AN:: I have edited this chapter so everything should be better now!
Title: The Greater Part of Valor
Rating: M
Warnings: Crude language, Violence, Sex, Alcohol mentioned, and various other things that could be seen as offensive but are not meant to be.
Pairing: Fem! Harry Potter/Tony Stark [aka] Iron Man
Summary: After the war with Voldemort, Harribelle spent her time holed up in Grimmauld Place, studying Potions, Defense, and Healing. After ten years though, life has gotten away from her. Harribelle decides to take a trip to Malibu, CA with Teddy to get away for a while; only to end up getting involved with something she never expected. TS/fem!HP
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Iron Man movie franchises but I do own the DVDs. I do not own the Harry Potter franchise either though I own all the movies. I make no money from this story.
"Are we there yet?" Teddy asked for the fifth time.
Harribelle sighed and looked over at him, "Yes, the parking lot is right there," She pointed across the lanes of traffic from where they were at in the turn lane, "and we'll be pulling in there in a moment."
She watched the traffic until two cars were kind enough to stop and let her turn. She waved to the drivers as she pulled into the parking lot of Stark Industries.
"Isn't Mr. Stark the guy Aunt Ginny works for?" Teddy asked, looking at the building in awe.
"Yup, and she goes by Virginia Pots now Teddy, she has since she moved to the states after she got her degree."
Teddy wrinkled his nose, "Who'd want to have even more school?"
Harribelle laughed as she pulled into a parking space, "People who want a good paying job. Apparently it's difficult to find work in the states without a degree, not impossible though."
Teddy just shook his head and unbuckled his seat belt. "Can I carry the brownies?"
"As long as you don't eat them, okay Teddy?" Harribelle said, looking at him over her glasses.
Teddy pouted, "Fine… no need to pull a Dumbledore on me Aunt Harri…" He complained.
Harribelle grinned, "If it works then I'll continue to do so. Besides, it's a good way to get my point across, isn't it?"
She got out and walked around the car and helped Teddy out, holding the tray of brownies while he jumped down, "Anyways, we should go drop these off quickly. We might even be able to see your Aunt Virginia."
Teddy screwed up his nose at the name, "Can't we call her Ginny?"
"Nope, not when she's working as Virginia." Harribelle said as they walked into the building and up to the receptionist. "Hello, I was wondering if you could contact Happy and tell him that Harribelle is waiting for him."
"Of course miss, please wait over there, he will be here shortly." The receptionist said, picking up a phone and dialing a number.
Harribelle smiled and thanked her before moving over to the waiting area with Teddy, "So, once we get home do you want to go swimming first or eat dinner?"
"Swimming!" Teddy yelled excitedly, causing Harribelle to chuckle.
"Don't yell Teddy."
"Sorry Aunt Harri." Teddy said, still grinning.
"Is that my favorite little man I hear?"
"Aunt Virginia!" Teddy yelled, jumping up and running at the woman who stood beside Happy.
"Hullo Virginia." Harribelle said, walking over to them and rolling her eyes at Teddy, "Wasn't expecting to see you today."
"You never told me that you guys were coming to visit! And call me Pepper, please, it's what my boss and Happy call me." Pepper said, smiling.
"Of course." Harribelle said, smiling. "It's good to see you again, been too long."
"Happy! Happy! We brought you brownies!" Teddy exclaimed, taking the brownies from Harribelle and handing them to Happy, "See!"
Happy crouched down, "I see that little man, thanks!" He looked up at Harribelle, "You didn't have to, really, but thank you anyways."
"It was no problem, really."
"She's most likely thankful that she had something to do, weren't you Harri? I remember you nearly going stir crazy that first year you lived with Snape." Pepper said, nudging Harribelle.
"Yes, well, not everyone rushed off for University." Harribelle said, smiling sadly.
Pepper frowned, "What's wrong?"
Harribelle sighed, "Severus… he died a couple of years ago, everything finally caught up to him and his body just… shut down I suppose. And Narcissa came down with a case of the pox last year and died shortly after, none of the medicine worked for her sadly."
