Harry wasn't surprised that Hermione led him directly to the Antiquities Collection, given how much she'd talked about taking Ancient Runes as an elective. He was a little surprised when she took him directly to the Magna Graecia artifacts at the department featuring Ancient Greece and Italy.

Then he realized that most of the people already in this department had paused at the room featuring a portion of a statue of a young woman - clothed, thankfully - so this room was relatively empty.

On second thought, the room being relatively empty meant their voices would carry a bit more.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione's voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke, and Harry realized that as long as they spoke in whispers, people would assume they were talking about the items they were looking at.

"What else?" Harry murmured back with a smile. "I need advice."

"So you just flew from London to Lyon?"

Harry shrugged. "It wasn't my idea - Tony just arranged it all."

"Why? Why couldn't you have waited until I got back? Is it that important?"

"Well, we have a meeting at … school tomorrow, but mostly I think it's that Tony isn't sure how to be a dad yet." At Hermione's shocked expression, he added, "That's okay - I'm not sure how to be a son yet."

"I-" Hermione broke off with a sigh. "I don't even know what to say to that. So - what do you need advice for?"

"I'm trying to decide whether to go back to … school … or not."

He'd known that would surprise her, known it would make her mouth fall open like that, and still Harry had to bite back a smile at her expression. It wouldn't do to appear to be laughing at her when he honestly really needed her advice.

But you don't, do you? A voice that sounded like a cross between Steve Rogers and Sirius Black whispered inside his mind. You know what you want to do. You're just hoping she'll decide the same - or, failing that, you're hoping she won't end your friendship here and now.

When Hermione finally spoke, her tone was hard. "I hope you don't mean quitting your education?"

"Of course not!" Harry protested. "Just - I don't know that I should get my education there."

"Why not?" Hermione glanced around to see that the room had gained a few more occupants in the few minutes they'd been speaking.

"Troll, possessed teacher, basilisk, possessed diary," Harry replied quietly then added more normally, "And look at how the school treated me during that whole heir business. But mostly, I don't think I'm getting as good an education as I could there."

"But it's the best school of … our subject … there is!" Hermione protested.

"God, I hope not."

Harry hadn't realized he'd said those words aloud until Hermione gasped beside him. He held up a hand to cut off whatever rant might be building. She might be his friend, but she had her faults, just like everyone else. "No, really, Hermione. You can't think Snape's a good professor - he's a bigot and a bully. And Binns? Binns would be a joke except he's probably ruining history for all of his students."

Hermione's face shifted through a number of emotions - defiance, thoughtfulness, and finally resignation. "You're right about them. But what about the others?"

"McGonagall and Flitwick are great," Harry replied immediately. "Changing D.A.D.A. teachers every year doesn't provide much continuity to the coursework. Everyone else is just … okay. About what I expect from a teacher."

Hermione blew out a breath. "Those are good points, but what other options are there?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But Mr. Paddington will be letting us know soon."

Hermione's brow creased in a frown. "Mr. Paddington?"

"Oh, right, sorry," Harry said. "I just met him yesterday. He's a … one of us … who works at SI London. He's agreed to be Tony's - well, ours together, really - liaison to the … our liaison. Tony's got him looking up other schools and options for tutoring."

They were quiet for long moments as they made their way past one bronze helmet after another. They might be culturally and historically significant, but so many in one place with few obvious differences between them skirted a little too close to Binns' style for Harry's preference.

Finally, Hermione took a breath. "I don't know what advice I can give you, Harry - except to follow your heart. Just - if that takes you away from … school, I hope we can still be friends."

"Of course!" For the first time, Harry initiated a hug with her, pulling her close and a little closer to the nearest wall so as not to block foot traffic. "I don't have so many friends that I can afford to lose one - especially not my best one."

Hermione jerked back. "Best? But - Ron?"

"He's a friend, but he can be jealous and rude, even a bit of a bully," Harry said. He hated admitting it, but he couldn't hide from the truth. "But even without all that, he's just … he's not you." Before the moment could turn awkward - if it wasn't already awkward - he asked, "What about you?"

She frowned. "What about me?"

"Do you want to go back to Hogwarts, if there's another option available?"

"I-" Hermione began, then stopped, and her expression of complete bafflement was one Harry bet she rarely wore. "I hadn't thought about it. I thought if I didn't go back, they'd…"

"They probably would," Harry said, "if you didn't already have a plan in place. If that plan is to transfer to another school or engage a private tutor, though…"

He didn't need to complete the sentence, because he saw the moment Hermione got it. Then her expression fell once more.

