Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Avengers. Unfortunately.
Chapter 4: Would You Like to Phone a Friend?
The next morning Harry woke up confused as to why he was so comfortable. He had been expecting to wake up to the uncomfortable cot in the small room at Privet Drive. But the bed underneath him at the moment was even more heavenly than the beds at Hogwarts. It was then that he remembered where he was. Harry opened his eyes and was confronted with the view of his new bedroom.
He grinned to himself. Yesterday really hadn't been a dream after all. He was really in New York City with his new father, a superhero just like in one of Dudley's comics that he used to steal. Only he was funnier and smarter and cooler and well, real. Harry had to admit he was thoroughly enamored with Tony. He'd let Harry in his private workshop, and helped Harry to complete his life long dream. Remembering that dream he quickly glanced to the space next to his bed, and grinned widely when he saw the robot he had made sitting where he'd left it. He had named it T.A.N.C for Totally Awesome New Creation or well just Tank. He'd named it that after Tony explained that Jarvis stood for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. He wished that he could show Tank to Ron and Hermione. Ron would think it was wicked and want to use it to set Mrs. Norris on fire, and Hermione would secretly be impressed all the while saying how irresponsible it was to have something dangerous like that.
He wanted to send them letters but he didn't think even Hedwig would be able to fly all the way back across the ocean. Maybe he could at least try phoning Hermione. He'd have to ask Tony if it was all right because long distant phone calls were probably very expensive. Speaking of owls he didn't think anyone would be able to send him one. If they did, the owls would have to go over the ocean, and he was pretty sure that they would just turn around and go back to the one who sent them before even attempting it. Ron and Hermione would no doubt get worried when this continued to happen, and think that something had happened to him when the owls couldn't find him. He would definitely have to phone Hermione, and have her try to get in touch with Ron for him so they wouldn't worry about where he was. It wasn't too pressing of an issue because the only ones who would probably actually try to contact him would be Ron and Hermione, and it had only been two days since the end of term. Hagrid might owl but probably not until closer to the new school year or until around his birthday.
Harry would worry about that later. Right now he caught a whiff of pancakes, and he noticed that Hedwig was no longer on her perch. He pulled on the black slacks from his school uniform and the nicest shirt of Dudley's that he owned, the one that had the least amount of holes. Pepper said they would be going out today, and considering how nice Pepper and Tony's clothing were he didn't want to embarrass them with the rags the Dursleys had given him. He then made sure his trunk was locked tight. He couldn't imagine what would happen if they found his books or the photo album with all the moving pictures. But technically wasn't he allowed to tell Tony? He was his father after all. Hermione had been allowed to tell her parents about Hogwarts. They surely couldn't arrest or expel him for that. But then again this was the United States maybe the laws were different for American wizards. Would he need some sort of permission slip to tell Tony? Or would he need to okay it with the ministry and the Americans? Whatever the case Harry decided it would be best to simply wait things out.
He wanted to get to know Tony better and feel him out to see where he stood in his thoughts on magic. So far Harry was very impressed by him. He was very laidback and liked to joke with Harry. Harry didn't think he'd ever gotten on this well with an adult before especially after such a short time after meeting them. It may also have been because Tony was closer to being a big kid rather than an adult that they got on so well.
He also really liked Pepper. She was kind and understanding but not too overbearing or smothering, which made for a very good balance. When she had offered to let him change his name he had been relieved. He felt like an impostor using James Potter's surname. He didn't really think it was fair to use the name of the man who had given his life for him, and to continue to pretend to be his son when it was all just a terrible lie. He had decided to keep his middle name the same to honor James for sacrificing himself for him and his mum even if he still felt a guilty little about it. Had James even known the truth that Harry wasn't his real son? He didn't know but it bothered him quite a bit. Harry also wasn't really sure if he felt comfortable taking on the last name Stark but as it was he was even more uncomfortable being called a Potter when he really wasn't. He was glad Tony at least didn't seem to mind that he had decided to take his last name.
Harry still wasn't one hundred percent comfortable in his new surroundings. He didn't know what to make of the things that Tony had told him yesterday about him and his mum. He knew it was going to take some time before the information really settled in his brain and he was able to deal with it. For the time being he was just going to try and take things day by day. He'd process the information more once he felt more settled into his new environment.
Harry followed his nose back out to the main area of the penthouse to find Tony making waffles with a large industrial sized waffle iron. There was batter everywhere, even on the ceiling. Harry figured it took special skills to get it all the way on the ceiling especially with how high the ceilings in the penthouse were.
