TITLE: Spellbound
DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling. Tony Stark, SHIELD, Nick Fury, and everyone else belong to Marvel Comics / Marvel studios, as does any of the characters in the MCU that get dragged kicking and screaming into this... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine… I'm just here for the fun.
The rest of the journey was made pretty comfortably, with conversation between the three of them flowing as Hermione and Ginny got more at ease with Tony being there. "Ok, here we are." Tony said as the driver pulled the car to a stop and turned off the ignition before making his away around the car to open the main door.
"It might be easier for you to get out first," Hermione said, looking at Tony. "Then Ginny can give me a hand?" She explained.
"Right, got it." Tony nodded. "Want me to take the bird?" He offered.
"If you wouldn't mind," Hermione said with a small smile.
"Sure," Tony shrugged as he picked up the owl cage by the ring at the top where it was obviously meant to be hung from something. Then got out of the limousine, making sure he stepped aside enough to make room for Hermione to get out while the driver was collecting their bags from the trunk.
"Here you go," Ginny offered, standing up first and offering Hermione her arm as she crouched down in the car, angling herself so Hermione could slowly step out of the car but keep her weight on Ginny's shoulder.
"Be right back," Tony said quickly as he put the cage down where Ginny and Hermione could see it, moving quickly to the elevator side where he'd asked for the wheelchair to be left, finding it easily and then bringing it over for Ginny to help Hermione into. "You ok?" Tony asked, concerned when he saw a grimace of pain on Hermione's face.
"Just a twinge in the hip," Hermione explained.
"I'll have someone get those painkillers for you once we get upstairs," Tony said as he picked up the owl cage. "Take those up to the apartment." He said, nodding to the driver who moved ahead with the two bags from the trunk.
"I could have managed," Ginny said quickly.
"Didn't want to crowd everything in the elevator at once," Tony explained.
"Oh, ok," Ginny nodded, moving around to the rear of the wheelchair to push Hermione like her mother had done. "No handles?" She asked with a frown.
"Electric," Tony explained, pointing to the rubber pad on either arm of the chair. "Push your finger forwards for forwards, back, draw the circles whichever way for turns." He explained. "The more you push your finger, the faster you go, but try and keep it under eighty ok?" He asked with a wink to show he was kidding.
"Is this…" Hermione asked, noticing the Stark logo emblazoned across the arm of the chair, having got used to Mr Stark's sense of humour in the car journey into the city.
"We make those for hospitals and disabled access companies," Tony explained.
Hermione smiled back easily, reaching down she gingerly touched the rubber pad, moving her finger forwards slowly until the chair started moving.
"See, nothing to it," Tony said proudly.
"It's definitely comfier than the hospital one," Hermione said happily as Tony and Ginny fell into step alongside her.
"Should be," Tony nodded. "We designed those for war veterans, people who won't walk again." He said quietly.
"Oh," Hermione nodded back, understanding that in situations like that, having a comfortable and easy to use chair must be very important. "Where are we going?" She asked quickly when she realised Tony and Ginny were following her.
"Elevator is just over there," Tony said, pointing to the lift where he'd collected the wheelchair from.
"Ok," Hermione said, drawing a little circle to the left to get the chair to turn in the direction she needed to angle her towards where Mr Stark was pointing.
"See, getting the hang of it." Tony smiled down.
"It's really easy actually," Hermione nodded. "I don't know how I'd have coped with the wheels." She said, meaning her plaster cast covered arm that was in a sling over her chest currently.
"I thought this would be better for you," Tony said as he pulled out his phone, waving it over the reading point by the elevator doors to allow access to the top three floors. "Security system, without JARVIS' approval nobody in the building can access the apartment." He explained. "When you two start going outside, I'll figure something out for you both." He said as the elevator doors opened.
"Do I need to turn around?" Hermione asked hesitantly, wondering how the elevator was set up.
"Nope, doors on both sides." Tony shook his head as he gestured for Hermione to drive the chair in first before he followed after Ginny.
"Welcome home sir, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley." JARVIS' voice came over the speakers in the elevator as the doors closed and started moving upwards.
"Hey JARVIS," Tony smiled as both the girls looked up at the voice. "Pepper here yet?"
"Indeed sir, Miss Potts is awaiting your arrival." JARVIS replied.
"Great, I'll introduce you two once you've got settled in." Tony explained, waiting them to have some breathing room first to relax and get comfortable with their surroundings.
"How did he know we're here?" Ginny asked, looking to Tony for an explanation.
