Chapter 21 – New Beginnings

My thanks to Lycan01, discb, ReadPaxJoy, Winged Seer Wolf and dracoman for your reviews. Here's the next chapter. It's a bit rushed, I think, but I didn't want to let the week go without an update. Hop you enjoy. :)

"Agent Romanoff, what do you have for me?"

"I've been unable to get any information on our target, sir. The others in the house can only tell me that he first visited in 1991 at age 11 and has since visited every Christmas. At age 17, he first shifted into Stark's Malibu house and has since been a resident there. I have been told that he has a property in Malibu and other undisclosed locations, but we can't find them. Apparently, only Stark is welcome there and he isn't talking."

Nick Fury tapped a folder with Harry Potter printed on it in red. "Have you tried to follow them?"

"The one time I followed them was unsuccessful. As we approached a section of the Malibu beach, I felt a curious unbreachable pressure that kept me out. Even though I had eyes on Stark and our target, both of them disappeared. One moment they were there, the next moment they were gone."

"Could you find out anything about his background?"

"No more than what we already know."

"Any chance you were able to speak with him?"

"He keeps to himself and its not unusual for him to be in the house one day and be gone the next. Stark and Ms. Potts are the only ones in frequent contact with him."

"And where is he now?"

"I haven't seen him for a week. Stark is still in residence, so I can only assume that whatever Mr. Potter is doing, he does not want to involve Stark." She hesitated before asking, "Sir, have we tried to have an agent on Potter?"

"He's proven as ellusive as you've reported. And our agents have reported the same unbreachable shield that surrounds a stretch of prime beach property in Malibu. We can't get close enough to put a tracer on him either." Fury steepled his fingers. "I will try to get something on his background from our associates in England. Till then, just keep an eye on him as much as you can."

"Yes sir." Natasha nodded.

"What is Stark's condition?"

"Deteriorating. The palladium poisoning has spread. It has caused brief spates of weakness and dizzing spells. And it is exacerbated by the use of the Iron Man. He's made Ms. Potts the CEO of SI. Preparing for the end, I think. His own research into an alternative core hasn't provided any positive answers yet. He's living life on the edge, drinking more, getting reckless, impulsive. Like the impromptu Monaco race he took part in. Not exactly a death-wish yet, but he's getting there. I think the only person who's got through to him at all is Mr. Potter. Other than that, Stark's his same old self. Though the peace situation between the East and West has never been better."

"Hmm. Does he suspect your identity?"

"No sir."

"Good. We have a possible antidote being researched that may be able to slow the poisoning down and buy us all some time. Very well, Agent Romanoff. That will be all."

Natasha nodded and left the office. A few minutes later Agent Phil Coulson entered the room.

"I take it we're still keeping Lord Potter's identity to ourselves then?"

Fury rose and moved to the window, clasping his hands behind his back. "We must, for the moment, Coulson. I don't think anyone is ready to believe the existence of magic. Tony Stark obviously knows since they are quite close. But for the rest of the 'mundane' world, well, I think they would be safer not knowing about this other world." He turned to face Coulson. "Till then we keep it to ourselves. And keep an eye on all the players."

Coulson mentally agreed with his employer and looked down at the complete copy of the dossier on Harry Potter that only he and Fury had access to. The child had appeared out of the blue at Stark's place at age 11 and had simultaneously disappeared from regular life anywhere in England. The Potter family had a Dukedom under the British royal family and the child was the only remaining Heir and descendant. Lord Potter. School records showed a non-remarkable intelligence, but there were moments when it shone through, especially around his 5th year before he went to pre-school. After that, he improved by leaps and bounds until he disappeared around his 11th birthday.

His relatives were the worst sort of people. Coulson was glad he didn't have to deal with them anymore. They were unconcerned about the disappearance of their nephew, but the walrus had seemed interested when they mentioned that the boy was royalty. Greed, it seemed, was the only motivating factor for any faux concern they showed after that point. But that did not help with the fact that the boy was gone. And gone to suddenly appear in Tony Stark's life made him a suspect in Nick Fury's eye.

After these many years, the boy had become a man, but SHIELD still had no more information on him than they did when he was 11. His stint in MIT, Stark's Alma Mater came under the scanner, but he seemed to have remained an average student. After that, it was an information void. In fact, they would have had no information on him at all, if one of their agents hadn't picked up something rather odd in central London a few years ago. One of their bugs had caught Potter performing magic tricks for a bunch of children in Trafalgar Square. At first glance they looked like regular sleight of hand tricks, but a closer inspection and a body scan had revealed no hidden devices on his person. Other than two sticks, the boy was clean. Coulson had been at the monitor that day and what came next had unneved him.

The boy finished his little magic show by producing a small toy gift for each of the children there – a harmonica, a tea set, a remote operated car, etc. – and then, having waved them off, he had turned and looked straight at the camera and winked, grinning widely, and then just disappeared. How he had managed to fool the thermal scans was still puzzling the research personnel. A warm body did not just disappear like that. But if it had happened, then who was this Lord Potter?

~ Scene Break ~

"You know, you have to tell Pepper about your prognossis. The poison will spread, unless you stop using the armor, in which case you have some time to figure out a cure or a replacement core. Getting drunk is not the answer."

"I can't tell her about this, Harry," he slurred. "All she's done for me over these years and all she's put up with, I can't put this on her too." He stumbled over to the couch and slumped down next to Harry. "Besides, she has too much on her plate now with the company."

"I'm sure Ms. Rushman can help out. She is, after all, your assistant."

