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.

AN: First off, to answer a few questions that popped up in reviews

1. Ron has visited Hermione, I'll go into detail more later on about his visit and why he's not here yet… I just haven't talked about his visit yet in character as I followed Tony's introduction, not Hermione's accident… Harry hasn't visited because of obvious reasons as we know how the Dursley's are about him over this period.

2. Pius Thicknesse doesn't become Minister for Magic under Voldemort's Imperius until HBP timeline, prior to then he was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and before that it was said he was in the same department before being promoted to head, which the Department of Magical Education is a sub section of… so I placed him here… Pius is NOT a Death Eater… in fact, the fact that Voldemort had to place an Imperius on him with great effort and Pius fought it, shows that if he hadn't have been controlled, he likely would have been a member of The Order of the Phoenix. Cornelius Fudge was the Minister for Magic up until Rufus Scrimgeour took over during OOTP.

3. Few people have asked about Tony seeming 'out of character' and more vulnerable than normal… the past 9 chapters have only been spaced over 2 days… in that time, Tony has found out he had a daughter, that his daughter had been intentionally kept from him, and his daughter was in hospital after her parents died… That alone would put anyone in shock… and to a man like Tony who we see in IM1 when being held by the Ten Rings, wants a family… you see his face when Yinsen comments 'you are a man that has everything, and nothing'. After the problems with his father and finding out his dad wasn't who he thought he was, I feel that Tony would be vulnerable and unsure of himself when dealing with his daughter. He wouldn't want to be his father, cold and distant… but also doesn't know how to be anything else but his cocky overbearing self, which could drive her away from him… so writing him as unsure of himself but slowly becoming more himself when he adjusts, feels like the right path for the character.

I was going to go into all of these facts later on as the story develops, things some reviewers are marking as 'plot holes' are just gaps that I've left to fill in later with in character development and talking in the fic itself… but since they were asked more than a few times, I've answered them here instead.

And huge thanks to my new beta Jiffy185 for making this readable and fun... But now, on with the fic…

Monday morning

Sunday had been a rather subdued day for everyone, with Hermione and Ginny spending the day in their bedroom with a few excursions to the roof garden. Tony had put together the dates and worked out it had been this time last week that Hermione had been in the car accident and lost her parents, so while feeling awkward and not knowing how to comfort her, he'd figured the best way to do anything would be to give her the space she needed right now to work things through, and if she needed him then she could come to him whenever she was ready. That approach felt best to him as he knew that trying to force himself into his daughter's life, even though it was extremely weird and he was dying to ask more questions about the magical side of things, would be the stupid thing to do right now.

Waking up on Monday had been a pretty surreal experience for Ginny, she'd been woken up by something tickling her nose, which had turned out to be Hermione's bushy hair rubbing up against her. She'd woken up a few times in the night to hear Hermione crying, the second time after hugging her and listening to her for a while, she'd stayed in bed with her to help her try to get some sleep.

"Hmm?" A groggy Ginny asked as she looked around, trying to get her bearings in the dark room, the large double bed was definitely a luxury she still wasn't familiar with and she enjoyed stretching out in it for a minute before rolling out of bed and trying to remember where everything was. She was so used to waking up in her bedroom with the dawn sun coming through her window that waking up in a dark room without any sunlight coming in was a very disorientating time.

Taking a moment she glanced over and checked that Hermione had slept through her getting out of bed, her hair was still all fluffed up from a tossing and turning on the pillows, but she was sleeping for now and would probably need it after her restless night of sleep.

Fumbling to one wall she followed it around and found the desks, and from there through into one of the bathrooms where she remembered what JARVIS had told her about when he was explaining how touching the black panels controlled the lights. She felt around, finding the black panel through touch and then slowly bringing the lights up to a comfortable level before wandering through into the bathroom, closing the door and then exploring the black panel on the bath as well with controls for the taps. They both worked easily enough and she found herself poking the various controls to test how they changed the water coming out, adjusting its pressure and temperature before heading back and closing the door, intent on enjoying a bath for once without her brothers banging on the door and demanding to get into the bathroom.

Being able to soak and actually enjoy the bath without interruptions was heavenly, by the time she dragged herself out of the water, having enjoyed the shampoo that had been provided in a small bottle next to the bath, her fingers and toes were well and truly shrivelled. One thing she had been surprised at was the large towels that had been hanging from metal bars in the room were warm and luxurious, she'd stared in awe at them for a while before drying herself off, trying to figure out how muggles kept their towels soft, warm and welcoming without the aid of a heating charm.

