The morning light streaming in through the ceiling to floor windows was what woke Harry up the next morning. Entranced by the city lights he'd seen no need to close the curtains the night before. Harry was severely regretting it now as he wiggled his face into his pillow and tried to fall back asleep. To bad for Harry Hedwig had other plans, hooting irritably by the window.
"Alright, fine," Harry groused as he lazily tossed the covers off and placed his feet on the surprisingly warm wood flooring. Collecting Hedwig the boy padded to the living room where he found Stephen already up, an ancient looking book and steaming mug in hand.
"Good morning," the sorcerer greeted with a smile as he set his book down and stood, stretching his hands above his head.
"Morning," Harry replied as he opened the balcony door and set Hedwig free, allowing her to hunt and relive herself.
"Do you have any particular breakfast preferences?" Stephen asked as he made his way towards the kitchen as Harry shyly shuffled behind.
"I'm fine with whatever you want to eat."
"Humm. Any allergies?"
"None that I know of."
"Do omelets sound okay?"
"Yep. Can I help? I know my way around a kitchen."
Stephens eyes narrowed slightly but he chose not to comment on Harry's small slip.
"Can you chop a few mushrooms for me and then clean some of the berries in the fridge?"
Harry nodded eagerly, already darting around the counter. It felt unsettling to not be the one in the kitchen, much less sit back and watch someone else cook for him.
They worked in companionable silence for a few minutes. Harry found the tasks laid out for him easy and relaxing. Mindless. So his curious thoughts kept drifting back to the old leather bound tome on the coffee table.
"What's that book about?" Harry asked, his voice small. Instinct told him he was about to be reprimanded for asking a question about something that was clearly none of his business, but that's not what happened. Stephen blinked, his focus coming off the stove momentarily to do a quick glance back at the coffee table.
"It's a history of prominent demon and spirit activity in the Aztec Empire. I memorized the English version years ago so I thought reading the original could help me grasp the language a bit more. My Nahuatl is sadly pretty dismal for someone who is supposed to have a firm grasp on all ancient languages."
Harry blinked.
"There's so much to unpack in that, I don't even know where to start."
Stephen chuckled and shook his head. "What comes to mind first?"
"This is probably gonna sound pretty stupid for someone who is supposed to be a wizard. But…demons are real. And spirits? Are spirits ghosts? I've met a few of those. Or something else?" The shade of Voldemort trapped in Quirrell came to mind.
"Spirit is a broad term used to define any remnant of a being or undead person without a physical body. So yes, ghosts would count. A demon is any person whose soul has been corrupted beyond repair, living or dead."
Again, images of Voldemort came to mind. Harry wondered what category he would fall under.
"Can someone be both?"
Stephen flipped the last omelet onto a waiting plate and turned off the stovetop before turning to Harry fully. "Yes, in very rare cases. An undead demon without a physical body would be a nightmare to pin down and most likely be capable of possession, making it extremely dangerous. Have you ever come across something like that?"
"Maybe, I don't know enough to be sure," Harry murmured quietly as he fiddled with a blueberry, his mind back on the third floor.
Deep concern flashed across the sorcerer's face but before he could say anything more Tony burst into the room, yawning loudly and dragging a hand down his face.
"Morning," the genius grumbled, thoughtlessly ruffling Harry's hair and pecking Stephen on the cheek. Harry froze at the sudden unexpected contact, his eyes going as wide as Hedwig's.
"Morning love," Stephen greeted in return. "We were having this very interesting conversation about demons and spirits. Harry was-"
"Nope!" Tony interrupted, shaking his head. "No talk of anything that belongs in a horror movie until I get my coffee."
Harry lifted a hand to his head, touching the exact same place Tony had, an adorably baffled expression on his face. Why…didn't he hate that?
Stephen sighed. Based on the utterly perplexed look on Harry's face and Tony still being half asleep this conversation was clearly going nowhere. The little worrying fact that Harry might have met a spirit/demon hybrid would have to wait until later.
