Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or Marvel. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Note: Gonna be messing with the timeline a bit here for reasons that are my own. Trust me, it'll make sense.

Chapter One - The Prince Has Arrived

Victor Von Doom was performing his usual midafternoon activity. Staring into the middle distance while sitting alone in the center of his lab. He had had a challenging life to say the least to get here. From birth he'd been reviled by the ruling class in his home country as a Roma. His mother had been consumed by dark forces and killed by the Baron of Latveria's soldiers, his father soon followed after failing to save that same tyrant's wife from terminal cancer, and at sixteen he'd had to take on a leadership role in his family to fight back and keep his people from extermination.

He was all set for a life of hardship, perpetuating a gorilla war to prevent mass genocide, when the United States surprisingly took an interest in the machines and weapons he'd created to fight the numerically superior force. In return for the protection of his clan he'd agreed to travel to America to study and help design weapons, and thus he found himself in a university of all places, experiencing the American Dream as so many desired. To be honest, he found it lacking. All these typical teenagers strutting about as if they had even a vague understanding of the true nature of the world and the people that made up its populace. It was sickening. Regardless, he'd found a state of equilibrium by ignoring them all to keep full focus on his own research.

University life in many ways had been everything he could have hoped for, but it was also severely lacking in others. The American military was more than happy to fund his education, lodging, and personal research so long as he kept tinkering with the weapons he brought them, and he had flexibility in regards to his course schedule and lab time. However, he had to deal with random interruptions by that foppishly annoying, self-satisfied, arrogant lout Reed Richards (the bastard thought he actually understood the technicality of the inventions on display here.) as the military sought to recruit him as well. The fool apparently had some thoughts regarding trans-dimensional conductivity and travel, but lacked the intellect to make his ideas reality. Victor, however, was a different story. He'd been researching travel amongst the various planes far longer, and with his personal mix of science and magic, he was sure he could make such a journey a reality. Which of course made the most annoying thing about his college tenure the fact that he was progressively finding himself more and more pissed off as his transdimensional chair refused to actually work. He was missing something vital, he just couldn't figure out what.

That last was the item currently forcing his meditative state. He needed to search his mind for the answers, find the clues and pressure points necessary for success as he did in all of his past endeavors. With his Roma family it had been pressuring their fear of his mother's reputation and his own burgeoning arcane abilities to inspire loyalty and faith in his power and fear of his retribution. With skirmishes against the Latvirian military and their scouts it had been the element of surprise and his own advanced weaponry. There had to be a similar method here and he would discover it. How else would he find his mom's soul and rescue it from damnation?

Dimly he heard the clicking of government issued boots marching down the hall and sat back up in his chair to meet his benefactor. Further ruminations would have to wait. Hell, it wasn't as if that was too much of a problem. Victor was well aware of his own abilities and as perhaps the smartest man alive he'd no doubt have this problem solved within a matter of days. Weeks tops.

The door opened, and surprisingly his guess of visitor was only partially right. General Masterson was indeed there to meet him, but he wasn't alone. At his side was a remarkably beautiful redhead with entrancing green eyes and a fine dusting of freckles around her nose wearing a white coat identical to his own. The Latverian raised a brow. "Who is this?"

Instead of waiting to be introduced, the girl stepped up and shook his hand firmly. "Lily Evans, visiting PhD candidate. I love your accent. What is it?"

"Latverian." Victor smiled warmly at the bright redhead. He had experienced much darkness in his life but he was far from the ice covered heart he'd been before leaving his country, and he had a thing for bright haired girls; sue him. "You are English by the sound of your own extraordinary voice."

"Oh, a charmer." Lily blushed. "Yes. I was… homeschooled for a while, but I tested into an advanced program and my scores caught the eye of a few professors here who asked me to tour their facilities. I have to say, being recruited like this can certainly feed a girl's ego. When I heard about the work you were doing here though, well…"

"She insisted on meeting you and seeing about offering a hand." The military man explained.