After drying herself off she frowned at the towel again, looking around the bathroom and wondering how muggles dried their hair. There were simple charms to dry and style hair that she'd use at Hogwarts, or her mum would charm it for her, but muggles obviously couldn't do that, which made her wonder how they actually dried their hair off. Did they just use a towel until it was dry?

Still enjoying the mysteriously warm towel she made her way out of the bathroom and back into the dark of the bedroom, making sure that she wasn't going to wake Hermione up as she dug through the bag of clothes they'd packed for some clean underwear, jeans and t-shirt before dressing quietly, leaving the towel on the desk for now before slipping out of the room quietly to leave Hermione to sleep.

The difference outside the room was like night and day, literally. Where the bedroom had been dark and sealed away from any light, the corridor outside was flooded with light coming from the large windows in the rooms opposite theirs, with the light streaming through the open doors and filling up the area.

She felt oddly better with the light coming through, the dark room might have made it easier to sleep through the dawn, but without any natural light at all the bedroom didn't feel comfortable or welcoming, more like she imagined the Slytherin dungeons in Hogwarts would be like, under the castle and lake, very different from the Gryffindor tower that were home to her normally.

It felt weird looking around the muggle apartment without Hermione around, she moved quietly through the corridor to the sitting area where they'd had pizza before, glancing into the kitchen and looking for anyone that might be awake.

The sight that greeted her was enough to draw a startled snort of laughter from her before she managed to clap her hands over her mouth to stop herself from waking anyone up, on a tall work surface that must have been nearly up to her chest there was her Monster Book of Monsters from last year. They'd packed it to help talk with Mr Stark about magic and witches, though Hermione had packed pretty much all of Ginny's school books into the car so that she'd have plenty to go through.

The 'Monster Book of Monsters' looked oddly scorched, with several nails puncturing it and was bound with red muggle wire that had been wrapped around it a dozen times, with a yellow square of paper stuck to it with 'Do not touch! Pepper, seriously, don't touch!' scrawled across it in thick black ink.

She couldn't help the snort of laughter that came from her as she realised that Mr Stark had obviously tried to read it yesterday while she'd been comforting Hermione, something had obviously happened and he'd managed to subdue the book somehow, though she was betting that he hadn't fared any better with it than a lot of her friends had done when they'd had to use the books.

"That thing is evil!"

Ginny span around at the voice, catching sight of Mr Stark walking towards the kitchen from the living room area with a muggle device in one hand and a large mug in the other. "Morning?" She said hesitantly, doing her best not to laugh as she saw him glare at the book on the counter.

"Morning," Tony nodded with a small smile. "How is she?"

"Sleeping," Ginny said quietly. "She... she was up a lot in the night, nightmares." She explained in a quiet voice.

"Yeah," Tony nodded back as he walked into the kitchen and put his mug down before leaning against one of the worktops comfortably. "It'll be a while before they stop." He said with a frown. "Did you guys eat at all yesterday? I didn't see you come out and I didn't want to bother you."

Ginny shook her head at that.

"She needs to eat, both of you do." Tony frowned, shaking his head in amusement at the idea of him being the responsible one for once, it was definitely a strange feeling. "Fine, breakfast." He nodded firmly, looking around the kitchen. "There's bacon and sausages in the fridge, have a look, see if there's anything else in there you fancy." He said as he nodded to the fridge that was built into the designer kitchen area.

"Um... here?" Ginny asked hesitantly as she walked around, looking at where Mr Stark had nodded.

"Yup," Tony nodded from where he was opening cupboards himself, looking over to make sure Ginny had found the right appliance. "You have fridges right?" He asked, curious now as he turned around from his cupboard hunt. "I didn't see one in the kitchen, in fact, I didn't see any electric appliances at all." He frowned while he was thinking about it.

"Wow," Ginny breathed out as she pulled open the door Mr Stark had indicated, it was a bit stiff at first but as she pulled the door open it swung open and lit up inside so she could see everything properly. "Fridges?" She asked, looking to Mr Stark for an explanation for the light in what looked like a large white cupboard.