"Good morning, Mini Me. Did you sleep okay?" he asked looking up briefly from his fight with the waffle iron.
"Yeah, the bed is really comfortable," agreed Harry, hesitantly walking closer to the chaos Tony was creating.
"Great, cause if it wasn't we could always pick out a new one," Tony offered half serious. "We could even get you bunk beds. I bet those would be fun. All that room for activities."
"That's okay. The mattress I have now is good," Harry assured him.
"If you say so."
Tony looked like he had no clue what he was doing and Harry would have laughed had he not looked like he was moments away from smashing the thing on the floor.
"Do you need any help?"
"No, that's okay, kiddo. I wanted to try and make you breakfast but this thing isn't cooperating. And here I thought I could understand any machine. Now look Iron Man outwitted by a waffle maker." He was trying valiantly to pull out the waffle that was only half cooked and stuck to the top of the waffle iron. Batter from the half cooked waffle was spilling everywhere and he kept burning his fingers on the hot iron.
"Did you spray the sides of the iron first?" Harry asked.
"Spray it? With what?" Tony asked perplexed.
"You know with cooking spray or margarine, so it wouldn't get stuck to the iron like that. Sometimes kitchen appliances like that will say non-stick but you still have to put something on them or else you never get them off," replied Harry knowledgeably.
Tony blinked and then looked sheepish, scratching at the back of his neck. "Yeah, cooking's not really my thing."
"It's okay. I know how to cook. I used to make breakfast all the time. I can make you breakfast," Harry assured moving to help him. It was the least that he could do for Tony after all that he had done for him. Since he had been young the Dursleys had drilled it into his head that he shouldn't be such a burden to other people and that he needed to earn his keep.
"You know what, on second thought why don't we go out to eat? You haven't seen any of the city and I know a perfect little diner that's very good at keeping their noses out of their customers business, and hiding them from the press. We can meet up with Pepper afterwards and do some shopping. Sound good?"
Harry nodded, excited about the prospect of getting to go out to eat. First of all because he'd never even been out to eat before and second because he couldn't wait to see more of the city.
"Oh before we go, have you thought about a color scheme for your room?" Tony asked. "Pepper needs to know so she can tell the decorators what to do while we're out."
"Umm, I don't really care," Harry shrugged.
"Okay how about a favorite theme or color or something?" Tony persisted.
"Do you think they could paint a starry night sky on my ceiling? And maybe a forest or something on my walls?" Harry asked wanting something to remind him of Hogwarts. "If it's not too much trouble."
"No trouble at all. And that sounds like a great idea," Tony grinned. "Oh just one more thing. The owl. Is she okay by herself?"
"Yup, she's fine." Harry looked to where Hedwig was nestled on the ledge around the high ceiling looking extremely content with her new surroundings. She certainly had no trouble adjusting to this new lifestyle. At least that made one of them.
"She won't leave any unsightly droppings on my stuff now will she?" Hedwig hooted imperiously. "That's not creepy or anything... Like she can almost understand…" He shook his head as if to stop himself from even thinking the thought that an owl could understand what he was saying.
"She won't, she knows to go outside," Harry said quickly to distract him.
"Good okay, let's go."
They took the lift all the way to the basement where all of Tony's cars were parked. He had a lot of them and they all looked extremely fancy and expensive. They all also had Stark written on the license plates proving that they did in fact all belong to Tony. Tony ushered them into the backseat of a nice dark colored one with leather seats, which was parked right outside the doors to the lift. A man with short dark hair and a large build sat behind the driver's seat, which was on the opposite side from what Harry was used to. There were a lot of little things that made America different from Britain and Harry was having fun picking all of them out.
"Harry meet Happy. Happy, Harry. He's my driver and sometimes bodyguard or he used to be until I upgraded to being my own bodyguard," Tony introduced.
"Hullo," Harry greeted.
"Nice to meet you, Harry," Happy greeted back as they drove out of the parking lot.
As they drove out Harry realized that there was a frenzy of people milling around outside the entrance to the garage. They had cameras and signs and eagerly charged the car when they saw it. But luckily the windows were darkly tinted so they couldn't see inside the car making Harry feel a bit safer. Happy also made sure to be quick and pulled out into the street before any of them could get too close.
"Who were they?" asked Harry in shock.
"The media, my fans, crazies who think I'm the devil incarnate. You know, the usual," Tony shrugged, casually. "The media sort of likes to follow my every move."
