DISCLAIMER

Last I checked, I'm not a humongous-ly rich blonde Brit. I'm a broke-ass brunette, student-waitress paying for a room in Canada with an unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter. Thus, I do not own the franchise or the characters, sadly.

I also don't own Marvel. I wish I do though.

I'm on a roll! I'm still on excess motivation from my recent muse and a sweet review from Arodri, so here's another chapter.

WARNING

Mention of physical and sexual abuse

If you don't want to read such, these friends would help you, -(o_O)- -(O_o)-

You're going to see me on breaks, btw -.-zzz

Remus fidgeted in the passenger seat of Tony's car. Seeing Harry was a great idea at first, but as they came nearer their destination, Remus began having doubts. What if Harry wouldn't like him? What if Harry questioned his absence from his life? What if he's become the stuck-up prick that James was in their younger years? What if Harry couldn't look at him?

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Tony quipped from the backseat. He's holding up a glass of water and swirling it like brandy. Pepper apparently has a no alcoholic drinks rule in the car. Thus to satisfy old habits, Tony grabbed a bottle of water from the upgraded car's built-in cooler and poured himself a glass. "Is what I would say if I were a Brit," he continued, "But since I'm American, I'd say 'What's got your thong in a throng?'"

The two 'teenagers' at the front snickered at the joke, while Pepper smacked Tony's shoulder and confiscated his drink. "Clearly, water is enough to intoxicate you," she said, earning a pout from the man-child. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked Remus as she gave back Tony's drink, which he shielded away from Pepper.

Remus chuckled, "I'm just thinking that tagging along with you might be a bad idea."

Pepper's brows furrowed, "Why so?"

"Well," he started, "I wouldn't know how Harry would react."

"You think that he'll hate you?" Tony asked.

Remus shrugged and theatrically raised a hand, "Lo and behold! I am your parents' friend from the grave. I came to check if you're still breathing and wouldn't stake a silver knife at me."

"I never pinned you out as Shakespeare," Tony mused, "but you will never out-drama me." With that, Tony raised his hands as he tilted his head up, making both Pepper roll her eyes and Happy shake his head.

"Come on," he continued as he scooted to the edge of the seat, "he's only 12 right? When I was 12, I was too focused on my toys to bother about adults."

"Only because your toys were actual robots and college girls, Tony." Happy quipped.

"Meh, same thing." Tony dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Pepper adjusted her posture to look closer at Remus, "Andrew, it doesn't matter. Whatever happens, we know you're there for Harry. I've seen the records. I saw how you tried to gain custody of Harry, how tried to look for him, how you managed to save up for him despite your setbacks. He'll understand. Children are very resilient after all."

Remus shot her a smile through the mirror. She's right. No matter what happens, Harry had been a part of his life despite his absence in his. He will still try to win over Harry, whatever it takes. For Lily and James. "Thanks, Ms. Potts."

"Call me Pepper," she said with a smile.

He smiled back, saying, "Remus."

"And I'm Tony, and this is Happy," Tony interjected, indicating himself and Happy with the hand that held his pretend scotch. With a huff, he continued, "And stop flirting with my girlfriend, Winston!"

The car occupants laughed, leading to lighter topics and a more assured Remus.

-.- zzz

"Mr. Stark will be arriving in a minute!" Vernon postulated as he pranced in the parlor. Petunia was fussing over a preening Dudley's coat as Harry awkwardly stood to the side thinking that Mr. Stark must be stupid to associate with Vernon.

"Now," Vernon started, clapping his meaty hands together, "let's review the roles. Pet?"

Petunia flounced around the room saying, "I'd be in the lounge waiting to welcome our guests to our home."

"Wonderful!" Vernon beamed, "Dudley?"

"I'd be answering the door and taking their coats to the rack." He pompously replied to the prompt as he waved his hand in a supposed graceful way.

"Excellent!" Vernon complimented with a clap. Turning to Harry, he sneered, "And you?"

Harry inwardly rolled his eyes and replied, "I'd be upstairs, in my room, making no noise, pretending I don't exist, and not ruin your evening. Might as well kill myself actually. Eternal silence and all."