"I'll take that as a no," Tony said, shaking his head in amusement. "It keeps stuff cold, preserves it for longer." He explained, simplifying it down. "You don't have that?" He asked, hopping up onto the worktop by where he'd left the Furry Book of Doom and sitting comfortably as he pulled down a box of cereal from the cupboard next to him and popped a handful into his mouth.

"No," Ginny shook her head, turning back to the 'fridge' and looking at it curiously. "It keeps things cold?" She asked curiously.

"Basically," Tony nodded as he tossed a few more cereal bites into his mouth. "What do you use?"

"Cooling charms mostly," Ginny explained. "It's easier just to cool a goblet down or warm it up to whatever we need." She said as she turned around to face him. "I always wondered how muggles did it." She said with a smile.

"That's cooling down," Tony said, nodding to the fridge door that was still open behind Ginny. "Oven," He said, nodding to the modern oven built into the kitchen. "Or microwave, that works too." He said, pointing over to the microwave in the corner of the kitchen. "So, you use magic for everything then?"

"Mostly," Ginny admitted. "My dad is always on about muggle things though, he loves figuring out how you do all this."

"I figured," Tony smirked, now having learnt a bit more about the Weasley family it put Arthur's comments and amazement in a whole new light.

"Tony!"

Both Ginny and Tony looked around at the shout, wondering what was going on.

"Pepper? What's wrong?" Tony asked quickly, jumping off the worktop and jogging down towards the office before flinging the door open to see what was going on. The sight stopped him cold as Pepper was sat at the desk, practically frozen stiff with her eyes wide at two large birds that had come in through an open window and perched on the desk.

"Tony, what..."

"Ginny!" Tony yelled out, turning back to the door as he noted the thick curled parchment that both of the birds were carrying in the talons. "This isn't normal, at least for us, so I'm guessing..." He trailed off with a smirk as Ginny came into the office hesitantly then smiled as she saw the two birds.

"We normally use owls," Ginny said with a bashful smile.

"These aren't owls," Tony said with a smirk. "Hawks I think?" He asked then shrugged, it didn't really matter. "You use owls to send letters?" He asked, looking at the tied parchment that came with both of the birds.

"Normally," Ginny nodded, walking over and holding her arm out, she flinched a bit when one of the birds jumped up, flapping its wings and causing Pepper to screech and back away from the desk before it flew over and landed on her arm. "Hi there." Ginny smiled, stroking the bird gently before taking the rolled parchment that it had brought. "It's for Hermione." She explained, looking at the name before handing it over to Tony.

"They just flew in!" Pepper exclaimed. "Carrier... hawks?" She asked, looking at Tony for an explanation. She'd heard of carrier pigeons before, but from the way Tony and Ginny were talking it sounded like England used owls more than pigeons apparently.

"I'll get the other one," Ginny said, holding out her hand where the hawk was perched automatically and letting it hop off onto Tony's shoulder, eliciting a muffled choking noise from him before she held out her arm for the other bird. "Sorry, I didn't think..." She trailed off, looking around to where Tony was frozen in place with the large predator bird perched on his shoulder.

"They're tame?" Pepper asked hopefully, relaxing a bit as the second bird jumped off of her desk and flew for a second before landing on Ginny's arm comfortably.

"Just like Pig," Ginny nodded, stroking the bird for a second before taking the parchment.

"These are a bit bigger than your little owl," Pepper whispered, leaning forwards and picking her phone up from the desk, holding it up and snapping a few photos of Tony and Ginny, both with the hawk's perched happily on them.

"I've never seen birds like this before," Ginny whispered, stroking the bird happily. "You're a gorgeous guy aren't you?" She smiled, stroking the feathers of the animal happily. "It's for Hermione as well." She explained, looking down to the parchment. "Are there birds like this in America?" She asked hesitantly, looking to Mr Stark.

"Hawks?" Tony asked, still staying very still with the bird on his shoulder, too close to his face for comfort. "Yeah, they're pretty common." He said, doing his best not to nod or speak too loudly. "I think these guys are chickenhawks, but don't quote me on that." He said quietly.

"Hermione would love to see them," Ginny smiled wistfully as she looked back to the bird. "They must have come over from Salem and Ilvermorny."

"The schools," Tony caught on. "I thought they'd phone or send letters but... yeah, this is how you guys send letters." He finished with a half-smile. "You comfy there?" He asked, gingerly looking around to the bird on his shoulder that let out a 'kree-eee-ar' screech in response. "I take that as a yes," Tony smirked as the bird started preening its feathers.

