Chapter Three:
Tony watched the city of London pass him by has his driver was heading to the Royal Children's hospital. He remembered picking up the child . . . his son . . . off the ground, it was as if the child had never been given anything more than bread and water his entire life. Tony shut his eyes, trying to shut out the reality that he was now facing.
He was a father.
Not something that he ever planned on being.
Howard was hardly an example of a father, more often then not pushing Tony away to what ever nanny Howard was privately screwing, or to Maria whenever she was around with him. Maria had loved Tony in her own way, doting on him, covering up his mistakes when Howard paid attention, but she often got caught up in the life of being Howard Stark's wife.
At least Maria was around at times, at least Tony had her when she was alive and he had memories of her.
Harry didn't even have that. By Tony's math, and his math was never wrong, Harry would have been 15 months old when Lily died.
Did the abuse start then?
Tony, took a swig out of water, thinking through everything. He pulled out his wallet, pulling out a well worn picture of Lily. He had taken it long before the days of smartphones, there was a crease going down the middle of it where he had folded it up and stuck it in his pocket the day that he left England for what he that was the last time.
Pepper looked over at the picture, laying eyes on the woman who had always been in the back of her bosses mind.
"She was beautiful Tony." Pepper whispered seeing the almost auburn hair and green eyes staring at the camera. She was hugging Tony close. Tony wasn't looking at the camera, he was looking at Lily. She was wearing her wedding dress.
"She was a beautiful bride," Tony whispered. "James was a lucky man to have had her."
Pepper nodded, knowing that Tony sometimes just needed to talk.
"When she got word that he was dead and his brother, Sirius, was wounded, she called me. Needing me to get to her, because she didn't know if she could keep it together. So I came to her. Mom didn't want me to, England wasn't safe for our kind, but I didn't listen."
Pepper listened, figuring he mean Americans when he said "our kind."
"She didn't want to live in the cottage, and I had the brownstone that Mom was given when Gramps died, and so we lived there. Some nights, she needed comfort, and I gave it to her, I would have given her anything she needed and wanted." He scrubbed his hand over his face. "I would have given Harry anything he had wanted if I had known."
"Tony, don't beat yourself up, you didn't know. And now that you know, you are going to do the right thing, aren't you?" Pepper asked.
"I can't leave him with Petunia." Tony whispered. "I wouldn't have left any child of Lily's with her, even if he wasn't mine. She hated everything about Lily, and my son," he paused, growling a bit, "My son grew up being abused by that cow."
Tony got a look in his eyes, a look that Pepper was familiar with. When Tony got that look in his eyes, she knew not to get into his way, because when Tony got that look into his eyes he was a force to be reckoned with. He started punching some numbers into his phone and started barking out order.
Yes, he wouldn't be the best dad ever, but at least he was going to try.
Harry was trying to ignore the dull throbbing pain in his arm as he watched the telly. It was a rare occasion that he could just watch a program without having someone yell at him, and as bad as the pain was in his arm, he didn't care, at least he wasn't with the Dursleys.
He would probably be beaten anyway for landing in the hospital and costing them more money. He knew that he had free health care living in England and all, but they always said they cost them money because of having to eat out, or whatever else nonsense they came up with. There was no way Uncle Vernon was going to ignore the fact that Harry was going to cost him money. He kept a running ledger of how much money Harry was going to have to pay them back for his upbringing. It was now up to the tune of 20,000 pounds according to Uncle Vernon. Harry couldn't see how though as he was only feed the barest of scraps from their table and given clothes that literally wouldn't be worn as they should have been mistaken for rags.
Harry had heard it all his life on how he was nothing but a burden and a drain on their once happy family.
Why did his parents have to die? Why did his dad have to be a drunk?
Harry looked out the window and saw a star in the sky. His eyes zeroed in on it, and as he focused on the star, he could hear a kind male voice telling him about the stars, pointing out all the stars in the sky. He didn't know if it was something that he was remembering, or if it was something he desperately wanted to happen. He didn't remember anything from before the cupboard, no matter how hard he tried to remember his parents. Did they love him? Was at one point in his life was he ever loved?
