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Edited by the mighty pazed!
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Chapter 10
Harry stepped out of his bedroom and made his way to the small kitchen where he began making breakfast. As usual, he was the first person up, not that strange for him actually as he was often the first out of bed due to his upbringing.
He rummaged through the refrigerator, digging out the eggs, spinach (for Hermione), mushrooms, tomatoes, ham and cheese, placing it all on the counter next to the stove. Once the iron skillet was on to warm he started the coffee. "Are you just going to keep sitting there? Or are you going to introduce yourself?" Harry asked.
A 'click' came from behind him, as a light came on, along with a masculine voice. "I was going to tell you that you need to pay better attention to your surroundings…" it said when Harry turned around with his wand in one hand and a carving knife in the other.
"Relax kid, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, sitting forward so he could be seen in the light.
Harry glared at the man over the edge of the counter. Sitting at the table, both hands in plain view, sat a dark skinned man with a patch over his left eye. He was dressed in a dark jumpsuit under a long black trench coat, he could see the S.H.I.E.L.D emblem done in a silver grey just over where the man's heart lay. Moving slowly, Harry made his way out of the kitchen and into the main room.
"Name's Nick Fury, and you're Harry Potter, Wizard… Or do you prefer the Boy-Who-Lived?" Harry grimaced. "Or Chosen One?" The man at the table watched as Harry's eye twitched slightly as he began to edge his way toward the bedrooms. "They know I'm here kid, you can count on it. No way the Captain or the Widow would miss me coming in. I may be good, but they're better."
Harry glanced at the door, and saw it was open just a crack. Behind it he saw a large shadow move and the door close with a soft 'click'. Harry relaxed and lowered his wand. "So you're him? The Director?"
The grim looking man nodded. "Sit down Potter. We need to talk," he said.
Harry glanced toward the kitchen. "Are you hungry Sir? I'm still under my doctor's orders to eat as often as I'm hungry… and well, I was going to cook breakfast for everyone anyway."
Fury nodded. "That's fine, we can talk while you cook." He stood up from the table, crossed to the bar and sat on one of the stools so they didn't need to speak as loudly, as Harry went back into the kitchen, moved the food he had taken out to the counter facing Nick, and began cracking eggs into a large bowl.
"No mushrooms for mine, but I'll take the spinach." Harry nodded as he worked. "Harry… I wanted to talk to you personally, about everything that you've seen and done in the magical world. I've done some leg work, but still don't think I have enough information to begin planning a response. I need to know everything possible, especially about the people we may come across, whether friend or foe."
Harry stopped whisking, and looked up at him, appraisingly, then nodded slowly. If it meant saving his friends, he'd do it. "Where would you like me to start Sir?" he asked.
Fury shrugged off his coat and laid it on the other stool. "At the beginning. I'll ask questions along the way and once you're done I'll talk with Hermione. You can be there, just stay quiet till she's finished, then we can compare your stories. Just in case one of you adds something extra that could be important," he said.
Harry sighed, began chopping the vegetables, and started telling his story.
Fury looked across the table at the pair of Avengers, as Harry and Hermione were outside being evaluated under the watchful eye of Clint Barton aka Hawkeye. "So what is your evaluation of our young guests?" he asked, sitting back in the chair.
Steve looked toward Natasha and motioned for her to begin. "Emotionally?" she said, pausing for a moment to structure her thoughts. "They're both wrecks. Mentally exhausted, and strung out. But they are both strong and will bounce back given a little more time and a chance decompress. Physically? She's a powerhouse, she can lift right at twenty five tons, and quick too, but her major asset may end up being her intelligence and analytical skills. She'll be something once she has some more training. As for Harry, he's not as strong as Steve and may never be, but Dr. Fleming thinks he will continue to develop more as he gets older, at a normal rate now that his 'growth spurt' seems to have run its course… His reaction speed though is better than either of us, as is his eye hand coordination, we need to train him to use it accordingly. They're solid soldiers, the both of them."
Steve looked at her with a sour expression. "How can you say that? They're kids!"
She looked him right in the eye, her expression bland and eyes cold as ice. "They are soldiers Steve, not much younger than you were then, neither of them has been a kid for years. They have seen more and done more than most people their age could dream of. Those two were never given the chance to be kids. They may not know it but someone has been preparing them to go to war ever since the day they started at that school, and if I read Harry right even prior to the day he arrived there. Only they didn't give them all of the skills or the mind set necessary to complete the job a soldier needs to do… and after listening to them as they talk, it's evident as to who was the one to do so."
Steve's fists tightened till the knuckles turned white, and he grit his teeth. "Their Headmaster…"
She nodded. "I don't know what the man was playing at, but I have no doubt he was preparing them to take a place, whatever it was, in this war."
