Disclaimer: I don't own any of it.

Warning: HP/TS

Edited: 11/23/14

Chapter 3

"What are you doing here?" he asked curiously, before remembering how Tony had sounded as if he was asking Harry out on a date earlier on the phone. Tony seemed to have been planning a date and hadn't even asked him properly! Rude! But then, of course, Harry had hung up on him after saying some pretty rude things. So they were even, somewhat.

"I'm here to take you out to dinner at a place that doesn't cook 'plain' food. And I need you to get out the suit. I'll even help you put it on," Tony leered, wiggling his eyebrows. Harry snorted before he could help it, and waved the muggle in. He pretended to not notice the way he felt Tony's eyes on his backside, and walked toward his kitchen again.

"And if I don't really want to go out for dinner, or wear a suit?" Harry asked with a straight face. Tony rolled his eyes and stepped closer to the wizard, towering over the short man.

"If this is you trying to tear us apart again, like you did on the phone, I'm not listening to a word you say, and if I have to force you into a suit, then fine, I'm all for it." This time, it was Harry who rolled his eyes.

"This isn't me trying to tear us apart again. This is me, offering to make you dinner. And then I'll tear us apart, because you'll be too lost in heaven from my cooking to realize what I've done. So get in there and wait for me to bring in food." Harry knew he was being bipolar, and making a huge mistake concerning Nick Fury and his plans, but for once, he just wanted to do what his heart wanted, not what his brain wanted. And even if Harry fought for Fury, he would be fighting with Tony, which would make it somewhat better. So really, being with Tony wasn't completely a bad thing.

Surprise shone on Tony's face, but he allowed himself to be sat at the table in the kitchen. Harry usually (always) ate by himself, so the table was small, with only enough room for four people, and not four comfortable people, either. But Tony didn't mention anything about it, despite the fact that he probably ate off much better than Harry's old table. That alone endeared Harry to him even more. Rich kids could be such snobs, but it obviously wasn't such a big deal with Tony.

"So why do you live here?" Tony asked as Harry got started on cooking dinner. The green-eyed man looked up in surprise. He wasn't sure what Tony was asking.

"Uh, why wouldn't I live here?" he asked slowly, not sure what was running through the genius' mind. Maybe Tony was a little bit of a snob after all.

"This apartment is small and there's only a couple rooms in this whole place. You mentioned before that you didn't make software for the money aspect, so I assumed it was because you already had some. Lots of it, from some of the objects laying about." Harry looked around his room and saw how the muggle might come to that conclusion.

"Yeah, I inherited a lot of money, so I don't really need to work, or live here, but it's a nice place, and I like having something to do all day. It beats sitting around and doing nothing forever." Harry gave a sharp laugh as he cut some vegetables. He'd tried that route once in England, and he never wanted to go back to it. There was too much free time to think about all of the dead people he'd known and loved, and the thought of him sitting there like a rich snob made him sick, so he'd gotten off his butt and done something, just to keep his mind off the dead.

"Me too, actually," Tony murmured thoughtfully, looking in the distance. He had a thoughtful look on his face. "I inherited this business from my dad when he died a while ago. Not that I regret his death. I feel like it was a great way for him to go." Harry frowned. How could your own father have any 'great way' to die? Maybe it was a military death, or something of the like. Harry wanted to smack himself for not paying closer attention to Tony's family information when he'd looked up everything about the man in front of him. Obviously, he hadn't looked hard enough.

Tony answered his unspoken question easily, saying, "He died in a car crash. I think it was the happiest day of my life," Tony admitted, looking nonchalant. Harry wanted to be angry at him, to yell that not everybody had a father at all, and those who did should be thankful for them, but then he thought about his own past. Would he really regret it if his relatives died in a car crash? No, he probably wouldn't rejoice it, but he wouldn't miss them, or even grieve for them. They weren't his family, and they didn't mean much to him. Maybe Tony's dad was like Harry's uncle.

"I don't know if I can understand perfectly how you feel," Harry said slowly, thinking over his words carefully. "But I do know that if my relatives died today, I wouldn't much care. Maybe a little, but not enough to mourn for them. They raised me, and I wish they hadn't," was all Harry decided to share as he got back to cooking.

