A/N - the last chapter for the first year at the Institute and the year two should start soon, also it is one of few rather light chapters before the world plunges into darkness that will envelop everything and everybody. Also some of Harry's love interest appear in the chapter, more of passing ones, but still. As always, read and review.
o-0-o
Beta - eri1551
o-0-o
Petunia smiled as their plane prepared for landing, she couldn't believe that her cousin finally decided to admit that she was a part of the family. She glanced to the side and she could see her husband and son in the best suits they had.
"What can you tell me about him?" Vernon asked "You have never mentioned him."
She looked out of the window and gathered her thoughts for a few, too short for her liking, moments. "Warren, he and I had a difficult relationship. He always liked Lily more and he avoided me wherever he could. From what I remember about him, he is and was a cold one. Only caring about himself."
"So what can we expect from him?"
"That he will be cold towards us and will care about himself or his company, nothing else will matter to him. Maybe his freakish son will, but not we."
Vernon nodded and hummed quietly. "So he does it out of the goodness of his heart?"
She laughed bitterly. "His heart is as cold as stone and he doesn't care about anything. He did it because he thinks that we are important and should be invited by him."
Vernon didn't say a word and in the silence they sat as the wheels of the plane slammed onto the runway. It meant that they were in the USA and only mere hours from meeting her dear cousin. It was a meeting she was dreading about, yet she also anticipated it.
o-0-o
Warren smiled as he felt the familiar roar of the engine of his silver Mercedes E63 AMG, he knew that it was a relatively cheap car, but he enjoyed it immensely. It was fast, quite big and didn't stand out like some of the more flamboyant cars he was given or bought on his own.
"He won't bite you," he said as he saw Harry shift uncomfortable in his seat. "My father is not like your uncle and aunt ever were, he will be mostly curious about you, your mother was his more favourite cousin. Not to mention that if he could, he would have claimed your guardianship, but someone was running interference and even Fury couldn't get the paperwork pushed through."
Harry whistled quietly. "That someone has or had a lot of influence and power, we both know that Fury can get whatever he wishes to."
"Exactly," Warren nodded and focused on the road ahead. "The party is tomorrow, so today you should be able to meet him and relax for a moment before the whole thing starts to spin. Even if you don't like parties, this one should be somewhat more enjoyable."
Harry only arched an eyebrow.
"A couple of people that you know and a couple of my friends will be attending" Warren said and smiled. "Most of them are mutants or at least don't have a lot of issues when being around us, so you should get along just fine."
"You won't tell me more about them, will ya?"
He looked at Harry and laughed. "No, surprises aren't always bad, this one should be at least somewhat good, maybe even really good."
Harry pushed his lower lip forward and pouted.
Warren chuckled lightly at Harry's antics. "Nice try, but it won't work on me, many tried and most of them failed."
"Annoying older cousin," Harry muttered under his breath, making Warren laugh even louder.
"Can you just accept the fact that nothing will change my mind?"
"No."
Warren didn't acknowledge those words, instead he focused on driving as he knew that the property was close and missing it would be somewhat embarrassing. As he drove he also thought about Harry, his younger cousin was an enigma and sometimes learning new things about him unraveled just another layer of mystery and shadows. He lightly shook his head and focused on the road ahead.
o-0-o
Maria Hill frowned as she looked at the transcripts from Igor Karkaroff's interrogation, something was unsettling her. For one last time she looked at them and then she diverted her gaze to Sean Cassidy. "How sure are you that this is true?"
"As sure as I can be," he said with a shrug. "He knows that I can tell when someone lies, so he wouldn't even try to do so. Everything he said is true, he might have not mentioned some things, but he didn't say a direct lie."
"So he probably omitted quite a lot of things about which he wasn't directly asked," she said and rubbed her forehead. "Did you see anything out of order inside of Durmstrang? Anything that you wouldn't find in a normal school of magic?"
He frowned and paced in front of her desk for a moment, she let him do it and patiently waited for an answer. He was her best asset and one that had yet to fail her, so there was no point in making him hurry. "There were a few things out of order, he had normal humans as guards, while the Rangers cut them down before any could injure us, I have a feeling they were more than just your usual mercenaries."
"Special forces?"
He nodded. "Most likely, either former members of our own or Russian Spetsnaz, they certainly knew how to follow someone and do so stealthy. If I had to guess, I would say current members of the Russian Spetsnaz."
She paled for a second before she composed herself and looked at him. "Don't mention it to anybody, even Director Fury, it needs to stay as a secret as there is something more at play. I have a feeling that some organization long gone is trying to claw their way back onto the surface."
"Weapon X and Red Room," he said after a moment. "Two projects that were created to design and create the best super-soldier they could, no matter the cost or ethics."
"Yes," she said, a hint of disgust in her voice. "If I'm right they will try to kidnap one of Xavier's students, so I want you to go to there and keep an eye out for trouble. There is too much at stake here to let them snatch any of those mutants. They are priceless for us and Fury is working on the Young Avengers Initiative."
"One based on those mutants," Sean said with a grimace. "Also Harry is a son of Thor and if he gets kidnapped it will be a disaster, Thor is a force of nature, a powerful one that cannot be stopped or controlled."
"Yes," she said and rubbed her forehead. "It will be a nightmare to contain and prevent it from turning into a worldwide crisis."
"Assuming it will end here," he said with a weird smirk. "From what I had learned from Black Eagle, Asgard is one of the universe's superpowers and viciously guards Its citizens."
"Just wonderful." she sighed, looked at the papers and later at him. "Go to Xavier's and let me deal with my mess of a paperwork."
She saw him nod and slip out of her office not making a single sound. It left her completely alone and on her own to deal with the pile of paperwork she had in front of herself. Pile of paperwork that was probably the most hated perk of being chosen as a base commander.
o-0-o
Harry had trouble believing that what he was seeing was true, he knew that the Worthington family was rich, but this was something else. This was huge, grand and imposing, telling everybody that the one owning it had power and influence he wouldn't hesitate to use. "Impressive," he said as he got out of Warren's car and grabbed his bag. "I mean, I know how my family house looks, but it's more graceful than this."
"Yes," Warren said and smiled. "But you also live there on daily basis, this is mostly for various parties or when there is a need for something grander than the other of our mansions."
"Our?"
