23 December 2013

"Sir."

JARVIS' tone indicated that it wasn't the first time he'd tried to get Tony's attention. At the same time, it wasn't the tone that said the next time he had to try, he'd resort to shutting off power to Tony's workstation. Tony called it a win.

"What's up, J?"

"You wanted to be notified when the limousine was ten minutes away."

That it was ten minutes away went without saying. Tony started saving his work. "Did you let the kids know?"

"Of course, Sir."

Less than five minutes later, Tony joined Harry and Hermione on the family floor. Both the kids looked excited, though Harry was concealing it ever-so-slightly better than Hermione was.

"Does wizarding travel cause jet lag?" Tony asked as he joined them near the elevator.

"Not really," Hermione replied. "You still have to adjust to whatever time zone you're in, but you don't have the fatigue from cabin pressure and altitude."

"Handy," Tony observed as the elevator door slid open.

Their guests didn't emerge, though - Louise Grant did. She offered them a smile and came to stand with them.

"What's on the schedule for today, Hermione?" Harry asked, his tone both amused and fond.

"Show them around the tower, and then see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center," Hermione answered promptly. "And then, if Ms. Grant agrees, the magical district in Greenwich Village."

"I thought we were past the Ms. Grant formality," the blonde phantom said. "You were calling me Weezie yesterday."

"But yesterday we weren't having Ron Weasley as a guest," Hermione pointed out reasonably. "Weezie and Weasley could be confusing."

Not, Tony thought, by anyone who had more than two functioning brain cells. But then, Hermione was very intelligent and, in a classic failing of intelligent people - which Tony knew, because he shared it - sometimes tended to underestimate the intelligence of people around her.

"You could call her Phantom," Tony suggested. The woman in question offered him a glare that had no real heat in it, and he just grinned at her.

"Or," she said coolly, "Ms. Grant will do."

The elevator doors opened again, and not one but two red-headed children came rushing out, followed by Sirius Black.

"Ginny?" Hermione exclaimed and turned to Harry. "Did you know Ginny was coming, too?"

"No." Harry looked at Tony. "But you did."

"I did," Tony agreed and shrugged. "Figured it would be easier if you wanted to split up, explore different interests."

"Great!" Harry grinned at the Weasley children before crossing to Sirius and hugging him. They spoke quietly for a moment before releasing each other.

"Right," Tony said. "Introductions. The lovely lady with me is Louise Grant, my personal assistant for all things magical in the US. Phantom, the children are Ron and Ginny Weasley, and you already met Sirius Black."

"By videoconference," Grant nodded. "Welcome to the States, all of you."

Then Tony realized something. "We're missing someone."

"Dobby is here!" The elf shimmered into view, and Hermione squeaked in surprise.

"What - who are you?" she asked.

"I is Dobby," the elf answered as though it were obvious. Which, of course, it was - to Tony, Harry, and Sirius.

"Dobby is a house elf," Sirius said. "He's been helping me clean and refurbish my ancestral home. He also works for Tony and Harry, only he's never been here before, so we had to bring him this time."

Hermione's brow creased, and Tony suspected there'd be a ton of questions from her in his future, but for now, "Right - introductions are done. Harry, show them to their rooms, would you?" He frowned. "Wait - luggage?"

Sirius grinned at him. "Plenty of it."

He shoved a hand in his pocket and withdrew - something. When he opened his hand, Tony saw two old-fashioned steamer trunks and one modern-looking suitcase.

Sirius took the suitcase with his free hand and offered the shrunken trunks to the Weasley children, who each took one.

"This way," Hermione said, and the four teenagers headed down the hallway. Louise followed - presumably to enlarge the trunks and possibly answer any questions.

"You have the same room you had in London," Tony told him.

"Thanks." Sirius put the shrunken suitcase on the floor, then tapped it with his wand.

Tony felt his eyes widening as the suitcase expanded to its normal size. Sirius knelt, opened it, and reached inside it, shoving his hand in all the way up to his elbow.

Tony must've made some noise, maybe an inarticulate gurgle, because Sirius looked up and grinned at him. "Space expansion charm. Cost extra, but it was worth it - the kids didn't have any room left in their trunks for presents."

Tony raised an eyebrow as Sirius pulled out a handful of packages that were as small as his suitcase had originally been. "Not enough room for that?"

