AUGUST 5

Tony spent the night in his workshop fabricating the cage. He'd had the design completed almost immediately, but the materials hadn't been delivered until that afternoon. He presented the cage to Sirius after breakfast, then he, Steve, and Harry waved goodbye to Sirius and Dobby a bit longer than they'd planned, thanks to the elf's happy tears at sharing breakfast with the great wizard Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter, sir's friends.

Sirius estimated they'd be gone most of the day. Capturing the rat shouldn't take much time at all, but apparating over long distances could be tiring and tricky, and once they got to Egypt, they still had to find the Weasleys and, by extension, the rat. In fact, Sirius said just before he and Dobby departed, it was probably best not to expect them until the next morning.

Which left Tony wondering what to do with Harry today. London was replete with things to see and do, and he supposed Harry hadn't seen or done any of them. Still, though, this wasn't entirely a vacation for either of them, and maybe they should spend today getting the mundanities handled, like a passport for Harry and making sure he got seen by doctors both magical and not so he had all the proper immunizations and such for traveling to the States.

Which they would, one way or another - Tony was loath to take Harry away from his friends, but nothing he or McGonagall had said endeared Hogwarts to him in any way. If the price for Harry's safety was him losing a few friends … well, he'd make new ones.

Not that Tony was in any way looking forward to talking with Harry about that decision.

"Another museum today?" Steve asked as they sat down to eat.

"Depends on how Harry's homework is coming," Tony replied, and looked at his son.

"I have an essay for Charms," Harry said, "and one for Astronomy, but that's mostly copying down notes that I made…before."

"I thought they didn't let you have your school supplies over the summer?" Steve asked with a frown.

"They mostly didn't," Harry said. "But I pointed out to Aunt Petunia that if I didn't do my homework over the summer, I was more likely to fail classes, and if I failed out, then I'd have to live with them all the time again."

Tony chuckled, though how the Dursleys had treated Harry wasn't funny at all. He might yet turn every government agency he could think of loose on Vernon. Maybe. If he got sufficiently angry or bored before his returned to the US.

"What'd she say?" he asked.

Harry grinned. "She didn't say anything, really - but after Uncle Vernon left for work, she'd pass my books through the cat flap."

"Cat…flap?" Tony asked weakly, and watched Steve's expression grow angrier by the second as Harry explained just what the conditions had been like at Privet Drive.

"Tony-" Steve began, then cut himself off.

"Yeah," he replied. Ruining Vernon Dursley's life was climbing ever higher on his to-do list. He shook himself out of his dark mood and summoned a smile for Harry. "Get those done today, if you can. I'm arranging visits to doctors and the embassy as soon as we can get them."

"Why?" Harry asked, eyes wide with a combination of excitement and fear.

"I'm an American citizen," Tony replied. "And you're my son. You need citizenship, too."

"And the doctors?"

"I'm pretty sure a medical examination is a requirement," Tony said. "And even if it's not your Madam Pom-pom-"

"Pomfrey," Harry corrected.

Tony waved the correction away. "She said you and I both need to see a healer. Hedwig already took that letter, right? So we should be hearing back from them soon."

"I'm surprised we haven't already," Steve said.

"Explain," Tony said.

"Harry's a celebrity," Steve said. "And Hedwig took the letter on Saturday. Even allowing that they might be busier on the weekend, I'd think someone would've gotten back to Harry already."

That made a perverse kind of sense. Tony knew what celebrity was, and Steve did, too, even if it wasn't quite the slobbering frenzy too often on display in the modern era. Celebrity meant preferential treatment, even if it wasn't asked for; at the very least, it meant a faster-than-usual response to a routine inquiry.

In fact, why hadn't Hedwig returned with a confirmation of an appointment in the first place? Unless St. Mungo's was just as full of delays and bureaucracy as the National Health Service was? That was certainly possible.

"Could be any number of reasons," he said aloud. "If we haven't heard back by tomorrow morning, we'll head over there and see what happens in person. So, Harry, you get to work on your essays - and can I read them when you're done? - because we'll be heading out to the embassy and various doctors in the next few days."

Steve frowned at Tony's words, but when he opened his mouth to speak, Tony shook his head fractionally. Steve's frown deepened, but he nodded back, equally fractionally.

"Can-" Harry began hesitantly, and Tony focused on him. "Can we go to another museum, please? Or something else?"