Pepper looked at Harribelle sadly, "I'm so sorry Harri…"
Harribelle waved her off, "It's not your fault but thank you anyways. At least I got a few years with parental figures. Anyways, I was wanting to invite you over to the house for dinner. I had planned to call you but this way I can give you my address."
"Oh, of course!" Pepper said, pulling up her phone.
"You're invited as well Happy." Harribelle said, smiling at him, "Teddy wants to show you his Uncle's boxing matches."
"Boxing?" Happy said, looking down at Teddy.
"Yeah! Uncle Dudley is really good! Have you ever watched boxing?" Teddy asked, jumping up and down.
"Watched it? I use to be a wrestler myself!" Happy said, puffing out his chest.
Teddy gasped and started asking Happy questions in quick succession to which Happy gladly answered.
"Anyways," Harribelle said, turning back to Pepper, "I live at Helena's Haven, though most around here know it as Paradise Cove."
Pepper gaped at her, "Really? You live at Paradise Cove? It's one of the coveted villas in Malibu!"
"Apparently it's owned by the Potters. The bank had some contractors come in and fix it up a few years back though. Was going through my properties and getting rid of a few and stumbled upon this one."
"Wait, you got rid of your properties? Why? You don't need the money." Pepper said, frowning.
"A third of the money is actually going to Gringotts, they're still fixing the damage from my trip inside. Another third is going towards creating orphanages in Britain for us so that some of the families can have children for their lines. The last is going into a vault for Teddy after he becomes Lord Black. He may not need it really but I want to be prepared incase anything happens to me; it would be nice to know that even if he cannot obtain the Black Lordship he will have money set aside for him anyways." Harribelle explained.
"Well, you're certainly covering your bases, Harri." Pepper said with a smile, "Oh, yes, do you guys need tickets to the Expo? It's in New York and I would love it if you both would come, Tony can't wait to meet you both."
"You've told your boss about us?" Harribelle said, cocking her head with a frown.
"Well, he's more like another annoying brother than a boss, reminds me a bit of the twins to be honest." She said sadly.
Harribelle sighed and hugged Pepper, "I should let you get back to work. It'll keep your mind off of that subject if nothing else. I expect you both to be at my home at eight tonight, got it?" She pointed at Happy and Pepper, glaring, "I will not allow excuses and you can tell your boss that I said that and that he can talk to me if he wants to complain. You can bring us the tickets then too."
Pepper chuckled, "Alright, we'll be there at seven on the dot."
"Good. Say your goodbyes, Teddy." Harribelle said, holding out her hand.
Teddy hugged both Pepper and Happy and said bye, even saying bye to the receptionist, before they walked out the door.
"She's unnerving. Would she really be annoyed about us being late?" Happy asked as they walked to the elevator.
"If you push her she would lecture the Queen for coming between her and feeding those she sees as friends." Pepper said, shaking her head, "She actually lectured the Prime Minister when he arrived late at a meeting with her at her home. As long as it's not at her home, she doesn't care if someone is late… But, yes, if Tony makes us late she will drive up here just to lecture him."
Happy shuddered.
XXXX
"Come on, Teddy, time to go in and start dinner!" Harribelle yelled from the back door, smiling as she saw him building a sandcastle.
"Awe!" Teddy groaned as he got up and headed back to the house, stopping before going in so that Harribelle could spell the sand off of him and wrap him in a towel.
"It's nearly six Teddy, you've been playing for three hours already. Go and get washed up and into some clothes." Harribelle said, pointing Teddy at the stairwell.
"Are you sure I can't play for five more minutes?" Teddy asked, turning puppy dog eyes on Harribelle.
Harribelle raised a brow and motioned towards the stairs. Teddy's shoulders slumped and he headed towards the stairs, "Can't knock a guy for trying…" He muttered.
