A.N. so turns out I forgot to hit the upload button last week when I intended to publish this chapter, sorry for the delay. On another note the next chapter is already in writing… turns out writing fanfiction is harder than I thought but I will not abandon this one I promise!

chapter 5

Natasha knew who the kid was the moment she witnessed his scar. Unlike the rest of the avengers, she once worked for the other side. More then once her handlers had her follow the child as he grew up, especially when his 'guardians' left him alone. She often wondered why the boy was important to HYDRA but once she realized there was no SHIELD records on Harry, she avoided bringing any attention towards him. Finding out that the Winter Soldier was protecting him was surprising especially considering how the child was just as protective over him. From what she could recall and from what she noticed; Harry tended to mistrust adults yet here he was almost glued to the assassin. She shared a look with Clint subtly telling him not to worry. She knew about the kid's magic, how could she not after observing him for years and noticing the small (and larger) irregularities that happened when he was stressed or afraid. Of course, Natasha only thought was that Harry was a mutant with the X gene rather than a wizard. Now she needed to make sure Clint won't freak out and over react about it. Ever since Loki her partner was weary of anything resembling magic and she was worried it might influence his view on Harry. The kid was the sweetest thing when he was little and she had a feeling not much has changed. It was the intense look from Stark that caused her to stand up and approach the billionaire

"what's with the staring?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tony looked a second more on the monitor camera before looking at her

"Something is wrong with the kid…" he said scratching the back of his neck "and I am talking beyond the fact that he is trying to protect a murderer"

"Bucky was brainwashed Tony" Steve said from the corner he was sitting at along with Sam

"doesn't make him any less dangerous" Sam grumbled

"Not my point right now capsicle" Tony snapped to prevent any further discussion about Barnes "the kid is the point. I am telling you something is wrong; he looks too worn out to be walking around with a HYDRA agent. Is it possible Barnes kidnapped him?"

"No"

Everyone turned a shocked look at Natasha who just looked at Harry and Bucky through the screen. They were talking about how funny the assassin looked being carried by the captain. Hearing Harry laugh made her smile just a bit

"How did you come to that conclusion Nat?" Barton asked

"Harry is happy, truly Happy, he is not faking it. Barnes is happy too, looks like a proud older brother from what I can see"

"Harry. Not kid, Harry. You know him" it was no question but a statement. Clint knew her long enough to recognize when Natasha was being emotional, her voice was always a tad sad when she was talking about the past

"Yes" was all she was willing to say about her past

"Is the kid a HYDRA legacy or something?" Tony asked

"No, as far as I know he was a person of interest but was not intended to be recruited"

"so HYDRA was not the one responsible for all of his injuries?" Banner asked calmly lifting his eyes from his tablet causing all to descend into silence

"what injuries?" Thor asked frowning

"according to the scans I ran on the two of them Harry has multiple incorrectly healed fractions, low bone density and muscle mass which indicated malnutrition. I would guess the real situation is far worse but I can gather limited information without lab tests" despite his calm voice, Bruce's eyes carried the familiar green glint of a very angry Hulk.

"Nat?" Clint looked over at the spy who refused to look anywhere but the screen

"Natasha?" Tony's voice was angrier than he intended "What do you know about it?"

"His relatives abused him, starved him, and locked him for days in a cupboard. When they left for vacations he would be left with only soup cans, I always snuck him some scraps I could gather. Even under the red room influence I knew what they were doing was beyond cruel" before she could continue a huge crash signaled the release of the Hulk and the destruction of a wall.

Just as Harry took a sip from a smoothie one of the nurses got him, blueberry flavor by the way, a wall collapsed. Bucky appeared in front of him in a flash with his metal hand raising in protection. As Harry tilted his head sideways to look over he saw a really pissed off Thor holding his hammer and crackling lightning. Now Harry had no idea how the electricity appeared in the closed room of how it was contained but the god looked awfully like the way one would imagine a raging god.

"Thor please stop you are scaring them" the calm voice of the black widow was heard and Harry located her next to a smart looking man (according to Harry's definition if you had glasses and a lab coat you were smart), the woman was slowly caressing his palm while looking a little worried

"she is right point-break" Stark said as he gave Harry a look he could not understand. Thor looked at Harry and Bucky who was still standing as a barrier between Harry and the others. Slowly the god lowered his hammer and Bucky relaxed

"I am sorry, I meant not to fight you but the news were awfully unsettling" the god looked very sorry and Harry cracked him a smile

"it's fine, is everything OK? What happened?" harry asked

"maybe you could tell us kiddo" Steve answered as he approached the duo. The others were still reluctant to approach the assassin and Harry was grateful for the space. However he was worried about the captain's remark 'had they found out about my magic? Maybe through SHEILD or HYDRA database' harry frowned

"what do you mean? What did I do?" Harry's frown deepened when Steve sent him a sad smile

"you might not know but it is standard procedure to scan all people entering the tower through multiple layers to prevent any kind of unauthorized material to enter"

"alright…" Harry was still unsure of what this was about, Bucky was the one carrying all arms (pun intended thank you very much)

"one of these scans gives a really detailed image, kind of like an X-ray machine" Steve continued but harry remained confused

"Who hurt you?" a deep growl made Harry jump, the smart man rose and stood next to Thor, his skin was greenish and his eyes shined in the same shade

"what?"

