i.
Tony isn't a fan of the decision to have a family outing at the Quidditch World Cup. That said, he also doesn't have the heart to keep Harry from going once he sees how excited the kid is.
Well… not "kid" anymore. His kids are definitely and undeniably into their teenage years, if just for the way they even refuse haircuts because "it looks cool."
The one bonus is that between their joint wealth and influence, Tony and Sirius manage to secure a private box adjacent to the Minister's. It means that they have a certain level of privacy at the event, and Aunt Peggy is talked into coming by both Sharon and Hope to make it a true family outing. (He'd asked the Jarvises, but the two preferred to hold the fort down at home. Tony knew better than to argue with Néni Ana.) Because the box is private, Rhodey and Remus agree to join, as well as one of Harry and Hermione's friends from Gryffindor. Dean Thomas is a muggleborn with an obsession for soccer (Tony was not British and was not about to start using their stupid words), and both kids had been delighted at the fact of including him on this venture.
They aren't immune to the shenanigans that befall the entire stadium though. Tony has educated himself on all manner of magical creatures in the Americas, but not even he had thought to expect leprechauns from Ireland. It seemed too gauche to make such an assumption… although he supposed all stories had to come from somewhere?
He has heard of Veela, on the other hand. Once upon a time, he may have been one of the men trying to jump onto the field under the power of their allure. Between a surging need to protect his kids out of nowhere and the way Remus' eyes flash yellow alongside a warning growl, Tony feels no compulsion for the Veela.
Aunt Peggy turns to Tony with a brow raised in question. Tony merely shrugs back.
He's already had to help explain the basics of Quidditch today. He's not giving a school lecture as well.
ii.
The good cheer and luck of Ireland's win didn't last through the night.
Dean and Sharon were outside looking at the stars, both not getting to see much of the unblemished night sky while in London or New York City. Remus and Sirius had finally gotten around to explaining about Veelas and werewolves and all other classifications of magical creatures, and the three H's– Hope, Harry and Hermione, all similar in age and nature, in Tony's opinion– were listening with rapt attention. Tony and Rhodey were thus left to share the success of the day by eating some cakes that had been purchased from the bustling camp markets earlier.
Rhodey is the first to notice the shouts and sounds of spellfire. He's Air Force, gone through training and deployment. Warfare sounds similar no matter the means.
When he says "Tony, something's wrong," Tony immediately jumps to his feet. Out of everyone on this planet, everyone Tony knows and loves, Rhodey is the only one Tony trusts truly, implicitly, completely, with the safety of his family. He moves towards the quintet across the tent's main room while Rhodey steps outside.
"We need to leave. Now," Tony emphasizes when the group looks up in confusion. From the way the Marauders' heads turn to the noises as they get louder, they've noticed the danger coming as well. He counts their heads and looks around. "We need to get Dean and Sharon. Remus, can you bring Peggy back to our apartment and then come back?"
"Tony, what's going on?" Hermione's half-risen from her seat by the time Remus has already raced into Peggy's shared bedroom.
Tony looks at his sister and knows she is past the age where lying to placate will work. "I don't know, but nothing good. Rhodey's gone to check." He looks back at the three teens. "You have your wands on you? And I know your parents likely gave you something, Hope?"
"Dad gave me a suit. Mom gave me a gun," she replied confidently.
Harry's eyebrows shoot up. "You brought your gun here? I haven't even noticed."
Hope rolls her eyes. "That's kind of the point, Harry James."
"Yes, we have our wands," Hermione interrupts before they can descend into their routine bickering.
Tony is given an impromptu example as to how fast the teens can draw their weapons when the tent entrance flutters open behind him. The sight brings him relief, which is more than Rhodey's next words (for who else could have entered?) grant him.
"Tony, they aren't out there. And whatever's going on is causing fire and explosions now."
He really should have expected Harry to run out the moment he heard his friends were in danger.
iii.
"Harry, no!"
"Hermione!"
Hermione and Hope both shout and dash out after the wayward wizard.
