AUGUST 8

"So where were Hermione and her family headed today?" Tony asked as he preceded Harry down the steps of the Stark Industries jet they'd taken from London to Lyon-St. Exupery Airport at much earlier an hour than he usually preferred.

But if they wanted to surprise Hermione - and Harry did, for whatever reason, and it was a simple enough thing for Tony to indulge - they'd needed to be sure they landed with enough time to get wherever they needed to be.

"The Muse de Bow Art," Harry replied and Tony was glad that he was in front of his son so Harry wouldn't see him smile at the mangled French.

"Half an hour drive, thereabouts," Tony murmured as his feet touched the tarmac. "Should have plenty of time to clear Customs and still get there."

Soon enough, Tony was pulling a rental car into a parking space outside the Musee de Beaux-Arts. A glance at his phone told him there were still fifteen minutes before the museum opened, so he shifted in his seat to better look at Harry.

"You're sure about this? Interrupting her holiday?"

"Yes." Harry looked away, and from this angle, Tony could see his throat move as he swallowed. "She's always been there for me, always had good advice. I wouldn't feel right making the decision without her input, and we're going to Hogwarts tomorrow, so there's really no choice."

Tony didn't like the hint of resignation in Harry's tone on the last sentence, but the emphasis in the first more than made up for it. "Then we'll find a spot where we can watch the people coming up to buy tickets."

Harry smirked. "Bet you a Galleon they bought their tickets online in advance."

"Fine. We'll find a place to watch both lines."

Tony didn't bother scanning the crowd for people he didn't know. Instead, he caught up on emails from Pepper that really shouldn't wait any longer than they already had. Thinking of Pepper made him wince internally.

He still hadn't told her about Harry - not because he was afraid she'd be disappointed or angry, but because the moment he told her, she'd be all over getting a press release ready and telling the world that Tony Stark had a son. It would happen eventually, there was no getting around that, but for right now, Tony was enjoying the relative privacy and lack of intrusive press.

"Hermione!"

Harry's cry brought him back to the moment, and Tony shoved his cell phone into his pocket before following Harry to where he was fast-walking toward a group of three people, presumably parents with their child. The child, a girl who looked to be about Harry's age, had bushy brown hair and somewhat buck teeth, which he could see easily as she smiled widely and ran toward Harry.

Tony was only mildly surprised when the ground didn't shake from the impact of their collision. And then he could only offer thanks to whatever deity might be out there - except Loki, thank you very much - that Harry had at least one person he could call a friend.

"Harry!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Is this why you asked me what our plans were for today?"

"I came to talk to you, it would ruin the surprise, and yes," Harry said when she finally let him go.

"Oh, you!" The girl - Hermione, presumably - swatted Harry lightly on his chest. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Harry cleared his throat. "Maybe we should do introductions first? Tony, this is my best friend Hermione Granger and her parents, Dr. and Dr. Granger. My father, Tony Stark."

"Good to meet you," Tony said to the elder Grangers, then he looked down at Hermione. "And you. Harry talks a lot about his friend, the brightest in their class."

Hermione blushed, but she was grinning when she said, "Thank you for the phone, Mr. Stark, even if my dad keeps taking it away to play with it."

"I do not play," the male Dr. Granger said with full formal dignity.

"No," his wife agreed cheerfully. "You just check out all of its features. Again and again. But thank you, Mr. Stark."

"Tony, please," he said, and then added for Hermione's benefit, "for all of you. And if you like it that much, I'll just have to send you one of your own."

"Oh, there's no need for that," the female doctor said. "And, please - it's Monica and Wendell."

"Pleasure," was all Tony could say before Harry spoke.

"Settle a wager, Hermione? Do you or don't you already have your tickets for the museum?"

"Actually," Hermione answered with a - rather adorable, Tony thought - huff. "We don't. We were going to go to the Musee du Cinema et de la Miniature, but it's currently closed for renovation. So we're here instead. But-" she frowned. "You came all the way from London just to talk to me? Why? What could possibly be so important?"

"And is it something we should be talking about out here?" Wendell Granger asked.

Harry looked up at Tony, and his expression suggested that he hadn't considered that aspect of it.

"Not a problem," Tony said. "As long as we're careful. Let me go get tickets."

One of the Grangers - or maybe all three - started to speak, but Harry's voice cut across them all.

"Don't argue with him," Harry said. "It'll just be a waste of time we could be spending in the museum."

Tony pushed to the head of the line, got cursed at in a handful of languages, and then proceeded to buy admission tickets for the dozen people or so who were waiting to get in the moment the museum opened, which led to him being cheered and thanked, though he managed to avoid any cheek-kisses as he headed back to Harry and the others.

"Here you go." He passed out tickets to the others and met both adult Grangers' gazes in turn. "You okay with letting the kids explore by themselves while we talk?"

"Just stay in the Musee, Hermione," Wendell said.

