Hello! Not sure if anyone even remembers this story, but I thought I would update it anyway.
Disclaimer: Any recognizable character from Marvel's Agents of Shield, The Avengers, or Harry Potter is the property of their creators and/or publishers.
Previously:
"I told them I was working and one thing led to another in the way it usually does with them, and I finally just let out that I owned the place and they wanted to know where I got the loan to open a business."
Once Harry finished telling Ron what happened a lengthy silence fell over the three friends.
"Well, let's not dull the evening talking about them. You said there was somewhere you wanted to take us?" Hermione said.
Unlike his idol, Captain America, and his lesser-known given name, Steve Rogers, Phil Coulson was not a household name.
Most Americans had only heard the name once or twice, and far less had actually met the man in person. For those who did, they could only say that the middle-aged man loved anything remotely related to Captain America, and was dedicated to his country, which should have been a given, considering he worked for the federal government.
What, exactly, he did for his country wasn't always clear. It was known within certain circles that he was a high-ranking SHIELD agent, and fewer still knew his direct connection with the Avengers.
Coulson preferred it this way. Living a life of relative obscurity rather than always having to watch his step in the face of the public. He enjoyed his job, living his lifelong dream of protecting his country just like his idol had, and still did.
If one truly knew Coulson, one might have even said that he was content with his life. Who wouldn't have been, if they were a high-ranking agent of SHIELD, the director's right-hand man, and ran in the same circles as some of the most powerful men in the country and arguably the world?
He was a man who appeared to have everything, yet, in reality, he was a man who had very little.
The middle-aged man had long ago sworn off getting married or even pursuing a relationship. The high demands of the job would have been off-putting to anyone who would have wanted to settle down for a long-term relationship. And Phil wasn't interested in settling down. Very few people interested him anymore, and no one, barring two people, actually intrigued him. One being Steve Rogers, and the other, oddly enough, was the owner of White Stag, a coffee shop that he had been getting his daily coffee from.
There was something about the owner of the coffee shop he frequented that attracted Phil. He wasn't sure that it was a physical attraction, although the young man was what women might call "hot," he certainly felt drawn to the compelling young man with the black hair and the greenest eyes Phil had believed he had ever seen.
Perhaps it was the air of mystery surrounding the man. Phil could look into his eyes and tell he was a kindred spirit.
The barista appeared to be a man of little words, preferring to watch people over engaging with them. Phil, too, preferred people watching, and he enjoyed watching Harry Potter more than most.
Maybe, like himself, Mr. Potter was a loner. The man of barely legal age was friendly to everyone, yet appeared to keep everyone at a distance. Maybe this was because the only people he had ever seen Potter interact with were his patrons, but if that was one thing Phil was good at: was reading people.
Phil knew through observation, that Mr. Potter was an active participant in his reclusive ways. He was polite and cordial to everyone but there was no personal attachment to anyone that walked through the doors. Any familiarity between him and his customers was that on a strictly professional level.
Phil was beginning to doubt if Potter had any friends, or if he had just left them all behind when he moved.
His answer came much later on the night after the chance meeting of the young man's rather abhorrent family when Phil had spied the raven-haired boy walking leisurely down the street from Stark Tower.
He himself had just finished meeting with Stark and had been surprised to see the coffee shop owner out and about. Particularly in the company of two others, a boy and a girl.
It hadn't taken Phil long to figure out that the girl was not a love interest- the same went for the red-headed boy. It was easy to tell that they were very good friends potentially passing for siblings had their physical features not been so different. Though the other two appeared to be a couple if their body language were anything to go by.
Phil felt… something stir inside him as he took in the sight of the coffee shop owner laughing freely alongside the other two as they engaged in playful banter.
At that moment the young teen seemed more relaxed than Phil could ever remember seeing him being. Of course, there was a lot of responsibility resting on the young man's shoulders as he was an entrepreneur trying to make a living in one of the largest, and most competitive, cities in the United States.
Perhaps relaxed wasn't the right word to describe him at this moment, carefree, might have been a better adjective. It made Phil curious as to who these two people were, and just how they made the usually guarded and perspective man so at ease.
It was getting late, and he really did need to think about getting home himself, but naturally, instead of doing the sensible thing and letting them disappear into the night, Phil followed them for a short distance before putting himself into a position where they would have an "accidental" run-in.
He needed to be sure Harry was all right after the encounter with his distasteful family, and learn the identities of the other two.
It worked like a charm.
He noticed that Harry and his friends had all stiffened as Harry ran (well, actually walked, he walked) into the older man.
The younger man struggled momentarily to steady himself, but, as he did, he took a step back and looked carefully at the man who for all he knew had intentionally been blocking his path.
While Mr. Potter was recovering himself the two unnamed companions had instinctively reached for something hidden, a gun perhaps? Or some other weapon, it put Phil on edge as he too discreetly checked for his sidearm.
"Mr. Coulson," Harry greeted, but he sounded confused if not a bit tense.
Phil filed this away for later for further review.
"Mr. Potter, I apologize for running into you. I must have been preoccupied not to notice where I was going."
Phil ignored the questioning looks that passed between the other boy and girl.
Harry smiled but it didn't fully reach his eyes, "I should be apologizing, I ran into you… I'm out with my friends-"
"Hermione Weasley, and you are?" She butted in snootily, causing Harry to chuckle, and the other boy to roll his eyes. It must have been an inside joke between the three.
Phil smiled in acknowledgment, "Phil Coulson, I patronize Mr. Potter's coffee shop."
Hermione nodded seemingly accepting his answer, before waving her hand over to the redhead who was whispering something to Harry, "That's Ronald, my husband. We're friends of Harry's."