"Are you really that famous?" Harry worried. He was already famous enough in the wizarding world he didn't really want to have a lot of attention on him in the muggle world too. Besides muggle media seemed ten times worse then anything he'd faced so far in the wizarding world. If that small example was anything to go by.
"Yup, but don't worry I've kept any information about you from leaking to the press. You won't have to worry about being hounded by those sharks. I've grown up with the fame so I'm used to it. It doesn't really bother me that much anymore. I just can't bring myself to care about what they think. The public opinion is just too fickle. One minute you're a savior the next they're dragging your name through the mud. But you aren't used to it so I'll make sure they stay far away from you for as long as I can."
"Thank you," said Harry, relieved.
"Don't mention it, kid. It's the least I can do for bringing you into this mess," Tony murmured softly and Harry wasn't sure if he had meant for Harry to hear it.
Breakfast was in a small, secluded diner that Tony paid the owner to close down for just Tony and Harry. Harry was a little shocked by the amount of money Tony had spent and tried to get him to stop. Tony waved away his concern and assured Harry that he had more money than he could spend in ten lifetimes. Harry was still uncomfortable with it but Harry had a feeling that his complaints wouldn't stop Tony. The man obviously enjoyed spending his money on Harry or anything else that happened to strike his fancy at the moment. Harry did have to admit that it was exciting to be the only ones in the restaurant, and to be able to order anything that he wanted from the menu without worrying about the cost or that he was putting someone out by making them pay for him. Tony even blew bubbles in his chocolate milk and encouraged Harry to do the same.
"So where did you get that scar kid? Should I start calling you Scarface?" Tony asked with a grin.
Harry frowned, that seemed like the type of jibe Draco Malfoy, his nemesis at Hogwarts, would call him. He also didn't like the fact that Tony had finally noticed the unique lightning bolt-shaped scar that he normally tried to hide from the world.
"You don't know what Scarface is do you? 'Say hello to my little friend' no? Nothing? Oh kiddo, we need to watch some movies. Get you up to date on the times," Tony sighed dramatically.
Harry nodded. Television and movies didn't interest him that much since he had never watched it. But he had a feeling watching movies with Tony would be a lot of fun. It seemed like he had to make comments about everything and everyone, and would probably make the actual watching part more enjoyable.
"So where did you get the scar?" Tony asked again looking curious. "It's a pretty unique shape and kind of in a strange place."
"I don't really know. I've had for as long as I can remember. Aunt Petunia says I got it in the accident," Harry said with a shrug trying to be vague.
"Oh when your mom and James died?" Tony asked frowning, obviously trying to work out what set of events would have to occur to give such an odd scar on his forehead.
"Yeah," Harry nodded, not really comfortable with this line of questioning. He really didn't like thinking about it. It made him uncomfortable to think about his mum and James's deaths since they had been murdered while trying to protect him and he had ended up surviving.
Tony seemed to understand it was an area Harry didn't want to discuss, and went back to blowing bubbles in his milk, making Harry laugh.
After their amusing breakfast they met up with Pepper in a clothing store that Tony had once again bought out for the day to make sure that no one saw Harry. Again the experience was incredible for Harry. He got to be the only one in the store and be able to pick out anything he wanted. He'd been hesitant at first but when Tony started throwing things in piles left and right he figured that Tony was going to get him stuff anyway so he might as well get the things he wanted. They also made a stop at a toy store where Harry only grabbed a few things he wanted to give to Ron and Hermione as gifts. He wasn't much for toys himself considering he had never really had any growing up.
Their last stop was at a pet shop where they picked up some new things for Hedwig. He was fairly certain she would adore her new, state of the art cage and toys. They also bought some live mice, which Tony had shrieked in fear over making Pepper and Harry burst into laughter. He'd tried to act tough afterwards and play it off as if he had been joking but Harry and Pepper weren't about to let him get away with it. While at the pet store, Harry ran across a couple of cages with snakes in them. One was a large yellow Burmese python and the other was smaller corn snake. They were having some sort of argument over what types of mice tasted the best when he had first approached them. Harry had fond memories about the snake he'd set loose on Dudley at the zoo so he'd thought he'd stop and have a chat with them while Tony and Pepper were distracted by an argument over Tony's work schedule. The snakes had been thrilled about him being able to speak with them and quickly demanded that he set them loose.
"I can't, I'm sorry. I've just moved in with my father and I don't think he'd like it if I got two snakes. Besides I already have an owl," Harry said apologetically.
"An owl," the corn snake hissed in disgust.
