Vernon Dursley was a creature of habit; therefore, his everyday habits were quite easy to predict something that came in quite handy for his nephew. His days always began and ended the exact same way, and it was because of this that Harry found it extremely easy to avoid his uncle and slip out of the house unnoticed when he was supposed to be doing his chores.
The guard outside posted by the headmaster to keep an eye on Harry (that he wasn't even supposed to know about) would have been an entirely different story and his jailbreak cut short if he hadn't taken the liberty of memorising the guard schedule and he knew that at this particular point in time that Mundungus Fletcher was on duty and that he had already left to go see a guy about some stolen cauldrons.
This was of course a lie orchestrated by Harry and his godfather.
Harry owned a lot to his godfather in fact, he knew everything about the order of the phoenix and their current movements, and he knew more importantly of the meddling of a certain old breaded wizard. Dumbledore had enacted a communication blackout on Harry, something that all his so-called friends had no problem following despite the fact that Harry had only just a short few weeks ago witnessed the death of his boyfriend Cedric, not that those traitors were privy to that little titbit of information. His godfather was the only knew and who had bothered to keep in contact and make sure Harry was okay, well okay as he could be given the circumstances.
Harry made his way through the short tunnel connecting Privet drive to Wisteria walk and waiting for him on the other end was aforementioned godfather, obviously under countless glamour spells along with other charms to help make sure his presence wasn't detected by anyone other than Harry himself. Harry couldn't help the smile that creeped onto his face as soon as his godfather came into his sight; his steps became quicker and soon enough he fell into a run and all but collapsed into Sirius' arms. Sirius let out bark like laugh but nonetheless pulled his godson even closer and let out a relaxed sigh knowing that the boy he thought of his own was okay, that he was alive and well albeit a bit thinner than he would have liked.
"I have missed you pup"
Harry pulled out of the embrace and threw a wonky smile at his godfather. The sentiment was definitely mutual.
"Same, where is Remus?"
The confusion was apparent in his tone, he thought that his pseudo uncle would also be coming with them. With his forced participation in the Triwizard tournament he was all but declared an adult especially since the chief wizard of Wizengamot who also happen to be his (illegal) magical guardian didn't fight his participation they were going to the Gringotts to make it official and for him to claim his heirships to the Potter and Black estates.
"Dumbledore sent him on a last-minute mission, he couldn't refuse as it would have sent off alarm bells and we need for Dumbledore to remain ignorant if this is going to work."
Harry just nodded his agreement it made sense after all, most of their current plans relied on the headmaster not knowing what they were up to.
Harry grabbed hold onto Sirius' proffered arm and his godfather spun on his heel and for a spilt second, they both experienced the nauseating sensation of being squeezed through a tight tube and being spat out on the other end. Thankfully Harry was much better at side along apparition than flooing and managed to land on his feet quite gracefully.
No sooner had they left, did the flower beds begin to wilt, and an unusual chill swept through the streets.
Dementors had come to Privet drive.
#
If anyone would have cared to ask, Mr and Mrs Vernon and Petunia Dursley would exclaim quiet adamantly that they were perfectly normal people with a perfectly normal family, there would be no mention of their quite abnormal nephew and Mrs Dursley's abnormal sister and brother in law. They would of course also have said that that perfectly normal Wednesday evening was as perfectly normal as all Wednesdays prior. After all, in true Dursley predictable behaviour they had begun the day same way as they always did.
Currently the perfectly normal Dursley family minus one abnormal nephew were sitting around the table enjoying their dinner that had been painstaking slaved over by the aforementioned absent nephew.
Vernon took another bite of his dinner; the chicken was quite juicy, and traces of the gravy could be found dripping from his moustache, through his small piggy eyes, he could see his wife Petunia adding another helping of potatoes and a piece of chicken onto their son's Dudley plate. Good, his dudders will grow up to be big and strong exactly like his father, Vernon thought to himself. Unlike that runt of a boy, speaking of.
"Pet is the boy done with his chores outside?" Vernon asked.
He hadn't seen the freak in a while, he better not be up to any of his freakish tricks he thought to himself again. Vernon was monetarily distracted when Dudley turned on the TV, he sighed as the news about the abnormal activities played again, something about some group called the avengers and picked up the secondary remote and turned the channel.
