Steve was out running on Tuesday morning, lost in his own thoughts. He was thinking back on the conversation he had with Tony about Bucky. He wasn't, so to say, thinking about what Tony had said but more about Tony himself. It was confusing for him; he knew what he was feeling was an attraction towards the other man.
He liked women, he had his Peggy, and a man liking other men just wasn't something he could get his head around. He knew that in the 21st century you were free to love who you wanted. He didn't believe that that mindset applied to him, so he was going to do his best to understand what was going on in his mind and get rid of those feelings at the same time. Tony was a good friend, and he was going to keep it that way.
Despite being lost in his thoughts, he was somewhat alert to his surroundings, so when his instinct was telling him something was wrong, he went on alert. Continuing with his run, he picked up his pace not wanting any trouble, despite not seeing anything wrong within his immediate view. He stopped in his tracks when the old wizard from the previous day appeared in front of him.
"Dumbledore." Steve said wearily remembering the man's name. "You've aged," he remembered him from the war with Hydra. He hadn't known him well, but his opinion of the older wizard was in the gutters after what had happened with Harry.
"Steven, my boy, can we talk for a moment," Dumbledore said in a grandfather tone. But Steve wasn't falling for it, the man may not have been a literal paedophile, however, his obsession with Harry was not healthy.
"It's Captain Rogers, and there is nothing for us to talk about." He was trying not to let the anger he felt affect him, but it was. Here was this 'all-powerful' wizard that was trying to use one of the sweetest kids he had ever met as a weapon.
"I only worry for Harry. He would be safer at Hogwarts where magic can protect him."
"And so, you can get to him and use him as you wish. He is a child Dumbledore, not a weapon for you to use as you please." Steve spat at the man.
"Harry must be the one to defeat Voldemort!"
"Harry will not put his life on the line to solve your problem of one power-hungry wizard, we will protect him, so he doesn't have to see a battle ever again!" The two were now having a full-blown argument on the side of the street and as people noticed that it was Captain America arguing with someone they stopped to watch, even dragging their phones out to record.
"The prophecy demands that Harry is the one who will fight Voldemort! The man will not be defeated otherwise."
"You of all people should know that prophecy's only hold power if you believe in them, otherwise they are just mumbled words spoken that may or may not come to pass."
"This one is different; the words are too accurate from them to gibberish nonsense. The Dark Lord declared this prophecy true when he went after Harry and marked him as his equal with the killing curse." There was now a crowd around them whispering about what the two were talking about.
"Dumbledore, you are fucking lunatic! Do you not see how deranged you have become? You put magical blocks on a child, that inhibited him from using his own powers. A baby, you could have done permanent damage to him!"
"It was that or have another evil wizard running around my school, I made my choice for the better! Hogwarts would not teach another Dark Lord!"
"Magic is only dark if you make it dark! Do not put your failures onto others-" Steve was about to continue but was stopped but loud pops surrounding them and the crowd froze in time. Men and women appeared, clad in red and black uniforms, around them. They nodded towards Steve before focusing their attention on Dumbledore.
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you are hereby under arrest for breaking The Statute of secrecy, you openly displayed magic and continued to talk about magic for all to hear. You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." An auror said.
"What about Mr Rogers he was also openly talking about magic." Dumbledore spat as magic suppression cuffs were placed on him.
"Captain Rogers did not start the conversation and is a war hero, he might be called in for questioning, but he is by no means the one guilty. I will tell you again, that you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
"You are free to leave Captain, otherwise you will be affected by the charms." Another auror said.
Steve went on his way, going back to the tower, not finishing his run. He was going to tell Tony and Harry what had just happened to him.
Harry heard about Steve's encounter with Dumbledore after he had finished his lessons for the day. He shut himself in his room afterwards, he wasn't angry, he was just… he didn't know, he felt broken. The man he used to look up to, had placed blocks onto his magic out of his own fear of Harry becoming evil. He felt wetness build up around his eyes and pulled himself further into a ball on his bed.
Silent sobs left him, his promise to never cry again was broken, as he lay there silently. He hadn't heard his door opening and was only aware of another person in the room when his bed dipped, and he was pulled into his dad's arms.
"It's alright Harry. I'll make sure that that man can never get to you again." His dad said rubbing his back. His tears broke out in full force as he let out a loud sob, the events of the past few days hitting him.
Tony sat there silently comforting his child, it hurt him to see his child crying like he was. But to some extent, he understood that this was hard on Harry, and he was going to be there for him. He was going to make Dumbledore regret what he did to his family, the man would regret the day he tried to use a Stark. Harry eventually stopped crying after a while, feeling too weak to continue crying, he hugged his dad tightly, thanking whatever deity had allowed him to have a family, to have a dad that cared for him as he did. He was done with Dumbledore, and he wasn't going to allow anyone else to take over his life and turn him into a weapon.
With Harry's new mindset, he quickly became focused on his learning, so he was surprised when on Friday, he found a man he had never met standing in the lounge after his lesson. The man wasn't a part of the Avengers, that was for sure. The man was staring him down and seemed to also be trying to figure out who he was. Curiosity led him to move towards the man and figure him out, they both entered a game of staring.
Tony walked into his lounge to find his son and best friend having a staring match, and he knew that the two of them could stare a fly off the wall. Clearing his throat both of them turned to look at him. Harry's face broke into a smile as the boy rushed towards him.
"Dad!" Harry said hiding behind him and glaring at Rhodey.
"Dad?" Rhodey asked, giving a questioning look to him.
"Platypus, Honey bear… How have you been? I've... uh been meaning to contact you... This is my son Harry. Harry this is my best friend Rhodey." Tony said nervously, he had been meaning to tell Rhodey about the recent events in his life, but he hadn't and now he was going to have to deal with a disappointed Platypus.
"Tony-" Rhodey started.
"I thought Steve was your best friend?" Harry asked with the most innocent voice ever, but Tony just saw mischief in those eyes. He couldn't be prouder of him, but not at the timing.
"Tony… I… Has it really been that long?." Rhodey looked disappointed.
"Rhodey no, I can promise you that you are still my best friend, Steve has just… he came with me to fetch Harry. Shit no that's worse, no one could ever replace you Sour Patch. I had been meaning to contact you, but then with the surgery and everything else. I-"
"Tony, it's alright. I'm feeling left out, but gods did something bad happen that you needed surgery?"
"No, God no. It was to remove the shrapnel. With Harry now in my life, I can't be a ticking time bomb. Why don't we sit and catch up?"
"Yeah, that might be a good idea."
"It's good to see you again Rhodey." Tony smiled leading the group into the kitchen. "And you, you've been hanging around the assassin twins and Loki too much." He said pointedly to Harry, who just smiled at him.
"You sure it's not because I'm your kid?" Harry stuck his tongue out at him.
They settled into the kitchen and Tony made them all something to drink as they got caught up, Harry mainly stayed silent, giving his input every now and then. Harry could tell that Rhodey meant a lot to his dad a lot and started to tell him about magic when his dad had been talking about the operation. Which lead to Rhodey looking at him in disbelief, but when Tony confirmed it, Rhodey was understanding even if a little confused.
All was well between the two friends, Rhodey was in town for the weekend, and made Tony promise to send him regular updates about what was going on in the tower. Meanwhile, Harry was excited for his lessons with Clint and Loki this weekend. The two had come to an agreement that they would each have one day of the weekend to teach him.