"Security cameras," Tony said, pointing to the black dome in the corner of the elevator. "JARVIS is hooked into the security of all Stark buildings to keep an eye on things, he does pretty much everything around here." He explained.
"So he knows what we look like?" Hermione asked, trying to figure out how advanced this computer system really was, because it sounded more like an actual person to her than anything else.
"Sort of," Tony shrugged. "He's programmed with facial recognition, but it's a long way from perfect. He knew I was bringing you both here, and then just took the logical steps when I got into the elevator with two people." He smiled when the girls still looked confused at the idea. "I guess neither of you are around computers much?" He asked hesitantly.
"Not really," Hermione shook her head.
"I'll try and get Pepper to explain it, she's better at making things easier to understand than I am." He admitted. "I tend to get bogged down in technical terms and specifics rather than general explanations." He explained when the girls looked at him. "Half the time people have to tell me to stop talking before I overload them with information." He said with a wry smile.
"So that's where you get that from!" Ginny laughed, tapping Hermione's shoulder when she blushed. "Hermione does the same!" She grinned over.
"I'm sure Pepper will be happy to have someone to commiserate with when we get talking then," Tony laughed, imagining the two redheads would get on pretty well. Ginny seemed to have the same spark that Pepper did, and wasn't shy about making a comment or two jokingly at his expense.
He chuckled along as Hermione glared up at Ginny before the doors opened, letting Hermione drive out first before Tony and Ginny followed.
Ginny didn't know what to make of the place at all as she got out of the elevator, looking around it was nothing like any house she'd ever been in before. It was so different from The Burrow, with mostly metal and glass walls around, no wood or stone in sight. It felt cold to her, not chilly, but not like a home at all.
"Come on, I'll show you through." Tony said with a grin as he stepped forwards, carrying the owl cage with him.
"Oh my god!" Hermione whispered out as they passed the living room area, looking across the huge windows and spiral staircase leading up to the next level dominated the entire wall, looking out over the city.
"Living room, tv, music, pretty much the main relaxing area." Tony explained.
"How high up are we?" Ginny asked in awe, looking at the sight through the windows where so much of the city was visible around them, right out to the Themes and over to the other side of the river.
"Forty first floor," Tony explained. "Forty-two in the building if you don't count the garden roof." He said with a smile. "About six hundred and fifty feet or so."
"This is amazing!" Ginny grinned wildly, wanting to run over and stare out of the windows at everything she could see.
"Can she?" Hermione asked, seeing how Ginny wanted to go and look.
"Sure," Tony nodded. "It's all inch thick secureglass, so you can press up against it and look out all you want." Tony explained, gesturing for Ginny to go and explore, smiling when he saw her check with Hermione before running off towards the windows to look. "You want to?" He asked, looking down at Hermione.
"Oh no!" Hermione shook her head quickly. "I'll be staying away from those I think," She said with a small smile as she watched Ginny pressing her forehead up against the glass to see how far down she could look.
"Kitchen area is through there," Tony indicated the open plan area on the other side of the corridor to the living area. "Both of you, help yourselves to anything you want. If you need help, just ask me, or Pepper probably, or ask JARVIS to order something for you."
"Ginny, come on!" Hermione laughed as Ginny pouted as she pulled herself away from the window and jogged back over to Hermione's side.
"Merlin! Have you seen that? I've never been this high before!" Ginny grinned excitedly. "You must be able to see the whole city out there."
"Most of it," Tony admitted as he started walking again, waiting for Hermione to start the chair moving again before he started talking. "Office area." He said, gesturing to the closed door. "Pepper's probably in there right now, we'll leave her to it and I'll introduce you all later ok?" He asked, then continued on when Hermione nodded nervously. "Bedrooms, mine." He said, pointing to the next open door with similarly large glass windows dominating one side of the room. "And that's yours." He said, pointing to a closed door a bit further down the corridor.
"This one?" Ginny asked, moving ahead so she could stand by the door and open it for Hermione, pushing the door open once she'd moved the chair closer she stepped back to let Hermione get a look and then peeked her head around when Hermione didn't say anything. "Oh wow!" She breathed out, looking at all the space.
It was easily larger than the living room and kitchen combined at the burrow, with two large double beds along one side of the room pointing inwards, there were desks set up against one wall with a door on either side of them, and on the far side away from them and the closest wall there were black doors with silver furnishings along with drawers, a table area with a large mirror behind it built in and recessed into the draws and cupboards.
