Rewrite the Stars
Summary: "Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." – Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land. FemHarry.
Just a warning: FemHarry, AU, Language, Clichés, Age Difference, Messed Time Line, More in the Future
Just so you know (Name): FemHarry's name is Charis Aster Potter. In Greek mythology, a Charis is one of the Charites or "Graces"; goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility. This name comes from an Ancient Greek word meaning "Grace", "Kindness" and "Life". Aster is an Ancient Greek word for "Star" while the meaning of the flower Aster can differ depending on the presentation, my favorites being "Elegance", "Patience" and "Daintiness". Also, the Ancient Greeks used to burn aster leaves to ward off both snakes and evil spirits.
I don't own anything related to Marvel or Harry Potter!
Chapter 15. The End of the Year
T.S
He woke up with a start, feeling disoriented and in pain. Panicked, he tried to understand what the fuck was going on... It was then he recalled the explosions as well the horrible sight of one of his own weapons exploding before him. After that, he recalled those men…
Oh, Tony choked and gagged as he tried to gasp for fair, I was kidnapped, wasn't I?
Feeling something strange on his nose, his hands flew to his face. His arms hurt, as if he had slept in the wrong position, andhe choked in pain beforehis fogged brain recognized the thing on his nose as a tube. He turned his head slightly in a attempt to move his arm and pull the tube when he finally noticed an older, balding man humming a tune as he shaved by a broken mirror in the corner of the dark cave.
But more importantly…
There was a jug of water on the table beside his makeshift bed and now that he thought about it, he was really thirst.
Tony tried to speak, mostly to demand a little of water, but he couldn't and it was the damn nasal tube fault… Gritting his teeth and ignored his burning arms and aching body, he pulled said tube, gagging as two of feet of tubing slithered from his nose.
The balding man kept humming even as Tony turned his head and yanked the IV from his arm. With more difficulty than there should have been, the brown-eyed billionaire quickly reached out for the jug of water but before his fingers could even touch it, he felt something tugging him back, making him gasp.
Looking down, he found a wire coming from under his chest bandages. He moved to touch it but was stopped.
The balding man didn't even look back as he spoke, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Tony's eyes flickered in his direction before he pulled the bandages under he froze as he fingers brushed against metal. Panicked, he ripped his shirt open to see that a round metal plate just beside his heart and that it had not only been cut into him but that the wire was hooked up to a car battery.
Whiskey brown eyes blinked rapidly as Tony tried to keep himself from a panic attack.
Pushing himself upright with difficulty, he stared at the balding man, trying to not let his panic show on his face. The old man had finished shaving and moved across the cave, making it possible for Tony to look at him properly. He tall and thin, wearing neat and clean clothes although the faded colors and rips on them showed that he didn't have anything else to wear. That made him wonder if the guy was also some kind of prisoner or if he was one of the kidnappers.
"What the hell did you do to me?" Tony asked, the words coming out a little strange. He could barely move his tongue.
The balding man, who had started to make some kind of stew on a old pot, didn't answer for a moment. He cheerfully stirred the stew, causing Tony to pursue his lips.
"What I did? What I have done is to save you life," He finally replied, nonchalantly. "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left and it's moving into your atrial septum," He stood up, walked in his direction as he pulled a small jar out of his pocket and tossed it to Tony. "Here, wanna see? I have a souvenir – Take a look!"
Tony almost dropped the jar but was able to hold onto it, wincing as he looked down at it. The pieces of shrapnel that weren't all shattered were triangular and had grooves cut into the flat sides. It made him sick because those triangular pieces were proof that he hadn't been wrong when he thought that it was one of his weapons that left him in this situation.
The billionaire gripped the jar tightly.
"I've seen many wounds like that in my village," The old man continued, as if he was talking about the weather. "We call them the walking dead, because it takes them a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs."
Tony didn't say anything for a moment, deciding to change the subject, "What is this?" he tapped the plate on his chest.
The old man looked at it, "That is an electromagnet hooked up to a car battery." Tony resisted the urge of saying something like No shit, Sherlock?! "And it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart… at least for now."
There was a part of Tony that couldn't help but be impressed with the old man work, especially in such conditions. Another part of him scoffed; he could have done better than that.
Shaking his head, he finally noticed the small CCTV camera in the corner.
The old man looked over his shoulders before giving him a knowing look, smiling cheerfully, "That's right. Smile!"
Tony gave him a look but the man ignored him, going back to stare at the pot. The brown-eyed man would have said something if his stomach hadn't decided to start growling from hunger. He looked away from the pot.
"We met once you know," The older man said. "At a technical conference in Bern."
"Don't remember," Tony drawled.
The old man seemed to find it funny, "No, you wouldn't… If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits."
The billionaire took a deep breath, "Where're we?"
If his companion was going to answer, he lost the chance to do so when the door on the corner opened slightly. The brown haired genius could hear as someone shouted in a foreign language.
Immediately, the old man's head snapped in direction of the door, forgetting the stew as he rushed closer to Tony. For the first time since he had first seen him, the billionaire could see a hint uneasy behind that calm and cheerfully mask.
Raising both of his hands up in the universal sign of surrender, the old man spoke, "Come on, stand up!" Tony merely stared, "Do as I do!"
Narrowing his eyes a little, Tony did so. His arms hurt and barely wanted to obey him but he was still able to mimic the other man.
The door opened fully, and in came a man with a trimmed bread accompanied by two guards. The man was grinned widely spreading his arms as if he was ready to greet and impress an old friend. Tony was neither his old friend nor was he impressed. Actually, he was much more focused on the weapons they had with them.
Those weapons – Those guns right there?
They were his.
It was his design, his creation.
"Those are my guns," Tony said more to himself than to his companion. "How did they get my guns?"
This… This shouldn't be happening. His weapons were created to protect his country's people and soldiers. What –
The leader, whoever he was, stopped vefore Tony, talking in some language the billionaire couldn't recognize. That wasn't a language had heard before.
