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Draco let go as if she'd been shocked, cheeks flushing red on the spot. She stumbled back two steps, eyes darting everywhere, not willing to meet anyone's gaze.
How had she just done that on instinct?
It's over. Her image is completely ruined.
Harry was still frozen in place, the soft sensation and faint fragrance still seeming to linger on his neck, his heart pounding hard.
Ginny stared at the scene with her mouth hanging open in a perfect O, looking at Draco, then at Harry, eyes full of shock and fury.
Cedric and Cho Chang weren't doing much better.
Only Hermione, watching the whole disaster unfold before her, finally gave up holding it in and burst out giggling.
What a glorious mess.
Cedric cleared his throat, making a valiant attempt to cut through the tension. "About the second task — I've heard it won't take place until after the Yule Ball."
Hermione stopped laughing and nodded, thoughtful.
Good. Time to spare. Nothing at Hogwarts that needed her attention right now.
"Got it."
Her gaze swept over the teenagers in front of her, every face a different flavor of awkward. "I'll be off, then."
Before the words had fully left her mouth, she was gone.
She didn't even bother with a cover story anymore.
Looking for a bathroom. Anti-Apparition Jinx. Sure. I can Apparate anywhere I like in Hogwarts, so what?
...
Marvel Universe. The Dark Aster. Bridge.
Space rippled slightly, and Hermione appeared out of thin air.
The crew members who'd been busy at their stations froze for half a second, then erupted.
"The boss is back!"
"Boss!"
"Quick, go tell the others! Boss is back!"
The entire warship lit up at once.
Bodies came flooding toward the bridge from every corner of the ship.
Everyone had learned their lesson this time around.
After Hermione disappeared, Yondu had issued the order: Dark Aster sits tight, goes nowhere, and waits for the boss to come home.
Hermione watched them cheer and let the corner of her mouth curve upward.
They'd watched Ronan go down like it was nothing. They'd watched Hermione square up against Thanos. They'd snatched back a warship this size. These Ravagers, once too proud for their own good, were fully and completely converted.
Following a boss this unfathomable, this terrifyingly capable, they weren't just Ravagers anymore.
When they moved through the universe now, who wouldn't show them proper respect and call them the Witch Cult?
They wouldn't have dared dream of this kind of reputation before.
In the middle of all that noise, one figure stuck out completely.
Quill was alone in the corner at the bar, putting away drink after drink in grim silence, looking like the world had ended.
Hermione walked over and kicked him. Twice.
Quill lifted bleary, half-unfocused eyes, registered it was Hermione, and mumbled, "You're back..." Then he dropped his head and went back to drinking.
Yondu came up beside her and sighed. "He's been like this since he woke up."
Quill's head snapped up. "I couldn't protect her! I just stood there and watched them take her! There was nothing I could do! Against Thanos I'm useless — I might as well be dead!"
Hermione kicked him again, twice, voice flat. "If you want to die, get off my ship and do it somewhere else. Don't die on here."
She waved a hand. A nearby hatch slid open, revealing the dead cold of deep space beyond.
The next second, she grabbed Quill by the collar and hauled him toward the opening like he weighed nothing, positioning him right at the edge.
The cold hit him instantly. The terror hit harder. He came awake all at once and started fighting back with everything he had.
"No! No! Let go! I don't want to die!"
Hermione dragged him back and dropped him on the floor, contempt written plainly on her face. "Look at that. Still scared of dying."
Quill sat slumped on the deck, heaving for breath, face cycling through fear and embarrassment. He laughed weakly.
Half of it had been genuine misery. The other half, he'd had a small, calculated hope that looking this pathetic might soften Hermione up enough to help him get Gamora back.
He knew she could. He had absolutely no doubt about that.
Hermione shook her head. "It's not that I won't help you. It's that your father-in-law Thanos doesn't rate you. At all."
Quill had no answer for that. He was quiet for a moment, then said quietly, "I don't have power like yours..."
"Obviously — there's hardly anyone in the entire universe who does." Hermione cut him off. "But your potential is real. If you ever unlocked all of it, you still might not beat Thanos, but at least you wouldn't be completely helpless the way you are now."
Quill looked up, thrown. "My potential? I'm just a regular guy from Earth..."
"Who told you that?" Hermione said.
Yondu let out a slow breath. He'd been quiet long enough. "Your father, he's not from Earth. He's..."
Quill went completely still when it was done, like lightning had passed through him. "My father is a Celestial?"
Hermione added, "And based on my read of it, your mother most likely died because Ego channeled his power through her, deliberately. It destroyed her."
"What." Quill's head came up hard. "Are you serious."
"I have no reason to lie to you," Hermione said.
His eyes went red. His jaw locked. "That bastard. I'll kill him. I'll kill him for what he did to my mother."
Hermione looked at him. Her expression didn't change.
"Your power comes from Ego. If you kill him, that Celestial power inside you disappears with him. You go back to being fully human. And then, what do you use to save Gamora? What do you use against Thanos?"
The rage drained out of him like the floor had dropped away. He went still. Something moved across his face, pain, conflict, the beginnings of a choice he didn't want to make.
He stayed quiet for a long time.
When he finally raised his head, his eyes were raw with grief. But they were steady.
"I'm going to avenge my mother."
Something shifted in Hermione's expression. Just slightly. She nodded. "Good enough. That's a son worth having. And for that, I'll take the job." She paused. "I'll help you kill Ego."
Quill blinked. He hadn't expected that, not that easily. "What if I'd said no just now? That I didn't want revenge?"
Hermione's smile went cold. "If you'd told me that for the sake of power, for Thanos's approval, for a shot at being with Gamora, you could let your mother's death go, I'd have thrown you out that hatch myself. Yondu couldn't have stopped me."
A chill ran straight through him. Cold sweat, head to toe.
He didn't doubt her for a second.
After a long moment, he lowered his head. His voice came out rough, a little hoarse. But there was nothing hollow in it.
"Thank you."
Every time he'd ever met Hermione, he'd come out of it a little bruised. This time, he meant it completely.
"Then it's settled." Hermione raised her voice and let it carry across the bridge.
"Move out."
"Target: Ego."
➤ Next: Father and Son Meet
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