Bewitched by You (A Marvel/Harry Potter Crossover) COMPLETED

Chapter Nineteen: Go For the Throat

Later that night, Hermione would be unable to determine if it was good luck, or bad, that the others were so preoccupied with the creature that none of them were able to notice her and Bucky tumbling into existence. Had any of them seen it, she and Bucky would've had little choice but to divulge the truth . . . no more lying by omission.

On the other hand, they'd be in the uncomfortable position of having to justify the omissions already made, and she wasn't certain there was any true justification for it.

Loki had pulled them toward the chamber doors, because—as Hermione realized as she and Bucky were sent barreling through to the other side—there was a rip in the fabric between planes there. This must've been how he traveled when following them; it explained perfectly how he was able to do some of the things he had.

She would have to ask him later how he managed to physically enter the astral plane. Bucky would likely huff about her having yet another question which had nothing to do with Loki's purpose. He was simply going to have to deal with it, because she needed answers, and soon, or she was relatively certain she would go mad.

All of these thoughts, of course, buzzed through Hermione's skull in the time it took for her to hurtle from the tear and hit the floor with a bone-jarring thud. Bucky was a bit disoriented, himself, but had at least managed an almost steady landing, getting his feet under him fast.

The sounds of pained breaths, fists impacting flesh, and chaotic movement buried her words to anyone but Bucky as she whispered, "I think he keeps forgetting I'm not as sturdy as the rest of you."

"Shit," he said, hissing the words as he bent to check on her. "Are you okay?"

Nodding, she struggled to lift herself up on her elbows. In her right hand, she clenched her wand, still, in her left, the orb. "Don't fuss over me—I can be patched up later. Go help them."

He didn't appreciate the brush off, but he knew she was right.

"Go for its throat. You can hear it breathing," she said, ignoring a pain that radiated from her hip when she tried to move just now. Gods, if she'd broken anything, she was sogoing to make Loki sorry. "It probably needs air like the rest of us, so its airways might be a weak point."

Turning his attention toward the open doors, he saw the miserable scene of the others struggling with that thing. Ducking his head, he barreled straight for it.

Hearing the extra set of footfalls speeding toward them, Thor and Steve each looked up. They moved just in time, putting their weight into forcing the creature downward as Bucky crashed into it, colliding center mass.

They slammed into the ground, but just as quick as they impacted, Bucky grabbed the thing's arms and yanked, wrenching its shoulders down to expose as much of its throat as he could. Catching Steve's eye, he nodded toward the beast's head.

Scrambling around the thing, even as it struggled and thrashed, Steve clamped his hands around the creature's jaw and pulled in the other direction.

Whipping his head around to meet Thor's gaze, Bucky found himself grateful that no words were needed. The Asgardian was already hefting Mjolnir over his head.

"Oh, fuck," Natasha said, backpedaling in a hurry as she realized what was about to happen.

Mjolnir struck with a thick, squelching sound as it flattened the thing's throat, the impact rupturing the skin.

Later, Hermione would apologize to Bucky several dozen times for giving him an idea that got him covered in 'weird alien-monster blood and ick.'

The creature twitched and shivered, but Thor left the hammer there, the pulverized neck wedged between its impossible weight and the hard stone floor. Bucky and Steve, too, held fast until the miserable beast stopped moving, entirely.