Chapter 4: Bye, Tiny Tom
Thanks for the reviews. I keep trying for that crackish slant, but my muse keeps going for drama. Well, we'll see who wins.
I'm giving Goose a few extras, because this is fanfiction, and I can.
Also, to toot my own horn, for those of you that like Goose, I do have a one-shot that I did with him. It's called Goose in the Neighborhood.
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Later that night, after Ivy and Pepper went to bed, Tony and Goose had a bit of a talk. "So, how do you know about magicals?" Tony asked since it had been bugging him all day.
"Really? I am a teleporting, dimensional hopping, alien cat, and you want to know how I know about a subgroup of humans?" the cat said, yawning and stretching from his place on the couch. "Fine. Have it your way. I ran into a half-giant that tried to keep me as a pet," the alien confessed. "I'll admit I was tempted, but I decided to research about his people first. It was hard, they are not in the mainstream information flow. I had to get into the hidden society first." He stopped there, and just yawned. He really didn't feel like explaining it all. The man could do his own research. Goose would point him in the right direction.
"Can you tell me where this hidden society is? I can get some books or something. To help Ivy adjust to that lifestyle when she is introduced to it," Tony asked, not sure if that would ever happen, but wanting to be prepared. He pulled up a hologram of Ivy sleeping to entice the cat to helping him.
"I can," Goose said as he looked at the sleeping girl. He then settled further into his comfortable position. He may not be a real cat, but by all the gods he did like to act like one. "I'll tell you how to get there in the morning," he offered.
"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Tony asked, hoping for some inside info.
"There's something on Ivy's back that I need to get rid of," the non-cat said, his eyes glinting in the artificial lights. "It's repulsive and it should not be marring such a sweet child," he said, looking at Tony, then back at the sleeping child.
"I saw it on the scans that Jarvis did of her aura. It's a black mark. Do you know what it is?" Tony asked, hoping the cat knew how to get rid of it. Pepper had mentioned a scar on Ivy's back that she had seen when she helped the girl get ready for bed. They had made an appointment with a doctor to take a look at it in two days' time.
"Not completely, but I know it is evil and it doesn't belong," Goose said, then he got up and stretched. "We can go and take care of it now. I'd rather do this when the rest of you humans are asleep. I do warn you not to shout when I do," he stated, knowing how humans reacted when he ate something in their presence. There was that one girl who liked to feed him strange things, but normal humans reacted differently. Mostly in fear.
"Why? What is going to happen?" the man asked, following the cat as it made its way to Ivy's room.
"I need you to expose her back," Goose said instead of answering.
"Mr. Tony?" Ivy said, waking up a bit at people being in her room. She rubbed her little eyes with the back of her tiny hands. It was adorable. She blinked those huge green eyes at the pair that came and woke her up. Those sweet innocent eyes. "Mr. Goose?"
"It's okay, Ivy," Tony said, picking her up, sitting on the bed, and placing her on his lap. "There's something on your back that Goose said he can get rid of," he said, rubbing her back and the scar there. It was shaped like a lightening bolt. It was about two inches long, which was quite large on a small girl's back.
"You're talkin' 'bout my scar. My Aunt Petunia loved that scar. She said I deserved it," Ivy said, looking saddened at her aunt's spiteful words. "She said I got it when my mum and dad died," she added, looking behind her shoulder like she could see the scar if she turned her head enough.
"Well, Goose said he can get rid of what's in the scar. Maybe if he does that, it'll get smaller," Tony said, feeling how large the scar was through her pajama top.
"Really, Mr. Goose?" Ivy asked, looking to the cat for confirmation.
"Yes," was all the non-cat said, licking its paw.
"Thank you, Mr. Goose," Ivy said, getting off Tony's lap and going to hug the cat. "That is very nice of you," she added, giving him an extra squeeze, which he bore with ill grace. He really hated to be cuddled.
"I need you to expose your scar, so sit on Tony's lap again and lift your shirt up. Look away, I don't want you to see me do this. It is quite scary," Goose said, looking at Tony to get her to comply.
"Silly Mr. Goose, I will never be scared of you," that sweet innocent child said, giving him one more hug.
"Come here, little bug," Tony said, holding out his arms, which she gladly ran to. He firmly placed her on his lap facing his chest. He then lifted the back of her pajama shirt and exposed the scar, which looked inflamed and new.