"What's the plan again for today?" Tony asked. "Movies, sightseeing, the zoo?"
Harry finally focused back on the adults at the mention of the zoo, perking up.
"Sadly no," Stephen answered with an indulgent smile. "You have a meeting in two hours with the US embassy to get Harry's dual citizenship expedited and get him an American passport. After that you need to head to the UK passport office to see about getting him a British one."
Tony sighed despondently.
"You know I'm probably gonna get arrested right? Tony Stark showing up with no warning trying to get citizenship and a passport for some random kid no one has ever heard of. That's going to go over well."
"You'll be fine. You have the signed and notified custody papers, Harry's birth certificate and his old school I.D. Take care of this today and then we have almost a week to have fun in London."
"You're right, as always. What are you guys gonna do?"
Harry grimaced, remembering his conversation with Stephen yesterday.
"Shopping."
"What am I going to do with this?" Harry complained, waving the wallet that Tony had shoved in his hands around. A wallet filled with 1000 pounds that Tony had ordered him to not come back without spending. And he could only spend it on things that weren't necessary, like books or games. Stephen had the money that would be used to pay for clothes and such.
"I warned you," the older man said as he shook his head fondly, reclining back in the leather car seat. "Tony's primary love language for most of his life was buying extravagant gifts, and because he grew up ridiculously wealthy he didn't understand why that would make people uncomfortable. He's gotten a lot better at expressing himself other ways but he still likes to spoil his loved ones."
"Yeah but…what am I going to do with all this money?" Harry asked helplessly. "How is it possible to spend this much in a day?"
"We can start by getting you your own gaming console and a few games to go along with it. That should take care of half of it."
"That would be nice," Harry mused. He'd never been allowed to touch Dudley's games. Out of self-preservation he'd stopped wondering about them years ago. Its not like he was ever going to get the chance to play one.
"What about my other money?" Harry asked.
Stephen raised an eyebrow.
"What money? We were under the impression that the Dursleys spent your life insurance money long ago."
"Life Insurance money?"
"Yes, your mom bought a plan as soon as you were born. Sadly, it's all gone now. Did your parents leave you anything else?"
"Ah, yeah. Wizard money. It's in Gringotts, the wizard bank. There's a trust meant to get me through school and the full amount I can access when I'm 17. I've never been told how much there is exactly but I know it's a lot."
"We should have thought of that," Stephen mused. "We'll have to look into it before we leave. Do you know how to access the trust?"
"You need a key. I think my headmaster has mine."
"Did you entrust it to him?"
"No. He's just always had it. Long before I knew I was a wizard."
Stephen had lost track of the number of red flags that were raising in his mind.
"Why does the headmaster of a school that you weren't even yet attending have the key and access to your personal trust fund?"
Harry shrugged. That had always bothered him too.
"Apparently he was a good friend of my parents and my magical guardian."
"Magical guardian?"
"The adult who's suppose to help a muggle born adjust to life in the wizarding world. Its usually the students head of house and a is more of a guidance role than actual guardianship. I guess Dumbledore is mine because I'm the boy who lived and all that. Still doesn't explain why he has the key to my trust but whenever I ask, I'm told I'm too young to understand."
"When we stop by Gringotts sometime this week we'll see if we can have Dumbledore's access revoked and a new key made. In the meantime, I think we're here."
The car had indeed pulled up to Westfield, the enormous shopping center looming above them. More people than Harry had ever seen in his life, except perhaps at Kings Cross, milled around sidewalks and darted across crosswalks. Stephen was the first to exit the vehicle, shoving a baseball cap onto his head and holding the door open for Harry.
"Ready?" the older man asked.
"No," Harry deadpanned as he pushed himself out of the car. He froze momentarily realizing that he'd just said something that can be taken as extremely disrespectful to an adult, but Stephen didn't seem to notice. The sorcerer just surveyed the weekend crowds with a slightly defeated look and sighed.
"Me neither."