"You are a part of the family," Warren said and ruffled Harry's hair. "So you can use it when you need to, it is also the reason we are here a day before the party."
"What do you mean?"
"Issues with who is your legal guardian according to law that is on Earth," Warren said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm surprised that you weren't told how much of a nightmare it is. Even if your father doesn't like law and long, boring meetings, your uncle should be well aware of this."
Harry looked at Warren, as if he was crazy.
"You will understand once you meet my father, as he will probably explain it to you much better than I can. Also your father should be here, so that everybody knows who is who and what is what."
"I guess that I don't have much of a choice here, do I?"
"No, you don't," Warren said and Harry followed him into the mansion.
The moment he stepped through the massive oak doors he felt an aura of power and influence, a subtle one too, one that didn't scream that I am dangerous and I should be listened to. It was softer, less visible, but still present and impossible to ignore. The decor only helped to show that. The floor was made out of various marble, the columns supporting the ceiling and art masterpieces, each one of them costing a small fortune told a lot about the owners of this place.
"Too stunned to say anything?" Warren asked
"No," Harry said, drawing his attention away from the decor. "It's just that I'm surprised and a bit overwhelmed by how tasteful it is."
Warren nodded and indicated a long corridor in front of them. "Follow me and you shouldn't get lost in this place."
Harry looked around and nodded, he knew that he could use his senses to move around, but he didn't trust them in a new place, a place where there were hundreds of new scents. Scents that could throw him off completely and lead him in the wrong direction.
"Tomorrow I should have time to show you where is what so that you know how to move around, today my father will probably occupy most of your time and also mine as he said that I should be aware of the things that were agreed upon."
"Boring meeting, joy." Harry said and rolled his eyes. "I had enough of them when I was on Asgard, small council meetings are a good way to fall asleep, but not much else."
Warren chuckled and Harry could feel that his older cousin agreed with his words. "Still, you need to suffer it and there are worse things than this, you just aren't aware of them."
Harry glowered and Warren ignored his gaze, as if it was nothing. It seems that I still don't have the Look of my grandfather, Harry thought, he is able to scare most of people into compliance, while this got me nothing.
"Here we are," Warren said, bringing him out of his musings.
Harry looked around and nodded as they found themselves facing a set of wooden doors leading into an office. Warren opened them and walked into the room, Harry followed his cousin and paused for a moment to look around the room.
It was a fairly big room with the opposite wall made wholly out of glass, allowing plenty of natural light into it. Facing the doors was a massive wooden desk and behind it sat Warren Worthington II, as Harry looked at Warren III and Warren II, he could see the family resemblance between them. Both of them had blond hair and blue eyes and both of them had an aura of power and respect around themselves, the one around Warren II was more developed, as well as subtler and much more dangerous.
However it wasn't Warren II who got Harry's attention, it was the fact that also his father, mother and uncle were in the room. He didn't expect to find them here, especially not all of them, yet here they were and seemed comfortable. "Father, Mother, uncle," he said and then his gaze flickered to Warren II. "Cousin, can any of you explain me why are all of you here?"
"Straight to the point like Lily was," Warren II said and Harry's gaze focused on him. "I'm Warren Worthington II, your older cousin and head of the Worthington family. The reason why all of us are here is simple. Issues with who is your legal guardian when you are on Earth."
Harry blinked a couple of times and looked at them. "What do you mean?"
Warren II glanced at Loki who nodded. "It will be better if you sit down, some of these things might unsettle you." Warren said and Harry sat down in one of the free chairs. "Legally speaking, you are still considered a responsibility of Petunia and Vernon Dursley."
Harry growled and bared his canines that flashed dangerously in the light of the room, but he stopped the moment he felt the gaze of his father on him. "You can show your anger at a later time, now let everybody explain things."
"Sorry," he mumbled and blushed lightly.
"No problem," Warren II said. "It happens to everybody and I know why you are so agitated about them and why you don't want to have anything in common with them." He tapped a pile of papers laying on the desk. "Those are all of the documents that will transfer all of their rights to me, normally it would have been done to your parents, but your father doesn't have any citizenship on Earth and James Potter is dead. While your stepmother getting your legal guardianship would sound and look strange to anybody that knows her or you, and has some bad intentions."
"And there is this nice addition that not many people are insane enough to attack the Worthington family," Loki added with a sly smile. "So the number of wannabe assassins and other shady people that is willing to kill or injure you will drop significantly."
"Indeed," Warren nodded and looked at Harry. "So what do you say?"
"I don't want to have anything in common with them," Harry spat viciously. "I want them gone, so I will gladly accept this."
"Perfect," Warren said and briefly smiled, his smile predatory and dangerous. "On the day after tomorrow I will deal with them and make sure that they stay away from you or the wealth that you have on Earth."
"What kind of wealth?" Harry asked and glanced at his father.
"The Potter family wealth, several dozen billion of dollars, at least that was when I was alive as James Potter, all too long ago," Thor said with a shrug and looked at Loki. "A trip to Gringotts wouldn't be amiss, would it?"
"It wouldn't, but I would suggest it is done once the dust settles and this meeting is over." Loki said and shrugged. "Now you have other issues and this one can wait."
"Of course, uncle," Harry said and looked at Warren II. "Do you have anything else to talk about?"
Warren was silent for a moment and then shook his head. "No, at least nothing official and lunch should be about to be served and I know that most of you are hungry." He stood up. "So if you would follow me."
Harry smiled at those words as he felt his stomach show how unhappy it was about the lack of food, there were times where he hated his Æsir physiology. On Asgard he didn't feel it as he was able to eat so much and so often that his stomach was able to stay silent, on Earth, not so much.
o-0-o
Fury frowned as he looked at the report from Maria Hill and the second smaller one from one of his most trusted spies, buried so deep that nobody knew about his existence. Looking at them he had a feeling of déjà vu build up inside of him, they were too similar to be fake and were consistent with the other reports he had gotten.
"People are predictable," Fury said as he looked at those reports. "Demon is always right and she knows her job too well to trust everything she is being told. So someone is really predictable and stupid."
He looked at them, trying to see if they were masterfully crafted fakes, but seeing that they were real he slid them into a folder and brought up a photo of a single person onto a display placed on his desk. It was a photo of a man, however more apt would be calling him a teen with a set of unusual red eyes. "It seems that you will have a new mission, one that should force them to reveal themselves and make mistakes."
