Several years passed and Dudley and Briar learned alongside Draco of wizarding etiquette and the wizarding world. Dudley tried his best to look after his cousin and they became more like brothers. To celebrate this, Briar gave him a new name; Christopher Shadin Potter ("Call me Shay"). He began to take care of himself; exercising, doing well in school, and taking Briar away from the house as often as possible while under the guise of "Harry Hunting." As they grew older he began to hate his parents, the Dursleys just as much as Briar did.
On Shay's tenth birthday they went to the zoo, a year earlier than in Harry's time.
Things went the same as last time; they went to the zoo, looked around, stopped at the gift store- where Shay got two snake plushies for him and Briar. Then they ended at the Reptile House. Shay had been fascinated with snake ever since he learned that Briar - and even himself- could speak to them.
"Tuney?" came an incredulous voice. Petunia's head shot up and her jaw dropped. She broke into a smile
"Natty!" she exclaimed, throwing herself into the other woman's arms. She was slender, trim, with dark red hair and plump lips she looked kind of like Lily.
"How are you?" she asked with a smile and a bland expression on her face. The man next to her looked over the group curiously.
"I'm alright," Petunia answered.
"So," the man broke in. "You're 'Natalie's' sister."
Shay and Briar's heads snapped up and they glared at Petunia. The man caught it , but Petunia just kept going.
"Yes, and this is my husband Vernon Dursley and our son Dudley. It's his tenth birthday so we wanted something special for him." She looked very proud of herself.
"It's Shay," Shay muttered into Briar's hair.
"'Course," he whispered back. "Who would want a name from them?" Shay nodded morosely.
The man winked at them.
"And who is this, Nat?"
"Oh. Petunia, this is my fiancee, Tony Stark." Briar choked and Shay's jaw dropped.
"I am so screwed," Briar whispered to Shay.
"Yeah. Good luck with that," Shay whispered back.
"Mooney," Briar whispered to the ceiling. "If your were still alive, I'd kill you." Tony turned in their direction sharply.
"And who are you?" he asked, not unkindly, but with a sharp, focused gaze.
Briar hesitated. "Do you want my birth name or the name I am most known by?" he asked. Vernon cuffed the back of his head. Briar flinched into his brother, who put an arm around his middle.
"Enough of your lip, boy. No one wants your kind," he hissed to Briar. Shay's eyes became frigid, but his face was impassive.
"Actually," Stark cut in, "I asked him a question and would like both of his answers."
Shay and Briar looked at each other, then to an empty corner where Hela stood. The girl nodded. They nodded minutely back.
Stark and 'Natalie' were not stupid. They had seen the signs of abuse on the younger boy and Dudley's protection of him.
"My given name," he began haltingly, in a whisper. "My given name is Harry James Potter. My birth name was given to me before I was taken from my bearer illegally." Here he hesitated and looked to the empty corner and them Shay, uncertainly. The others nodded and Shay tightened his hug on the smaller boy as if to shield him. "My birth name is Briar Ares Stark." Briar tensed as soon as the words left his mouth.
Vernon growled and grabbed a handful of Briar's hair and yanked him from Shay's grip; who cried out in outrage. Briar didn't make a sound.
"I am so sorry about him," Petunia said to 'Natalie' and Stark. "The boy has always been no good. We've tried our best by him but-"
Stark cut her off with a disgusted look and demanded that Briar be let go.
"Take it off," was all he said. Briar's eyes widened, and he let all the glamours fall. His birth features returned and Harry Potter melted away, ears bent back, tail twitching, scars covering his body.
Tony Stark's break hitched. He raged inside at the scars and bruises. His fury knew no bounds when he heard what Vernon had to say.
"What freakishness is this, boy."
"It is magic," 'Natalie' said evenly. Vernon sputtered.
"There is no such thing as MAGIC!" he shouted. People around them quickly vacated their area until they were the only people left in the Reptile House.
"Then I suppose Lily was an alien," 'Natalie' said blandly. Tony snorted.
"They are freaks," Petunia hissed.
Suddenly the noise in the House increased and all the snakes hissed in outrage.
"Mother, really. You think Briar was the only one with accidental magic? He has perfect control over his core. He fuels his glamours with his wandless ability. I learned to control mine with our mentor."
The Dursleys went pale. "M-mentor?!"
"Oh, you didn't know? The Malfoy's are pure-bloods and practically run the magical government," Shay replied. He used Vernon's shock to get Briar out of the Thing's hold and reach. Briar went into his cousin's arms willingly and leaned into him.
As Vernon sputtered, Stark turned to study Briar and Shay more thoroughly.
"How did you find out about all this?"
"A friend of mine. Her name's Hela. You've met her father and uncle a few times."
'Natalie' stared. "Hela, outcast from Asgard with her siblings by Odin and only daughter of Loki." Briar nodded.
"Yeah. She as fabled to be a goddess of the dead. In all reality, she is Death personified. She literally gave me a second chance at life." Hela made herself visible to all of the others. The Dursleys let out a strangled gasp.
"You deserved the chance to be loved, my Master. Lucius and Draco will arrive shortly. Nice to finally meet you two after hearing so many stories and seeing the results of the Avengers. Not to mention the Black Widow and the Fox Demon. I always love the gifts you send me."
"You say the sweetest things," Stark cooed. "I like you. Can we keep you too?"
"Hey? I thought I gave you the best gifts! I literally handed you the world. You're the one who didn't move to another," Briar complained, slightly offended and a little bit hurt. He had already forgotten the Dursley's presence.
Hela hugged her master. "Yes, you gave me the world and the one-who-split-his-soul. Let's see how many you give me this time around."
The Dursleys whimpered. They were surrounded by freaks and betrayed by their son and Petunia's sister. And the snakes had broken free.
~Do not harm them~ Briar told the snakes. There was a lot of complaining and whining on the snakes part, but Briar finally managed to convince them to only scare the Dursleys.
"You will let the boys come with me," Stark said. Vernon was about to protest when a python dropped on his shoulders. "Now that that's settled, we're going to pick up any of your belongings that you want from their house. Come on."
They led the boys and Hela out to their car. Briar stayed very close to Shay and Hela, unsure if he had traded one hell for another...again.