Vernon threateningly strode towards him, his hands in fists. "I'm warning you boy," he said, "Any funny business, and you'd be wishing you were." And with that, the doorbell rang. The Dursleys jolted and resumed their graceful aura, as close as they can get that is. "Everyone, places, places!" he mock whispered as he shooed everyone away.

-.-zzz

"Tacky place, ain't it?" Tony observed as they drove by the driveway of 4 Privet Drive.

"Nothing less from Petunia, I believe." Remus replied, "I can't believe I've never been here before. I swear I knew this place."

Tony hummed and checked with Jarvis for the place. "It's this place, all right."

"I sense a foreign energy around the property, sir," Jarvis reported.

"Probably the wards," Remus answered Tony's unasked question, "There might be a ward to only allow people who are welcomed by the Dursleys."

"That extends to you then," Pepper mused, "as we, the welcomed visitors, invited you to join us."

"This voodoo stuff is kinda freaking me out." Happy shuddered as he parked the car in the driveway. Remus merely smirked as he got out of the car to open Pepper's door, holding his hand out for her.

"Aww. Thanks, Remus." Pepper cooed and shot Tony a look, "Isn't he sweet, Tony?"

Tony grumbled as he got out from the other door, "Keep earning Pepper Points and I'll deduct that from your salary." Pepper swatted his arm as he came up to her, Tony then grabbed her hand and gave her a twirl, dipping her. "Sweeter than this, Pepperoni?" he huskily whispered into a blushing Pepper's ear. She merely rolled her eyes and swatted him again as she extracted herself from his hold. "Yes, Tony. You're sweet enough." She said sarcastically, giving him a soft peck on the lips.

"You heard that, right?" Tony turned to Remus with a smirk as he fixed his suit, "If I'd go any sweeter, Pepper would be needing insulin." In response, Remus held both his hands up with a chuckle. "Right," Tony continued, "Happy, better come join us in for the drama. Don't want to retell that and all. Oh wait, I have my assistant to do that for me. Wink, wink. Or better yet, I need both of you there to join us for you to tell me again later how awesome I am." With that, he swaggered towards the door.

The men sniggered as they followed after Pepper. "Did he just say 'Wink, wink'?" Happy whispered to Remus. Thus, the sniggering doubled between them with a smiling Pepper acting oblivious. "Clearly, I'm the only adult around here," she thought to herself.

-.-zzz

"Mr. Stark," Dudley opened the door and bowed low. If she was being honest with herself, her son is doing it over the top a bit. "Please, join me in the lounge," he continued as he led the guests over to where she waited. "Brat didn't even acknowledge the others. Did I really give birth to that?" she grumbled to herself internally, keeping a smile on her face.

Petunia was not pleased with how her life had led, all because of a stupid grudge she had for her sister and that horrible hook-nosed bastard of a drunk. She could have been out there, with Brandon, her college sweetheart, with two or three little angels running about in his parent's old cottage. But no, because Lily had to get herself engaged to a handsome fellow. And not just any handsome fellow, but a wealthy young lord as well. Luck does favor Lily. With her sister's engagement, their parents pressured her into getting married soon as she was older. With that, her already steaming grudge over how perfect Lily was boiled over.

That lousy Snape didn't help matters by storming over to their parent's house one night drunkenly looking and simpering for Lily. He didn't fail to part harsh words that made her run away crying to her dorm, which led to a bar-hopping frenzy with her girl friends that ended with her the next morning in Vernon Dursley's bed and getting herself pregnant. As expected, Brandon didn't take it well, an understatement, and left overseas. Petunia then had to marry the bastard Dursley. Although, she secretly enjoyed the horrors her brother-in-law and his friends unleashed on the man at their wedding.

-(o_O)- WARNING START-(O_o)-

Now, she has to be the conforming perfect housewife to her lump of a husband, or else he'd abuse her or leave her to the streets like he did when they were still starting out. She managed to get home after, and when she did, Vernon hit her repeatedly even in her state. He promised he will do worse and would kill her one day if she didn't obey his orders. She had no choice as her parents died a few weeks after her and her sister's respective weddings when their childhood home burnt down, and her sister was out of reach.