Tony knows yelling after them won't do any good, so he doesn't bother. Instead, he goes to the case stashed away in the corner, filled with bits he'd been developing in his spare time. The largest is armor, of course. The majority of tech he's been working on is defensive in nature, to speed along the new path of Stark Industries.
He puts the armor on first, over his shirt. He doubts wizards know what body armor looks like, so does not rush to hide it. Some smaller gadgets clip onto the sides of the armor, but the arc de triumph is the armored glove that he slips onto his right hand. Both pieces are made from vibranium scraps that had been in the vault of his father's private lab, leftovers no doubt from prototypes of Captain America's shield. The glove, however, has what took him the longest to perfect: an energy repulsor powered by a miniature arc reactor.
It wasn't perfect by any means. Tony had been working off of old blueprints from his father's lab. The longest it managed to stay powered up so far was four and a half minutes. He had to make the time he used it count.
"They'll have split up by now" Rhodey is in full command mode now. "Tony, you have Hope. Sirius has Harry. I'll get Hermione. We'll all try for Dean and Sharon."
Neither other man has any complaints. Sirius rushes out with a quick nod, and Rhodey waits for Tony to snap on the last bit before they head out together.
Tony nearly crashes into Dean and Sharon not far from their tent. Both are wild-eyed, although Dean more than Sharon. Both are covered in dirt and soot, and Sharon has a sharp cut across her cheek. For the second time tonight, he's glad to see a young girl holding a gun.
"They're right behind us," Dean blurts, luckily not heavily breathing due to his time playing soccer. "Where are the others?"
Tony sees the figures in black approaching over Dean's shoulder and pushes the kids behind him. "Worry about that later. Dean, shield now!"
The boy hesitates for a moment (not that Tony blames him– he'd hesitate too if he weren't running on full adrenaline) but then a shimmering translucent wall appears between them and their attackers. Unfortunately, the shield seems to anger them further, and spells of all colors begin to fly at them.
"Duck any green spells!" Tony shouts, which quickly turns to one of elation when he sees a cloaked man fall to one of Sharon's fired shots. "And goose now, Sharon!"
"What?" Dean is clearly confused, but Sharon doesn't bother explaining their duck-goose code as she yanks him down and covers their heads. The timing is perfect, for as his concentration breaks and his shield falls, Tony snatches one of the items off of his armor, tosses it away from them, and pivots to cover both kids.
His altered flash-bang works splendidly. He's thrown it far enough that they miss the brunt of the force, and then its smoke screen begins to fill the air.
No time to waste. Tony drags both to their feet and shoves them together, no time for an apology. "Sharon, emergency portkey back. No arguments," he adds as she opens her mouth.
The blonde glances between him and Dean and finally reaches up to grasp the silver chain hanging around her neck. "Stay safe." Her fingers tighten on Dean's upper arm. "Ready?"
"I hate portkeys," he mutters but nods.
Sharon cracks a smile. "Star-spangled man with a plan."
The two vanish with a loud crack. Tony makes himself scarce.
v.
He nearly shrieks when a silver wolf appears before him while he hides behind an abandoned tent. It's a good thing there's no one else with him; he'd never live it down. It's also a good thing he'd seen Remus' patronus before, otherwise he definitely would've screamed.
"Rhodey found Harry and Hope. I'm taking them back now."
The patronus dissipates just in time for Tony to see that its appearance has given his position away. A streak of golden light tears a hole through the tent fabric only two feet above his crouched head.
No better time to test out what he's built than now.
During discussions about the war and attacks on Harry and Hermione the past few years, Tony had learned what the three Unforgivables were and what they looked like. It'd also brought up what spells were common in Death Eater attacks, and Tony had filed all the information away… presumably for now.
He dogged the red and green ones immediately. He wasn't taking the chance that they'd be an Unforgivable, too.
In doing so, he walks straight into a purple-ish spell instead. He doesn't wait for it to take effect as he activates his armored glove and begins to send repulsor blasts their way. Only after blasting two of the bastards in the chest does Tony notice… well, rather doesn't notice any effect from the spell that hit him.