Fury shook his head in disgust. "If he was still alive that man and I would be having words as soon as this Riddle character goes down, and all because of some prophecy." Anger seemed to fill his one good eye with flames. "He was making plans even before the boy's birth! Isolating the two families whose child may have been able to fulfill his interpretation of some bad poetry! Hell, he didn't even consider anyone born outside of his own country that same year! Then to send them off on this fool's errand to find a number of unknown objects after his death with no more than a handful of useless, half-baked clues? He was a nut! It could have taken them years, while people died!"
Natasha shrugged, "It does seems too handy that Harry's mother, Lily's, best magical friend since childhood, someone who was… what did he call it when someone is born to a first generation magical and an older family?"
"Half-blood," Steve supplied, never taking his eyes off his hands, tension filling his voice.
"Right, Half-blood, somehow joined a group of hell bent supremacists, and somehow ended up being the old man's spy!" she said, annoyed. "If he was truly repentant, he would have known how much her sister disliked magic and would have said something! I don't even want to think about how that groundskeeper ended up with Harry on his godfather's bike by the next morning, only for the godfather to somehow get placed in their prison right after! Without a trial! Or the other 'best friend' that then disappeared for the next twelve years!" She finished with disgust. "Let alone the 'adventures' each year! Trolls, possessed professors, basilisks, soul sucking demons, that stupid tournament with the dragon, resurrected terrorists… If I didn't know different I would think it was all something dreamed up by the Red Room for psychological conditioning! Especially after he was sent back to his 'relatives' after every incident so he could 'deal with what happened'! It was probably meant to toughen his resolve… but that would have needed some form of support when he was home, someone to approve, even if it was in a heavy handed way. We're lucky Harry didn't turn into a homicidal psychopath, as bad as the man they want him to face!"
Fury sighed as he pushed away from the table and stood by the window, watching the pair outside being put through a physical workout by one of his top agents. "I think we have her to thank for that… Just as much as him to keep her from sharing a similar fate… them and possibly these Weasleys… though I do have some questions about them as well… Then again I doubt there is a wizard or witch among them I'd trust about anything!"
Steve chuckled. "You don't trust anybody Nick, not entirely anyway."
"I'm a spy!" said the dark skinned man. "What do you expect? Especially after losing my one good eye…"
The room sank into stillness as they remembered the man he was referring to; Captain America may be the oldest Avenger, but Phil Coulson had been the first.
Finally, Nick spoke again. "The biggest problem I see, at the moment, is their mindset. They know they are at war, they even say that themselves, but they refuse to act it. Evidently Dumbledore went to great lengths to stress non-lethal solutions, and that everyone deserves another chance, even to the detriment of everyone else if necessary."
Steve sighed, that much was definitely true, he could respect the man's feelings about killing but it was far from being realistic. "His headmaster did seem to live in a bit of a dream world," Steve said quietly.
Fury nodded. "More than most… but then again what kind of a leader pins his entire people's future on a prophecy? Especially one involving an infant defeating a powerful adversary?" He continued to watch the two teens outside as he pondered what he needed to do to help them. "Stark is using the remnants of their wizard radio to recreate it, he's having a little trouble isolating the frequencies they use and equipping a scanning system for them, but hopes to find a solution soon, the end of the week at the most… And I've got one of my old contacts in England doing some reconnaissance work. We'll meet again on Sunday and start making more plans…"
Natasha looked at him confused. "You knew someone that knows about magic?" she asked.
Fury shrugged. "I know a few people that have had dealings with the supernatural, but only know of one person that uses magic… well three, with those two outside."
Steve looked hopeful. "Could this person help them?"
Fury nodded. "Yes, but given his responsibilities it would be unwise to approach him. If his attention is warranted he'll know…" He shook his head, as if trying to shake himself from a bad memory. "At any rate, this is something the Avengers can handle."
Steve leaned back in his chair. "So you are not going to involve S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Fury turned to face him. "No, too many questions. The World Council would want to get involved, and while they may want to help, it would do them more harm than good. That world isn't ready to cope with the outside world as it is."
Natasha stood up, and joined him at the window. "I think they're both fine to return to the tower. It will do them good to be around more people."
Fury scowled at her. "Alright, but I want one of you available to be with them at all times, just in case, and don't let Stark get them into any more trouble. I'm going to go over their stories some more; I want you to do the same. If you have any further insights you know how to get in touch with me."
Two minutes later a Quinjet flew away from the compound.
