Oh, fuck…it was happening all over again. Hulk’s roar sounded more like a scream as the skin was torn off him in strips, but Jo wasn’t pressed against the hard ground this time. She was standing and hands were holding onto her shoulders. It wasn’t even a tight hold; it was just a light grip. Someone was breathing against her ear, and Hulk was screaming.

“You screamed worse than that with only a little skin removed.” A hand moved to press against her abdomen, where said-skin had been surgically ripped away. “You would not have survived that, Josephine.”

“You’re not real, Serrens. You’re locked up where you can’t hurt anyone anymore.” None of the ROSE doctors were in the Cube or Big House, so they’re not free. If Serrens wasn’t real, then neither was Hulk’s scream.

“What have I told you about that sound?!” It wasn’t Vector that was controlling the blasts, it was Rickard. Rickard’s twisted face as he tortured all the sound away and started picking at the exposed muscles to reveal the bones beneath.

“NO!” Jo was struggling against a grip that wasn’t physically strong enough to hold her back when everything changed. The hands disappeared, and her knees hit the snowy ground. The street was gone, Rickard and Serrens were gone, and she couldn’t see Hulk.

The cold was seeping into her skin without freezing her, because this wasn’t her nightmare. She looked around her and saw a kneeling figure, and she slowly started to crawl to his side. It was Bruce, it had to be Bruce, but she didn’t know what was happening. She was almost to his side when she saw his hands. They weren’t resting in his lap like she thought; he was holding a gun and sliding his fingers across the barrel. He was alone, so why did he have a gun? Why was he on what had to be a mountain? Nothing was making any sense.

“Bruce?”

“I’ve killed people. I hacked the files from Ross’s database. I’ve seen their faces, their families.” Bruce’s words were said with light puffs into the cold air, and Jo was stuck in place. She was almost within reaching distance, but she felt like she was an ocean away.

“You didn’t mean to. It was an accident.” Jo knew that Hulk never meant to kill anyone, because Hulk was ultimately good.

“One was a soldier. His little boy isn’t even a year old. He’s never going to know his father, because of me. In Harlem, there was a little girl. She was only four, and I—” His words were choked off, and Jo felt her chest constricting. With Bruce’s help, she could see a picture of a smiling little girl with big blue eyes. She could see several faces, young and old, all dead.

“Bruce, it’s going to be okay.” It was what he said to her. He was sobbing without tears, but his hands were steady. Jo wanted to reach for him, to try and soothe him, but she couldn’t move. She could feel it now…the pain that was so wrapped around him that nothing else existed. She couldn’t even hear Hulk because he was buried under the darkness.

“I never wanted to be a monster. I just wanted to be good,” Bruce sighed. Jo opened her mouth to tell him that he was good, he was a hero, when he raised the gun. His teeth locked around the barrel, and Jo’s lungs stopped working. His eyes were open when he squeezed the trigger, and Jo cried out as the gun fired. Hulk tore himself from Bruce’s mind with a scream, and Jo felt herself falling as Hulk roared his anguish at the sky.

---

Jo could still hear Hulk roaring as she was jolted back into consciousness, because she was laying on his stomach as he thrashed in his sleep. She tangled a sheet around her naked body as she moved up onto his chest and locked her hands on his cheeks. She yelled his name as she grabbed his shoulders to shake him, and she almost cried from sheer relief when his eyes popped open. They were wide and panicked, and she smoothed a hand across his face. Her body rose and fell with his rapid breathing, and she made soft cooing noises.

“Shh, Hulk, you’re okay now.” She was getting sick and tired of hearing those words, and of saying them. Hulk nodded, and she felt him quickly retreating. She was lowered down until she was nearly straddling Bruce’s chest, and this time it was wide brown eyes looking at her.

“Jo?” Bruce was kneeling in the snow, shaking, with his teeth against the barrel.

“Oh, fuck.” Jo staggered to the bathroom and hit her knees just in time to empty her stomach into the toilet, and she clutched her sheet tighter as she puked up everything she’d ever eaten. She was pretty sure she saw the sticky blue glue she ate in first grade on a dare, and her body fell into a slump when it was finally over.

“Jo?” Spine straightening, she pulled herself into some semblance of “up” and looked over at the doorway. Bruce had a pair of pajama pants hanging low on his hips and his hair sticking up everywhere, but Jo’s eyes were locked on his.