Tony smiled more naturally. "Sure thing. Tell you what, finish at least one of your essays, then you can ask JARVIS to help you make a list of where you'd like to go."

"Yes!" Harry all but cheered.

"It might not be the first on your list," Tony cautioned him, "but it will be from your list, okay?"

"Okay!"

Harry gathered his plate, glass, and silverware and took them to the kitchen.

"Tony," Steve began quietly.

"I know," Tony said, equally quietly. "But I'm sending a note to Sirius' cousin as soon as we're done here. I want to talk to her and her husband about all of this, not just Sirius' trial or lack thereof."

It wasn't until mid-morning on Monday that Minerva made her way to the headmaster's office. She usually waited to confirm the upcoming year's enrollment until a few days after the August 1 deadline to allow for owls coming from Ireland or other countries in the Commonwealth that might have gotten delayed. Now, five days after the deadline, she felt confident that she had all the replies.

Except one.

Her visit with Harry Potter and his biological father hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped, or even as well as she'd expected. In her defense, and at the same time to her shame, most Muggle parents flinched at the mere thought of magic, let alone her typical demonstration of it, and didn't question her too deeply as a result.

Tony Stark, however, not only hadn't flinched, he'd met her every statement head-on with a counterargument or a question of his own. She'd never felt as wrong-footed speaking to a Muggle as she had on Saturday, and she'd understood Stark's reluctance to send Harry back to a school where his life - not to mention the lives of other students - had been threatened more than once.

She climbed the stairs to the gargoyle and said, "Pop rocks."

A minute later, she stepped into the headmaster's office to see Albus looking over a parchment in his hand and a stack of several dozen on his desk.

From his perch, Fawkes trilled a greeting, and Minerva couldn't help but smile at the bird. "Good morning, Fawkes. Albus."

"Ah, Minerva." Albus looked up with a gentle smile. "All the registrations are confirmed for the year?"

"We have a hundred and twenty-two incoming students," she said. "All returning second through seventh year students have confirmed their attendance."

"Excellent news indeed," Albus said, his eyes twinkling. A perverse part of Minerva was looking forward to seeing his response to what she said next.

"Except one. Harry Potter."

The twinkle and the smile died in the same instant. Minerva was reluctantly impressed and wondered idly if Albus had some minor metamorphmagus ability.

"Harry Potter? Why wouldn't he have responded?" Albus demanded.

"Apparently, he was in some kind of accident with his aunt," Minerva said. "Unfortunately, while Mr. Potter escaped with relatively minor injuries, Mrs. Dursley was killed."

"Most unfortunate," Albus murmured. "Yet I fail to see how that impacts Harry's attendance at Hogwarts."

"Aside from Mr. Dursley refusing to allow him?" Minerva asked sharply and took a perverse pleasure in Albus' minute flinch. She took a steadying breath before continuing, "As it turns out, not everything we believed about Mr. Potter is correct. James Potter was not his biological father."

"What?" Albus shouted, his expression turning fiercely angry.

"Do not yell at me, Albus Dumbledore," Minerva snapped and fixed him with a glare that had frozen many a recalcitrant student.

And a headmaster. Minerva barely concealed her satisfied smirk. Instead, she said, "From what Mr. Potter and his father said, James was cursed impotent, but he and Lily both desired a child. They sought out a candidate who was intelligent and who resembled James. It was a straightforward transaction, I believe, as Mr. Potter's father was aware he had sired a child but remained out of Mr. Potter's life until recently."

Albus frowned. "That is most … interesting news. You met Harry's father?"

"I did."

"And you believe he won't let Harry return next year?"

"I believe it's a possibility. He seems quite determined that Mr. Potter's choices not be limited by his circumstances of birth or education." Seeing Albus' frown deepen, she added, "It was made abundantly clear to me that should Mr. Potter want a career in the non-magical world, Hogwarts is not the best choice for his education."

"How can that be?" Albus demanded. "Hogwarts is among the top schools in Europe!"

"We don't offer any Muggle subjects," Minerva answered simply. "And the Muggle world has advanced enough that falling behind in their studies can be crippling."

The twinkle returned. "Certainly not?"

"Certainly so. I saw the evidence myself, and would be happy to share the memory with you."

Albus' expression faltered for a moment, and Minerva knew she'd struck a nerve of some kind, but all he said was, "Very well."

