Part Three
Harry didn't know why he stuck around.
He should have left when those robots were taken care of. He should have left when he heard the man's back-up arrive (always late it seems, even in the muggle world). He should have just taken off.
But there was something familiar in the man's eyes that reminded Harry of himself and so he had waited, just for a moment, to see what the man would do when the robots were dead – for lack of a better word – and it was just the two of them.
The Muggle man hadn't panicked, hadn't attacked and hadn't tried to examine the mythical creature up close but just accepted his presence. And once again Harry was reminded of himself, because after being introduced to the magical world, after a while he just started to accept the possibility of everything.
He hadn't been raised as a wizard like Ron nor had he done extensive reading like Hermione, so he didn't really know what was and what was not normal or even possible in the Wizarding World. Instead he just went with it. Talking portraits, flying cars, giant spiders, werewolves, Horcruxes… in the end it was the what that mattered to him and perhaps the what does that mean or how do I stop it. It never really mattered to him how things turned out like that, or where something came from.
If something was, then it was. Simple.
It seemed that this man shared the same sort of attitude. And that seemed somewhat strange, for a muggle. So Harry had stuck around, just for a little while, examining this odd blond man. Those clear blue eyes were honest, open and completely at odds with the man's somewhat cautious stance.
And then the guy had thanked him.
The Griffin blinked, looking at the man before him. No pretence or sarcasm or aiming for a future favour, just a genuine thank you. It was odd and surprisingly heartening, because really, how many people had ever been this honest in thanking him for anything? Thanking him as a person, instead of an icon that was either far more or somehow less than that. The wizard didn't even get that in human form, so it was strange but somewhat touching to have someone acknowledge him like that while he was a Griffin.
Despite being almost stunned stupid by the simple but unexpected gesture, Harry could do nothing else than at least acknowledge the guy's genuine words. He bowed his head in a deep nod, showing his appreciation in the only way he could in this form.
This was the only exchange between them, and yet he felt… comfortable around this man in a way he hadn't for a long time. His first meeting with Ron, and later on with the twins had been like this; an instant kinship, an immediate bond. Trust extended from both sides, with each person meeting each other halfway, both asking no more than what had been given. This sort of bond had become impossible during the war; such a kinship amongst strangers, because no one wanted to invest emotionally in someone who might die or turn against you.
But somehow he felt like that now. And it felt... good; like a weight falling of his shoulders. Because it showed him that he wasn't completely stuck in the war's shadows. That perhaps he could still escape the tentative hold Death still held on his soul. That perhaps he too, could step back out into the sunlight without the cover of darkness on his shoulders like a mantle.
Yes, Harry was pretty sure that he really shouldn't be hanging around with this muggle, should leave right away and ignore it. But he was tired and hurt and hadn't felt comfortable around anyone since the war ended and the Golden trio went their separate ways.
Yes, he knew that it might get him in trouble later on but anything that chased those shadows away for even a moment was too precious to just give up.
So he had stayed, even as the sounds of a helicopter came closer.
Professor Snape had told him that his utter stupidity would get him killed one day. But then, Harry Potter didn't fear Death.
Not anymore.
The agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't seem to know what to do with the large mythical creature anymore than he did.
It was actually somewhat ironic, since he had been sent by them to face the beast. It was clear that everyone had expected it to be either hostile so that it would have had to be taken down, or had believed it would fly away, to try to avoid humans entirely.
Instead the Griffin just watched the agents' hesitant milling around with what Steve could swear was a hint of amusement, making no move to either attack them or flee.
A few long moments passed like that until the big beast sidled just a bit closer to an unsuspecting agent and suddenly screeched, causing him and, in a chain reaction every other agent, to draw their weapon.
A huffing breath was all the creature had to say to that before he turned his back to the lowly mortals, to face Steve again.
The Captain gestured at the agents and waited until they reluctantly holstered their weapons before meeting the amused emerald gaze of the being in front of him.
"It's not that funny."
The little nudge it gave him with its head in reply begged to disagree.
And caused the agents to draw their weapons again.
With a sigh Steve came to one inescapable conclusion.