"I don't know that we could afford another school," she said. "Mum and Dad are well off - well, at least compared to people who aren't Tony Stark," she clarified with a grin. "But even they can't afford fifteen thousand pounds a year for my schooling."

"I'm pretty sure Tony would offer to pay," Harry said. "At least half. It's - money's not the same for him as it is for us. He'd offer because it's what you want and it would make me - and you - happy. But if your parents insisted on paying a portion, or even paying him back, I'm sure he'd let them."

I'm sure I'd make him let them.

"Oh." Hermione seemed taken aback by that explanation, but then her expression turned resolute. "Yes. Malfoy and others were horrible to me last year - all the Muggle-borns, of course - and nobody did anything about it. Not the staff, not the headmaster - If it's Hogwarts or losing my magic, I'll suffer Hogwarts. But I'd really rather not."

HP | HP |HP | HP |HP

Tony found himself surprised at how much he'd enjoyed the day in Lyon. Museums weren't really his thing, never had been - except the Museum of Science and Technology in Chicago, and that not just because he'd endowed a wing there. No, it was the people who made the visit to the Musee des Beaux Arts so enjoyable.

Wendell Granger impressed him by having the courtesy to wait until the important discussion was out of the way before fanboying over him. No, not over him so much as over his tech, the things he'd created.

Tony could appreciate that - hell, he fanboyed over his toys more than anyone else. Why else would he create them? He'd eventually surprised himself by telling Wendell about Dum-E, Butterfingers, and U, the bots he'd created to help with his various projects, and then laughing with the dentist over some of their antics.

By contrast, Monica Granger was the kind of mother he sometimes, in the quietest, darkest corners of his heart, wished his own had been. Steady, intelligent, supportive - even when she wasn't entirely certain of the world she found herself in.

Thanks mostly to her, Tony had confessed his uncertainties about being a parent. Both Grangers had been more understanding than he'd ever dreamed anyone could be, and he'd ended up giving them his personal cell number and briefly introducing them to JARVIS.

Then Harry and Hermione had joined them in the Salon de Thé for a late lunch, and it felt … strangely familiar, though Tony couldn't remember his parents doing anything so informal with him.

After lunch, he'd tagged along with the Grangers as they followed the kids on a whirlwind tour through most of the museum. Watching Harry's eyes and expressions as he saw and experienced so many new things with his best friend beside him was a highlight not just of Tony's day or week or year, but of his entire life.

It was the best counterpoint to the aftermath of the Battle of New York that he could've asked for.

They stayed at the museum until closing time and then found an out-of-the-way bistro for a late dinner. Tony offered a generous tip over and above the service compris because they lingered until twilight descended, and finally parted with promises to keep in touch and Tony surprised himself again by offering the Grangers an open-ended stay at any of the SI properties that had apartments attached.

Now, at almost 9:45 local time, twilight was closer to night than day, and Tony prodded Harry back up the steps into the SI Lear jet.

Harry buckled in and was asleep almost immediately. Tony smiled as he watched Harry's head fall against the cabin wall, knocking his glasses a bit askew.

Tony watched out his own window as the plane took off. He had about an hour and a half before they'd land, and the time difference was in his favor for once - and Harry was asleep - so he took a breath and pulled out his phone.

A minute later, Pepper Potts' face filled the screen of his phone and her voice came through the earpiece he wore.

"Tony! What's going on?" At least her tone was more curious than demanding. "JARVIS told me you were heading overseas but nothing else."

"Sorry, Pep. Something came up, and I had to handle it personally." Tony offered her a smile. "And now I have to tell you personally before word gets out."

Her face etched into a frown. "What are you talking about, Tony? What word gets out?"

"We've been damn lucky so far," Tony murmured, more to himself than to her. "But luck runs out sometime." He focused on her once again. "I have a son, Pep."

Her expression shifted into frustrated annoyance. "Not another one! I thought we agreed-"

"Harry's different." Tony cut off what was sure to be a significant rant. "Mostly because I've known about him since almost the day he was born - knew that I was having a kid even before that."

"What?" Now Pepper just looked confused, and she sank back into what Tony could now tell was her office chair. "Start from the beginning, please."

So he did. He told her about James and Lily, and James' injury and the request they'd made. He told her about the letter he received from them with a photo and a lock of Harry's hair. He told her how he'd eventually effectively forgotten all about Harry, believing him safe with his parents, until Afghanistan and the Battle of New York had made him think about his life in more ways than one, and how he'd eventually searched for Harry, only to find out that Lily and James had been killed when Harry was a toddler and, rather than seeking Tony out as they should've done, the Powers-that-Were at the time placed Harry with Lily's sister. Finally, he told her about the accident that took Petunia's life and how JARVIS had found Harry.

