DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter (or Marvel's the Avengers), because I'm sure if I did, that story would have been a bit different.
Chapter 2: Harry Goes to Malibu Part 1
It was Tuesday, the day Harry was to leave on his next trip. He knew this as he stood at the window, so he watched the outside world for a moment more. Then he got dressed and went out to the kitchen to begin cooking breakfast before he left for a few days. As he was finishing the cooking, he was Teddy come out to join him, and then beeline for him. He quickly put the dishes in the sink and hit them with a spell, causing them to clean themselves. Then he went and sat down at the table, where Teddy instantly sat in his lap. Then he made up a plate for both of them. He was use to his godson acting that way, because Teddy was very clingy and didn't like it when Harry left. So he was extra clingy right before he left, and right after his return.
About 30 minutes later, Tonks came out. Her hair wasn't its usually bright bubblegum pink, or spiky. It was a sandy brown, and was a total rat's nest, even though it wasn't all that long. Harry was worried immediately, because her hair only ever got like that when she was having a bad day, they all had them, or when she had had a bad night. So, he got up, carefully moving Teddy so he could finish eating and then moved to Tonks, and led her back down the hallway. Once there, he asked, as he always did when she was like this, "Are you ok?"
And just like always, she burst into sobs. Harry just let her sob on him, while he held her tight. He was good at comforting his friends, and they were good at comforting him, and one another. There were a few reasons that they didn't separate fully to live their lives. They all had bad days, some worse than others, and the others were all ready for them. It was the main reason that they were side by side in the apartments, and it was the main reason that most of them had roommates. Fred knew that if he was having a bad day, that he needed to go to one of the other apartments, they all had keys to all three apartments. They all knew each other's schedules and planned outings and such, so that if it was a crippling bad day, they would know what and who to call to apologize, and cancel. All of them were slowly getting better, and the days were not only getting better, but they were also starting to come less often as well.
She slowly calmed down, until she was calm enough to respond to him with a slightly snarky, "Are any of us really ok?"
Harry looked down at the girl in his arms and said gently, "If not yet, then we are definitely starting to get there.
She looked at him with some shock, but quickly came to the realization that he was in fact correct. So she said, "When do you leave?"
"Will you be ok if I leave? You and I both know that I would postpone the trip if you need me here." Her hair however was slowly untangling itself and shrinking more and becoming spiky and pink. So, when she nodded and gave him a look that said, you are leaving, he simply said, "My plane leaves at noon. So me being me, I'll leave here around 11."
Then they looked at the clock, and she said, "Then I guess you bet get going. I promise I will be fine, and I'll probably go hang with the girls, especially if it helps ease your mind." He nodded, and went to his room, to change shirts, and grab his bag. Then he went down to his car, where he found that Tonks had grabbed the rest of their little family unit type thing. So as he got into his car to go off to Malibu, all of them, somehow oddly in sync, said, "Good-bye."
POV Change (Harry's POV)
As I get to the airport and park my car, I think about how the search for other places for us to go to, isn't going as well as I had hoped. I had thought to get us out of the city, but all the smaller places I looked at, didn't have something. So while I'm having fun traveling and sightseeing, I think I'm going to finish my planned trips, which would take me to the month's end, then give it up. I have found quite a few places that will be great for vacations and the like once we all get settled in for real. I go through security in a daze, thinking about things, and life, but not allowing myself to think about my old life in another universe. As I get on the plane, I realize I have no recollection of my trip from my car to the plane. I move along until I find my seat anyway, and then I pull out my current book, and put my hold-all backpack under the seat. It has one pocket that is fully expanded, but the other 2, smaller pockets, where I keep my important stuff, are not.
When we started over in this new universe, I was out of it quite a bit. I had apparently been pushing my emotions aside and working on the problem of getting out of the old world. So Hermione, being the book lover she is, had introduced me to one of her favorite fiction stories. It was "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, and when I decided to travel, I packed it, and on the plane, pulled it out and started reading. I will be the first to admit, it took me two or three flights to finish, but when I finished "Alice" I found that "Through the Looking Glass" was the back part of the book, so I decided to read that as well. That took me a few more flights, then I asked her for more. I have to say, now I'm having a lot of fun reading fictional books. I've finished "The Hunger Games," "Catching Fire," and "Mockingjay" which were all written by Suzanne Collins and are a trilogy. Then I read the "Vampire Academy" series and the spin off series. The last book that I finished was "The Host," by Stephanie Meyers, and am now working on "Graceling" which was written by Kristin Cashore and am looking forward to reading "Bitterblue" and "Fire" which are companion pieces to "Graceling".
So I settle in for my flight, book in hand.
As we begin to land, I tear myself from the book, look around for a moment, and then turn back to the book, hoping to get to the end of the chapter, before I put it away to get off the plane. My timing seems perfect, because as I finish putting my book away, we finally stop and once I am ready to get off, we start getting off the plane. A few minutes later I walk up to the rental car stop, sign my prearranged agreement, and retrieve the keys. Then I go out to the car, and go to the hotel, where I check in, and drop off my backpack, and head out to get dinner.
Once I have eaten, I go back to the hotel, and go to bed, hoping to prevent the worst of the jet lag. When I wake at 8 local time the next morning, I am happy to see that for the most part, I have held off the jet lag. So I go out, and I find a quaint little coffee shop, put in my order and sit down. A couple of minutes later, a man walks in, and most everyone in the shop stops what they're doing, and stares at him, like the sheep in the wizarding world looked at me, when I was their hero. So I walk over and introduce myself, and invite him to sit with me, because there are no empty seats, and everyone else is in what I call "hero shock."
Then I go back to my table, and leave him to his decision. I find out the answer when a couple of minutes later, he walks over to my table, and sits. So I turn to him and say, "Hey, I'm Harry Potter."
He looks at me for a moment before he too introduces himself, "Hi, I'm Tony Stark. I'm surprised you didn't seem to recognize me."
I look at him for a moment in confusion, wondering why he would think I would know him, but in the end I respond with, "Well, I'm not from around here, so I haven't seen you around before I don't think."
Despite this, he still looks stunned and I realize I must have a questioning look on because he explains, "I'm famous and there aren't many people around anymore who don't know me."
I just sit there, and finally decide to say, "I don't watch much news, and I'm usually either back in New York, or traveling around, so I'm often times being a tourist, and not paying much attention to anything outside of my house." What I don't mention is that none of my little family, in any of our little apartments, have a T.V. so even if we did watch, we would be unable to.
Finally he asks me for my phone number, and when I tell him I don't have a phone, he asks me how long I'm in Malibu. Then he asks me to meet me here again tomorrow. The guy is interesting, so I say sure.
The rest of the day is spent sightseeing and looking at some of the less big city type feeling areas, but it still doesn't seem like the perfect place.
Then I return to my hotel room, where I order room service and once I eat, I go to bed.