Other than the crowds shopping didn't turn out to be so bad. Only one group of teens a few years older than Harry recognized Stephen. The sorcerer was nice enough to take a few pictures with them and sign a couple autographs but a well-placed glare at the end made sure the teens wouldn't mention their encounter until tomorrow. Long after the Avenger had vacated the shopping mall.
"Don't you find it invasive?" Harry asked when Stephen rejoined him. Images of the adults that swarmed him the first time he set foot in the Leaky Cauldron were replaying in his head.
"Most of the time," Stephen shrugged. "But that doesn't mean I can't indulge people from time to time, especially kids. Ever since my mentor died, I've been making an effort to be more empathetic. It doesn't take much from me to make someone's entire week. Besides, when I chose to join the Avengers and become a public figure I knew what I was getting into."
Other than that little hiccup the rest of the trip went smoothly. The best part in Harry's opinion was the food. The Dursleys usually only ate traditional foods from the British Isles. The few times they made an exception was for something Italian, French or American and Harry was almost always left at home.
Stephen gleefully introduced Harry to the world of eastern cuisine, taking him to a Lebanese restaurant for lunch. Afterwards Harry was more than happy to sip on his strawberry boba while Stephen sized shirts up to him. He was even brave enough to drag his guardian back to the little tea stand to try a passion fruit one before they left.
Once Harry's new wardrobe, toiletries and a few decorations for his room were loaded into the car they went back in to spend the money Tony had gifted Harry.
They started at a gaming store where Harry purchased his first gaming console, a Nintendo Switch. They were both lost when it came to choosing games so in the end Stephen was the one who ended up getting what he knew were popular picks among the other Avengers. In the end Harry left with a few Mario games (including Mario Kart, which was apparently infamous among the Avengers) Animal Crossing, and the newest Zelda and Pokémon additions.
After they spent hours in the bookstore. Both Stephen and Harry's stack ending up being bigger than they could carry and they ended up doing another run to the car. Harry also picked out a few Lego sets and puzzle games, including a murder mystery the boy shyly hoped he could do together with Tony and Stephen.
Their last stop of the day was a high-end barber shop Stephen drug Harry into on the way home. For the first time in Harry's life the stylist managed to tame his head of curls into something manageable and sent him home with an easy routine to upkeep it. All in all it was a productive and surprisingly fun day, Stephen making for great amical company.
They arrived back at the penthouse to find Tony had also been productive, happily showing off Harrys two brand new shiny passports.
While Stephen hung up and folded Harrys new clothes Tony helped the boy go through what he had in his trunk. All of Dudley's cast offs were thrown out. Instead of getting pissed at the sight of the old rags like he wanted to Tony instead made a game out of them. He held open a garbage bag that Harry could chunk the clothing into like it was Christmas wrapping paper, celebrating obnoxiously every time Harry threw accurately on the first try. The genius was more than a little proud of himself for getting his son to laugh a few times.
If FRIDAY was discreetly taking photos Harry didn't have to know that yet. Neither did he need to know that the bag wasn't being thrown away, instead shoved in a dark corner where it could possibly be taken out again as evidence if they needed it.
The three of them did end the night by playing the murder mystery game, surrounded by pizza and bacon soda (Stephen refused it but Harry and Tony chugged the whole bottle). Harry couldn't remember ever enjoying time with adults so much in his life. He still didn't trust them, but he did like them. He didn't feel safe yet (Harry wasn't even sure he knew what feeling safe was like). He would probably still cry himself to sleep tonight, feeling completely overwhelmed and off kilter. But he was comfortable, and for the moment, happy. Watching Tony and Stephen playfully bicker about who murdered Captain Loot Harry couldn't help but feel lucky. If he had to be abandoned with any random couple, he was thankful it was them.
So I updated again. This story is not abandoned and never will be. I'll just post on it sporadically whenever the muse hits me so I can't say when the next update will be. I promise more Tony next time...hopefully. Hermione should be making an appearance and might end up taking a lot of screen time.
If you have any question or comments let me know! Hearing your guys thoughts always makes my day.
Thanks for reading!