A/N I do not own Avengers or Harry Potter.
This story is based off the first chapter of The Orphanage by CrystalIceSweet
This story is set after the first Avengers movie and goes off from the original storyline. I don't plan on adding age of ultron or the winter soldier into the plot, but you never know.
"But how can you be sure Ronald" Hermione stared crassly at the boy in question.
"I don't know Moines, it's just a feeling," Ronald whined back "now can we go down already! Lunch has already starting and the tots are gonna be gone if we don't hurry".
"Can you, just this once, stop thinking about food. This is important Ronald, so answer me yes or no."
"Oh lay off him Hermione. You what happens when Ron gets one of his feelings. Questioning won't get you anything more." Harry said to his incessant young friend, who admittedly he considered a sister. The girl glared at him, before turning and huffing off down the stairs.
Ron turned to Harry and smiled sheepishly at him in silent thanks. Harry shrugged, conveying a silent you're welcome, before closing his book and following the brunet girl to the mess hall.
"Ah yeah, no, not happening. Sorry" Tony Stark was entirely not sorry. Pepper knew exactly how well he dealt with children and here she was trying to send him off to a children's orphanage.
"Yes happening. Tony look I know how you feel about children, that's the problem, everyone knows. After your little stunt at the hospital you need to do some serious damage control." Her voice was a patient and unending wave of reason as Pepper Potts, once PA to one Tony Stark, and now CEO of Stark Industries, trailed after her boss.
"Hey the little brat had it coming." Tony was not pouting.
"I'm sure he did Tony, but the media didn't take it that way." Grabbing the man's arm she swung him around to face her.
"Pepper" he whined again leaning his back against his shoulders. His eyes pleading silently if there was anything, absolutely anything else he could do.
"Tony I know you have the impulse control of a five year old, but you know you have to do this. The orphanage is funded by the Maria Stark Foundation. The director," she tugged on his oil stained shirt to straighten it "was kind enough to ask you over for lunch. It will only be for two hours. You will go eat lunch with the kids, talk to a few, take some pictures, and then you can come home and immerse yourself in your robots and missiles and whatever else you have hidden away in your lab. Now go get changed and be out front to meet the car in twenty minutes, got it?" she raised a single eyebrow in Tony's direction.
The man groaned, but turned to comply.
"Did you hear that Jarvis. Complete and utter insubordination." Tony said seemingly to the ceiling.
Too true sir, but I find myself agreeing with miss Potts. Your actions at the Saint Mark's Children's Hospital have affected your public reputation quite negatively. If you do not employ some kind of damage control soon, it may affect Stark Industries stock price.
Behind him Pepper gave a triumphant smirk. Now that Jarvis agreed with her, it was almost as good as done that Tony would go. It saddened her slightly that Tony still trusted his AI more than her, even after years of looking after him. But what could she do, Tony would always be Tony.
Just as Tony returned from his, somewhat rushed, shower and clothing change, Steve walked in wearing a clean pair of jeans and a light blue shirt. He smiled easily at Pepper before clapping his hands in front of him.
"Thanks again for inviting me along. I have always loved kids. I was hoping to have some of my own before, you know, all this," Steve gestured to himself "it will be nice to meet a few without their mom's shoving them at me. So, uh, are we ready to go?" he asked.
"Wait you're coming too?" Tony looked incredulous. Steve blinked at him in confusion.
"Yeah didn't you ask me to come with you?" he glanced nervously between Pepper and Tony, worried he had just committed some kind of blunder.
"yes he did," Pepper cut off Tony with a smile "I just managed to get him out of his lab so his thoughts are still a bit fuzzy. The car is waiting for yo both in the garage downstairs. Please go on ahead of us, I just need to speak with Tony for a second." She finished still smiling.
Steve still looked uncomfortable, but shrugged and made his way to the elevator.
"Before you ask, yes I did ask Steve to go with you. Hopefully he will be able to help you out with the children. Now buck up, smile, and get a move on."
Tony stood before the woman, his mouth still open in an unasked question. He closed his mouth with a snap and a frown, he hated it when she did that. Well played Pepper, well played indeed.
Glaring at his ex-PA Tony stalked to the elevator, and didn't stop glaring until tied door closed behind him.
The building their car stopped in front of was old and falling apart at the seams.