“You tried to kill yourself, and Hulk.” Her voice wasn’t accusing; it was just…sad. So fucking sad, because she could still feel how Bruce felt on that mountainside.

“I was in a very low place.” Bruce’s voice was faint, like he was scared of her reaction.

“You were so defeated, and Hulk was so…”

“Angry,” Bruce finished. Jo’s head snapped up, and she just stared at him.

“No, scared. He was so scared, because you had him pushed so far into the darkness and you tried to kill both of you. You tried to put the both of you in the dark forever, and he was so scared. For himself, and for you.” This time her tone was accusing, because she felt Hulk’s fear before she woke up. Bruce looked shocked, and Jo almost felt sorry for snapping at him. Almost, but not completely. He needed to know what he had done to Hulk.

“I didn’t know.”

“Well, now you do.” She shakily got to her feet and shuffled over to the sink. Toothpaste, lots of toothpaste, coated the toothbrush she kept in Bruce’s room and then she got down to washing the vile taste out of her mouth. She was rinsing when Bruce finally spoke again.

“Are you okay?”

“I just watched you try to blow your brains out. What do you think?” Bruce awkwardly shifted on his feet and looked away from her eyes, and Jo felt like kicking herself. She was still freaking out from their big fight, from seeing Hulk so damaged. Then there was her nightmare, and then Bruce’s nightmare…or was it Hulk’s? Still, she shouldn’t be taking her scared-equals-angry way of coping out on him. “I’m sorry, Bruce. I’m just…can we go back to bed?”

“I can’t.”

“Oh.” Jo was not going to feel upset or hurt just because Bruce didn’t want to crawl back into bed with her and sleep until all their problems went away. “I’ll just, uh, go to my room and—”

“No! You can stay here; I want you to stay here.” Bruce was lightly touching her shoulders, and she wasn’t going to think of Serrens and his whispered words.

“You’ve lost me,” she shakily smiled.

“I need to go…I just need to go, for a little while, but I’ll be back.” Jo nodded, a bit numbly, and Bruce let her go. She followed him back into the bedroom, and she settled herself into the bed as she watched him move around. He pulled on a pair of Hulk shorts and that was it, and she blinked up at him as he walked to the side of the bed. He pulled the blanket up to her chin and tucked her in, and she squeezed her eyes shut when he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She listened as he left the room and quietly closed the door, and a sigh filled the room.

“Be safe.”

August 30, 2014

Bruce went up to his lab first to quickly type up his report and send it directly to Director Fury. He kept the report strictly professional, with just the base facts. He didn’t document how it felt to have his skin peeled off his muscles or the way his nerves screamed as he dug bony fingers into asphalt. He left out the sound of Jo’s scream as her spine broke; he didn’t mention what it was like to hear Jo’s wrecked voice screaming Hulk’s name while he thought he was dying. SHIELD didn’t need to know any of that, and Bruce wished he could forget it. After the report was sent, he went up to the roof and looked inside his mind. Hulk was definitely still awake, and Bruce could feel the fear now.

“I’ve apologized for a lot this past year, but I never apologized for that, did I?”

“No.” It was a simple answer, but the depth of emotion behind it wasn’t. Hulk was scared of the darkness, and that day was the ultimate definition of the darkness that scared them both.

“I’m sorry for trying to kill us that day. It was wrong of me, and it wasn’t fair to you.”

“You hated me and wanted us both dead.” Bruce closed his eyes and brought up those feelings from the mountain again; he remembered just how much he hated himself, how hopeless everything seemed, and how he just wanted it all to stop. Next he pictured the way Tony looked the day he left, a few days after the Battle of Manhattan, in wrinkled clothes with grease covering his hands. He heard Tony telling him that he was good and so was Hulk. (“I just wanted to be good.”) He thought of the first time that Hulk read a book, Hulk learning how to add and subtract, and how he could be so gentle sometimes. Bruce could admit now that he loved Hulk and, in doing so, found a way to be at peace with himself.

“I hated myself more than anything, but I’ll never do something like that again. I’ll never hurt us like that again.”

“I was…scared.”

