Disclaimer:
I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...
Mischief Managed Damn It!
Title: The Arcane Mage (Working Title / HP x Marvel crossover)
Posted Date: June 16 2024
Inspiration(s): Wok Fried Rice Unwanted Potters, Iron Maiden Fanfic
Tags: Good Dumbledore, Timeline in the 2000s, Technomancy, Bad Potters, Sister Delphini Riddle, Mage Harry
Challenges: Good Petter Pettigrew, Bad Sirius / Lupin, Pepper Potts is Harry's American Aunt.
Possible Challenges: Harry x Small Multi, Multi Lordship Harry, no X-men call outs
Tags not to be used: Harry as Lok's son / clone / relatives, Harry as son of god or alien, Harry going to the Dursleys
A tired sigh came out of Pepper Pott's mouth as she tidied up her papers and went through the motions of stacking them neatly after the latest interviewee went out of the room in a huff for not being selected for the internship. She knew that this internship program was going to be a major headache despite the advantage for the company to find new talent and the need for good PR. Too many of the candidates coming in were of the rich and spoilt category who believed that they would get the job with just their name and fortune alone like Tony would at times. The difference with them was unlike Tony who could back up his words, these guys could barely handle the workload needed to keep up with Tony's unorthodox schedule, let alone a multi billion dollar business that had contracts with the military. And she would not want to subject them to Tony's whimsical mood swings.
The worst of the lot, if she were honest, were the fangirl groupies who wanted to be seen with Tony in hopes of gaining his attention. She had lost count on how many she had to throw out for a multitude of reasons that she had to deal with. There was a young lady just yesterday that was dressed in a manner that had her wondering if her parents encouraged her to do so or she did on her own volition. Honestly, her clothes were more string than actual cloth and looked like they would fall apart with one good shake!
Pepper picked up her tumbler only to pause and then sigh at the weight. She had been dependent on the caffeine pulling her through this mess and now it was empty. She got out from her chair only to stumble and grabbed the edge of the table with a hand on her head. "Damn it, I need a break." Pepper hissed while taking a moment to steady herself before she did some stretches. Thankfully it was now her break and the next person would not be around for the next hour at least. She could perhaps sneak a quick bite before dealing with the next idiot. Pepper left the room after securing her laptop and files in the drawer and then locked the door, thankful for the fact no one was sitting waiting for her. Penny then moved to the corridor that would take to the cafeteria to grab some food, but in the middle of getting there, Pepper stumbled again and nearly lost her footing near the staircase if not for someone grabbing her arm and pulling her away from it, and she found herself on the floor due to the momentum.
"Are you okay, Miss?" Pepper looked up at her saviour and had to blink a few times to look at the young man who was looking at her with concern and emerald eyes that were quite similar to hers. He was quite thin as though he did not get a lot of food growing up, but the arms holding her spoke of a hidden strength and he was relatively tall for his age. He had quite a messy mob of dark hair that made the perfectionist side of her want to grab a pair of scissors to cut, but it framed his youthful face quite nicely, and coupled with the accent, she would guess that he was British who grew up in America long enough to start sounding like one. He was dressed in smart clothes that were both casual but good enough for general work, certainly a better sight than the interviewees she was handling earlier.
"Yes, thank you for that." Pepper took his hand and he pulled her up easily on her feet before moving her to the nearby couch that was placed at different intervals of the long corridor, then helping to retrieve her scattered files and folders to hand to her, not once glancing at the contents which was a good thing.
"Do you need water or something?" He asked while looking about and spotting the water dispenser. Pepper thought about it and held out her tumbler.
"If it is not too much trouble." The young man nodded and went to the dispenser to get it, Pepper keeping an eye just in case. At least he did it in view of her so she could see he did not put anything inside the tumbler. Once done, he came back with it filled up for her to drink. "Thank you."
"No problem, Miss." The young man waved a hand to assure her and Pepper actually felt better from that gesture. "Just my luck that I was around to catch you before you took a bad fall."
"And I thank you for that." Penny then frowned as she looked at him, trying to place his face. "I don't recall seeing you here before. You look a little young to be applying for a job here, Mister?"
"Harry, Harry Boldon, Miss. And I am not here for a job, I am actually here for an internship interview that I was referred to." The young man appeared to slump forward a little at this point with a wince. "At least, I would be, but the three people I had asked on the way gave me different directions and there are no signs for me to look for. You are actually the first person I have seen in the past ten minutes." Pepper blinked at that, having a sneaking suspicion on what he was referring to.
