NOTE - for those of you wondering about Dumbledore... at this point, the only thing Tony KNOWS about him is that he has allowed/encouraged animosity andbullying at Hogwarts. He SUSPECTS that Dumbledore had something to do with Harry being placed with the Dursleys, but needs to investigate.
Also for those of you following along at home, the end of the previous chapter is where I had originally ended the story. Yeah, I know. GRIN
HP HP HP
AUGUST 10
Steve was on the roof before sunrise, having spent a restless night that started with a two-hour run around the city when he hadn't fallen asleep by two a.m. After a shower and a light breakfast, he'd decided to watch sunrise over the city and maybe capture a skyline in shadows on paper.
Now, the sun was almost fully up over the horizon and his sketchpad remained blank, pencil dangling from lax fingers as he thought over yesterday's events.
It wasn't seeing his old … not friend, exactly, but comrade again that had affected him. Well, not much, anyway. He hadn't thought Albus would still be alive, much less still alert and active.
True, Steve had been disappointed by how little Albus appeared to have done to achieve his dreams - but, to be fair, most people never went after their dreams, so he couldn't really blame Albus for that, even if the results were a continuation of a system he'd once fought against.
No, what really had Steve distracted to the point where all he could do was sit and stare at nothing was what happened after he, Tony, and Harry had returned.
Sirius and Crispian met them in the conference room - McGonagall had charmed the parchment to return them to the place she knew the best - and the first thing Sirius did was draw his wand and cast a spell at Harry.
"What're you doing?" All three had asked in almost the same instant.
"Checking you for charms," Sirius answered, and then frowned and cast again. This time Steve could pick out the words, finite incantatem. His schoolboy Latin told him that it probably meant "finish the spell," and he could only wonder what Sirius had found.
"Paranoid, much?" Tony asked.
"Lily used to say that it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you," Sirius replied with a grin, turning his wand to Tony and repeating his initial spell before adding, "Standard practice in my family. A lot of people really were out to get one or another of them at any given time."
Then he turned to Steve and repeated his initial spell again.
"You two are clean," Sirius said. "Harry had a monitoring charm on him."
"What does that do?" Tony asked tightly, and the two adult wizards exchanged a glance.
"There are several varieties," Crispian said, "but in this case, I would assume it was meant to monitor Harry's health or well-being."
"So it doesn't work," Harry said. "Or didn't. I mean - the accident? Nobody from the magical world came to see me at all."
Wartime experience made Steve add, "That you know of." Then he glanced at Tony, knowing they had similar thoughts. Nobody had responded to the abuse, either.
Before anyone could say anything else, a crack like sharp thunder in the room behind them. Steve whirled to meet whatever threat might present itself, a supply of marbles ready in his hand. Crispian, Sirius, and Harry had drawn their wands, and Tony's left hand was suddenly encased in gleaming red armor.
Steve found himself facing Albus Dumbledore, who looked surprised to see so many weapons aimed at him.
"What're you doing here?" Tony all but snarled. "How'd you even know where here is?"
"When the monitoring charm failed, it gave me a location," Albus replied, but his gaze was fixed firmly on Sirius. "I have to ask - do you know who that is?"
"My godfather!" Harry replied.
"He betrayed your parents, Harry-"
"He did not," Paddington declared, every bit of his aristocratic, old-money background in his tone. "The ICW has issued him a pardon, and a Wizengamot inquiry will begin soon."
"For the record," Sirius added, "the charm didn't fail. I removed it. Harry's with family now, and nobody else has any right to monitor him."
"And that's more than you needed to know," Tony said. "Get off my property. If you ever come back without an invitation, you will be treated as the intruder you are."
"Now, Mr. Stark," Albus began, "this is all just a misunderstanding-"
"Your misunderstanding, you mean," Tony retorted. "You're not invited here, you're not wanted here, and you have no reason to be here. Get out."
"But-"
"Now, Albus," Steve said. "I don't want to take you down, but you know I can and will if I have to."
Albus had made some movement - a twitch of his hand - and Steve reacted, throwing the handful of marbles at the other man even as he dove to one side.
"Expelliarmus!" Sirius cried in the same moment.
Albus staggered as three marbles impacted his chest and stomach, and his wand went flying from his hand toward Sirius, who caught it casually.
"Get out," Tony said. "You've entered my residence illegally. You've drawn a weapon on me, my family and guests. If the next move you make isn't to leave, you'll see what I can do."
"Yes," Albus said, rubbing his chest where one of the marbles had hit him. "Yes, perhaps I misjudged. My wand, if you please?"
"I don't please," Sirius snapped. "Here."
He had thrown the wand toward Albus, who had summoned it to his hand.