"This… are… you…" Hermione breathed out, not sure what to say.
"Go on," Tony gestured for them to move into the room, easily seeing the girls bags already placed neatly beside one of the desks. "Wardrobes and draws for clothes or anything else," He said, pointing to both the walls with the black and chrome units on them. "Toilets, bathtubs, and showers are through there." He indicated the two doors as he walked over and put the owl cage on one of the desks.
"What about through that one?" Hermione asked, looking at the other door.
"I meant both," Tony explained. "It was originally two rooms, I knocked it through to make space." He said with a smile. "That way neither of you has to wait for the bathroom if the other's in the shower." He finished with a laugh.
"Two bathrooms?" Ginny asked in shock, having been used to one bathroom between the nine of them growing up in The Burrow.
"Well, there's one by the kitchen too, and in the office, and upstairs, more in the workshop, all the bed rooms have en-suites." Tony shrugged. "How about I leave you to relax for a bit, sort out some food maybe?"
"Food would be good," Hermione said quietly, still unable to take her eyes of the enormous room stretched out in front of her.
"I don't think she liked the hospital food," Ginny said with a smirk, still staring at the two bathrooms in shock.
"Pizza sound good?" Tony asked hesitantly then smiling when Hermione nodded absently. "Anything you want?" He asked, looking at Hermione then to Ginny.
"Never had it." Ginny answered with a shrug.
"Now that is a crime," Tony said with a grin, feigning outrage. "Either of you vegetarian?" He checked and then nodded when both girls shook their head. "Ok, I'll figure something out." He said, realising the girls were both feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Give it forty-five minutes?"
"Ok," Hermione nodded quietly.
"Alright, I'll give you two some space." Tony said, quietly moving to the door. "Can show you the rest later when you've got a bit more comfortable."
"The rest?" Hermione asked in shock, turning her wheelchair around to look at Mr Stark again. "There's more?"
"So much more," Tony laughed at Hermione's face. "Relax first, plenty of time." He said with a chuckle as he backed out of the room and closed the door behind him to give the girls some privacy while he moved off to hunt down Pepper.
"This is amazing!" Ginny breathed out as she ran to one of the large double beds, jumping on to it with joy and flopping out on the covers. "I had no idea muggles lived like this!" She said, sitting up again and looking around the room in awe.
"Most don't," Hermione admitted, still shocked herself as she wheeled the chair over to the bed, noticing a pair of crutches had already been put by one of the desks for her to use. "I did tell you he was rich right?"
"There's rich and there's this!" Ginny said, gesturing around the room. "Two bathrooms, two! Just for us!" She grinned, jumping off the bed and moving over to investigate. "Oh wow!" She exclaimed, opening the bathroom door and walking through. "There's a bath in here, shower, tons of space!" She said, darting out of that room before looking in the other. "This one's just a mirror image, everything's the same but flipped." She explained, coming back out.
"Makes sense if it was two rooms," Hermione said absently. "He did this for us?" She whispered, remembering what Mr Stark had said.
"For you," Ginny grinned as she moved over to one of the wall areas and started opening drawers and wardrobes randomly. "They're all empty." She nodded.
"For our clothes," Hermione reasoned.
"I don't think I've got enough clothes even with everything at home to fill up all this space," Ginny laughed. "And that's including my Hogwarts robes, quidditch uniform and everything else." She kept looking through open drawers before closing them all and heading back to the bed where Hermione and driven herself to. "Did you talk to him about Hogwarts?"
"Not yet," Hermione shook her head quickly. "I wanted to wait and see what Professor McGonagall said to your mum first before thinking about anything else."
"Mum owled her last night, she's probably heard back by now." Ginny said as she sat on the corner of the bed. "Dad'll probably bring the letter with him on Monday."
"Hope so," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I don't know how I'd even start talking to him about everything."
"Dad'll know," Ginny smiled over before looking around the room again. "It's not just me right? This is bigger than the dorm rooms at Hogwarts?"
"Definitely, and there were twelve of us in each dorm." Hermione laughed at the thought. "It's probably even bigger than the Head Girls room."
"Merlin, I never want to leave!" Ginny laughed in reply, flopping down on the bed with her arms stretched out.
"Pepper?" Tony asked, opening the door to the office area and walking in.
"Hey," Pepper smiled from where she'd been sending some emails on her desk, standing up and walking over to give Tony a quick kiss. "How are you?"
