Chapter 1: To New York
"I thought America was sunnier than this," Aries Malfoy, previously known as Addison Potter, commented, stepping out of the International Wizarding Portkey Point.
Lucius Malfoy looked at his youngest, amusement glinting in his molten silver eyes. "It rains here too, Aries- not just in England," he said. "Come, your brother is waiting for us."
Pouting, the seventeen-year-old hurried after the blonde Lord.
Though they were in a quieter part of the city, Aries could already feel the tell-tale signs that New York was always alive and buzzing just from the endless stream of cars swerving past and the civilians striding, cycling, running past. It made her magic tingle with excitement, as her core tapped into her emotions despite the fact she had visited before. The only dampener was the rain they had arrived to; no pun intended.
"Finally," Draco snapped irritably as they reached the agreed drop off point. "You took your time."
"Draco." Lucius's voice was edged with hard warning that made the twenty-year-old sigh and run a hand through his platinum blonde hair.
"Sorry," he apologised. "But work's just been really stressful at the moment."
"Next time don't take it out on your sister and I," Lucius forewarned, before letting the matter drop.
"Yes Father," Draco murmured, before turning to his younger sister, a smile forming on his face. Taking this as her moment to jump in, Aries leapt forward into a hug; not for the first time Draco was glad for his training- the girl really could throw herself hard. "Hello short stuff."
Aries pulled back glaring. "I'm not that short. You're just freakishly tall."
That was an exaggeration and they both knew it. Draco was only 6ft 3, an inch shorter than their father, whist Aries stood at her sad 5ft 4. It was easy to say that Aries hadn't inherited her parents' tall genes.
Draco ruffled her hair. "Whatever you say." He turned back to their father. "I take it you're leaving now?"
"Don't sound too pleased," Lucius drawled. "But yes, your mother wishes to leave as soon as possible. The house elves will be bringing over Aries's things."
Draco nodded, whilst Aries stepped forward to hug her father goodbye. Farewells were exchanged before Lucius walked off, leaving Draco and Aries to Disapparate to the penthouse the Malfoy heir had acquired for himself when he first moved to New York.
Aries let go of Draco's hand once they made impact with the penthouse floor, and looked around at the public room. It was much the same as when she had last visited though not the same as the first time she had played guest to her brother's 'humble' abode. It turned out the poor boy hadn't had the time to decorate it according to taste and so Aries and her mother Narcissa had taken it into their own hands and redecorated the entire penthouse. The mother and daughter had been very pleased with their work and threatened Draco with bodily harm if he even dared change a thing. The Malfoy heir had very quickly agreed to do as he was told.
A beeping noise flashed from the weird watch thing on Draco's wrist, making him curse.
"Shit," he swore. "I'm sorry Aries- duty calls."
The girl let out a long suffering sigh. "Fine. Leave your dear sister who you only found three years ago to the mercy of New York."
"Brat," Draco said, shaking his head. "I don't know when I'll be back- don't wait up."
Aries nodded and watched as her elder brother Apparated away.
The ex-Potter walked into the private sitting room and flopped down onto the dark leather sofa, waving away the house elf that had come to attend to her needs. Staring out the window, across the city, she fell into deep musing.
A lot had changed over the past three years, primarily discovering she was in fact a Malfoy.
As the story went, or at least what they could convene, was that Dumbledore had stolen her as a newborn from the intensive care unit in St Mungo's and fed her a bunch of potions that turned her into Harry Potter's twin; Addison Lily Potter. All of which was extremely dangerous and had a high probability of killing her. When Voldemort offed her new parents and then Harry offed Voldemort, Aries had been placed in the care of Severus Snape whilst Harry was packed off to the muggle world.
Aries had never been all that close to Harry due to the eleven years apart, and then her sorting into Slytherin as well as being the ward of a man he hated with all of his being. There was also the small jealousy that she did not have to suffer the Dursleys like he did and got to grow up with magic. But they had had their good moments and Harry was always ready to murder anybody who had hurt her. It was difficult when they learnt the truth but the two remained on good terms, for that Aries was grateful.