One side of the roof was covered by rotten shingles while the other looked like a patchwork of boards. The window shutters didn't quite match, and one or two hung at an angle.
The only reason they knew they were in the right place was the old and faded wooden sign by the front path bearing the words St. Wool's Orphanage in dull green paint.
If this was the best the Maria Stark Foundation could do then Tony had quite a few things to say the person he left in charge of it. None of them were very good things either.
As Tony had expected, the press was already there.
They quickly flocked Tony and Steve.
"One at a time please, we have an appointment with the director of the orphanage in a few minutes" Tony called above the ruckus. The noise died down almost immediately.
" ," said a young looking woman holding out her phone as a recorder "do you have any comment on the state of this orphanage? It is said that it was entirely funded by your mother's foundation."
"yes I do" Tony said in a deliberate tone of voice "I may not be good at handling kids myself," he started out, better to be truthful, reporters could smell a lie "but they are the future of this world. No one deserves to grow up in situations like this. Rest assured I will be having words with the head of the Maria Stark Foundation to resolve this immediately. No more questions"
Using his hand as a knife, Tony parted the gaggle of reporters and lead Steve to the door of the orphanage.
"Wow" Steve whispered behind Tony once the door was closed.
"I know right. Reporters, they're worse than bloodhounds." Tony replied with a grin. Joking always helped Tony diffuse awkwardness, and right now he felt very award indeed. If the outside of the orphanage was a mess the inside was a dump. The railings on the staircase were worn and missing posts, the wallpaper didn't match from one wall to the next, the only surface clean of dust was the floor, and that was only in the middle of floor.
" " a quiet voice spoke from the men's left. Standing in the archway was a young woman wearing a pair of worn jeans and an old hand knitted sweater " thank you so much for coming. You have no idea what this means to us."
"Our pleasure miss..." Steve trailed off as he strode toward the girl his hand outstretched.
"Brown, Sarah Brown, and please just call me Sarah." She replied taking his hand and smiling "I volunteer here at the orphanage when I have the time. I mostly just help out with the kids but occasionally I help the director with some paperwork. He is waiting for you now up in his office, would you like me to show you the way?" she still hadn't released Steve's hand.
"Um yeah that would be great" Tony said drawing the girls attention back to himself. Blushing slightly, she dropped Steve's hand.
"Right this way then" she turned on her heel and scattered away down the corridor, her blush still visible by the redness of her ears.
Upstairs Ron dropped the pencil he had been playing with, he wasn't actually doing any work with it, he left that to Hermione and Harry.
"Its happening." Was all he said as he sat up.
"what, right now?" Hermione plopped her math book down on the desk. Harry just kept on feeding his book.
"Yeah. Whatever that feeling I had earlier was about, it happening right now."
"well that's just great" the brunet said as she scrambled to look out the window. Spotting the reporters waiting outside she said "now I wonder what that is about?"
"Tony Stark is visiting the orphanage today. Apparently this place was built by his Mother's Foundation, and he is checking up on it." Hermione turned to stare at Harry. Harry never knew what was going on outside of his books, he just didn't pay enough attention. Harry looked up at the sudden silence.
"What? The staff have been buzzing about it all week" appeased Hermione turned back to stare at the reporters.
"Why would he come here himself? Don't rich people usually send a proxy for these kinds of things?" she wondered aloud. Room just shrugged and turned back to the pencil he had dropped, he was trying to learn how to spin it on his thumb. He had seen one of the older boys do it, and now he desperately wanted to do it too. It looked fun.
"Probably for good press" Harry said, his nose back in his book "he failed his last attempt at St. Mark's Children's Hospital". Again Hermione and Ron turned to stare at the boy, and after a few moments of silence Harry once again looked up.
"What?" he asked looking incredulous.
"How do you know all of this? You've never paid any attention to something that wasn't a book before, and now suddenly you're an expert on everything Tony Stark?" Hermione stared accusingly at the raven haired boy.
"Tony Stark," Ron mumbled to himself "ain't that the name of the guy who wrote your book? To bad he's not here to adopt anyone"
"Yes. He is also a certified genius." Harry said closing his book and hopping of his bed "is it wrong of me to want to know about the man? Besides he's a great writer"
Hermione stared in silent consideration. Her nose scrunched up slightly, her eyebrows drew together, and her ears looked like they drew higher in her mass of bushy hair. Coming to a decision, she nodded.