Minerva debated with herself where to start the memory she would share with Albus, finally deciding on the part where she did her best to convince Stark to allow Harry to return to Hogwarts. The rest of the meeting certainly merited further study, but the meat of her day had been that particular discussion.

So she summoned that memory to mind, pressed her wand to her temple, and a moment later deposited a silvery strand into the pensieve.

Albus entered the memory immediately. Minerva chose not to follow. There was no need to revisit one of her lesser moments as a representative of the magical world - at least not when the injury to her pride was still so fresh. Later - next month perhaps, or next year - after her pride had recovered would be soon enough for her to try to learn from the mistakes she'd made with Tony Stark.

And, if she were brutally honest, with all of the Muggle-born students, or first-generation magicals, since she'd become the deputy headmistress and accepted the responsibility of introducing those students to the magical world.

She'd failed them in ways she expected to take the rest of her life to understand. Even that long wouldn't be enough for her to make any sort of apology or reparation to those students, so her options were to resign and allow someone younger and hopefully more adept in the non-magical world than she to take over, or to take that sabbatical year and bring herself quite up to date with that world so she could better serve all of her students in the future.

Each choice held its appeal - whether that appeal lie in handing off the burden to someone else or in redeeming herself somewhat - and the choice would not be an easy one.

Although…although perhaps Mr. Potter and Miss Granger might offer her assistance if she chose the sabbatical year. Even if they personally couldn't help her, perhaps they knew someone who could. And Mr. Stark and Mr. Rogers, too - they were both concerned with Mr. Potter's choices, so surely they'd understand her task.

With that thought, the choices weren't quite as evenly weighted as she'd thought.

Not long after, Albus emerged from the pensieve with his features etched in a frown and the twinkle absent from his eyes. "That was…disturbing."

"I should say it was," Minerva snapped. "To think that we've been failing our students for so many years-!"

"What?" Albus blinked at her as though he hadn't understood. Then recognition dawned. "Oh, of course, Minerva, of course. That must be addressed, certainly. But I was speaking of the chance that Harry will not return for his third year, or any other. We must convince this Stark fellow to allow him to return."

"That could prove difficult. Mr. Stark made a number of excellent and, I'm sorry to say, quite valid points and, as you saw, is committed to Mr. Potter's future in whichever world he chooses."

"Harry is a wizard," Albus said. "He's part of our world. James and Lily would've wanted that."

"But James and Lily aren't here," Minerva said with more force than was strictly necessary. Albus flinched, just a little, at her tone, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it. "Tony Stark is, and he's the one we'll have to convince to allow Mr. Potter to return."

"I'm certain if we remind Harry of the good things Hogwarts has to offer, he'll convince Mr. Stark for us."

It was on the tip of Minerva's tongue to protest, to remind him of the man he'd seen in the pensieve, and then she reminded herself that she was sitting across from the most stubborn wizard she'd ever known. Albus wouldn't take her word for anything, and - a stab of realization hit her right in her gut - he hadn't in a long time. At least, not on anything that mattered.

Like Harry Potter.

She'd protested leaving the child with his Muggle relatives, and Albus had overruled her despite hearing how badly-behaved the Dursley boy was, how he'd kicked his own mother while yelling and screaming his way down the street to some destination Minerva hadn't known then and wouldn't try to guess now.

But, she reminded herself in as stern a manner as she'd ever used on a student, she didn't have to fight this fight. Mr. Stark had proven himself capable of arguing her to a stalemate. She'd enjoy watching him do the same to Albus.

Albus apparently took her silence for consent, as he rose from his chair. "Shall we speak with them now?"

Minerva shook her head. "I promised them time to discuss the matter as a family. I have an appointment to meet with them on Friday for their response."

"Friday?" Albus repeated. "Oh, no - that won't do at all. This afternoon."

It took all of Minerva's willpower not to give in to the impulse to roll her eyes. "No, Albus. I'll send an owl to ask if we can meet with them tomorrow. There's no sense starting off a discussion of the merits of Hogwarts with its headmaster being unconscionably rude."

Albus looked like he desperately wanted to object, but in the end, his expression turned just a little calculating. "Perhaps you can invite them here for tea tomorrow? It wouldn't do for Mr. Stark to make his decision without seeing the school, after all."

Tony met the Tonkses at the elevator.

