A/N Sorry for the delay I realised that I said I would update once a week, but I was in Amsterdam, having too much fun to find a computer. As such, the next update will be on Sunday.
I must confess I'm slightly nervous about this chapter, but it is essential. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but I admire a lot.

Harry idly drummed his fingers of the counter as the server pulled his order together. The Caffinator was a small but beloved coffee shop less than a block from the tower. It was a favourite of Tony's and as a result, Harry had been dragged here a number of times since they had met. It had quickly grown on him; the place had a comfortable atmosphere and could be credited with fantastic hot chocolate.

He grinned as Stacy tipped a spoonful of marshmallows on his order without asking him. He had clearly frequented this place much too often.

"What would you recommend?"

It took him a moment to recognise that the question was directed at him. He swivelled to face the source and found himself looking at a young, smartly dressed red head. Her green eyes were fixed on him and a light grin was playing around her mouth.

"You seem like a regular." She added, shifting the grip on her briefcase.

"What gave it away?" He replied, leaning back against the counter slightly. She considered the question, idly tucking a short strand of her cropped hair behind her ear.

"The marshmallows." She replied decisively and Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I figured."

"So, in terms of what's good..." she let the question hang. Harry started slightly.

"Oh, yeah. Um, I have a friend who swears by their espresso shots, but if you want something more flavoursome, I hear the caramel macchiato is fantastic." She considered, her gaze running over the menus boards.

"I should warn you, this will be the make or break drink. This place is close to my workplace, so it'd be convenient, but if the drinks aren't up to scratch," she shrugged, "I'll have to continue searching elsewhere."

"You won't be disappointed." Harry promised her. "My friends swear by this coffee. I'm more Hot Chocolate myself. I never got into coffee and, no offense; but you yanks can't make a decent cup of tea."

She laughed and it was a full rich sound. Harry grinned.

"Harry, your order is ready." He turned and accepted the cardboard tray holding four travel cup. "Thanks, Stacy." He dropped the standard tip in the jar and turned back to the woman.

"Harry, eh?" She stretched out a hand that had elegantly tapered fingers. Harry switched the tray from to his left hand and met her handshake. "Robin."

"Nice to meet you Robin."

"You too. You know, if this coffee meet's its recommendation, I might just become a regular."

Harry smiled, "I'll probably see you around then."

He left the coffee shop with a grin on his face and a bubbly feeling in his gut. It had been a while since he could say that.

He could see the tower in the distance and his glee was dampened somewhat. There was the same problem he had had with Ginny. Sure, they appeared to be around the same age now, but give it ten years and then what. Not to mention she was a muggle. Tony's old playboy persona rang in his head but he dismissed it. The whole thing was stupid. But then, how long until the whole thing got creepy? He was going to be decades older than girls that were around his physical age.

The whole thing was a bit depressing really.

Then again. He'd begun to piece the things that Death had mentioned together and an idea was forming. He'd need to talk to him though, to confirm his suspicions.

Something was wrong.

There was something… it was a taste in the air, a tingling in his gut that pushed away all thoughts of Robin. He looked around at the faces pushing past him but couldn't place the source of his sudden awareness. It wasn't wrong. It was different, important, but he didn't know why and his made his skin itch.

It was rush hour, and both the roads and pavements were packed. Harry forged ahead, trying to identify where the sensation as coming from. It was like trying to identify one note in an orchestral movement. Someone knocked into his side hard. He turned to see who it was but they were gone- a blur in the crowd. He continued twisting his head, looking for the source of the sensation which had settled into a light buzzing in his ears. For some reason he felt that he should know the entity it belonged to.

Everything seemed very distant all of a sudden and suddenly a scream broke though the cacophony he'd been trying to distinguish the figure from. He was brought back to the customary sounds of Manhattan suddenly and he noticed that the stream of people had slowed and was beginning to clot around him. One woman was staring at him with horror in his face. People were talking at him and he opened his mouth to reply when he realised he didn't know what they were saying.

Something was heavy in his hand and he looked down to see four travel mugs in a cardboard tray. He'd bought those for people. He should probably get back to them sooner rather than later, or else Tony would be more of an arse than normal. A splash of red caught his attention. It was spreading across his pale green shirt from an epicentre in his abdomen. When he saw it he became aware of a dampness in the same area. He realised that the feeling was spreading across his back as well. He knew what that was.

