HELLO I'M ALIVE!
So I'm back. I'm so sorry. I know it's been quite awhile. I moved, and then got settled in, and then I got a new part-time job. Between work, babysitting my sister and baby cousin, keeping an eye on the new puppy we got (he's named Prince Caspian), and then getting really sick (I had to spend a few days in the hospital), I have hardly had the chance to work on writing at all. But I've managed to (more or less) finish part five, so I'm going to begin updating again.
Unfortunately, updates will be bi-weekly from now on, every other Thursday. I would update weekly again, but I need to make sure I have the time to work on chapters before you get them without being swamped.
This chapter is un-betaed (I couldn't wait), but I don't think I missed much on my own. I know I have this tendency to mix up words (the three there's, throne and thrown, etc.) and I apologize for that.
Moving on, I mentioned at the end of the last part that someone suggested making summaries to help you keep track of what's happening. I was surprised at just how unpopular an idea that was. Nearly all of you who mentioned it in your reviews was clear on not liking it at all.
So I think I'll make quick summaries at the beginning of each part about the story thus far, but I'll keep them short and simple (especially since I'm not all that good at summaries to begin with).
Aside from that, the oneshot promised to our contest winner is not yet done. I've been having more trouble with it than I thought I would. I promise I will post it as soon as it's done.
That said, welcome to Part 5.
Enjoy.
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The story thus far:
After becoming an animagus in his fifth year of school (and royally messing up in the process), Harry is changed. Faced with his new secrets, he begins drifting away from his old friends and interests, growing closer to new people, finding new family, and gaining an interest in the subject of runes.
With his new found friends and skills, he slowly grows stronger, eventually defeating the feared Lord Voldemort. With the Dark Lord dead, he and his family (Severus Snape, Muhammad, and Bruce Black (formerly Robert Banner)) travel the world, learning new things, gaining new skills, and finding their own happiness.
When the time comes to settle down, they wind up in New York, looking forward to a relatively peaceful life in the Big Apple. A call from Bruce, and an alien invasion disrupt their plans, and they are thrown into a battle and a situation they never thought they would face alongside a group that calls themselves 'the avengers'.
In the course of the fight, Harry comes face to face with Loki, the god of Chaos, father of Lady Death (with whom he has had many dealings) and finds himself in the trickster's debt. With the Chitauri defeated, and Loki soon to be on his way to Asgard, Harry is in a tricky situation.
Can he fulfill his dept and face the coming evil without alerting the Avengers to his secrets, all while facing some of the unfortunate truths of no longer being human?
We shall see.
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Harry smiled happily at the people sitting in companionable silence around the kitchen table. It had taken him a bit to find this room, but thankfully Stark tower had signs, and a map on every floor. Harry wondered if the reason was even Tony sometimes got lost, or if it was just because of American muggle building codes. He hadn't realized when he'd woken that morning just how early it was. His guest room had no windows, and he had made the assumption that he was tired enough to sleep until late morning at least.
But the sun was only just coming up on the horizon now, painting the sky a pale greyish yellow. So the only other people who were up, and who had all made their way to the kitchen (apparently a universal gathering place), were his father, Rogers, and Logan. Severus was sipping his tea and looking upwards, lost in thought, Rogers had made himself eggs and coffee and was eating quietly, and Logan was reading a paper, a cigar settled on his lips that was sending pleasant-smelling smoke up towards the ceiling.
Harry shifted about the kitchen, getting himself his own tea, and making himself breakfast. He considered making breakfast for everyone, but he didn't know when everyone else would wake up, or if it would be welcomed, and he didn't want to cook that much anyways. So he got what he needed, and joined the others in their silence at the rather cozy table (it seemed strange to him that someone like Tony, who lived in such a big place with big rooms, would have a small kitchen).
It was a nice period of peace, considering all the things he would have to deal with once everyone else was up and about and ready to get down to business. The normality of such a domestic situation was something he needed at the moment. With all the chaotic events of the previous day, (the fighting, the situation with Loki) he revelled in this calm like a man in the desert revelled in finding water.
He bit into his toast with a soft hum, and breathed in deeply, wrapping himself up in a contented warmth he knew wouldn't last. He could smell Metis nearby, though he couldn't see her. He was thankful to have some idea of her location. She had shrunk and slipped off after the battle, mutter-hissing about finding a warm place to sleep. Usually she slept near him, but her occasional disappearance from his bed was not unheard of.
Logan flipped a page of his newspaper, Rogers' fork scraped against his plate, Severus sipped at his tea, and for a time, life was good.