The various potions, enchantments and glamour wore off on her seventeenth birthday and to say Severus Snape was shocked that his adopted daughter was actually his presumed-dead goddaughter was an understatement. The days that followed were spent cursing Dumbledore's name with the Malfoys, family bonding, a little more cursing the old dead coot, erasing a few memories so that she wouldn't be too bored reliving her 4th, 5th and 6th year at Hogwarts and cursing the colour-blind fool some more. There was of course the small matter of telling Harry but that went quickly.
And now she had graduated from Hogwarts, the war was over, Draco moved to America to work for an organization called S.H.I.E.L.D, she was being shipped off to live with him despite being of age and her parents were taking a year off just the two of them, although not necessarily in that order.
After twenty minutes of just sitting, she was bored. So horribly, horribly bored.
Aries knew she wasn't technically allowed to wander off by herself and Lucius and Draco would most likely throw a fit if she did. But she was of age and she never did care much for rules anyway… Decision made, she called for a house elf, or in other words Kreacher, whom Harry had gifted to her the second the creepy elf had taken a liking to her.
Kreacher bowed low, his batty ears sweeping the floor. "Yes Miss Aries?"
"Just a small thing, if that's alright?"
Kreacher nodded his head frantically. "Of course Miss Aries."
"If Master Draco gets home before me, can you tell him I just went out for a bit?" Aries asked.
"Yes Miss Aries," Kreacher said.
"Thank you Kreacher," Aries smiled. "You're dismissed."
Kreacher bowed low again before disappearing with a loud CRACK. She really had to thank Harry later for making sure the contract he had forged between herself and Kreacher meant that the elf didn't answer to her parents nor Draco. It made breaking rules so much easier.
Satisfied she had done all that was needed of her, she strolled out of the penthouse- looking forward to the adventure that lay ahead of her.
.
A hundred shops, a museum, an art gallery and gate-crashing an opening ceremony later, Aries found herself bored and just a little bit lost. Although being lost didn't really matter, that was what magic was for. Suddenly, she ran into something solid, hard, and slightly soft. Falling backwards, she cursed in the most ladylike way she could. She looked up and saw a man in a suit who looked about 45 and was carrying what looked a little like a folder.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he apologised, holding out a hand to help her up.
Gratefully taking the hand, she smiled. "More my fault really." Straightening herself she held out her hand, "Aries."
"Phil," the man said, shaking it. "If you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."
Aries nodded, and as the man took off at a walk, she followed. It took a few moments for Phil to realise he was being accompanied. He frowned at her and she shrugged back.
"What? I'm bored and you seem like a nice ticket to entertainment," she explained.
Phil looked like he was about to protest for a moment before a resigned look fell across his face. "You're going to come with me anyway, aren't you?"
"Yep."
Shaking his head, he sighed. "Fine."
Aries grinned and skipped alongside him as he continued at a fast pace. They turned a few block, growing nearer and nearer to Stark Tower, which she was 80% sure they were heading towards. Vaguely she wondered if Tony Stark was home. Draco had warned her about him and said if she was ever to come across him in New York then to turn around and walk in the opposite direction. So, naturally, she was going to make it her life mission to meet him; if only to see what was so dangerous.
"So Phil," she said. "You look important, got a nice suit and a weird folder type thing; whatever possessed you to walk four blocks to Stark Tower when you could've just pulled up right outside?"
"What?"
She frowned. "Am I wrong with Stark Tower?"
"No, you are correct," Phil said, eyeing her almost warily. "Just how did you know?"
"It's the only thing of importance in the area," she said airily, skipping the fact she had read his surface thoughts when they made eye contact a few minutes earlier. "The rest is basically bakeries and coffee shops." She paused. "So?"
"A car, especially mine, is more attention seeking than walking into the building from afar," Phil answered. "That is why."