His companion's job, apparently, was to be his interpret, "He says; 'Welcome, Tony Stark. America's most famous mass murderer'." The old man looked at him.
Tony resisted the urge of letting out a sarcastic "as if I had never heard that before". Instead, he observed his kidnappers as the leader kept talking and the old man started gave his simultaneous translation.
"He is honored. He wants you to build him a missile you were demonstrating. The Jericho Missile." There was a short pause as he stressed, "For him."
Should have guessed, Tony thought with dark humor.
All his kidnappers always demanded for the same things; money, weapons or both. Not that they were got what they wanted.
The leader shoved a picture on his face; it was a promotional one he had told Rhodey to send his Generals when asked about the missile. His eyes flashed as a thought hit him – There was one way for the guy to have gotten his hands on that picture in particular…
Tony smiled mockingly and said, "I refuse."
There was no need for a interpret. Those two little words were simple enough for the leader to understand. His overly cheerfully disposition dropped much like a house of cards in a blink of the eye and before Tony could even process what was happening, his head was duck in a tank of dirty and cold water.
He thrashed and tried to not panic too much. Not that he was successful as he was held down for longer than he expected and just started to freak out for oxygen.
His ears started ringing and, for a second, he thought he heard a woman call for him. Her voice was rather familiar but he couldn't say why.
Before he could use this as a excuse to stop and thinking, maybe even calming himself in the process, whoever was holding him down pulled him back enough to give him a gulp of air before shoving him back under the water again.
As he head slammed against the bottom of the tank and his mouth opened in reaction. He gagged and chocked, starting to see black spots before his eyes.
Something told Tony that they would keep doing this for a long time. And maybe they did. Unfortunately, he couldn't breath but less think straight enough to keep track of time. What he was able to do was remember things like the moment the chest plate was placed inside his body, a chest plate that was keeping him alive and giving those bastards power over him…
They pulled him up once more and all Tony could do as he took a gulp of air was blink as he his brain started working once more and he had a rather interesting idea… Maybe even a stupid one (Rhodey and Pepper would have definitely called it stupid, while adding words like dangerous and reckless), but it was still a interesting idea that could be his way out…
He needed to plan though; get himself some time and plan before doing anything.
This, he thought dryly as he desperately clutched the car battery (When had it been taken from him and when had they given it back?!) tightly, is going to be a pain.
Literally.
The two troll-like guards put a bag over his head and dragged him down a corridor by his arms as if he was some kind of hag doll. If he had any strength to complain, Tony would have definitely made a joke about it just to irritate them but, unfortunately, it was difficult to even keep his eyes open.
Later, his arms were released and the bag was yanked off his head. Tony shut his eyes under the sudden and hot sunlight, feeling a headache forming.
Someone pushed him forward and the old man from before helped him stand as he slumped. He guided Tony who blinked his eyes until they adjusted to the light and he could see that they were in a cleft between two stone mountains. The entrance of the cave could be seen at distance, far from what seemed to be a narrow canyon. Between the canyon and the cave was the rest of the camp, which was covered by camouflage netting.
Tony pursued his lips slightly at the sight.
By the looks of it, he would truly have to find a way out on his own. It would be practically impossible for any kind of rescue party to find the cave.
Well, good thing he hadn't been hoping for a rescue.
Scanning his surroundings, he caught sight of a few sandbags, mounted guns, more or less sixty guards, a few vehicles and weapons – His weapons.
Brown eyes blinked slowing when the leader step in front of him and started speaking. The old man didn't waste time before translating, "He wants to know what you think."
Well, he was thinking about a lot of things, including more than ten different ways for him to get out of there. But the billionaire was sure that this wasn't what he wanted to know so, instead, he said:
"I think he got a lot of my weapons."
Tony didn't know if the old man translated his words properly nor did he care. Something told him that the question was rhetorical.
The leader (And Tony seriously needed to come up with a name for this guy) started speaking while the old man translated, "He says you'll have everything you need to build the Jericho missile," Tony arched his eyebrow slightly at this. "But he still wants you to make a list of materials. He says for you to start working immediately and when you are done, he will set you free."
Ha ha, Tony thought, smiling widely, that's a fun joke.
Still smiling, and making sure to look relieved and hopefully, the brown eyed genius held out a hand, shaking the leader's hand as if he was one of his business partners.
"No," Tony said cheerfully. "I won't."
The old man looked amused as he repeated his words in whatever language his kidnappers spoke. The leader's eyes hardened and Tony kept smiling despite the pain he knew would be coming to him.
Time, he thought as he was grabbed by his hair, I just need time to plan properly and put it in motion.
Yes, he decided, Tony could make this work, no matter how much pain he had to go through until then. All he wanted was his survival and would get it in the end.
C.P
Everything and everyone had a limit.
And I, the green-eyed witch mused with annoyance as she stomped down the familiar corridor leading to the empty classroom her and her friends started to use as some kind of headquarters, seem to have found mine.
James was free to have as many secrets as he wanted and it was her job as his niece to stay out of the way despite all her worries and let him be until he decided to talk about it.
But –
But the moment James started to look worried (Haunted) and tried to hide it from her – Well, Harry knew that she couldn't leave him be anymore. If only her Great-Uncle would stop avoiding her and let her interrogate him properly. At least then she would be able to help somehow, even if it was by just giving some kind of moral and emotional support.
"Uff," Harry shook her head as she collided against something, having not been paying attention to where she was going.
Before she fell back on the cold stone floor, someone grabbed her arms, keeping her still before letting go.
"Than –" She stopped, not finding anyone. Immediately, Harry leaped forward and clutched the familiar fabric of her Invisibility Cloak. "I'm not letting you leave this time!" She said childishly, acting like the thirteen years old girl she was, "Now, you'll have to talk to me!"