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Tony's 'meeting room' was, in Harry's opinion, very preferable to sitting around that cold metal table on the helicarrier. They were all settled into comfortable modern couches and chairs in various blacks and blues in what looked to be a living room of sorts. The windows on this floor (or at least the ones Harry could see from this room) were all intact, and Tony had darkened them like the lab windows so they couldn't see outside right now.
He still wanted to know how that was done, but didn't ask because he also didn't think he would understand the, likely very technical and scientific, explanation.
Tony had passed out drinks, most of which remained on the large, round, low-to-the-ground table in the middle of the room, entirely untouched. On the wall to one side, placed in such a way as for everyone to be able to see it, was a huge television. Right now they were all watching it as the picture flickered out a few times before settling on an image of Fury, a wall of white behind him. He looked like he was sitting, with Hill standing behind him (or at least Harry thought it was Hill, since they could only see as high as her bust). He was looking down at them; or rather, at whatever camera or computer he was looking at that allowed them to see him.
Tony, who had been fiddling with the screen and grumbling to himself, made an 'aha' noise as the Director's face appeared. He grinned, and walked backwards to flop sideways into an armchair. Fury's brow twitched as he looked at him, and then his eyes fell on the rest of the room. He cleared his throat.
"If all of you are ready, we'll now begin our full debriefing." A few of the others shifted in their seats, Harry doing his utmost to remain still. He already felt guilty about all the lying he would be doing today (actually, it was more omission than lies), and he hadn't even opened his mouth yet.
They began, starting with the Captain, to each give a detailed account of their actions, from the moment they had been contacted by Shield, onwards. Harry learned more about what had occurred during the capture of Loki, which was helpful (again the man seemed to have channelled Voldemort with his speech and behaviour), and about the mutants and police officers who had helped them during the fighting.
Romanoff told them all about her conversation with the astrophysicist (Harry wasn't actually sure what that meant) and how that had led to her retrieving the scepter and shutting down the portal. Barton revealed how helpful Metis had been in both keeping him alive, and killing a number of Chitauri. Harry felt a little ill when the agent made it apparent she had actually eaten a couple of the foul things. Tony lauded himself as an incredible fighter and the sole reason they hadn't all been killed in a nuclear explosion (which, despite his big-headedness about it, was the truth).
He was one of the last, and he managed to give a detailed account of his actions during the fight with Loki, replace the small period between the Hulk's involvement and his rejoining of the fight with checking on Loki to make sure he wouldn't be going anywhere and tending quickly to his wounds at the time. After that he was honest, as there was no need to lie, and wasn't asked to elaborate on anything that occurred once they had been sent to the tower for the night (something he was extremely grateful for). The few that hadn't spoken yet (mainly Severus, whose actions were already accounted for given that he had been on the helicarrier surrounded by surveillance, Muhammad, who had fought mainly alongside and in view of the Captain and Romanoff, and Bruce, who could only offer up bits and pieces of his escapades as the Hulk) did so, and Fury began to explain about the nuke.
"It was a council decision I advised against. We managed to destroy the first plane they tried to send out, but one got by us." He looked absolutely murderous. Harry, for his part, could relate to that anger all too well. "If it hadn't been for all of you-" He was cut off as alarms began blaring on his end. They saw him jump in his chair, startled, and one of Hill's hands behind him suddenly had a gun in it. His face morphed into one of great irritation, dark eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm going to have to call you back." The screen went black, the noise vanishing with it, and all of them looked at each other with bewildered expressions. Or rather, all of them except Harry, who knew the alarms likely meant Kreacher had succeeded.
"Should we go to the helicarrier?" The captain asked, looking concerned.
"No." Tony cut in, sipping from his drink. "If they need us, they'll call." There was a bit of arguing on this point, before everyone seemed to decide he was right, and settled down. "So," Tony got their attention once they'd all shut up. "who wants to go eat shawarma with me?" The only ones that didn't ultimately agree were the mutants (not including Bruce) and the wizards (not including Muhammad). Tony looked at him as the others started heading for the door. "Sure you don't want to join us Tiny Tim?" Harry rolled his eyes at another dig about his height.
"I'm sure. I'm not really hungry. You can bring me back something." Tony grinned.
"Will do." He paused. "We're having drinks together tonight. Remember?" They hadn't planned an exact time for it before, but Harry hadn't forgotten his promise of answers. He grimaced.
"Yea." Tony nodded sharply.
