natasha: "..."
Hermione looked at Steve, her voice tilting into something amused.
"Captain, did you finally snap? Couldn't handle having a Black man as your boss, so you just went ahead and handled it yourself?"
The corner of Steve's mouth twitched. He looked at Natasha.
They both knew she was joking. They'd also just survived a genuine attempt on their lives, and neither of them had anything left for it. Natasha said:
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been completely infiltrated by HYDRA. We discovered it during our investigation, that's why they're hunting us. Fury found something too, and that's why they went after him."
She delivered it fast, like ripping off a bandage, dropping the whole staggering truth into the open.
The air went still.
The smile faded off Hermione's face, slowly, and then shock took its place.
"HYDRA has been inside S.H.I.E.L.D. this whole time?!"
Natasha looked at her, caught off guard by the reaction. "You know about HYDRA?"
➤ Next: Are You Two Talking About the Same Hydra?
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