Although the small girl couldn't see him, she could still imagine the way James blinked before he understood the meaning behind her words. Silently, he guided her to the headquarters and closed the door as he pulled the hood of the her Invisibility Cloak down.
"Charis," James gave her a look, "I'm not ignoring you."
The thirteen years old scoffed, crossing her arms and giving him a look of her own, "Well, that's not what it looks like to me."
Her long haired Great-Uncle rubbed his eyes with a sigh.
"Charis…"
At the tone of his voice, she nipped her bottom lip, shoulders dropping as she looked at him with concern, "Uncle James…" The small witch hesitated, "Are… Are you worried about the man from the newspaper? Tony Stark wasn't it?"
Ever since that morning when he ripped the man's picture of the newspaper, Harry noticed that whenever Tony Stark was mentioned, James got this distance look on his face but this read whatever article about the other despite how much it seemed to pain him to do so.
A week or so later, Harry noticed that the newspapers were connected with her Great-Uncle's strange behavior. Concerned, she had asked one of the older Muggleborns in Gryffindor about any kind of important news coming from the non-magical World and all he said was that "Tony Stark was kidnapped, didn't you hear?" and the green-eyed girl knew that she had found the reason behind all James' worries but…
But there were still questions to be answered.
She just couldn't understand why this Tony Stark was so important... Had James known him or someone related to him? Had… Had he killed anyone the other man loved while he was still under the control of his so called handlers? Was that why he seemed so obsessed with Tony Stark?
James stared at her before walking to the teachers' table at the back of the room and sitting down. Harry followed him, immediately taking note of the pile of books over the table. All of them were from the library.
There was a moment of silence as Harry grabbed one of the largest books, opening it to scan the pages. Although she couldn't read the runes in this book, the small girl recognized it as one of the books that she had seen in the hands of Sixth and Seventh Years students before.
Finally, after what seemed to be hours, James spoke, "He's Howard's son."
Harry looked at him and mouthed the name a few times until it clicked.
Howard was the name of one of James' friends during the war. The other man had been a genius and someone her Great-Uncle had admired, but – But Howard, James' friend Howard, was also someone the ice-blue eyed man had killed under the control of his so called handlers. Yes, he hadn't been in control nor conscious of his actions but James still felt guilty about it.
"Oh…" The raven-haired witch hugged the book close, feeling like she should apologize for being noisy.
She opened her mouth to do just that but James spoke up, "Tony is Howard's son and he's missing," He said humorless, talking more to himself than to Harry. "And I…"
He clamped his mouth shut.
There was no need for words though. Harry liked to believe that she knew her long haired Great-Uncle well enough to know that he wanted to find his old friend's son. He wanted some kind of redemption and maybe this was the chance he had been hoping for…
Despite all of this, James was clearly hesitant. No matter what he wanted to do, the veteran didn't want to force his presence on Mr. Stark. He was nothing more than a murder and he doubted that the other man would accept his help.
Harry straightened her back, trying to not show how sad she was at his train of thought. Instead, she smiled and did her best to look confident.
"Uncle James," She said slowly, "he couldn't possible blame you for whatever happened. You weren't yourself!"
James shook his head, looking into her eyes. She didn't know what he was looking for but whatever he found caused his lips to curl up in a weak smile filled with self-loathing. Harry opened her mouth to comfort him but her Great-Uncle interrupted her.
"Oh, doll," He said, kindly, "he doesn't need to blame me. I blame myself enough for both of us."
She averted her eyes at this, nodding her head in acceptance. The green-eyed girl didn't like it but she understood why he felt like that. She herself had felt something similar several times before in her life.
There was a moment of silence between them.
"You're going to look for him, right? That's why you have all those books…" Harry muttered, noticing some Muggle magazines under all magical books. Most of them spoke about Tony Stark's kidnapping.
His eyes were a little distant as he seemed to think about it before replying, "I want to try at least, but it isn't my place to do so…"
Harry gave him an odd look, "How so? He needs help doesn't he? And you want to help don't you?" She waited for him to nod before continuing, "Then what's stopping you? It can't be the guilty. That won't stop you from doing something."
At least she didn't think so. When James wanted to do something, he would so it without a single care about morals or rules. He waa stubborn like that.
The ice-blue eyed man opened and closed his mouth, before closing his eyes. Smiling softly, Harry poked his cheek making look at her. He took her hand, holding it tightly with his flesh and ungloved hand.
"Uncle James, are you going to look for him?" Harry asked.
Maybe it was just speculation from her part, but something told her that he had already made his decision.
The veteran inhaled deeply, brushing his lips against the back of her hand.
"I will," He replied with a small smirk. There was a lot left unsaid but the knowing glint in her eyes made it clear that she had heard it anyway.
The thirteen years old witch grinned, "Well, what're we waiting for?! Give me a book, I'm sure I can find something."
James smiled fondly as he handed a Charms book to her. Harry took the book, babbling about the kind of tracking spells that she had learned about in class.
They didn't find anything on those books but that didn't mean that they weren't going to continue their search.
The two of them would find Tony Stark one way or another.
Since James left the castle early that day for his appointment, Harry found herself walking to the library.
The two of them had been trying to find a spell to track Tony Stark now for a while now. They hadn't been successful but that wasn't going to stop them, especially Harry who refused to give up. She had promised to help her Great-Uncle, she wanted to help him, and she would.
"So he's leaving?" Harry heard a Ravenclaw asking her friend as the two witches walked past her.
"From what I heard, yeah."
"…I still can't believe the Headmaster actually hired someone like him!"
Harry looked over her shoulder, hesitating for a moment before she continued walking. As she did, the raven-haired girl couldn't help but wonder if they were talking about Professor Lupin.
Had someone finally reported the man for being a werewolf?
Speaking of Hogwarts' resident werewolf…
Harry made a pause.
