Tony had told him that the lawyer was coming over in the afternoon, and so as soon as Harry woke the next morning, he threw himself off the balcony from his room and flew down to the forest by the secluded beach. He spent all morning listening to the nature and flying around and just generally revelling in his freedom. He almost cried again the first time he touched the grass.

He heard a car approaching the entrance to the long driveway, and realised he had been out for much longer than he had thought. The only visitor they were expecting was the lawyer, and so Harry shot back up to the huge house and found his way to the kitchen, then set about making himself a sandwich.

He had to find almost all the components by smell, being able to vaguely gauge what colour each one was, and needed to feel through every single cupboard in Stark's bloody huge kitchen before he found a plate, but it improved his already good mood when he ended up with a sandwich, the first one he had made in over a year – in an unfamiliar kitchen and blind to boot.

He heard Tony come in as he dropped into a seat, and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Lawyer's here." He said.

Tony laughed. "I was about to tell you that. I just let them in the gate." He shook his head and tossed a pair of glasses at Harry who caught them and levelled him with a glare when he realised they were the circular black kind blind people wore. "I can see." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Not really you can't." Tony teased. He sighed. "They'll hide your eyes and explain why you won't be able to read anything they might give you. I haven't told them about your... powers. Figured that was better kept between us."

Harry took a large bite of his sandwich and nodded, shoving the glasses onto his nose. He had to admit that the dark tint helped manage the bright lights a little.

He listened to the sound of a car engine draw closer as he ate, and was loading the empty plate into the dishwasher when Tony lead the two men into the kitchen.

"Harry, this is Franklin Nelson, and Matt Murdock." Tony said, gesturing to each of them. The taller of the two was holding a cane of some sort. "Gentlemen, Harry."

"Foggy, please." The shorter man said, holding out his hand. Harry shook it, then held his hand out to the other, and an awkward silence filled the room.

"He's blind." Both Tony and Foggy said at the same time, speaking for different people.

Harry nodded, dropping his hand. "Hi."

"Hi." Matt replied, and Harry could hear the smile in his voice. "Shall we?"

"Right." Tony said, and headed down the corridor. Harry followed him as Foggy took Matt's elbow, the other man folding his cane up as he allowed himself to be led through the house.

Tony showed them into a softly-lit conference-room type space, with a large oval table surrounded by chairs. He and Harry dropped into seats next to each other, and the two lawyers sat down opposite them, Foggy resting his briefcase on the table.

"Mr. Stark, may I start by thanking you for choosing Nelson and Murdock to represent you in this endeavour." Foggy said. "Whilst your home here is pretty far from our office in Hell's Kitchen, this is a case we couldn't turn down."

"Sure." Tony said.

Question after question followed that, many of them obviously standard ones they had to ask, such as Tony's age, and how much he made in a year. Around two hours in, Tony left to go and get a jug of water for the table.

"Now that Stark isn't in here to influence your answer, we also have to ask if you actually want to live with him, Harry." Matt asked.

Harry nodded.

"He just nodded." Foggy said. "So that's good. He looked pretty certain."

Harry coughed a small, bemused laugh, and Matt waved a hand at his face, indicating his glasses. He seemed to realise that Harry couldn't see that, and chuckled. "Sorry. He does that a lot. It helps."

Harry's eyebrows twitched in curiosity at the subtle change in Matt's heartbeat.

Tony came back in, followed by a robot carrying a tray holding four glasses and a large jug of water. The robot set it on the table as Tony sat down, then reversed back out the door, leaving behind a slightly bemused silence.

"Was that a robot?" Matt asked.

"Yeah." Tony replied. "The only thing he's good at."

"Right." Foggy was still staring at the door the robot had disappeared through.

Matt's hand slowly extended across the table, fumbling around ever so slightly until it touched one of the glasses and he picked it up, taking a drink. "To transfer custody to you, Mr. Stark, we'll have to first prove that Harry's current guardians are unfit to look after him."

"The only thing they're fit for is prison." Tony growled.

Matt ran his hands over the pages in front of him, and Harry supposed they must be covered in braille. "This would be a Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley?"

Harry nodded, his stomach clenching at even the mention of them. His heart raced as he realised that he was getting away from them. This time forever.

"And they are your aunt and uncle?" Matt said. Harry nodded again.

"What happened to your parents?" Foggy asked. "We don't have any information on either of them..."

"They died." Harry replied. "Halloween '95."