“I know. I was too.” Bruce gently coaxed Hulk out, until bright green eyes were watching the sky light up. Hulk asked a silent question, and Bruce let his own knowledge mingle with Hulk’s in a way that was completely new but made perfect sense. How could Bruce know things that Hulk didn’t when they shared one mind? Hulk jumped from the roof in one effortless leap and started running, and Bruce settled back to let him go. Today was Hulk’s day.

---

“Aaaaaand that’s all she wrote. Literally,” Jo mumbled as she pressed send. The report left for Fury’s inbox, and Jo closed her laptop with a sigh. Or maybe a groan. She was still a bit achy. All of the sleep healed the major damage, but a few of the worse bruises remained. They were a sickly green color now with yellow outlines, but it was progress. She got a good look at them earlier in her own bathroom mirror, before she tugged on a pair of purple leggings and one of Tony’s black long-sleeved band shirts. (It’s Black Sabbath this time.)

“Are you decent?” She was lying in her bed, with her fluffy green blanket pulled up nearly to her chin, and her clothing covers most of her up.

“Compared to you? Always!” The door to her bedroom opened wider, and her body lost some of its tension as Tony walked farther into the room. He’s in an old pair of jeans and a black tank, but he’s not covered in grease so he hasn’t made it to the lab yet.

“How ya feelin’, sweetheart?” Tony looks completely okay, but she can feel something swirling around in that genius brain of his.

“I’ve been better, but I’m healing up okay. I’ll be good as new by tomorrow, maybe tonight,” she said with a little smile.

“Bruce gonna be okay?” At her confused look, he tapped his temple. “JARVIS alerted me when he left the mansion.”

“He’s takin’ some time for himself today, but he’ll be okay.” She is not going to cry. She’s cried enough in the past twelve hours to last her a lifetime.

“I saw the footage, Jo.” She froze at the words, except for the slight widening of her eyes, and Tony raised one knee to rest on the edge of her mattress.

“Footage?” Her heart is pounding against her ribcage and trying to crawl up her throat.

“We were finishing the cleanup when Bruce’s report came in, and Fury thought it was a little too clinical. Even for Bruce. I used my new skills to take a look at the remaining cameras on the surrounding buildings. We saw the whole thing,” Tony explained. We. Tony, Fury, Maria, Steve, and Thor. They saw the whole thing.

“I don’t, I—”

“We saw the peeling and the snapping. You should’ve told us how bad it was instead of acting like everything was okay.” Tony looks like he’s torn between anger and worry, and Jo raised up so that she was actually sitting on the bed instead of reclining against the headboard.

“What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, guys, thanks for showing up because Hulk just had all of his skin blasted off? Oh, and I can’t feel my legs?’ Yeah, just lettin’ it go was a lot easier, and we’re both okay. I’m not sure how we’re both okay, but we are.”

“So why is Bruce MIA, and why are you hiding up here?” She wants to argue, but no one wins in an argument against Tony Stark.

“Because Hulk went through something that would’ve killed anyone else. The dude fuckin’ ripped his skin off, so he’s earned a day to himself. And I’m not alone. I’m with my best friend, so get your ass over here and cuddle me until I feel better,” she said with a pointed look.

“Thought you’d never ask.” Tony dove under the blanket when she held it up for him, and her laugh sounded foreign to her ears as Tony rocked against her until they got comfortable. They’re in their usual sleeping position, almost. Tony’s head is resting over her chest, over her heartbeat, instead of her stomach. He saw what happened to her too, and he’s worried.

“I really am okay, you know.” Tony’s fingers were lightly running through her hair, because it’s completely down, and he hummed a little. After a minute, she told him about the nightmares. Hers and Bruce’s. Hulk’s. He wasn’t surprised, because he already knew that Bruce tried to kill himself. She could see it in his mind; before the big alien fight, on the hellicarrier. She hates seeing Bruce look so defeated, and Tony hates it too.

“I love you.” Jo laughed to hold back her tears and nuzzled her nose against the top of Tony’s head.

“Love you too.”

---

It was late afternoon, and Hulk was wandering aimlessly somewhere outside of Toronto. The trees around him were huge and let in random shafts of light, and Bruce realized that Hulk really loved the scenery. It soothed him. After hitting the ground outside the mansion, Hulk just ran. He ran for hours with no particular destination in mind, and he slowed to a walk about an hour and a half ago. Sometimes he let a thought drift to Bruce, but they were mostly quiet. It was comforting for the both of them to just get away from everyone and everything. Running was something that they were both good at.

