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Sunday dawned hot and muggy, a steady layer if high clouds kept them out of the direct sunlight, and way too early for Tony. His son was in the process of trying to quietly climb over him, sliding to the floor and disappearing into the bathroom. A flush and the tinkle of running water pulled Tony from his doze and he lifted his head from the pillow, smirking as he saw Sirius, snoring into his own pillow, sprawled across the bed.
Resisting the urge to grope the delicious ass on display, Tony sat on the edge of the bed waiting for Harry to creep out of the bathroom. When he didn't, Tony rubbed a hand over his face and stood, slowly making his way into over. Harry stood in the middle of the warm floor, having stripped off his pajamas, and was trying to figure out how to turn on the shower.
"Good morning, bambino," Tony yawned, bending down to kiss Harry on top of the head. "Didn't you take a bath last night?"
Shaking his head, Harry pouted. "Uncle Happy said I might drown myself without pro'er sup'rvision,"
Tony snorted as he made use of the toilet. "Well then, let's take a quick shower and go see what Taffy has made for breakfast."
"Papa?" Harry gave him a serious look as Tony flipped on the shower.
"Yes, baby boy?"
"Does Taffy know I had to cook sometimes at my nasty relatives house?"
His words felt like a punch to his gut and Tony reached down to pick his son up. Giving him a hug and kissing his nose, he dunked them both under the showerhead, wetting them down, before pulling back a little.
"I think so, bambino," he admitted softly, "and she knows it's not something appropriate for a child your age. If you want to help cook, I'm sure we can do that, but no using the stove or oven until you are taller. Okay?"
Harry had already grabbed the shower gel and squeezed out a handful. "Okay, Papa! I do like to help bake biscuits, though."
Tony plucked the bottle from Harry' hands. "I'm sure that can be arranged. Now, wash everywhere!"
Harry snickered as he rubbed his hands together to foam up the gel and proceeded to spread it everywhere he could reach.
It took them less than fifteen minutes to wash and dress in jeans and tee shirts. Tony swung Harry up on his shoulders as they crept out of the bedroom, both giggling over Sirius' snoring. Taffy had eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fruit waiting for them as they sat down at the kitchen island to eat. Harry nattered away at Taffy and Taz while Tony checked his email on his laptop.
By the time Sirius stumbled down the stairs, Harry giggling at his sleepiness, Tony had taken care of their travel arrangements the following day and acknowledged an email from the FBI. They had launched a full-blown investigation into Obadiah and Stark Industries, which was what Tony wanted them to do. He'd already given them his statement, including what he suspected Stane to have done in the years since his parents died. He rubbed his forehead, wondering what would have happened if he hadn't gotten his memories back and discovered the irregularities in both his and his son's lives.
Sirius inhaled his first cup of coffee before he blinked his eyes and gave Harry exaggerated kisses to both cheeks and his nose. He'd then turned to Tony with a gleam in his eyes and practically pulled Tony from his stool to smother his face in kisses. Tony tried to laugh, then tried not to moan as Sirius swooped in for a snog and Harry laughed harder as Tony's hand flailed before grasping Sirius' head.
"Keep it kid friendly in the kitchen, boys," Pepper's dry comment had them springing apart with guilty looks on their faces.
"Yes, mum," Sirius quipped as he snagged Tony's plate and began eating.
"Hey!" Tony yiped, grabbing at it, but Sirius bend over the plate protectively.
Harry grinned. "You can share mine, Papa."
"Thank you, Harry!" Tony grabbed a handful of blueberries from his son's plate. "Don't ever be as rude as your daddy, okay?"
"Yes, Papa!"
"Oi!"
It was close to midmorning before they ventured out to sightsee. Graves had put together a route that encompasses a number of interesting places for Harry to see. Figuring Cooney Island could wait until Harry was older, they instead went to see the Statue of Liberty, the Museum of Natural History, wandered around Time Square, had a late lunch at Juniors, and walked along Broadway. Harry loved the view from the observation deck at the Empire State building and ran around Central Park as the sun set. Tony had made arrangements to have lasagnas delivered from an old family style restaurant in Little Italy, knowing Harry would be hungry when he woke up from his nap, having fallen asleep after chasing Taz and Padfoot in the park.