He scribbled a short note, folded it and slipped into one of his coat's many pockets, standing up he grabbed reports the he had got and walked to the safe placed in the wall. Once they were inside he walked out of his office, locking doors behind.
He knew that there were spies inside of SHIELD, but he didn't have the slightest idea what their names were, he had a pretty good idea of where they were, but he didn't have an idea about their exact positions and names. It was starting to wear him down as he needed to be constantly focused and looking for even the slightest thing out of order.
o-0-o
Harry laid in his bed in the room he was given inside Worthington Manor and looked at the ceiling, thinking about the past, the present and the future. The fact that the Dursley's were unfortunate, but required, guests at the party brought to the front of his mind old memories, memories he wished weren't real and could simply be erased as if they weren't there. It also made him realize how badly he had changed during all of those years.
He remembered that when he first arrived on Asgard he was a scrawny, small kid and almost afraid of everything, as he remembered how afraid of Freki and Geri he had been, he now tried not to laugh. Through all of those years he had grew up a lot and now was over six feet tall, most of his body covered in thick, wiry muscles, he also had those wings on his back. However compared to how his mind changed, those things meant almost nothing. Then he was afraid of almost everything and now he was more than eager to charge into the biggest brawl or battle he could find. No matter if it was safe for him or not.
He tucked in and wrapping wings around himself he slowly drifted off to sleep as his mind finally decided to get some rest and not annoy him with gloomy thoughts.
o-0-o
Harry shifted uncomfortably in his suit, he knew that it fit him and he knew that it was of the best quality, but it still made him feel uncomfortable. He heard Warren's chuckle and glared at his older cousin. "What?"
"You look as if you are about to combust," Warren said, stifling his chuckle. "Anyways, some of the people that you should recognize are about to arrive."
Harry glared for a moment at Warren and then looked towards the entrance and nodded when he saw Roberto da Costa enter the room, but it wasn't him that drew Harry's attention, it was a man to the right of Bobby. He looked like an older, more experienced version of Roberto. "Who's that?"
"Emmanuel da Costa," Warren whispered. "Owner of da Costa International, a pretty rich person and member of the Hellfire Club. If you know Roberto, you should have a pretty good idea about his character."
Harry nodded and filed that piece of information away for later use, he had learned painfully that information was priceless and every single bit was important. He was about to ask Warren when a silver blur passed through the room, scaring and pushing apart almost everybody before finally coming to a stop in front of them.
"What the hell was that?" Harry asked as he looked around and then his eyes landed on the reason.
The reason of this blur was a tall, graceful and thin teenage male with hair black as night with a wide silver streak through the middle, blue eyes, elvish ears and a smirk adorning his lips. A smirk that was saying here comes the daredevil, here comes the rogue one. He is the one that all moms warned their girls about. "I'm a person, not a thing," teen said with a thick French accent. "The name is Jean-Paul Beaubier and I should be the one who's asking questions as you look amazing."
Harry looked at Jean, his gaze cool and calculating. "Me? Not in this suit, anything else, but not this. Also I'm Harry Potter and a younger cousin of Warren."
"You have an interesting cousin, mon chéri," Jean-Paul said looking at Warren.
Warren only chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Do you always think through the thing hanging between your legs? Or do you use your brain from time to time?"
"I always use my brain, it's just too brilliant for you to understand."
"If you say so," Warren snorted. "Then how is it that I can understand my brilliant cousin without a single problem and I struggle with you?"
"Maybe because you lack ability to understand French?" Harry added with a smirk. "Or your mind is a bit distracted by Jean."
"Me?" Jean asked. "But I'm a shining beacon that only draws towards itself."
"Oh, stuff it, Jean," someone said and when Harry looked at the person that said it he felt as if his eyes just wanted to flow out of his skull.
She was hot. Her being hot was not enough to describe her beauty, she looked like a young goddess that wanted to walk amongst mortals and tried to gather all the attention she could. She had long wavy golden hair, quite a sizeable cleavage and eyes as blue as water in the purest sea. She wore a quite modest dark blue dress, but even in it she looked stunning.
"I didn't even manage to learn a thing about Warren's cousin," Jean-Paul pouted and stopped when a vein appeared on her brow. "Of course, I understand, I stop or you murder me."
"Good boy," she smiled and chastely hugged Warren. "Maybe you will introduce me to your cousin before this shark gets to him?"
Warren chuckled and looked at Harry. "Harry, this is Carol Danvers, one of my few friends and Carol, this is Harry Potter, my cousin, a really annoying one."
"I'm not that bad," Harry said with a pout, making everybody laugh.
"It's only Warren that is annoyed," Jean-Paul said and looked at Harry. "You are aware of your good looks?"
"Maybe," Harry smiled. "But still I don't have the famous grace and beauty of my family, apparently I'm too young."
"Too young?" Jean-Paul asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I'm twelve years old, close to thirteen," Harry said, making Carol and Jean-Paul blink at him.
"How is it possible?" She asked. "You look somewhere like fifteen or sixteen, not twelve."
"I'm half-Æsir and half-human, that's how."
"Æsir as in one of those beings living on Asgard?" Jean-Paul asked. "Or is my memory wandering in the wrong direction?"
"Those ones." Harry smiled and glanced at Carol. "Even if I'm twelve I can appreciate good looks and you look stunning." Jean pouted at those words. "You also don't look bad, but she is much better."
Jean pouted again at those words, making them laugh.
"I know that you are French and that you are obliged to sulk, but can you just get over it and accept that someone isn't impressed by your charms?" Carol asked. "Oh and if your hair was less greasy, it wouldn't scare away so many people."
"Nice one," Warren said and looked at them. "You won't kill, mutilate or rape my dear cousin so can I leave you alone?"
"You can," Carol said as she grabbed Jean-Paul's ear and slowly twisted it. "I think that he will behave, won't you?" She gave him a pointed look, while twisting his ear even more. "What do you say?"
"I will behave," Jean-Paul said with a mischievous smirk, Harry could feel something in him, something that made him a bit wary about those words. "Now be kind and release me."
"Sure," she said as she released Jean-Paul's ear.
"As I said, don't murder, mutilate or rape him and you will be fine," Warren warned them with a smile and walked away.