“Good view, huh?” Hulk turned with a growl and his shoulders bunched up, and the man standing where he just walked raised his hands. The man was dressed in heavy boots that should’ve made some sound as he walked through the woods, but Hulk hadn’t heard him. Hulk also made a point to look for weapons, but he couldn’t see any. The man was only dressed in a pair of jeans that were tucked into his boots and a plain white undershirt, so if he was hiding a weapon, it was well concealed.

“What do you want?” Hulk asked. The guy raised a brow and pulled a cigar from his front jeans pocket. He lifted it to his lips but didn’t light it, just let it sit there.

“Got a call from JARVIS, said to keep an eye out for a moving green mountain. You’re not here to make trouble, are ya, bub?” The slow and rough voice made Hulk think of Jo, and Bruce felt the big guy’s pang of worry as he pictured the way Jo had looked down at him after the nightmare. She’d been so worried, and Hulk could still feel the hard press of her flesh as she assured herself that he was okay. Bruce might not love Jo, not yet, but Hulk certainly did.

“Out for a walk,” Hulk answered. If JARVIS called him, Tony must know him but Bruce can’t place him so that means Hulk can’t either. The man huffed and started walking down the path, and Hulk turned to walk beside him. He had to take smaller steps than usual, but he didn’t want to get too far ahead.

“What are you runnin’ from?” The man’s eyes squinted as he looked up at him, and it looked like he was frowning around the cigar.

“Who says I’m running?” Hulk’s speech was beyond improved, and Bruce was learning that Hulk had his own rough sense of humor.

“I almost didn’t believe it, when she first told me. Sent me a text and still won’t answer my calls. Kinda dating Doc Banner. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Talk later. Do I look like someone that makes a big deal out of things?” The man is talking about Jo, so he must be Logan. Wolverine. The closest thing Jo has to a father.

“Are you?” The man looked over and up at him with a brow that seemed perpetually raised and disbelief in his eyes.

“Normally, no. If you run away from her and break her heart, I might have to make a little bit of a deal out of things. So, what’s it gonna be, Hulk?” Hulk wanted to growl and maybe smash the top of the man’s head, but he held back. Logan is worried about Jo, which means that he’s on the same side as Hulk. They both just want her to be happy.

“I’m going home.” The mansion was home, and home was where Jo was. Where his team was. For the first time in years, they had a home. A real home, not just a hideaway.

“Then why are you still here?” Hulk shrugged because he didn’t feel like explaining himself to some stranger. “Don’t wait too long. She’s not the patient type.”

“Humph,” Hulk huffed. That’s where he was wrong; Jo could be patient. He can still remember how still she was as she laid against him and listened to him read, over and over again. Hulk stopped walking, and Logan stopped after one more step. He wants to go home.

“Leavin’?” Hulk was already walking back the way he came, so the answer was obvious. “Nice talkin’ to ya, Wintergreen! We should do it again sometime!”

Logan disappeared into the trees before Hulk could reply, and the big guy huffed as he continued walking down the path. He’s been gone long enough; it’s time to return home.

---

“Oh, what about these?” Darcy asked and pointed to a giant bouquet of flowers.

“They clash with the rest of the color scheme,” Natasha pointed out.

“Not if we change them to this,” Maria countered and pointed to a different set that was nearly identical.

“And the flowers don’t really have to match the color scheme. They’re flowers,” was Jo’s argument.

“They are really lovely,” Pepper said in a calm voice.

“Not as lovely as the lilies.”

“No one asked you, Clint!” Darcy and Clint started to argue over the merit of different breeds of flowers, and the rest of them sat back in their chairs. The six of them are sitting in the dining room, with wedding books spread out between them on the table, and this isn’t Clint and Darcy’s first argument about the perfect wedding. Jo’s starting to think that Tony had the right idea when he ran to the lab. Speaking of the future groom, it’s nearly his bedtime and she knows for a fact that the grease in his hair has turned into a helmet by now.