"Really now?" Victor grumbled. "Another attempt to take full control of my research, General? I'm insulted, though not as much as the last four times, seeing as your approach was at least attractive in this instance." Indeed, though the military loved his products, they were always making small pushes to try and instigate greater control of his other items, even though personal autonomy had been a major part of their initial agreement.

"I-I swear it's not that." Lily objected before quickly ushering the protesting government stooge from the room and slamming the door in his face. "Look, I heard you were trying to find a way to bridge the divide between mechanics and the occult, and I just knew I needed to be a part of it. No one else that I've met even seriously considers that a viable area of study."

"Really, now? And why should I allow you to interfere in my work?" Doom questioned, his defenses squarely up now at the chance the girl might be a spy. "You jumped into an advanced program which means you are smart, but there are many smart people at this university. I have personally turned away over two dozen potential lab assistants because they did not meet my standards. How do you stand above them?"

In answer, the woman pulled a strange looking stick from her sleeve and gave it a flick. Across the room an entire lab table suddenly morphed into a living, breathing, and hungry looking lion. Now, Victor was no stranger to the arcane, but that was still pretty damned impressive.

"I am a witch, Mr. Doom, and I have a very strong urge to know if my magic can be quantified and explained by science. So how about it? You help me, I help you with whatever work you are doing that you don't want that guy to know about, and we both get what we want out of this arrangement."

The Roma Latverian couldn't help but laugh at the gall of this woman electing to place herself in the position of power in their negotiation. "You are certainly an interesting person, Ms. Evans. And fair play being what it is, I suppose since you showed me your little secret I should give an example of mine." So saying, the man raised a hand and swiveled it to point at the prowling beast. A whisper of power left his lips and dark sigils filled the air around his arm before a violet bolt of arcane power slammed into the large cat, vaporizing it from existence."

"You're a wizard?!" Lily exclaimed, eyes wide with shock.

"A warlock would be more accurate, I believe, seeing as how my mother was a witch. Tell you what, let us go and discuss this further over drinks. I happen to know a very nice bar down the street in which to do so."

Lily scrunched up her nose at the thought. "Ugh, American beer is practically watered down piss… and they card check everywhere."

"I agree, but do not worry. This place never cards, and their wine is actually of good stock."

"Then lead the way, Mr. Doom."

"I actually prefer Doctor."

"You have your degrees? The general said you were working here while taking classes?"

"No, I have not finished my program of study, but I'm smarter than the entirety of the staff at this institution so that seems well enough on my part." He leaned over and took the woman's arm with his own. "Ready to depart?"

"Of course, but you're paying."

"I wouldn't dream otherwise."

Two Years Later

Victor Von Doom sat on a wooden throne at the head of a collection of kneeling monks with a face wrapped in bandages as he continued tinkering with the armored greaves on his hands. The majority of his armor had been completed but the mask still required some minor finishing touches. He'd come a long way in the years since he'd met one of the bright flames of his life, and that was no mistake.

He supposed it had all truly started for him with Lily Evans. The woman had been a curiosity that had morphed into an invaluable assistant, friend, and then lover. Neither of them had sought to make anything serious out of their arrangement, but they certainly had a great deal of affection towards each other. He was too focused on his plans for the future, and she had a life and friends back in England and didn't want to be tied down in a place that would take her away from them. Lily had also claimed she had an on-again off-again boyfriend that she wanted to see if she could actually go the distance with over there when she eventually returned and Victor respected her far too much to get in the way of that.

Anyway, her magic had turned out to be the final clue he'd needed for his chair. Through trial and error they'd managed to identify the cosmic frequency it needed to function on, and almost by accident discovered that it resonated with the helmet-connection perfectly. From there they'd developed and created a device meant to store certain amounts of her magical power over time and planned to use it as a battery to power it.