Nipping her bottom lip, the small witch debated with herself for a moment before losing the battle against her curiosity and, slowly, giving a few steps back to check if what she had seen wasn't her imagination... And, yep – There it was...
The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom's door was wide open and, inside, she could see Professor Lupin packing his things. The dinosaur's fossils that he had placed on display at the beginning of the year were gone as was the tanks and cages he had used to house the grindylow and other small dark creatures they had been studying.
Professor Lupin's old battered suitcase looked to be almost full near an half-empty bookshelf while the man himself was bending over something on his desk.
So he's truly leaving, Harry deduced, turning to leave now that her curiosity had been sated.
It wasn't all that surprising; not with Professor Lupin being a werewolf. She was actually surprised that the Board of Governors hadn't sent a group of Aurors to escort the man out. Hopefully, they won't be waiting for him outside of the castle.
Professor Lupin made her uncomfortable with his stalkerish tendencies but he was still a good man… At least he seemed to be.
"Harry!"
She flinched slightly, hesitantly looking over her shoulders to find Professor Lupin's leaning out of the classroom with a smile.
"Going somewhere?" He asked friendly.
Away from you, she almost replied. But Harry merely gave him a tight smile and said, politely, "I'm going to the library. Have a nice day, sir!"
Before he could try to stop her, Harry started walking, practically running down the corridor. She only slowed down upon entering the library, wiggling her fingers as Madam Pince, the thin and irritable librarian, narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the green-eyed thirteen years old. That look wasn't anything new; Madam Pince gave that look to everyone who stepped into the library – Even Hermione who practically lived there.
"Look who we have here, brother," a familiar voice said from behind her, playfully.
Another, identical voice, continued, "I do, brother! It's the mighty Harrykins!"
Harry snorted as she turned her head to see the twins sitting on a table not far from her, surrounded by books and resting their chins against the palm of their hands aa they stared at her.
"She's here!" Fred gasped in faux surprise.
George made a face as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, "She's actually gracing us mere mortals with her illustrious presence!"
Together, the duo leaned back and placed a hand above their hearts and chorused, "What an honor!"
Harry rolled her eyes fondly, walking in their direction and sitting down.
"You're talking as if you hadn't seen me in years," She said, placing her messenger bag over the table.
Fred arched his eyebrow, "Well, we hadn't seen you in a while."
The small girl sighed. She had to agree at this, she hadn't seen the twins a lot lately; first because they were busy with their OWLs (She had made them promise to at least try to get good grades) and second because she had been so busy between studying and searching for ways to track Tony Stark down that she barely stopped to talk with the boys.
"Point," Harry said. "Sorry, I have been busy."
George nodded, "Neville did say that you were looking for something."
"I said what?" The trio turned to see Neville blinking at them, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. The blonde haired boy looked exhausted, throwing himself on a empty chair and laying his head against the table.
Harry smiled softly, patting his head. The chubby wizard had been studying a lot for their end of the year exams. They weren't as important as their future OWLs and NEWTs exams but she could see that her friend wanted to get higher grades than he had gotten in their two previous years.
"That Harry was looking for something," George repeated.
Baby-blue eyes blinked slowly and said absentmindedly, "Oh, yeah, that's what I thought anyway…"
The small girl snorted before sighing, "I have been looking for something." That's it, whenever she wasn't in the library or trying to make sure that James had enough sleep and didn't skip any meal.
The twins shared a look before staring at her with expectation.
Resting her chin against the palm of her hand, Harry nipped her bottom lip as she scanned the bookshelves surrounding them. After a moment, she said, "I'm trying to find a spell to track someone for James. He has been…" She tries to think of how to explain it, "He has been rather worried about his… friend…"
Although that was a lie, Harry couldn't find any other way to describe the possible connection between Mr. Stark and James.
"Did they disappear?" Fred asked while George looked thoughtful, making a mental list of all tracking methods he knew. Of the two, the younger twin was the one who knew more about spell work and Ancient Runes while Fred was a genius with Potions and Arithmancy.
"Sort of," Harry muttered, scowling down at her hands.
The raven-haired witch wanted to help James find this Tony Stark and also, by this point, she wanted to find him herself. She was rather concerned about the man. Dudley had watched enough action movies for her to know that a rich, genius man in the hands of terrorists couldn't possibly end well.
George looked at her, "What about the Avensegium spell?"
Harry grimaced, recognizing the spell, "I would need something belonging to Uncle James' friend to make it work."
"Point," George nodded.
Fred hummed, "Did you look for books written by Aurors? There must be tracking spells there."
Before the small witch had the opportunity to answer, the sleepy Neville mumbled with half-lidded eyes; "You could always look for something that isn't used by Aurors."
His words were little difficult to understand but it didn't take long before something clicked in her mind and Harry gasped, jumping to her feet. The twins shared a look before turning their attention back to the excited thirteen years old girl.
"Nev, you're a genius!" She said, not waiting for a response before she ran in direction of the Care of Magical Creatures section of the library.
"I... am…?" Harry heard her blonde-haired best friend mutter and she could imagine him blinking his eyes as if to check if he was dreaming, "Er – Yeah… Sure... Yay..."
The twins snickered, finding their friend lack of enthusiasm and sleepy disposition hilarious.
Harry rubbed her chin as she stopped before one particular bookshelf, scanning the titles of the books. Emerald-green glimmered with victory as they landed on one particular book and Harry tiptoed and stretched her arm to reach it. It was a little difficult but she soon found herself holding a fairly large purple book with the title (A Wizard's Field Guide to Magizoology by Jean-Baptiste Taunay) written in silver.
Having found what she wanted, she sprinted back to the table she was sharing with the boys and opened the book, immediately checking the Index.
"Aha," Harry muttered, tapping a finger against the page.
"Aha what?" Fred asked curiously as he the other two leaned against the table and craned their necks to see what was so interesting.
Harry didn't answer for a while, flicking through the pages until she found what she was looking for.