"What a protective cousin you have," Carol said and Harry briefly smiled.
"He is the better out of the two, at least those living on Earth," Harry said and winced. "The other one is a highly unpleasant person."
"What do you mean by that?" Jean asked. "Or more proper would be whom."
"You will see him when he arrives." Harry said as the pleasant smile went away from his face. "He looks like a pig in human body."
"Oh," Carol said and placed her hand on Harry's shoulder. "I know how you feel about family not liking you."
"You do?" He asked looking at her.
"I do," she said sadly and shook her head. "Most of my family can be described in the same manner, only my uncle and grandmother are decent people. But it's neither the time nor the opportunity to talk about it."
"Yes," Harry smiled as their talk started to move towards more enjoyable topics.
o-0-o
"It looks interesting," Warren said as he joined Rhodes. "I knew that the three of them would become fast friends, but this is something that I didn't expect."
Rhodes nodded and glanced at said group. "Your cousin, the niece of General Jackson and the French Ambassador's adopted son?"
"Yes," Warren said and smiled. "They are nice and will be good friends, also we both know about the project on which Fury works."
"The Young Avengers?"
"Yes," Warren said and looked at Rhodes. "I guess that you know about it since you are a member of the normal Avengers roster."
"Indeed" Rhodes said and sighed. "I know that they have more than enough power to be a powerful reinforcement and future replacements for the Avengers, but they are still so young."
"Tell that to one of Harry's Asgardian friends and they will prove how wrong you are and that underestimating them is the worst thing you can do as they will rip you apart."
Rhodes blinked a few times and Warren smirked when he paled. "How strong are they? I never saw Thor use all of his strength and I know that he is deadly."
"Able to punch me through three stone walls," Warren said and winced. "I felt as if it broke all of my bones and put them back together in a painful manner."
Rhodes loudly whistled. "Point taken about their lethality and dangerousness."
"Yes," Warren said and smiled when Jean joined him, she wore a long emerald green dress and to it she had the same necklace she had gotten on Asgard.
"Your father wants to talk with you, the guests of honor are finally here and they need to be greeted... appropriately," she said as she left a peck on his cheek, her long fiery red hair touching his skin. "So I think that Colonel Rhodes will need to wait for a moment."
"If you will excuse me, Colonel, someone needs to be greeted." Warren muttered and glanced at Jean. "Can you be kind enough to hide my wings?"
"You don't want them running away in fear?"
"Yeah," Warren said as he easily moved through the crowd.
Finding the newly arrived wasn't a challenging task as they stood out among the gathered people, since they looked obviously uncomfortable about the gathered people and didn't know anybody. Warren smirked at their expressions and looked around, trying to see his father. He was walking in the same direction as he and Jean were.
"Is it me or do they look and behave like bullies?..." Jean said. "I mean, someone normal would at least try to talk with the other guests, but they are standing there and watching the crowd around like some scared people."
"Yeah," he nodded. "We both know about what they have done to my cousin and we both know how they have reacted to me being in their house."
She didn't say a thing as they walked through the crowd, and Warren nodded to his father when they joined him.
"They look like sheeps that found that they are in a lion's cave." Warren II said. "Can you two entertain their son, so that I can talk with them and reintroduce them to Director Fury?"
Warren smirked and nodded, it was going to be so much fun, the Dursley's might not enjoy it, but for him and Jean it was going to be an enjoyable time. He glanced in their direction and easily spotted Dudley who looked like a pig in a human body, if he just had a pigtail and a different nose, it would have been impossible to tell him apart from a pig.
"Please tell me that his mind looks better than his outer appearance," Warren said as he looked at Jean. "As otherwise someone might not survive the night."
"Come on, you are a big boy," she said. "You have done worse things than entertaining your dear badly obese cousin."
"I have." he said with a wince.
They followed his father and let him do the introductions, as Warren looked at the Dursley's he could see Dudley gape at Jean. Point taken about your cousin, she said in his mind, if he can say more than two words that are not about food, being a bully or sex then I will be surprised. Your cousin even if he sees me as attractive can control himself and behaves like a human being, the other mutants too, this thing on the other hand does not.
He controlled the urge to punch Dudley and instead intertwined his fingers with hers and looked at him. "Come on, dear cousin, I don't think that you want to be bored to death by your parents talking with my father."
"Yeah," Dudley said and followed them.
I wonder who will be the first one to punch him, Jean said, Carol might lose her patience, Jean-Paul is angry when someone is behaving like a homophobe or one of his friends is threatened and Harry is as hot-blooded as his father.
Warren nodded and looked at Dudley, he expected the kid to be more sure of himself, but it seemed that he was a machine that dumbly followed his parents, not an actual human being that was able of thinking on his own.
o-0-o
Warren II tried not to smirk as he looked at the Dursley's, playing them as he wished to was going to be so, so simple and easy. They didn't know a thing about the real world and making them do what he wanted them to, was going to be a trivial task.
"So, Petunia, how was the travel here?"
"Pleasant enough," she said, her horse-like face looking around. "Why did you wanted to meet us here and now?"
"Because this is an annual party that I host for my allies, friends and family. During the past years you weren't invited because it slipped my mind, but from now on you will be invited too. Especially considering the fact that I started to make small investments in the UK."
"How small?" Vernon asked, sudden interest visible in his voice.
"Only a three hundred million dollar deal to buy Domani Architecture, I would have invested more, but unfortunately the UK isn't the most important market for Worthington International and as such needs to wait."
Warren smirked when Vernon slumped, playing Vernon was so simple that it was not even amusing. He reached out and picked up a glass of wine from a nearby table and looked at Vernon. "Grunnings is such an insignificant company that my staff was unable to find it on the map of the UK and they needed to spend hours to find it, only to discover how badly it is looking."
"Badly looking?! Badly looking?! I will tell you what I think about your ideas of a badly looking company!" Vernon bellowed and everybody looked in their direction.
"Watch your tongue," Warren said cooly and smiled. "If it was such a good company how is it that in the last few years its income is dropping, even if your revenue multiplied by a couple orders of magnitude."
"Because of the bad situation on the market," Vernon said. "Prices increased and we needed to compensate for it."
"Or maybe because someone needed to increase his pay by quite a lot," said someone and Warren nodded when he saw Fury join them. "Petunia, you should know how much SHIELD knows and how much it can learn, including the fact that you had slept with Severus Snape before his first year at Hogwarts."