"Good. See ya later munchkin." And he was out the door, leaving the room much less crowded in his (and the other's) absence. Harry sighed and looked over at the others, his gaze ending on Munroe, who stood next to him.
"I am required to return to the Institute." She told the men. "I will be back tomorrow." They all nodded, and she looked at Harry, who felt odd being under the power of her attention, given that their interactions had been relatively sparse. "I would like to speak to you then." She smiled. "There is much of the world of magic I would wish to know." Harry bit his lip. No one from the American Union had contacted him yet about all these breaches in the statute of secrecy...
He really needed to look into those laws.
"Only if you'll teach me about mutants in return." Her smile morphed into a delighted laugh.
"I would be happy to. Now if you'll excuse me." She dipped her head, and then went up the stairs; presumably to the roof, since she was able to fly. There was a soft thump noise, which Harry found was his father settling into one of the seats, and pulling out and unshrinking a book from one of his pockets. He felt a wave of gratitude, knowing the man wanted to speak to him, but was willing to allow him his time with Logan for the day. Speaking of Logan...
Harry looked up at him (though he didn't have to look far, Logan, while thickly muscled and larger boned, was not much taller than Harry) with a grin. The mutant grunted, and as he wandered away, Harry trailed after him like an eager puppy, a skip in his step.
He might not understand why he felt the need to be near him, or why he had missed him so much, but that didn't change how pleased he was that the lumberjack was back where he could see him.
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Logan wasn't much for conversation, but he was a good listener, and he laughed in the right places and occasionally asked questions, so Harry was content to be the one talking. Telling him stories about the twins' pranks wasn't really what he had had in mind when he decided he wanted to spend some time with him, but it was alright.
"Everyone?"
"Everyone in the tower. We were stuck making animal noises all night. McGonagall, our head of house, came in. We all thought she would be pissed, but I think she thought it was funny too. She told us we better go back to being proper human beings by breakfast, and just left. Fred and George looked dumbfounded. They thought she was going to take points or throw them in detention. The looks on their faces." He imitated a fish, and they both laughed at the ridiculousness of it. Logan's laugh was deep and scratchy, and reminded Harry a little of the Hulk's voice or maybe of his own growls and snarls as a feline.
"Sounds like a good time." There was something funny about his tone that kept Harry from speaking up right away. He looked out at the city instead.
They had wound up on the roof, or at least the helipad thing that was a sort of roof. There was still glass scattered about from the windows that had been broken during Harry's fight with Loki, but they had moved enough out of the way to sit down near the edge (though the wizard was a little wary about it, given that he had nearly died falling off it, and, though it wouldn't be a permanent death, it was still highly unlikely to be a pleasant experience). Logan was smoking again, and Harry could smell that, and the lingering smells of fire and gasoline from the day before. Nearly all the flames had been put out by this time, and in the daylight, the damage was startling.
Everywhere he looked there were broken buildings and flashing lights from ambulances and police cars. He was sure the hospitals were all packed full of the injured, the morgues full of corpses, and Shield was likely rushing about trying to gather up all the Chitauri remains before anyone else could. People were frightened, and mourning, and hurt.
But the worst of it was over. The fight was done. The portal had been closed. People could begin to heal now while Shield worked about containing the panic and explaining what had happened.
The only real problem left was Loki...
"Something on your mind?" Harry turned his head back to face the Canadian, who was watching him carefully. Harry could see in the hard lines of his face that he was concerned. He bit his lip.
"It's just..." He hesitated. He didn't actually know Logan very well, but... His instincts, not just his gut, but that part of him that wasn't human anymore, told him the mutant was trustworthy enough. He sighed. "Loki was under someone else's control." The lumberjack hid his surprise (if he felt any) well.
"And you haven't said anything?" His tone was more curious than accusatory, for which the animagus was thankful.
"He doesn't want me to, for some reason or other..." Harry grumbled.
"And that's what's bugging you?"
"That's part of it..." He rubbed his face. "It's just... I have to stick near Loki. Right now he's in Shield custody, so I can't do anything about it. But eventually... Thor's going to take him to Asgard, probably, and I'll have to find a way to go with them."
"Why?"
"You ever have someone save your life?"
"... Once or twice." Harry nodded.
"Well, you're a muggle, so there's no real consequence to that besides whatever your morals or your conscience impose. But when you have magic, and someone saves your life, your magic creates a debt between the two of you. When we were fighting up here, there was a point where I almost fell off the building, and Loki broke through the control long enough to save me."
"And now you owe him."
