Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, not me. All characters and plot that are in her books are hers. All characters and plot that are in the MARVEL movies are MARVEL's, not mine.

Chapter One - Esra Stark

"Test three hundred and thirty one." Esra Stark said into the camera in front of him, "Time: Five fifteen AM."

The child genius stepped back to reveal something that looked somewhat like an arc reactor. Except for the fact that it wasn't glowing blue. It wasn't glowing any color at all, in fact. It was just sitting there, on the counter, lifeless, hooked up to a nearby mechanism as if someone had tried to save it's life.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., fire it up." Esra commanded.

"One percent power." The A.I. replied. Nothing happened. Esra seemed to deflate a little.

"More."

"Five percent power."

Nada.

"Keep on going."

"Twenty percent power."

"Fourty."

"Sixty."

"Eighty percent power."

Finally, the arc reactor sparked a bit of blue, but it quickly went away.

"More."

"One hundred percent power."

This time, the reactor glowed, put stopped glowing every few seconds. Esra peered closer at it.

"Well, it's an improvement."

"Test three hundred and thirty three. Time: Ten o'clock PM." Esra announced, looking a bit tired. Two faint dark rings had made their way under his eyes.

"One-" J.A.R.V.I.S. started, but the boy cut him off.

"Just go all the way. Full power." Esra said.

"Are you-"

"Yes, I'm sure, J.A.R.V.I.S." Esra said, a bit exasperatedly, running a hand through his black hair.

"One hundred percent power."

BOOM.

Tony Stark awoke to a loud BOOM that seemed to shake his bed. He scrambled, up rubbing his eyes to attempt to get the grogginess away.

"Tony?" Came Pepper's voice from behind him. He turned to see his wife sitting up in bed, looking concerned, "What was that?"

"J.A.R.V.I.S.?" Tony asked, not sure.

"Just a malfunction downstairs, sir, nothing to worr-"

J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice petered out as Tony dashed out of the room.

""It's nothing to worry about, Mrs. Stark." J.A.R.V.I.S. said to Pepper, "I took care of it."

Downstairs, Tony burst into his workshop to see - his workshop completely fine? In fact, more clean than he'd left it last night? The countertop not a mess? Clean, even? What?

"As I was trying to tell you, sir, I took care of it." J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

"Great." Tony murmured, before going back upstairs and collapsing on his bed, asleep.

In Esra's room…

"Whew." Esra whispered, wincing as he turned over in his bed and revealing thousands of pieces of glass embedded in his skin, "Er- J.A.R.V.I.S?"

"On it."

"Test three hundred and fifty five. Time: Twelve thirty two AM." Esra Stark said into the camera. This time, there was obvious rings under his eyes. He swayed on his feet a bit.

"I think you should go to bed, young sir." J.A.R.V.I.S. said, sounding very concerned for a non - human, "You've been awake for sixty three hours and fifty six minutes. The odds of you falling asleep while a test is going on is -"

"Never give me the odds." Esra announced, steading himself, "One last test. And remember, J.A.R.V.I.S., no telling. I want this to be a surprise for my dad's birthday."

"In all due respect, sir, you said the same thing last year."

Esra waved his hand at the camera, looking away.

"It'll happen this year, I'm sure of it." He said with confidence, "Let's go."

"One percent power."

A fiz of blue light - before it went out, snuffed like a candle.

"Five percent power."

Dim blue light filled the reactor, faltering a bit.

"Ten percent power."

This time, the dim blue light stayed on.

"Twenty percent power."

The blue light became less dim, and Esra looked at the creation with newfound hope.

"Go all the way, J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Are you sure, sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked, "Do you remember test three hundred and thirty three? Mr. and Mrs. Stark awoke. You were almost caught. You had one thousand and twenty three shards embedded into your skin."

"But I wasn't caught." Esra replied, ignoring the last bit with a wince and strapping goggles onto his head, "And of course I remember. It's my new least favorite number. Now let's go."

"One hundred percent power."

There was a whoosh and the arc reactor glowed bright blue, emitting a humming sound. It lit up the whole room with it's light, shining on the face of it's creator. Esra dropped the papers he had picked up and rushed over to it.

"This is it." He announced, touching the reactor with a trembling hand.

He then collapsed, unconscious, his eyelids shutting.

"Oh dear." J.A.R.V.I.S. said, "Well, I tried to tell him."