"Of course, Dad," Hermione replied before grabbing Harry's hand and dragging him into the museum.

"Keep your phone with you, Harry," Tony said and got a wave from Harry's free hand as a response.

"There's a very large part of me that wants to fanboy all over you," Wendell said, and panic welled in Tony's chest. "But Monica tells me that would be rude. So I'll just say thank you for Hermione's phone and ask what does bring you here?"

"Harry," Tony answered simply as they made their way deeper into the museum. "He's got a decision to make, soon, and wanted Hermione's advice. I get the feeling they're close?" he added tentatively.

Monica burst out laughing. "I'll have to show you her letters sometime. They're half Harry this and Harry that."

"Only half?" Wendell asked. "It seems like more."

"What's the other half?" Tony asked as they made their way toward the Medieval and Renaissance sculpture gallery.

"Everything she's learning in class and her other friend, Ron," Monica answered.

"Ah." Tony let the Grangers set the pace - it was, after all, their vacation that he was crashing. "What's your impression of Ron?"

"He's a bit of a - well - a prat," Monica said, then gave him a shrewd, evaluating, look. "How much has Harry told you about his school? Specifically, his adventures there?"

Tony lowered his voice despite there being only a handful of people in the same wing where they were. "Troll, possessed teacher, basilisk, possessed diary?"

"Those would be the high points," Wendell said, and Tony thought he was trying to joke, but the underlying fear in his voice rendered the effort futile.

"We can start with the troll," Monica said. "You know, I'm sure, that Harry and Ron went after Hermione when they realized she wasn't at the feast?"

"Yep," Tony said. "I'd be upset with him, but it's not like I haven't done rash, impetuous things in my life - and usually for a less positive reason."

"Did he tell you why Hermione needed to be rescued in the first place?" Monica demanded. "That Weasley boy - Ron - called her a nightmare earlier in the day, and she was in the bathroom crying her little heart out."

"Sounds like he's a real - what did you call it? Prat? Yeah, a real prat," Tony said.

"Prats are everywhere," Wendell informed him solemnly. "You can't escape them and you can't just kill them."

"Except in Texas," Tony murmured absent-mindedly. "Maybe. I'm not entirely clear on that."

"Why are you asking about Ron Weasley?" Monica asked.

"That decision Harry's making? It's whether or not he wants to go back to Hogwarts," Tony said. "When I asked him what he would miss most about it, Hermione was the first thing he said. Then Ron and Quidditch. Not necessarily in that order."

Both Granger parents looked surprised at that, and before their silence could turn awkward, Tony continued, "And since Harry's talking to your daughter, I thought I'd talk to you. What are your impressions of Hogwarts, and that world in general?"

"Severely unimpressed," Monica said at the same time her husband said, "Totally underwhelmed."

"It's not just me, then," Tony muttered. "Can you give specific examples? Other than the ones I know about?"

"Our daughter was petrified for three weeks," Monica said. "And nobody bothered to inform us. We had to find out after the fact."

"They said it would've done nothing but cause us to worry needlessly, as she would be fine and besides, we couldn't see Hogwarts even if we went," Wendell added. Then he frowned. "Should we be talking about this so openly?"

Tony shrugged. "Most people are wrapped up in themselves. Best way to avoid attention is not to look like you're trying to avoid attention. And bullshit that you couldn't see it."

"No, Hermione told us there are wards-" Wendell began, but Tony cut him off.

"Probably. But I've been invited up there for tea tomorrow, so there's a way."

"Those-" Monica broke off with a huff as they passed into the courtyard sculpture garden. "I really shouldn't say what I'm thinking in polite company."

"Then it's a good thing you're not," Tony quipped, and both Grangers laughed.

"But - if Harry doesn't go back there," Monica said with a frown, "I thought they have a law or something that requires a certain amount of education or else they snap your … make you not one of them?"

"Hogwarts isn't the only school in the world, is it?" Tony asked, then waved the question away. "Even if it is, there's such a thing as private tutors."

"They allow that?" Monica asked, wide-eyed. "I thought - I mean, we were under the impression that it was Hogwarts or nothing."

"Who told you that?"

"Professor McGonagall, when she came to tell us about it."

"She has a vested interest in children coming to her school," Tony pointed out. "Why would she tell you about other options? I don't think it was malicious, necessarily - just human nature."

"And we were too shocked to ask," Wendell murmured, shame evident in his tone and the lines of his body.

"Yeah, well." Tony grimaced and focused on the statue nearest him - an Odalisque, he thought, based on fuzzy memories of required art classes - to give the man a little privacy as well as hide his own discomfort at the intensity of Wendell's emotions.

"Water under the bridge, at this point," Tony said after a moment contemplating the statue. "What matters now is, they both have options, and if they pick the same one, can we agree to make it happen?"

"Yes," Monica declared immediately. "Whatever it takes."