"Shocked still." Tony admitted honestly. "It's kind of sinking in right now, but I'm still on autopilot a lot whenever I think about it."
"I'll bet," Pepper agreed, unable to even imagine how Tony must be feeling at becoming a father to a fifteen-year-old girl completely out of the blue. "Was that her just now? I heard you all talking but wanted to give you some space."
"Yeah, her and her friend." Tony explained. "She's the quiet one with the big hair, the redhead spitfire is about a year younger I think." He said with a laugh.
"Her parents were ok with her staying here?" Pepper asked curiously.
"I brought her dad back here yesterday to have a look around," Tony nodded. "He's coming over Monday lunch to see how the girls are, I said we'd drive down to them every weekend to get the girls out of the city."
"Seem to have planned it all out," Pepper smiled reassuringly. "How is she?"
"Quiet," Tony said after thinking about it.
"She's just lost her parents," Pepper reasoned. "That's got to be hard on her, then finding out about you, it's no surprise she's quiet."
"Yeah," Tony agreed. "I'm glad she's got a friend with her, it must be awkward enough."
"What's her name?"
"Ginny," Tony answered easily.
"Ginny and Hermione," Pepper made a mental note of them. "Unusual names, cute though."
"Brits," Tony shrugged with a smirk. "It's short for something, something from the King Arthur stories, can't remember what though. She's the sporty one, Hermione's more interested in books from what I can tell. Sort of fire and ice." He explained.
"Wonder how they became friends," Pepper mused.
"Arthur, that's her dad," Tony explained quickly. "Said something about her brother being in the same year at school."
"Oh," Pepper nodded at that, it made a bit more sense now. "Have you talked to them about school yet?"
"They're on holidays now," Tony shrugged. "I figure give her a while to get back on her feet before we start interrogating her about her school life." Tony said with a laugh.
"You know what I meant," Pepper frowned, slapping him on the arm. "What are you going to do about her education?"
"Honestly, I don't know." Tony answered, rubbing his hair anxiously. "She's smart enough, anyone can see that."
"God help us, another Stark then," Pepper smirked over.
"Hah hah," Tony muttered dryly. "I could probably pull some strings, have her tested for admission to MIT, maybe Caltech, whichever." He said with a shrug.
"But you haven't asked her yet?" Pepper reasoned.
"Didn't want to press," Tony nodded as he paced around the office area. "I mean, I get that I'm responsible for her now, but I didn't think this whole thing through." He explained. "Moving her out to Malibu, or New York?" He asked. "Dragging her away from her friends?"
"There's boarding schools here she could go to?" Pepper offered.
"Again, taking her away from her friends." Tony muttered. "My dad did that to me. I won't do that to her, I just got her, I don't want to throw any progress away with a talk like that."
"It's got to happen sooner or later," Pepper said, moving over and putting her hand on Tony's arm to hold him still. "You're responsible for her, responsible for making the best decisions you can for her until she's old enough to make them herself." She explained. "If that means moving her to the best school so you can stay close to her, then that's what it takes."
"I don't even know how the schools over here work," Tony admitted. "Arthur said there were exams but not for another few years."
"Plenty of time to get her adjusted to a new school then," Pepper smiled. "It might do her good, getting away from painful memories." She said quietly.
"Yeah," Tony nodded, agreeing with that point at least. "We'll see, I'm just giving her some space at the moment, no crowding." He said firmly.
"Ok," Pepper said, stepping away from him. "But soon."
"Soon," Tony promised. "I'm ordering pizza, want any?"
"Tuna and sweetcorn," Pepper said with a smile.
"Check, one Pepper usual," Tony grinned. "I'll shout you when it's on its way up." He said as he moved to leave the office. "Oh, the girls only got two bags of bits with them, fancy showing them how to use online shopping to grab any bits they need?"
"Tony, you can't buy their affection like that!" Pepper groused, glaring at him.
"Not buying, honest!" Tony held up his hands quickly in surrender. "I get the feeling Ginny's family aren't that well off, and Hermione said she didn't want to go back home for anything yet, probably too painful." He explained. "I get that." He said, remembering how he'd refused to set foot in the house for months after his parents had died.
"I hadn't thought about that," Pepper admitted.
"See!" Tony smiled. "They need clothes, Hermione can't go out shopping and trying things on with two casts on, so it's online." He said with a shrug. "And getting stuff for Ginny is just a thank you for her coming with Hermione and helping us out."
"And you're useless with clothes," Pepper smirked at him.