"You are lost, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am lost." Harry looked ready to cry at the admission. "I am going to be late for the interview at this rate." Pepper had to feel for this guy, he must either be bad with directions or it could be the earlier candidates who wanted to cut the competition and thus gave him bad directions. Harry seemed to be more on the ball than those brats. At that thought, a mischievous idea came to mind, and she would totally blame Tony for this action.
"What is the name of the person you wish to meet?" Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out one of her name cards to hand it to her, clearly not knowing who she was. Pepper took it with a hum while giggling inside at the potential prank.
"Hmm, you are in luck. I am heading over to grab some files for her. You can follow me to the interview room." The absolute relief and gratefulness he was directing at her almost made her feel a little guilty of playing this trick, but then the mischievous side came back up with a vengeance. After they got off the chair, they made their way to the cafeteria where she would eat some food while he drank some tea, and then to the office she was temporarily commandeering to collect the folders needed. All the while she discreetly asked him certain questions to test him and liked how he answered her as he answered her questions while talking a little about his family consisting of a younger sister, his cousin and a distant uncle who had taken them in. Apparently Harry and his little sister were born in Britain but moved to America due to circumstances that Harry did not want to say, but from Pepper could tell, he was happy to be away from Britain and more focused on protecting his little sister from supposedly ungrateful relations that he has bad blood with.
"Forgive me if I sound sceptical, but you are a lot younger than most to be applying for the internship." Pepper remarked as the elevator stopped where they needed to go. Harry nodded in reply.
"As I had mentioned, I was referred to this interview by one Greg Rickson. He feels that both my age and me being a guy would make sure that Mister Stark does not try to pull his stunts around me, whatever that means." Harry looked confused at that, and Pepper had to bite her tongue to not laugh at that tidbit. "He also knows that I want more world experience other than depending on my family's inheritance while I am finishing up some of my thesis for the school."
"And your uncle is fine with it?" Pepper had to ask that to confirm.
"He encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. Although I am not sure he actually understands the fact that I am trying out my luck at Stark Industries of all places, he is not the most technologically inclined." Harry sounded rather amused when speaking about it.
When they reached the small office, Pepper briefly asked him to wait outside while she entered the office, retrieving the other folders involving the applications and searching to find Harry's, quickly getting it on the third folder down. She gave a quick look at Harry through the opaque glass that showed him psyching himself for the interview, before reaching for her Bluetooth earpiece. "Jarvis, are you there?"
"I am, Miss Potts. How may I be of service to you?" The voice of a British gentleman answered her query.
"First off, what is Tony doing?" Pepper grabbed the other items needed for the interview.
"He is currently working on a new design, and the committee are being their usual snobbish selves that need to be spanked out of them." Pepper had to hold back the snort at the blunt manner being delivered by the person. He always had the most imaginative wit for describing certain people around them.
"Okay. If you are not too busy, could you help me run a check on this person?" Pepper opened the folder and moved it to the laptop to show the application form and more importantly the name and photo of Harry. "I have a good feeling about him but I would like a second opinion while I am doing the interview."
"Understood, Miss Potts. I shall have the information ready once the interviews are done."
"Thank you, Jarvis." Pepper moved to leave, opening the door to see Harry looking down at his notes while reciting whatever he thought was needed for the interview. Pepper cleared her throat prompting him to look up and then blush at her looking at his clip notes.
"I really do not want to mess this interview up." Harry rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Pepper made sure to assure him with a smile as she got him to follow her back to the interviewing room where she could see one of the other snooty brats waiting their turn outside with the smug expression showing they would certainly get the post.
Not if she could help it.
Pepper brought Harry straight into the room, ignoring the brat looking snubbed at the perceived act of letting some nobody go before them, and gestured him to the chair to be seated while she prepared for her part. "Whoa, this room makes me feel I need to pay to sit down." Harry commented as he slowly sat in the chair and looked about with slight disbelief and nervousness.
"Yes, we often hear that from first timers." Pepper smiled to ease him as she prepared for the final part of her prank. "So, you think you are ready for this, Mister Boldon?"
"I think so, Miss." Harry nodded before pausing and wincing. "Oh, I am so sorry. I got nervous that I did not ask for your name. I am so rude." He stood up to offer a hand to shake. "Let's start over. My name is Harry Boldon." Pepper gave a bright smile as she grabbed his hand to shake him looking him in the eye.