“I agree with whatever Pepper wants,” Jo said as she stood up. After all, it’s Pepper’s big day. Although, watching Clint and Darcy argue over china patterns is kinda adorable. Maria and Natasha keep egging them on too; Maria takes Darcy side while Natasha subtly sides with Clint. Maybe that’s why Thor and Steve decided to spar? To escape the madness?

“Oh, Jo?” She paused in the doorway and met Pepper’s pretty blue eyes. She’s gonna make a beautiful bride, Jo just knows it.

“Yeah?”

“I picked up some more shampoo while I was out; it’s under the sink.” It’s a strange arrangement they all have, but it’s working.

“Darn. I was looking forward to using my shampoo on him; he hates it when he smells all girly,” Jo said with a grin. Pepper knows that the ritual is something that they almost need, and she’s okay with it because Tony can’t get all the grease out like Jo can.

“I’ll pick up something flowery next time.” Pepper winked at her before turning back around to face the others, and Jo smiled the whole time the elevator was moving. Today has been…okay. It hasn’t been her best day ever, but it’s still been a good day. She cuddled with Tony, ate lunch with Darcy and Jade, and watched everyone fuss over Pepper’s future wedding. (Tony is going to avoid the planning like the plague.)

“Alright, boss, time’s up!” she called as soon as she stepped into the lab. Tony jumped up from where he was sitting and rushed over to her, and she raised a brow at him as he drug her over to his work table. “You okay?”

“Just finished it!” There’s a black jumpsuit on the table, almost like what Natasha wears on missions. Well, it’s mostly black. It’s outlined in dark green.

“Finished what?” The material looks thick but breathable, and she had to resist the urge to reach out and touch it.

“Your super suit! The material has the same tensile strength as steel, so you won’t have to worry about it getting torn. Or burned. And I put repulsors in your steel-toes.”

“You made me a super suit?” This is for her? She let her fingers brush against the material, it was soft, and she could feel Tony’s eyes on her.

“There’s repulsors in the gloves too, and a little arc reactor in the belt to power it all. You like it?” Okay, so Tony made her a flying super suit. Her mind reached out, and she let Tony feel how happy she was. How overwhelmed she was. Arms wrapped around her seconds later, and Tony dropped his cheek onto her shoulder. His greasy hair brushed against her neck, and she turned to really hug him.

“I love it, and I can’t wait to try it out,” she whispered. Yeah, there’s no one else in the lab but this is a special moment and special moments require whispering.

“But first!” He paused and waited for her to pull back to look at him. “Bath time?”

“Definitely. How do you even get this dirty without ever leaving the house?” They traded jibes all the way to Tony’s room, but they were both quiet as Jo started washing his hair. It’s calming for both of them.

“Can I ask you something?” The conditioner has been rinsed out of his hair, so now she’s just running her fingers through the wet strands.

“You just did,” she said with a little laugh. Tony huffed, which just made her laugh louder, and she lightly pulled on his hair to get him talking again.

“This is a very serious matter.”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to talk about serious matters when you’re naked?”

“Too much of a distraction for you?”

“Don’t make me come in there; you won’t like me when I’m angry.” They both laughed a little at the joke, and Tony slumped back against her. Looks like she’ll be changing after this. Tony’s eyes met hers, upside-down, and she waited for him to ask his question.

“Will you be my best man?” Well, she wasn’t expecting that. Maybe she should have though. Tony likes the others; he trusts Thor and Steve, and he thinks of Bruce as a close friend. What he has with her is different though, something special.

“I’d be honored to be your best man.” She’s not really sure how that’s going to work, but they’ll figure it out.

“I want Darcy to be the flower girl. Or Thor. Either one is acceptable.”

“We are definitely making them both flower crowns,” Jo agreed as she stood up. Tony followed after her, and she tossed him a towel before drying off her bare legs. She’s just in Tony’s long-sleeve shirt now, but it’s wet from where he laid back against her. The leggings are dry though, so she pulled those back up.

“Did he make a mess?” Pepper asked as they stepped out of the bathroom. Jo was still rubbing a towel over his hair and trying to get him to stay still, and they both paused just inside the bedroom.

“It’s been worse,” Jo finally decided. Tony pulled the towel off his head and tossed it in the direction of the bathroom, and Jo smiled when he glared over at her.

“I’m not a child.” Jo met Pepper’s eyes, and the two women raised a brow at the same time before falling into laughter. They would’ve been able to stop, but Tony started pouting and the laughter just kept coming.