"Yea. A life debt is a powerful thing." Even if the debt he owed was weaker. "Right now, I'm stuck with him until I can pay him back somehow, and I don't know if he knows about it or not. If he does, he could ask anything of me in exchange for fulfilling the debt. Which could be dangerous. If he doesn't know, I have to find someway to pay him back that the magic finds satisfactory. There's not a lot that would work for that, short of saving his life in return." Especially with the debt being all strange and half-formed, but he didn't want to get into that with Logan.
"Rock and a hard place?"
"Something like that, yes."
"Well damn."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Guess I should be lucky I'm a mutant instead of a magic man." His face was scrunched up in distaste. He looked funny with his nose wrinkled as though he had smelled something foul.
The wizard couldn't help but laugh, feeling a little better about it all.
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Harry sighed, and laid his head down on his crossed arms, watching Tony bustle about the little bar making drinks.
There were apparently several bars in the building, though this one was in what was essentially Tony's room. It was a large space, with a bedroom section, and a sort of living space; which included the little bar. Harry felt more comfortable knowing it was just the two of them here. He had worried that Tony would want to go out for their drinks, or would use that big bar on the main penthouse floor where anyone could come in or be hiding around a corner.
He wasn't sure if they were in here because of the damage to the windows in that room, or because Tony was smart enough to know, without asking, that Harry wanted (needed) privacy.
"You can take that off, you know." Tony told him, pouring an orange colored liquid into a container that was half full of something else, the brown and orange mixing in the glass like colored clouds. It made him think of settling dust, and that brought back thoughts of the council's actions (as dust would be nearly all that would have been left had the warhead successfully struck the city). He shook himself.
"Hmm?" Harry lifted his head slightly.
"That bracelet thing that makes you look different. It's just us in here, and the only one who even has access to this floor is Pepper, and she won't be home for a couple days."
"It's called a glamour band."
"Whatever." Tony waved a hand dismissively. Harry grumbled but pulled the band off with a combination of relief and anxiety, setting it next to him on the bar as Tony set a drink in front of him.
"Brown mimosa. It's more of a summery daytime drink usually, but I was in the mood for citrus." Harry hummed and took a sip. It tasted mostly like orange juice. Tony sat down on a stool on the opposite side of the bar, a bit to the side of Harry, and studied him. The young man tried to ignore his gaze. "So. You promised me an explanation." Harry sighed.
He did his best to explain his being a mishipeshu animagus, and what that was, what an animagus was, and how he had messed up and wound up as he did. He felt like it was a story he had told a thousand times (though he had only explained it in-depth on a handful of occasions, since a few of those who knew had been able to work out the details for themselves), and was getting a little tired of doing so.
"So basically, you wound up looking like a lizardman because you made a stupid rookie mistake with some magic shapeshifting thing?" Harry snorted (lizardman?), but nodded. "Huh. I was expecting something more exciting, like you were some kind of demon or something." Harry coughed into his drink, and gave Tony a dubious look. "What? You can't expect me to come to any kind of normal conclusion when I don't know anything about magic and witches." Harry snorted.
"Demons are those evil things in the bible right?"
"Yup. So they're not real?" Harry shook his head.
"As far as I know they're not." ...Wait, hadn't Moody mentioned demons once? Regarding black magic? He had never looked into it, but he didn't think they were exactly agents of Satan... Or that Satan was real... Right?
"Okay. What about werewolves and vampires and stuff? They real?" Harry 'mmhmm'ed into his drink. "You can't be serious."
"Nope, that's my godfather." The quip fell from his lips almost automatically, and he shook his head to himself as Tony looked at him strangely. "Vampires and werewolves are real. So far as I know, vampires pretty much keep to themselves. They basically stay separated from the rest of magical society, with the occasional exception." He had met a couple during his time in China. They had been extremely reserved, but also kind enough. "Werewolves are more widespread. A couple of my brothers, and my Uncle, are werewolves."
"Yea?" Harry nodded, and started telling him about Remus.
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"-he was so freaked out. Oh gods." Harry snickered. "He was all pale-faced and trembling. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack." At some point during the night, he had moved to Tony's side of the bar, and the billionaire had an arm around him as he they laughed; both of them a fair way into drunkenness.
"And she turned him down?" Tony snickered.
"Of course she did. Fleur thought he was just a funny little kid. But it was so hilarious. You'd think he'd gone head-to-snout with a dragon." He laughed again, thinking of his own dragon-encounter. "I did that once."
"What? Fought a dragon?"