"Look!" The small witch smiled with excitement, turning the book so they could read:
Tracking Methods
While all points described above are essential for any Magizoologist intending to go through field work instead of working in a more closed environment, tracking is something that all Magizoologist should know. […]
[…]
With all of this in mind, I offer to you my reader a list of spells that shall help you track down any magical beast and, in several cases, living beings. I sincerely hope this list shall aid you in not only protecting species that are already known to wizards but also find new fantastic beasts this vast world of ours.
[…]
Spell IV
Incantation:Appare Vestigium (ah-PAR-ay ves-TEE-jee-um)
Wand Movement: No Wand Movement
Description: A charm that reveals and illuminates any recent magical or non-magical activity, creating golden magical footprints and track marks in an area. The charm can show footprints and track marks from back to one month. […]
"That's pretty cool," George said, taking the book from her so he could have a better look. "Why is it only used by Magizoologists? It would make Aurors' jobs so much easier…"
Fred snorted, arching his eyebrows, "They more likely ignore it because it was created by a French wizard."
The small raven haired witch sitting across them made a face, nodding in agreement. No one talked about it, mostly because the people of Magical Britain seemed to believe that their Aurors were best in what they did, but there were a lot of spells and Potions that the Department of Magical Law and Enforcement refused to use despite how useful and helpful they could be. And why was that? Well, none of those spells or Potions weren't made by British wizards.
British Aurors liked to say that they were patriots.
Harry thought they were all prideful and jealous idiots.
"Is Mr. Barnes' friend a Muggle?" Fred asked, "I don't think this will work on a non-magical."
Harry shrugged, her smile still in place. She couldn't wait to show this spell to James.
"The books does say that the spell "reveals and illuminates any recent magical or non-magical activity"," George pointed out. "If it doesn't work, we can just find something else. What do you think Nev –"
Harry turned to see why he had stopped, only to stare at the sight of Neville snoring and drooling as he mumbled to himself. The trio stared until one of the twins snorted. That made them start laughing, throwing their heads back and shaking their shoulders.
Madam Pince screeched from her desk but they didn't stop; it was far too funny.
Even after they were kicked out of the library, carrying the still unconscious Neville with them, the trio never stopped laughing.
Where was Colin Creevey with his camera when they needed him?
Whatever euphoria Harry felt after finding the Appare Vestigium was rather short lived when James informed her that while he was grateful for her help, she won't be the one casting the spell. He refused to take her to a place as dangerous as Afghanistan. Rescue mission or not.
The ice-blue eyed man had no idea of how he would be using the spell to track down Mr. Stark but he was sure that he would find a way. Meanwhile, he had given her a look, all Harry needed to do was focus on her exams.
The small thirteen years old pouted for a few days but did as he said, joining Neville whenever the other Third Years formed study groups.
Almost no student was seen out of the castle, everyone was far too busy forcing their brains into absorbing as much information as it could while mourning their lack free time as enticing wafts of summer air drifted in through the windows. Honestly, the only reason a student would have been seen out of the castle was Quidditch but ever since Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup back in April (Harry didn't think she had ever seen someone cry as much as Oliver Wood did that day as well the following week – The only reason he didn't sleep with the trophy was because Professor McGonagall didn't let him), a game between Houses was very rare.
"Miss Potter," Harry blinked, looking away from her Arithmancy book to look at Professor McGonagall, "Your exam schedule."
The girl took the paper from the older witch. The Transfiguration teacher quickly moved to give the others their schedule while Harry scanned the paper in her hands.
"Ugh," She heard Ron groan from the other side of the Common Room, "Divination will be on the same day as DADA."
"I have Arithmancy," Hermione informed him before he decided to ask.
Even so, he leaned to check her schedule.
"Hermione?" Ron called cautiously. "I thought you dropped Muggle Studies and Divination?"
"I did," She replied, confused.
"So why're you doing the exams for those classes…" The red-haired boy pointed out.
Hermione seemed surprised, looking down at her schedule before standing up to talk to Professor McGonagall. Harry stopped paying attention to them after, feeling rather happy that the other girl was no longer overworking herself to an early death, and instead focused her attention on Neville and the twins.
On Monday, their exams started. For the Third Years, their first exam was Transfiguration and by the end of it, everyone was looking a little pale, comparing results and bemoaning the moaning about some of the tasks McGonagall had given to them like turning a teapot into a tortoise and changing a cauldron into rubber. Hermione almost drove more than one student in a fit with her murmurings about how her tortoise had looked more like a turtle. Thankfully, Ron had been able to pull her away before Lavender Brown decided to jump on her.
After lunch, they moved upstairs for the Charms exam. Harry was practically jumping from excitement; this was one of the exams she knew she would be getting a good grade. Professor Flitwick enthusiastically tested them on the Charms they had learned that year, partnering them up and giving out hypothetical situations to see if they would know what Charm had to be used and how.
Finished, more than half of the students returned to their respective Common Room to studying for the exams they would be doing the next day while the rest had made their way to the Ancient Runes' classroom for their last exam of the day. The exam was fairly simple; Professor Babbling handed over texts out for them to translate… Although Harry noticed that not everyone would have describe the exam as simple. Many students looked rather lost and she won't be surprised to learn next year that half of them had dropped the elective or traded it for another.
On Tuesday, the first exam of the day was Care of Magical Creatures exam. Hagrid gave each of them a Fairy as well a list of things they had to complete with said Fairy's help and stepped back, watching and taking notes as the students took more than half of the exam's time to convince the Fairy to actually look in their direction.
Potions came next and Harry wasn't ashamed to say that she hadn't been able to get her Confusing Concoction to thicken. It was impossible to concentrate with Snape standing behind her, clearly hoping that her cauldron would either explode or melt. At least with the greasy man focusing on her, Neville had actually been able to brew his own Potion without trembling the entire time.