"I am unsure, I told him to make himself scarce when we sat down for dinner" Vernon signed and turned towards Dudley
"Son check for the boy, if he isn't there too bad, he will be locked out. His own fault really"
His son groaned and got up from the table and hobbled towards the door reluctantly, the freak would pay for making them pause their dinner. A couple of minutes passed, and Dudley hadn't returned with or without the freak but that was alright Vernon thought, probably just taunting the boy. When a few more minutes passed, and Dudley still hadn't returned, Vernon began to stand up when he heard a dull thud coming through the front door, he turned to his wife with a small frown and they both made their way to the open door. Petunia let out a small gasp and clutched her hands to her mouth in shock, Vernon's frown deepen and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when Petunia seemingly fainted on the spot. He rushed to his downed wife and when he got closer, he finally saw what had shocked his wife so but before he could comprehend what he was seeing, he too appeared to just collapse.
#
Harry looked around the room that they had arrived in, it was quite ostentatious he thought but then again what else should he have excepted from the arrival room of Gringotts for the more affluent and elite of the goblin's clientele. Harry was pulled from his observations by Sirius tugging on his arm and he began following his godfather and their goblin escort through the long and winding corridors of the underground bank; it left him quite disoriented when they finally arrived at the Black family's account manager's office, but he supposed that was the point. Nobody was stealing anything if they couldn't find their way around the maze of corridors. Harry shook his head, he was getting distracted when he needed to concentrate on what was about to happen for this was the moment that he changed his life for the better, nothing would be the same afterwards and Harry would need to be ready to carry his new responsibilities.
"Lord Black, heir Potter-Black what can Gringotts do for you today?" Harry noted that even when not speaking in this own natural tongue, the Black account manager still had quite a guttural tone when he was speaking.
"Manager Cut-throat, we are here to formalise an emancipation and for my blood chosen son and heir to formally claim his heirships" Sirius got straight to the point and had finished speaking before bowing to the goblin behind the desk.
"On what grounds do you request a formalised emancipation?" Harry would be frowning hearing this if Sirius hadn't already told him the goblin would ask for proof.
"My heir's forced participation in the Triwizard tournament where it was stated only those of age would be able to compete, it was magically binding…." Cut-throat cut across his godfather before he could finish speaking. "This is not enough for their Potter-Black to have gained an emancipated status"
"Well as you know the former chief warlock made himself quite illegally my heir's magical guardian and he did not protest his participation, it was also witnessed by a Lord of the Wizengamot and the minister himself and they did not protest either, by stating that only of age wizards were allowed to compete and then allowing his participation they acknowledged him as of age"
"I see in that case what you ask for will be done, simply sign these papers Lord Black, heir Potter-Black" Cut-throat pushed across a stack of papers that looked anything but simple. "While you do that, we can also do the claiming, you will need to prove that you have a legitimate claim first heir Potter-Black, so one drop of your blood on this parchment please."
Harry took the blood quill that was offered him and nicked the tip of his thumb over the parchment with it, once the blood drop touched the surface of the parchment the small cut automatically healed. All three males waited with bated breath for the results, Sirius was worried that despite the blood adoption that the blood link between the two of them would not be enough to satisfy the Black family magic. When the charmed quill stopped writing, Harry looked down at the parchment.