"And you went to live with your aunt and uncle after that?" Foggy asked. A pencil scratched against paper as he made a note. Harry nodded.

Matt ran his hands over the papers in front of him once more, his head tipped strangely to the side. "Petunia is your mother's sister, right?" Harry nodded once more. "Is there anything you can think of that we can use in our case against them?" Matt asked.

Harry nodded. He heard his heart rate increase and swallowed.

"Is something burning?" Matt asked, and Harry hurriedly clamped down on his emotions, controlling his breathing before he set fire to Pepper's clothes.

"I don't smell anything." Foggy said. Harry took a deep breath.

"Mr. Potter – Harry. I can't imagine what you're going through right now, or have been through." Matt said softly. "This must be unbelievably hard for you, but anything you can tell us that can help us convict your aunt and uncle gets us one step closer to signing the paperwork that makes Tony your legal guardian."

Harry nodded and gave him a smile before realising the man couldn't see either. Matt however seemed to know, or at least understand, and reached across the table to briefly touch his arm. Harry took another steadying breath, feeling the flames licking at his insides. Tony touched his hand comfortingly and presumably gave him a reassuring look as he stood up.

Harry pulled his borrowed sweatshirt over his head, and turned his back on the table. He heard Foggy's curse, and thought he caught a sharp intake of breath from the other lawyer.

"Dude, I would give anything in the world to have your eyes right now." Foggy said quietly to his partner.

"Six." Harry said softly, knowing they would know what he meant.

"That's got to be enough for a conviction." Foggy said, mostly to himself. "Harry, would it be alright if I took some pictures?" He asked.

Harry just nodded once again. He heard the man stand up and pull something out of his pocket, followed by the shutter sound of a camera as he photographed the scars and welts across Harry's back and torso.

"Thank you." The lawyer said after a few seconds, and Harry pulled his sweatshirt back on and sat down.

"And that-" Foggy coughed. "-that was your uncle?"

Harry nodded.

"What are the bandages on your hands from?"

"That was the ten rings." Tony replied. "They had wrapped metal bands around his wrists."

"What for?" Matt asked.

"Because they're sadistic bastards that kidnap and torture children." Tony snapped. "I don't know."

"Sorry." Matt said. There was a pause. "How... how long were you in Afghanistan?"

Harry knew he wasn't asking Tony. "16 months."

"How about we have a break for a bit?" Foggy asked, his voice shaking slightly.

Harry nodded and gratefully stood up, hurrying out of the room towards the kitchen. Tony followed him, and Harry let himself be pulled into a hug he knew was as much for the billionaire's benefit as his own.

"You okay?" Tony asked softly once he had released him, and Harry nodded, splashing his face with water from the kitchen tap. He frowned slightly, hearing his name in the quiet conversation the lawyers were having a few rooms away.

"Harry and Stark are in the kitchen."

"That poor kid." Foggy said. "It'll be easy enough to declare the Dursleys unfit guardians. You're lucky you couldn't see his back." There was a pause. "What? What's that face for?"

"I'm not sure we'll be able to use that in the case." Matt said.

"What's up?" Tony asked.

"It's not evidence." Harry replied calmly, jerking a thumb at his back.

"What! Why not?" Tony cried.

Harry shushed him, straining to listen to the lawyers talking. Matt's voice had dropped at Tony's exclamation.

"...mean it was from Afghanistan?" Foggy was saying. "He told us it started when he was six, Matt. Six."

Matt's voice was calm compared to Foggy's shout. "And I believe him." He said. "He was terrified when we mentioned them. His heart rate increased."

"You know that's really creepy."

"I simply said we can't prove it's wasn't the ten rings. He was in Afghanistan for over a year."

"It could have been Raza." Harry informed Tony. Desperately his brain began firing off, searching for other things the Dursleys did. Now that he was close to being rid of them, he was desperate. He tried to think of anything Ron and Hermione had seemed shocked about when he told them, but it was all so long ago.

He heard Foggy sigh.

"What about the fact that he's been missing for over a year. Nobody's been looking for him. I checked with UK police; there was no missing person's report filed matching his description. Definitely none for any blind kids."

Harry fought a laugh at that. He doubted the Dursleys had even noticed he was gone until the leftovers in the fridge ran out.

"Stark forwarded on any information he had about him. He couldn't find any records." Harry could hear the confusion in Foggy's voice. "He got a load of stuff on his aunt and uncle, but it's like the kid doesn't exist."

Harry glanced at Tony. "You sent information?"