They had some time to relax before the Third Years had their Astronomy exam at midnight, up on the tallest tower. Harry yawned a few times, but she still drew a fairly good star chart.
History of Magic was unfortunately the first exam they had on Wednesday morning, which was filled with questions about medieval witch-hunts as well the impact it had on all Magical Communities found in Europe (Harry was so happy that she liked reading for fun because, otherwise, she won't have known how to answer at least ninety per cent of the exam). She wondered who wrote and would be grading those exams because last time she checked, Binns only cared about Goblin Wars.
After History, they had Herbology. Neville seemed to glow as they were told to identify all the kinds of herbs and plants and speak about them. It was a short exam and Harry soon followed the few students who took Arithmancy for the classroom where they had to answer questions about the history of the subject as well work on a chart that needed to be deciphered.
Their last exam (At least for those who didn't take Divination), which happened on Thursday, was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Dumbledore showed up with a large smile as he informed them that they would be going through the exam Professor Lupin had prepared beforehand for his students. Surprisingly, it was a obstacle course outside of the castle where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a boggart. It was fun for an exam… Well, part of it…
"I hate boggarts," Neville muttered, a little pale from his encounter with the boggart version of his Grandmother.
Holding his hand and looking a little, Harry tried to not burst out crying as she nodded, "Me too…" She whispered.
There was nothing else to be said. They walked in direction of the castle, ignoring the sounds of the other students laughing or scream coming from the obstacle course. Harry had just reached the top of the steps when a someone grabbed her shoulder.
Jumping a little, she looked around, relaxing when she didn't see anything.
"Hi, Uncle James…" She sniffed a little, leaning her head a little as he cupped her face gently.
Neville waved his free hand half-heartedly, "Hi, Mr. Barnes."
"Neville," James greeted him. "Are you alright, doll?" He asked, sounding like he was leaning close to her.
"Boggarts," Harry replied, grimacing.
Her Great-Uncle's fingers twitched before he pulled back. She could imagine him clenching and unclenching his hands, taking a deep breath to keep himself calm.
After a moment, he grabbed her free hand and squeezed, "Come on, why don't we get something to do drink before I leave?"
Harry opened her mouth ask him about it before she remembered that that morning, he had said something about having to talk to her godfather. It was probably about the spell to track Mr. Stark.
Knowing that he would just change the subject if she asked since he didn't want her involved in the rescue mission, Harry squeezed his hand back.
"Hot chocolate would be really nice right now," She said as they walked inside the castle, Neville nodding enthusiastically.
"With marshmallows!" Her friend added.
"Hot chocolate for the kids," James sounded like he was smirking, "and coffee for me. Hum, delicious."
The ice-blue eyed man laughed at the identical looks of horror the two thirteen years olds gave him. And, just like that, they forgot the boggart in favor of explaining how coffee definitely wasn't delicious.
S.B
It was late at night, possibly nearing midnight, but he couldn't sleep.
So, here he was, miserably sitting in his gloomy living room and unsuccessful trying to read the book in his hand.
Honestly, he didn't even know what book he was holding. He had grabbed the first book he could reach after the last letter he received from a man that he had once thought of as a brother. All he had wanted was to distract himself and forget that and other letters had even reached him.
Sirius Black ran a hand through his long hair, wondering when he would be able to enjoy his freedom without being bothered day and night by people who, until after his trial, hadn't even spared a single thought on him; forgetting everything that they knew about him and leaving him to root in Azkaban.
Pursuing his lips, his grey-eyes flickered toward the letter he had thrown on the corner of the room. He placed his book aside and leaned against his armchair, giving up on trying to read.
Just as he was ready to stand up and throw the letter in the fireplace, much like he had done with others, there was a familiar, ear splitting, bloodcurdling screech.
He sneered.
What's it now?! Sirius thought, furious. Why's she screaming now?!
Look, Sirius hadn't wanted to go back to this Gods forsaken place after his Healer allowed him to leave the hospital and live on his own with the promise that he won't miss a single appointment. But there wasn't another alternative, especially not when that man lived with his goddaughter. Thus, it was either his childhood home or taking his old "friends" offers of housing him.
And although the house wasn't all that bad, at least not after he paid the Goblins to give it a new look, it was still filled with bad memories and –
"Filth! Scum!"
And there was his mother.
Merlin, his mother!
Even after death that woman was still haunting him; screaming and driving him up the wall.
Pursuing his lips and pulse quickening, Sirius stomped out of the living room, making his way toward the foyer to see what had waken up his mother and why, why was the hag screaming because Sirius certainly wasn't at fault this time around.
He like the silence, thank you very much.
"Disgusting creature, be gone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers –"
There was another bloodcurdling scream. This one, however, was filled with pain and – dare he say it – fear.
The grey-eyed man came to a halt after he passed the row of house-elf heads on the wall, staring.
The moth-eaten velvet curtains that usually hid and muffled his mother's life sized portrait was open. The old hag herself dressed in a horrible Victorian black dress was drooling, her own grey-eyes were rolling and the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed at the figure stabbing her portrait.
Open mouthed and shocked out of his mind, Sirius watched as the portrait of his mother was stabbed again and again. The woman screamed and screamed, howling at him for help ("Yoooou!" she screamed, her eyes popping at the sight of him. "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh! Do something!") until she finally noticed that the best alternative would be to leave.
He didn't even care that Barnes was standing in his foyer, nor did he care that the disgusting House-Elf he had inherited from his parents was bleeding on the floor. All he cared about was that –
He blinked, dazed.
That – That –
"You stabbed my mother," Sirius blurted out.
Ice-blue eyes focused on him, "You're welcome."
Sirius chortled, shoulders shaking.
Ever since he had started living in this house, Sirius had tried to destroy or at least destroy his mother's portrait but no spell worked. Maybe he should have tried Muggle methods because they clearly worked, even though he knew, from glancing at slightly ripped canvas, that he needed a more permanent solution to get rid of Walburga Black since the portrait could repair itself.