"Yes, as if a bird could compare to the majesty of a snake," the python sniffed in snooty disdain.
"I really am sorry, maybe I can come back and visit?" Harry offered.
"I suppose. Although, I don't know why we'd want to talk with someone who prefers a feather-brained creature to us. Even if you are a rare Speaker of Snakes," the python hissed imperiously.
"I told you, I am sor—"
"Harry? What are ya doing kiddo?" Tony asked appearing in the aisle.
"Um… nothing?" Harry's heart was pounding in fear. Had Tony heard him? What if Tony thought he was a freak for talking to the snakes? He couldn't let him know that he actually understood them.
"It sounded like you were hissing at the snakes," said Tony lifting one eyebrow in confusion as he stared from Harry to the snakes who were watching them a little too intently for it to be considered normal.
"Really?" Harry asked, honestly perplexed.
It had sounded like perfect English to him. The snakes even sounded like they had American accents albeit hissier. In a way it did make sense that he was hissing because to everyone else that's what snakes sounded like. He just hadn't realized that that was what he sounded like. He wasn't sure what was worse being caught talking to snakes or hissing at them. Both would probably make people question his sanity. He should really ask Hermione if she knew anything about wizards being able to speak with animals. He hadn't even thought of it himself when he first entered the wizarding world. He'd been too distracted by everything else.
"Yup," Tony said still eyeing him closely.
"Oh well, it was just for a bit of fun to see if I could get a reaction out of them," Harry said hoping that he would buy it.
"Riiiiiighttttt, just don't plan on getting one, Dr. Dolittle. Snakes are where I draw the line in the strange pet department," Tony said still watching Harry closely.
"I won't," Harry assured him. Not even bothering to question who Dr. Dolittle was. He was getting used to Tony always saying strange things that he didn't understand.
Harry let loose a sigh of relief that Tony had dropped the subject. For the rest of the day Harry did catch him giving him the occasional odd look and he prayed that he hadn't scared Tony too much with his snake routine.
Pepper, Tony, and Harry ended their shopping trip with dinner at a small posh Italian restaurant. It was there that Tony and Pepper broached the subject that they were seeing one another with Harry.
"Oh, okay," was all Harry had replied.
"Okay? That's all you have to say?" Tony asked incredulously.
"Well, I thought it was rather obvious. You look at Pepper like Ron's brother Percy looks at Penelope Clearwater," said Harry calmly taking another bite of his dessert. He was comfortable enough now with Tony to kid around with him without fear of being scolded.
Pepper laughed and Tony looked a bit dumbfounded.
"I do not look like a lovesick teenager," Tony declared petulantly.
"I don't know Tony, he does have a point. You do act quite a bit like a teenager sometimes. Well, actually probably closer to a temperamental three year old," Pepper mocked.
Tony pouted.
"You're sure, you're okay with this, Harry?" Pepper asked and he could tell that she was honestly concerned about his opinion. "It's a lot to take in all at once. Discovering that you have a different father from the one you've always had and then finding out that that father is already in a relationship with another woman. It can be intimidating and I don't want to make you feel like you aren't welcome in our lives because you are more than welcome."
It was a new sensation for Harry to have an adult care so much about his feelings. He knew the professors at Hogwarts cared about him in their own way, well except Snape of course. But none of them went out of their way to talk to him about how he felt about going to Hogwarts or being the Boy Who Lived. They didn't listen to him like Pepper had been doing so far. It had to be difficult for her as well, having the son from her boyfriend's previous relationship suddenly appear out of thin air. It must have been a huge shock and an inconvenience to her. But she seemed to take it all in stride and actually wanted to make him feel welcomed in her and Tony's life.
"I'm more than fine with it. I like you, Pepper," Harry admitted flushing.
"Oh no, don't even think about it, she's mine and while in some instances an older woman might be a good idea, Pepper is far too old for you," Tony said saving them all from the moment getting too emotional.
As it was Pepper did tear up a bit, looking very pleased before concentrating on her dessert.
The rest of their dessert went well with more lighthearted joking. By the time they made it back to the tower the decorators had come and gone and all of Harry's new things had been put away in his room. It was strange to think that it was his room. He'd never truly had his very own room before and it was great. Tony had been right personalizing it had made it feel more like Harry's, like he was making his mark and that by changing the room he was making his presence here a more permanent fixture in the penthouse and in Tony's life. Besides the painting was spectacular. The forest was very realistic and with the soft, thick rich brown carpet they had installed to make it look like a forest floor it really captured the image of being in a forest. His favorite thing though was easily the ceiling. He absolutely loved it, even if it couldn't quite compare to the great hall in Hogwarts. It was as close as something non-magical could ever come, and Tony had taken the time to create it himself. He wasn't sure when exactly he had fit it in between shopping and meals, but he had and that's what really made it that much more special to Harry.