Blood Results of Harlan James Potter
Mother(s): Lily Maria Potter nee Evans (Loki Odinson)
Father(s): James Fleamont Potter (Thor Odinson)/Sirius Orion Black (blood adopted)
Maternal Grandmother(s): Maria Rose Stark/Lillian Grace Evans nee Munroe (adopted)/Queen Frigga of Asgard
Maternal Grandfather(s): Howard Edward Stark/ Christopher Leo Evans nee Malfoy (adopted)/ All -father King Odin Borson
Paternal Grandmother(s): Euphemia Potter nee Black/ Queen Frigga of Asgard
Paternal Grandfather(s): Fleamont Harlan Potter/All-Father King Odin Borson
Entitlements
Black Heir (paternal) (blood adoption) - Partial ownership of the Black estate
Potter Lordship (Paternal) – Restricted full ownership of the Potter estate (Held in trust until 17)
Peverell Lordship (Paternal) – Restricted full ownership of the Peverell estate (Held in trust until 17)
Second in line to the throne of Asgard (Paternal)
Secondary Malfoy Heir (maternal) – Partial ownership of the Malfoy estate
Stark Heir (Maternal) – Restricted partial ownership of the Stark estate (Held in trust until 21)
Slytherin heir (Conquest) – Restricted full ownership of the Slytherin estate (Held in trust until 17)
Harry could say without a doubt that he did not see that coming and he was also extremely confused some of the results were expected and others not but could easily be explained and the rest, Harry didn't know how they could possibly be explained. He handed the parchment to Sirius at his insistent nudging., he could see his godfather's eyes widening the further down he read that was a good sign; shows he wasn't keeping things from Harry. After a tension filled few minutes at least that what it felt like to Harry Sirius finally looked up and said "Well that was unexcepted"
#
13 Years Earlier
Obadiah Stane was not a very considerate and compassionate man, evidence by the fact of him keeping and hiding a letter he was sure Tony would very much want to see and that was a problem this letter threw a spanner in his work and would derail his plans for Tony and the company and thus unfortunately it could never make its way into Tony's hands.
He had thought that he had gotten ridded of the girl when he convinced Howard and Maria to give the bitch up; Even at the young age Obadiah knew that Lily Stark possessed an intellect and perceptiveness for beyond what was normal for her age and would soon surpass both her father and older brother and therefore she had to go before she could become a problem. If any of the Starks would figure out what he was up to it would be her. It was a blessing that she was dead in his opinion, he placed the letter in desk draw he would place it in his safe at home when he left after to work. It perhaps may be a better option to get rid of it completely, but a time may come where he might just need to have some leverage over Tony and this letter provided so for now it would stay in Obadiah's safe.
One Week Post Stane's Death
Tony looked at the letter in his hand one more time, just to double check that he hadn't misread the information as it was pretty unbelievable after-all, he glanced up the wall helplessly and then down again at the letter in his hand to read it for what felt like the hundredth time.
It completely and irrevocably shattered his heart reading this letter because he knew, Tony knew that it could only mean one thing.
'My darling Anthony, if you're reading this letter it means that I'm no longer here, along with my husband, and now you're my only hope …'
His smart, beautiful, vibrant, sister was gone, murdered by a crazed sociopath with a Napoleonian complex and daddy issues.
'I have a son…I wasn't ever going to tell you… I didn't want father to know…his name is Harlan James Potter… But we just call him Harry'
He was an uncle, Lily was dead, and there was a baby out there that needed him.
'James and I, we're in hiding right now. James didn't want to tell you…I agreed because I knew you would want us to go to you… Insist that you could keep us safe'
The important question was where was his nephew now?
'I have a bad feeling Tony, I know that something is going to happen with Sirius that will stop him from looking after Harry, he was named godfather and Alice a friend of mine from school is his godmother, but I fear she is facing a fate worse than death in the oncoming days.'
What was he the infamous Tony Stark, playboy, philanthropist, billionaire going to do with a baby? He'd never even had a stupid goldfish growing up, what was he going to do with a kid? He could just barely look after himself even then, if he is being honest that was only because of Pepper micromanaging his life. Little children especially babies had always made him uncomfortable; they were just so…fragile and dependent. Tony was scared that he would fuck up any child in his life.
For a moment he contemplated leaving his nephew with whoever he was with now, but it was dismissed the next second. That was his baby sister's son, his own flesh and blood, and Tony had to at the very least check to make sure that the child, Harry was okay. Which started a new line of thought entirely, he did want Harry to experience the same childhood that he had, that Lily had before she was adopted. Tony needed to find out where his nephew was now, he knew from the letter that going to Sirius would lead him nowhere, but he had no other way of finding out where Harry was, there would be no sign of him in the system as there wasn't with his father, and Lily after her 11th birthday. Actually, maybe not Tony thought to himself, Lily might have registered him in the muggle world, he knew after all that she and James marriage is also valid there on her insistence.
'FRIDAY check for a Harlan James Potter'
'Of course, sir'
Tony knew he also had to go shopping for everything a toddler might need, stuff like diapers and toys he didn't how much else but that could wait until he actually had his nephew or at least tracked him down.