(He'll discover later that the energy had been redirected and absorbed across the vibranium in his chest armor– the next step will be figuring out how to direct it back out.)
Tony's certainly not the best shot. He's lucky that the Death Eaters present themselves as large enough targets and that their reaction to his repulsor is that of utter confusion and fear. For those who have only ever seen magical attacks, the repulsor is completely out of their league. It's also interesting that while the hasty shields thrown up to defend against his attacks do seem to decrease the initial strength of each repulsor blast, the shields do not stop them.
Five Death Eaters have attacked him, and Tony incapacitates three before he is able to make his escape–
–and runs right into Hermione and Draco Malfoy, of all people, sprinting at full speed directly toward him.
"Run!" Draco shouts just as they narrowly miss plowing Tony over. He grabs them both to keep all three of them from falling over.
"Are you alright?" Tony asks, frantically checking them over.
"Never mind that!" Hermione's true American accent comes out in full force, and Tony knows then how truly frightened his sister is. "Zombies!"
"The fuck are you talking about, Granger?!" Draco snaps at her.
Tony doesn't want to stay around long enough to find out.
He practically clenches his hands on their shoulders, hoping that his own portkey hung around his neck and hidden by his armor will work just by touching his skin. "Star-Spangled Man with a plan."
They disappear with a loud crack.
vi.
The sight that meets Tony when the portkey lands them at the Stark apartment is something out of his worst nightmares.
Dean is sitting on the couch, his eyes glazed over while Sharon knelt in front of him, doing her best with Edwin's help to coax Sharon's extra gun out of his hands. Hope is crying and clinging to Harry, who equally clings onto her, both of their shirts and pants in tatters as if they'd been caught in a fire. Hermione had been crying when they portrayed away but now lets out an anguished shout and throws herself at Harry and Hope. Draco stands where they'd landed, seeming to be in shock.
"Is anyone hurt?" Tony asks. His gaze only catalogs scrapes and bruises, but he needs to hear the words said to be sure.
Rhodey shakes his head from where he sits at the kitchen table, Remus bending over him as he casts healing spells over his forearm. "The kids are physically okay," he shrugs with his free side. "Ana went to get bandages, and Sirius is cleaning up with Peggy." At Tony's raised brow, Rhodey gestures him closer. "There was… a lot of blood," his best friend elaborates in a low voice. "None of it his, though."
Tony's eyes follow the muddy looking footprints that lead down the hall and wonders how much of it is truly soil.
vii.
Sharon is the eldest of the kids present in the room once they're all somewhat settled. It only makes sense that she is the first to speak. "What. Happened."
Tony's exhaustion has hit him full force, especially since he is the single adult present with no previous battle experience. He waves vaguely at Remus to make him explain.
Remus sighs. "You'd probably call it a terrorist attack."
Aunt Peggy snorted and shook her head, ever the admonishing British grandmother to all of them. "That is what they are, Mr. Lupin. 'A group who uses unlawful violence and intimidation in the pursuit of a cause, usually political or religious in nature.' Especially when against civilians. I cannot think of a better way to describe these blood purity supremacists."
Tony doesn't fail to notice Draco's flinch or the way Hermione refuses to let him pull away.
"It's time you all heard what happened when we were your age," Sirius cuts in, sounding more serious than Tony has ever heard him, "and what happened after."
.mcmlxxxi
Lily and James Potter never made it to their 22nd birthdays.
.mcmlxxxi
Sirius Black is locked in Azkaban without a trial at 22 years old.
.mcmlxxxi
Remus Lupin spends his first full moon without his pack at age 21.
viii.
Tony looks at the horror and anguish on the faces of the teens scattered around his living room and wonders if they're just bound to be the next in a long line of tragedies.
In the few hours of sleep that night, his nightmares are full of wild brown curls lying lifelessly beside messy Potter-black hair.
ix.