"See it's like one of those planetariums that projects a picture of the night sky. Except mine is ten times better because well I made it. It's more realistic and has more functions. It's a hologram screen set on the ceiling. It copies whatever the star chart is supposed to be around here for the time of year, and projects the picture like you're actually looking up at the night sky. In the morning when you get up you can program it to look like daylight. Neat right?" Tony enthused.
"Yeah," Harry replied stunned and amazed by his creation.
"Tony," Pepper breathed equally awed. "You've really outdone yourself."
Tony just looked smug.
"Thank you," Harry breathed.
"Hey what did I tell you? No thanks needed, it's what fathers are supposed to do. Do stuff for their kids without looking for any type of compensation." The last word was almost growled and for a moment he looked angry. It was gone in a moment and it didn't seem to be directed at him for in the next instant he was smiling at Harry.
Harry grinned at him in turn, all his fears about the snakes washed away. Maybe Harry was still a bit leery of Tony what with his questionable morals in regards to his relationship with his mum but it was hard for him not to like him. There was the fact that he was a hero, he helped him build a robot, and he actually seemed to be making an effort to make Harry feel welcome in his life. He bought things for Harry without looking for any type of reparation on Harry's part, and though they were essential everyday needs that any parent would provide it was still more than Harry had ever received before. Those things alone made him outshine any adult he'd ever encountered. Add that to the fact he was Harry's living, breathing father and he couldn't stop himself from liking him.
The next day Pepper and Tony both had to go back to work. Pepper was the CEO of Stark Industries and was very, very busy. Tony mainly worked on projects that Pepper needed him to or developed things that he wanted to. He was currently working on a device that would be able to power Stark Towers for an entire year and that was just the prototype. They did make sure that one of them was always there with him, and Tony even ended up bringing him down to his workshop with the promise that he would sit in a corner because what Tony was working on was just a bit too dangerous for him to help with. Harry agreed, simply happy to get to watch Tony while he worked.
He'd been nervous the first few times going into Tony's workshop because he knew that magic and technology didn't exactly mix well, which is why wizards still used owls to send letters and what not. He knew that mobile phones and electricity didn't work in Hogwarts because of all the magic. However all the equipment in Tony's workshop didn't seem to be affected by his presence in the slightest, which made sense because his presence never made any of the Dursley's electronics malfunction. The only time he could really remember actively causing problems is when he happened to be at school, and Dudley and his gang had been teasing him. He had been distressed and the lights had started to flicker in the classroom. The teacher had waved it off as bad wiring and Harry had believed it because at the time he hadn't even known he was a wizard. But now it did make him wonder if technology only had bad reactions to active magic or powerful surges in magic. Hogwarts was filled to the brim with magic. You could almost feel its presence in the air. One young wizard not actively using their magic probably wouldn't cause a lot of disturbance amongst the electrical items. Harry was curious, he wanted to discover just how much magic needed to be used in order to disrupt electronics and why they were disrupted in the first place. Unfortunately it wasn't something that he could test at the moment since he couldn't perform magic outside of school.
Later that night Pepper had to fly down to Washington DC for a meeting, which left Harry and Tony all on their own. Tony let Harry pick out whatever he wanted to eat from a variety of different takeaway menus. Harry decided to go with Indian and they got a bunch of different types of curries that Harry had never gotten the chance to try before and he loved it. Then they had big, hot fudge sundaes, and Tony put on a movie. It involved elves, dwarves, and even a wizard with a long grey beard that resembled Dumbledore's. Harry thought this would be a great way to bring up the subject of magic with Tony.
"What do you think about magic?"
Tony looked flummoxed before repeating slowly, "What do I think about magic? You mean like turning people into toads and fairy godmothers who can turn pumpkins into carriages?"
Harry nodded. Those were things that could be done with advanced transfiguration after all. "More or less."
Tony snorted. "That's easy, there's no such thing. I hate to break it to you kid but there's only science. You see way back in the Stone Age when people didn't understand something they would call it magic and ta da! Mystery solved. All their cattle suddenly drop dead they would just think oh it must be that old hag down the road. She's angry at me and she must have killed my cows with some sort of voodoo. Instead of thinking rationally and working it out that, just maybe, the cattle's water source might be contaminated. Anything that history has called magic or claimed it was the work of some vengeful god can all be explained today through science."