"Well, yeah," Tony grinned, knowing full well that he was comfortable in just about anything and chose clothes completely at random a lot of the time with whatever caught his eye.
"Fine," Pepper sighed. "At the weekend, if the girls want." She said firmly. "I'm not pushing them into shopping just to make you happy."
"Push teenage girls into shopping," Tony smirked. "Yeah, good one." He chuckled before rolling his eyes and walking out of the office and headed to the main living area. "JARVIS, pizza time!" He said aloud as he flopped down on the couch.
"How was it?" Ginny asked, watching from her seat on the bed as Hermione hobbled out of the bathroom using one of the crutches that had been left for her, she'd been waiting and listening for if Hermione needed her help, but it seemed that she'd managed ok.
"The handle bar by the toilet helped," Hermione admitted. "Must be there to help people who can't use their legs properly." She explained.
"Good thinking," Ginny nodded, she'd seen the white handle bar by the toilet but hadn't known what it was for so she'd left it alone.
"I've got no clue how to use the bath or shower though, I can't see any taps or anything. I don't even know how I'll be able to do anything with these on though." Hermione explained, frowning at the casts and sling. "The sink turns on automatically when you put your hands under it though."
"Sounds like magic," Ginny said with a frown.
"It's not," Hermione shook her head. "Just a sensor on the tap that tells it to turn the water on or off, lots of places use them now." She explained as she hobbled over to the bed and sat down, sinking into the soft mattress before laying down gently. "Oh merlin that's heaven!" She whispered.
"Muggle hospital beds not that comfy?" Ginny asked with a grin.
"Not even close, too hard and lumpy," Hermione explained.
"These are amazing," Ginny laughed, moving to the other bed and flopping down like Hermione had done. "I can't believe it, a whole double bed, each!"
"I know," Hermione laughed. "I don't know how I'll go back to the small beds at Hogwarts after this!" She smiled, turning her head so she could see Ginny on the other bed. "How do you think the lights work?" She asked, looking around. "I don't see a switch anywhere, do you?"
"You tell me what I'm looking for," Ginny asked, rolling herself off the bed before looking around the room.
"Um, a small switch, normally by the door," Hermione explained.
"Nothing here," Ginny shrugged, looking around the bathroom doors then heading to the door they'd came into the room by. "Nothing here either." She said, looking back to Hermione. "Think that Jarvis thing does it?" She asked. "Mr Stark said he controlled everything right?"
"Maybe," Hermione nodded. "Do you think he'd answer?"
"He answered me before," Ginny smiled. "Jarvis?" She asked aloud.
"Yes, Miss Weasley?" JARVIS' voice responded.
"How do the lights work?" She asked when Hermione prompted her.
"There is a glass panel by the side of the door, miss," JARVIS' voice came back. "Illuminating now." He announced as the small black rectangle next to the door frame lit up with a diagonal set of bars going up it. "Please press and draw your finger up to increase illumination, down to decrease."
"Up for on, down for off." Hermione translated.
"Precisely Miss Granger," JARVIS' voice replied.
"Oh, thanks." Ginny smiled, testing the black rectangle by running her finger up and down it, causing the lights to glow then dim.
"It's probably the same for the shower and bath," Hermione explained. "I saw those black things but didn't think they'd be controls or anything." She said, blinking in shock at the amount of technology around the building they were in.
"It's so different from home," Ginny said, moving back to the bed she'd claimed as hers. "There's nothing like this in the wizarding world." She admitted. "Sort of starting to see what my dad means now." She said bashfully.
"Like what?" Hermione asked as she watched Ginny sit down on the bed again.
"Like all this," Ginny asked, waving around the room. "It's like a different world entirely. You don't even use taps for Merlin's sake!"
"We… we used taps at home," Hermione corrected her. "Mr Stark… things are just different for him because he's rich." She explained. "He can afford all these fancy things."
"Like the fancy wheelchair?" Ginny said, pointing to the wheelchair that Hermione had left by the bedside for now.
"Exactly," Hermione nodded. "Most muggles do things the normal way, but there's always another way or a better way if you're rich enough."
"And he's rich enough?" Ginny asked.
"More than," Hermione nodded back. "He invented half of it I think." She explained. "I don't exactly know everything he does, but he builds loads of stuff for his company, then they make more of them to sell." She said, simplifying it down for Ginny.
"Wow," Ginny whispered, trying to wrap her head around everything. "And he lives here? We're practically up in the clouds here!" She grinned happily.