It was a year of fine friendship, connection, and discovery, but sadly, as luck would have it, she wasn't available to see the first test runs at its end, as the woman received news of a breakout of hostilities in England and felt obligated to go help her friends. She'd confessed to him while they were in bed about the truth of the magical world and all the struggles that came with it. Of course he advised her not to leave, but when she persisted he gave her his personal phone number (only three people in the world had it) and ordered her to call him if she got into too much trouble. He had no stake to speak of with her world's problems, but he at least wanted her to survive if possible. True friends were hard to find in this world. The next week had seen the advent of the equipment test and the proof of both its success and failure.

Indeed it's success was in that the device had indeed allowed him to track his mother's soul to the underworld where he confirmed once and for all that it was held in thrall to the demon Mephisto. A horrifying being of hellfire and terror. The failure came in the fact that Reed fucking Richards and his jock of a best friend had interfered with his experiment. Their idiotic actions had pulled him out of the hell dimension before he could even attempt to help his poor mother, destroyed the machine's functionality, drained Lily's battery, and permanently, horrifically, scarred and disfigured the flesh of his face.

He'd sworn two things that day. First, he'd have his revenge on Reed Richards for what he'd done to him. Second, he'd amass enough power to eventually rival hell itself so that he might free his beloved mother from the arms of damnation. The first goal was looking to be rather troublesome as his electronic spy network had shown him that Reed and a few of his friends had finally been enticed by the people they'd long sworn never to serve and made a deal with the military for access to their space program. They were currently off the planet performing research on some project or other. Aw well, he could figure out what to do about them later.

The second was proving more straightforward in its completion. After leaving the university (and trashing all of his creations so the military could not use them) he'd traveled the lesser known sections of the world, interviewing mystic masters and learning every secret he could. This had eventually led him to his current location, a hidden monastery in the Himalayas, staffed entirely by magic wielding monks. Within months of joining them he'd learned everything they could teach, vastly surpassed their wisest instructors, and finally become the undisputed leader of their Order, earning a zealous following from them all in the process.

Now, as he sat in his throne, the monks continued their previous activity of honoring him while crafting his new mask. The object would serve two functions. First, it would hide his scarred flesh from the pain of open air contact while also helping to bring forth a stern visage for those he would seek to dominate, and dominate he would. He needed power, and he had plans for how he would gain it. Plans indeed.

The second purpose was tied to that desire in great fashion. He'd been a fool to try and access the hell dimension when and how he had. He could see that now. To be sure, he was a remarkably skilled practitioner of the arcane, but he'd still gone in with no protection for his body, and no artifacts to increase his already substantial power. Considering he'd expected to face a demon there, he should have known better. Now, the mask would join the rest of his armor to finish the set as the perfect marriage between science and magic. A suit of powered armor strong enough to level any force that came against him. With this tool at his disposal and after taking the time to gather items of power and allies he was sure his next attempt would not be a failure.

His silent expectation was suddenly interrupted by the shrill tones of a cell phone. It still surprised him that he had service in a place so far out of the way. Since so few held the number he easily guessed it was an emergency and at once he pulled it out to hit the answer button before pressing the device to his ear. "Hello."

"V-Victor?" The voice was hesitant, but he'd recognize Lily Evans anywhere.

"Lily? What is happening? Is everything alright?"

"No, it really isn't." The line went silent for a moment before her voice returned, its tone now full of regret, "Victor I have so much to tell you, the most important being… I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" The sorcerer leaned forward in his chair, his full attention now locked onto the conversation he was having rather than the tableau before him. "What have you done to be sorry for?"

"I-I… shortly after I came back to England I learned I was pregnant. I… you and me… we… we were together the morning I left, but I was with James as well within a week. I… I thought the child was his. I wanted it to be his."

"Lily… are you saying that you bore my child?" Victor's voice had gone hoarse at the very prospect.

"Yes." The woman sounded justifiably miserable as she answered. "I wasn't sure at first, but over time the signs started showing themselves. He has your ears, your hair, and your eyes. Last month I finally performed a paternity spell and the results were clear. Victor, you have a son, and his name is Harry."