Hermione tugged at the dark purple fingerless gloves that completed her new suit, as Tony and Steve called it, as she took a look at herself in the mirror. The suit was made of something Mr. Stark called 'ballistic fabric with a metallic alloy weave' (whatever that was), it had a wide center area that was a cream color with deep purple to each side running all the way down her body to tuck into a matching pair of purple combat boots with metallic latching. Short sleeves covered each arm to just above her biceps, the right adorned with a tiny circular British flag, the other with a stylized A with an arrow that made up its cross bar. The gloves had an armored section that ran up both of her forearms, the right one fitted to hold her wand against the inside of her arm. Due to the integration of some of the technology from the Iron Man suit it would be in her hand with the smallest of thoughts and locked in her grip by the same tech.
While purple had never been one of her favorite colors, she liked the look… no she loved the look, and according to Mr. St… Tony, her new 'suit' was as tough as she was. So, no more embarrassing accidents…
She picked up the belt and slipped it around her hips settling it and the small cases ringing it into place each making a quiet 'click' as they locked in against the small metal pads on her suit. Natasha had gone over each compartment, first-aid, extra communications earpieces, a couple of emergency ration bars, as well as a few other small odds and ends. She had said that what was there was fairly standard for a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent minus the hand weapon and extra ammunition. She also told her that she'd help her customize it, both containers and contents in the future as she needed.
Turning away from the mirror she picked up the leather bag that held several sets of clothes that Natasha had brought her that fit her new stature, as well as the few personal items of hers that had been salvaged from the camp she and Harry had shared.
Giving herself a final look in the mirror, she checked her hair was staying in place pulled back into a pony tail, something else Natasha had suggested, and she was pleased with. She then made her way toward the living room a small smile gracing her lips.
Stepping out she saw Steve in his Captain America guise, sitting at the bar sipping a cup of coffee, his dark red gloves sitting under his helmet next to him. "Is Natasha on her way?" she asked dropping her bag on the couch.
He nodded. "She'll be landing any…" The whine of a Quinjet's engines grew from outside. "That will be her."
Harry's voice rang out from the room he shared with Steve. "I'll be out in a second!"
Hermione harrumphed, "And I thought I'd be the last one ready."
Steve chuckled. "He still had to take a shower after you started changing, and you left him with just cold water to boot."
She blanched slightly. "I forgot you were shutting down the house systems! Oh, I'm sorry Harry," she called toward the bedroom.
"Not a problem," he said back, as he emerged from the room. "I'm used to it," he added with a lopsided grin, as he adjusted the heavy looking leather trench coat, and the bag he now had strapped across his back.
Hermione's breath caught a little when she looked at him, he looked amazing. She knew his suit was a dark navy blue and had long sleeves ending in dark gloves of the same color as were his boots. A small British flag sat on his left breast, and just like her he had a stylized A on the outside of his left arm. But the coat she had never seen before.
It was of the same dark blue as his suit, and had slightly oversized sleeves that hung loosely, obscuring the view of his hands and gauntlets.
While she couldn't see it, as the glove designs as well as the system holding his wand was slightly different, she knew he could be holding his wand in an instant as his gauntlet was fitted with a system much like the one for her own. Where once her best friend had been quite handsome, that young man didn't hold a candle to the man standing across the room from her, with his hair neatly combed and his eyes shining brightly and not hidden by his glasses.
"D-do you have everything, Harry?" she asked, as she picked her own bag back up.
"Yeah, I think so." He looked around the room, a slightly sad look crossing his face. "I'm kind of sorry to be leaving. I like this place."
Steve smiled at the young man as he stood and picked up his helmet and gloves. "It will be here when you're done and I'm sure Fury will be willing to let you borrow it from time to time. We need to get going you two," he said, as he grabbed his own bag and made his way out the door, making sure the security system would activate when the door closed.
It didn't take them long to board the Quinjet, Harry assuming the copilot seat while Clint, Steve and Hermione sat in the jump seats. "Steve? Why did you want us to wear our suits instead of normal clothes?" Hermione asked buckling herself in for takeoff.
"Tony wants you to wear them as much as possible over the next few days, both to make sure no alterations need to be done as well as break them in a bit. If you have any concerns, or feel uncomfortable in any way, just tell Jarvis and he'll log the changes that need to be made."
She nodded her understanding. "I never saw Harry's coat before, why does he need it?"
Steve smiled. "It was his idea, not a bad one either," he said a little louder, as the engines powered up for liftoff. "He wanted something that served a couple of purposes, and with a little wizardry, Tony style, he got what he wanted. The kid is as tricky as they come, that's not the only idea he had for the outfit either!"
Sighing, Hermione sat back shaking her head. She'd ask Harry about what he had done when they got to the tower… It's not like he'd say no to her.