"You might want to look away," advised Goose, still sitting there as calm as could be.
"I'll be okay," Tony said, thinking there wasn't anything the cat could do to spook him.
"So be it," the non-cat said, then opened its mouth and tentacles, with extra mouths of teeth and suction cups, shot out and went everywhere. They were pink and purple in color. There was no way that mass of tentacles came out of that tiny cat. They seemed to take up the entire room. In the center of one of them came a tongue that was coming straight for Ivy's back. It shot forward and hit the little girl's back and made a sucking sound and then shot back into the mass, and then all of the tentacles and tongues retracted back into the non-cat's mouth. The non-cat started licking his paw again.
Ivy giggled like it tickled. Her laughter made Tony start.
It took all of Tony's courage and strength not to shout out and scare Ivy. That had to be the most disturbing thing he had seen in quite a while. He had seen things like it on the movie screens, but in real life… not so much. The closest thing he could think of was Alien, but there was more with Goose's tentacles. He'd wager that if those two met that Goose would be the victor. Shaking his head from those thoughts, and desperately wanting a drink, he looked at Ivy's back. He noted that the scar already looked much thinner and more healed.
"You got it then?" Tony asked, hoping for a positive answer. He didn't want to go through that again. It was unnerving enough the first time, but at least he knew the cat would eat anyone who bothered Ivy.
"Have your AI scan it, just to be safe," Goose suggested, but he was sure it was all gone. And now that he had a taste of the man, he would keep his nose out for him. That was only a sliver of his soul, so the rest of him had to be somewhere.
"Jarvis?" the billionaire asked the empty room as he put the shirt down and settled Ivy on his lap, facing forward this time.
"It seems to be gone," the AI said, doing the scan twice and popping the hologram in the room to show only a golden aura surrounding Ivy's image.
"Wow, that's pretty," Ivy said, looking at the picture that was in the middle of the room.
"That's your magic," Goose said, jumping on the bed and going to the foot of it.
"My magic is pretty," Ivy said, reaching out as if to touch it.
"It's just a picture of it," Tony said, standing and lifting her up. "Time for you to go back to bed. We're going to go to the magic world tomorrow," he added, laying her down and tucking the covers around her.
"But, I'm not tired now," Ivy protested. "Tell me a story," she said, opening her eyes wide and looking at him persuasively.
"Put the eyes away," Tony said, sitting on the side of the bed. "Jarvis, download a story to my phone," he said, pulling said phone out and going to the correct app.
"Yes, sir," Jarvis said, selecting a princess story and sending it to the reading app.
So, Tony Stark read Ivy Harriet Potter a story, or three, that night until she fell asleep.
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The next morning, Natasha called him back. He was in his room, so he was alone, but for Goose, who was telling him how to get to Diagon Alley. Pepper was getting Ivy ready.
"What can I do for you this morning, madam?" he asked as he buttoned up his shirt. She was being projected via Jarvis, but he didn't mind getting dressed in front of others.
"Lily and James Potter were killed by a terrorist name, get this, Voldemort," Natasha said, reading off her tablet. "I couldn't get much more information. Its all redacted, and I don't have that kind of clearance. If I dig deeper, it's my job," she finished, putting the tablet down and giving him that look that said it was up to him now.
"I have a feeling I know why it was redacted. I'll let you all know about it when we get stateside. I don't want to say it on the phone. No matter how secure the line is," Tony said, sitting on a chair and slipping on his shoes. "You're going to love it, though."
"Sounds fun," came the sarcastic reply. Anything that was fun to Tony was taken with a grain of salt.
"Trust me," Tony said as he got up and adjusted his cuffs. "Anything we need to know about?" he asked, wanting to get the day started.
"No, we got the room set up. You'll love it. When do you think you'll be back?" Natasha asked, sitting down on a chair, and folding her legs under her. She was much more relaxed in the tower than she was anywhere else. Her life was a stressful one and she loved that she had somewhere to unwind.
"Should be a week more with the paperwork. Not even my money can move it faster," Tony said, reaching down and picking up Goose, who glared at him.
"Is that a cat?" the redhead asked extremely curious. First a kid, now a cat. These were so far out of the norm for Tony.