The strike was successful as their faces turned to an unhealthy shade of red and if Warren was going to bet, he would say that they were going to have a heart attack.
"You!" Petunia finally said, pointing her bony finger at Fury. "You destroyed Lily and made her meet with those freaks!"
"She chose it on her own and we both know that you could also follow her," Fury said and glanced at Warren. "Do you plan to do as we had agreed?"
"Yes," he said and sipped the wine. "It will be tiresome and, unpleasant, but it needs to be done and in a more peaceful location than this. Here they will cause a scene and my lawyers are still drafting the papers necessary to buy out Grunnings."
"I will be here in the morning," Fury said and glanced at his watch. "I would have stayed for longer, but duty calls and I need to be in Washington in an hour."
"I will make sure that they won't get out of the trap," Warren said and looked at his least desired guests, ones that needed to be entertained and made to stay at the mansion.
o-0-o
Harry felt at ease as he stood with Jean-Paul and Carol, they seemed like a nice enough group of people and didn't have any issues with him being a mutant and a Prince of Asgard.
He was about to say something when he spotted someone walk towards them, lightly nudged by Jean and Warren. He growled at the sight, as it was Dudley and he didn't change a lot since the last time they met, only grew up a bit and got more fat.
"What's the problem, mon chéri?" Jean-Paul asked
"He is the problem," Harry said with a move of his head towards Dudley. "My dear cousin, the one that I had mentioned to you."
"He looks like a pig, not a human," Jean-Paul pointed out, making them laugh. "And probably has the same amount of intelligence in his brain."
"If not less," Carol added with a grimace. "Most of the boys at my school behave that way when they look at me."
"It's still better than my luck," Jean-Paul said. "At least someone pays some attention to you, nobody pays me any."
"Can you not sulk?" Harry asked. "It is amusing but tiring, also my dear cousin might have issues with who you are or who I am for that matter."
"Who are you?" Carol asked
"A half-Æsir, I thought that I mentioned it earlier," Harry said with a smile. "Anyways most of us are bisexual, so my dear cousin will have a heart attack."
"Yeah, that wouldn't be desirable," Jean-Paul said with a smile. "Not that I would really cry if he was to drop dead."
"Me neither," Harry said and nodded to Warren as he approached them with Dudley. "Hello dear cousin."
Dudley blinked at those words, then looked at the scar on Harry's forehead and then at Warren. "What are you doing here, freak?"
Harry looked at Carol who almost growled at Dudley, but managed to control her instincts. "Enjoying the party and some people's company."
"You don't deserve to be here," Dudley spat, but the moment he looked at Carol, his eyes glazed over and he looked like a believer that saw his god. "Hello beautiful."
"Stay away from me," Carol hissed, a dangerous edge to her voice. "Or I won't be responsible for my actions."
"What are you going to do?" Dudley asked as he walked to her.
Harry had a hunch that this was Dudley's doom and he was right. The next thing he saw was Carol's heel slamming into Dudley's crotch. The force behind the strike was enough to push him backwards. Harry, at the same time, moved himself into Dudley's path and waited for the next move of his stupid cousin. If Dudley wanted to have a fight, he was all for it. "Nice strike," he said with a glance at Carol.
"Thanks," she smiled.
"How dare you?" Dudley asked as she started to walk towards them.
"Calm down or the next strike will knock you out," Harry growled as he crackled his knuckles and looked at Dudley. "So choose well as it might hurt."
Dudley roared and tried to charge, but the charge stopped well before it started. Harry's hand shot forward and with an open palm it slammed into Dudley's breastbone pushing him backwards as the air left his lungs. Finally he landed on the floor with a dull thud.
Harry stood over his cousin's body and felt a weird sense of satisfaction as he looked at the bane of his childhood. So weak and vulnerable right now, just asking for the strike of mercy to kill it. He considered it for a moment, but then shook his head and looked at Carol. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," she said and smiled. "Thank you for your help."
"No problem," Harry said and looked at Warren. "What are we going to do with his body?"
"You don't need to care," Warren smirked and summoned a waiter to whom he indicated Dudley body. The waiter nodded and disappeared. "They will move him to the bedroom he was supposed to get."
"How can you all be from the same family?" Carol asked. "You two and your father, Warren seem like nice people, but he is completely different."
"I wish I knew, but I guess that each family needs a black sheep so that there is balance," Warren said and shrugged. "Don't care about him and enjoy yourself."
"We will," Jean-Paul said and Harry nodded with a smile.
Enjoy it they did and for Harry the whole party almost passed in a blur and before he knew it was the end and Jean-Paul and Carol were about to return to their homes. Harry looked at the night's sky as he stood outside with Jean-Paul and watched as a trail of vehicles was leaving the mansion and heading towards the city.
"I will miss you," Jean said. "You seem like a nice person and a good-looking one."
"Was it a compliment?" Harry asked with a grin.
"Indeed, mon chéri," Jean said and Harry could feel something more underneath it. "I hope that we will meet more often than this party."
"We should," Harry said and looked towards Carol. "She probably wouldn't mind any such opportunities."
"As you wouldn't." Jean pulled Harry's head towards himself and kissed him.
"What was that?" Harry asked with an arched eyebrow.
"For goodbye," Jean said, smiled and disappeared in a blur.
"You like them," Warren asked as he dropped onto the ground.
Harry looked at his cousin and later at Carol and nodded. "Yes, I guess it is why you wanted me to meet them?"
"Indeed, baby cousin and it seems that Jean was lucky enough to steal your first kiss," Warren said chuckling merrily. "I was betting with Roberto that it was going to be Carol and it seems that I will need to pay him."
"You were betting on who would kiss me?"
"It was a nice and fun idea." Warren said in protest.
"Fine," Harry said as he walked back into the building. "But don't expect to get an invitation to Asgard for the foreseeable future."
"Bastard," Warren muttered and Harry only laughed.
"I was joking," he said and glanced at Warren. "Goodnight, cousin dear."
"Goodnight."