"Their trunks don't have expansion charms," Sirius replied quietly. "Because of the cost."

"Yeah, about that." Tony gestured Sirius toward the living room and the ten-foot-tall Colorado spruce currently residing in a corner between the fireplace and the window wall. "You guys can conjure things, right? And change things from one thing into another? So why would you buy anything? A house, maybe, because having a single place to come home to is a thing, but anything else? I don't get it."

Sirius started toward the Christmas tree and, while he enlarged and placed the presents he'd brought next to the ones already under it, said, "Magical energy. Changing your shirt to another color doesn't take a lot of energy. Conjuring a different shirt takes a bit more."

"Makes sense," Tony said. "It's endurance - stamina. Most everybody can walk for a while, but few people can run long distances."

"Correct," Sirius said. "Conjuring the same things over and over wastes energy."

Tony considered that. "So you buy durable goods and save your energy for things that are one-time or temporary uses."

"Essentially." Sirius took a step back to judge the results of his effort, and Tony blinked at the apparently doubled number of presents under the tree.

"That's - a lot," he said.

"I've got ten years of Christmases and birthdays to catch up on. But a number of these are from the Weasleys, too." Sirius turned away from the tree to face Tony, his expression sober.

"Problem?" Tony asked reflexively.

"Not really a problem, just something I wanted to ask."

Tony studied the other man. "Think this something might benefit from a suitable application of alcohol?"

Sirius laughed. "I never turn down alcohol."

"Good man."

Tony crossed to the bar and grabbed two glasses. Two pours of Glengoyne 18 later, he returned to where Sirius stood nervously by the fireplace.

"You're family, you know." Tony offered him a glass. "You don't have to wait for permission to sit. Or raid the refrigerator. Or much of anything, really, except coming into the workshop if it's not an emergency."

Sirius grinned wanly and knocked back the entire pour. Tony said nothing, simply offered him the second glass.

Sirius shook his head at that. "You poured that for yourself. I can get another one."

"Why don't you just say what's on your mind? If it's that bad, you'll want company while you get drunk."

"It's not that bad. Or I don't think it is." Sirius took a breath and straightened his shoulders before meeting Tony's gaze. "What does it take to join the Avengers?"

Of all the things Sirius might've said, Tony would never have thought that would be it.

He tried to keep his surprise out of his tone and off his face when he asked, "Why?"

Sirius paced to the window to look out over the city and, beyond it, the Atlantic Ocean. Tony wondered idly if he was trying to see England from here.

"When I graduated Hogwarts, the war was on," he said. "Voldemort's blood war. I joined an organization called the Order of the Phoenix, dedicated to stopping him. You know how that war ended, and what happened after."

"James and Lily were murdered, Harry was taken from us, and you were sent to prison for a crime you didn't commit."

Sirius blinked, frowning slightly at Tony's summary, but nodded. "That was … succinct. What very few people knew was that after the war, assuming we won, I wanted to be an Auror."

"A magical cop?" Tony asked by way of confirmation. At Sirius' nod, he asked, "Why? I mean, you could be anything. Why that?"

"My family had - has - money. Not as much as you," he added with a grin, "but enough that I could live off my trust fund if I wanted to, never work a day in my life. But that's…" he trailed off, obviously searching for a word.

"Unsatisfying?" Tony suggested. "Empty? Wasteful?"

"Any or all," Sirius said. "I wanted my life to have meaning, and I'm not the kind of guy who can find meaning in just raising a family. Nothing against those who can, but I'm not one of them."

"I get it."

Sirius regarded him shrewdly. "I expect you do, Iron Man."

Tony laughed and held out his empty hand. Sirius slapped his glass in it, then followed Tony back to the bar.

"And that leads to the Avengers how? I mean, Britain still has Aurors, right?"

Sirius made a face. "Britain couldn't be bothered to give me a trial. Why should I work for them?"

"Fair point." Tony paused mid-pour. "You're thinking of taking American citizenship."

"Yes. For a lot of reasons."

"We need to talk to attorneys about that." Tony finished pouring Sirius' second shot and set the bottle back in its place. "Because I think Harry will have dual citizenship until he's an adult, and if that's the case, I'd like him to have family in both countries to look out for him."

"That-" Sirius took the glass and stared at the liquid it contained "-makes a terrifying amount of sense."