"Don't remind me," Hermione laughed back. "I'm just glad there aren't any windows in the room." She said with a smile.
"His bedroom had windows," Ginny pointed out. "Bet there's some more in the other rooms down the corridor on that side."
"We're not asking him to change rooms," Hermione scolded her with a smile. "Besides, I'm going to be having enough trouble getting undressed and dressed again every morning, I don't need giant windows advertising it to the world." She said, blushing at the thought.
"Didn't think of that," Ginny whispered. "We're so high up though, nobody would be able to see anything." She said with a smirk.
"We're not all exhibitionists," Hermione said, shaking her head in bemusement.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Ginny shot back with a blush. "Just that Mr Stark has them, and he doesn't seem worried about anything."
"Maybe," Hermione nodded. "But maybe he's got…" She trailed off as someone knocked at the bedroom door. "Um, hello?" She asked, sitting up on the bed.
"Hey, just letting you know Pizza's here." Tony said, opening the door gingerly and poking his head in. "I've got them set out in the lounge if you fancy coming out?" He asked hesitantly.
"Ok," Hermione nodded as she felt her stomach grumble at the mention of food. "Thanks." She said with a small smile.
"No problem," Tony smiled back. "Everything ok for you two in here?"
"More than," Hermione nodded quickly. "Really, you didn't have to do all this."
"Relax, it's nothing, really." Tony smiled. "Come and get some pizza then before Pepper eats all hers." He said with a grin, walking away and leaving the door slightly open for the girls to follow him.
"Do you want the chair again?" Ginny asked, standing up ready to help Hermione into the wheelchair if she needed it.
"I'll try with just the crutch," Hermione reasoned. "I don't want to get too used to the chair when I can still use my other arm and leg." She explained.
"Ok," Ginny shrugged. "Want to lean on me?" She offered.
"Let me see how I get on first," Hermione said as she used the crutch to stand up gingerly, slowly getting her balance before hobbling towards the door slowly.
"I heard that you know," Pepper scowled up from the couch area as she saw Tony coming back, contrary to what Tony had said she hadn't opened any of the three pizzas on the table yet, and was waiting for the girls to see which they wanted.
"I know," Tony smirked as he walked into the lounge area, waiting for the girls so he could properly introduce them to Pepper.
He didn't have to wait long before Ginny and Hermione slowly came into view, Hermione using the crutch to slowly walk along with Ginny beside her in case she needed to hold onto someone for some extra stability.
"Oh my god, here, let me help you!" Pepper was up in an instant, marching over to take over from Ginny, letting Hermione put her arm up on the taller woman's shoulder for some extra strength as she gently swung herself along with the crutch acting as the leg to keep the weight off of it.
"Pepper, this is Hermione and Ginny," Tony smiled, standing back a bit so he didn't crowd them as Pepper helped Hermione over to the leather couches and got her sat down comfortably, lifting her leg up onto a small coffee table to keep it elevated.
"Tony, you could have helped her!" Pepper accused, fixing him with a glare.
"It's alright, really." Hermione interrupted. "I'm trying to do as much of it myself as I can," She explained, not wanting to say how awkward it would feel relying on Mr Stark to be there for her when she'd only just found out he was her father, he'd already done so much and she didn't want to feel like any more of a burden on him. "I've got the wheelchair too if I don't want to use the crutch, I just thought I'd try and see how I could do."
"I'm sorry, I didn't think," Pepper admitted, she'd automatically jumped to the girls' aid without even thinking how she might have wanted to try and manage on her own.
"No, thanks, it helped a lot." Hermione smiled over.
"So you're Hermione," Pepper smiled. "And Ginny right?" She asked, looking up at where the smaller redhead was hovering around.
"Hi," Ginny waved awkwardly.
"Sit, please." Pepper said, gesturing to the various couches around. "Tony, pull an extra couch over so we can all eat together." She said firmly.
"I was going to ask if anyone wanted drinks first," Tony smirked as he moved to another couch, easily pushing it along the marble floor and turning it around to it was at a right angle to the current one, giving them space by the table in the middle where the pizzas were stacked up. "Pepper? Girls?" He asked after moving the couch. "Drinks?"
"Water please," Hermione said thankfully.
"Same," Ginny said, reasoning that she should stay with whatever Hermione was eating and drinking so she didn't end up like the twins had yesterday with a muggle sugar drink.
"Water sounds good," Pepper nodded, approving of the girls choice.
"Coming up," Tony said before vanishing off towards the kitchen.
