CHAPTER FOUR
BRUCE AND NAT

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Dayton Ohio, Banner home

Bruce was quietly sat in his room reading one of his many science to magic books when he heard his mother's voice call up.

"Robert Bruce Banner! You better be coming down for breakfast now!"

He jumped slightly at the tone of her voice before quickly marking the page in his book and shutting it closed. He ran down the stairs and into the kitchen without further hesitance, Bruce loved his mother he really did but he also really hated it whenever she called him by his full name.

"I'm here, Mom," Bruce announced as he slid into his chair. "Morning."

Rebecca sighed with a fond smile as she looked back at Bruce. "Whatever am I going to do with you my daydreaming boy?"

"I wasn't daydreaming, Mom," Bruce protested. "I was studying."

"Of course you were," she nodded clearing the table after he was done eating. "Why don't you take a break and enjoy a walk outside, maybe to the grocery store?"

Bruce sighed in exasperation and maybe even a little annoyance. "Sure, Mom," he said anyway and slipped out of his seat.

"Oh, and remember to take your coat with you," she advised. "Also, get the mail while you're out there Brucey!" His mother called out as Bruce fixed a blue scarf around his neck his eyes instinctively rolling at the nickname.

"Okay, Mom."

He stepped out of the house, the door closing behind him as he slowly walked down the porch steps and up to the mailbox. Suddenly, someone bumped into him from behind almost landing him facefirst in the mailbox.

"Sorry, kid," a girl's voice apologized.

Bruce grunted as he pushed himself back up, straightening his jacket and scarf before looking behind him and seeing a redhead girl around the same age as him. She looked flustered, a little angry, and a lot out of breath.

"Uh, umm, it's, uh. . ." Bruce stuttered out before quickly shaking his head into some sense. "It's okay."

The girl turned about to leave before a voice Bruce recognized all too well stopped her. "Hey, Nat!"

"Uh, oh!" Bruce felt his heart drop.

She quickly moved in front of him almost like a human shield and he could no longer see his daily tormentor.

"What are you doing running away? And why are you with him?" Scott asked incredulously and with more than a hint of disapproval.

She laughed at him. She laughed at him? Was she crazy? Bruce thought. Did she have a death wish?

"Why is it any of your business?" she questioned crossing her arms over her chest.

Scott blinked, not sure how to respond to someone who was actually standing up to him instead of cowering and stuttering.

"Well?" the girl questioned again when she got no reply.

Finally snapping out of it, Scott scoffed rolling his shoulders back and pulling his face into a sneer. "Because it just is and he's a runt of a loser. I mean just look at the nerd."

And she did just that, glancing back at Bruce with an expressionless face. Bruce looked back at her, his brown eyes wide under the attention and inspection.

Scott started smiling thinking he won whatever he was playing at but then she turned back to him and before he could even comprehend what was happening his head snapped to the side. The redhead easily pulling her hand back from just slapping him a calm smile on her face as she kept her hand raised.

Bruce couldn't believe it. Hell, just by the bully's face he couldn't believe it either. This small redhead and freckle-faced girl three years younger and just so much shorter just slapped the neighborhood jock and bully, Scott Bolton. It could have been something worth newspaper headlines.

"I suggest you leave us alone now before your reputation gets worse," she suggested.

Scott rubbed his now blood-red cheek in shock his words stammering as they came out. "M-my rep-reputation?" he questioned his entire brain seeming to have short-circuited at the girl's actions.

She nodded. "You're reputation. Aren't you supposed to be some tough bully? Well, unless you leave now you're friends are going to see you get slapped in the face for the second time by a girl half your size and age."

She pointed to a group of boys down the street all of them staring bug-eyed and wide-mouthed at the scene before them. Scott looked back and immediately panicked, he then looked at the redhead and Bruce.

"This isn't over!" he shouted at them but when he saw her hand waver slightly he quickly swallowed his words and ran for it back down the street away from the two.

"H-How?" Bruce asked as the girl turned to face him. "How could you do that? Weren't you afraid?"

She smiled, it wasn't sarcastic or vindictive or even forced it was just a genuinely amused one. "Scared of him?" she asked laughing again. "The day I'm scared of a bully is the day I might as well roll over and die."

Bruce gulped, collecting himself for a second. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Russia actually, you?"

"Lived here my whole life," Bruce answered. "Oh, I'm Bruce Banner by the way," he quickly said remembering his manners and sticking his hand out to her.

"Natasha Romanoff," she introduced shaking his hand. "You're a wizard?" she asked with a surprised chuckle.

"What?" Bruce asked his eyes widening yet again for about the fourth time since meeting her. "How did you know that?" Seriously, he barely knew that until about a week ago.

"The owls," Natasha pointed above them. "Dead give away."

"Oh," Bruce looked up. "I didn't even notice that. Must be the requirement list for school," he guessed in a mutter but she heard it.

"Which school are you attending?"

"Hogwarts," Bruce answered. "What about you?"

"Me too," Natasha smiled. "What's your blood status?"

Bruce faltered at that. Blood status? What did that even mean? "Huh?" he finally asked making her laugh.

"So, Muggleborn," she guessed. "Your blood status is something really important in the wizarding world so I've learned," Natasha told him giving Bruce the impression it wasn't an all too good thing.

"What's a Muggleborn?" he asked the curiosity for knowledge in him shining through before he could stop it.

"A Muggleborn is a witch or wizard who was born with neither of their parents having magic," Natasha explained and Bruce nodded. "That's what you are, right?" she asked and he nodded again making her smile. "Me too."

"What about the other blood status's?" Bruce asked and her smile fell.

"There are two others. Pureblood and Half-blood, a Pureblood is born from a long line of just magical parents they're supposed to be superior to all others because of that," Natasha sighed in exasperation. "And a half-blood is someone born with one magical parent and one muggle parent."

Bruce opened his mouth, curious as to why she sounded so bitter about Purebloods and also why Purebloods thought they were superior to all others when an unknown voice interrupted them.

"Natalia!"

"Prikhodyashchiy, Papa! (Coming, Dad!)" Natasha called back. She turned to look at Bruce again, "That's my dad, I've got to go. It was nice meeting you, Bruce Banner," Natasha smiled taking a step back and slowly starting to walk backward.

"You too," Bruce matched her expression his face going slightly red for a reason he had yet to experience.

"If you're free this weekend we could go buy all the school supplies together," Natasha called to him her voice raising slightly the further away she got. "One of my friends is coming along too."

Bruce nodded almost relieved that he knew someone before school even started. "That sounds great, thank you. I'll ask my mother."

Natasha nodded and smiled back. "Sure, see you later, Banner!"