Shaking his head, he looked at the unconscious House-Elf.
Kreacher, his mother's extremely old and nasty House-Elf, was still laying flat on the floor, bleeding from his large, snout-like nose.
"Did you kill him?" Sirius asked, a little too hopefully. The Animagus wasn't even ashamed.
He hated Kreacher, had always hated him. There was no lost love between them and the ex-convict knew very well that the prejudiced House-Elf would dace happily if he was to die since that would mean that the control of the Black family would be handed over to his cousin Narcissa, her spawn and her Death Eater husband.
Barnes placed the knife inside his left army boot and replied, "No."
"Pity," Sirius muttered, eyeing the other man with caution.
He didn't know him very. All he knew came from his goddaughter's letters and, frankly, she was rather biased toward her Great-Uncle and he just couldn't trust her judgment. Especially when something told him that Barnes won't have any problem in killing him if he as much as blinked the wrong way.
"What're you doing here?" Sirius grumbled, making a motion for the other man to follow him. "Shouldn't you be at school with Harry?"
And no, he didn't sound bitter because he wasn't bitter.
He wasn't!
Sirius didn't care that his goddaughter adored this man. He didn't care that Barnes not only lived with her but also had access to something that made it possible for him to stay at school with her while Sirius himself only spoke to her by letters.
Nope.
He really wasn't bitter.
"So?" The Dog Animagus grumbled as they walked through the door leading into the basement kitchen, "What're you doing here?"
"What do you know about the Appare Vestigium spell?"Barnes asked, leaning against the wall while Sirius opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of Firewhiskey.
Sirius blinked, taken aback, "Er – You mean the tracking spell used by Magizoologists? I know a little…?" He hesitated, wondering what the other man wanted. "Why?"
Instead of explaining himself, Barnes asked, "And do you know how to cast it?"
The grey-eyed wizard frowned.
"Maybe."
Barnes arched his eyebrow, unimpressed. Pursuing his lips, Sirius huffed and poured a glass of Firewhiskey for himself. There was a moment of silence as Sirius tried to understand why Barnes was there. He knew that the other man was a Squib or at least a Hedge Wizard so he clearly needed Sirius' help to track someone or something down, he just didn't know if he should help the guy…
Sirius sighed.
Of course he was going to help him. Better to do so than to risk Harry being angry or disappointed on him for refusing.
"What can I do for you, Barnes?" He took a slip of his drink, enjoying the burning and continued, "And does Harry even know that you're here?"
Barnes stared for a moment, replying only one of his questions while ignoring the other, "Charis knows I'm here."
The grey-eyed man tried to keep the surprise out of his face. He had only now noticed that Barnes actually pronounced Harry's name the same way as Lily and Prongs had once done. It was painfully nostalgic…
He closed his eyes before turning to look at his uninvited guest once more. It took Sirius longer than he would have liked for him to notice that the assassin was holding a picture of a rather handsome man.
"Who's that?" Sirius asked despite thinking that he already knew the answer.
"Tony Stark," Barnes said. "I want you to track him down."
Against his best judgement, the Grimm Animagus snorted, "Is he a ex-lover of yours or something? Did you scare him so bad that he ran away?"
Ice-blue eyes narrowed dangerously and Sirius could hear the imaginary alarm bells echoing in the back if his mind. Unfortunately, he had no such thing as impulse control or self-preservation.
"There's no need to look like you're planning my death," The dog Animagus blurted out, suspiciously. Slowly, he backed away as much as the kitchen counter allowed him to.
Barnes looked at him, "If I was planning your death, you won't have known." There was a pause before the other man added, "Because you would have already been dead."
Silence.
"Give me the picture," Sirius said childishly, trying to not give into the urge of dropping his head submissively and getting the hell out of there just because Barnes was scarier than anyone else he had met in his miserable life (And yes, he was scarier than Professor McGonagall and his banshee of a mother).
Barnes did so, face expression still blank. There was no doubt that the guy would have been a Slytherin had he had gone to Hogwarts.
"Tell me more about this Tony Stark," Sirius muttered, sitting down. "Then we can see what we'll do."
The assassin nodded, not bothering to move from his place as he started explain who Tony Stark was and why he was kidnapped (Although he didn't explain why he wanted to save the guy and Sirius didn't ask). Looking down at the picture, the ex-convict wondered if he won't come to regret helping Harry's terrifying Great-Uncle.
Well, he would have to wait and see.
C.P
The exam results came out on the last day of term. Harry and Neville had passed every subject, both feeling relieved that they had actually been able to get a good grade in Potions. Fred and George had surprised everyone with their OWLs result and the Gryffindor House had, once again, won the House championship.
Their win meant that the end of term feast took place amid decorations of scarlet and gold, and that the Gryffindor table was the noisiest of the lot, as everybody celebrated.
The Slytherins kept sending them dirty looks. Well, aside from Malfoy who, for months now, had been acting strange; scanning his surroundings as if something was going to jump on him, running from any loud noise and staring at Harry with horror whenever the girl stepped close to him. The green-eyed girl had no idea of what his problem was but she didn't bother to think about it; Harry was sure that he would be back to his annoying ways when school started once more in September.
The next day, it was time for them all to leave.
"I can't believe this!" Hermione's screech made several students stop whatever they were doing to look at her, including Harry, Neville and the twins.
Ron groaned, "Hermione –"
"Why I'm only Third?!" The bushy haired witch was furious, "Why?!"
George whistled, "Wow, she finally saw the rankings."
"Took her long enough," Fred muttered. "I have been waiting for her tantrum since yesterday."
Harry giggled behind her hand, leaning against her invisible Great-Uncle as the train finally pulled into the station. The ice-blue eyed man placed his arm around her shoulders, chest vibrating as he chuckled.
"Why's Harry second?!" Said girl's smile dropped at the amount of disbelief present in Hermione's voice.