Harry quickly walked to his room and got out of the suit as quickly as he could, even if he looked good in it, it was uncomfortable as hell. He breathed in relief when he felt the soft quilt against his skin as he tucked in and moved around in the bed, trying to find a comfortable spot. After a moment he finally found one and was soon deep asleep.
o-0-o
As Harry was sleeping he was completely unaware of a meeting that was happening on Asgard, a meeting that would decide the future to come. A meeting between Hermóðr, Loki and Odin in the War Room of the Citadel. A place from where one could command the whole might of Asgard, plan wars to come and design plans for the future.
It was a hexagonal room with walls inscribed in hundreds of runes and with displays hovering just above their surface and showing the data necessary for any commander to keep things running smoothly. In the middle of it all was a small round table around which Odin, Loki and Hermóðr were sitting.
"War is sure, Sire, the only question is when it will happen and who will launch the first strike." Hermóðr said and Odin nodded. "I spoke with the majority of my highest commanders and we have agreed that the most likely targets are Midgard or something in its galaxy. The Chitauri are a prideful and arrogant race that doesn't accept defeat."
"And on Midgard they were beaten quite badly and now they want to have a revenge," Loki finished. "While the last time they sent only a small task force, now they might deploy majority of their forces to show how powerful they are."
"Indeed," Hermóðr nodded. "The plan that we had come up with is a simple one that should work, most of our troops and ships are now being moved to take part in the war games across the realm and we thought that with your agreement, Sire, we could organize one of them close to the border and launch a series of preemptive strikes to weaken the Chitauri."
"But not destroy them," Odin said. "And we all know that weakening them will mean that they will try to rise and strike us again the moment they see an opportunity."
"Yes," Hermóðr winced. "So the second plan is a simple one, let them attack Midgard and then strike them with all of our might and ferocity, so that they don't have a chance to react and are trying to maneuver in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Allowing us to decimate them before they have a chance to strike back."
"It can work," Loki said and smirked. "But I think that slowing them down first wouldn't be bad, we need time to prepare and get our pieces onto the chessboard's proper tiles, so some small sabotage wouldn't be unadvisable."
"What would you suggest, Your Highness?"
"Unleash the Rangers and some Valkyries onto them and wreak havoc. Blow up supply depots, storage areas, arsenals, forward bases and so on."
"It would slow them down by a lot, maybe even a few years," Hermóðr said and looked at Odin, so far silent. "What is your decision, Your Majesty?"
"You have my blessing to carry out the plan and slow them down," Odin said, his voice grave and full of power. "They need to be tempered and if they are too dumb to listen to the warnings, then they will listen to this."
With those words Odin stood up and walked out of the room, the room's massive armored doors, more actually like the doors to a vault, closing behind him. Leaving the two of them to hammer out the subtle and minor details of the plan so that it could work.
o-0-o
Warren II smirked as in the morning the Dursley's walked into his office, the moment they were inside their eyes narrowed in on Fury who was standing to the side with his trademark duster and poker expression on his face. Harry and his own son didn't get that much of their attention, even with their wings being out in the open.
"Sit down," he coldly said and indicated to the three seats waiting for them. "There are things to be discussed and without your cooperation they can be quite unpleasant for you. For the record, all of this is recorded and might be used against you."
Petunia looked as if a truck hit her, shock and surprise visible on her face, while Vernon and Dudley dumbly stared at him, unsure of the meaning of those words, or not understanding them. Which wouldn't be a huge surprise for him as he never had a very high estimation about their intelligence.
"How dare you?" Petunia finally asked, her voice a dangerous hiss. "You promised us a normal family meeting, not this."
"I didn't," he said with a smirk. "You just believed it to be a normal meeting, but it isn't or wasn't even planned to be that in the first place."
"We are leaving," Petunia said and stood up.
"You can try," he said with an amused expression on his face and glanced at Fury. "How soon do you think they would be caught? An hour?"
"Less than an hour," Fury said with a smirk. "Arrest warrants would be issued and you would be trapped. So sit down and listen to him."
Petunia looked at Fury and nodded, Warren looked at the Director of SHIELD and nodded in thanks.
"As I was about to say, I would have dealt with you far earlier than this, but there were reasons that I couldn't have done it, so it needed to wait for a moment. But now we can talk," he said and smiled dangerously. "About my cousin and your nephew, one that you should have treated properly, yet you treated him badly."
"He deserved that kind of treatment," she screeched. "He was nothing but a problem for us and he is a freak that shouldn't even live."
Harry growled, but the moment Warren glanced at him, he calmed.
"Be happy that I am dealing with you, not his father or his uncle as they would have killed you for those words. So do you admit that you abused him?"
Petunia's head whipped towards him and she narrowed her eyes. "No, we treated him the way he deserved to be treated."
"I have had enough of this," Warren said and looked at Fury. "Do you have enough reasons to get them arrested and accused of those things?"
"I have reasons, but the question is if there will be evidence to survive in court," Fury said and indicated Harry. "Will you be willing to testify against them?"
"I will be," Harry said, his voice strained and lacking any emotions.
"Good," Fury smirked, pulled out his phone and whispered few things into it. Putting it away he looked at Warren. "My agents will be here in a moment to get those three out of your house."
"Thank you," Warren smiled and looked at the Dursley's. "Do you still believe that you are above the law and that nothing will touch you?"
"You have no right to do such things," Vernon thundered. "We are proper citizens and people such as you are a reason for our issues!"
"Maybe we are not, but we certainly know how to behave," Warren said and glanced at Fury. "Could you be nice enough to find anything that can be added onto the pile of charges against them?"
"Yes," Fury said. "A lot of crimes might be found, the question is how deep you want to look, but I guess you want me to dig deep and greedily."
Warren nodded and looked at the Dursley's, who seemed to realize what was going on and that they were trapped. He was about to speak when the doors to the office open and four SHIELD agents entered the room and looked at Fury who only indicated the Dursley's. Before they had a chance to react they were wearing handcuffs and were being led out of the room.
o-0-o
It was a perfect spring day in Washington DC when a portal rippled in the air and from it Harry stepped out, followed by Loki. They exited it in front of a classical looking building with a white front and a colonnade. The pair of doors leading inside seemed to be made out of gold and was inscribed with runes, to their sides stood a pair of guards.
"The American Branch of Gringotts Bank," Loki said indicating at the building. "We could get it done in any of branch, but this is the closest one and while the British one would be better, this is far safer, as Britain isn't that safe."
"As if here it is safer." Harry said and rolled his eyes.