Tony had carried him back to the car and swore even Happy almost smiled at the sight of the exhausted child. Impressed with the way his security team was able to both be visible for any would-be attackers, but also blend in with the other people in the area. The museum had been the only place Tony had felt uncomfortable, and that was only because he'd been recognized the instant he'd taken his sunglasses off. Cursing his reputation when he was swarmed by flirting women, Tony had smothered a grin when Sirius actually growled at one very forward twenty-something.
As amusing as that had been, Tony decided to pay next time for whichever museum to shutdown so Harry could actually enjoy walking through the exhibits. They had managed to divert his attention today, but he was a smart kid and Tony knew it wouldn't take long for him to catch on. Tony knew they were on borrowed time, before one of their worlds found out about Harry and they had magical fangirls added to the mix. Pepper had no sympathy for Tony, her arched eyebrow communicated perfectly her feelings that he'd brought his problems on himself with his past partying and shenanigans.
Tony sighed, moved closer to Sirius, and decided to start on creating a new image – Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, philanthropist, and devoted father.
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The Malibu house was backlit by the setting sun as they drove up the driveway the next evening and Tony sighed, glad to be home. They had accomplished more than they thought possible in New York, but he was tired of being busy for days at a time. All Tony wanted was to be home, with his son and Sirius, tinker in his lab, and start teaching Harry. Pepper had to be back in the office tomorrow, but Tony had a three day reprieve to put together prototypes for the Boards next meeting on Friday.
Sirius had spoken to Remus Lupin, who was willing to relocate temporarily to California and become Harry's primary tutor. He would live with them during the week and Floo back to New York for weekends and full moon nights. The Gringotts healer had found several memory charms and Compulsion Spells on Remus, all bearing Dumblefuck's magical signature, which explained why he had accepted a long term mission to infiltrate werewolf enclaves in America.
Werewolves were more accepted here and Remus soon found he enjoyed being able to run with others on secure plot of land outside New York City. Landing a custodial job at SI, Remus had taken advantage of the program which helped pay for college, he'd attended classes at Empire State University, earning a degree in training. As soon as he'd graduated, Remus had been approached by HR and given a job in their training department, where Remus excelled.
Tony was keeping Remus on the SI payroll, but funding his position personally, hoping once they returned to New York to live, he would know the feasibility of starting a small on-site primary school for children. SI already had daycare centers in most of it's office buildings and factories, which had proven to be a great success. It was something his mother had started in the early 1990s in order to help young families who wanted to work but couldn't afford quality childcare. And these same kids were the ones applying for internships when they got into college, know they wanted to work for SI when they graduated.
Tony unbuckled Harry's car seat as soon as Happy pulled to a stop in the garage. His son yawned and looped his arms around Tony's neck as he swung his legs out of the door. Sirius was there to give him a hand out, carrying Tony's laptop bag which contained their shrunken luggage. Deciding to take the stairs up, Tony followed Sirius up.
"Welcome home, Sir." JARVIS' voice greeted him as he stepped into the lounge. "Master Sirius and little Sir."
Harry's head lifted off his shoulder. "Hi, Mr. JARVIS!"
Tony grinned and kissed Harry's temple before easing him to his feet. "You want to go look at the water, bambino?"
"Yes, Papa!" Harry took off towards the stairs with Sirius behind him.
"Has anyone been here since we were gone, J?" Tony asked as followed them up the stairs.
"Not that I am aware of, Sir, however there is an unexplained twenty-minute gap in my memory banks this morning."
Tony froze, before hissing. "Fortress Protocol, JARVIS, NOW!"
Turning on his left foot, Tony Apparated up to directly inside the balcony doors. He wand in hand, he immediately sent as strong a Stunning Spell as he could, taking out the two men standing over Sirius and Harry. He hit the panic button on his watch as he called
"Taz, Taffy!"
The house-elves immediately appeared and took in the scene, Taffy immobilizing the men with a snap of her fingers. Taz stood for a moment before popping away with a growl, instantly returning with an unconscious female.