"My apologies for intruding," Albus had said, and then teleported away.
That encounter had been bad enough, further eroding Steve's affection for the other man, but it was what Sirius hadn't said that had kept Steve up all night.
Sirius hadn't said he'd found a charm on Steve, much less that he'd removed it.
So now Steve was left wondering whether the charm he thought had been placed on him during the war had somehow worn off just as they returned from Hogwarts - an astonishing bit of coincidence, if so - or whether there was some other reason he could still see magical places that, by all rights, he shouldn't be seeing.
That he had no idea what that other reason might be had kept him up all night.
He'd have to ask someone - maybe Crispian Paddington, maybe Sirius -what it meant.
"Good morning."
Steve jumped in his seat, embarrassed that he hadn't registered the elevator's arrival, nor that Crispian Paddington had emerged from it, until just now.
"Sorry," Paddington added.
"Not your fault," Steve said. "I was lost in thought."
"Pleasant thoughts, I hope."
"Puzzling ones. You're up early."
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Paddington came forward and leaned against the railing of the gazebo where Steve sat.
Steve grinned. "Quoting an American? I'm impressed."
"Family legend has it that a distant cousin inspired Mr. Franklin," Paddington replied dryly.
Steve chuckled. "Maybe so, but until Tony or someone invents backward time travel, we'll never know for sure. What brings you up here?"
"The curse-breakers from Gringotts should be arriving shortly."
Steve blinked. "This early?"
"They wanted to start even earlier. Apparently, the report from St. Mungo's caused a stir."
"That - doesn't sound good."
"No," Paddington agreed. "It doesn't. So, with Mr. Stark's approval, and to save a few minutes of time, I gave them the coordinates to apparate directly to the roof."
"That's teleporting, right?"
"Right."
Steve sat quietly for a moment before asking something that had been bothering him. "Why'd you call Commander Hill?"
"Pardon?"
"About the quiz. You told her that Tony knew about magic-"
"No," Paddington said. "I asked her if she had any reason to believe that Tony Stark knew about magic."
That sounded like splitting hairs to Steve, but he contented himself with asking, "Why?"
"The quiz - there was almost no chance the magical words were made-up nonsense words. I needed to know what Stark knew because the Statute of Secrecy trumps my employment contract," Paddington explained. "The worst Stark can do to me is fire me. The worst the wizards can do is remove all my memories of magic and my magic itself - strip much of my identity from me. Not even my father could convince anyone to do otherwise."
Steve frowned. It sounded like Paddington had been caught between a rock and a hard place, and Steve couldn't say what choice he would've made in the same circumstance.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm fairly certain the confidentiality agreements I signed when I came to work here only cover trade secrets, not employee morale-boosting events," Paddington said. "Besides, Maria's also bound by the Statute, too. She can't tell anyone about magic - and, by extension, that Tony Stark knows about it."
"That's good," Steve said, unwilling to admit aloud how relieved he was by that statement. But it also gave him an opening to ask the other question he'd been wondering about. "Why are you working for Tony? Your family obviously has … status, for lack of a better word."
"We're old money, is that it?" Paddington offered with a wry grin.
Steve hoped his embarrassed flush wasn't too bright. "Something like that."
"One day, I'll run the family estates, and it's good to have outside experience as well. I chose Stark Industries because they're the best."
Before Steve could ask what best meant in this context, two pops, more like gunshots than thunder, sounded, and before him stood two people.
Steve's first thought was that the taller of the two - a man with long red hair tied back in a ponytail and a fang dangling from one ear, wearing clothes that looked more sturdy and serviceable than anything else - would fit right in with Tony.
The other was a woman wearing a leather jacket over a clingy T-shirt and trousers with lots of pockets - cargo pants, Steve thought Tony had called them. Her dark hair, too, was pulled back in a ponytail, but her earrings were simple studs of a gem Steve didn't recognize.
"Crispian," she said, offering Paddington a bright smile, white teeth shining against her tanned skin. "Good to see you again.
"And you, Lara." Paddington stepped forward to buss her cheek. He straightened and turned to the redhead. "Crispian Paddington."
"Bill Weasley," the redhead replied, then flicked a glance toward Steve.
"Steve Rogers," Paddington began, "may I introduce Lara Croft and Bill Weasley, curse-breakers with Gringotts."
Steve rose to his feet and offered his hand to Lara Croft. "A pleasure, ma'am."
"No, Captain, the pleasure is mine," Croft replied. "Thank you for all you did during the Grindelwald War, and more recently."
Steve ducked his head. "I only did what anyone else would've done."
"That is patently untrue," Croft said. "I only regret that I couldn't be there to help you this past May. Bill and I were deep in Pepi II's tomb, and there were lots of nasty surprises in it."