The drinks tumbled from his hand and suddenly he realised he was closer to the pavement then he had been a moment ago. He could make out the discolouration of the cement in the cracks between the stones. There was a hand on his shoulder and suddenly he was turning and he was facing the sky, another hand on his back. He had the sensation of being lowered to the ground.

Something pressed against his stomach and suddenly pain exploded in the same location. He gasped and felt his body writhe in an attempt to get away from the force but more hands held him down. He stopped struggling. It was just too much exhausting.

The voice increased in volume and urgency as he let his eyelids close. But that didn't seem to matter anymore.

Blood, two espressos, one caramel macchiato and a hot chocolate ran together into a drain, pulling a small train of mini-marshmallows with them.

"You have a visitor." Jarvis informed him as he messed with a program on his desktop.

"Is Harry back from his walk?" Tony asked.

"Not yet, sir."

"Huh, he's taking longer than he said he would." Tony grumbled.

"Sir, your visitor."

"Send them up." He was feeling in a less belligerent mood than normal, but was too lazy to go down and knew that Jarvis had already vetted them scanned them for threats.

It was about a minute later that Jarvis announced there imminent entrance into the room. Tony looked up when the elevator door slid open, then had a double take.

The woman took a swaying step into the room. Her blonde hair was messily gathered round her head and her clothes were unusually compiled, but strangely suited her. She had fine features and pale skin, freckled and protuberant, dreamy blue eyes. Despite her overall unusual appearance and stoned manner, Tony could see intelligence in her eyes as they drifted over her surroundings. She looked familiar.

"Can I help you?" He was the one to break the silence. Her gaze came to him and she smiled lightly.

"Yes. I think you can. Well, I figured, you've met all the others- you may as well tick off the last name on the list."

"Wha-?" And Tony realised where he'd seen her before. She was standing next to the red head- Ginny from the Barbeque- in the picture of the DA members. She extended a hand.

"Luna Lovegood." She met his eyes as he shook it.

"Tony Stark."

She smiled. "It's good that Harry has made such a good friend. We worry. But he's good at interacting with people, making new friends. That's going to be important. Later." She turned away and started wondering around the lounge leaving her last statement hanging as he watched her. "You have an amazing view." She commented off-handedly, coming to a stop by the windows. "is it possible to go out onto the balcony?"

"Of course, miss."

Jarvis apparently liked her, because he slid the glass door open. Tony studied the girl as she meandered with purpose towards the opening and stepped through. Tony followed her.

"So what do you do?" He asked curiously as she leaned against the railing. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be enjoying the slight breeze that played across the pair of them.

"I travel." She replied vaguely before looking across at him with a surprisingly astute gaze. "Father used to tell me about all these wondrous creatures whose existence was dismissed by those not open minded enough." She looked back out across Manhattan. "People used to say he was crazy. Me too. I wanted to prove him right." Her next pause was so long, Tony was just about to speak when she turned to him fully, a small grin on her face, "I'm beginning to think that maybe some of the things he told me might not be true."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? The wizarding world already has so many fantastical creatures creature beyond belief, why do you expect there to be more?" She pursed her lips.

"Beyond belief by your standards." She corrected, "Wouldn't we wizards be arrogant people if we believed that we had discovered everything. And how boring would the world be if there was nothing left to find."

Tony had to concede the point. That was the point of science after all. He'd begun to become accustomed to the idea that magic had solved everything, that it filled the gaps that he didn't realise that science had left. But maybe they weren't so different after all. He was just about to tell her this when Jarvis interrupted him.

"Sir, there are some policemen at the door."

Tony looked in the direction of the elevator reflexively.

"What for."

"I don't know, sir. They haven't discussed anything since entering besides the size of the foyer."

"Something's not right. I'll go down to them."

"Right you are, sir." Jarvis agreed.

"Sorry about this. You can wait here if you want." Tony told the woman who had gone back to serenely surveying the skyline. She nodded.

Tony crossed the room and boarded the elevator. A moment before the doors closed, Luna slipped through them and joined him.

"I said you could wait." Tony reiterated.

"I thought it was an option." She replied with a smile and Tony had to shake his head at the logic of the statement.

It was a short ride with a comfortable silence. This was broken upon disembarking the elevator. The expressions on the cops' faces and the tension in their demeanour put him straight on edge.

"Good day gentlemen. How can I help you?" Tony forced a grin and a casual demeanour. It became more of an effort when the two men glanced at each other.

"Mr Stark, I am Detective Bell and this is my partner, Detective Eames." The older, gruffer of the two started. His moustache twitched with each word.