All he wanted was for someone to care. Ms. Aberdeen was a god-send, but there was nothing really she could do, he knew that. Every single time someone tried to do something, nothing ever happened. Harry didn't know why, but nothing ever happened even though the signs of abuse were clear cut.
The doctor had mentioned following up with protective services again, but again, Harry knew that something "freaky" would happen and the constables would forget.
"Star light, star might, first star I see tonight . . . wish I may, wish I might . . . . have the wish I wish tonight, I wish for a long lost relative to come and rescue me from the freakin Dursleys," he muttered staring out the window at Sirius, the dog star.
Sirius, why did that seem so familiar? A long forgotten memory was trying to resurface, but it just wasn't strong enough . . . so it was quickly pushed back down while he wished with all his might on the star.
Not like it mattered, his wishes and prayers have never been answered before, so why would it happen now?
Tony stood outside the door, listening to the kid, no his son, wishing to be taken away from his family. His heart broke, and anger simultaneously flared inside of him. He peered into the room. Harry's face was turned away from him, but he could see faint bruises on his neck and on his good arm.
Tony had inquired about him, stopping the pediatrician and orthopedic surgeon. Both had little to say with him, as Tony wasn't listed as Harry's guardian yet. Yet . . . yet was the operative word. There was no way he was letting his and Lily's baby stay with her sister any longer. The lawyers were working on it and an independent genetic testing lab had already confirmed that Harry Potter was indeed Harry Stark.
He remembered what Lily had told him about her sister. Petunia hadn't bothered in the eleven months that Tony had stayed with Lily to check in on her, even though he saw her send Petunia several letters asking her to come to London. But Petunia never came, and Tony had been the only one there for her. Lily was his first love.
Tony turned away from the door walking back into the waiting room where Pepper was working on getting everything they needed to claim custody of Harry. Pepper looked up and quirked an eyebrow.
"You weren't very long with him," Pepper looked up. She noted his appearance and knew that this had rattled him.
"Didn't make it in there yet," Tony looked down at the ground and ran his hand through his hair.
"Did the famous Tony Stark, the Merchant of Death, the Davinci of our Time, get scared of a little boy?" Pepper teased him a bit, trying to get her boss to loosen up a bit. She had seen him rattled before, but nothing like this.
"Pep, I'm not any of those things right now. I'm just Tony."
Pepper put down the tablet and stood up walking over to her boss.
"What am I going to do Pep?" He looked down, not feeling like the secure, multibillionaire, arms dealer that he was. His father had been a horrible example of what a father should be
"You are going to go in his room and be the Tony Stark that he wanted to meet today. He knows everything there is to know about you that is in print, now let him meet you. You are going to sit by his side and talk to him. He is an eight year old boy who has just had a pretty rough day."
"I just heard him wishing for someone to take him away from the Dursleys. Pepper, he isn't just a normal little boy, he is at best neglected at best," Tony whispered, pushing down the rage that was building up just at the thought of his kid being hurt in any way.
Pepper stood silently, waiting for Tony to calm down. She had already started researching abuse and neglect and doctors who could handle this case. They were going to need help. This was new territory for the both of them, and she didn't know what to do for him. A first in the seven years she had been working for him.
Tony's stomach rumbled, a sign that Pepper had forgotten to tell him to eat. "Pepper, you didn't remind me to eat today. All I have had has been a bagel and an apple today."
Pepper shook her head. "I was too wrapped up with the ambulance and with Harry today."
"If I'm hungry, my kid is hungry. Call for a pizza, get a couple of pizzas, I don't know what he likes. I'm not going to let my kid eat hospital food."
"He might not like it," Pepper told him.
"What else do kids like?"
Pepper was quiet for a minute. "I don't know, I don't have kids."
"Jarvis?" Tony tapped into is AI from his watch, it was a prototype and he had no idea how far Jarvis would reach.
"Yes Mr. Stark?"