"They brought letters for Hermione?" Pepper asked in shock, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on here.

"Yeah," Tony nodded, still trying to stay still with the bird perched on him. "Actually... Pepper, can you go and get her?"

"She'll love these," Ginny nodded, walking away from the door so that Pepper could get past without getting too close to the birds. "She was still asleep when I woke up." She explained, wincing a bit as the bird nuzzled its beak into her still wet hair.

"You're sure?" Pepper asked hesitantly, using her phone to snap another picture of Ginny and Tony.

"Go on," Tony said, nodding very slowly so he wouldn't disturb the bird.

"I don't know what treats you guys like," Ginny frowned, stroking the bird and trying to keep its attention away from her hair. "Will owl treats do?" She asked, looking at Tony as Pepper slowly edged around them and out of the office.

"Don't know," Tony frowned thoughtfully. "JARVIS? What's a chickenhawk's diet like?"

"Exclusively carnivorous sir," JARVIS' voice came back. "The most common prey are small mammals, rodents and rabbits, but they will also consume birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians and invertebrates."

"Think we've got some ham in the fridge?" Tony asked hesitantly, looking to Ginny. "Think that'd work?"

"We could try," Ginny nodded over. "Do you like ham?" She asked, looking at the bird on her arm that responded with another 'kree-eee-ar' screech.

"I'll take that as a yes," Tony smirked. "Want to..." He asked, hoping the bird would take the hint as he slowly crouched down to Ginny's level.

"Sorry," Ginny smiled, holding out her other arm. "Come here." She cawed, moving closer to Tony so the bird could hop off and move onto her shoulder comfortably.

"Thanks," Tony breathed out in relief as he relaxed and stood back up. "Kitehen then." He said as he walked out of the office slowly, looking back to make sure Ginny was following him comfortably with the two large birds. "You ok with them?" He asked as he made his way through the corridor.

"Fine," Ginny nodded back. "The Kenmare Kestrels..." She paused when she saw Tony's confused face. "A quidditch team, they use birds like this, a bit smaller though. I never thought I'd see one up close."

"Gotcha," Tony nodded as he moved to the kitchen, guessing that Ginny meant the team used the kestrel bird as well from their name, before heading straight for the still open fridge and hunting through. "Ok, ham, salami, sliced beef..." He muttered, pulling out the packets as he went.

"Oh wow!"

Tony smiled as he turned from the fridge, packets of meat still in hand as he saw Pepper and Hermione walking through, Hermione still dressed in soft blue pyjamas and bare feet.

"Post arrived," Tony smirked as he turned from the fridge, putting the meat cuts on the counter before closing the door. "Parchment's by your homicidal book by the way." He explained, nodding to where he'd dropped the two rolls of parchment by the Furry Book of Doom but seeing that Hermione's eyes were glued to the large birds in awe.

"They sent them here?" Hermione asked in shock.

"Flew right in the office window," Tony grinned back. "Think they scared ten years off Pepper." He said with a laugh as he peeled off a few slices of ham and tore them up in his hand.

"Oh Merlin, I'm sorry, I didn't..." Hermione blushed as she stammered out an apology to the woman stood next to her.

"It wasn't that bad," Pepper said, seeing how flustered the young girl was. "They just surprised me that's all."

"They seem ok with Ginny," Tony shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at where the young redhead was still stood with both the birds staring at him. "Ok, now they look hungry." Tony said worriedly, tearing up some more of the meat quickly and throwing it on another counter before stepping back quickly as both birds took flight off of Ginny, causing Pepper to shriek again and step back, pulling Hermione with her automatically as the birds flew over to the meat on the counter and started pecking at it happily, tearing it apart in their beaks and swallowing strips of it at a time.

"Are these going to be a regular thing?" Tony asked, backing away from the birds and looking to Hermione and Ginny. "Because if so, I'll have someone set something up in the garden for them." He explained quickly.

"Not birds like this," Hermione breathed out, stepping forwards to stand by Ginny. "Where did they come from?" She asked in amazement, still watching the two birds feast on the strips of meat.

"They're both addressed to you," Ginny explained, doing her best not to laugh as she nodded over to the parchment on the counter next to the bound and damaged book. "They're from America I think?"