"Nope," Tony said with all honesty. "This is Goose," he said, making one of Goose's paws wave at the hologram.
"If it were not for Ivy Harriet, I'd gut you," Goose threatened him, and jumped from his arms and left the room.
"He doesn't like to be held." Tony said, going to the bedside table and grabbing his watch. "We're off. I'll call you when we're on our way back to the states," he said, then waved the hologram off.
He then departed the room. He found Ivy and Pepper ready and waiting.
"You might want to put a hat on her," Goose advised, while Pepper was getting her purse, looking at the cute little face.
"Why?" Tony asked, trying to remember if they had a hat her size.
"She's as popular as you are, in the magical world," was the answer.
"Shit. That's not good," Tony said, not wanting to deal with fans today. "Do we have a hat for Ivy?" he asked Pepper when she returned to the room.
"We bought a few sunhats," she said, not sure why he was asking.
"Seems that our little bug is popular," he explained, going towards Ivy's room.
"How popular?" the CEO wanted to know, following him and going to the walk-in closet. She grabbed a hat that went with the little girl's outfit, which was another shorts suit. It was purple with fairies and flowers. The light purple sunhat would go well with it.
"You look edible," Tony said, pretending to eat Ivy's hand. "She's as popular as me," he answered Pepper's question, who nodded and sighed. She didn't bother asking how he knew.
"Mr. Tony, you can't eat people," Ivy squealed, snatching her hand back and laughing.
"Do you know where we are going?" Pepper asked as they left the apartment and went to the elevators.
"Yes, my source says we're to go to Charing Cross Road. Happy has it mapped out already," Tony assured her as they rode the elevator down. They met Happy in the garage and got into the limo. Ivy loved poking around in the overly large car. She pushed all the buttons and moved from one seat to another just to play with what was in different areas.
"Ivy, please stay seated," Pepper said, not liking that she was jumping around the back of the car.
"Yes, ma'am," Ivy said, finally settling near the mini-icebox. "Can I have something to drink?" she asked, peaking in the icebox.
"How about after we leave, so you don't have to use the little girls' room while we're out," Pepper suggested, not knowing if there were any restrooms in the magical area. She would hope there were, but best not take the chance.
"Okay, Miss Pepper," Ivy said, beaming brightly at the reasonable suggestion. She didn't want to have to go potty in public.
"We're almost there," Happy said from the front. He rolled down the divider and Ivy sat up to her fullest height and looked out the front window. "I don't see the Leaky Cauldron though," he said, looking around for the said pub.
"I see it," Ivy said, not being able to read the large words like Cauldron, but seeing a sign that had a big pot that was indeed leaking. Goose told her that was what she was to look for.
"Put your hat on, Ivy," Tony said, grabbing said hat from the seat next to him.
"Yes, Mr. Tony," Ivy said, putting the hat on her head. Pepper leaned over and put a few hairpins in the hat to secure it.
"Happy, drop us off at the record store. We should be about… well, give us two hours," Tony said, looking at his watch.
"Yes, sir," Happy said, pulling up to the curb and double parking so he could let them out. Horns honked behind them, but they soon went around the vehicle. Everyone exited, and Happy drove away.
Ivy took both the adults' hands and drug them to the Leaky Cauldron. Tony followed Goose's advice and talked to Tom the bartender and got let in Diagon Alley. The three of them stood in awe.
"Wow," Ivy said, looking around at everything from under the bridge of her floppy hat. It shaded her eyes and made it difficult to see her face. She really wanted to take it off, but Mr. Tony didn't want her to.
"Okay, I need to get money first. I think that's the bank up there," Tony said as he led them to the large white building. It just screamed money to him. Their first encounter with the goblins was memorable.
Ivy squealed and rushed to the guard. "You are so cute," she said, taking the guard and hugging him, spear and all.
"Miss, you can't hug the guard. He is on duty," the other guard said, chuckling at his coworker's misfortune. It rarely happened, but every now and then, someone's child thought the goblins were 'cute'.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Mr.…" Ivy said, backing off and brushing down the startled goblin.
"Garbling. My name is Garbling," the goblin stated, looking at Ivy like she was the strangest thing ever. Then Ivy looked at him with those innocent eyes. "You are forgiven, Miss…" he said, leadingly.
"Ivy Harriet," Ivy said, smiling brightly, making the goblin smile too, though there was nothing bright about it.