"What kind of food do kids like?"
"I believe the latest poll out says pepperoni pizza."
"Then that will do," Tony said as Pepper started looking up places to order pizza. It wasn't going to be as good as New York pizza, but it would have to do. Maybe when all this was done, he could go get fish n chips with his kid, or maybe bangers, or whatever food that England people where known for. "And find some good coffee, English coffee is horrible."
Pepper shook her head, infamous Tony Stark was back.
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"Hey Kid," Tony said, knocking on the door.
Harry turned toward him, his eyes going wide at the site of the famous Tony Stark coming to see him at the hospital. He tried to sit up further in his bed, but could barely move with his arm. Why would Tony Stark be at the hospital? He looked at the man, and saw a small blood stain on his shirt. Harry frowned, causing Tony to stop in his tracks.
"What's wrong? Tony inquired, wondering what caused his son's face to go from wonderment to frown in the blink of an eye.
"I bled on you, I promise, I will try to pay for the damages to your shirt . . . it might take me a little bit because I owe the Dursleys so much," Harry started to ramble, apparently forgetting the rules that the Dursleys had set out, basically forbidding Harry from speaking about his home life at all. Tony heard something about 20,000 pounds, and shook his head through the absurdity of it all.
Tony looked down at his shirt, and saw a little blood stain, something that had been covered up by his suit jacket during his presentation, so nobody else saw it. He didn't even give it a second thought.
"No, don't worry about it. You can't help who you bleed on," Tony told him. "You had a pretty nasty bump on the head, and that gash on your arm . . . man it looked bad. I'm just glad I could have helped a little. How are you feeling? Are you okay? Are you comfortable? Do you need anything? How many stitches, and did they give you something for the pain?" The questions rushed out.
Ha Obi, I can do caring father. Tony thought to himself. Obi was going to be besides himself when he found out that Tony had a son.
"It hurts a little, but I don't want to get addicted to pain killers, so I won't press the morphine pump. Did you know addiction runs in the family, and my father had an addictive personality, according to my aunt."
Fair assessment, Tony thought, listening to little Harry talk about the different pain killers and the effects of addictions on families.
"Yeah, and my aunt told me he was a drunk, and that was how he killed my mother and him in a car crash."
Tony shook his head, knowing that was far from the truth, but now wasn't the time or the place to broach this with Harry.
"Well, don't worry about the shirt, I'm like a billionaire, and own so many shirts that I won't even notice throwing this one in the trash," Tony told him, pulling a chair up to his son's side. He could see traces of him in his son.
Harry had high cheek bones and the aristocratic nose of the Black line. Tony had the nose himself, something that he shared with James and Sirius. Harry's complexion had a slight tan to it, left over from the summer, Tony thought.
Then there was his hair. Harry had unruly, dark brown (almost black) hair much like his own. Tony's hair naturally curled, and Harry's hair didn't, but he supposed that he got the messiness from him and the straight hair from Lily.
He was the perfect blend of the two of them.
Hell, he was perfect.
"Mr. Stark?" Harry's voice cut through Tony's thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"Why are you here? Not that I'm not grateful or anything," Harry rushed out. Tony could see that Harry was second guessing the question almost immediately. He reached over and grabbed the closest chair, pushing it close to the bed.
"Because you were hurt, and I care," Tony told him. "I saw your cousin push you, and I saw how hard you hit your head. When I was a little older than you, I got hurt at the expo here in London. I didn't get hurt as bad as you, and in fact I made a wonderful friend that day, but my dad was too busy to make sure I wasn't hurt."
Harry listened, sitting straight in his bed.
"I just didn't want that to happen to you, so I am going to sit with you for awhile, if that is okay with you. I figure we could get to know each other and have dinner together. Pepper, my PA, is ordering us pizza. Do you like pizza?"
"Never had it," Harry answered honestly. It had been a food that Petunia wouldn't often order, not liking cheese, but when she did cave into Dudley, it was something that smelled heavenly and it was something that he very much wanted to try.