The redhead - Bill Weasley - laughed. "We earned our pay on that one."
"I suspect we'll earn our pay on this one, too, given the report from St. Mungo's," Croft said dryly. "If you'll take us to the lad, we'll get started."
HP | HP |HP | HP | HP
Harry woke early - long habit, thanks to the Dursleys and a very long list of daily chores - and lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling.
For the first time he could easily remember, he had nothing waiting for him to do - no chores, no homework - and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself.
Oh, the curse-breakers from Gringotts were due later today, certainly, but how long could that actually take? What would he do when they were done?
He didn't want to drag his father away from his workshop just to amuse him, and Sirius still shouldn't be seen anywhere in England. Maybe he could ask Steve to show him Kensington Palace? Or even just walk around London?
But, no. It would be selfish to ask Steve to spend all his time with a thirteen-year-old boy, especially when Steve himself had a lot of catching up to do. Maybe Steve could drop him somewhere and then pick him up at an agreed time later?
That seemed like a better plan. Now he just had to decide where he wanted to be dropped for the day.
A knock on his bedroom door, followed by said door opening, and a soft voice calling, "You awake, pup?"
"Yeah, Sirius, I'm up." Harry shoved himself to a sitting position. "You're up early."
"The curse-breakers are here."
"Already?" Harry reached for his glasses and shoved them on. "I didn't think they were coming until later."
"Neither did I." Sirius sounded grim. "They're waiting in the lounge."
"I'll just shower and-"
"You showered last night, after all that flying," Sirius told him. "They came all the way from Egypt to see you, and they know it's early. Don't keep them waiting."
"If you're sure?" But Harry was already swinging his feet over the side of the bed and into the slippers waiting for him - a luxury he'd never had before.
"Come along," was all Sirius said in response, so Harry followed him down the short hallway and into the lounge.
Besides the people he already knew, a dark-haired woman and a red-haired man sat on a sofa.
"Morning," Tony called. "Sleep well?"
"Yes, thank you," Harry replied automatically as the woman's and man's eyes widened.
"Harry Potter," the man said.
"Er, yes," Harry said.
The man rose to his feet and came to offer Harry his hand. "I'm Bill Weasley. Thank you for saving my sister."
Harry blushed but shook his hand. "You're Ron's oldest brother, right?"
"Right," Bill replied. "And my partner, Lara Croft."
"Hello, Mr. Potter," the woman - Croft - said with a kind smile. "Shall we see what's got the healers at St. Mungo's so upset?"
"Um - sure?" Harry glanced at his father, then his godfather and honorary uncle Steve. They all wore grim but encouraging expressions, so he focused on Ms. Croft once again. "What do I need to do?"
"For now, just have a seat." Croft gestured to the coffee table before her.
With a last look at his father, Harry crossed the few feet to the coffee table and sat on it.
She smiled at him. "This is just a diagnostic, okay? Nothing that will hurt, I promise. It just tells us what's going on."
"Okay," Harry said. He didn't have much choice but to agree. Regardless, he appreciated her explanations.
Croft produced a wand and waved it in a pattern that encompassed his entire body, muttering the incantation under her breath. Harry didn't pay attention to that, but rather to the information displayed as a result of the spell.
Thanks to supplementary summer reading, he recognized some of the runes that appeared in the air before him. He had no idea what they might mean, but he recognized them, and he counted that a win.
Croft frowned.
"What's wrong?" Tony asked immediately, and Harry wasn't sure how he should feel about that. Oh, he knew that having an adult care for you as a child was a normal thing, but his life hadn't been normal since he was fifteen months old.
A slash of her wand ended the display. "Bill? Come and verify what I found, will you?"
Bill looked up from his quiet conversation with Sirius and Crispian, his wand sliding into his hand, and cast the same spell. At least, the words sounded the same, but Harry couldn't be sure.
"Bloody hell," Bill muttered.
"Mind educating the non-magical folks in the room?" Tony asked.
Croft looked up, her expression somber. "It looks like a Horcrux."
Harry was oddly glad that Crispian looked as confused as Tony and Steve did. Sirius, though, let out a stream of cursing that made even Tony raise his eyebrows - though Harry thought that might be more admiration than anything else.
"More things I shouldn't say until I'm legal?" Harry asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"I'm pretty sure you shouldn't say some of those things at all," Steve muttered even as the others laughed, however weakly.
"So - guessing that's bad," Tony said. "Lay it on us."
Bill exchanged a glance with Croft before giving Tony a somber look. "A Horcrux is a container, basically - one that Dark wizards and witches can use to house a part of their soul. It's … a horrible, evil, attempt at achieving immortality."