"So why the Avengers? Why not an American Auror?"

"Because everything you said to McGonagall is correct. JARVIS played the recording for me and Crispian," Sirius added for clarification.

"Where were you?" The question he'd demanded of Minerva McGonagall months before echoed in Tony's mind.

"You remember I said I shouldn't have accused her, right? She's a professor, not a fighter."

"Not that part. The part about how the invasion was a way for magical people to rejoin the wider world without fear of reprisal."

Tony took a swallow of scotch as he replayed Sirius' words in his mind. "Not sure I follow," he said, and that hurt to admit.

"Clive - sorry, Crispian's father - and I spoke to the ICW on the subject. We didn't show them your conversation with McGonagall, but raised substantively similar points."

"And they agreed?" Tony asked.

"They agreed to give it a trial and approved my publicly using magic in the mundane world as long as it's with the Avengers or a similar group of humans with special powers or abilities - they argued over the language for several days."

"But they still got this approved in, what, three months? Impressive," Tony observed without sarcasm or irony.

"The video they watched of the invasion terrified them," Sirius said, then grimaced. "Technically, it was Clive's and my memories of video of the invasion, but they were still terrified."

"Everybody was terrified," Tony pointed out.

"Yeah, but everybody in the mundane world knew what was going on. Nobody in the magical world had a clue until it was over. And some of them still don't," Sirius added. "The ICW was terrified that something like that could happen and they wouldn't know until after the fact, when someone went into the mundane world and found it…."

"Gone," Tony said simply.

"Yes."

It was Tony's turn to wander toward the window. "I'm not opposed in principle," he said. "And I doubt any of the others will be, either, but you should know what you're joining."

Sirius joined him with a frown. "You mean there are more than you, Steve, the guy in the red cape, the big green guy, the archer, and the woman?"

Tony's lips quirked in spite of himself. "Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow."

"Whatever. There are more?"

"Not yet. We're still working out how we're going to operate."

Sirius' frown deepened. "I don't understand."

Tony took a swallow of Glengoyne before answering. "Guy named Nick Fury brought us together. He's in charge of an American spy organization-"

Sirius perked up. "The CIA?"

"We should've been so lucky. No, Strategic Homeland something-or-other. S.H.I.E.L.D. The question is, now that the world knows what's out there - aliens, I mean - why should a spy organization, any country's spy organization, be in charge?"

Tony watched Sirius process that for a long moment before the man nodded.

"We're still figuring out who should be in charge," Tony said. "At the moment, the most workable solution seems to be the defense ministers, or other similar officials, of every country in the world."

"That sounds … unworkable."

Tony laughed without humor and took another drink. "It would be, if we were thinking of having them handle much of anything. As it is, we're thinking that the Avengers team leader - whoever that turns out to be; at the moment, it's me because nobody else was even thinking of this and I've got the international contacts to get the meetings we need - will have authority to send us into situations like the Chitauri invasion without prior approval."

"Emergency situations require emergency actions. I understand."

"It's the non-emergency situations we're stuck on," Tony admitted. "Who gets to decide in that case? We're arguing whether it should be a simple majority of members or a super-majority. If a super-majority, two-thirds or three-quarters?"

Sirius blinked. "That's a lot of people - how many countries?"

"A hundred ninety-three members of the United Nations. A simple majority would be ninety-eight, then one twenty-seven or one forty-five," Tony supplied. "We can get the votes back within minutes, so it's not as impossible as it sounds."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "In a non-emergency situation, those minutes won't be the difference between life and death. Makes sense. But what about funds? The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was hampered by lack of funds during the war."

"Every country that wants a vote contributes one half of one percent of their annual military expenditures. A little over eight billion dollars a year," Tony added.

"What's that in pounds or Galleons?" Sirius asked.

"A bit over five billion pounds," Tony said, and then mentally kicked himself because Sirius wasn't drinking when he said it. The other man would surely have spit whatever was in his mouth. Then again, that would be a waste of good scotch, so maybe it was a win after all.

"You think every country will contribute?"

"They will if they want a vote," Tony replied. "Doesn't mean we won't go where we're needed, but if you don't have skin in the game, you don't get a vote."

"Skin…?"