"Nephew, there are worse places to be than here," Loki smiled and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "So you have nothing to worry about."
Harry nodded and as they walked forward he spotted a brass plaque on the wall. It was inscribed with runes that changed into words when they walked closer to it and the words connected to form sentences.
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
"A warning or a threat?" He asked, his gaze focused on them and a pair of guards.
"A warning," Loki said with a smile and waved his hand, opening the doors in front of them. "Nobody likes to have their gold stolen and this is a warning for thieves. However if you behave, you get what you want. Also do not speak, unless directly addressed and let me handle them, I want you to learn how to speak in a way that will convince people to do your bidding."
Harry nodded and followed his uncle who walked across a large marble chamber to a line of goblins sitting behind a counter. They were weighing gems, issuing keys and doing hundreds of other things. He used this moment to look around and saw that most of wizards that was in the room only acknowledged their presence, instead of trying to bow to him like those from Hogwarts did. It was a much desired and appreciated change as he felt more at ease, however his musings were cut short by the goblin in front of them.
"How can I and Gringotts help you on this fine day?" It asked.
"Master Goblin, I and my nephew have an interest with your bank, would it be possible for us to meet the account manager for the Potter family and to see its ledgers?" Loki asked in his smoothest voice, dripping with sweetness and warmth.
Goblin looked at them and watched them for a moment that felt like an eternity for Harry, its keen eyes trying to see into their souls, to see who they were. "It can be arranged t, I need to ask you to prove that you are a member of the Potter family as unfortunately due to your popularity in the UK many people tried to use your name to get gold."
"Of course," Loki smiled. "The usual test with blood magic?"
Goblin nodded, clearly impressed by Loki's knowledge. "Yes," it said and handed them a small knife and a sheet of parchment. "Cut your finger open and let some of your blood drip onto the parchment."
Harry nodded and made a shallow cut with the knife and watched as the droplets of blood splashed onto the sheet of parchment, when the first one touched it the blood flashed gold and started to paint lines and names on the parchment. Creating his family tree which spanned a couple of generations into the past.
Goblin looked at the parchment and his eyes widened in shock. "You are the person you claim to be, but you are also a son of Thor." It's eyes flashed to Loki. "You are the Trickster," it stated flatly. "God of Mischief and Magic."
"Among a couple of other titles," Loki nodded with a smile. "My brother would have been here in my stead, but there are matters requiring his personal attention, and besides, I'm more refined than him and able to patiently negotiate a good deal."
"Indeed, indeed," The goblin nodded, picked up a small, silver bell and rung it thrice. The sound that left it was soft and melodic. "I summoned a messenger who will take you to the Potter family account manager and if need to the vaults."
They nodded and were met by a small goblin who bowed to them and looked at them in a manner that told them to follow him. They were led through the maze of corridors behind the official part of Gringotts. They were decorated with the same expensive materials as the lobby was, but it was done more with taste and practicality in mind. After a moment they stopped in front of a pair of wooden doors and the goblin that led them knocked twice and opened them ushering them inside. "Prince Loki, Prince Harald, Account Manager Sharclaw will meet you."
"Thank you," Loki nodded. "We won't require your service any more."
The goblin nodded and with disappeared a bow, leaving them alone with the account manager. As Harry looked at him, he had a feeling that making him angry would be a stupid idea. He was a huge goblin and looked as if he could rip apart a piece of rock with his bare hands. On a desk in front of him piles of papers and books arranged in neat and even groups were laying . He smiled and looked at them. "Prince Loki, Prince Harald, may I know what do you need from me?"
Loki smiled and took a seat in one of the chairs placed in front of the desk. "The reason why we are here is frankly speaking a simple one, my nephew would like to see the state of his account and vault. Normally I wouldn't be in my brother's stead, but he has a matter of urgent business to attend to and asked me to be here in his place."
Sharclaw nodded and paused, considering those words. "Do you have anything to prove that you are here with your brother's blessing."
Loki pulled out a thin scroll and handed it to Sharclaw.
Sharclaw broke the seal and opened the letter, his eyes running over the lines of text. "It seems to be in order, so you will be given access."
"Thank you," Loki nodded with a smile. "Could I also ask you for a favor?"
"Depends on what kind of favor." Sharclaw asked. "Also how convincing you would be."
"I suggest that we talk about the price once you hear me out," Loki said and smoothed out his robe. "My nephew's godfather and a friend of my brother were unjustly imprisoned for things they didn't do, because of that they have issues with accessing their vault. Would it be possible for you to help them in this matter and allow to use their vault from another branch other than the British one?"
Sharclaw looked at Loki and with each moment his eyes were getting narrower and narrower. "Are you suggesting that his godfather has issues with accessing his vault?" Sharclaw asked indicating Harry. "As it shouldn't happen, we do not care if someone committed a crime or not, as long as he has a legitimate proof that he is the owner of a vault, he can access the vault, so I don't see what's the reason for his inability to access his vault."
"That would be in a normal situation," Loki agreed with a nod. "But let's just say that the current Ministry of Magic isn't the epitome of reason or logic and they have weird ideas. One of them is chasing the person we are speaking about, so would it be possible for him to get access through this branch?"
Sharclaw frowned and looked at Loki. "Normally, no, but due to your position and importance as well as previous favors owed to you, I think it will be a possibility."
Loki smiled at those words. "Perfect, it will make matters far simpler for us, but now let us speak about what my nephew should inherit or have inherited when James Potter died."
"Indeed, indeed," Sharclaw said and pulled out several sheets of parchment. He placed them on the table and looked at Harry. "As you are aware of or not, your family belongs to one of the richest ones in the world and is an old one, I started to work for it as an account manager for your grandfather Charlus Potter and from there I served it faithfully multiplying its riches and attempting to gain as much profit as possible." He tapped papers placed on the desk. "Here I prepared the most basic and simplest information about your family wealth and its structure."
Harry picked up the papers and his eyes widened.