"You performed this spell last month? Why are you only now telling me?"

The woman sighed on the other end of the line and answered, "It's not a great excuse, but I've been pretty busy. We're in the middle of a war against what amounts to a blood purist racist and his followers. I've been in and out of combat since it started, minus my pregnancy term, and I've only now had the time to actually figure out what I wanted to say and call."

"What changed?"

"I went into hiding."

"What!"

"Calm down, Victor, and I'll explain what's going on."

"You try being on my end of this call and being calm."

Silence stretched as Lily seemed to consider that before acknowledging, "You're right, I'm sorry. Look, this isn't ideal for either of us, but I just… I feel like you need to know what's happening. You deserve a chance to know your son."

"You're goddamned right."

"Yes, yes I am. Now as I was saying, until recently we've been locked in combat but James, my… husband and I have recently been made aware of a prophecy that addresses little Harry directly. We don't know what it says, but the dark lord we are at war with does, and our leader is convinced that he'll be coming for our baby. Thus, the hiding."

Victor wasn't the smartest man in the world for nothing. He had a feeling where this was going. "You want me to come get him?"

"Yes." Lily was definitely miserable about her answer. "It isn't safe in England anymore, especially if he's an active target. James and I can't leave. There are too many people who depend on us here, but he can still have a life all his own. A life you can give him."

"I'm not a peaceful man, Lily. I'm not even sure I'm a good one anymore."

"You're one of the best men I know." The response was passionate and full of conviction. "And what is more, I know both the truth of your honor and how much family means to you. There is no place in the world where Harry will be safer than at your side."

"And this… James person agrees with this?"

"He's… understanding. The paternity was just as much a shock to him as me, but he still loves our child and wants the best for him, even if that means he is not with us."

"Very well then." Victor swept from his chair and began pacing his way past kneeling monks to the entrance on his way to exit the mountainous facility. The mask would need to wait for now. If his son was in immediate danger he could not do the same. "Where are you at the moment?"

"The location is hidden by a Fidelius charm, it's-"

"A charm that hides a location in a neighboring plane of existence to all but those who know of the secret of its location."

"How do you-"

"You left your old textbooks in my dorm when you went back to England."

"Oh… so that is where those went. I'm not the secret keeper so I can't reveal the secret to you, though."

"Just tell me the general location and I'll figure out the rest. Magical wards of any variety are no barrier to me." Indeed, that had been something he was ecstatic to learn to combat with these monks. She provided a general location triangulated between three different streets in England and he took off at once, activating the thrusters in his boots to enter the lower atmosphere before opening a mystic gateway to England. From there it was a small matter to soar the rest of the way to the small hamlet of Godric's Hollow and sure enough there it was. A small section of distorted space in the center of the area Lily had determined for him. Just floating there he could feel the charm at work attempting to breach his mental defenses, to try and convince his mind that nothing was truly there. Ha! As if some paltry charm could influence the mind of Victor Von Doom.

He raised his arms before him and was all set to tear those wards to shreds and make the Fidelius his bitch when the need was taken out of his hands entirely. A massive boom erupted in the night, and suddenly Lily's home was visible to him and anyone else who might decide to stop by and look. What was also clear to see was the massive hole blown through the wall of a second floor room.

"Shit." He cursed before diving down from on high to soar straight into the new opening in the structure, praying that he was not too late. Upon skidding to a stop his gaze took in the situation in an instant. A crumpled pile of robes and a bone white wand, Lily on the floor before a crib, not breathing, and inside the crib a bawling toddler of perhaps one year of age. Crushing his instincts to go to the child at once he first cast a spell to let him see through walls and took in the rest of the house. It wouldn't do for his guess of the turn of events to be wrong and be snuck up on after all.

A few seconds later he released the spell and sighed. Aside from a male corpse on the first floor that was no doubt Lily's husband, there were no other mortals in the building. There had been a rat that was colored oddly on the magical spectrum running away, but it was far from a priority at the moment.

