I cannot thank you all enough for the overwhelmingly warm comments I received from you all, I was almost in tears from them, but I am safe and doing better, but just as everything calmed down, I went a whole effing week with no damn electricity, but that is nothing new in my country, but not having power helped with my mental state and I was able to do quite a bit of planning for this story and another one I'm writing as well as coming up with new ideas for other stories, but I shall wait till I am finished with one of my stories before I tackle a new one, I don't have the mental capacity to write more than 2 stories at a time without being confused.
Thanks to my beta Tia for putting up with my ghosting as well, I don't mean to, I just sometimes forget I am writing a story when I get absorbed in my manwhas and other things I am reading.
Harry was sitting in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal, while his dad sipped at his coffee, Stark-pad in hand. Hedwig flew through the window into the room and landed next to Harry, a letter attached to her leg. He put his spoon down before removing the letter and gave her a piece of his cereal before she flew off into the lounge. The letter was from the New York City branch of the American Goblins.
Dear Dr Stark and Heir Potter-Slytherin
We have received your letter and have an available timeslot for you to visit on the 17th of July 2013, at 12:30 pm. Be advised to arrive earlier than the given time.
We await your arrival.
Gringotts New York City Branch
"Well, I guess we know what we are doing tomorrow," Tony said as he read the letter over Harry's shoulder, having gotten up when the kid had rolled out the letter.
"I don't know if I should have claimed the heirship to the Slytherin line, I know I did it for the knowledge, but who knows what the books are about," Harry said with a frown as he read his name over.
"Harry, it's not like you have to claim it completely, perhaps after seeing the books available to you, you could return the title, although that does sound strange and not possible. Maybe when you are old enough, you can give away a few of the titles you don't want, just how that Godfather's claim allowed you to have a claim over that title, but we can ask tomorrow when we see the goblins." Harry nodded his head still frowning a bit.
After the two had finished eating and were dressed they headed out, the painters were coming today, to repaint Harry's room and Harry needed clothes. The first store they walked into Harry thought it had a weird name, it was called "an.mé" but after walking in he somehow knew it was going to be his favourite shop of the day. They hadn't been in there very long before Tony brought one of everything in his size. He was shocked a bit, no one had ever thought to spend that much on him, Harry thought it was also a little wasteful as he properly wouldn't wear everything from the store, his dad said that he can always donate stuff if he isn't going to wear it, so with that in mind, he didn't say anything.
The cashier was a different story though, they didn't seem to be functioning anymore, and he didn't know if it was because of his dad or because of what he had said. Harry spotted a jersey in the mix of everything as clothes were being brought together by the conduction of his dad. It looked like watercolours had split all over, and it had a brush stroke style of a painted smiley face without the circle around it. Harry really liked it, and could see himself wearing it all the time, he was a bit surprised when he saw 2 more of the exact same jerseys join the pile, he turned to his dad who just gave him a cheeky wink. After half an hour of entering it, they left the store, bags to be sent to the Tower later that day.
They arrived at a bigger store after a bit of a drive, and Harry could tell there would be a lot more clothing for his size in there, he wondered if his dad would pull the same stunt again. There was a big sign hanging over the door reading "Couture Kids," at least it didn't have a weird name. As they walked in, they grabbed a trolley, but it wasn't long before one of the shop assistants at the store came up to them and offered to take care of pushing it. As they walked down the aisles, Tony would pick up anything in Harry's size, and sometimes Tony would grab multiple of the same thing if it was something simple enough to be worn every day. The trolley was fill and Harry thought something was going to fall over, when Tony passed by some shirts without picking them up Harry had to see why, and to his surprise, it was Iron-man T-shirts, and Harry had to have them, so while everything was being rung up Harry slipped some of them in, but his dad caught him, and he blushed.
Tony hadn't thought that Harry would not want to wear anything with him on it so he had skipped those, but to see his son go out of the way to pick them up, had made him embarrassed and the blush that spread across Harry's face was something he had never experienced before, something warm and fuzzy was glowing deep inside and it wasn't the arc reactor. 'Was this what a family was?' Tony thought.
Their next stop was "Abercrombie kids" where the same thing repeated itself, of Tony buying everything in Harry's size, and they were able to get some clothing here for Harry to workout in with the others. Harry was also noticing that all the stores they went to were more expensive, and when he asked his dad, Tony told him that today wouldn't even make a dent in the fortune he had, plus he liked to spend his money on others that weren't him. They went to a few more stores that specialised in certain things, so Harry was able to get winter wear and anything that they hadn't been able to get, mainly underwear, socks and shoes.
They had also stopped off at an eyewear store that had an optometrist in it as well to buy Harry an abundance of glasses and sunglasses in the right prescription for him, who would be doing a check-up later on. There was one more stop that Tony wanted to make before heading back to the Tower, and he had already phoned in so the store would be prepared. They didn't normally make clothing for children, but they would for a Stark. Pulling up in front of a small and antique-looking boutique, they were met by the store owner at the front door.
"Good afternoon Mr Stark. It is good to see you again. Is this the young boy that we will be fitting today?"
"Hello Allen, it's always a good day when I get to see you, and yes this is the one who is getting fitted today," Tony said before they all went into the store. Once inside Harry's eyes widened at all the different suits hanging against the walls and the few that were also on display. It wasn't long before he was standing with his arms spread wide as the man was taking his measurements. It reminded him of when he was getting his first school uniform for Hogwarts, minus Malfoy, and Magic. The man was writing down everything as he went, and he would be lying if he said he didn't get embarrassed when some of the measurements were done. When he finished all the measuring, he brought out books that were made up of pages of different fabrics instead of paper.