Potter family account audit:
Money placed in the vaults - $1,195,179,563
Precious metals:
-Vibranium - 250 kg - estimated market value, $11,000 for 1 g, worth of 250 kg is estimated to be at 2,750,000,000
-Gold, silver and platinum - estimated value at $543,896,074
Business investments:
-Draken International - 35% of shares, 60% of votes, worth $25,927,563,896, total company value is $74,078,753,989
-Worthington International - 5% of shares, 5% of votes, worth $6,456,952,741, total company value is $129,139,054,820
Miscellaneous investments - $9,824,736,103
Other assets (properties, cars, planes, etc) - $4,698,745,123
Total value - $51,397,073,500
Harry placed the piece of paper back on the desk and whistled quietly. "I knew that my family was rich, but being that rich is another thing."
Sharclaw laughed, his laughter loud and rumbling. "I assure you it is true, I personally suggested a lot of those investments to your grandfather and father. If you accept the offer I will be managing your accounts for as long as you will desire, Gringotts normally takes 5% of income from an account in interest, but due to your long family history and the state of the account we take only 3% in interest."
Harry glanced at Loki who nodded with a smile. "Take it, it's a generous offer, not many are willing to make such."
"I will accept it," Harry said and he saw Sharclaw smile.
"Once you become an adult on Asgard I would like to meet with you so that we can finish all of the formalities regarding your family account and properties." Sharclaw said and placed a small golden key on the desk. "Take it and guard it viciously, it can be used by you to access any of your accounts wherever you are."
"I will," Harry said and slipped it into one of pockets, the heavy metal weighing it down.
"That would be everything, thank you for your services, Account Manager Sharclaw," Loki said and motioned for Harry to follow him, when they were outside of the office he looked at Harry. "Not the worst performance from you, now let's get you to the Institute."
A portal opened in front of them and they stepped into it, disappearing from Gringotts.
o-0-o
Harry stood on the terrace of the Xavier's Institute For Gifted Youngsters and smiled as it was almost the beginning of May and the end of the term was soon approaching. Even if it was approaching, it was covered by the wonderful weather that had arrived – plenty of sun and almost no clouds. Even if the weather was beautiful, it was unable to put to rest the typhoon swirling inside of him, even if the Dursley's trial went swiftly and they were in prison, while Dudley landed in a youth detention center, it woke up a lot of bad memories in him.
"When will you be returning to Asgard?" Rahne asked. "You are weirdly silent recently and you are ignoring us."
"Sorry about that," he said and smiled briefly, but it was a tired and weak smile. "But the last few weeks hit me hard and to answer your questions, when the term ends, but I will be back here around the second week of August. Warren mentioned something about a certain place and two weeks away from the world and chaos of it with me, you, him, Danielle, Bobby, Jean-Paul, Jean, Carol, Illyana, Piotr and Kitty."
"Sounds nice and I think that I know what it is," she said and smiled. "You should enjoy it, quite a lot."
"Thanks," he said and sighed. "I need rest as those months opened a lot of my wounds."
"The trial?" she asked softly.
"The trial," he nodded. "I feel somewhat at ease knowing that they are finally in jail, but it unsettled me and now I have flashbacks of memories from those years. Which are nothing pleasant, sure there are a few nice ones, but the rest is ugly and I want to forget about them as soon as possible."
"You know that you should focus on the future and let the past settle on it's own and that brooding over it won't give you much of anything?"
"I know," he said and looked at her. "It's just hard not to think."
"What if you didn't have an opportunity to think?"
"Have fun as a wolf?"
"Yes," she smiled and changed into a wolf that looked at him, expectation in it's eyes.
"I guess that I need to do it," he said and changed into his own wolf and chased her into the woods. Being in animal form usually allowed him to ignore some of the more advanced thoughts and could focus only on what he liked and enjoyed.
o-0-o
"How soon will you be coming back?" Warren asked as he looked around Harry's and Bobby's room, most of the things were already packed and only some clothes and books still laid around.
"As I told you, after the second week of August," Harry said as he threw his last few things into the bag. "I wouldn't mind sooner, but I need to keep up with my studies on Asgard and there is also my birthday coming, which means a party or two and spending time with friends."
"So you won't have a break from studying, will you?" Warren asked, some slight amusement in his voice.
"Yes and no," Harry said and sighed. "Maybe a week or two after my arrival and some more around my birthday, but other than that no."
"Poor you," Warren chuckled. "I envy the amount of power and influence you have, but not the amount of things you need to learn."
"It's not that bad," Harry smiled weakly. "Just really tiring and exhausting, so that's why I was so happy about your suggestion."
"So that you can relax and recharge for a bit?"
"Yes and do it in a more peaceful environment," Harry said and sat down on his bed. "Maybe Ulf, Hrolf and Atalanta will be able to come with me."
"It wouldn't be bad," Warren said and fished out a small necklace with a silver X inside of a golden circle. "Banshee was supposed to give it to you, but he couldn't so he asked me to do it."
"What's that?" Harry asked as he caught and looked at it. "It looks almost the same as our normal necklace."
"It's an X-Men version of it, it means that you are treated like one of us," Warren smiled. "Congratulations dear cousin, you earned it."
"Thanks," Harry said as he put it on. "So where do we meet?"
"Here. It will be easier than somewhere else," Warren said and looked at him. "You are leaving soon?"
"Yes," Harry said and glanced at the ceiling. "Heimdall, if you could open the Bifrost."
"Don't get killed," Warren said as he chastely embraced Harry, who was almost immediately enveloped by the Bifrost and whisked away to Asgard.
o-0-o
A/N:
Dudley's behavior - Vernon is uncouth to say the least and monkey see, monkey do, so he will be similar to his father and Carol Danvers can make people with a far bigger degree of self-control drool at her sight.
Harry's sexuality - you may burn me once you read it - in Norse myths gods change shape as they wish to and gender too, Greek gods too and there is a problem of their longevity, if you live for thousands of years boredom might appear. Also in Greek myths gods flirted with both genders - Ganymede, Hyacinth and few others.
Worth of Harry's vault - his family is supposed to be a member of the Hellfire Club, the single organization that gathers the richest, the most powerful and the most influential. How this corporation grew up, I will say simply wars and conflicts for last century or so. Vibranium is a thing for you to wonder about.
Reviews:
Kitsune Tora - she was human, but Odin can make anybody an Æsir, it costs him a lot of power and forces him to sleep, but he can do it and she is supposed to be wife of Thor, so it would be rather natural that he gave her a body of an Æsir and magic comes with it.
TimothyB - he will, but there is a bigger catastrophe coming towards him, one which was suggested by Fury and few other people.