Taking a deep breath, Tony dropped to his knees next to Sirius. "iEnervate/i!" He cast it first on Harry and then Sirius, and slowly expelled his breath as they began to stir.
"Don't let them move!" Happy was by his side, gun in hand, as several members of his security team piled out of the stairwell, wands and guns drawn.
"Have the whole house swept for surveillance equipment and spells, Happy," Tony bit out through clenched teeth. How could he have forgotten to have the place checked before he let his little boy inside?
The cracks of Apparation had Tony diving over Sirius and Harry, protecting them with his body, until he heard Captain Proudfoot's voice issuing orders.
"Tones?" Rhodey's voice sounded sweet in his ear, and he felt his best friend's hand settle on his shoulder. "Come on, the healer is here to check on them."
Tony slid back onto his knees, and looked around. An angry Taffy and Taz stood beside him, glaring at the three immobilized people on the floor. Jodi and another Auror had them at wand point. Sirius sat up on his own, but Harry was curled in a ball, crying. Tony wasn't sure he was supposed to move him, but scooted over until he was curled around his son.
"I'm here, baby boy," he crooned in a low voice and Harry turned into him, burying his face in Tony's chest as he continued to cry.
A witch in a lime green robe was waving her wand over them, a grim look on her face. "Mr. Black, you may get up and move to the couch. Mr. Stark, if you will pick your son up, and do the same. I have a potion which will help mitigate the rest of the effects of the spell. Monsters! Using a full Stunning Spell on a child!"
With Rhodey's help, Tony pushed himself on to his knees, Harry clasped firmly against his chest. He dropped down onto the couch closest to the wall of windows overlooking the ocean. The healer handed him a small vial of light lavender potion, just as Rhodey helped Sirius sit next to him on the couch, slumping against Tony.
"What happened?" Tony asked as he turned Harry slightly in his arms to rest back against his arm. "Here, bambino, open your mouth for Papa."
Harry just turned his face into Tony's shoulder and it took more cajoling to get his son to take the potion. "It will make you feel better," Tony begged, holding vial up so Harry could take it himself. "See, even Daddy took his and you know what a knot-head he is
about his medicine!"
Sirius gave him a side-eye look, but held the vial out and with exaggerated motions swallowed the potion, his eyes widening at the taste of the liquid. "Oi! That tastes good!"
Tony gave him a look, but was grateful when Harry brought the vial to his mouth and drank. He handed the healer the vial as he pressed himself back against Tony. One last twirl of her wand over Harry and the healer was gone. An arm slid around his waist and Sirius leaned his head back. Rhodey sat on the coffee table in front of the couch, a hand on Tony's knee.
"What—"
Harry's head popped up suddenly. "Papa! Where are Max and Tiffy? Did the bad people hurt them, too?"
"Taz!"
The little house-elf responded to Tony's call with an unusually loud icrack/i, the usually affable elf spitting fire. "Taffy be healing the elvies in their sleeping rooms. Bad house-elves hurt them and brought the hate mongers here!"
"Are they okay?" Harry almost fell out of Tony's arms as he lunged towards Taz.
Taz nodded, reaching to pat Harry's hand. "Theys be fine by tomorrow, Master Harry."
Harry refused to let Tony go and they all sat on the couch as the Aurors conducted their investigations. Tony was able to coax Harry into eating some soup before letting him lay on the couch with his head in Tony' lap and feet in Sirius' lap, as the two sat close together. Rhodey sat with them, making sure they had water and something to each. At some point, Pepper had silently joined them, vibrating with anger.
"Tony?" Proudfoot stood beside Rhodey.
"Jodi, what have you found?" Tony asked softly.
Proudfoot flicked her wand at Harry. "Just a spell to keep him from hearing anything. Our preliminary information points at some of Stane and HYDRAs associates have followed your example and utilized house-elves to add them in this attack. Apparently, while you have formidable anti-Apparation wards around the house, you don't have any protections against house-elves or Animagi. This allowed them to order several house-elves to Apparate those two into the house, where they laid in wait."
"I'm a bit concerned as to how they got the information that we would be home this evening," Tony questioned.