Andromeda Tonks was a striking woman with light brown hair and well-defined cheekbones. Her husband, Ted, had fair hair and a little bit more than the beginnings of a pot belly. Both seemed far more at ease in the tower than McGonagall and Pom-Pom had, so Tony let himself relax a little as he offered his hand.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, good to meet you," he said, the words rolling from his tongue easily. He'd said them so many times before, but rarely meant them like he did today.

"And you, Mr. Stark," Ted replied. He had a firm grip that contrasted amusingly with his somewhat rumpled suit.

"Tony, please," he said, turning to the female part of the pair. "Thanks for coming so quickly."

"Then we're Andromeda and Ted." Andromeda's grip was as strong as her husband's, and Tony was silently grateful that neither of them appeared to have a need to intimidate through a too-firm handshake. "And your phone call wasn't unexpected, not after speaking to Sirius yesterday."

"Can I just say I'm glad you guys have phones?" Tony said, leading them into the conference room. He would've preferred having this meeting on the roof as it was a gorgeous day, but Harry had claimed the gazebo for doing his homework. It hadn't taken Steve's pointed look for him to yield to his son, especially as the roof meant Hedwig, and she was almost as good a distraction for Harry as homework.

Ted laughed easily. "For most Muggle-borns, the world isn't as divided as the Ministry wants to think. Many of us straddle both worlds relatively easily."

"Even with the lack of non-magical subjects at Hogwarts?" Tony asked. "There's coffee and tea there, help yourself. The cafeteria will send up some food after the lunchtime rush is over."

"Even so," Ted replied, though his expression turned serious as he poured himself a cup of coffee - well, half a cup of coffee, to which liberal amounts of milk and sugar were added to fill the cup. "Some of us realized relatively quickly that prejudice in school frequently translates to prejudice after school, and in my year at least, a number of us got together and asked our parents for textbooks for Christmas and birthdays."

"Impressive," Tony said. "Especially considering you were, what, thirteen or fourteen when you figured it out?"

Ted shrugged as he moved to a chair near the end of the conference table. "To be bluntly honest about it, it was an older sister of a sixth-year student who told us exactly what happened when she graduated. She'd gotten seven N.E.W.T.s, all EE or better, and at every job interview, whatever the position, she was only offered clerical work."

"What did she do?" Tony asked as Andromeda filled her cup - her tea-to-goodies ratio was much higher than her husband's coffee-to-goodies ratio.

"She had contacts in New Zealand, where they're more … liberal, for lack of a better word, than they are here," Andromeda said. "She was the one who inspired us to start our firm, actually - the firm she works with in Auckland does the same thing and has a thriving practice."

Tony filled his own cup nearly to the rim from the carafe labeled "High Octane" and took a seat across from them.

"Ingenuity finds a way," he remarked. "It's just a shame your Ministry is so stupid that it has to."

"Speaking of ingenuity," Andromeda said. "I was hoping to see Sirius again, to give him a progress report."

"He's not here today," Tony replied, then grinned. "He's on an errand that could make your job a lot easier."

She frowned. "What kind of errand could possibly do that?"

"Tell you when he gets back," Tony said nonchalantly, then grinned when her frown deepened. "Meantime, I've got a few questions about Harry."

"Ah - yes. About that." Ted cleared his throat and glanced at his wife before meeting Tony's gaze. "Sirius said that you're actually Harry's father?"

"Yep. Got the DNA tests to prove it. And," Tony added, "a report from a … medical witch? Madam Pom-Pom or something."

"Madam Pomfrey, from Hogwarts?" Andromeda asked.

"Yeah, that's it," Tony said with a snap of his fingers and a point in her direction. "Paperwork's in the folder."

Ted stretched an arm to the end of the conference table and snagged the folder. He opened it to skim the contents before passing it to his wife.

"When this gets out, it'll cause an uproar," he said. "You'll probably want to reveal the news yourselves, rather than let some unscrupulous reporter get hold of it."

"I'm working on a press release, but figured we'd wait until Harry decides what he's going to do about school before we sent it out."

Tony didn't miss the glance between the couple across from him, but Andromeda said only, "Just don't wait too long. The tabloid press in the magical world are, if anything, worse than in the Muggle world."

"Which segues nicely into the real reason I wanted to talk to you," Tony said. "Harry's a celebrity in the magical world, right? A hero?"

"Not to everyone," Andromeda said. "But, yes, he is to many."