"Chickenhawk's are pretty common," Tony nodded in agreement looking back at the birds. "Guessing the red tail feathers will tell you what species they are." He explained with a shrug.

"They're beautiful," Hermione smiled, looking at the exotic birds.

"They probably brought letters from Salem and Ilvermorny," Ginny said, explaining her thoughts. "If it was from mum or Hogwarts they'd have used owls right?"

"Right," Hermione nodded, agreeing with the logic as both birds took to the air again, causing Pepper to screech and duck, Tony ducking as well as the birds flapped their wings and flew back down the corridor and into the office where they'd arrived.

"They've gone!" Pepper exclaimed, having rushed to the office behind them to make sure they flew out the window and out into the city.

"That was a fun way to start the day," Tony smirked over, relaxing finally and leaning against a cupboard in the kitchen.

"Fun for you," Pepper frowned as she walked back down the corridor. "Those things scared the life out of me!" She said, glaring over at Tony.

"Sorry," Hermione apologised again quickly. "I didn't think anyone would be sending letters here yet." She said softly.

"Not your fault," Tony waved the comment away. "Not a big thing, really." He explained with a smile. "Ok, it's a bit weird, but we can deal." He nodded reassuringly to her. "Though phones and email, so much easier, and doesn't eat snacks either." He finished with a smirk.

"But they were cool," Ginny smiled eagerly, happy to have actually been around exotic birds like that that were far larger than the owls she'd grown up with.

"Ok, yeah, I'll give you that." Tony grinned over. "Heart attack aside, yes, that was very cool."

"You use birds like that to send mail?" Pepper asked, the shock now leaving her body as she saw Tony and the girls all seemingly fine with it, the two girls seemed like this was normal for them.

"Mostly owls," Hermione explained quietly.

"Really, it's fine." Tony said, seeing the hesitant look on Hermione's face. "I'll have someone set up a perch or something in the garden, then they can fly up there and not into the office." He explained with a smirk over to Pepper.

"That's why you have the little owl?" Pepper asked, remembering the girls little pet. "He carries letters for you?"

"He's my brothers really," Ginny explained with a bashful smile. "Mum told me to bring him along so we could write letters back to them."

"See, totally normal." Tony smirked. "Ok, normal for these two." He said with a grin. "So they ate some meat bits, how often do we get to see birds like that?" He asked.

"We could always just go to a zoo?" Pepper shot back, shaking her head in amusement.

"Not as fun," Tony frowned back. "Whatever," He muttered. "Breakfast, you need to eat." He said, nodding to Hermione. "Neither of you ate anything yesterday right?" He asked, remembering what Ginny had said.

"You didn't eat at all?" Pepper sighed. "You, out!" She ordered, stepping around Tony. "You make enough of a mess around here without destroying the kitchen too."

Tony just rolled his eyes as he walked past Pepper, swiping the two rolls of parchment from the counter and holding them out for Hermione. "Here you go." He said, handing them over. "School letters I guess?" He asked, looking down at the calligraphy on the parchment that spelled out Hermione's name. "Wait, how did the birds know how to bring them here?"

"Magic," Hermione said with a small smile.

"They're trained obviously," Pepper said, ignoring the obviously smart-ass remark of 'magic' that sounded like a reply Tony would give to something he didn't want to explain, missing the smile that passed between Tony and Hermione at her explanation. "I'll start breakfast, you all go and clean up while I get things started."

"Fine," Tony nodded, walking away from the kitchen area with the girls. "How you doing today?" He asked quietly, looking down to Hermione with a concerned look.

"I'll be ok," Hermione answered softly. "It's... I just..."

"I know," Tony said with a reassuring smile. "I'm here if you need to talk ok, if you need someone that understands." He explained.

"Thank you," Hermione nodded, accepting the offer of help for what it was. "I mean it, for... for everything."

"Anytime kid," Tony smiled over fondly. "Go on, get dressed, whatever Pepper's cooking will be ready whenever you are." He said with a smile as he watched Ginny and Hermione vanish back into their room and close the door behind them.

"Birds? Really?" Pepper demanded in a hushed voice when she saw the girls had gone back to their room. "Tony, what is going on here?" She demanded, still angry that Tony still hadn't explained what had happened to Hermione and why she was walking around without casts on her arm and leg after what had happened to her.