"You might need to make sure there isn't a blind spot where your AI wasn't able to detect them while they waited," Proudfoot suggested. "James—"
Rhodey spoke up. "I'm more concerned about a possible mole in our security forces. Jodi has suggested you call a meeting with all of your team – personal and SI people, slipping a mild true serum into the refreshments."
"Which is what those who planned this would expect, so be suspicious of those who don't attend and those who don't drink the punch." Proudfoot produced an evil smile.
"And Maggie can cast that spell of hers on all the chairs!" Tony schemed.
"That's a good plan." Pepper was scribbling notes. "I'll organize a date."
"Thank you," Tony told them. "In the meantime, we'll get the goblins out to add the new wards. Right now, JARVIS has us in Fortress Protocol, meaning only Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy are allowed to enter the residence without additional screening. I'm sure Taz and Taffy will be extra alert for any intruders and I'm going to give JARVIS an upgrade before I go to bed."
"I've also doubled the guards outside. Tony," Happy interjected.
Tony looked at him. "You and Pepper staying here tonight?"
A glance at Pepper and Happy nodded. "Sure, boss."
"Don't forget about Polyjuice Potion, Tony," Proudfoot advised. "You might think about utilizing a password until the you can upgrade the security." She turned to go, before turning back. "Oh and the healer told me that if Harry hadn't had the runic array bracelet with the shielding on it, he could have been badly hurt."
"Which tells me these people really don't give a fuck as to who they hurt to get what they want."
"Exactly."
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"JARVIS, let's start by reimaging the entire house, use the bots to help. I want every space scanned, let's fill in those blind spots."
Tony ended up taking both Harry and Sirius down to the lab with him. He didn't want Harry to wake up alone and his little boy wasn't comfortable without him and Sirius within eyesight. If he was a less paranoid man, he'd wait until morning to start upgrading JARVIS's code, but Tony knew he wouldn't sleep until his loved ones were as safe as he could make them. Guilt swirled in his chest, but Tony forced it down. Howard was huge on guilt trips, laying them on Tony as far back in his childhood as he could remember. iFailures/i which fed his lack of self-confidence and eroded his self-worth.
And Howard wondered why Tony had been a drunken, party boy by fourteen.
Shaking himself, Tony savagely pushed the feeling away and worked on a line of code which would allow JARVIS to take action in the event of another incursion into the house. All the door handles and most of the window frames were made of metal and Tony planned to give the AI the ability to zap anyone unauthorized who might be trying to gain access. He was also investigating localized knock-out gases, for release into the garage, lab, and foyer area in case someone got in. He also had several ideas taking form in his head on the application of electromagnetic pulse technology and sonic weapons.
He paused in his coding to roll over to where his desktop computer was and sent an email to his head of R&D, detailing what he thought they should look into regarding both EMP and sonic technology. Sliding back to his coding keyboard, Tony scrolled through the data JARVIS was producing for him and went back to work. It was several hours before he took a deep breath and allowed his fingers to still as he interpreted the scrolling information.
"Tony?"
Sirius' soft voice made Tony jump and he twirled around to see Sirius sitting up on the couch. Standing, Tony arched his back to stretch it, before sitting beside Sirius, who immediately slid an arm around him and leaned into his side. Tony kissed his temple as he watched Harry sleep. He could only hope this wouldn't trigger more nightmares to disrupt the little boy's sleep.
"Are you at a place where you can stop?" Sirius asked in the same soft voice. "It's half two and you need some sleep before the goblins descend on us in the morning."
Nodding his head, Tony gently picked Harry up from the couch. "Taz! Check the upstairs, please."
A few seconds later, Taz popped into the lab. "Masters be safe, Master Tony."
"Thank you, Taz." Tony trudged to the elevator, too tired to walk up the two flights of stairs to the bedrooms, Sirius at his side.
It only took a few minutes to get ready and then slip into bed, with Harry in between them. Tony curled around his son, his hand finding Sirius' in the dark. He hoped they could all sleep, but every time Tony dozed off, he kept seeing his son and Sirius at the top of the stairs, unconscious and not moving. He woke up gasping each time. Towards morning, Harry turned suddenly, plastering himself against Tony's chest, his breathing becoming rapid and shallow. Tony cupped the back of his head with one hand and stroked his back with the other.
