8.

Harry woke with a gasp, the nightmare fading but the panicky feeling staying in his chest. He realised he was sat up in bed, sweating and clutching his wand. He glanced around the room, then slowly sank back onto his pillows with a sigh, tucking his wand back into its holster.

Talking through his life story to the avengers had been more cathartic than he ever thought it could be, but it had dragged old memories from the back of his mind where he had carefully pushed them away so he never had to think about them again.

Harry pulled the golden snitch out of his pocket and let it go, reaching out to grab it when it got a foot or so away from his face. The repetitive motion calmed him down, and he pushed the snitch back into his pocket.

"Tempus." Harry muttered, and a glowing blue clock appeared in the air above his face. He had been asleep for less than three hours, but really, that was nothing new.

He climbed out of the large double bed and headed to the en suite bathroom. Harry splashed some cold water on his face, then stood leaning against the sink, staring at himself in the mirror.

The lightning bolt across his head was a jagged line beneath a faint layer of dust and grime, and Harry realised he hadn't washed since the alien invasion.

Wrinkling his nose, he looked around the spacious bathroom and spied a towel hanging on the radiator, and figured he may as well take a shower.

Once he was clean and felt vaguely human once more, Harry stood in his room with his towel around his waist, facing his torn and bloody clothes.

"Er, Jarvis?" He asked hesitantly.

'How can I help?' Came the reply.

For lack of a better place to look, Harry directed his attention to the ceiling. "Do you know where Natasha left my bag?"

'I believe Agent Romanoff has your backpack in her room, however there are clothes in the wardrobe you may wear.'

"Erm, great."

'Not at all, sir.'

"Don't... call me sir." Harry shook his head. "Please. Harry's fine."

'Of course, Harry.' Jarvis replied.

Harry walked over to the fitted wardrobes and slid the door to the side, revealing a range of trousers, shirts and jumpers. He frowned slightly when he realised they were all his size, but pulled on a pair of jeans and a red and gold t-shirt, the familiar Gryffindor colours oddly soothing.

He left his room and headed for the stairs, unable to face the lift. He jogged up the steps, and emerged into the kitchen as Clint was making himself coffee.

"Alright Legolas?" Harry said.

Clint looked over his shoulder and scowled. "Great thanks, Gandalf."

Harry laughed and dropped into a chair at the island, absently pulling the snitch out of his pocket and letting it float around his head.

Clint jumped when he turned around and saw the golden ball hovering in front of his face, and reached out to bat it away. The snitch dodged his hand and Harry grinned.

"What is this thing?" Clint asked, trying to grab it out of the air.

"It's called a golden snitch." Harry replied.

Clint was frowning as he half-heartedly tried to catch the small ball. "What's it for?"

"It's part of a sport called quidditch. One of the players has to catch it." Harry said, watching Clint's attempts to do so. "It's too old for that now though. Too easy to catch. I use it for anxiety to be honest." He coughed.

"Too easy to catch?" Clint repeated, grabbing for the ball with both hands and almost knocking a mug off the island.

"Well... yeah." After a second of watching its movements Harry reached out and easily plucked the snitch from the air, giving Clint a cheeky grin.

"How the hell did you do that?"

Harry frowned. "Y-you just reach out and grab it." He left go of the snitch and it zoomed out of his hand.

Clint once more tried to catch the flying ball, but it dodged his hand and flew in a lazy circle around his head. Clint glared and snatched at it again, and again he missed. "What's the trick?" He said.

Harry was laughing by now. "There's no trick. It's skill."

Clint span in a circle as he followed the snitch, furiously trying to capture it. "Oh don't go all Thor on me. I grew up in the circus, I know there's some kind of trick. Have you got a remote or a magnet or something?"

"There's no trick." Harry repeated. "Come on mate, it's hovering by your head."

Clint narrowed his eyes. "Piss off Potter." He tried to snatch the ball out of the air again, and growled when he missed.

Harry burst out laughing, and watched as Clint raced around the room after the snitch, bouncing off walls and jumping over tables. He knocked a glass off the coffee table and it shattered, and Harry lazily walked over and fixed it, snorting when Clint let out a string of expletives when he slammed into a cabinet.

At one point, he even pulled out a pistol and shot at the ball, the bullets missing and slamming into the wall behind it.

After a few minutes, Pepper and Steve burst from the lift. By now, Harry was leaning against the island, tears streaming down his face as Clint got more and more frustrated in his failure to catch the ball. Pepper was wrapped in a dressing gown, and Steve was in his pyjamas, shield in hand.

"What the hell is going on?" Pepper exclaimed, and Clint froze. Even the snitch paused, hanging in mid-air. "Harry James Potter, you explain this right now!"

Harry swallowed and looked at the floor. "It... I..."

"Yes?"

Harry flushed and looked up at Pepper. "It's a... toy. I was just showing Clint."