"Yea. I had to get passed it. She was a mean old bint."
"Bint?" Tony laughed. "The hell is a bint? Bint, bent, bunt. Bentitty bunt bint." They both collapsed into childish giggles like school girls. Harry slapped a hand down on the bar.
"Oh gods- hehehe- I'm- haha- dying." He gasped for breath, his face turning red as he tried to get some air in through his laughter. Tony laughed even harder, this time at Harry as opposed to his own silliness, burying his face into the bar's counter. It probably wouldn't have been as funny if they were sober, but they weren't, so it was. It took ages for them to calm down, and as they started to, there was a knock on the door. They both froze, faces still red from laughing, and looked at it. Harry nudged Tony's arm. "I thought your girlfriend wasn't back yet?" He whispered. The knob started turning.
Tony pushed him off his seat, and he fell to the floor with an 'oof'. The stool he was on clattered as it settled back, but didn't fall with him. Through the drunken haze he recognized he was now behind the bar, and he curled up, trying to stay still and quiet his breathing as he heard the door open. Something hit him in the face, and he recognized it as his glamour band. He moved slowly, clumsy drunken fingers fumbling to put it on and latch it.
"Stark. Fury wants us dow- have you been drinking?" Rogers' voice rang out through the room, and Harry paused in his struggle with the band for a moment as the room spun. He felt dizzy.
"Just a little." Harry thought the way Tony could speak after all the drinks he'd had without even the tiniest slur to his speech was greatly impressive. Rogers snorted, and Harry could hear the irritation in his voice.
"Right. Fury wants us in the meeting room. Something's happened. Get yourself cleaned up, and come down." He ordered. Harry looked up to see Tony give a mocking salute. There was the sound of footsteps, and then the door closed just as Harry managed to finally get the band on, and the glamour settled over him. Tony laughed at him.
"You look ridiculous down there." Harry mock-snarled at him, and reached up a hand.
"Then help me up, you arse."
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They, barely, managed to stumble their way into the elevator and then to the room. No one really looked at them when they entered, and, still supporting each other, they fell onto a couch next to Severus. The potion master gave them a sharp look, and pulled a pair of flasks from his robe. He handed them to Harry, looking pointedly from him to Tony, and then turned his eyes away. Harry handed one to the genius and then knocked his own back, thankful for the result, but not the disgusting taste, of the sobering solution.
He sighed as the effects of alcohol slipped away from him as though they had never been there to begin with. Beside him, Tony shuddered as he drank his own solution.
"Man..." He whispered, gaze snapping back and forth from the empty potion vial to Harry with a fascinated expression on his face.
"Later." The wizard whispered, and the man nodded, looking excited. Someone cleared their throat, and the young animagus' attention moved to the screen they had used earlier as it, once again, displayed the director, this time in a much fouler mood.
"Earlier this afternoon, there was an incident." He paused, either for the sake of dramatics or because he wanted them to understand how serious it was. "The scepter is gone." They all broke out in murmurs, except for Harry, who simply looked around at the others with faked surprise (he was lucky no one was paying him any mind, since he was really not a very good actor). When Fury cleared his throat again, they all fell silent, and he traded the expression for an attentive one that was much less forced. Thor was no longer sitting.
"My brother-?" He questioned.
"No. Loki has remained in his cell. So far as we can tell, he hasn't left it." Harry considered for a moment how ridiculous it was that they actually believed they could, successfully, cage the god without his willingness. When you had magic, muggle prisons were hardly more secure than a grass hut.
"Then who took it?" Romanoff asked, sharp eyes trained on her boss. She looked ready to go back into battle at a moment's notice, just waiting for the director to give the word.
"We don't know." Fury told them, gravely. "It was moved to a secure vault last night, and then earlier today it vanished. There was nothing on the security tapes. One moment it was there, the next it was gone." Kreacher had managed to remain unseen then. It was something most didn't realize house elves could do. Often the homes in which they lived had passages through the walls for them to use to remain unseen, but they could also make themselves invisible if they chose to.
"What do you need us to do, sir?" Barton asked, looking as ready to go as his female counterpart.
"There's nothing you can do right now. We're looking into it, taking readings, hunting for prints, whatever we can find. Unless we get a lead, there's not many actions we can take." He looked angry at the admittance, and Harry told himself to make doubly sure the director never found out he was the one to steal it. "If we find something, you'll be the first to know." He sat back in his seat, and turned his eyes on Thor. "It's likely this was an ally of Loki's. Anyone you can think of?" He asked him. Thor put a hand to his chin in thought.