She was smart and very good with the practical side of magic so it wasn't all that difficult to believe that she could be second… Right?
James' muscles tensed while the twins and Neville glared at the bushy haired witch until Ron noticed and pushed her toward the train, shushing her as she kept ranting. The girl seriously wasn't used to being second or third best in anything.
"Ignore her, Harry," Neville said, now glaring at the train as if he could see Hermione inside it.
The twins nodded, "Yeah, she's just jealous."
Before Harry could thank them, James spoke, "Charis."
Still feeling a little down, the girl looked up slowly to find that her Great-Uncle's face was visible as he stared down at her. Her heart skip a beat as he smiled warmly.
"I'm proud of you, doll." He said, "Congratulations."
Not being able to stop herself, Harry blushed and smiled widely.
"Thank you, Uncle James!"
Later, as the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, James gave Harry some surprising news that made her blink.
"Your godfather will be staying with us for a while." He said, looking rather unhappy at the thought.
Harry stared, surprised, "What?" Green-eyes blinked a few times, "Why?"
Not that she didn't want her godfather to stay at their house, she had been trying to convince him to visit ever since he got out of the hospital. But Sirius had refused, saying that he was happy in his house and that she didn't need to worry about him.
The small witch couldn't understand why he would change his mind.
"He'll be helping me with my project," James said.
That was all explanation she needed.
Harry nodded, changing the subject and turning to talk with the boys who were discussing their grades. Leaning against her Great-Uncle's side, the green-eyed witch couldn't help but wonder what kind of man Tony Stark was.
She only hoped that he was worthy all the trouble James was and would be going through for him.
Hello! As you may have noticed, I'll be changing the POV sometimes although, like I said before, this story will be mostly from Harry's POV.
Next chapter will be having more Tony and the beginning of the next "book", which will cover Iron Man 1 and Forth Year. Anyway… Hope you liked it and please, don't forget to:
Review, Favorite or Follow and if you have questions/suggestions, just send me a PM.
-Cissnei.
TIMELINE!
May 16, 2009 – James leaves breakfast abruptly after seeing an article about Tony Stark (Saturday)
May 20, 2009 – Tony Stark is kidnapped.
May 22, 2009 – Harry learns about Tony Stark's kidnapping (Friday)
*Harry talks to James about Tony Stark
May 30, 2009 – Lupin leaves the castle after it's revealed that he's a werewolf (Saturday)
* Harry finds a spell to help James find Tony Stark
June 7, 2009 – Students are given their Exam Schedule
June 8, 2009 – End of the Year Exams Starts (Monday)
*James talks to Sirius about the spell Harry's found
June 19, 2009 – Exams' grades come out end of the Year Feast
June 20, 2009 – Hogwarts Express back to London.
CURIOSITY TIME!
Avensegium: Pronounced as ah-ven-SEH-gwim, this charms turns a target object into a tracking device (Mostly tacking form of a orange feather).
BONUS! #1
EXAMS SCHEDULE
Student Name: Charis Aster Potter
House: Gryffindor
Year: Third
Monday
07:30 AM – 09:00 AM: Breakfast
09:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Transfiguration
12:00 PM – 13:30 PM: Lunch
13:30 PM – 16:00 PM: Charms
16:15 PM – 18:45 PM: Ancient Runes
Tuesday
07:30 AM – 09:00 AM: Breakfast
09:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Care of Magical Creatures
12:00 PM – 13:30 PM: Lunch
13:30 PM – 16:00 PM: Potions
12:00 AM – 02:00 AM: Astronomy
Wednesday
07:30 AM – 09:00 AM: Breakfast
09:00 AM – 12:00 PM: History
12:00 PM – 13:30 PM: Lunch
13:30 PM – 16:00 PM: Herbology
16:15 PM – 18:45 PM: Arithmancy
Thursday
07:30 AM – 09:00 AM: Breakfast
09:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Defense Against the Dark Arts
12:00 PM – 13:30 PM: Lunch
BONUS! #2
HOGWARTS THIRD YEAR GENERAL RANKINGS (TOP 10)
1st – Susan Bones (Hufflepuff)
2nd – Charis Potter (Gryffindor)
3rd – Hermione Granger (Gryffindor)
4th – Blaise Zabini (Slytherin)
5th – Anthony Goldstein (Ravenclaw)
6th – Draco Malfoy (Slytherin)
7th – Neville Longbottom (Gryffindor)
8th – Terry Boot (Ravenclaw)
9th – Su Li (Ravenclaw)
10th – Daphne Greengrass (Slytherin)
BONUS! #3
THE QUARTET GRADES
Fred's OWLs:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZADRY
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results
Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
Mr. Frederick Gideon Weasley has archived:
Astronomy A
Care of Magical Creatures E
Charms E
Defense Against the Dark Arts E
Arithmancy O
Herbology E
History of Magic D
Potions O
Transfiguration E
George's OWLs:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZADRY
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results
Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
Mr. George Fabian Weasley has achieved:
Astronomy A
Care of Magical Creatures E
Charms O
Defense Against the Dark Arts E
Ancient Runes O
Herbology E
History of Magic D
Potions E
Transfiguration E
Harry's Grades:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZADRY
End of the Year Exams Results
(Third Year)
Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
Miss Charis Aster Potter has achieved:
Astronomy E
Care of Magical Creatures O
Charms O
Defense Against the Dark Arts O
Ancient Runes O
Arithmancy E
Herbology E
History of Magic A
Potions A
Transfiguration E
Status: APPROVED
Neville's Grades:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZADRY
End of the Year Exams Results
(Third Year)
Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
Mr. Neville Franklin Longbottom has achieved:
Astronomy O
Care of Magical Creatures E
Charms O
Defense Against the Dark Arts E
Ancient Runes E
Herbology O
History of Magic O
Potions A
Transfiguration A
Status: APPROVED