"Yes or no, would it be safe for Harry to ask Mr. Stark to sign his book?" she asked Ron. Harry was surprised, if his face was anything to go by.
"Yes" Ron responded with milky eyes.
"Good. Grab your book Harry we're going downstairs, and you are getting your book signed." Knowing better than to question Hermione when she was like this Harry picked up his book, which almost the same height as he was, and scuttled after her.
Ron sat on his bed still in a slight daze, but he quickly broke out of it when Hermione called out behind her "Lunch time Ronald" and hurried after his friends.
Tony barely escaped with his life. At least that's how it felt.
After talking with the director of the orphanage for a good fifteen minutes, he and Steve were ushered into another room to play with the inhabitants of the orphanage.
After an unknown amount of time,Tony had managed to pass the child who had climbed up his body to hang on his back to Steve, and snuck into the hallway.
"Hi" Tony started, and swept his gaze around the hall. He thought he was alone when he remembered to look down. There at his feet was a young boy with bright red hair. The boy was looking at him expectantly while chewing on a piece of bread.
For a moment Tony just stared at the boy. The boy stared back, that same expectant look on his face.
"Hi" the boy didn't move for a moment, than simply raised an eyebrow.
"what's your name" Tony asked.
"Ron" the boy replied succinctly. Short and to the point, much better than the endless chatter the children he met previously had exuded. sighing Tony slumped to the floor near the boys eye level.
"I'm Tony" he told the boy, Ron. Before Ron could reply, another voice called his name sharply.
"Ronald, where did you wander off to" she was on the short side and had bushy honey colored hair that could barely pass for brunet in the dark light of the hall "I told you to stay close, we need to stick together remember". Ron did remember, a few months previous the McGuiness twins had wandered apart for a rare and spectacular moment. It just so happened a visiting family saw Lucy McGuiness and fell in love. Only Lucy had been adopted, leaving a distraught Max behind. After that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had agreed to stay by each other at all times.
"Sorry Hermione" Ron looked sheepish, and a little pale.
"Lay off Hermione," came a third voice "you know how he gets when he has one of his feelings". An even shorter raven haired boy stumbled his way over to the other two children, carrying a book almost as big as he was.
The girl huffed but did indeed lay off.
Turning to face Tony the girls demeanor changed, she smiled sweetly and said "Hello. Thank you very much for making this establishment, it is nice to finally meet you." Tony was momentarily stunned.
"Yeah, uh, no problem." Tony said, still seated on the floor of the hallway leaning against the wall.
"My name is Hermione, and this is Ronald and Harry. Tony's gaze traveled over each child as the girl named them, and stopped on the raven haired boy. Or more precisely the book the boy was carrying.
"Is that my book" Tony asked, his eyes comically wide. Why would a six year old have his MIT level engineering textbook?
"Yes," Harry said tilting the book in his arms so he could look at the cover "I haven't managed to finish it yet but it is quite interesting"
Tony's eyebrows rose further on his head.
"Do you even understand what you're reading?"
"of course," a frown spread across the boys face "what would be the point of reading it if I didn't understand it? The chapter on cold fusion was particularly fascinating. I made a lot of parallels between that and your work on that and your arc reactor technology".
Tony blinked.
"Okay," His eyebrows drew together in thought, and turning to the redhead he asked "could you pinch me? it doesn't have to be hard, just a little pinch right here". He held out his left forearm to the child, gesturing with his other hand to a small area of exposed skin.
"Um, yeah sure" nose scrunched in confusion, Ron reached out his hand slowly, just in case this was some kind of trick, before pinching the man and quickly drawing back his arm.
Tony gave a small yelp, his knees jerking up reflexisvely.
"right, not a dream," he whispered to himself "what was your name again?".
He knew genius, he was one in fact, but this level of intelligence was a totally new field.
"Just make it out to Harry. since i don't have a last name yet" the black haired child said with a shrug, holding out the book in his hands.
"Hm" What did that have to do with the kids name?
"He wants you to sign it" Tony blinked
"What?" he asked
"He wants you to sign his book. that's why we came to find you" Hermione repeated.