All of the kids are asleep in the living room come morning. Aside from mini-Malfoy, they all were expected to have stayed overnight at the campgrounds anyways, so Tony saw no harm in letting them crash on the couches and floor under an assortment of blankets Ana had gathered up.
Harry had been practically forced to take one couch for himself after his uncles had told everyone about their time at war with Harry's parents. Draco is curled in an armchair like a cat, while Hermione and Hope are small enough to share the larger couch. Dean and Sharon sleep on the floor on a makeshift bed of throw pillows.
In the far corner, Sirius twirls his wand as he watches Tony observe the teens. Tony knows just by looking at him that Sirius didn't sleep at all.
"Will they be okay?" Tony asks tiredly.
Sirius shrugs. "We were, until we weren't."
x.
Breakfast– which is more like lunch by that point– is a mainly silent affair until Draco shatters the mood in a heartbeat.
"Is there any reason why Hermione and Regent Dagworth-Granger sound entirely un-British?"
Everyone in the room freezes.
Sirius is the first to speak, talking around the half-chewed pancakes in his mouth. "I can obliviate him?"
Hermione's eyes widen. "No!" She shouts at the same time as Tony. Draco stares at her in quite the same way he had the night before. They have enough problems now, so Tony pretends this particular one does not exist.
"Our father was obliviated," Hermione explains, refusing to look anyone in the eye. "I've done research on the spell. It took away so much time from him, it may have…" She looks up at her brother with pleading eyes.
Tony groans and buries his head in his hands. "It might have fucked his brain and made him a complete bastard?"
Hermione rolls her eyes despite herself. "Not exactly what I was going to say, but yes."
"But Hermione…" Dean trails off uncertainly, biting his lip as he looks at the faces around the table and realizes he and Draco are the odd ducks out. "I thought your parents were dentists?"
Tony feels Sirius lean over by the way thick curling hair begins to tickle the side of his face. "I can obliviate both of them?"
"Can we tell them, Tony?" Harry asks softly, obviously not sure if it was his place to. It's enough to get Tony to look up.
Dean's a good kid. He's a muggleborn with non-magical family members as well. Tony's honestly surprised he hadn't recognized them as Starks.
Draco, on the other hand…
Tony does not necessarily believe in blaming a kid for what his father allegedly (totally) did, but he also knows that the risk of Draco telling Lucius Malfoy their secret, and thus putting Hermione and Harry in more danger, is a very likely outcome.
"Not without a binding vow on his magic," Tony finally decides, gesturing toward the platinum blond. "If you don't agree, I will have Lord Black obliviate you."
"Tony–"
Tony stops his baby sister by holding his hand up. "Hermione, I will always put your safety first. If he is able to tell anyone about you or our family, you are in danger. And because I know you won't think of yourself, then think of Harry and Hope and Sharon, the Jarvises, Rhodey."
He sees Draco Malfoy's face grow steadily redder as he's continued his list. It's a good sign, but not a good enough reason. "I wouldn't–"
"Your father is a Death Eater!" Tony hits the table and stands up, finally at his limit. "He practically admitted such during our time running the investigation. Hermione is a muggleborn. I didn't have it out after our conversation last night, but…" He pushes away from the table and rounds the counter, pulling the paper out from where it was hurriedly stashed in a cabinet. "'Dark Mark at World Cup!'" He quotes. "'Death Eaters Return! Attack kills six muggles, nineteen wizards. Dozens wounded, five missing.'" He drops the paper to stare challengingly at Draco. "Look me in the eye and tell me your father wasn't one of the dickheads wearing a black robe and hood."
Draco meets his gaze after several moments of hesitation, but he does not answer as Tony dared him to. "I'll make an Unbreakable Vow."
xi.
"Do you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, swear to keep the secrets of the Stark family, including their true identities, upon pain of death unless granted permission by Anthony Edward Stark or Hermione Maria Stark?"
"I do."
"Do you swear to never speak of what is told to you while inside this house to anyone outside of the current individuals present?"