Harribelle rolled her eyes before heading into the kitchen. It was their first night in the house and she'd already invited people over for dinner. She couldn't keep the bright smile off of her face as she pulled her hair up into a sloppy bun and pushed her glasses up her nose.
The smile quickly turned into a frown when she realized that she had no idea what to cook. With a sigh she pulled down a cook book and opened it to the chicken section and quickly picked out a chicken parmesan and decided to pair it with a nice spring salad and some wild rice.
Nodding her head she quickly got to cooking.
"What can I help with Aunt Harri?" Teddy asked about twenty minutes later.
"Do you think you could make the salad? I don't want to burn the chicken and it would cut down the time…" Harribelle said, looking over her shoulder at Teddy, "What are you wearing?"
Teddy smiled widely and puffed out his chest, "I'm wearing a shirt from one of Uncle Dudley's matches!"
"Yes, I see that… I more meant the pants."
Teddy looked down at his bright orange Chudley Cannons sleep pants. "My Chudley Cannons sleep pants?"
Harribelle chuckled and shook her head, "Okay then, the salad mix is on the counter, I've already chopped up the ingredients they just need to be mixed together in a bowl. Get the big glass one from under the counter. Be careful though, I don't want you hurting yourself."
"Okay Aunt Harri." Teddy said, slipping around the Bar to get to the cabinets beneath it. "Do I put all of this in it?"
"Yes, and mix it with the salad tongs that are on the counter there, please." Harribelle said, turning back to the chicken with a grin.
XXXX
"They're here!" Teddy exclaimed, running to the door and throwing it open as Happy and Pepper got to the door. "Hi!"
"Hello, Teddy." Pepper said, hugging Teddy. "Where's Harri?"
"In here Pepper!" Harribelle yelled from the kitchen. "Just finishing up! Teddy, could you take them to the table, please?"
"Yes, Aunt Harri!" Teddy said, grabbing Happy's hand and pulling him towards the table, chatting away about the tournament that they had attended where he had got the shirt he was wearing.
As soon as they were seated Harribelle brought out the food and placed it on the table, "What would you like to drink?" She asked them.
"Water for me." Happy said.
"Juice!" Teddy said, smiling.
"Tea if you don't mind, Harri." Pepper requested.
Harribelle nodded and returned from the kitchen moments later with said drinks. She smiled at Pepper as she placed the tea down, "I had just gotten the kettle off the stove. Well," She said, looking at the others, "tuck in!"
Teddy kept Happy fairly distracted through the meal and it allowed Pepper and Harribelle some time to talk without being heard.
"Have you heard back from the goblins yet?" Pepper asked, patting her face with her napkin.
"Yes, they sent me a message while Teddy was napping. Everything has been removed from the houses and placed into my vaults and three properties have already been sold."
"So quickly?"
"Well, it helps that they're the properties of The-Girl-Who-Lived I suppose." Harribelle said sarcastically.
Pepper shook her head, "Well, at least you don't have to deal with them here. Fame grubbers they are. I've dealt with so many of them the past few years."
"That reminds me, no one has really heard much about what you've done since you've left Britain."
"Well, I got my Master's degree in business management and minored in political science at London School of Economics and Political Science. Both have really helped me with this job. You wouldn't believe how much trouble Tony's gotten into the past few years. I'm twenty nine and he's already making me debate early retirement. Though he's much better than the man I interned with. Killian was a weird guy and he wouldn't stop flirting with me."
"Stark couldn't be that bad. I mean, you were my friend in Hogwarts and we got into a lot of trouble." Harribelle said, pushing her empty plate back a bit.
"You would think but no, he's worse, much worse." Pepper said before going on about what Tony has done over the past few years.
Harribelle frowned when she heard about the incident in Afghanistan. "Have you thought about getting him some help? It seems like he may have PTSD to a slight degree and may be living life recklessly because of it. Maybe there's something else going on. Have you talked to him?"
Pepper shook her head, "I haven't had a chance to most of the time. He's there for a minute then he's off on some project surrounding his suits. It's tiring but he seems like he doesn't have time for anything anymore. We didn't really sit down and have many heart to hearts before but now there doesn't seem to be anything."