Leaning down he placed a gauntleted hand around the redhead's wrist and allowed the inbuilt sensors to search for signs of life just to be sure. There were none. "Oh, Lily. I'm so sorry this happened to you." And truly he was. The world was bereft of friends that he could honestly say approached his level of intellect and now one of the few he'd known was lost and on her way to the land of the dead. All of her intelligence, all or her power, all of the good she could have done for mankind had been snuffed out in an instant. The world was a poorer place for her loss.

At least she'd performed the truest duty of a mother in her last moments and gone out protecting her child. His finely tuned senses could easily feel the charge in the air between her body and the robes, a charge so reminiscent of the experiments they'd long ago performed in his lab. Clearly Lily had cast a final spell or ritual charged with her own life force to destroy the dark lord rather than risk little Harry.

"I promise you, Lily," He whispered, "your sacrifice will not be in vain. I will raise our child with honor, power, and majesty. He will not have the childhood I did. This I swear." And so saying he rose from the floor and finally made to approach the wailing toddler in the crib, and it was no wonder he was in such a state, the little thing's gaze was locked onto its mother on the ground. This gave Victor pause, wondering if the boy was actually comprehending what was happening around him. Yes he was only a year or so old, but he himself had been remarkably advanced at a similar age. His mother had said so.

Slowly, so as not to rattle him further, Doom reached into the crib and picked up little Harry with both hands and raised him to eye level to examine him; only to immediately cringe as he remembered that the bandages he typically wore had loosened in several places from the windspeed of his flight, revealing the damaged flesh beneath. His scarred features which had terrified so many children already were on full display to the little one in his hands.

He braced himself for the increase in wails, only to be shocked as instead the boy's crying ceased, a gurgling laugh came from its throat, and tiny hands began to run over his cheeks and nose. Opening his eyes again he saw that the boy seemed delighted by his face rather than scared, and he was having a grand old time investigating it; the small attention span of the very young was taking his little mind off the loss of his primary caregiver for a moment.

Deciding there was no harm with allowing the inspection, Doom used the distraction to examine the boy more closely himself. He seemed to be for the most part uninjured, but there was a jagged scar on his forehead that was bleeding down his face. He was tempted to initially guess some debris from the explosion likely hit him, but the wound practically reeked of dark magic, so it was more likely a curse scar. He'd have the monks examine it more thoroughly when he returned to the temple. Further inspection found that Lily had been correct with her description over the phone. The child did indeed have his ears, and his blue eyes were as pure as crystal, similar to his own to be sure, but near identical to the perfection of his mother's. The color was a trademark of her family line so it made sense. His face was still full of the trademark softness of youth but he thought perhaps he glimpsed some of the Doom jawline, and perhaps Lily's cheekbones as well. Yes, he'd perform a test of his own to be sure, but he had no reason to believe his friend had lied. This was his son. This was his son! Now that he knew that the child was safe for the most part, the thought was finally taking serious root in his mind.

He was a father now and with no one else in his life little Harry needed to come with him as was proper. To be raised a proud scion of the Doom line with the knowledge and prestige of what that entailed. He absolutely refused to allow any heir of his to be raised as he had been, a wandering Roma getting by on the bare minimum. He had plans set up, well paced, eventual plans to gain power in this world, but now… they would need to be accelerated. For the power he sought was no longer only for himself, but his heir. Yes, Harry Von Doom would not be a peasant. He would be a prince, and eventually a king. So swore Victor Von Doom.

His thoughts were interrupted by a twinging of his senses that let him know a magical being had entered the range of his perceptions. Interesting but troublesome. He had no desire to mix with the plebians of Lily's backwards magical society. She'd made it clear more than once how behind the times they were and such a meeting would no doubt be a bore. So instead he tucked the boy into his arm, retrieved his mother's wand as well as that of her conquered foe, and flew off once more into the night.