"You sit here, I'll sit with Tony," Pepper offered, standing up from the couch to give Ginny the seat on the couch with Hermione as she moved to sit on the couch Tony had moved. "He hasn't said anything awful yet right?" She asked in a whisper.
"No, he's been really nice." Hermione answered honestly.
"You three talking about me already?" Tony asked with a smirk as he came back into the lounge, three bottles of water his hands along with a large can of red bull. He fiddled with them for a moment before getting them stable enough in his arms to pass out to everyone.
"Of course," Pepper smiled good naturedly. "I had to make sure you didn't scar the poor girls for life after being around you all day." She bantered back easily.
"Don't be fooled, they're not as innocent as they look," Tony smirked, giving Hermione a wink. "And this one seems to have a love for heights already." He said, laughing at how Ginny's eyes had already been drawn back to the wide windows overlooking the city.
"I love that view too, it's amazing in the morning." Pepper explained. "It faces east, so you get the sunrise coming through and lighting up the room."
"Wow," Ginny beamed, trying to imagine what that must be like.
"It's something alright," Tony smiled happily.
"How would you know? You're never awake in time to see it." Pepper smirked over.
"Point," Tony shrugged. "So, pizza." He grinned, gesturing to the three large pizza boxes. "We've got, tuna and sweetcorn." He announced, opening the first box and putting it aside on the table. "Ham and Pineapple." He said as he opened the second, recognising the smell instantly. "And the best, a full meat feast." He said proudly as he slid the second box to the side then opened the last one.
"There's four of us Tony, you're not feeding an army," Pepper chucked at how Tony had gone overboard as usual.
"She's never even tried pizza before," Tony defended himself, pointing to Ginny. "I feel it's my responsibility to educate her in this grievous oversight."
Pepper just rolled her eyes at Tony's antics, doing her best to ignore the blush she could see on the young redhead. "Dig in girls, really, don't worry about manners in front of him," She smirked, smacking Tony on the arm as he sat down on the couch.
"Thank you for the food," Hermione said graciously, smiling over before leaning forwards and wincing again.
"I've sent someone out for your painkillers, they should be back with them soon." Tony said, recognising the look of pain on Hermione's face. "Which did you want?" He asked, standing up to move any of the pizza's closer to her.
"Meat feast?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"A girl after my own heart," Tony said proudly, sliding the box over and pulling a slice away for himself.
"At least she's got manners," Pepper smiled over. "Which would you like to try?" She asked, looking at the redhead this time.
"What's that one?" Ginny asked, looking to the pizza that Tony had slid in front of Pepper.
"Tuna and sweetcorn," Pepper said, swinging the pizza around so the empty top of the pizza box was in front of her before breaking off a slice and putting it on the top, then doing the same for the other two pizzas, leaving Ginny with a slice of each in front of her. "Try all three, see which you prefer."
"Meat feast is definitely the best," Tony said with a conspiratorial smile at Hermione. "See, she agrees with me." He said as Hermione bit into her own slice of pizza happily.
"Tuna," Pepper mock whispered to her before sitting back on the couch and enjoying her own slice in quiet.
Ginny watched Hermione handle the triangle cut slice into her mouth awkwardly before taking a bite, inwardly happy for the smile that she saw on her friends face when she started chewing on it happily, before reaching for her own slice, deciding between the three before picking the one Pepper had recommended first and taking a small bite before her eyes shot open at the taste. "Wow!" She whispered, chewing happily and doing her best to ignore the muffled choking laughter that came from Mr Stark.
"You're mean," Pepper said, smacking Tony on the arm for laughing. "You've really never had pizza before?" She asked, looking to Ginny.
"Mum cooks everything by hand," Ginny explained easily. "She's never made anything like this." She whispered in awe, taking another delicious bite out of the tuna and sweetcorn pizza.
"Oh home cooked meals," Pepper whispered longingly. "I miss those, I used to love spending time in the kitchen. I never have the time anymore."
"My mum loves it," Ginny said happily. "She's a really good cook too."
"They invited us all down for a meal next weekend," Tony explained when he saw the longing look in Pepper's eyes. "You can get your home cooked meal then." He said with a chuckle, missing the wide-eyed look the girls gave each other.
"That'd be amazing," Pepper smiled, ignoring Tony's snark for now.
"This is amazing!" Ginny argued, devouring the pizza slice happily.
"Help yourself to more if you want it, but try the others though," Pepper smiled, doing her best not to watch the young girl as she enthusiastically finished off the pizza slice.