"Why not get a personal assistant? It might take some stress off of you and give you a moment to speak with him. They would be able to watch the company while you sit down and make him talk, you're pretty good at that when you don't have something else distracting you."
"He'd probably just seduce them into bed."
"Just think about it Pepper. It might be a good thing in the end." Harribelle said with a smile, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Aunt Harri?"
"Yes Teddy?"
"Do you think we could watch one of Uncle Dudley's competitions on the telly?" Teddy asked.
"If Happy is okay with it then I suppose I'm fine with it." Harribelle replied.
"Yay! Come on Happy!" Teddy said, pulling Happy into the living room while Harribelle and Pepper cleaned off the table and started on the dishes.
"So how are you holding up? Moving to a different country and all must be exhausting." Pepper said, rinsing the dishes and handing them to Harribelle.
"Well," Harribelle started, pausing to think. What could she say exactly? "It certainly hasn't been all fun and games. We still have most of the furniture that we'll be arranging tomorrow when the movers get here. Everything in here now is just what I had packed away. Logically, I knew that I couldn't show up in the middle of Malibu with no moving vehicle so I had to get the goblins to mail some of our things over to be moved in. I purchased the telly and most of the dishes and utensils earlier today after we got off the plane."
"When did you get here anyways?"
"Around six this morning. We didn't get back to the house until eleven or so. Teddy had a nap and I took a pepper up with him after his nap…" She stopped and looked out the window over the sink and sighed, "I don't really plan on moving again after this if I'm being completely honest."
"You're not? What about London?"
"I love London, I really do, but I don't enjoy all the attention. I can't go to Diagon without being bombarded by the Daily Prophet and fans. Hell, I can't even relax enough to date anyone anymore. My last serious relationship was with Blaise if you can believe it, and that was broken off when I found out he was cheating on me with three other women! Other than the Weasleys, Neville, Hermione, Draco, Luna, the Bones, and Professor McGonagall I don't really have anyone that I can trust anymore."
"What about Hagrid?"
"I love Hagrid, I do, and it's just that I can't trust him with any details from my life. You know how easy it is to get him to talk." She sighed, "Is it too much to ask for someone who understands me and accepts me without question?"
"You're preaching to the choir here. The only ones who I've actually gotten to know are Happy and Tony. Everyone else has just ended up with a bad ending."
"You dated Tony and Happy?"
"Ew, no, dating Tony would be like trying to date the twins." She paused and tapped her chin, "Though I haven't thought about dating Happy… They're like my security blankets in a way but I'm not as close to Happy as I am to Tony so maybe it would work out… I don't know."
"Well, you won't know until you try." Harribelle said, putting away the last dish and leaning against the counter. "So, Stark Expo is in a few days?"
"Yes, and there's so much work to do it's outrageous. Tony is getting most of it ready but I'm in charge of everything behind the scenes as well as the press and the security. I don't know why he decided to bring it back this year. It's only been a few months since the whole situation with Afghanistan and Obadiah… I'm glad that you guys are coming though. It'll be fantastic, trust me." Pepper said, smiling.
"I suppose." Harribelle sighed, throwing down the rag she had been drying the dishes with and turning to look at Pepper, "You need a day off."
Pepper blinked, "What?"
"A day off. We could go to the spa or something."
"I couldn't possibly ask Tony for a day off so close to the Expo!" Pepper exclaimed.
"I don't see why not. I mean, surely he's got to know how much you've been doing for this. I think you need a day off." Harribelle said, chuckling when Pepper just gaped at her, "If nothing else you can always blackmail him."
"I'm not going to blackmail my boss Harribelle Potter!" Pepper said, shocked that she even suggested the idea.
"I don't know, I feel like he'd let you have the day off. Are you, the sister of two great pranksters, going to let this chance slide? I'll pay for everything for the spa day too." Harribelle said, smirking.