Tony waved that away. "Slang. The good news is, until that's put in place, there's nobody to tell us that we can't add new members. And, now that I think of it, the team itself should choose its members, regardless - the international committee is only for deciding where we go in a non-emergency situation."

"Which means?" Sirius finished the last of his scotch.

Tony grinned. "JARVIS, ask the others if they want a wizard on our team."

It took less time than he expected for the answers to come back.

"Captain Rogers, Thor, and Agent Barton say yes," JARVIS said. "Agent Romanoff abstains, and Dr. Banner wants more information before he votes."

Romanoff abstained? Tony would have to ask her about that. For now, though, "With my yes, that's a two-thirds majority. Welcome to the Avengers, Sirius."

Sirius' eyes lit up. "Great! I was thinking my code name could be Warlock, and I can wear dragonhide armor and-"

Tony held up a hand. "How does dragonhide - and when can I see an actual dragon? - hold up against bullets?"

Sirius frowned. "I don't know - to either of those."

"Get us a sample, we'll test it. And we'll need a crash course on magic and the spells you can use, what effects they have, that sort of thing." Tony grinned suddenly. "Rogers will love it."

"Where is Steve, anyway?" Sirius asked suddenly. "I would've thought he'd be here."

"At OCS," Tony answered absently. Then he saw Sirius' blank expression. "Officer Candidate School. Which branch this month, J?"

"Captain Rogers is currently attending the United States Navy Officer Candidate School at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island," JARVIS answered. "His holiday leave begins at the end of class today, and he is expected here by nine p.m."

"I thought he was already an officer?" Sirius said.

"True - but he spent seventy years in suspended animation, and the world and the military have changed a lot since then," Tony said. "He needs to know all of that, so for the next year or two, he's on a crash course - attending all five officer schools, plus a compressed modern history curriculum at NYU."

"That sounds-" Sirius began.

"-like Hermione would love it," Harry's voice finished. Tony turned to see Harry, Hermione, and the two Weasley children emerging from the corridor to the bedrooms, Phantom trailing behind them.

"I don't know about the officer schools," Hermione said. "I don't think I'm cut out for that."

Tony bit back a grin as the other three kids exchanged curious and surprised expressions.

"Don't take this wrong, Hermione," Ron said, "but you already give us orders like you're an officer."

"Mostly to do with schoolwork," Harry hurried to add. "But Ron's right."

"I do n-" Hermione began, then cut herself off with a huff. "I guess I did. But I'm trying to be better."

"You're a lot better than you were at Hogwarts," Harry assured her. Ron and, to a lesser extent, Ginny looked dubious.

The moment between the kids was turning awkward, so Tony cleared his throat. "You guys hungry? Want to eat before you go out, or save room for something later?"

"Later," Louise said firmly. "There are plenty of places to eat at Rockefeller Center, not to mention the street cart vendors."

Sirius cleared his throat. "I know we haven't talked about it, but I'd be happy to come along, help you keep an eye on the kids."

Louise looked relieved even as Ginny Weasley turned to Tony. "I almost forgot - my Mum sent this to you, Mr. Stark."

Tony looked at the envelope she offered him, fighting his reflexive dislike of being handed things long enough to remember the manners Aunt Peggy had drilled into him. "Thanks."

He took the envelope, and Ginny smiled, obviously pleased she'd remembered.

"Right, let's go, then," Sirius said. "Is Mr. Hogan driving us to this Rockefeller Center?"

Louise's lips twitched. "We're taking the train."

HP - IM - HP - IM - HP

Dear Tony,

Thank you again for allowing Ron and Ginny to visit Harry and Hermione for the holiday week. I'm sure they'll have a wonderful time in New York, and we appreciate your generosity very much.

I want to let you know that the situation at Hogwarts does seem to be improving.

Percy, our third son, is Head Boy this year, and as such reviews all points taken by prefects before submitting them to the staff. He reports that points are more evenly distributed this year than he remembers last year or the year before, with no one house losing or gaining significantly more than any other. At least, nothing that can't be explained by outstanding performance.

The twins have written many letters home exclaiming their surprise that a certain professor has not, as they put it, 'loomed over us, waiting to pounce on the tiniest mistake,' which alone is worth celebrating.

Children will be children, of course, and nothing changes completely overnight, but I am hopeful that this trend will continue.

I look forward to welcoming you and Harry to the Burrow again soon.

Happy Christmas,

Molly