To Be A Hero ↠Avengers x HP Crossover

Chapter 4- Breakfast at Grimmauld Place

The next day, Eliza sent her reply to Kingsley, officially accepting the job. She had also sent each of her friends their own letter telling them all about her new job in America and the fact that she'd be leaving this Monday. Harry's letter was slightly longer as Eliza had specifically asked him if he'd be okay to check up on Remus during full moons until she returned. She had also included an extensive list of how much aconite to give, when to give it, and even going as far as to add a list of Remus' favourite books and teas. His favourite tea seemed to differ slightly depending on the moon cycles. Eliza figured it must be due to his sense of taste and smell heightening as it got closer to the full moon. She knew she was being a little overbearing, but she was just worried about him.

Right now, she was stood on the doorstep of number 12 Grimmauld Place waiting for Potter to open the door. She had wanted to thank Harry personally for recommending her to Kingsley for the job. She had invited Remus to come with her, but he had quickly rushed off to the Weasley's, mumbling about needing to ask Arthur something. Eliza suspected this may have something to do with not wanting to be bitten by another doxy, so let him go. To be completely honest, she wasn't a big fan of Grimmauld Place either. It was always so dark and gloomy, and nearly everything in the house seemed to want to jump out at you or attack you. It was certainly one way to keep life interesting. She knocked on the door again, this time much more loudly. "Honestly, what is taking him so long? it isn't getting any warmer out here." As soon as she had thought it, the door creaked open, revealing a disgruntled looking Kreacher.

" 'Ello Kreacher! Is Harry in?" She asked.

Kreacher's eyes lit up, and his expression lightened up immediately. Since Harry had inherited the house (and with it the house elf), Kreacher's attitude changed immensely. He was no longer a rude, arrogant elf but a kind, lighthearted one. Granted, it had taken a while. There were many incidents where he had called Eliza and Hermione a mudblood purely out of habit, but he'd quickly apologised each time.

"Ah Miss Woods, lovely to see you ma'am," said Kreacher, bowing respectfully. "Master Harry is just downstairs in the kitchen having breakfast. Would you like me to take you down?"

"That's okay, I can make my way there. But thank you, Kreacher, " she replied as she started making her way down to the kitchen, carefully avoiding the trolls leg umbrella stand. Kreacher bowed once more before disappearing with a slight pop!

To be completely honest, Eliza had never felt comfortable with the idea of having a house elf unless they were free and were being paid a fair wage. They were, in her eyes, slaves who had been conditioned to believe for centuries that they were happy and didn't need anything else in life other than to serve their masters. It made her sick.

She had happily joined S.P.E.W back at Hogwarts during their fourth year but was astounded by the sheer number of people of told them that the house elves were happy to be slaves. Sure, Hermione had gone slightly overboard, trying to force the house elves to be free, but she had just wanted to abolish it immediately. Eliza, on the other hand, believed a slower approach would be better. After all both wizards and elves had been conditioned to believe these lies for centuries, it wasn't just going to suddenly change overnight. Not much had come out of their society, but now that Hermione was head of the welfare of the magical creatures department, she would finally be able to make some real difference. Eliza was so proud of her for speaking out for what she believed in even though she was constantly laughed at and judged. 'I wonder if Americans use house elves too,' she wondered as she entered the kitchen.

Harry Potter was sitting at the dining table reading the Daily Prophet, his steaming cup of tea right beside him. His hair was, if possible, even more unruly in the morning, sticking up in each direction as if he'd just been shocked. Peeking at the front page, Eliza saw it read:

MUGGLE AT THE MINISTRY..... DELIGHTFUL CHAOS?

"Muggles made it into the ministry?" Eliza asked, surprised. She didn't think it was possible, assuming it would almost be like Hogwarts. Hogwarts was enchanted to look like ruins with warning signs around it telling people to stay away. However, if a muggle did get too close, they would suddenly remember they had to go somewhere urgently. These were all necessary arrangements to ensure no muggle stumbled upon a castle full of wizards/witches in training.

Harry turned around in his chair, only now noticing Eliza in his kitchen. "It happened last night!" He replied excitedly. "Apparently, some drunk guy used the old phone box entry and dialled in the code that takes you down to the ministry. It was brilliant! I was there last night when he came in, and he was just casually walking around as if a secret underground wizarding government was completely normal. It got sorted pretty quickly, though. He was quickly obliviated and escorted safely home. Although I doubt he even needed obliviating- he was so drunk he wouldn't have remembered a single thing by morning." Said Harry, laughing slightly as he folded the paper up.

"Well, better safe than sorry, I suppose. I can't believe I missed it! All the fun stuff happens when I'm not there." Eliza said mock pouting.

"Ah well cheer up, you never know the American ministry may be just as chaotic," Harry replied as he went to make Eliza a cup of tea. "Congratulations, by the way! A new job in a new country-you must be pretty excited."

"Thanks, Harry! Although I heard I have you to thank for recommending me to Kingsley."

"Oh right, yeah well, Kingsley came to talk through the plan with me a few weeks back, but he couldn't think of anyone who he knew would get the job done correctly without worrying about reputations. He immediately wanted to ask you but wanted clarification that you'd actually be interested in the job. So I told him you would and how perfect you would be for this role blah blah blah, and then Ron overheard, and he told Kingsley that you were perfect for the role. So technically, this is all you, I just helped finalise it."

"Oh, right. Well, thank you anyways, it means a lot, " Eliza replied.

"No problem," said Harry as he brought over her tea and an array of biscuits, "so when do you leave?"

"Monday!" Eliza exclaimed, she leaned forwards in excitement, "it's less than a week away, and then I'll be all the way on another continent with a brand new job! Actually, Harry, that reminds me," She suddenly became serious. " I know it's an awful lot to ask, but I trust you. Would you be able to check up on Remus every once in a while around the full moon? Now I know he says he'll be fine, but if being honest, Harry, I worry about him being left all alone. I've just ordered another batch of aconite, so it should be enough until I get to return for the holidays, but if not, please let me know.  He has promised to go to the Weasley's or here if it gets too much, but, oh, I don't know, I just can't help but feel that I'm being completely selfish leaving."

Harry leaned forwards taking Eliza's hands in his. "Of course I'll take care of Remus. I promise. In fact, if it makes you feel better, I'll invite him to stay here when the full moon comes around, or better yet, I'll stay at the cottage. Yes, that's probably best. He seems to attract all the doxey's in this house, " Harry said, chuckling. "But seriously, Eliza, we'll be fine, Remus will be fine. And if anything happens, I promise to notify you immediately. Now, as for you being selfish, I must say, in the words of the great Hermione; "Don't be so stupid!"

Eliza giggled at Harry's antics and relaxed slightly. She felt reassured that Remus would be okay without her, not that this would ever stop her from worrying about him, though.

Eventually, the conversation turned into a much lighter topic and into a very competitive game of exploding snap. It had only ended when Eliza remembered she still had to go down to the market before they closed. Saying goodbye to Harry and a final thank you, Eliza apparated away.