"But surely there are things that still can't be understood with science?" Harry persisted.
After all science couldn't exactly explain why Harry could talk to snakes or how he could turn a toothpick into a needle.
"Well, we might not have the tools to understand them yet. But we will one day. It doesn't mean we should go all halfcocked and start throwing out that it's the work of some mystical sorcerer," replied Tony firmly wiggling his fingers dramatically.
"Or wizard," Harry murmured.
Tony just chuckled. So Tony firmly didn't believe in magic. Well that was certainly going to make things interesting when he did find out about Harry being a wizard. Would he accept it? Would he accept Harry once he learned the truth? If he could get him to believe it first. Tony seemed pretty convinced that science was the only option. Harry had studied both science and magic and though there were times that they did seem oddly similar Harry was of the opinion that they were two different things. It left Harry a bit nervous about coming clean to Tony and he decided to keep the information from him until he knew for certain that Tony wouldn't be disgusted by him once he knew the truth. His only experiences with muggles who knew the truth about magic were the Dursleys, and their feelings of utter loathing made him a bit more cautious about who to trust with the secret. He didn't know Hermione's parents so he couldn't exactly say whether or not they were one hundred percent accepting about their daughter being a witch. They seemed all right with it but he had only seen them briefly at the train station when they had come to pick her up. He really needed more time on how to go about explaining such things to Tony especially when he couldn't even use his magic as proof.
Several more days passed before he felt settled into his new life enough to ask a favor from Tony. He really needed to talk to Hermione. He needed to tell someone about his newfound father and he desperately needed her advice on telling Tony about magic. Of course if he was even allowed to in the first place that was another big reason as to why he needed to call her. He didn't have any access to resources in America. He didn't know where any wizarding streets or shops were located and thus he couldn't get in contact with anyone on what sorts of laws there were. He knew Hermione would be able to get him information much quicker and would be more thorough about it. She would also enjoy the chance to compare the two different wizarding rules and regulations whereas the information would probably put Harry to sleep.
"Tony do you mind if I phone a friend back in England?" Harry asked him.
"Are you sure you'd like to use one of your lifelines?" Tony replied in an odd tone of voice.
"Um yes?" Harry asked uncertainly. Did that mean he was only allowed to use the phone so many times?
"That means you'll only be left with the 50/ 50 and the ask the audience. With that being said is that your final answer?" Tony continued to use that same odd tone.
"What?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Pop culture references are completely wasted on you aren't they?" Tony said sadly.
"Sorry?" said Harry with an uncertain shrug still extremely confused.
Tony snorted. "Yes, you can call your friend. Do you know if she has a computer with video chat capabilities? Because then you can talk to her on the big screen in here."
"I don't really know, actually I don't even have her number." He had never asked for it since it went without saying that the Dursleys would have never have allowed him to phone her.
"What's her name?" Tony asked going over to the table which held a completely holographic computer.
"Hermione Granger. Her parents are dentists and her birthday is the 19th of September, 1999," Harry offered and he realized that was really all he knew about her life outside of Hogwarts.
"An older woman, very nice," Tony muttered absently as he scanned through the list of people that had popped up in his search.
"She's just a friend," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.
"Uh huh. This her?" he asked waving towards a picture of a slightly younger Hermione. She was in a newspaper article about winning a spelling bee or something.
"Yes."
"Hmm. Hermione Jean Granger. Daughter of Doctors John and Jean Granger. The winner of several different debates and a spelling bee champ. Huh," said Tony, whatever he was scanning had made him stop reading aloud and he was now looking at the screen with avid interest.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"Oh nothing, thought there was a glitch in the screen. But it's fine," Tony assured him. "She does have a video chat program and an address. I set you up with one of your own and all you have to do is try calling her. It says she's available at the moment."
Harry felt excitement as it rang and a bit of trepidation. It looked like Tony had no intentions of leaving the room and Harry would have to be careful to make sure that Hermione didn't say anything about magic in front of him. It took several rings and he wasn't sure if she was near her computer to answer the call but she did eventually pick up. He grinned as Hermione in all her frizzy haired, buck-toothed glory was plastered over the large screen of the penthouse living room. He had never been so happy to see a familiar face. He hadn't realized just how overwhelmed he was about being alone with strangers, in another country until he saw her.
"Harry? Is that you?" she asked in excitement.