"I'll explain everything," Tony said quickly, holding up his hands in a surrender pose. "Ok, the girls will." He said as he thought about it. "This is all them, nothing to do with me!" He said firmly.

"Secrets, crazy things happening, scaring years off of me? She's definitely a Stark!" Pepper said with a frown, rolling her eyes as she walked back to the kitchen to try and make something suitable for them all to have for breakfast without causing the chaos in the kitchen she knew Tony would bring.

"Yeah, she is." Tony whispered in response as he smirked while Pepper left him to his thoughts.

The Ministry of Magic

Professor Minerva McGonagall did her best not to scowl and glare as she walked through the Ministry offices on her way to Pius Thicknesse' office, the weekend had not gone well at Hogwarts, with interference from The Ministry now at an all-time high.

Professor Dumbledore had been 'asked' to step down from The Wizengamot by The Minister, and she was fairly certain that it was only the first step in The Ministry's plan to devide Hogwarts from Albus. Between that news, and the news that The Ministry themselves would be appointing the new Defence Against the Dark Art's teacher for the upcoming year, something backed by the prominent pure-blood families on the Hogwarts' Board of Governors.

Rumour had reached her through sources she trusted in The Ministry that Dolores Umbridge was going to be taking the role, a thought that made her shiver inside at the image of that despicable woman teaching young minds.

"Minerva?"

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she strode into the Department of Magical Education, seeing Pius already waiting for her with Percy Weasley.

"Sorry Pius, a lot on my mind today." Minerva explained with a professional nod.

"So I've heard," Pius nodded in agreement. "You have the standard introduction ready for Mr Stark?" He asked, wondering if there were any books or papers that were normally brought along to help during a muggle introduction.

"Actually, not in this case," Minerva explained with a hesitant smile. "Over the weekend it seems Mr Stark learned about our world... well, an accident hastened his introduction shall we say?" She explained. "I have spoken briefly with him and would believe Miss Granger and Miss Weasley have explained things even further over the weekend."

"Ah, I see." Pius smiled. "I did speak to Arthur earlier on, he was planning on heading to see this Mr Stark himself today, so I invited him to join us. I hope that's alright?" He asked, missing the dark look that flittered over Percy's face at the mention of his father.

"Quite," Minerva nodded. "The youngest Weasley is staying with Mr Stark currently I believe, so I had expected for Arthur to take an interest in things."

"That and his love of the muggle world," Pius chuckled good naturedly. "You don't share Arthur's interest?" He asked, catching sight of Percy's stone-faced stance.

"Not entirely," Percy admitted diplomatically.

"Oh you should," Pius smiled. "Maybe not to Arthur's extent, but some of those muggle creations are rather splendid to watch." He explained.

"Shall we then?" Minerva asked, looking between Pius and Percy.

"Of course," Pius nodded. "Let's head down and fetch Arthur first, he tells me he's already been to Mr Stark's building, so he can lead us straight to him."

"A good idea," Minerva said thankfully as she followed Pius to the lift, having not been looking forward to trying to muddle through a muggle building to find Mr Stark and Hermione.

"You've met the man then?" Pius asked as he stepped into the lift, waiting for Minerva and Percy to join him before nodding to the attendant to close the golden grille. "Level Two." He said, waiting for the attendant to set them in motion before turning back to Minerva. "What's he like?"

"Mr Stark?" Minerva paused thoughtfully, thinking about her measure of the man she'd met before. "I'm not entirely sure, given how we met I would think he was still in shock given his rather forced introduction to things." She explained. "He handled things better than some, I'll give him that, and seemed rather open to things once everything had been explained to him."

"So one of the better introductions then?" Pius mused, having heard the horror stories before of muggles that fought tooth and nail against the idea of magic or sending their child to a magical school.

"Indeed," Minerva nodded in agreement. "The man's wealth… I'll admit, that did come as a surprise to be frank. I'm telling you this now so you aren't walking into the situation blind as I did."

"Oh?" Pius raised his eyebrow as the lift came to a halt, the attendant opening the golden grille professionally for them and stepping aside to let them out. "I remember Percy mentioning his wealth and influence."

"If anything, the word from MACUSA understated the facts." Minerva said diplomatically while nodding to Percy. "His resources far exceed anything I have experienced before Pius, I feel no shame in admitting that when he spoke of his wealth, I felt rather out of my depth."