Tony sat forward. "I've been in Harry's life about a week now, and I haven't seen any fan mail - or hate mail, for that matter - come for him. Just a couple of letters from his friends. Is that normal?"

The Tonkses shared another look, this one full of surprise.

"I know some people left him money in their wills," Tony said, and that made the Tonkses' mouths drop open. Synchronized jaw-dropping - it's a thing. "So I expected some fan mail, especially since it was his birthday last week."

Ted cleared his throat. "Harry certainly should have received some fan mail, though of course I can't estimate when or how much. Our own daughter, Nymphadora, sent him cards when she was younger."

"Is there anything that might have prevented him from getting it?" Tony asked. "From what I've seen, owls at least know that he's not with his mother's sister anymore - and not just his own, either. Owls from his friends found him, too."

Ted pulled something from his pocket and with a wave of his hand it enlarged to a legal-sized notepad. A pen followed, and he jotted a note.

"I don't know how it is here, but tampering with the mail is a federal offense in the States," Tony continued.

"It's an offense here, too," Andromeda said while her husband continued writing. "Subject to six months in prison and a level five fine."

"Which means what, exactly?" Tony asked.

"Level five fines are unlimited," she replied. "I expect the actual fine varies case by case depending on the value of the item or parcel involved, but I don't know. It's not an area of law I've ever had to practice in."

"We'll have an investigator look into the matter," Ted said. "Including having Harry and his prior residence checked for wards that might interfere with mail. Assuming you retain us, of course."

It was Tony's turn to be surprised. "I figured that was a given. Sirius recommended you, and you straddle both worlds just like Harry does. How much of a retainer do you want? Five thousand? Will dollars do, or do you want pounds? Or galleons?"

"Two thousand pounds is fine," Ted replied. "I do have our standard retainer agreement with me…?"

"Sure, let's see it," Tony said. "I'll have my legal people look it over and get it to you tomorrow, along with the retainer check."

The Tonkses exchanged another look. Ted smirked and flexed his writing hand before taking up his pen once again. "What else?"

Tony grinned. "Lawsuits. Lots of lawsuits."

Harry was just finishing his essay for Charms when a spotted burrowing owl soared down and landed on the chair opposite him.

He thanked the owl and removed the message it carried. Before he could offer it food or water, it was airborne once again.

"That's got to get annoying," Steve said from where he sat at the table with Harry. A sketch pad rested on the table in front of him, but from this angle Harry couldn't quite make out what he'd been sketching.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Being randomly interrupted when someone else wants your attention. It's even worse than a telephone, because you have to make sure to offer the owl a treat or something."

"I hadn't thought about it quite like that," Harry said, only to be interrupted by an eagle owl coming in to land in the same spot the first one had.

Ignoring Steve's chuckle, Harry examined the new owl more closely. "You're from Hogwarts, aren't you?"

The owl just stuck its leg out, as regally as its species would suggest, and Harry quickly removed the letter it carried.

Unlike the burrowing owl, the eagle owl simply settled in to wait.

"I guess that means they want a reply?" Steve asked.

Harry nodded absently as he opened the letter from Hogwarts and scanned it quickly.

"The Headmaster's invited us for tea tomorrow," he said.

"I guess he wants to get to know Tony."

Harry snorted. "He probably wants to send me back to Uncle Vernon."

"You know that won't happen, right? Tony won't let it."

Harry just shrugged as he reached for the other letter. He frowned when he saw the wax seal keeping the envelope closed. "A crossed wand and bone … St. Mungo's, maybe?"

"Odd choice of symbols for doctors if so," Steve replied. "Why not a caduceus, maybe using a wand instead of a staff?"

"I've only been in the magical world two years," Harry pointed out. "I've no idea why they do most of the things they do."

Steve chuckled and Harry opened the letter, giving it more attention than he had the one from Hogwarts. "They're making themselves available to us tomorrow at two."

"Then tea at Hogwarts has to wait a day," Steve said. "We don't know how long it will take, after all."

"And I've heard that doctors always run behind."

Harry picked up his quill but hesitated before starting to write.

"What is it?" Steve asked, perceptive as ever.

"Do I - I mean, should I, can I just accept an invitation for Tony?" Harry asked quietly, and then was grateful that Steve appeared to give the matter serious thought.

"I don't know Tony that well yet," Steve said finally, "but I think you're better off refusing an invitation for him than accepting one. JARVIS?"