Her greatest relief and despair came the next year as the bundle that was left on her doorstep the night Lily died. Vernon tried to do away with Harry despite her begging. What stopped him was a Gandalf-like fellow who appeared and did a bit of magic on Vernon which cowered him, and the one grand that he would receive monthly for taking in Harry. She would later know the man as Dumbledore. Vernon's abuses mellowed a bit since then and he had trusted her enough to buy stuff for the house on weekly stipends. However, she was not given anything for Harry, thus she had to make as few purchases for him as possible to dissuade the wrath of her husband.

Harry was a delight to have. He was a cheerful and curious boy who loved to show affection and doesn't whine, unlike her own son. What pained her the most is how she was supposed to act horribly on her only link to her former family, which led to their falling out. She used to breastfeed the little tyke. She remembered how Harry's eyes, Lily's, would look at her lovingly. Oh, how she mourned for her sister and their missed chances, all because of her petty grudge. Vernon once caught her playing with Harry in the very lounge she was in as Dudley slept on the couch and dragged her by her hair to their room after locking Harry in the cupboard under the stairs. It was one of her most notable nights of torture. Thankfully, Vernon could not physically hurt Harry due to the wards in place at their property. He once attempted to kick Harry five days after Dumbledore's first visit and was blasted back by an invisible force, dislocating a few bones. Outside the wards was another matter, but Vernon was too concerned about his public persona to try anything worse than a pinch.

Since then, she moderated her attention to Harry and gradually perfected a façade. Harry would still be treated horribly, but not as horribly as he could have been if she showed concern or didn't intervene most of the time. Hitting his head out of misplaced spite after being forcibly taken by Vernon the night before was certainly one of the actions she regretted most. She made up for it by leaving around small chocolate bars for him to find. She made up for every punishment Vernon doled to him by making him go outside to garden for sunshine or to just laze about while she was 'not looking', cooking meals to learn instead of slaving around all day to Vernon's whims whenever he was home, hiding money or unperishable food in unconventional places that neither her husband nor her son would find but Harry would, giving him Dudley's new purposefully ill-fitting clothes that she bought on her grocery runs or unworn clothes from a few years back that she kept in the attic instead of making him grab from charity bins as Vernon suggested, and making him leave the house to do simple tasks that she 'forgot' to do for him to get out of the house once in a while.

She did feel guilty for making him clean the whole house this week. With him and Dudley gone to their own boarding schools, Vernon had no one to gloat to or vent on. Thus, the past months of physical and verbal abuse were her hell on earth. Days before the boys arrived home, she broke her hip at some point either when Vernon slammed her on some furniture for a quick shag or when he once again aggressively used her as a human sex doll. Her injuries were still sore and she had to suppress a wince every time she walked. She spent the weeks of Harry's vacation supervising him from the sofa to keep him out of Dudley's trouble and her husband's eye.

-(o_O)- WARNING END-(O_o)-

She found profound amusement in Harry's mini acts of revenge. She discovered his work of art in Dudley's bedroom when she checked it after he finished. She had to suppress a laugh as Harry was still in the room. Despite how tiny they were, she managed to find a few during her initial inspection and more when she came to tuck her 'Little Dudders' to bed. And the spices, priceless. She just went along and cooked as per usual without actually tasting the concoction. She sent Harry a mental thanks for the prank that would ruin her husband's career. Thank Dumbledore for the wards as well, as Harry could not be harmed by Vernon. And thank the science for tubal ligation.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

So yeah, that's Petunia. I knoooow! Shocking right? I'm shocked myself as this just came to me as I was typing the first scene and I realized that it fits in the story. So meh, that's another clove of garlic thrown in the pot. And I love garlic. Just a reminder, a sphere is formed through the multitudinous interconnection of lines, well that's what I recall from an engineering class way back in 2016. Thus using this logic, I'm here to say that every person has a side and a story to tell. Except for Vernon, he's an ultimate son of a (insert word that is too foul for sweet old me to mention here). Also, another friendly reminder, updates are erratic and based solely on dopamine and time availability. But yeah, there will be updates. Quick question, how do you adult? Honestly, I need a manual. Okay, sleeping now.

Unbeta-ed, thus errors are errors. I will not be having regular updates as I also have a life and writing fanfiction is not a paid job. Do check out some of my library readings for other AWESOME stories. I will update my bio accordingly for any reasons that would impede or progress my writing magic. Reviews and critical comments are welcome.

Til we meet again in the next chapter.

TragicErato