To Be A Hero ↠Avengers x HP Crossover

Chapter 9 - Friends and Foes

"Miss Eliza Woods?" A tall, dark-haired man called, eyes scanning the waiting room.

"Yup, that's me," Eliza said, standing up.

"Follow me please," he turned and walked down the corridor. Eliza scrambled to pick up her bags and hurried after the man. He didn't seem much older than Eliza herself. "I am William James Anderson, I oversee and manage your particular division. Any complaints or worries can be brought to me."

He stepped onto the moving staircase (which looked suspiciously like escalators to Eliza), turning to face her with a smile. "In other words, I'm your new boss."

Eliza grinned. She liked Anderson already. "Lovely to meet you, sir."

"Now there's an accent I haven't heard in many a moon," at Eliza's questionable gaze, he elaborated, stepping off the 'escalator' and turning down the corridor "My grandmother is married to an English gentleman, and they live in York. We would go visit during the summers off from Ilvermorny' . It's a beautiful place, all the history and old castles, have you been?"

"Oh yes, it's not too far from where I'm from. I go quite often to the wizarding shopping street, The Shambles. Saves me going all the way down to London."

"The Shambles, yes! Oh, the memories, my grandparents would always take my brother and I there for ice cream and a bit of shopping. My brother, Jack, ever the sporty one, would immediately drag my grandmother to the broom shack. Meanwhile, I would take my grandad to the little bookshop tucked in the corner. Everyone would flock towards the giant glass one in the centr. Itt was always full. I preferred the smaller one. Oh I can still smell it, the strong smell of coffee, chocolate and old books. Me and Grandadd would sit and read in silence until my brother finally got bored of looking at the latest sports merch."

"This bookshop, it isn't the yellow one with roses lining the walls, is it?" Anderson looked over in surprise.

"Why yes, it is! Have you been?"

Eliza nodded, "I did the same thing you did. My godfather and I go every time we're there. One of my friends actually works there now, I'd never been so jealous as to when they told me." She said laughing. "When was the last time you went?"

Anderson's expression changed immediately, and Eliza knew she had brought up a touchy subject. He cleared his throat before answering. "Probably around my final years at school. What with the whole war thing, and with people disappearing left, right, and centre. Mum just didn't think it was safe. She tried to get my grandparents to move back to the States, but they refused." He looked mildly angry before relaxing. "They survived, thank Merlin, but I haven't been able to bring myself to go back. And now I'm working all the time so there hasn't really been much time."

He sighed heavily before shaking his head. "But that's enough about me and my sob stories. This is you." He knocked twice on the door before strolling straight in, now smiling brightly. "Good morning, everyone!"

The occupants of the room stood up immediately. "Please welcome your newest member of the team, Miss Eliza Woods. I trust you'll all take care of her."

A few people smiled at her and said hello whilst others continued to stare.

"Right, well I best be heading off, any questions pop straight over to see me Miss Woods and I'll try my best to help. See you later, everyone." And with that, he left.

Eliza stood in the middle of the office awkwardly as everyone else went back to their respective desks. Just as Eliza was beginning to regret her decision of ever taking the job, a saviour arrived.

"Hi, I'm Amelia. Your desk is right next to mine," she said, pointing towards the window at the back of the room. "Need help with those bags?"

Eliza politely declined her help and followed her towards her new desk. "Thanks for the help, I thought I'd just have to stand there for the rest of the day."

Amelia giggled, "No problem, and try not to mind the others. They're always this grumpy. It's not personal."

Amelia helped her set up her desk and went through all the protocols with her. By the time it was done, it was already time for lunch. "I am starving!" Amelia exclaimed, hands on her belly. "Wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure!" Replied Eliza, grabbing her bag, "Let's go."

The two girls sat down for lunch at a small café around the corner from work. Both chatting away as if they'd know each other their whole lives and not just a couple of hours. Eliza was glad she'd found someone like Amelia. They both enjoyed the same things and shared the same sense of humour. The only difference being that Amelia was a pureblood, whilst Eliza grew up in the muggle world. As a result, their childhood stories were almost complete opposites, but if anything, this just made the two girls click even more. Amelia seemed to be amazed by anything and everything, even remotely, muggle related. In a way, she reminded Eliza of a younger female version of Arthur Weasley. She even had the same fiery red hair!

"So what's with everyone at the office? They didn't seem very pleased to see me." Eliza asked, sipping her tea carefully.

"I meant what I said before. It's not you." Amelia hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Okay, fine, you remember our boss, Anderson? The fella who showed you around this morning? Yeah, well, let's just say not everyone is his biggest fan. They're all jealous that he managed to grab a manager position so young and so they don't respect him very much. They think he just got the job cos his father is on the MACUSA congress board, but that's just ridiculous! He earned his spot fair and square, worked hard for that position."

Eliza nodded, slowly understanding the situation.

"So that's why they're not your biggest fan either. Because Anderson accepted you, and so that must mean you too are not qualified for the job. Which is absolute rubbish, of course. Don't listen to a word they say."

"I take it you knew him before then? Anderson, I mean." Eliza asked.

Amelia looked at her in surprise. "Good detective work," she said, smiling. "But yes, I did, we were friends back at Ilvermorny, in the same house too, Wampus, best house, by the way." Amelia said, winking. "But unfortunately, so was Vivian Grey. She was our friend all the way through school, but she went straight for a ministry job whilst me and Anderson went for the Auror training program." She went quiet for a moment, almost sad. "There was an incident in the field, and so me and Anderson requested a desk job. A year into the job and he already managed to get the management position. Grey had been there for the past five years and hadn't been able to move up the ladder. I guess she was jealous and so started spreading rumours to make herself feel better."

After the heavy topic, the girls tried to bring the conversation back to a lighter one, resulting in Eliza crying with tears as they walked back into the office. "Are you sure your surname isn't Pond?"

"Of course, I'm sure! My surname is Hughes. Why would it be Pond?" The redhead asked, confused whilst Eliza laughed even harder. Eliza made a mental note to introduce Amelia to the wonders of Doctor Who. Wiping her tears, Eliza bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going!" They shouted, not moving aside.

Eliza looked up in surprise. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm Eliza Woods." She said, going in for a handshake.

"Grey. Vivian grey." Vivian looked down at Eliza's outstretched hand and sneered. Eliza's eyes widened in surprise as she realised just who she bumped into, slowly dropping her outreached hand.

"Better watch where you're going next time, your highness." And with that, she walked away, leaving a slightly confused Eliza in her wake. The girls were just heading back to their seats when they heard a slight tapping noise.

"Oh, it's Scuttle!" Amelia rushed towards the window, sliding it upwards. Scuttle flew straight in and landed on Amelia's desk, a small note attached to his leg.

"A seagull? You don't use owls over here?" Eliza asked, staring suspiciously at the bird as if it was going to attack her.

"Oh yes, we use more common birds over here so we don't attract too much attention. There aren't many owls flying around in California. I heard they use pigeons up in New York, and some states have taken up hawks."

Eliza nodded. It made sense. "What's the note say?"

"Meeting," Amelia said simply. "In five minutes, we better get going."

Eliza followed her friend to the meeting, hoping to make a good impression in front of her new teammates.