"I agree, Captain," JARVIS replied. "However, I conveyed the request to Sir, and he replied that the Friday meeting already arranged, and I quote, suits me fine."

"Then that's what you write, Harry," Steve said. "Maybe a little more formally, though."

"Okay."

Harry jotted a note back to Professor Dumbledore, saying tomorrow wouldn't work, but he was welcome to join Professor McGonagall on Friday.

The note finished, he got up and went over to Hedwig's perch. He was only somewhat surprised to see that Hedwig had allowed the visiting owl to join her on the perch - but then he realized that he had no idea what kinds of relationships owls made with each other. Maybe Hedwig and this eagle owl were friends?

Harry promised himself that he'd ask Hedwig about her relationships with other owls at some point. For now, though, he focused on the visiting owl.

"Hi," he said to the eagle owl. "You don't have to leave right now on my account, but I'm going to go ahead and give you my reply. I just don't want to forget it later. Okay?"

The eagle owl eyed him warily a moment before sticking out its leg.

"Right. Stay as long as you like," Harry told it as he secured his message. "Or until Hedwig kicks you out," he added with a grin.

Hedwig hooted indignantly, and the eagle owl just gave a prek that somehow conveyed amusement. Harry grinned at both of them before turning back to the gazebo…

…where he saw Steve looking over the essay he'd been working on.

"How bad is it?" Harry asked as he resumed his seat and took a drink of the lemonade he'd brought out with him.

"The ending is a little vague, but otherwise it flows well," Steve replied. "I understood what you were saying, at least, even if I don't know what all the terms mean."

"That sounds wrong," Harry said. "How can you understand what I'm trying to say if you don't know the meanings of the terms?"

"The charms," Steve said. "I don't know what the Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers is for, but I understood the words around it. So I just replaced the name with something like Process X in my mind as I read."

"Oh."

That sounded so simple, and yet so many magical people seemed to think of and treat non-magical people as children - or worse. Certainly Muggles didn't appear deserving of any kind of basic courtesy, judging by how Hermione's parents had been treated last year when they went to Diagon Alley.

Before Harry could pursue that thought any further - though he wasn't sure what further might mean in this instance - Dobby popped into existence beside him.

"Begging Harry Potter sir's pardon, Dobby is," the elf said. "But Harry Potter's dogfather be sending a message with Dobby."

"What does he have to say, Dobby?" Harry asked.

"Harry Potter sir's dogfather says he be staying in Egypt until tomorrow night, Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said. "We be finding rat, and he be saying he knows someone who can help."

Harry looked at his companion to see that Steve seemed as surprised as he felt. After a moment, Steve shrugged.

"If Sirius thinks he's found someone who can help, that's good."

"But," Harry said, "what if it's a trap? What if this person's just going to hand him over to the Ministry?"

"Sirius is a grown man," Steve said. "Sure, he doesn't always act like one, but he is, and that means he's allowed to make his own decisions, even if we think they're dumb ones. This one may or may not be dumb. If it turns out that it is, we'll do everything we can to rescue him from it."

"Or, failing that," Tony's voice came from behind Harry, who hadn't even heard the lift arrive, "we'll damn well avenge him."

"Harry Potter sir shouldn't worry, sir," Dobby said. "Dobby will keep Harry Potter, sir's dogfather out of trouble."

Dobby popped away again, and Steve looked at the space where the elf had been thoughtfully.

"We should find a way to hire him permanently," Steve said.

"What? Why?" Harry asked.

"He said he's having difficulty finding work," Steve answered. Harry frowned, and Steve added gently, "It's your fault he's in that position."

Anger shot through Harry and his grip tightened on his quill. "But the Malfoys were hurting him! Making him hurt himself!"

"I didn't say that where he was before was good," Steve said patiently. "But he did have a roof over his head and food to eat - which is a bare minimum standard, I know. That said, he doesn't have either of those things now, and it doesn't sound like he'll get them anytime soon."

"Oh." The quill fell from Harry's fingers as he slumped. "I hadn't thought of that."

Steve smiled. "I hadn't expected you had."

Now that he was thinking about it, Harry had come to a rather sad conclusion. "I don't know that we - I mean, Tony - has enough work to keep him busy and happy."

"It's not something that has to be solved right now," Steve reminded him. "But with both of us thinking about it - and Tony, and Sirius, when he gets back - we'll come up with something."

"And I can ask Hermione," Harry said. "She always has good ideas."