“Alright, I’m officially off-duty. He’s all yours, Pep.” Jo used a light hold on Tony’s bare shoulder to push him towards Pepper, and she saw the woman’s grateful smile. Pepper can’t be jealous of her because she’s just happy that Tony has someone that cares so much about him, and who doesn’t want anything in return.

“See you at eight for pickup?” Pepper called out as Jo reached the bedroom door. She could hear Tony squawking in indignation, and she bit down on her smile before replying.

“Wouldn’t miss it! G’night!” The two of them called out a goodnight, Tony added in an I-love-you, and Jo was smiling when she walked into her bedroom. There was a little bundle of cloth on her bed, and she tapped her fingers against the purple shirt. The restaurant must have delivered it, but the earrings were missing. Pepper probably did the drop off. Jo tugged off the wet shirt she was wearing and tossed it into her dirty clothes basket, and she carefully pulled the purple button-up on.

She thought about sleeping, but she doesn’t want to sleep without Bruce. So she walked away from her big inviting bed and out onto the balcony. The futon is pretty comfortable, and she likes looking up at the stars. Maybe she can knit for a bit, to take her mind off things. She grabbed her knitting basket and then made her way outside, and she fell against the futon with a quiet sigh. She buried her nose against the dark purple fabric, just to smell Bruce’s scent, and then picked up her knitting needles.

“Miss Jo?” She looked away from the hat she was making, for Darcy, and looked up at the sky. She’s not sure why, but she likes looking upwards whenever she talks to JARVIS.

“What’s shakin’, JARVIS?”

“Master Hulk is on his way to your location.” She sat up so fast that her spine popped, and not in that pleasant way that loosens her up.

"Is he okay?"

“Yes, Miss Jo, Master Hulk is quite well.” Jo glared at nothing in particular at JARVIS’s amused tone and moved her knitting basket to the table placed next to the futon. Her ears strained to hear the sound of Hulk’s heavy footsteps, and her eyes were wide because she didn’t want to blink and miss him. When he appeared in her balcony doorway, her breath whooshed out and that burning sensation in her lungs made sense. The damned man was making her forget how to breathe now.

“Hi.” Jo could’ve slapped herself for the breathy sound of her voice and the stupid grin that was most definitely on her face, but she was so freaking happy. It’s like she was just realizing how scared and worried she was, but Hulk is back. Bruce is home.

“I’m sorry for running.” His eyes were downcast, and Jo reached out with both hands until she could grab one giant green hand.

“We all need to run sometimes. You don’t have anything to apologize for. You’re home now, and that’s what matters.” Hulk smiled at her, a small little thing that made her heart ache, and he slowly lowered himself down to sit on the balcony floor.

“We’re home,” Hulk agreed.

“Yep! Now, how about a bedtime story?” Now that Hulk is here and she knows that they’re both okay, she can feel sleep pulling at her bones. She used up a lot energy to get herself healed, and she’s so tired. She can’t think of a better way to fall asleep than to the sound of Hulk’s voice. Except for maybe cuddling with his other half.

“Can I read Harry Potter?” They started the first book a few days ago, and Hulk really seems to enjoy it if the way he’s plowed through it is anything to go by. The series is one of Jo’s favorites too, so listening to Hulk read it is like happiness wrapped in rainbows. Whoa, she really needs to sleep. Her thoughts were interrupted when Hulk scooped her up, blanket and all, and lowered her down. She didn’t even notice the big guy stretching out on the balcony floor, and she laughed out loud as Hulk carefully placed her on her back across his stomach. JARVIS projected the page they left off on over their heads, and the page looked otherworldly framed by the stars.

“Malfoy couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.”

Jo was fast asleep before Hulk reached the next page.

Notes

Good chapter, hmm? I had fun writing it, except for the beginning. I honestly do hate making my characters sad, but it can’t be fluff all the time. Does that count as Jo and Bruce’s first fight? Neither one really got angry, but it was a little tense. Thoughts? Also, Logan was in this chapter! It’s been a little while since I flipped through an X-Men comic or watched any of the movies, so I hope he turned out okay. And I couldn’t resist all the wedding talk, because I’m excited! A wedding!

The Harry Potter line is from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Chapter Ten, Halloween.