"Miss Potter?" the goblin asked, looking at his fellow guard.
Ivy nodded as Tony came up and put a hand on each of her shoulders.
"We're trying to keep that on the downlow," the billionaire said, speaking softly. He hoped they understood that they didn't want the attention.
"I need to speak to my supervisor," Garbling said, rushing into the bank.
"Are we going to have problems?" Tony asked the other guard, who waved the trio out of the way. There were people waiting to get into the bank.
"No, nothing like that. Our manager just needs to clarify some things with Miss Potter," the guard said, bowing a family of magicals in. "There is nothing to worry about," he added, though he was not overly confidence inducing.
"Can we go in and exchange some money?" Tony asked not wanting to waste time just standing around.
"Sure," the guard said, waving them in.
The trio went to the exchange counter and traded muggle money for galleons. A lot of money was swapped. Tony wanted to purchase as many books as possible to get them scanned into Jarvis. That way his AI could compute what they had to look forward to.
They waited in the lobby for the supervisor and were soon awarded for their patience. A goblin came up to them and bade them to follow him. Soon they were in a room with another goblin who was a bit taller than the others.
"Miss Potter, I was concerned that I might miss you," the goblin said, putting out his hand to shake.
Ivy took it and smiled her brilliant smile at him. "I am pleased to meet you, Mr.…" she said, wondering why the goblins never introduced themselves right away.
"Ragnuk," the goblin said, nodding to the chairs for everyone to sit.
"This is Mr. Tony and Miss Pepper," Ivy said, indicating each person in turn.
"What can we do for you, Ragnuk?" Tony asked as he sat in one of the chairs.
"I merely wish to know what we are to do with all the fan mail?" the goblin asked as if this was a minor problem that was growing into a major one.
"Fan mail? Really?" Tony asked, knowing he got mail, but it was handled by a Public Relations firm.
"Yes, it is getting too much. We can't keep it in the vault much longer," Ragnuk stated, folding his hands and putting them in his lap.
"Does the wizarding world have a PR company?" the billionaire asked, rubbing his forehead as if he knew he wasn't going to like the answer.
"What is a PR?"
"Nevermind. Do you know of any wizards or goblins that need work? They can answer the mail for Ivy and send us the stuff that's important. I will pay a good salary," Tony said as Pepper whipped out her phone and started taking notes.
"We can assign some goblins to the post. How would you want them answered?" Ragnuk asked intrigued.
"I'll send you some standard form letters," Tony said, thinking of printing viable ones off the internet. "How do magicals receive mail?" he asked, sure they weren't on the regular postal routes.
"Owls," was the answer.
"Owls?" Tony asked, rubbing his forehead again. "As in the birds?"
"Owls," was repeated.
"Fine, we'll get an owl," Tony said, making Ivy squeal and bounce.
"You are one cute kid," Ragnuk said, looking at the little girl with red curls and huge green eyes. She had shed her floppy sunhat when they came into the room.
"Am I really getting post?" she asked wide-eyed. She couldn't fathom why people would want to write to her.
"Yes, but your Mr. Tony is going to pay us to make sure it's safe to send to you," Ragnuk said, not wanting any vicious letters to get to this charming little girl.
"Thank you, Mr. Tony, Mr. Ragnuk," Ivy said, beaming a smile at both of them.
"You're welcome," they both said.
"Well, if that is all, we need to get going." Pepper said, getting up and putting her phone away. She was more than ready to get some books for Ivy and herself. She knew that Tony was ready to leave too.
"It was nice to meet you, Mr. Ragnuk," Ivy said, getting up and hugging the goblin, who looked shocked at being manhandled by a human child.
"The pleasure was mine, child," he said, patting her back, where he knew the famous scar was. Though, it felt much smaller than it was reported to be.
"Ragnuk," Tony said with a nod.
"Tony," Ragnuk said, nodding back.
"Men," Pepper said as she took Ivy's hand, after she made sure the girl had her hat back on her head. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Ragnuk," she said as she left. They walked down the hall and into the lobby.
"Bye, goblins," Ivy called to all of the goblins as they left the bank. She waved behind her as they stepped out of the bank and into Diagon Alley.
The goblins weren't sure what to say, so they just waved and stared. What a strange child, but she was cute. For a human.