**This Chapter has been revised!**
SUMMARY: After a life of war and adventure, all she wanted to do was live a fairly quiet life running her little café and avoid inquiries on future children from Mrs. Weasley. She didn't expect Tony Stark to wander his way into her life and decide to never leave. FEM!Harry/Tony Stark
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Blackdog
Chapter Two
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"I can't believe he stole my blanket!"
Alex rolled her eyes, sitting there on the park bench watching her pseudo big sister and boss slowly try to work herself into a conniption over the fact that Tony Stark ran off with her favorite blanket a few hours ago.
"Would you give it a rest already?" she griped, absently petting Bayer's head when the dog came over to rest it on her knee. "It's just a stupid blanket. It's not like you're married to the damned thing. Now, throw the damned ball before your dog drools all over me," she said, grimacing at the feeling of dog drool seeping through her pants making for even more of an odd feeling due to the cold. Heating charms only did so much.
Helen gave her a hurt look but threw the rubber squeaky-ball in her hands out to the snow covered grass of the local park. Bayer immediately perked up and barreled after it happily nearly mowing over some poor woman in the process. Helen winced at the scathing glare she got, mentally noting to watch where she was throwing from then on.
"It wasn't just any stupid blanket, Kitty!" Helen protested, sitting down next to the younger woman. "It was the one that Mrs. Weasley made me. You know, the one made with that fuzzy rainbow yarn? That stupid thing has gone all over the world with me. It's like my good luck charm!" Helen despaired as Bayer came bounding back with his ball, depositing the drool covered object in her lap for her to throw again.
"Why not wait and see if he brings it backbefore you start forming the posse to hunt him down and lynch him, huh?" Alex said as Helen threw the ball for Bayer again. "It's only been a few hours after all. A busy man like Stark can't just drop everything to satisfy just one person, even if it is you."
"He could have sent a gopher," Helen muttered. "I'm sure he's got plenty of those."
Alex sighed. "Dude, you've got way bigger fish to fry than obsessing over Tony Stark having an illicit love affair with your blanket. You do remember that Andy has all but demanded that you attend the Foundation's Charity Gala at the end of March right? Shouldn't you be focusing on how to talk your way out of it? Or finding a damned dress if you can't?"
"Merlin, why did you have to bring that up?" Helen whined, throwing Bayer's ball for the third time.
Every time something like this came up, she seriously regretted giving Andromeda the go-ahead for creating the Black Foundation. It had been a good idea at the time, operating as a means to provide aide to people magical or muggle all over the world after the War and the Foundation quickly became quite influential in both worlds.
What Helen had forgotten was that Andromeda Black was a Pureblood at heart and loved to organize social functions. She also loved to strong-arm Helen into attending those functions. Normally Helen was skilled at talking her way out of them, but ever since she had gotten her official invitation she had a sinking suspicion that she wouldn't be able to get out of it this time.
"Because I like torturing you," Alex chirped happily.
"Don't you have classes to be late to?" Helen said scathingly. Alex's eyes widened and she quickly looked at the time on her cell phone.
"Shit!" she shrieked, jumping up. "If I'm late again, Dr. Pulaski is going to kill me!" She snatched her bag off the ground and took off.
Helen chuckled to herself as she watched the blonde run off. The kid had the foundations of being a fantastic Cursebreaker, but she had decided to follow Helen and the others to New York anyway, citing that they were the only ones that ever "gave a shit" and that she wanted to pursue a degree in Linguistics.
Alex's addition to the team actually started with Neville Longbottom of all people. Alexandra Haxley was Neville's American cousin, the daughter of his father's older sister. And, like Neville, the family had thought Alex a squib for the longest time until she got accepted into Salem. But, unlike Neville, she didn't resort to being timid. The girl became a hellion instead and channeled her frustrations into pissing people off and getting herself willingly into an inordinate amount of trouble.
Neville stepped up as the Head of his House and took his cousin in when the girl's father finally disowned her and kicked her out of the house for being such a menace.
He made a desperate plea to Helen to help when the seventeen-year-old got herself arrested by muggle police. Helen had been extremely apprehensive about bringing someone so rebellious onto her team of Cursebreakers knowing that someone could easily die in their line of work by being an idiot. But, Neville had begged and so she reluctantly allowed the seventeen-year-old on as an Intern while they were studying ruins in Bolivia, South America, going there with the cover as muggle relief aid workers with the Black Foundation.
They had all seen the girl's potential with Linguistics almost immediately but it took one giant cluster fuck of a situation with a traveling doctor they teamed up with for a bit, everyone nearly dying, and a sudden evacuation out of the country for the kid to finally open up to everyone.
She'd been like everyone's annoying little sister ever since.
Helen looked down at her dog, smiling at the curious expression he was giving her made even more humorous by the squeaky ball in his mouth. "What do you say we head on home and get some lunch, big guy?" she said, petting his head as she stood up. She reattached the Great Dane's leash and the two slowly made the trek back to the café through the late-October chill.
She was surprised to find a rather large crowd of people in the café when she returned, all eyes on the televisions hanging from the walls. They were all on the same news channel and the volume had been turned up so everyone could hear. She had to shove her way inside around people and tables, making room for Bayer to navigate to his dog pillow before she tapped the nearest person on the shoulder.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Dude! It's all over the news!" the guy cried excitedly. "Those Avengers guys are on the TV! They're in Chicago fighting a swarm of rabid man-eating bugs! It's awesome!"
"What?" she blurted in horror.
She didn't know how that was even possible. Stark was in this very place not four hours ago! Helen turned her gazed to one of the televisions streaming the live feed from Chicago. She watched with morbid fascination, unable to tear her gaze away from the red and gold figure zooming through the Chicago skyline, tearing its way through a swarm of the hideous bug things.
First he shows up in her café looking all lost and pathetic, then he steals her favorite blanket, and now he makes her worry about him while battling giant mutant wasp-monsters?
Tony Stark was officially the world's biggest jerk.
FIN