"What kind of a toy creates this much mess?" Pepper cried.

Harry looked around the large open area, wincing at the broken vase, messed up rug and bullet holes in the wall. "It flies around, and it's hard to catch." He explained, feeling ridiculously like a child being scolded. Clint seemed to notice this, and he snorted, just as the lift doors opened again to reveal Natasha and Tony.

Pepper rounded on him. "Don't think you're not in trouble too, Mr. Barton." Clint's smile disappeared. "You two, clean this mess up now. And no more playing with that ball inside."

"Yes mu-a'am." Harry said, managing to turn the 'mum' into a ma'am at the last minute. He snatched the snitch out of the air and stuffed it in his pocket, then turned to face the room.

Clint was picking up an overturned lamp, and Harry pulled his wand out of the holster on his arm.

"That was a Qianlong vase." Tony said, peering around the room and staring at the smashed pottery. "You realise that was worth over fifty million dollars?"

Harry waved his wand, and the shards of pottery flew together to reform the vase. "There you go." He muttered a cushioning spell around the vase to protect it for next time, then swept his wand around the room. The coffee table straightened, and the lamps righted themselves.

Natasha looked like she was trying not to laugh. "What were you doing?"

Harry pulled the snitch out of his pocket. "Clint was trying to catch this."

"What did I just say about that ball?" Pepper said.

Harry hurriedly shoved the snitch back into his pocket. "Sorry."

Tony laughed. "Oh, I totally believe the whole 'I'm twenty' thing right now. You are most definitely not acting like a kid who just got told off. Nice shirt by the way."

"Piss off." Harry said.

Pepper raised an eyebrow and Harry flushed, causing Tony to laugh even harder.

"Well, thank you for that lovely wake-up, boys." Pepper said, walking over to the coffee machine.

"Is there any breakfast?" Clint asked.

"There's cereal in the cupboard." Steve replied, leaning his shield against the wall.

Clint pulled a face. "I had cereal yesterday."

"How old are you?" Natasha said, perching on one of the seats at the island.

"I could make pancakes?" Harry suggested.

Tony shrugged. "Knock yourself out."

Harry went over to the stove, and twenty minutes later everybody was crowded around the island as he served stacks of fluffy blueberry pancakes.

"Hey, I was next!" Clint complained as Harry gave Steve two more.

"Calm down, I'm making more. Who wants seconds?"

"If you're making more." Bruce shrugged.

"Me too Gandalf." Tony said, finishing his last bite.

Clint scowled. "There's a queue."

"Has someone not had their morning coffee?" Tony mocked.

Harry smirked. "He's just sore he couldn't catch a ball that spent most of its time floating by his head."

Everybody laughed, except Clint who threw a spoon at Harry's chest.

He dodged it and aimed a punch at Clint's head, but he ducked, and went to pick up a knife.

"Boys!" Pepper cried, sounding exasperated.

"Sorry." Harry mumbled, turning back to the frying pan.

"Sorry Pepper." Clint said, lining up to flick a blueberry at Harry. He caught Natasha's eye and decided to pick it up and eat it instead.

"How does that thing stay up?" Bruce asked.

Harry shrugged. "It's got wings."

"But they were tiny." Bruce said. "Not nearly big or strong enough to hold up a ball that size for that long."

Harry shrugged again. "I don't know then. Magic."

Tony rolled his eyes. "That can't be your answer for everything."

"But what if that's the answer?" Harry said, flipping three more pancakes onto a plate and placing it on the island. "You could ask me how the bludgers stay up too. They don't have wings but they move a hell of a lot faster."

"Bludgers sound... aggressive." Bruce said.

Harry absently rubbed his arm. "Trust me, they are. Just be glad it wasn't one of them in here this morning."

"Right, new rule." Pepper said abruptly. "Harry is not allowed to show anyone any toys, or gadgets, or anything that could be considered remotely dangerous anywhere except the labs or the training room. Understood?"

"But if fixed everything!" Harry protested. He wilted under Pepper's look. "Define dangerous."

"Can cause bodily harm or general destruction."

Harry thought for a second. "Can I have it in my room?"

"If you clear it up, fine." Pepper nodded.

"How about somebody else's room?"

"You're all old enough to deal with the consequences, but if it's going to make a lot of noise and wake me up at five in the morning; lab."

Harry shrugged. "Sounds fair."

"Good." Pepper said, cutting into her pancakes.

"Why, have you got something in mind?" Natasha said.

Harry grinned evilly. "I think showing you guys canary creams is going to be... entertaining."

"What do they do?" Clint asked.

"Oh, you'll have to wait and see."

"Oh man, why were your pancakes so good." Clint moaned, clutching his stomach. "I ate way too much."

"That's not my cooking, that's just you being a pig." Harry snorted. Clint lobbed a cushion at him, and Harry ducked. "So much for Mr. I-never-miss."