This was going to be a long day.
Harry admitted that perhaps he took a bit too much joy in aggravating the poor agents. They just reminded him of a combination of Aurors and Ministry workers: all protocols and disable the threat. When an unexpected situation raises its head they didn't have the foggiest idea what to do.
So yes, the Griffin might have ignored their hesitant orders of 'follow me', snapped at anyone who come to close and made a few sudden movements and sounds to startle them.
At first, his fighting partner, who he now knew was called Captain Rogers, seemed somewhat amused by the situation as well. But Harry could see the tiredness in his stance and the suppressed pain in the tightness around his eyes. Now that the adrenaline had worn of, injuries were making themselves acutely known.
Harry hadn't gotten away completely unscratched either.
This was the first time he had fought in his animagus form, and also the first time he had fought robots and muggle weapons. The weapon fire he had easily managed to dodge on instinct; blasts of light were blasts of light, be they some sort of muggle weapon or wizarding spells; you just knew they would hurt when they hit you. But the robotic things were made of metal that had sharp edges when he tore them apart at the joints. And the electric currents scorched his talons and paws while he had ripped them apart.
Harry's injuries were no more than annoyances, but he had seen the blond get hit by one of those blasts. The muggle was likely in some serious pain.
Annoyed with himself for drawing this out, he stepped away from the group and flapped his wings with every intention of flying away and leaving the agents to see to Captain Rogers instead of him.
An almost anxious voice stopped him in his tracks. "Wait!"
He slowly turned to the blond man. The guy seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he spoke his request firmly. "Could you… come with me?"
Harry blinked. He wasn't sure if he could, but he kind of wanted to. Though he was sure that this would be a very bad idea. Those agents certainly looked military. Muggle military and that was possibly not the best thing to combine with a mythical creature, or a wizard. On the other hand, they hadn't exactly tried anything. And his fighting partner said 'me', not 'us'.
For once Harry Potter actually hesitated. Usually he was the sort of person who just acted; he jumped into a situation because it felt like it was the right thing to do and then he just went with wherever it took him. But now he wasn't sure what the right thing was.
A large part of him just wanted to go.
Because he had been roaming around alone for too long, because he needed a distraction or some way to move onwards instead of being trapped in the past.
Because he actually liked this guy.
The rules screamed no, his mind said that this was an idiotic plan, but they had already seen him in this form anyway, and since when was he the type of person to fully consider all possible consequences of his actions?
Captain Rogers just stood there, blue eyes boring into emerald, patiently waiting for his answer.
In the end, that was what decided it for him.
Once more, Harry took the leap.
Fury looked at the not-so-mythical creature in annoyance. He had had a long day, trying to clean up the mess of a sudden, unplanned confrontation at an illegal tech-lab. He needed to find the ones responsible for that fucking droid army that nearly took out his men and explain to the Council why the hell he didn't inform them of his supposed raid.
And right now he was staring at an animal.
A large, dangerous animal that took out a fair amount of armed droids, leaving them as nothing more than scrap metal.
"What the hell am I going to do with you?" he asked out loud.
Because by now he had quite a few protocols in place for dealing with 'special' individuals but he had never had to debrief a damn animal before.
Especially not one that wasn't supposed to exist.
Rogers actually seemed to believe the beast had some intelligence and hell, it was not supposed to even exist so who the fuck knew?
Predictably the creature didn't answer him. It just stared at him expectantly, looking for all the world as if this was an everyday situation. If the damn beast just had the courtesy to actually behave like an animal, than at least Fury would know where he stood.
Fuck this. He had a bottle of scotch in his office that was calling him. The Council, Stark and Banner where enough of a headache, he really didn't need to deal with this oversized eagle/lion hybrid as well.
"Rogers seemed to like you well enough. Hell, you can be his problem for tonight. I'll figure the rest of this shit out tomorrow."
He took the creature's huff as a sign of agreement.
A.N.: Thank you Lekaiel for the lovely fan-art that I used for my cover. :) I put the link to a larger version of the image on my Profile, in case anyone else wants to see Griffin!Harry in his full glory.