Aries nodded and had a sneaky suspicion she knew which Phil she was talking to but kept her thoughts to herself. She didn't want to alarm the poor man at her sudden knowledge and it would probably get her taken out and then Draco would be seriously pissed. Especially considering Phil was (if she was correct) his co-worker.
"Do you think Mr Stark's home?" she asked.
"I have a relatively good reason to believe so," Phil answered. "Why?"
"My brother told me that if I was ever to see him then I was to turn around and walk the other way," Aries said truthfully. "So, naturally, I want to meet him."
Phil shook his head and they continued in silence.
.
The lift doors opened, allowing Phil and Aries to step into sight just as Tony Stark and a woman Phil had informed her would be called Pepper Potts, to turn round, each nursing glasses of champagne.
"Security breach!" Tony called.
"Mr Stark," Phil acknowledged.
"Phil," Pepper said, smiling.
"Phil?" Tony commented, looking put out. "His first name is Agent."
Pepper ignored him and continued, looking at Aries, "And you must be…?"
"A random girl who chose to follow him," Aries replied. "But you can call me Aries."
Phil rolled his eyes, a bemused smile forming on his face, already having grown used to the pureblood's antics in the short walk there.
"Pepper," the woman said. "Come on in, we're celebrating."
"Which is why they can't stay," Tony muttered, walking over to evidently his girlfriend, who had already neared them.
Aries eyed him and said in a manner that certainly did not get her into Slytherin, "What's so dangerous about you then?"
Phil and Pepper just about stifled their laughs as Tony opened and closed his mouth indignantly for a few moments before finally finding his voice.
"Who told you I was dangerous?" he asked.
"No-one," Aries said. "My brother just told me to avoid you at all costs."
"Why are you here then?"
"Because I was bored and Phil seemed to up to something interesting so I followed." She paused and then added, "And I don't like following rules."
Tony paused. "I like you kid," he decided bluntly.
"We need you to look this over," Phil interrupted, holding out the folder thingy. "As soon as possible."
Tony looked at it but made no move to take it. "I don't like to be handed things."
"That's alright because I love to be handed things," Pepper said. "So let's trade." She took the thing whilst handing Phil her glass, before handing it to Tony, taking his glass at the same time. She took a sip before saying, "Thank you."
"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday," Tony informed them, still trying to put off the inevitable, which Aries wasn't entirely what it was.
"This isn't a consultation," Phil said, his expression still grave.
"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asked before suddenly realising she had made a mistake before awkwardly adding on the end, "Which I…I know nothing about."
"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped," Tony said, walking over to a technology covered sideboard. "I thought, and I didn't even qualify anyway."
"I didn't know that either," Pepper inputted.
"Yeah," Tony said, unfolding the folder thing which turned out to be a type of tablet and Aries's eyes watched; whilst she still couldn't necessarily name all of the muggle technology she had found herself quite a talent in it and was always eager to see how more worked. "Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed and don't play well with others?"
"That I did know," Pepper muttered, making the corner of Aries's mouth twitch.
"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Phil said; Aries noted that the poor man was quite desperate.
"Whatever," Tony muttered, "Miss Potts, got a minute?"
Pepper excused herself and padded over to the billionaire, leaving Phil and Aries to their own devices in the entrance to the room. Aries rocked back and forth on her heels.
"I still don't see why I was told to avoid him," she said quietly, allowing the two to have their private moment. She glanced sideways at Phil. "Correct me if I'm wrong and all, and sorry if I am, but are you…"
She trailed off as her eyes locked on to footage of her brother taking down a group of men in black outfits that she personally thought made them look rather foreboding and idiotic; a little like Crabbe and Goyle. But what in the name of Merlin's saggy behind was her brother doing on that computer/hologram thing?!
"What is my brother doing on that thing?" she asked, walking forwards, her eyes staring at the footage before her, absently zooming in on it.
"Your brother?" Tony frowned, looking away from the blue cube.
"Yes, the blonde one who looks a little like me," Aries said impatiently, reading through the text besides it. "But that doesn't explain what he's doing on this."