Pius frowned at that. "Are we dealing with someone like Lucius Malfoy then? Intent on using his money to put him above everyone else?" He asked, dreading the thought if that was the case.

"No, I'd think not." Minerva admitted. "While the man did admit to transferring two million galleons alone solely for Miss Granger's use, a fact that should tell you what sort of resources Mr Stark has at his command, he did not use his wealth to put him above the Weasley family during the meeting, in fact, he seemed rather at ease in the Weasley living room talking with us."

"A good sign," Pius nodded, having caught sight of Percy who'd nearly choked when Minerva had mentioned the amount of money he'd transferred for Miss Granger. "Really though, two million galleons? Are you sure he wasn't exaggerating?"

"I think not," Minerva shook her head. "He is head of a large muggle company that spans the entire world. As you can imagine, the man's resources are quite frankly without compare." She explained. "It's rather thankful that he finds himself in good company with the Weasley family, I dread to think what a more unscrupulous family would do with resources like those available to them."

"Quite," Pius nodded as he led the way through level two of The Ministry, down towards the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office that Arthur Weasley led. "He's friendly with Arthur and Molly then?"

"Oh yes," Minerva smiled. "When I left them, they were sitting down for a meal together, I didn't want to intrude on such an occasion." She explained. "But he seemed rather at ease with both Arthur and Molly, to the degree where Miss Weasley is staying at Mr Stark's place in London, as I said to you before."

"Should take note of that Percy," Pius smiled over. "He might be a muggle, but anyone with those sorts of resources making friends with Arthur is going to be noticed pretty quickly." He explained with a laugh. "Arthur, you in there?" He asked loudly as he approached the office door for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, though 'office' was rather a grandiose term for the smallest area in the entire Ministry, he was actually certain that the cleaning elves had larger spaces set aside for brooms and dusting clothes.

"Pius!" Arthur smiled as he stepped out, Molly in tow behind him. "We were just getting ready to come up to you."

"Thought I'd save you the bother," Pius chuckled as he clapped Arthur on the shoulder. "Molly, good to see you again." He said, smiling over to her. "Minerva was just telling me about Mr Stark's visit to your house over the weekend." He explained.

"Oh yes, rather exciting I'll tell you." Arthur laughed then sobered up when he caught sight of Percy standing to the side. "Percy." He nodded sombrely.

"Thought it'd be good to have Percy along for this one," Pius explained, missing the dark looks between Percy and Arthur. "He's heading up the Department of International Magical Cooperation at the moment, and with Mr Stark's status as an American, this falls more under their jurisdiction than ours."

"Of course," Arthur nodded, it made sense why Percy was here, but it didn't make it any less awkward after their argument a few weeks back. He knew Percy had been avoiding him at The Ministry ever since he'd been promoted to Cornelius Fudge's junior assistant, a fact that had made things even more awkward when Minister Fudge had started a campaign to slander and discredit both Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter.

"Good to see you again Minerva," Molly broke through the awkward moment, smiling to her old professor.

"I trust things went well after I left?" Minerva asked curiously.

"Oh yes," Molly smiled happily. "I'm sure Tony had his share of questions for the girls when they left, reminds me more and more of Hermione the more I think about him." She said with a warm smile.

"I did rather get that impression," Minerva chuckled to herself. "It's fairly obvious now which side of the family Miss Granger takes after."

"Shall we then?" Pius asked, looking around the group to make sure everyone was ready. "Arthur, lead the way." He said, stepping aside for Arthur to take point.

"Of course," Arthur smiled over. "Apparating to Canary Wharf will be our first order, the quiet park there perhaps? Muggle lunch hours won't be for a while yet." He explained.

"Excellent idea," Pius nodded. "Are you familiar with the area?" He asked, looking to Minerva and Molly when Percy nodded back to him.

"Not entirely," Minerva admitted.

"A side along then," Pius mused, offering his arm to Minerva when Molly took Arthur's arm. "See you there." He said with a nod while he turned his hand on the spot, causing himself and Minerva to vanish with a quiet pop, followed shortly by Percy, Arthur and Molly.

Stark Apartment

"You know that's disturbing right?" Tony asked, eyeing the Furry Book of Doom from his seat where he'd finished off the breakfast Pepper had cooked for them all, watching as both of the girls had happily settled for some bacon and sausage sandwiches, though Hermione had only picked at hers, with a few small bites, while he'd joined with Pepper in having eggs and toast with theirs.