"The vanishing of the scepter sounds to me as some sort of magic. It is not a common practice in Asgard, and many of those I know of are not on good terms with my brother..." He paused. "The only one who comes to my mind is Amora the enchantress. She was a friend of Loki's before his fall, but so far as I am aware, she has remained in Asgard. Perhaps it is simply someone who wishes to wield the scepter themselves?"
"It's a possibility we're considering." His attention fell on Harry and his father, and Muhammad, who had, at some point, wound up standing behind them, leaning over the couch above their heads. "If we find evidence of magic, would one of you be willing to come take a look?" Harry felt a pang of anxiety, and hesitated.
"If it becomes necessary, I could investigate." Severus told the man, and the director nodded.
"Alright. I contacted you to keep you all apprised of the situation. If this is some ally of Loki's, we might not be done with this. Stay on your toes." He ordered, and the connection cut out, the screen going black. Tony grumbled, looking stressed.
"Can I go back to being drunk now?"
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Harry sighed, stretching. He groaned as some of the kinks in his back popped. He had been too tense to get any good sleep, now that the missing scepter had been brought to everyone's attention, especially as his father had gone to bed before he could speak privately with him. If the man did go take a look, he would immediately be able to sense the house elf magic, and was familiar enough with Kreacher in particular that he would know it belonged to him.
He wasn't worried about his father turning him in. He would never do that. What he was worried about, was the potion master getting pissed off about being blind-sided by Harry's actions. Which meant he would need to speak with him before he went to the helicarrier. But he hadn't gotten the chance last night, and he wasn't sure he would get the chance to, today.
He was sure Tony had more questions, and Munroe would be back today and would want to speak with him too. He wanted to spend some more time with Logan (and Muhammad and his father, without distractions). Since he wasn't sure how much time he would have with them before playing 'stowaway-to-Asgard'. He needed to talk to Thor because he had some questions about Loki. He should probably talk to Hel again too, but had no idea how to initiate a visit, or if he even could. He also needed to-
Oh. Shit.
The thought hit him like a ton of bricks. In the stress and excitement of the invasion, he had completely forgotten.
The twins would be here tomorrow.
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"So, let me get this straight. You need another room set up, because you invited some friends to town, and then forgot about them?"
"Well, they're more like brothers actually. I told you about them. The werewolves. But if it's too much trouble, I could just go back to the-" Tony waved a dismissive hand.
"Dude, it's fine." He snorted. "Does it really look like providing room and board for people is an issue for me? Seriously. I could have like two hundred people living here and it wouldn't put a dent in my fortune. Not that I could stand living with that many more people. But I can handle a couple more for a while. As long as their furry little problems don't cause any damage they can stay as long as they want." Harry sighed, both in relief and in exasperation.
"Thank you, Tony." The billionaire rolled his eyes.
"Not a problem, shrimp." Harry grumbled good-naturedly. He had begun to grow accustomed to the many nicknames Tony had about his height, though he still felt the genius was the last person who should be able to comment; given that if he was just two or three inches shorter, they would be the same size.
They were quiet for a moment, Tony sipping something amber-colored from a glass and Harry swirling his own, less-alcoholic drink, about in its' cup before the wizard let out a long, weary sigh, set it down on the table in front of them, and leaned back in his seat. They were in Tony's room again, though they had chosen to settle themselves in the living area rather than at the bar.
"Something on your mind, small fry?" Harry hummed noncommittally. "Got something to do with the crap you're hiding from Fury?" He blinked.
"What, the animagus thing?"
"No, I mean the secretly-helping-Loki-and-stealing-scepters-thing." Harry's eyes widened, his mouth parting in surprise, partly out of shock of Tony's knowledge, partly out of bewilderment at the casual way he brought it up, as though it was only slightly more interesting than the weather.
"I- I don't know what you-" Tony sighed loudly and dramatically, cutting him off.
"Could we please not play the stupid game?" He set his glass down and looked Harry in the eye. "We've already established that I'm not an idiot. I know you're helping him, and I know you stole the scepter. Don't insult my intelligence by trying to claim otherwise." Harry grimaced.
"Very well."