"Yes, it's me, Hermione," Harry couldn't help but reply with equal enthusiasm.
"How did you manage to phone me? I thought you said you're relatives would never allow to use the phone let alone the computer," she said frowning.
"Well, I'm not with my relatives, at least not the Dursleys," Harry couldn't help but draw the moment out.
"You mean you're with relatives but not the Dursleys. I thought they were your only ones?" Hermione asked not looking too happy about not knowing something or at least not being able to figure it out.
"I thought so too. But it turns out my dad is alive," Harry told her glancing at Tony who was watching their conversation with unveiled interest.
"Really? How? Oh Harry that's wonderful. But how is that possible?" she said looking tied between excitement for him and wanting to know just how it this could be possible.
"Well it turns out James Potter wasn't my real dad. The Dursleys found out and they flew me to America as soon as they picked me up from the train station. They brought me to Stark Tower in New York City. Have you heard about it?"
"Yes, it was just recently built by Tony Stark. He's brilliant you know. He built his first circuit board at 4, his first engine at 6 and he graduated MIT at 17. He built a suit of armor with a self-powering device called the arc reactor. It's ever so fascinating. I've read all about it even though Iron Man does seem to be a bit of an impractical use for such advanced technology and cause a lot of trouble. They call Tony Stark the Leonardo Da Vinci of our time because of all of the leaps in technology he's made," Hermione recited in typical Hermione fashion.
"I'm not fond of that name. I don't paint," Tony butted in, moving into the path of the camera so Hermione could see him.
"You're Tony Stark," Hermione gasped in wonder, looking a little star struck.
"I am. Thanks for the summary of my illustrious history. Very flattering," Tony grinned and winked at her.
Hermione flushed scarlet. "Why are with him, Harry?"
"Because he's my real dad Hermione, we did a DNA test to prove it and everything. As soon as they found out the Dursleys gave over my custody to Tony," Harry explained.
"But what about…"
"School?" Harry quickly finished for her. "We haven't talked a lot about it." Harry emphasized hoping she would understand what the it in question was. "I suspect I'll be back in the fall though. After all we learn so many important things there like history with Binns and chemistry with Snape."
Understanding shown in Hermione's eyes. "Right of course. I would hate that you would end up going to school in America. I would never be able to see you again and your education is ever so important."
"Well who am I to split up such a good friendship?" Tony teased lightly. "You'll have to tell me more about this school of yours, though. I want to make sure it's really up to snuff. Only the best for a Stark."
"Oh I assure you it's a very special school, very private. Hardly anyone is able to get in," Hermione assured him then for the next fifteen minutes she regaled Tony with an in-depth, completely made up school curriculum.
By the end of it even Tony looked thoroughly impressed and his eyes were a little vacant from the overload of information Hermione had provided him with. Harry heaved a sigh of relief that she had managed to distract him from any suspicions he might have had.
"Why don't you tell me everything that's happened Harry? I would love to hear how you are adjusting to America. I bet living in Stark Tower is really fascinating. They have some of the most advanced technology in the world there," Hermione said, dreamily.
"Well, I have to get back to my workshop or Pepper will kill me when she gets home so I'll let the two of you catch up. Just hang up whenever you're through okay, kid?"
"Nice meeting you, Mr. Stark," Hermione said.
"You too Miss Spelling Bee Champ and you can call me Tony."
"It's really not proper," Hermione chided.
"I'm not a proper kind of guy," replied Tony and he chuckled at the stern expression Hermione threw his way.
"How did he know that I was a spelling bee champion?" Hermione demanded as soon as Tony had left.
"He has really sophisticated computers that can practically find out anything," Harry gushed.
"Oh I wish I could be there with you. I bet Mr. Stark will be able to teach you so much. My parents got me a muggle tutor in the summers but Tony Stark is one of the most intelligent men on the planet, and can teach you things that no one else even knows about," Hermione sighed looking dreamy.
"I'm sure that you would be more than welcome to come for a visit. You should see all of the labs and equipment he has here. There are whole levels of the building designated for research. Also he has the whole building wired with a state of the art security system that is actually highly functioning AI so he knows everything that goes on at all times," Harry told her hoping she'd get the meaning of his words. Just because they were alone didn't mean that Jarvis wasn't watching them and could report the information back to Tony later. Harry liked the AI and he knew it would do anything to protect him but Tony had built him to be completely loyal to Tony and Tony alone.
"Right, that's very fascinating you'll have to tell me more about it later when you get the chance. For now tell me everything that's happened. Start from when you first left the train station. Don't leave anything out," she demanded.