Harry felt Tony's surprised eyes staring at the back of his head, probably not used to someone who actually related to him about his dad instead of judging him harshly. Tony spoke after a moment, "Pepper used to tell me that no matter what my father did to me, I should just forgive him for everything because he died, and that I should respect him. I don't know why she would say that, because people don't change even after dying, but she did, and I always wished she had just nodded and said, 'I understand. I don't blame you,' but she never said anything like that, she just judged me. After a while, I stopped bringing him up in our conversations because I didn't like how she looked at me after them." Tony didn't look sad, but curious as he watched Harry bring food over to the table.

"You, on the other hand," Tony continued, his voice seeming to lighten, "instantly took what I said and didn't judge me. You took it like you understood me." He took a small breath before turning silly. "Where have you been all my life? I need you to be like this all the time!" Seeing that Tony wanted to move from a serious subject to a more joking one, Harry obliged, and began talking about some of the funnier things in his life. There weren't many, but they were funny enough to make Tony laugh.

As they ate the delicious food, Harry's rational side argued against keeping Tony so close. Fighting for a misguided leader was not on Harry's bucket list (or if it were, it had been fulfilled years ago), but falling in love with a wonderful man who loved him back was definitely at the top of the list. Tony could be that person in his future, and if Harry didn't at least give him a chance, then Harry might lose someone who could understand him and love him because of his own fear and paranoia! What should he do?

At the end of dinner, Harry looked over at Tony, who was grinning happily. Obviously the man was pleased with the night, and was probably hoping for a bit more than a door slammed in his face. Harry almost let out that he'd let Tony stay longer, but the thought of Fury stopped all those thoughts from going anywhere. Finally, Harry sighed and stood up, turning to the door.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but I don't think I could handle another commander, or any more fighting than I already have done. I really think we should stop seeing each other for good, because I don't think I can refuse you for much longer." These words made Tony, who had previously been frowning and moving closer slowly, smirk and pull Harry into his muscled arms. Harry closed his eyes and refused to let himself take a whiff of the heavenly smell that emanated manly protection from the older man.

"What's so bad about being with me?" Tony asked, leaning down to try and catch Harry's lips, but Harry turned away each time. "I think I'm a wonderful catch." Harry let out a weak laugh, wishing that he could just say 'screw you, Fury!' and let Tony sweep him away, but knew that the closer he was to Fury, the more control the man had over him. And Harry didn't deal well with controlling war leaders.

"The only bad thing about being with you, Tony," Harry started, looking up into those delicious brown eyes for a moment, before looking down at the chest his hands were pressed against. "The only problem is that being with you will give Fury more access to me, and I can't handle people like him well. I know he'll guilt trip me or trick me into doing something I don't want to do, because he'll find my weaknesses and blackmail me into doing whatever he wants me to do. If he ended up using you, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from either killing him, or working for him. Since I've decided to not kill anymore, it'll most likely be the second option." Harry was all worked up now, panicking slightly at all of the different scenarios going through his mind. He barely noticed the touched look on Tony's face.

Tony cupped Harry's face, forcing the shorter man to look up and meet his eyes. Tony had a soft look in his eyes as he said, "Don't worry 'bout me, Harry. I'll be fine. Just trust me to be able to protect you from the bad guys, which means Fury as of right now. I won't let him get to you, ever, and I won't make you fight a day in your life." A smirk crossed his face. "Well, I'm pretty sure we'll fight every day of our life together, because I have some bad habits of causing mischief and trouble wherever I go, no matter how much I like you." Harry smiled and nodded.

"I can see that happening." Harry took a moment to consider everything he was feeling right now. He really liked Tony, even if he didn't love him yet, and he wanted to be with the genius, but it was hard to forget his past and his paranoia and let himself choose happiness over safety. He glanced up at Tony, noticing the almost nervous look on the man's face, and realized that Tony liked him too, and wanted him to try this as much as inner-Harry wanted to. Something like that was what he wanted from Tony, and so he nodded.