"I never said that."

"You so did."

"...I can still kick your butt."

"Go on then."

Clint seemed to think about getting up. "Maybe later."

"That's what I thought." Harry smirked.

"I'm too full."

Harry laughed. "Clint, it's been almost two hours."

"I ate a lot."

"Anyway, Natasha told me to tell you we're going in like ten minutes." Harry said, picking the cushion up off the floor and throwing it at Clint's head. "That means get up."

Clint rolled off the sofa with a groan and stood up. "Alright."

Harry followed him out of the common room and into the kitchen, where Bruce and Steve were waiting.

"Thor's gone on ahead to meet Dr. Selvig." Steve explained. "Loki's with him."

"I'll meet you downstairs." Harry said. "I'm not fond of lifts." He shot Bruce a quick smile and headed to the stairs with him.

"So can I see that ball?" Bruce asked, the moment the door shut behind them.

Harry snorted and pulled the snitch out of his pocket, its wings fluttering against his palm. He handed it to Bruce, who peered at it as they walked, holding it between two fingers.

"I open at the close?" He asked, glancing at Harry.

Harry's smile fell. "My old headmaster. He... I... It's..."

"Complicated." Bruce finished.

"Surprisingly not." Harry replied, running a hand through his hair. "That... opened... when I told it I was ready to die."

Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"It was... a messy time, and I thought the only way to end it was to sacrifice myself. It sort of was, to be honest."

"Because that's usually how that scene plays out."

Harry sighed. "You know those soul pieces?" He said, and Bruce nodded. "I was one. Voldemort had to kill me to destroy it."

The snitch darted out from Bruce's slack grip and Harry's hand shot out and closed around it.

"Nice catch." Bruce commented.

"Thanks."

Bruce smiled. "So you weren't exactly being fair when you were making fun of Barton earlier." He opened the door at the bottom of the stairs.

"Not exactly, but this is really old, and way slower than it used to be."

"You're not still going on about that are you?" Clint moaned.

"Just because you have worse reflexes than an eleven-year-old." Harry grinned. "I caught this no hands my first time."

Bruce rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you can show us how good you are later." Natasha said. "We have to go now."

Harry followed the four of them out of the building and into a car, Steve climbing onto a Harley Davidson motorbike. Harry smiled sadly, thinking of Sirius' flying bike.

Clint drove them at speed to a plain bridge over a river, where Thor was waiting with Loki, the man from Stark's roof standing over by a van.

"Now's your chance to talk to Loki." Natasha said as they climbed out of the car.

"Really?"

Natasha nodded, and Harry wiped his hands on his jeans. He walked towards Loki, and realised he was wearing shackles and a crude metal gag.

"Hello, Mr. Loki, sir." Harry said, holding out his hand. "Wow I can't believe I'm really meeting you. I just wanted to say, before you left, that I... I'm a huge fan, and er... I think you're really amazing and awesome, and it's really an honour to meet you sir." Harry suddenly realised he was acting just like the excited fangirls he hated so much.

Loki shook his hand, looking surprised, and Thor peered at Harry curiously.

"My friends and I really looked up to you." Harry said. "So did my dad and my... uncles. I think they actually built a shrine to you when they were fifteen. Can I just say, Mr. Loki sir, the way you got past Heimdall that time, you know, by turning into a snake, and just walking, well, slithering past him was absolute genius. I just... appreciate everything you've done. You're pretty awesome."

"We must leave now, brother." Thor interrupted. He was holding out a strange device that held a glowing blue cube.

"Well, it really was an honour to meet you, sir." Harry said. "You've been a role-model of mine since I was thirteen." He shook Loki's hand again and stepped back.

Loki grasped the other end of the device Thor was holding, and a second later the two of them disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Harry turned to Clint. "OhmygodIjustmetLoki." He gasped. "I shook his hand! George is not going to believe this!"

Clint pulled a face. "Dude, chill. The guy's a dick. Had this whole mind-control trick."

"I had a teacher who did that once." Harry commented, tipping his head to the side. "Guess it does kind of put you off a person."

"A teacher?" Clint repeated.

"Yeah, he tried to make me jump on a table." Harry shrugged. "I tried not to, and ended up like, headbutting it."

"What kind of school did you even go to?"

Harry scratched the back of his head. "It was messed up."

"Is everybody heading back to the tower?" Bruce asked, walking over to them with Natasha.

"Training room's still undamaged." Natasha nodded. "I think Clint wants to fight the kid."

Harry glanced at Clint and swallowed at the predatory grin on his face.

"Oh, that I'd pay to see." Bruce laughed.

Steve's motorbike started with a roar, and Harry jumped and span around to face it.

Bruce frowned. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Harry said. "Shall we go then?"

"Sure." Natasha said, watching him carefully.