Harry did as she said. He didn't have too worry too much about slipping up about magic since there really hadn't been any instances of it since his arrival here.
"What do you think?" Harry asked once he was finished.
"I think you need to get your mum's journal. Maybe once you read what her thoughts were on the situation you might feel a bit better about things. Do you know if you're aunt still has it? Or did they give it to Mr. Stark?"
"I don't know," said Harry glumly. Honestly he'd forgotten all about it with everything else going on. "I'll ask Tony."
"Good, but you do know Mr. Stark was right? It's not your fault, Harry," she said gently.
"I know, Hermione its just…"
"You're not who you thought you were anymore," Hermione finished for him.
"Exactly, everyone kept telling me how much I looked like my dad, like James. It just feels like I've been living a lie. My mum lied to me and everyone else. She didn't even tell Tony and she probably didn't even tell James the truth either and I don't know how to feel about her anymore, Hermione. Everyone said how wonderful she was. How could she be so wonderful and keep such a big secret?"
"I don't know, Harry," she said sadly. "But you can't let yourself get too distracted by it. Whatever your mother did, you aren't to blame all right?"
"All right," Harry replied dutifully, not sure if he really believed it anymore.
"Right and I'll make some inquiries on how to go about explaining our school to your father. Professor McGonagall came to my house and gave my parents a complete overview of what to expect. I never really thought about the legalities of it all. But it's definitely something I shouldn't have overlooked. I'll make some inquires get back to you in a couple of weeks with an answer is that all right?" Hermione said, once more all business.
"That's fine," assured Harry. Even if it did turn out he could tell Tony by the end of the week he wasn't sure if he would, Tony's attitude towards magic made him cautious. "Will you let Ron know? I know he doesn't have a phone but I thought you could send a letter for me so he doesn't try to contact me at the Dursleys and get worried about me? Just tell him I'm on vacation don't tell him about Tony just yet. I'd prefer to do that in person. Besides one of his brothers might read the letter and then the entire world will know."
"Of course Harry, do you want me to notify Professor McGonagall? Or the Headmaster to the change of your location? You probably should," Hermione worried.
Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to tell them just yet. McGonagall had known his mum and James Potter. She also seemed to have had a soft spot for James Potter. She might be disappointed to find out that Harry wasn't actually the son of one of her favorite students. As for Dumbledore he had seemed very insistent that he stay with the Dursleys. What if he decided that it wasn't safe for him to stay with Tony and Pepper, and made Harry go back with the Dursleys? He wasn't sure if he could make him go back because the Dursleys obviously didn't want him and Tony had officially gotten custody of him but Harry didn't really want to take that risk right now. He wanted to wait and just enjoy his time with Tony and Pepper, and not worry about how Voldemort might cause trouble for them later on. For once he just wanted to be normal. He wanted to be just Harry.
"No, I think I'll wait for now. There's no need to worry them."
"If you're worried about what they might think about you once they know, I think you would be surprised. Perhaps they would be a bit shocked but it wouldn't change their feelings towards you. They care about you Harry and not just about who your parents are," Hermione said in an attempt to reassure him.
"I suppose that's part of the reason. The other part is that I just don't think there's any reason for them to need to know at the moment. I know everyone will have to know eventually but I just want to keep it a secret for now," Harry shrugged, but internally he was dreading the sort of scandal it would cause once the wizarding world found out that the Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, wasn't actually a Potter.
"Whatever you want, I'll do it for you. I know this can't have been easy for you. But are you all right Harry? This is a big change for you, finding out about… about what your mother did and that your real father has been alive all this time. But it can turn out be a good thing if you let it. Mr. Stark seems nice. A little odd but nice all the same," Hermione said softly.
"Yeah, we've gotten on pretty well so far," agreed Harry.
"If you want to talk more about it I'm here, you know. Now that you aren't at the Dursleys you can phone me whenever you want to. Well as long as you take the time difference into account," said Hermione with a smile.
"Right, I'll make sure to remember that," Harry smiled back.
"I'm happy for you Harry. I think this will be a very good change for you."
"I hope so Hermione, I really hope so," Harry murmured back.
They said their goodbyes and then with Hermione chiding him to start his summer homework they hung up.
Harry returned to his room to pull out his charms work seeing as how it was the easiest subject for him to complete. He never knew that Tony had been watching their conversation from his workshop or that the man hailed as the Da Vinci of their time was twisting his mind in circles trying to figure just what his newly discovered son was hiding from him.
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