"If you would go through these and tell me about your preferences for suits, I can then start making them." He said handing a book to his dad and one to himself. Tony motioned for Harry to sit down next to him on the only seating in the room. As they went through the books Tony told Allen the different fabrics, mainly sticking to blacks and different shades of beiges and browns, and one white fabric is thrown in there. Harry only wanted to add one extra colour of fabric which was a deep maroon colour. Allen made note of everything, knowing the order was for six suits. Two black suits, one as a backup one, he would do one maroon suit for the boy, he would skip the white one, it would wash the boy out, but a beige would look good on him, he would also do one of the charcoal blacks, and a blue-black one, patterned suits could come later down the line when the kid will be older.
"Everything should be ready in a month's time Mr Stark and thank you for your continued support of my store. With the right hair cut the boy would look just like you Mr Stark." Tony chuckled at the man.
"Well, it's a good thing that I'm not my father then. Harry is his own person, and I don't ever expect him to be like me."
"Indeed, it is Mr Stark. I shall have everything sent to you once it is complete, and you shall expect nothing but the finest material and craftsmanship in the suits."
"Thank you, Allen, I expect nothing but the best from you," Tony said standing with Harry at the door, the final goodbyes were said before the two headed back to the Tower. Driving in the late afternoon sun and traffic.
The place was quiet when they got back, Tony assumed everyone was off doing their own thing. They headed up to the penthouse when they couldn't find anyone and were greeted by a mountain of shopping bags taking over the entrance and the lounge area.
"Huh, I didn't think I had bought that much, well I guess we should take everything to your room and start unpacking it," Tony said looking at the pile, they definitely would not be finished by night time. Just as Tony was about to grab a bunch of bags his phone rang.
"Sir, I would advise you to pick up the call, it has tried to call you multiple times today, and I am to believe it is the child-care service person who has been dealing with Harry's case." Tony groaned before picking up the phone.
"Hello Mr Stark, you are a very difficult person to get hold of." The man on the other side said.
"Hello Mr Green, I hope that everything is going well." Harry was watching Tony as he realised who he was talking to. Tony smiled at him and the two went into the kitchen.
"I'm calling to tell you that the case has been through court and both Mr and Mrs Dursley were found guilty in the case of child abuse, neglect and endangerment of both Harry and his cousin Dudley."
"That good news, what's going to happen now?"
"All of Mr Dursleys assets will be sold or auctioned off, and all the money coming in from insurance claims will be gathered together. The money will then be split in half, the one half will be going to charity for abused children. The other half will be split into thirds, two thirds will be going to Dudley and the other third to Harry."
"The money can just go to charity, it's not like he will ever need it, but I'll check with him later," Tony said, as he watched Harry grab things out of the cupboards and fridge to make dinner for them, it looked like they would be having pasta tonight.
"Okay, you can discuss that with your lawyer at a later date, he has been amazing with these cases, I've never seen them happen so quickly."
"That's what happens when you hire the best lawyer in the country."
"It sure is. Oh, Mrs Dursley case is finished, but the sentencing has not been decided. When she is awake and stable enough, they will see if she shows any remorse before deciding the length of the sentence, and because she has been found guilty with the two children, your lawyer is pushing for a double sentence, which is most likely going to happen, so her sentence will be a maximum of 20 years.
And in regards to Dudley, it has been decided that he will continue to live with his aunt for the time being, with regular check-ins from the child-care services, as well as having to go through rehabilitation to lower his weight and fix and prevent any damages to his health from his high weight."
"The poor child, hopefully, his attitude is also corrected in that time, if the things Harry has told me are anything to go by."
"And lastly Mr Stark. There will be a check-up on Harry sometime in the future by the American CPS (Child protective service) to make sure his living conditions have improved and that he is developing properly in your care. He may be on the verge of being a teenager, but at this age, he will be very sensitive to what is happening around him, and I wouldn't be surprised if he sometimes reverts back to a younger mental age, as such can be the case with some abused children."
"Thank you, Mr Green, I will keep that in mind, it must be either very late or very early for you, so I won't keep you any longer. Thank you for informing me of the outcomes of the trials."
"You're welcome Mr Stark and have a good evening." The line went dead as the call was ended.
"What was that about?" Harry asked, looking up from the pan he was cooking in.
"It was the guy from the child-care services that has been dealing with your case and it's all good news!" Tony said before he went into telling Harry what had happened and what was going to be happening in the near future and agreeing with giving the money to charity. He didn't want to have anything that used to be the Dursley's, he had enough hand-me-downs from them that made him feel like a freak.
After eating dinner, they lugged all the shopping bags upstairs and into Harry's room, trying to put as much away as they could, and Harry was surprised when he walked into his newly painted room, not knowing that his dad was actually going to do it. There was still a small mountain of bags that needed to be packed and a similar-sized pile next to it of clothes that Harry knew he was never going to wear and would be going to charity. The day had been good, and Harry was excited for the visit to the Goblins the next day.
Tell me what you thought, and if there is anything you might one to see, please tell me as well, I have the main plotline sorted but if you want to see a day where they do something fun, kinda like a filler episode, please tell me. I like seeing what others are thinking, and it also gives me inspiration when I need it.