He concluded with, "I got all the paperwork started for me to get official custody of him and hopped a jet to England. We've been getting to know each other, and I think it's going reasonably well."

For long minutes, Pepper didn't respond, and Tony wasn't certain how to read her carefully neutral expression.

Finally, she said, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Tony blew out a breath. "A number of reasons. Not least is, I never expected to want to have him, to want to check in, see how he was doing, and if there might be a place for me in his life. Which means I never thought about him, so I never thought about telling you."

She nodded, her expression tight. "Is that all?"

"It's most," Tony said.

"What else?"

Tony blew out a breath. "What are we, Pepper?"

"I - don't know what you mean."

Tony smiled, though sadness filled him. "I think you do. We're friends - at least I hope we still are friends. Colleagues - formerly employer and employee. And … I like to think we were on the path to becoming something more."

Her eyes narrowed. "We were on the path?"

"We were," Tony said by way of confirmation. "But after New York, you went back to California, and I've barely heard from you since, and then only for business."

"I'm sorry for that, Tony, really," Pepper said. "But you know how much work there was - still is - to be done. Getting the tower repaired, getting the Avengers organized-"

"Arranging counseling for all of us," Tony put in. "Or at least Barton, me, and the Capsicle. Plus the SI employees who were close to the action. Hell, probably everybody who was in New York that day needs some, but I can't be responsible for everyone."

"I don't - why would you need counseling?"

"I flew a nuke into a portal in space and detonated it," Tony replied, then reconsidered. "Maybe I didn't detonate it, but I threw it at the Chitauri mothership, knowing it would detonate. And yes, I know it was the right thing to do, but that doesn't make it any easier. Rogers needs counseling because, hello, seventy years in the future. And Barton - he was literally controlled by Loki, his free will subjugated. I don't know him that well, but anybody would need counseling after that."

"I - hadn't thought of it that way."

"No reason you should," Tony told her, his voice gentle. "You're a hell of an administrator, and I'm glad you're my CEO."

"But?" She managed a smile - a small, trembling one, but a smile nonetheless.

"But you're not a fighter. There's nothing wrong with that," Tony added without any hurry that might suggest otherwise. "I'm glad you're not a fighter - we have plenty of those. Great administrators? Not so much. So no, there's no reason for you to think the way the fighters do."

"I'd fight if I had to," Pepper protested.

"It's our job to make sure you never have to. But we're off topic."

She took a breath and let it out slowly, silently. "Right. What do you need?"

"A press release. Something simple - whatever you think will satisfy the rabid reporter horde but stress that Harry is a minor and is to be left alone or face the wrath of even more rabid attorneys."

"It'll have to be worded better than that," Pepper observed with a wry grin.

Tony grinned back. "That's why I have you. Or an entire PR department, either one."

"Tony!" Pepper's expression said she would've smacked him if they'd been in the same room. Then she softened. "How is he? Harry, I mean. How old is he? Are you getting along?"

"He just turned thirteen last week, and surprisingly well," Tony answered. "Wanna see?"

He'd caught her off guard with that, apparently, because all she could say was, "See what?"

Tony grinned and unbuckled his seat belt before taking the couple of steps that brought him to Harry's seat. He turned the phone so its camera was angled on Harry.

A sound came from his phone that he'd never heard Pepper make before. He turned it to face him again. "Did you just coo?"

"He's adorable, Tony," she said, and there was no hint of a blush. "I'm allowed to coo if he's adorable."

Tony could only chuckle at that.

"Do you have an idea when you'll be back in the States?" Pepper asked.

"We've got a meeting at his school tomorrow," Tony answered. "I expect we'll be withdrawing him. Then it'll just be a matter of getting the visa and such, and then finishing up a couple of medical appointments while we wait for that. A week?"

"Do you need someone to look into schools in New York? Or California?"

"No, actually," Tony replied, hoping she wouldn't notice his grimace. "I've hired a tutor for him for now. It's less than a month until school starts, right? I don't know that we could investigate and pick a good one in that time."

"Good point." Pepper looked thoughtful for a moment before, "I'll have a room set aside for him at SI in New York and California. Any place else?"

"Not right now. I don't expect to be traveling much for a while, so no sense setting up something we don't need yet."

Pepper nodded her understanding. "Let me know when you'll be back. I can't wait to meet him."