"I thought-" Harry swallowed past a crack in his voice and began again. "The healer at St. Mungo's told me it was just a fragment, that Voldemort probably made it by accident the night my parents died. They suggested that a Killing Curse rebounded and split his soul in two, and one part of it lodged in my scar."
"I'm not aware of any way to accidentally split your soul," Croft said quietly
"So what does that mean?" Tony asked.
"It means that either Voldemort or Lily Potter was in the middle of a ritual when the attack happened," Bill said.
"Probably Lily," Sirius put in. "The brightest witch of her generation, and a devoted mother. If anyone could've found a protective ritual, it would be her."
"That's what Professor Dumbledore said, sort of," Harry said, only to flush when all eyes turned to him. "After Quirrell, I mean. He said that my Mum's love for me, her sacrifice in dying for me, offered me a special protection."
"That's certainly possible," Bill said, "but we suspect she did something more. Your scar - it's in the shape of the rune Sowilo, the rune for victory and wholeness. I can't imagine that if the Killing Curse did somehow leave a scar, that it would look like that."
"I love theory as much as the next person," Tony said, "but can we get on with getting whatever's in Harry out of Harry?"
"Of course." Croft stood. "Is there a place Harry can lie down? He should be comfortable while we work."
"Will it hurt?" Harry asked.
"Not a bit," Croft replied. "A Draught of Living Death, and you'll sleep right through it."
"You have Wiggenweld with you as well?" Crispian Paddington asked.
"That's the antidote," Bill offered before anyone could ask. "And yes."
"What, exactly, will you be doing?" Tony asked.
"Think of it as an exorcism," Croft replied. "It's not exactly the same, but close enough. We're going to extract the soul fragment from Harry and … well, I'd like to say we're going to destroy it, but just as Horcruxes are created in ritual, they have to be destroyed in ritual. So we'll contain it and destroy it later."
"You have to wait for the full moon or something?" Tony asked.
"It's a destruction ritual, so it would be the waning moon, preferably the night before the new moon starts," Bill said.
"We'll want an Unbreakable Vow to that effect," Sirius said. "Destruction of the Horcrux - or whatever it is - by the next new moon."
"You'll have it," Croft promised. "Now, Harry - let's get you lying down and we'll get started."
HP | HP |HP | HP | HP
As soon as the ritual was done, Croft teleported away with a black jar about the size of a softball that, she and Weasley repeatedly assured Tony, contained the soul fragment that had been in Harry.
Harry currently slept off the effects of the ritual - not potion-induced sleep - in his bed. Tony stood in the doorway to Harry's room, watching as Sirius settled into a chair beside Harry's bed. Tony intended to join him in his vigil but was distracted when Weasley cleared his throat. Tony looked over at him.
"Problem?"
"A question, if you don't mind?"
"Sure." Tony took a few steps away from the room.
Weasley took a breath. "What's your connection to Harry?"
"He's my son," Tony said simply before telling him an abbreviated version of the story, ending with, "When I found out Harry had been in an accident, I came right over. We've been figuring it out since."
"Thank you for telling me." He paused a moment. "You know he's friends with my youngest brother."
Tony wasn't very good with people in general, but even he couldn't miss something that obvious. "You can tell your brother about Harry and me - and you should probably tell the rest of your family, too. He shouldn't have to keep secrets from them."
"Thank you," Weasley said with obvious relief. "I keep secrets about work all the time, but this one … it's personal."
"I get it," Tony said, then memory returned. "Wait - wasn't your family visiting you? In - Egypt, wasn't it?"
"They were, but they came home with me when I got the orders from Gringotts."
Tony frowned. "They shouldn't have to give up their vacation over this."
"Well." Weasley ducked his head. "They'd been there almost six weeks already."
"Still," Tony said. "They shouldn't have had to lose the other - what, two weeks?"
"Mr. Stark-"
"Tony, please."
"Tony." Weasley blew out a sharp exhale. "Harry might have told you the family … isn't wealthy?" He quirked an eyebrow in question, and Tony nodded once. "It's just as well their trip was cut short - the money they won't spend on the last two weeks is better used in their vault."
"Ah." Tony couldn't think of anything else to say.
"You can probably expect an owl early in the week," Weasley said. "Mum will want to meet you. She thinks of Harry as one of the family."
"I know Harry wanted to tell Ron himself," Tony said. "He didn't want to put it in writing."
Weasley snorted. "I can understand that."
"Maybe we can all get together in a day or two?"
"Except Sirius Black," Weasley said. "I don't think either of my parents would ask questions first."
Which Tony couldn't fault them for. In their place, he'd do the same thing.
"Understandable," was all he said, though, and after a moment, Bill Weasley took his leave.