"Good. Now, what I don't know, is why; and contrary to what Fury or Shield might think, the why is the most important part. That's why I haven't told them yet. I have proof of it, and I could give it to them if I wanted, but you seem like a pretty good guy, so I figured I'd give you the benefit of the doubt before throwing you to the wolves." Harry didn't answer him right off, and instead picked up his glass and drank some of the coffee in it. His nose twitched. He very much preferred tea. Anxiety pooled in his belly alongside the coffee, making the weight on his shoulders heavier than he would like. Tony said he had proof. That could be... Very bad for him; especially since that proof was probably on a computer somewhere, which meant Harry couldn't dispose of it. He knew next-to-nothing about computers; an unfortunate side-effect of living almost exclusively in the magical world, where the most advanced technology were older cell phones (which worked more like radios as it was), existing, even then, only in countries more accepting of muggle traditions and culture.
"How did you find out?" He asked, stalling. He would need to know, if, for nothing else, then so he could avoid making the same mistake twice.
"Did you really think this tower didn't have a security system? There are cameras everywhere but the bathrooms. I watched your fight with Loki. I was curious." He paused. "It took me a few go-throughs to see it, but I caught that funky thing with his eyes. That's the other reason I didn't turn you in right off the bat. I don't know what you did to him after the Hulk beat him half to death, but I looked over the older footage we have, and I hacked Shield's cameras. Before his fight with you, his eyes are blue everywhere we have images of him. After, they're green, and I asked Thor what color his brother's eyes are, and he said they're green. I saw you call that little creepy thing into your room too, and order it to take the scepter for you and put it under lock and key. What was that anyways?"
"A house-elf. They're magical beings that survive by binding themselves to a person or family and feeding minimally off their magic like parasites, in exchange for servitude." He said in a dull tone.
"Huh." Tony didn't press him right off for the information he wanted, which Harry was thankful for. He swallowed. The stress just kept piling up.
"I know his daughter." He found himself saying.
"Whose?"
"Loki's." The only surprise Tony showed at Loki being a parent was the minute raising of his brows. "I... Owe her." That wasn't exactly right, but... "She asked me for a favor."
"To help her dad?"
"She asked me to save him, from himself, and I told her I would try my best. When all of this started, she implied that he might not be... Completely under his own control. I figured she was right the first time I saw his eyes change from blue to green. It was only for a moment, but..." Tony nodded. "You know how the scepter works, of course. You were there when I explained it. So there's some motivation for him to take over the world, and I'm assuming that's connected to whatever part of him he needs saving from. But he's free now. That's what I did, when he was down. I legilimized him and broke the control."
"You said you couldn't do that." Tony said, looking more amused than anything else.
"I lied. He's a free man now, but... For some reason, he doesn't want me to tell anyone. I don't know what it is, and the only ones who know about that besides me and my father, are you, and Logan. But... I have to follow Loki's lead on this one."
"Why?"
"You said you watched the fight. You recall when he saved me from falling?"
"His eyes turned green for a minute there. Before big, green, and ugly came and pounded him into the floor."
"Yes. He broke the control long enough then to save my life. I owe him for that, so I'll obey his wishes for the time-being. He wants everyone to think he's guilty right now, so I'll let them, at least until I can get the chance to talk to him about it, and find out what the hell he's thinking." He didn't explain the life-debt, but Tony seemed content to accept his owing Loki as a byproduct of his morals, because he didn't question that Harry owed him.
"And how exactly are you going to do that? I don't think Fury would let you anywhere near him. He's keeping him on lock-down until Thor can- Oh. OH. You're gonna- But how- Holy shit." Harry nodded grimly.
"I don't really have a choice. I have to stick with him until I can pay him back for saving me, and then I still need to try and do what his daughter asked of me. Like you said, Shield has him under lock and key right now, so the only time I'll be able to manage that-"
"Is in Asgard." Harry nodded.
"How are you gonna get there?" Harry ran a hand through his hair, biting his lip uncertainly.
"I... Have no idea, actually." Tony hummed, tapping his chin.
"Well... Me and Bruce are supposed to be in charge of that. Fury has us building something that can run off the tesseract to send them back. I'll see if I can't figure out a way for you to be dragged along with them." Harry grinned.
"You- You're helping me?" Tony nodded.
"Yea. I figure you need it. No way are you gonna manage this without somebody in your corner. Of course," He grinned deviously. "I'm going to need you to come down to the lab so I can run some tests, look into your magic and all that." Harry chuckled.
"You're as bad as Bruce." Tony scoffed.
"Oh please. I'm much worse and you know it, Shorty." Harry laughed.
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Harry smiled as he found himself in the middle of a Weasley sandwich. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around each of them awkwardly. It wasn't easy to hug two people at the same time, especially when they were already hugging you so tightly you could hardly move. They both pulled away after a moment and grinned down at him, not quite letting go just yet. He was thankful they weren't quite as tall as his father, since that would mean straining his neck to look at them.