Phil stepped forward looking nervous, "Aries, what do you know of your brother's job?"
"He's an agent for S.H.I.E.L.D," Aries explained, irritation creeping up behind her usually cheerful personality. "Was recruited after the war, when a scout spotted him taking down a rogue Death Eater that tried to kill me." She turned to him. "And if I'm right, you're Phil Coulson his handler and co-worker."
"Death Eater?" Pepper questioned.
"The Dark Lord's supporters," Aries huffed. "But what…"
"Dark Lord?" Tony interrupted.
"It's complicated…"
"Then simplify it," Ton argued.
Aries lost all patience and light bulbs across the room made to shatter as she seethed through her teeth in a way she learnt from her deceased godfather, "Is anyone going to tell me what in the name of Morgana's left nipple my brother is doing on that infernal muggle device?"
They all jumped as the glass exploded and showered to the ground. Aries's eyes widened and she desperately clawed back in her frustration; she hadn't lost control of her magic like that in a while and it always frightened her when she did because when it did become unleashed it often caused a hell of a lot of destruction. The glade in the Forbidden Forest held testament to that.
"Sorry," she muttered quietly, her hands shaking slightly. She shoved them under her arms in attempt to hide the fact they were doing so, flicking a finger to fix the lights.
"Don't worry about it," Tony mumbled.
"You are correct in all that you say," Phil said carefully. "And the reason your brother's file is on the computer, is because he has been selected to be part of the Avengers. The Avengers Initiative is a group of, superheroes if you like, that has been designed to take down powerful threats such as extra-terrestrials. Such a threat has come along, and as such, the Avengers are being called in."
Aries was perfectly still for a very long time, and the rest of the group watched her silently and apprehensively. Eventually she spoke, and it was a soft tone they had yet to hear from her.
"Is that why my brother was called in this morning?" she asked.
"Yes," Phil nodded.
Aries paused before saying, a little louder than before, "Kreacher?"
A loud crack startled the others as the house elf appeared, making Pepper stifle a shriek and Tony examine him, intrigued by the new creature before him. The elf bowed low, wringing his hands.
"Miss Aries, Master Draco came home," Kreacher said, panicking slightly. "Kreacher did as Miss Aries said." He looked up at her with bulbous eyes. "Miss Aries in trouble! Master Draco very mad that Miss Aries left."
"It's okay Kreacher," Aries assured her house elf. "Do you know where Master Draco is now?"
"No Miss Aries," Kreacher said remorsefully. "Master Draco ran off, muttering about annoying wayward sisters."
Aries cracked a smile. "Thank you Kreacher, you may go."
Kreacher bowed before leaving in the same manner he arrived. The other three occupants of the room were staring at the place he had been.
"What was that?" Pepper asked in a faint voice.
Aries looked up. "My house elf."
"A house elf?" Tony asked, looking almost delighted at the prospect of something else to study.
"A magical creature," Aries answered. "That's bound to serve a witch or wizard forever unless they are presented with clothes or the bond is transferred to someone else."
Pepper nodded, before kissing Tony on the cheek, whilst putting down her glass. "I'm flying to D.C tonight. You have homework- a lot." She nodded to the two guests. "Phil, Aries, it was nice meeting you."
They watched as the woman left, her hips sashaying left to right as she walked. Phil pulled out his phone and quickly text something.
"Aries, I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me," Phil said. Aries nodded, having already guessed this to be the case. Phil inclined his head towards Tony. "Mr Stark."
Phil strolled towards the lift, and Aries hurried after him, flashing a quick, small smile at Tony, before following him inside the metal moving box. The doors slid closed and Aries withdrew into herself. Time to prepare for angry brothers.
She sighed. It had been a long day.
A/N- I thought it was about time I published this. This is the first chapter (obviously) and there are two more that I've written, and then there's just the final chapter that I need to write. I hope anyone who is bothering to read it, likes it and yeah...
-HazelVex