"Well I hope you like it," Tony told him, making a mental note to stock his London home with food. It seemed like with Harry's injuries and legal issues, he was going to have to extend his stay in London. It wasn't a problem considering Stark had a couple of offices in the area. He could work remotely for a little bit. Hell he was CEO he could do what he wanted despite Obi's wishes.
"Thank you," Harry whispered.
"So, tell me about yourself," Tony said, wanting to know everything there was about his son.
"I'm Harry, just Harry." He flicked his bangs out of her eyes with his good hand, and Tony saw a scar on his child's forehead. It looked like a lightning bolt. He wondered how Harry had acquired that scar. "There really is nothing special with me. I don't do well in school, I'm no good. You don't want to waste your time with me."
Tony felt the shift almost immediately. Harry was walling himself up again, something that Tony often had done with Howard whenever he thought Howard wouldn't approve of his latest inventions or thoughts.
Tony looked at his son, knowing that his son had issues from his relatives, know that he probably never had been shown much kindness from them at all. He reached out and put his hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "I believe you are special, and you are someone I want to get to know. Ms. Aberdeen could do nothing but sing your praises, so you have to be doing something right, and I don't consider this a waste of time. I like to meet the kids who could one day run my company, who have great ideas. Ms. Aberdeen said that you were really smart, but couldn't always show it."
Harry unconsciously leaned into the touch, not realizing that he was doing it. He had never been touched like this before. Sure, he had seen it with his relatives with Dudley and he had even tried once to hug his aunt, but for someone to touch him, it was almost too much.
"You are special," Tony whispered to him. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Ms. Aberdeen told Pepper and me how good you actually do in school, and how smart she thinks you are. It was hard for me to make friends in school because of how smart I was. I actually would act out, I failed a lot of English tests, pretended I didn't know math just to piss my old man off. He would just buy them off when I did that kind of stuff. Ms Aberdeen knows what you are doing kiddo, it's classic child psychology 101."
"Really? I thought she was just being nice to my face. You know, people aren't always what they seem," Harry told him. "But, of course, you would know that. You are Tony Stark, billionaire, boy genius. You didn't raise the stocks in your father's company by playing nice. I was reading that you are a real cut throat business man," Harry said, quoting Business Week. "You know what you want, and you get it."
Tony smiled, listening to him. "You read Business Week."
Harry nodded. "I wanted to learn about you before coming to the expo. You have accomplished so much, and you are still young. You Mr. Stark are my role model."
Tony scooted his chair closer to Harry, smiling at his son. He still hadn't told Harry what he discovered, and he didn't quite know how to broach the topic with him.
Pepper walked in a couple of moments later with pizza, and Harry's smile reached his eyes as Tony explained to him the intricacies of eating pizza, and the best way to fold it so it would not drip all over the place. It was hard for Harry to do because of the extra large pieces and with him having only one good hand, so Tony cut a piece in half for him, and watched triumphantly as Harry deftly maneuvered the pizza to his mouth. He taught his son that.
A nurse came in a while later as they watched Sherlock Holmes on BBC, giving them the five minute warning. Harry had to go to surgery in the morning, and visiting hours would be up soon. Tony didn't want to go, but knew that right now he had no pull with the hospital while Petunia was named his legal guardian.
"Well, I guess we have to get going now," Tony told Harry as he squeezed his good hand. Harry was looking pretty tired anyway from the pain meds and would be out in a couple of minutes.
"It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Stark."
"Please, call me Tony," he told Harry. "I will be by tomorrow after you get out of surgery to see how you are doing."
"You don't have to."
"I know," he smiled at his son, "But I want to. So I will see you tomorrow."
Harry nodded, and closed his eyes giving in to the pain medications.
Tony watched as his son nodded off into dream land, hoping that his son would feel better and catch some sleep. Tony knew that he wouldn't, there were things he had to get done, answers that he needed. He just needed to get started.
AN: Some scenes added. Some scenes deleted. Working on the flow of this story, and changing things up a bit. Leave some love, let me know what you think.