"Not so much my assistant as Pep's. They can barely stand the sight of me. Me! Tony Stark! Genius! Where's that breeze coming from?"

"You and Col. Rhodes blew your house apart, remember?"

"I'm going to get my MK II back."

"You're not going anywhere until you do something nice for Pepper." Tony heard Harry say as he slipped off into a slumber.

His last conscious thought was of strawberries.

The next day he got up still in the MK V from last night and swallowed the Hangover Potion Harry had left on the table. Then he groaned. Harry obviously wanted to teach him a lesson; he still had a headache. This was going to need the magic of coffee. And donuts. Lots of donuts.

Meanwhile Harry was back at home in Peverell Manor researching potions to stop or cure poisoning. While he had been able to remove the larger shards of metal from Tony's old wound years ago, several slivers still remained, which made the Arc-reactor a necessity. So far all of Tony's efforts had come up a blank. Looking at several potions that he had been making, he left them in the able hands of the Peverell house-elves with instruction to inform him the moment they were finished.

Heading downstairs to the basement, Harry entered the foundry and workshop he'd found there. According to the Peverell history he had found in the self-updating library on the second floor of the Manor, his ancestors had been sword-smiths for the royal families. They used a special metal woven together with some specially invented charms for their metalwork that made for the strongest chainmails and swords other than those made by the Dwarves. Not trusting their secrets to any other smiths, the Peverells had made their smithy under their Manor with a distant, well-guarded exit into the market outside the keep. At the time, very few people knew or suspected that they were a magical family and attributed their high quality metalwork to a family secret. Of course, many traders, merchants, armies and kings asked for, demanded and fought over the Peverell's apparent stranglehold over the demand for their smithwork. But their monopoly over the Peverell arms remained well past the turn of the centuries and the rise of the democratic government. When the family's line started to thin, the elders wrote their secrets in several volumes of grimoires, available only to the Peverell Heir.

On one of his many visits to Peverell Manor, the elves had directed him towards the family histories which provided the hint to finding the Metal Grimoires. When he learnt of the palladium poisoning Tony was suffering from, he had immediately reopened the smithy and researched all the metals and spells that went into the making of the special swords that bore the Peverell mark. It seemed that after long hours of research, he had finally found a solution.

That night he got a call from Tony.

"It would seem that Dad still has a lot left to teach me. I found a description of a new element hidden in the old layout of the expo. It's amazing. Im going to create it now."

"Wait Tony. What element is it?"

"It's Vibranium. One of the rarest metals known to man." Silence on the other end. "Harry?"

"I think I know why it's so rare. How much do you need?"

"You're serious! If Fury hadn't put me on house arrest, I'd be over there right now."

"You know who you're talking to, right? Half a mo."

"Well, yeah. Wha- … !"

"It's a technique I call shadow flame. You might want to cancel that call now."

Harry led the way down to his smithy and explained how the family had controlled all trade of weapons, focus stones and metals, especially rare metals for well over a millenia. There was several tons of Vibranium stored in a hidden chamber under the Manor. In fact, Harry found entries in the Grimoires about the Potter family having bought up the metal and sold it to the Peverells a century before Charles Potter lived. Not only that, but as they found out later, the Vibranium that Howard Stark had used to make Captain America's shield came from this same store, gifted to him by Charles Potter.

"So, now what?" asked Tony, looking around at the machinery.

"Now, we cure you, you great git."

"You mean I get to play?" Tony asked excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Grab your workspace and get busy. I refuse to let you die on me." He moved around the man to gather the raw materials and tools. "Besides, you still gotta fight Vanko, confess your undying love to Pepper, which you can only do when you're not dead, and report to Fury and that lovely jailor, Natasha Romanoff." He paused. "And by the way, I might have made a few adjustments to the MK V."

"What!?"

"Just a bit of tinkering." Harry shrugged.

"Just as long as you didn't scratch the paint. Takes hours to get that mix right."

"I'm sure JARVIS won't mind, Tony."

"Hey, those are hand-crafted unique pieces of exquisitely shaped metal. And they suit me. How much more awesomeness can you imagine, huh?"

"Get to work, Mr. Awesome. There's a lot of work to do here and I have to get that potion for you too, to counteract the poisoning."

"Fury stuck me with a lithium based antidote this morning. It stopped the poisoned artwork at once."

"Then I'm going to need a sample of your blood."

"I'm not sure if you're qualified for that sort of procedure."

"I did have mandatory medical training in the field. Way back. Sticking a needle into you isn't too difficult. It'll be like acupressure."

"More like acupuncture."

"Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, Tony. Now let me see it. Take your shirt off."

"Never thought I'd see the day when I'd be asked to take my shirt off by a guy. An admittedly handsome guy, but a guy nonetheless."

"You're the consummate flirt, aren't you?"

"Playboy, is the word you're looking for, I believe. OUCH! Careful where you stick that pin."

"Double innuendo now? Really?"

"Never miss an opportunity."

"I'll have to turn your offer down. Have something more bubbly to keep me company tonight. Cheerio, mate."

"What about the materials to make the Arc Reactor?"

"I have it and I brought the tools over from your workshop weeks ago."

"You stole my favourite spanner? You know how long Dummy had to search for it?"

"Really Tony. You do have something more important to be worried about."

"I guess I could put in on hold. You do have it here. Nothing to worry about."

"I'm going to get that fire going. You get started on the cyclotron here. SHIELD's donations from Pegasus are the pile under the second chandelier. I'm going over to the lab."

"Don't miss me much, LP."

"No comment, twinkle-toes. Later."