"oh, Oh" taking the offered book Tony drew a pen from a jacket pocket and signed his name in the cover of the book "so are all of you guys geniuses? Or are you just this guy's followers". He had meant it as a joke, one of the off handed comments he tended to make when uncomfortable, but Ron took him seriously.
"Hermione's a math wizard." The ginger said around the last bites of his bread.
"Really?"
"Yeah she can do really big math problems in her head, like really fast." He said swallowing.
"Not that big" Hermione mumbled
"Hmmm, how about this. What is 3213123213 divided by 565656?" he offered, still joking.
"5680.3485033306461877890449319021" Hermione replied in less than twelve seconds. Again Tony could only blink in reply.
Quickly trying and failing to recreate the question in his head Tony took out his Stark phone to check the brunet's math.
She was right.
Tony's stare switched from the phone in front of him the young girl, who couldn't be older than seven years old.
"And you?" he finally asked Ron, almost scared to know the answer.
"I'm not smart" Ron said at the same time Harry said
"He gets Feelings".
"Feelings?"
"Yeah, he can tell when something's gonna happen, and if you ask him a yes or no question he is always right."
"Really" Tony said some breathless. Then he frowned, if what they were saying was true these kids would grow up to be very important, if the wrong people knew about them they could be in danger.
Guessing what Tony was thinking Hermione quickly said "We asked Ron if it was safe to tell you, he said yes. We don't just go about telling everyone you know".
"We always trust Ron with the things" Harry said.
"Of course you do" Tony muttered to himself.
It was at this moment that Steve made his reappearance. He stepped out of the room where he had been playing with the orphanages resident children after noticing the district lack of Tony.
"Tony" he called into the hallway, fully prepared to find him and drag him back to face the kids inside, and almost tripped over the man in question.
"Whoops, there you are Tony. Where the he, oh" Steve cut off mid sentence, noticing the three children standing before the inventor "hello there" he said with a sheepish smile not unlike the one Ron had given Hermione earlier.
"Hello" the three choruses in exact unison, a skill born from lots of practice.
Tony watched as Steve's discomfort melted into a pile of goo, along with Steve. He continued to watch as Steve plopped down on the floor beside Tony, and went about introducing himself.
Remembering Steve's earlier comment about always wanting kids, an idea sprang to the forefront of Tony's mind. It could work, I mean one of them was a genius, another was a human calculator, and the third had 'feelings'. Okay he wasn't too sure about that last one, but it could still work. Spinning variables through his mind for a few more moments Tony decided.
"Right" he said, pushing himself to his feet and startling Steve and the trio.
"Is it time to leave?" Steve didn't want to go yet, it was fun talking with the kids here. No pressure or politics just playmates.
"Nope just made a decision, you guys stay here I'll be right back, just gotta take care of some paperwork" with that Tony strode off towards the director's office, a Cheshire grin etched into his face.
"You adopted us?" Hermione didn't believe it. Now it was her turn to stare incredulous at the man before them. Three seconds later she turned to Ron.
"You said he wasn't here to adopt anyone?" she accused the ginger.
"Hey, it wasn't a yes or no question, I just said it" came Ron's indignant reply, though slightly muffled by the new slice of toast in his mouth.
The two new siblings snapped away at each other while the two adults watched on. Well one adult was watching the first. Steve wanted to comment on Tony's newest ridiculous endeavor, but found he couldn't. He was tired of Tony attempting the ridiculous and if his project gave these kids a decent adventure, no matter the time limit, he was willing to let it pass. Not that he wasn't going to be watching them every minute. I mean it was Stark anything could go wrong.
Harry stared at Tony for a minute, trying to judge his intentions, but remembering Ron's assessment of him being 'safe', he turned back to watching his siblings squabble.
Tony was just excited. He was excited by having kids, he was excited for what he could teach them, he was excited to see Bruce's reaction to Harry, and especially excited to see Fury's reaction to all this.
He really would have to thank Pepper for sending him out to do this...
Oh shit...Pepper
A/N I hope you all liked this first chapter. This is pretty much CrystalIceSweet's story written in my own words, so all credit for the ideas in this chapter go to them. I plan to differentiate from their story in the next chapter so please don't hate me for copying.
CrystalIceSweet I hope you enjoy this!