"It's been too long." He told them, and indeed it had been. He hadn't seen them in just over a year now, since the Christmastime before last. With all his travelling and studies, he hadn't really seen anyone in a while, and had lost touch with a lot of people. He wondered if Tony could give him an accurate timeline for when Thor and Loki would be going to Asgard, since it depended on he and Bruce's success in making a transportation device of some form. He would like to visit everyone one last time before going off, if he was able, especially seeing as he hadn't a clue how long he would be gone.
He'd need to pay the other Weasleys a visit, particularly Ginny and his goddaughter. Remus and Tonks and his godson Teddy (he hadn't actually met the little boy yet). Lucius and Narcissa and Draco too. He'd heard a rumor that the blonde had married, but he wanted to see for himself. Maybe he could even pay Mahdi, Moody, or the Dursleys a visit, if he was able. After all, for all he knew, it might be years before he was given another chance to see them.
Of course, he might not be able to visit anyone at all.
"That it has, Harry." George grinned at him. Fred's smile was a bit more subdued, though just as happy. They looked just the same as the last time he'd seen them, though their hair was a bit longer.
"We've missed you." He said. "We don't see each other nearly enough." Harry nodded in agreement.
"I should try to rectify that, in the future." It felt like a lie, knowing what would be happening soon, and his heart stung painfully. His smile faltered for the tiniest of moments, and he winced as both redheads' faces instantly became serious; eyes sharp and knowing.
"What's wrong?" They asked as one, and he sighed. He never had been any good at keeping things from them. Mostly because, since the moment they had found out about his changes in body, he had never felt a need to do so (and also, he wasn't a very good liar), He rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's... A long story."
"And we have plenty of time for you to tell it." George said.
"So let's get on with it." Fred added.
Harry slumped, and did as ordered.
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They both looked grave by the time he had finished. He was thankful they had remained silent during the time he had spoken; each listening to him intently. He had spared nothing. He told them about the dreams where Hel took him into the white world, about his title, about the conversations he had had there with those already passed. He told them about Loki, and his actions, the invasion, the scepter, and even the things he had seen in the god's mind. He spoke of his plans to follow the trickster into another realm, and the life-debt that was owed, and how that debt was only half-made.
They were the only ones he had told everything to.
He had been creating a sort of puzzle made of secrets lately, telling certain people about certain things. His father knew of Hel and his title and promise, but nothing of the life debt or his intentions (though Harry knew he suspected something about the latter). Logan knew about the life debt, and his plans to go to Asgard, but not anything else. Tony knew Loki had a daughter, and he owed Loki, but didn't know the details or understand the severity of the situation.
And none of them knew what Hel had told him about the mysterious evil on its way that he and Loki would have to face together.
But the twins now knew everything. He spared no detail with them, not even his feelings on the matter (stressed, somewhat confused, anxious, and just a tad bit angry), and by the time he was done, he felt lighter than he had in days. They had always been the people he trusted most (at least since his fifth year at Hogwarts), and he felt so much better now that they knew the whole of the situation at hand, being that they were the only people besides himself who did.
"Well," George began.
"You know what this means." Fred finished. Harry tilted his head.
"Um, actually, I don't." They each gave him a bland look.
"You're planning an adventure,"
"to a place no wizard has been before."
"You've found yourself in a right mess,"
"without bothering to ask anyone for help."
"You're going to be all alone,"
"so you'll need someone to watch your back."
"A pair of someones, in fact." Harry was silent, his mind working over things.
"Wait." He said, eyes growing a fraction. "You can't possibly mean-"
"Yup." George grinned cheerfully, eyes closing and making him look like a fox, despite that that was his brother's form (or rather, that it used to be, since werewolves were incapable of the animagus transformation). Fred's smile was gentler.
"We're coming with you." Harry felt there were a million and one reasons why that was a terrible idea, but at that moment, he couldn't seem to bring anything to his lips but a loving smile.
Sometimes, having family was the best thing in the world.
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The twins are back! Hooray!
I have to admit they are among my favorite characters. I'm glad to see them back here.
Okay, so, not a whole lot happening this chapter. I would have loved to bring you guys back in with a bang, but it wasn't gonna happen here. Things are going to be kind of calm for a bit before they get chaotic, so if you prefer the action, just bare with it. We've got some plot and character development to go over.
All the same, it's good to be back.
Thank you all so much for the support.
Sincerely,
Mr. Hate