"What?" Hermione asked, looking around to see what Tony was looking at and then her eyes going wide as she caught side of the book. "What happened to it?" She asked in shock, moving from the table to examine the Monster Book of Monsters, frowning at the way it had been tied up and attacked with nails as well as being scorched in several places.

"It attacked me!" Tony defended himself quickly. "Seriously, why's it moving around and growling like that?" He asked.

"I thought that was one of your tricks?" Pepper asked hesitantly, she'd seen the note Tony had left and just assumed the book was something stupid he was working on for one reason or another, making sense of Tony's projects was something she'd given up on a long time ago.

"Not mine," Tony said, shaking his head.

"It's mine," Ginny admitted. "It was our third-year text book for Care of..." She trailed off, realising Pepper didn't know anything yet.

"Care of Monsters?" Tony smirked. "I got that from the cover when it tried to eat me." He explained.

"What did you do to it?" Hermione asked in shock, stroking the spine gently to reassure the poor book and untie the wire that was wrapped tightly around it.

"It attacked me!" Tony said quickly. "I only got away because I had a the repulsor gauntlet close by." He explained. "The nailgun seemed to shut it up afterwards."

"You poor thing," Hermione said softly, tossing the wire aside so she could work on slowly pulling the nails out of the book while stroking it gently. "You could have killed it." She whispered, fixing Tony with a glare.

"It tried to eat me!" Tony quipped back.

"The book tried to eat you?" Pepper asked in shock, turning around to watch Hermione more cautiously now.

"He won't hurt you again, don't worry." Hermione said gingerly as she continued to pull the nails out.

"Sorry, I should have told you about that one," Ginny explained from her seat at the table. "I forgot we packed it actually, we just grabbed all my school books so Hermione could go through them with you."

"Right," Tony nodded at that, accepting the explanation. "Ok, might have been my fault," He said hesitantly, ruffling his hair with his hands. "I kinda went into the bags while you guys were asleep, I got curious." He admitted.

"Tony!" Pepper glared over, slapping his arm.

"I learned my lesson," Tony said quickly. "I'm not going anywhere near anything else those two bring in here." He said firmly. 'At least, not without the full Iron Man suit on anyway.' He added in his head.

"Sir, you have visitors waiting in reception." JARVIS' voice announced, breaking into the conversation. "Mr and Mrs Weasley, along with three others."

"What time is it?" Tony asked, standing up from the table.

"Two minutes to eleven sir." JARVIS responded.

"Probably your professor and whoever else she brought," Tony mused aloud. "Ok, I'll head down to meet them." He said thoughtfully. "You two want to head upstairs, we can use the next floor up for this." He explained, looking to Hermione and Ginny.

"Ok," Hermione nodded after a moment's pause, collecting the Monster Book of Monsters to carry with her.

"Use the stairs," Tony explained, pointing over to the spiral staircase that led up from the living room to the event hall that dominated the next floor up. "I'll bring everyone up to you guys." He said as he walked off down the corridor to the elevator.

"What's going on?" Pepper asked, looking around and still frowning at the furry book that Hermione was carrying that was now almost purring and gurgling in her arms.

"One of my professors from school wanted to speak to Mr... to Tony," Hermione explained hesitantly.

"Oh, ok," Pepper smiled at that, happy that Tony had at least taken on board what she'd said about sorting out Hermione's continued education and had planned something out for a meeting. "I've got some work to finish off now the birds aren't bothering me anymore, I'll be in the office if you need anything, ok?"

"We'll be fine," Hermione smiled back, feeling bad about keeping everything a secret from Pepper for now.

"Ok, I hope everything goes well." Pepper smiled over. "Leave the plates and things, I'll have someone clear everything up." She explained before heading back to the office to continue on with her days work she'd started before being interrupted.

"Have you been upstairs yet?" Hermione whispered to Ginny as they both walked through to the living room area, noting that the couches were still in position where Tony had moved them to while they were having pizza on Saturday.

"No," Ginny said, shaking her head as they reached the spiral staircase, heading up it slowly while her eyes were automatically drawn to the view outside the large windows that looked over the entire city.

Hermione nodded at that, heading up the stairs behind Ginny, wondering what Professor McGonagall was going to say and how everything would go now that Tony knew about magic and Hogwarts.