"Shhh, sweetie, Papa is here. No one is going to take you away from us, I promise," Tony crooned softly.
Harry drew a deep breath and lifted his head. "Is it time to get up, Papa?"
"I think so, bambino, are you hungry?"
Harry nodded his head before burying it in Tony's shoulder again.
"Hold on, then," he whispered as he awkwardly maneuvered them out of bed as Harry held on like a chimp on its mother's back. A quick stop in the bathroom and Tony carried Harry downstairs. JARVIS lit the way as he held his precious cargo tight, his bare feet padding quietly down the marble steps. Harry lifted his head as Tony stepped onto the living room floor. The lights came up automatically as Tony moved towards the kitchen.
"Master Tony?"
Tony stopped abruptly, curling around his son in a protective way. He felt his jaw drop as he found himself facing a crowd of about two dozen house-elves standing between him and the kitchen. Taffy and Taz stood in front of them, and Tony relaxed slightly.
"Taffy? What's going on?"
His normally unexcitable lead elf was fairly vibrating as she bounced up and down. "These be being the Potter elvies from Hogwarts, Master Tony! Theys being freed last night and left to come meet Master Harry!"
Looking over the little beings, Tony could see they appeared to be a wide range of ages, all wearing faded red togas with the Potter crest embroidered on the front, and every one of them was staring at Harry.
"Are they all, uh, good elves, Taffy?" Tony wasn't taking any chances with their safety. "Anyone who doesn't want to swear loyalty to Harry or wants to be free, I don't want them here."
Taffy turned and glared at the crowd, repeating Tony's question in a more aggressive way and then had each house-elf swear, in turn, their loyalty. Two of the elves decided they would like to be freed, which left twenty-five elves. Harry, who had watched everything with wide eyes, wiggled to be put down. Tony shot Taz a look as the other elves seemed to surge forward and Harry giggled as he patted each of the house-elves on the head.
Taffy drew a white-haired male from the group and pulled him over to Tony. "This being Lenz, Master Tony, the elder of the Potter elvies."
Still a little befuddled and in need of caffeine, Tony nodded as he looked around. "All right, Taffy and Lenz, could you please divide the house-elves into groups based on their abilities? I'd like to know who likes to cook or help in the kitchen, who wants to help outside with the landscaping and outside work, who is best at protection, and who likes to build."
Quickly, Lenz began pointing to different elves, as Harry leaned against his leg watching the elves move to their groups. It took a few minutes to organize everyone, leaving on smaller elf standing in front of Tony.
"Mazzy being a nursery elf, Master Tony," she said, wringing her hands.
Taffy pushed a mug of coffee into Tony's hands and he paused to drain half the mug.
"Okay, you can be in charge of making sure Harry has everything he needs and stays healthy. You will all take one day a week off and receive a Galleon a month allowance to buy personal stuff, just like Taffy and the others." Tony looked around. "Is that sufficient?"
Wide-eyed, Mazzy nodded exuberantly as did the other elves.
"Lenz, if you will work with Taffy on who stays here and who will go take care of the Potter houses, I would appreciated it." Tony took another long swallow of coffee. "Taz, I need you and Max to train those who want to be part of the protection details."
Harry watched, entranced, as one by one all the elves snapped their fingers and disappeared. Taffy shook her head and huffed, muttering about before breakfast visitors.
"Come, Master Harry, yous need to eat your pancakies!"
Tony followed behind, bemused, as his mug filled again with hot coffee. While he was grateful that the Potter house-elves had been released from whatever spell Dumbledore had used on them, he wasn't sure why it had happened. He joined Harry at the kitchen island for his own plate of pancakes.
JARVIS, who had been remarkable silent up to this point, announced: "Sir, Lord Black has appeared outside the front door."
Tony sighed and swallowed his mouthful. "Let him in, J, and let him know we're here. He should know the way. Then get Sirius up, will you, please?"
"Of course, Sir."
Harry grinned at his expression and Tony knew it was going to be a long day.
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