"I do."
"So mote it be."
xii.
Tony is not pleased to send them off to school again. He refuses to let hope and sharon even into diagon alley after that, let along the Hogwarts Express. They may not have CCTV, but wizards can enter other's minds and rewatch memories– he does not need them to become targets because they were seen with the Boy-Who-Lived and the Dagworth-Granger heir.
He and Sirius sent them onto the train with hugs and kisses- yes they were teenagers, but Tony was not taking chances with them. The two clambered into the same compartment and waited for their friends. Tony let them believe he'd gone and faded into the shadows with Sirius, content to watch without being seen.
It was always useful putting faces to names. If Tony's weaknesses were known, it was only fair he evened the playing field.
xiii.
Ah, the Triwizard Tournament.
The event had been in the making for years and while Tony didn't fully approve of the disruption to so much school (god, he was feeling old), he did think that the international cooperation was excellent to expose the kids to.
When the final school list had been presented to the Wizengamot, he'd had to keep from smiling when the familiar name Durmstang was called out.
Now that he had connections within the Ministry, it was easy to begin searching for Néni Ana's relatives that remained in the Magical community. It's only luck that has him receiving a list that includes the name of a student two years older than Hermione.
What's the fun in sending a letter along when he can tell his sister in person?
xiv.
It was astounding that Dumbledore thought Hogwarts would simply host international students beginning with a welcoming feast without inviting representatives of all three countries. Truly, it would be a national embarrassment once the Bulgarian and French– hell, especially the French– ambassadors found they'd been snubbed.
Thus, the ambassadors were escorted into the Great Hall by notable British magicals with connections to each country. Sirius and Narcissa had fought over the honor of taking the French ambassador, eventually settling for sharing the task when Tony and Lucius had jointly had enough of the back-and-forth war by owls. Tony recognized the Bulgarian escorts by sight but not by name.
Tony waits until after the meal had begun and students moved about the hall, switching tables to sit with friends and family, or even boldly introduce themselves to the visiting students, before he stands and made his way toward the section of Durmstrang students seated at the Ravenclaw table.
"Kisasszony Varga," he said with a flourishing bow (and didn't he love how his wizarding robes added to his dramatic flair). He looked up and winked at the girl who was rolling her eyes while some of the girls around her swooned. "Or should I say 'cousin?'"
"You should, and preferably louder," the girl said with a sigh. Her russet hair reminded him so much of Néni Ana.
"How fortunate that I am here to do just that." He offers his hand, staring her down until she accepts and stands with him. They both know all eyes are on them, but this is why he'd written first. He was not thrusting someone into the spotlight without warning like he had been.
The room hushed as tony led the Durmstrang student to a stop before Hermione and Harry at the Gryffindor table. The other Hogwarts students leaned in especially close, eager to hear the latest bit of gossip first and before anyone else, while the Beauxbatons students Hermione had eagerly been practicing her French with seemed indifferent.
"Terezia Varga, may I introduce you to my sister, Hermione Dagworth-Granger and ward, Harry Potter." He raised his eyebrows at Hermione, who thankfully got the message and pulled Harry to his feet. "Hermione, Harry- might I introduce you to our cousin through Néni Ana, Terezia Varga."
Terezia Varga's smile is polite and a delight in public, but Tony sees the curiosity and calculation in her amber eyes.
He supposes this means there'll be another stocking up at the Stark house come this next holiday season.
xv.
Tony receives a veritable flurry of letters these days from the Scottish castle. Harry, Hermione, Terezia, even some from Dean Thomas that Tony then passes along to Hope and Sharon.
One of these days, he'll find a way to rig a telephone to work from within the castle wards.
xvi.
The success of the welcoming dinner has a similar situation set up by the Ministry for when the names for the tournament are drawn from the Goblet of Fire. Tony is with Sirius once more, the power of House Black meaning more and more Ministry tycoons want to curry favor with him. Tony isn't about to start complaining now.
Oh, if only he knew what was about to happen.