"I tried to find out as much as I could about you and your relatives, and sent it to them, in the hopes that it could speed this process up." Tony replied. "I want everything legal as soon as possible. It's important. You're important."

Harry's throat tightened with emotion.

Tony sighed. "We should go back in." He said quietly. "Get this done." Harry nodded, and lead the way back to the small room. Matt and Foggy stopped talking when they were a few metres away.

"Cupboard." Harry said, as he made his way back to his seat and sat down, the idea having only just occurred to him.

"Pardon?" Matt asked.

"If my back won't... work." He turned to Tony, willing him to understand what he was trying to say. His throat was scratchy and his tongue ached, he didn't think he'd be able to talk much more.

Tony nodded, shifting slightly closer to him and resting a hand on his knee. "He's saying that if the scars on his back won't be admissible in court, there's more."

"More?"

Harry nodded. "Cupboard." He said quietly.

"The scars won't be inadmissible." Matt said. "We just think that the Dursleys might claim that you got them during your time in Afghanistan. We believe you, but there's no way we can prove you didn't."

"I know." Harry said softly.

A silence filled the room. Harry was uncomfortably aware of everybody's breathing, and the steady beating of hearts. Foggy was wearing aftershave, and the prickly menthol smell tickled Harry's nostrils. He sneezed.

"So... cupboard?" Foggy prompted after a while.

"They made him sleep in a closet." Tony replied. Anger coloured his voice. "Their fat oaf of a son had two bedrooms, and Harry was shoved into a closet under the stairs."

There was a moment's silence as the two lawyers digested this. "How old were you?" Foggy asked. "When you first slept in the cupboard?"

Harry shook his head. "Always." The word left a horrible taste in his mouth.

Foggy took a deep breath. "Did they ever lock you in?"

Harry nodded.

"Of course they did." Foggy whispered angrily to himself as he scribbled another note on his pad of paper. Harry didn't think he would have been able to hear him if his ears weren't so sensitive.

"Did you go to school?" Matt asked.

Thinking of Hogwarts, Harry gave a small laugh that he managed to turn into a cough.

"He nodded." Foggy noted.

"For how long?" Matt asked. "Did you start at age 6?"

Harry frowned at shook his head, holding up 4 fingers.

"Four?" Foggy frowned. "But-"

"Kid's British, remember?" Tony said. "I found elementary school records for him up to fifth grade." Harry shot Tony a surprised – and slightly creeped out – look. The man had practically stalked him as soon as they got to the US.

"Those weren't in the e-mail you sent us..." Foggy said, flicking through the stack of papers on the table in front of him.

"I didn't think you'd need them." Tony shrugged.

"If it had turned out Harry's family hadn't sent him to school we could charge them with educational or developmental abuse." Matt explained. "But apparently he went to school up to age 10."

The questioning continued for another two hours, bouncing between Harry, court, Tony, the Dursleys, and Stark Industries. Harry was bored, tired, and his throat was agony. He had said more today than he usually did in a week.

Matt frowned. "You said the Dursleys have a son. How old is he?"

Harry had to think for a second. "Fourteen?"

"You think we need to be worried about him as well?" Foggy asked his partner.

Harry shook his head, scoffing at the idea that the Dursleys would mistreat their darling Dudley in any way. "He's perfect." He said bitterly.

"From what Harry's told me, his aunt and uncle gave their son whatever he wanted, and shoved Harry into the background, making him do housework and leaving him with his cousin's castoffs." Tony said. "They didn't want him, and made that pretty clear to him from a young age. That is, when they weren't pretending he didn't exist."

"In what way?"

Harry levelled the lawyer with a glare. "They don't like me." He said, getting fed up. "They'll give custody. Does it matter?" He swallowed the last of his water, trying to soothe his aching throat. His voice had cracked on the word custody, the hard c consonant catching in the back of his throat.

Foggy glanced at Matt. "If they'd be willing to hand over custody, rather than have it forcibly taken, it would get rid of the need for a court case. And with such a high-profile participant as Stark it's not exactly going to remain secret for long. In fact, we might be able to use the public setting of the case to get them to agree to a transfer of custody."

"How? Harry frowned.

It was Tony who answered. "Well, you said they were all about their image and standing in the community. What would they do if we told them that their names and pictures would be plastered all over newspapers across the world unless they signed some forms that made me your guardian?"

Harry nodded.

"Legally, we can't say it in that way..." Foggy said. "But I'm sure we'll get the message across."