Pepper sighed, "…Fine, but if I get fired for this I'm blaming you."
"Go for it, I don't know Tony. It's not going to hurt me." Harribelle said smiling widely at breaking Pepper's resolve so easily.
"Wipe that smile off your face Harri, it's unbecoming." Pepper said, crossing her arms and walking out of the kitchen to Harribelle's laughter.
XXXX
"I don't know how this happened so easily." Pepper said, astounded, still, at being able to get the day off.
Harribelle shrugged as they left the spa, "I told you he would. I'm just disappointed that you didn't get to blackmail him. I was actually looking forward to hearing about what he said to it."
"Grow up Harri." Pepper said nudging Harribelle.
"I'll have you know that I am a year older than you, thank you!" Harribelle said, laughing. "So how did you get Happy to babysit Teddy?"
"It's his day off and he actually enjoys Teddy's company a lot. Besides, if he can talk about his boxing career then he's happy." Pepper said, smiling at the thought.
"Well that is his name. Besides, he'd be happier if you actually asked him on a date." Harribelle said, stepping into the car.
"Yeah…" Pepper said before pausing and glaring at Harribelle, "Hey! Quit trying to hook me up with Happy!"
"Why, you both like each other, it's obvious." Harribelle said, rolling her eyes.
Pepper rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone to turn it back on, only to curse when she saw all the messages. "Do you think that you could drop me off at Stark Industries? There's a problem with some of the guest list for the Expo and I need to fix it; seeing how the Expo is in a day. Which reminds me, you and Teddy need to be on the flight to New York tonight."
"I know mum, I will get on the flight and check into the room that you booked for us, even though you know you shouldn't have."
"Well, I wanted you two to be in the same hotel Happy, Tony, and I would be in. It's only for a night then you guys can take a flight back, or apparate. Can you apparate that far?"
Harribelle rolled her eyes, "I'll drop you off Pepper but you're getting a dreamless sleep potion tonight. You need all the rest you can get. You're too stressed out."
Pepper looked over at her for a few moments before sighing. "Fine, I will. But, you have to come backstage after the opening ceremony to meet Tony. You aren't meeting him at the hotel. Merlin knows how that would turn out."
"Probably with him trying to charm me into bed."
"He'd probably succeed." Pepper said.
Harribelle looked at her, slightly offended, "Ye of little faith."
"More like I know how Tony works Harri. You'd fall for it. I'm almost positive of it. Just trust me on this, please." Pepper said.
"Fine, fine, but you totally owe me for that."
"Whatever Harri." Pepper said as they pulled up to Stark Industries. "Thank you for dropping me off. I'm sorry I have to leave."
"Don't worry, I know this is important to you. Go, take care of your business. Merlin knows someone has to." Harribelle said, a glint of mischief in her eyes.
Pepper laughed as she closed the door; if only Harribelle knew how right she was.
XXXX
"Teddy! Come on, the Expo starts in a few minutes!" Harribelle said, putting her glasses on and checking her hair.
"Coming Aunt Harri!" Teddy said, running out of the bathroom of their suite.
"Alright, let's get going." Harribelle said, grabbing Teddy's hand and walking them out of the hotel and into an alley, apparating them to the Expo.
They walked to the front and showed their VIP passes, quickly being shown to the front row on the far left. About ten minutes later, after the Ironettes started dancing to ACDC, they heard a loud rumble in the distance.
"What's that Aunt Harri?"
"I don't know Teddy but I think we're about to find out." Harribelle said, looking towards the opening in the roof as a suit of armor flew in and landed on the stage, feet away from them.
Both Harribelle and Teddy couldn't help but to gape as the suit was removed revealing Tony Stark.
"That's so cool!" Teddy yelled, jumping up and down while Harribelle just stared at Tony Stark, realizing what Pepper meant when she said that she'd fall for anything Tony said. The man was extremely attractive.
Tony smirked as he straightened his suit and walked forward a few steps, throwing his arms out to the crowds' cheers, he looked around and yelled, "It's good to be back!"