"your bones are a complete mess, multiple fractions and incorrectly healed bones, your joints are a mess and you have 3 foreign objects in your body" Stark read from a tablet in a voice which appeared to be bored but Harry noticed the raging undertones

"huh" was all the teen could say

"huh? What do you mean huh? Did he do some of this to you?" Stark asked pointing at Bucky who was tensing at the accusation. Was that the kind of monster people saw him as?

"Stark" Steve warned, Natasha told them it was the kid's relatives not Bucky

"no!" Harry yelled looking alarmed, he pushed pass Bucky's protective grasp "Bucky would never hurt me! This was all my uncle I swear! Bucky was saving me"

Had Harry not focused his gaze on Stark he would have seen the shocked look on Bucky's face as he protected him

"your uncle?" the man nicknamed Hawkeye asked "for how long?"

"for as long as I could remember" Harry admitted. It was hard talking about this kind of things, he tried talking to Dumbledore about it but the older wizard always stopped him before he could finish the first sentence and told him he was overreacting. the Weasleys knew as early as second year, he guessed Hermione also figured it out by now but no one had ever done anything about it. No one but Bucky. So if he had to be open about it to make sure Bucky would not take the blame that is what he will do

"No one ever noticed? Not even at school?" Harry looked at Hawkeye as if he suddenly turned blue before laughing bitterly

"they know, they just don't care" he said

"that is why I brought him here" Bucky finally spoke "I knew you could help"

"why not just handing incriminating photos to the police then? Why taking the risk and coming here?" Stark asked

"Because they would do nothing either. Harry is a person of interest to HYDRA, you must have known by now, the reason for that is the same to why no one would take action to help him" Bucky admitted

"which is?" Stark asked while eyeing the now very crestfallen teen

"I'm a wizard" he silently said

"you what?" Barton asked wide eyed and a little amused

"I am a wizard" Harry repeated louder while still looking down at the floor

"come on kid you can trust us, I promise we will help no matter what" Steve said, clearly thinking Harry was lying out of fear

"I really am a wizard, magic, flying brooms, the whole thing" harry could feel his cheeks burn as the feeling of embarrassment mixed with anger "I am not lying"

"Look kid there is no such thing as magic, ok?" Tony said but instantly regretted when he saw Harry tense up in reaction to his words.

The words Stark said echoed that of Vernon too closely for his liking and Harry could not help but get his guard up. Help, however, came from an unlikely source

"of course, magic exists, after all my brother Loki was the god of magic" Thor said "and Harry is telling the truth I can feel his power. You are very strong for your age! You would make a great warrior when you grow up!" Thor happily added as he stepped closer to the still somewhat tensed teen

"I'm sorry, but, what?!" Sam said "are you an alien?"

"No, perfectly human" Bucky said "have seen his baby pictures and all" Harry sent him a confused and surprised look

how on earth did Bucky got his hands on his baby pictures when Harry had no idea they existed before he turned 11?

"alright I will take a leap of faith and trust point-break on that one" Stark said while already thinking of the possibilities magic opened up in regards to his inventions "still does not explain why no one would help you, I am sure Britain has mutants right agency or something like the Xaviar school here"

"He is not a mutant, just a really special human gifted with magic" Bucky said "and there are others like him around the world, less than mutants but still plenty enough for their own secret society"

"please stop info dumping on us my head hurts" Sam complained as he set down on a couch near the TV

"Sam's right, can we focus on why no body was going to help Harry? This is what's important right now?" Asked Banner "I am sure even a magical secret society have child services at some form or another" Both Bucky and Harry looked reluctant to answer

"Because the people in charged of that society were the ones who placed him there in the first place" Natasha guessed, and she was right based on the two reactions

"But WHY?" Stark asked, already loosing his calm

"Because they needed me to suffer so I will be willing to fight" Harry answered taking bucky by surprise. The assassin honestly thought Harry hadn't figured it out or was too reluctant to admit it

"fight who?" Natasha asked while everybody dreaded the answer

"the monster who has been terrorizing my world for the past 30 years. The monster that killed my parents and tried to kill me. The monster that is still trying to kill me as we speak" Harry's answer sent them all into a shocked silence