He shivered at the thought of diapers and changing them…he was going to need therapy once Harry was older, Tony just knew he was going to be scared for the rest of his life. A nanny would need to be hired but Tony was hesitant, his sister's letter coming back to him.
'Tony no one can know that you have him… Harry is in danger and if you take him in and I hope you do so will you… They will come for him… Voldemort wasn't after me or James… He wants Harry… Keep him safe Tony'
They would need to be extremely discrete, compensated significantly and under an NDA, maybe Tony could get away with slipping whoever it was with various loyalty and compulsion potions. Thorough background checks would need to be done, obviously and with Lily's letter it would have to be a muggle, but that poses the problem of magical exposure and he couldn't exactly keep obliviating the poor fool. Maybe it was time that he took a very long vacation, one that lasted a few years, at the very least until Harry was of age to go to Illvermory as Hogwarts was out of the question regrettably and then it would be down to good old muggle fake name and disguise along with some glamour charms to keep Harry's identity safe.
'FRIDAY, we got any hits yet. I want this sorted yesterday'
'Yes sir, sending them to stark-pad now' FRIDAY said in return.
Tony looked down at aforementioned tablet and raised one eyebrow in confusion; What he was seeing couldn't be right because if it was, he got his sister's letter 13 years a little too late. He looked up 'FRI, you sure about this? It can't be right'
'Yes, Harlan is not a common name, it was the only hit'
Tony was confused, and he had to question why Obadiah would even keep this from him, none of the man's actions made any sense, after his death Tony had found a box of his stuff and it only led to more questions. He shook himself from his thoughts thinking Obi always just brought back the betrayal that had apparently been going on from the moment he had met the man.
'Okay, FRIDAY make the preparations to get the jet ready, I guess I'm going to England'
'Yes sir, shall I alert Miss Potts of your departure' Friday asked in return, Tony took a moment but thought it best that the less people who knew he was gone the better, hopefully he would be back by tomorrow. He just wanted to check that Harry was alright and then go from there.
'Ah, no this is strictly a stealth mission FRIDAY, In and out with none the wiser.'
Tony would have taken an international portkey, but that came with regulations and check points he did not need anyone from the wizarding world that he was coming even if there were only a few that knew he even existed let alone his relation to Lily and Harry, it was just a couple of James' old school friends. His first stop would have to be Diagon alley, there he could listen and observe and hopefully pick up some information without anyone realising what they were giving out. He would have to visit the daily prophet offices and Gringotts while he was there.
Tony turned off and put down his tablet and made his way from the common area to his penthouse to start packing. He had a feeling that it would be an exhausting trip.
#
Harry was still coming to terms with the idea that the Norse Gods were seemingly real let alone the fact that he was apparently related to the king of the Gods through both his mother and father or that they themselves are FREAKING GODS. He also didn't know how he should feel, he suffered all those years at the Dursleys when he had family both mortal and immortal and not one of them cared enough to take him in, and his parents they were really alive so where are were they where are they now? Don't they love him?
'You alright pup, you look like you're about to implode into that infamous Potter temper'
Harry let out a breath he didn't even know that he was holding and shook himself from his melancholy thoughts, they would do him no good. He was here for a reason and that was, so he could finally gain his independence and get out from Dumbledore's thumb.
He pulled the stack of parchment that Cut-throat had put in front of his godfather and got to reading, he was not stupid enough to sign something without reading it first no matter how much more respect and trust Cut-throat and Harry had for each other than was normal between goblins and wizards.
Ten minutes later and he was still reading, and just about ready to pull his hair out, the goblins loved making their contracts as convoluted as they could. They were petty and vindictive creatures like that, and Harry was glad that he had more common sense than the majority of the wizarding and actually treated the danm creatures with respect or he was sure that this contact would be a whole lot worse than it already was.
He at last came to the end of the parchments and signed his name at the bottom next to Sirius' signature.
He was finally free.
He looked to Sirius with a beaming smile on his face that wouldn't leave for the rest of the day.
His godfather just smiled back and clapped him on his back.
And Harry knew that no matter what, he at the very lest would always have Sirius.