"We are sorry to have to inform you of an attack earlier today on Mr Harry Evans."

"Is Harry okay?" Tony cut across them sharply. Another shared look.

"An ambulance was called, but Mr Evans was dead when they arrived. We are sorry. We're doing what we can to catch the culprit, but no one seems to have seen anything."

There was a roaring in Tony's ears. He kept his face neutral, but his insides were thundering.

"-all overseas, we are going through channels. But for now we need a formal ID, you were listed as his medical emergency contact. Could you come down to the station with us?"

"Of course." Tony replied. He acted without really thinking about it, following the cops to their vehicle, putting on his belt and watching out the window as the car set off. It wasn't until near the end of their journey that he noticed Luna had managed to get into the car was well.

His mind was running possibilities, scenarios, reasons- anything that could help make sense of what seemed a completely pointless, sudden act. Maybe it was a Death Eater, finally accomplishing his goal. Maybe they had wised up and realised wizardry wasn't the way to go. Or maybe it was, and they had had a wizard battle but this time, Harry had lost. There was a memory spell wasn't there? Maybe the people who had seen anything had been wiped- that's why there was no witnesses.

It wasn't a random attack; it couldn't be- a mugging gone wrong, Harry was fully capable of defending himself. So if it wasn't magic it must have been a surprise attack, or something!

He closed his eyes and quietened his thoughts. It was useless speculating without all the data. It might not even be Harry, part of him futilely pointed out that was the point of this positive ID business.

It wasn't long before the car rolled to a stop and Tony found himself standing outside the station. He walked calmly in, vaguely aware of Luna following. He matched the pace of the cops, barely giving a glance to the desks and other officers that made up the rooms they passed. Despite this, he retained details of those he passed. It was second nature. They passed a small group of cops chatting with large cups of steaming coffee in their hands. One said World's Best Dad. There was a sullen gangster sitting in a chair being processed by a short tempered brunette cop. There was a small group gathered around a board covered in photos and writing. Two of them, the only woman and the tallest man, were bickering while the other two exchanged glances and money. Someone returned from a doughnut run.

Bell turned through a set of doors and led them down a set of stairs to a corridor that screamed morgue. The sterilised feel was permeating the air, spreading from a room half way down the corridor. Suddenly he didn't want to go any further, but Luna overtook him, with surprising vigour. She had been Harry's friend longer he realised as he followed her.

"This will be shocking, we understand if you need a moment-" Eames filtered off at the look Tony sent him and pushed the door open.

There was a woman by the sinks, scrubbing at her hands. She looked up when they came in and grabbed a handful of paper towels to dry her hands.

"This is Dr Parish." Bell introduced her as she came towards them, her face carefully blank upon meeting possible relations of one in her care. "This is Mr Stark, he is here to see Mr Evans."

Dr Parish nodded, "Of course."

She led them to the only occupied table where a figure lay, under a white cloth. Tony tried to make out Harry's features in the contours formed by the sheet's folds but the action was in vain. Dr Parish took a place by the head and looked up at him. He nodded in response and she pulled back the cover.

It was Harry. His green eyes were closed, the dark shadows under them making them seem sunken. This was emphasised by his shocking black hair that fell as untamed in death as it had in life only partially covering his lightning scar. The other scars that Harry had described to him that night so many months ago stood out against his unmoving chest.

He realised that the officers were waiting for him to speak.

"It's him." He confirmed and the men shifted. "What happened?"

"He was stabbed." Bell said quietly, "Unknown assailant. We are doing what we can."

Tony didn't respond.

"We'll uh, give you a moment." Bell signalled to the other two and they filed out of the room, leaving him and Luna. The woman pulled herself up to sit on the side and started swinging her legs.

"I can't quite believe it." Tony muttered. And he couldn't really. Even with Harry on the slab in front of him he couldn't accept that Harry, as powerful as he had proved himself to be, could be dead.

"I know." Luna replied, "He does get himself killed quite a lot doesn't he. More than the average person."

His head turned so sharply that his neck cracked.

"What?"

She slid of the counter with a bounce.

"Oh I wouldn't worry. He'll probably wake up soon. Death wouldn't dare lead away his master."

She started humming.

Tony looked between her and the body, aware that that cops were waiting just outside the room.

Deciding, he pulled out his phone. He dialled. As soon as the call was picked up he spoke sharply.

"This is Stark. I need a favour."

A/N Essential knowledge: Knowing the difference between a Cafe and a Coffee Shop in Amsterdam...