I stared, bewildered that the man who was supposed to be my father, clearly had no idea what happened all those years ago.
My mum is dead and has been for quite a while now. The same with James, and yet here my father sits in front of me and is under the impression that everything is just fine. What a cruel joke played on him.
My eyes water and I look down at my lap, unsure how to break the news to him without being blunt. However, Tony Stark was known to be a genius and it didn't take him long to figure out what had happened to Mum and James once he received my wordless answer.
"O- oh…" Tony mumbles in a broken tone and I look up to study him. He was sat back against the chair, running a hand through his hair as he avoids looking at me.
"How long?" he eventually asks.
"Do you really want to know?" I smile sadly as the dam behind my eyes finally breaks again. All I've done the last few days is cry, and honestly, I don't want to continue doing so.
I just want to feel happy, get to know my father and godmother, make some new friends and spend time with my soulmate.
I want a normal life, where nobody is after me and I could do whatever I want without fear of repercussion from judgemental people.
"Yes…" Tony whispers and I just about manage to choke out how long it's been since their deaths, how long it's been since I grew up with nothing but lies told to my face.
"I wasn't even a year old."
Tony looks at me this time, his eyes blood-shot and rimmed with unshed tears.
"I'm sorry." I mumble to him and he shakes his head and leans over the table, towards me.
"No," he frowns as a single tear runs down his cheek. "I should be the one saying sorry. Honestly, I had no idea. Lily had gotten a letter from someone she trusted, letting her know that there was a prophecy regarding some Dark Lord and a child born at the end of July. Everyone who knew about Lily's pregnancy, feared that you may be the child the prophecy foretold." I watch as Tony exhales shakily and wipes the tears on his face away before continuing.
"James, your Godfather, offered her refuge in the cottage he was currently residing at and that, thanks to some magic spell, nobody would know the location of it and you would both be safe. She accepted, obviously and I didn't hold her back. If losing my family meant they would be safer elsewhere, well… you'd be stupid not to do it." he sighs.
"The thing is… as the years went by, I assumed the war was still ongoing. I wasn't given any information of how things were after your mother left me and to this day, I assumed you had grown up, safe and happy but still in hiding. Not knowing things hurt and to drown out my feelings, I did many things I'm not proud of and even now, old habits die hard. But I promise, I will do my best to have a Father-Daughter relationship with you, if you'd like, and you can count on me to help you through whatever hardship you face either now or in the future."
I swallow the lump in my throat and blink away the rest of my tears before slowly asking if I can hug him. Tony- No, Dad, nods and I get up from my wheelchair with a wobble.
It takes me a minute to steady myself and we meet at the head of the table. Hesitantly, I wrap my arms around his waist and my damp face meets the black, classic rock t-shirt he wore. As soon as my father's arms wrap around my small and skinny body, I can't help but cry my eyes out because this is all I have wanted since I saw the relationship between Dudley and his parents.
Dad places one of his hands on top of my head and shushes me, though I know he is currently crying too since his tears would land on top of me and I could hear the occasional sniffle.
We stay in that position for the next five minutes until I have finally calmed down. I pull away from my father and quickly apologize for the state of his shirt, which I ruined with my tears. He wipes his eyes and waves me off, saying that he could easily pay for another.
I nod in understanding, before I am interrupted by my stomach rumbling. My cheeks flare in embarrassment and Dad laughs.
"Do you want something to eat before we continue? I understand that you probably feel tired as well, but I still need to know what happened to you earlier. It might benefit you if the team was present also, that way you won't have to repeat yourself later."
"Um… I guess that would okay, but I recommend maybe getting some tissues ready." Dad looks at me alarmed, so I quickly explain that it's because I might cry again. His mouth parts in understanding and he wraps an arm around my shoulder as we both walk out of the meeting room and back towards the living room.
We practically bump into Bruce and Theo on the way there and Dad explains that we're getting some food before the meeting and that the rest of the team will be joining us.
"Huh, okay then." Bruce said before he points at our faces. "You guys look…"
"We know." Dad and I say simultaneously. I'm pretty sure both of our cheeks are flushed in embarrassment and I quickly slip out of my father's arms and go to check on Theo.
"How's your head?" I ask as we all begin walking again. The mousey-haired Slytherin stays quiet for a moment before answering.
"Fine, I guess. Are you okay?"
"Apart from crying again for like the billionth time, I think so."
"Okay." He mumbles before gently connecting our hands together. I sigh and squeeze his tightly. The guilt of how I acted towards him earlier begins to play on my mind, but… I didn't want to answer his question. He practically already knew anyway!
Nevertheless, I decide to apologize.
"Theo, I'm sorry about earlier. I just… didn't think it was important to tell the Dursleys where I was." I mumble quietly so the adults can't hear us.
Theo sighs in response. "Mari, it's okay. What's done is done, I shouldn't have expected anything less anyway. From what I've heard, your relatives are not the nicest of muggles."
I can't help but snort, "Not the nicest is an understatement. You make them sound like they're just rude." A concerned look appears on his face, but before he can say anything in reply, Dad interrupts us.
"So, we usually have Chinese on Thursday nights, but we can do Pizza instead if you both want?"
The both of us turn to face Bruce and Tony, Theo's concern developing into confusion whilst my mouth watered at the sound of the takeaway food I've never had the chance to try.
"Pizza? What's that?" Theo asks, his face scrunching up slightly.
He's joking, right?" Dad asks me with a hint of shock on his face. I silently shake my head and suppress a giggle when he leans on Bruce dramatically.
Oh My- Bruce, I think I'm going to faint."
"Oh, come off it, Tony." Bruce rolls his eyes and continues walking towards the living room, leaving my dad to say hello to the plush, Russian grey carpet with his face.
I can't help but burst out laughing at him this time, removing myself from Theo's grip so I can help my goof-ball of a father out. I was oblivious to the rare smile that had spread across my soulmate's face as I help steady my dad to his feet.
Dad lets out a breath, saying something snarky to Bruce about letting him fall before we all take off towards the living room again so that we could order some food.
I couldn't keep the smile off of my face, because my heart felt like it was going to burst from happiness. Despite all of the pain the Dursleys, my so-called friends and family, and Dumbledore, the ring leader of it all, had put me through, I wouldn't let anything spoil this dinner with my father, his friends and my soulmate tonight.
I finally have the family I was longing for all these years, and I would tear the wizarding world apart if they dared attempt to take it from me.
A/N: I apologize if you needed tissues, this was probably just as emotional as Endgame! (Or not. Nothing could beat Endgame... Except, maybe the deaths in Infinity War, or Newt's demise in the third Maze Runner movie. THNKS FR TH MMRS.) - Seraphic :)