"Alright, here's how it'll go. We're going on a trial run. We can date for a while, and I'll live here while you live over in your castle, and if I like you enough after some time, I'll consider taking this relationship serious. All that I ask for is patience and understanding that I have some secrets that I can't tell you unless we are in a very, very serious relationship. So don't feel betrayed if I ever tell you and you feel like I should've told you earlier." His words made Tony smile slightly. Obviously he was amused at Harry's secretive nature, but Harry wondered if he'd be as amused when Harry told him.

"I can handle that. I have a few secrets myself that I probably won't tell you in a long time, or possibly ever. So, now that we've established that we're dating, can I kiss you?" Harry wanted to refuse just because of the lecherous grin on his boyfriend(?), but he wanted to kiss Tony Stark just as much as the next bloke, so he pushed up on his tip-toes and pressed his lips firmly to the other man's.

Their kiss was awesome.

Tony obviously had as much experience as the press said when it came to kissing, because Harry was in heaven with that kiss.

When they finally pulled away, Harry looked up and grinned evilly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say I should be jealous because of your skill, but then I'd just be stupid, because I really want that skill to be used again." Tony laughed loudly, surprised at Harry's response.

"If you want, Har-Bear, I'll kiss you every day for the rest of our lives." That kind of response made Harry grin even harder.

"You might want to change that to at least five times a day for the rest of our lives. A morning kiss, brunch time kiss, lunch kiss, dinner kiss and supper kiss. And then add a few more to the day randomly, and you'll have me wrapped around your little finger forever." They both laughed, and then a knock sounded on the door.

Looking at it in confusion, Harry turned to Tony with a questioning look. The genius billionaire simply shrugged and gestured for him to answer it. Harry grimaced and walked to answer it. Hopefully it was just a salesman who wanted to sell some random crap and would move on quickly.

Nope.

Instead, it was a tall woman in tight clothing, and a serious look on her face. She was a redhead, but nothing like Ginny, which made him relax slightly. He remembered the disaster with Ginny Weasley well. Sometimes a bit too well.

"Harry Potter, correct?" she asked in a business-like tone. Harry nodded wordlessly and looked back at Tony who had a look of amusement and irritation on his face. Obviously, the billionaire recognized this woman, and probably knew why she was there.

"Good. I'm supposed to bring you to Director Fury about becoming a part of SHIELD. Please come with me." She turned half-way as if she was leaving, but her body language spoke that she was waiting for a fight. A fight she would definitely get.

"Huh, that's funny," Harry said with barely concealed fury. "I don't remember ever agreeing to join SHIELD. And since this is America, I actually have the free will to do whatever I please, so I will kindly say to Fury—not you personally—fuck off and leave me alone. I refuse to fight for him and he will never be able to force me to. I fight when I wish to fight, and not for any other reason. So please, go and deliver that message for me, would you?" With those firm words, he shut the door and locked it, silently casting a locking spell as well. A thought creeped into his mind, wondering if Fury had planted some bugs in his apartment, and Harry instantly sent out his magic to search for it. Not surprisingly, his hunch was correct and he found three cameras, one for each main room excluding the bathroom, and ten bugs hidden around the rooms. With a nearly unnoticeable flick of his fingers, all of the spying devices were dead and sending out messages to whoever was watching the cameras to say "Fuck off" on the screens. It was very satisfactory.

Tony interrupted Harry's thoughts, an eyebrow raised and obviously impressed. His next words proved that Harry had read his face correctly. "I'm impressed, love. You kicked Natasha out like it was an easy feat. But trust me, love, she's not going to just leave. She'll sneak in somehow and kidnap you when you least expect it." Obviously, Tony knew more about this woman than Harry thought.

Shrugging, Harry silently sent a magical barrier around his home to keep out intruders, and sauntered over to Tony. Reaching up to caress Tony's cheek, he smirked and said, "Don't worry about me, Tony, I'm very experienced in keeping unwanted visitors out. Now where were we?" He didn't wait for a reply before standing on his tippy toes to press his lips against the older man's. Tony smirked against his lips and responded, allowing his worry to fade as he focused on Harry.