Phil looked appraisingly at the two of them before he redirected his attention to Harry.
"Well, Mr. Potter, since we are here, I want to ask if you were doing okay after your run-in with your relatives?"
The question was greeted in silence and for a second Phil wondered if Harry was even going to answer. "Thank you, for your help earlier, but I meant what I said. I have been dealing with them my whole life. They do a lot of talking, always have, but they don't actually mean it."
"Your uncle mentioned trying to take away your livelihood," Phil said with a cocked eyebrow, not believing for a second that the scene he witnessed earlier today was just an idle threat.
"They can't touch me." The raven-haired teen said wholeheartedly, with an amused smile directed towards his friends. Hermione rolled her eyes, he had noticed that was something she tended to do frequently, while her husband had his own smug grin.
Neither of his friends seemed surprised that the uncle had threatened to take everything Harry had probably ever had, and none of them seemed concerned about it either.
Phil sensed that Harry truly meant what he said, and believed his assets to be untouchable.
- Linebreak -
Harry hadn't realized just how much he needed a night out and in the company of those who knew him the best.
It was just like the old days, where they wandered the halls of Hogwarts, except they were roaming the streets of NYC.
They talked about anything and everything, with the most common topic being Christmas. Harry had admitted that he hadn't had time for too much Christmas shopping, and it had become their mission to check off some of the names on his Christmas list.
Hermione was by far the most enthusiastic of the trio but they still had fun. All in all, their night together was much too short for any of their likings. Even though they spoke to each other every day it could not replace the time spent together. Distance really did make the heart grow fonder.
With each other's help, they were able to get gifts for some of the Weasleys as well as some of their closest friends from Hogwarts.
They also discussed some tentative plans for Christmas, mainly consisting of trying to convince Harry to take more than one week off.
"Come on Harry, you gotta come to the Burrow for Christmas. Mum would be devastated if you didn't come this year. I think she misses you more than she does me. It's always 'Have you heard from Harry?' or 'When's Harry coming for a visit?' Seriously mate, mum seeing you as an honorary Weasley, and you know how she gets when any of us are gone too long," Ron said while pulling a face.
"I plan on going to the Burrow for Christmas day, but I do have to spend some time with Teddy as I know Andromeda wants to visit her own family."
"So, bring Teddy along." Ron said as if it were a simple solution to a simple problem, "We will have plenty of space for one more, that way you can spend time with him and us."
"I hate to-"
"Please mate, with you living over here, we never get to spend time together. We could even spend an afternoon playing quid-"
"What Ron's trying to say, Harry" Hermione cut in while sending her husband a sharp look, "Is that we miss you. We think you ought to be close early on Christmas Eve so you can spend the night at the Burrow, and on Christmas morning we can all wake up and exchange gifts as we've always done. You can reopen after the first, as a lot of places do."
"I don't know," Harry said with a frown, not certain about leaving his shop unattended for such a long period. It wouldn't be an issue if he wasn't going home to England, but after spending the past few hours with them, their argument was compelling.
He knew them well enough to know this conversation was rehearsed and likely Hermione's idea.
Their conversation had been cut short when Harry had bumped solidly into someone. A brief exchange passed between Harry and the man he had run into and Hermione and Ron learned that it was a regular of Harry's who had been present at the time his aunt and uncle had entered the shop.
Harry seemed to stall, perhaps not wanting to divulge too much information, or not really knowing what to say, so Hermione jumped in and introduced both herself and Ron while trying to get a read on the suited man.
She had survived a genocide for nothing and had learned the importance of reading people and trying to figure out their motives.
Gut instincts were nothing to ignore, and her gut told her that this man had no intention other than checking on the boy she saw as her brother.
Another thing that she couldn't ignore was that just two hours ago Harry was just mentioning him for the first time, even though Harry saw the man on a regular basis. If the man thought enough of her best friend to think to inquire about how he was fairing, much less standing up to his bully of an uncle, then obviously there was something more here than what Harry was letting on.
Hermione could not help but feel a little hurt. Here she thought there were no secrets between them yet, she knew nothing of this Phil Coulson guy and she doubted Harry would be very forthcoming, but there was only one way to know for sure, who this guy was to her best friend.
Their "chance" encounter lasted only a few minutes after the introductions and soon Hermione found herself solely in the company of her friends again.
Casting a discrete silencing spell to prevent anyone from overhearing their conversation, Hermione started quizzing Harry about his regular.
"So Phil seemed nice enough." She commented out of the blue, causing Ron to stop and look at her and Harry to roll his eyes in exasperation.
"Herm, I don't want to talk about it," Harry said, but he sounded tense.
"I'm not asking you to, I was just making a passing comment." Hermione snapped in defense.
"Of course," Harry said with a wry smile, "which explains why you put a privacy shield up."
Hermione had the decency to blush, he had noticed that? "What's wrong with your best friends asking you about a man who clearly thinks enough of you to inquire about your day after you run into him in the middle of the street?"
"Nothing, it's just- you know what, forget it. Just forget it"
"No, Harry. I want to talk about it-"
"And I don't!" Harry growled out.
"C'mon mate, Hermione, let's not ruin the evening by arguing. We never get to hang out anymore, why can't we just-"
"Ron you're supposed to be on my side!" Hermione said while glaring at her poor husband.
Ron frowned before shaking his head and said "I am Hermione, I just don't think we ought to spend our first night together in ages arguing. Can't we just enjoy each other's company?"
"Yes, well, it's kind of-"
"Drop it, Hermione!" Ron and Harry said at the same time. Leaving Hermione to huff and stalk off in front of them.
Dinner, tonight, was going to be a long one if one of them was refusing to talk, but at least Harry had Ron to talk to.