"Is the room ok then? You found your way around everything alright?" Tony asked, looking to draw Hermione into the conversation.
"It's huge," Ginny said in awe.
"It's amazing, thank you," Hermione said, knowing it didn't feel like enough after what Mr Stark was doing for her.
"I'm just happy you like it," Tony said, waving away the thanks. "I was talking to Pepper about getting some new clothes for you both tomorrow, since we can't exactly take you out shopping to try things on, I thought she'd be the best person to introduce you to online shopping." Tony said with a smile.
"You don't have to, really." Hermione instantly protested. "Ginny brought me enough things."
"You might as well take him up on it," Pepper said knowingly. "It's either ordering things that you like, or he'll go overboard and just buy loads of different things in different sizes just to fill up your wardrobe." She explained, laughing at the looks she got from Hermione and Ginny. "Really, he does that." She chuckled as the girls looked at Tony with a weird expression.
Tony simply shrugged at the attention with everyone looking at him. "What? She's not lying." He said with a smirk. "You need clothes, Pepper's good at shopping, it's a win win." He said with another shrug as if it was simple logic.
"You… you don't have to." Hermione protested again, trying to find another reason to say no to the enforced shopping trip.
"I want to," Tony said firmly. "Clothes, shoes, anything you need. Books even, I'll put some bookshelves up if you really want to stay with ye old-ey paper," He said with a smirk, knowing he'd caught Hermione with that offer.
"What else would books be on?" Ginny asked, a bemused look on her face as she tried the ham and pineapple pizza before pushing it away and doing he best to rinse out the taste with her bottle of water.
"Ignore him, he simply thinks that if something doesn't have electronics in it, then it hasn't been upgraded enough." Pepper explained with a laugh. "Books are always welcome in this house." She said firmly to Hermione who smiled nervously back.
"Bah," Tony waved the idea away, leaning back so he could grab the StarkTech tablet from the table behind him. "One tablet, I can access millions of books on this, anytime I want. Electronics manuals, physics papers, absolutely anything." He explained. "Probably as thick as a book cover, millions of books. Simple and easy."
"But what if you want more than one open at once?" Hermione asked, finding a hole in the logic, though she had to admit that having millions of books at her fingertips was definitely tempting.
"JARVIS, pull up my interface, window size." Tony said aloud, standing up from the sofa and walking over to the windows. "Dim the windows fifty percent." He asked again, causing the windows to darken as his familiar interface appeared on the windows, stretching across the large panoramic view. "Let's see, electronics," He muttered, flicking one paper up to view and throwing it up on one window. "New paper on gamma radiation, might be interesting." He said, throwing that up on another window. "Engine research for the new Stark Aerospace Division," He announced before throwing that to a third window.
"Show off," Pepper muttered, rolling her eyes but she could see how Hermione was entranced by the display.
"You can do that with anything you want?" Hermione asked in awe.
"Yup," Tony nodded, collapsing down all the documents again and wiping the interface clean. "It's how I do most of my work." He explained as he walked back to the sofa to indulge in some more pizza.
"It's amazing!" Hermione whispered. "Can you think how easy it'd be to research things if I could use that at school!" She said excitedly, turning to Ginny.
"You take over entire tables with books as it is," Ginny said with a grin, in-between mouthfuls of the meat feast pizza. "I swear the Madam Pince needs to set you up your own table area."
"Madam Pince?" Tony asked, nearly choking on a slice of pizza. "Who?" He asked in amusement.
"Our school librarian," Ginny laughed. "She's the only one in the library more often than Hermione." Ginny explained.
"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, embarrassed by the talking.
"Don't be embarrassed," Pepper smiled reassuringly. "I spent most of my time in the library too, and now I'm CEO of Stark Industries."
"You gave that job back to me, remember? You quit." Tony said with a smirk. "You're… I haven't given you a new title yet, I'll get around to it." He said with a shrug. "You're still head of the company though." He nodded, agreeing with her point.
"My point is, if you study hard, you can be anything you want to be." Pepper said with a smile over at Hermione. "We're not all born geniuses like Tony here," She smirked as she watched him tear off another pizza slice.
"Or Hermione," Ginny interrupted causing Hermione to blush again.
"So, she's you, but without the ego," Pepper laughed, looking between the two of them as Hermione blushed red at being compared to Tony Stark. "I always wondered what that would be like." She said as Tony rolled his eyes at her and Ginny burst into laughter.