"Pleased to meet you, Mister Boldon. My name is Pepper Potts, secretary to Tony Stark and your interviewer for the day." Pepper's smile widened at the sight of Harry's eyes turning into saucers and paling at the fact he had been with the interviewer this whole time without realising.
Was it wrong of her to enjoy some pranking?
As Rhodey often said, when she starts acting weird, she could just blame it on Tony.
~ooOOoo~
"What a day." Harry let out a sigh as he entered through the front door of the apartment and shut it. He had finished his interview with Pepper Potts an hour ago and was told to wait for her call within three days if he got it. He did not want to be too hopeful for getting the job, although the impression he got from her was favourable towards him if her expressions at the candidate entering when he was about to leave was of any indication. Pepper looked like she wanted to smack the guy with the chair, WWE style.
Was it wrong for him to actually hope to see that happening?
"Harry, is that you?" A voice called out to him before a girl around his age with blond hair streaked with black came out of the room dressed in shorts and the Iron Maiden shirt, and gave him a smile. "Hey, you're back. How is the interview?"
"Hey Del, it was exhausting." Harry placed his bag by the couch and just collapsed in it. "I had to go the long way to get to the meeting, partially because of the others trying to get the internship. They really do not want anyone else getting the post at Stark Industries."
"Considering it is a big name in America, you better believe the competition is going to be hard and dirty." Del replied while sitting next to him.
"Yeah, and my luck was weird as always. I got lost in the building, bumped into this woman who was dizzy from her work, helped her to get some water and her files, and wouldn't you know it, she happened to be the person I was to meet for the interview." That got the girl to laugh at Harry who pouted at her.
"Only you can get lost in a company and end up bumping into the person you needed to meet in the middle of nowhere." The girl controlled her laughter and smiled again. "So you think you can get the post?"
"I won't know until the end of the week." Harry shrugged before looking thoughtful. "Although I like to think I may have a decent chance at it. Miss Potts did not look very enthused about the ones coming after me. And I got the impression that the ones who came before me were no less problematic."
"Well, here's hoping then." Del leaned back in her seat. "Now I need to find a job myself."
"How is Rose?" Harry asked the girl.
"Her fever is down, and she was able to eat some solid food earlier. Uncle Peter has gone to get more medicine and groceries." Del turned to look at the wall mounted clock. "In fact he should be back soon."
"Okay, let me pop in to check on Rose then I will take a shower." Harry got up from the couch and went to the bedroom that was painted a light pink and a window facing the park, with small teddy bears in one corner of the room. He headed to the bed where a little girl with red hair was reading her book. At the sound of his feet, she turned around to look, a large smile appearing on her face once she sighted him. "Hey there, Rose."
"Harry!" She tried to get up from her bed only for him to come over to sit on the edge of her bed and place a hand on her head.
"Fever is definitely down." Harry hummed as he checked her eyes and complexion. "Have you been drinking water and taking your medicine?"
"Of course, I have. I am a big girl!" Rose huffed as she crossed her arms. Harry merely smiled as his hand reached to rub her hair, making it messy. "Hey!"
"Of course, Rose. You are a big girl." Harry spoke with the tone of an elder sibling teasing a younger sibling. "I do hope you will be a better one than Del when you have grown up."
"I heard that!"
"You should!" Harry called out to her, prompting Rose to let out a giggle at their interactions. Harry turned back to her. "In any case, just make sure you get better, okay?" Rose nodded at that before smiling widely.
"Oh! Look at what I can do!" Rose directed her hand at the small cupboard and focused hard before one of the smaller books wobbled and rose slowly up, and then floated to her end with it dropping on the bed. "See!"
"I do see, Rose. Very well done in summoning an object without a wand." Harry nodded before directing a stern eye. "But did we not say no use of magic until your illness is over?" Rose pouted at him.
"But Harry, I am so bored!" Rose whined as she clasped her hands together and directed wide eyes at him. "I just want to try a little summoning, I can do that, right?" Harry sighed while shaking his head lightly.
"Oh, don't be such a worry-wart, Harry." Del came into the room at that point. "She has been keeping her word and not used magic until we had confirmed that her fever was down and she was getting back some energy. She just wants to try her hand at summoning." Harry looked at the older girl with exasperation, and then to the younger girl still looking hopefully before he sighed again.
"Fine." Rose cheered. "But you need to make sure you recover, and to do this with supervision. Okay?" Rose nodded before hugging him tightly. Harry then left the room to get some water while Del checked on Rose's vitals and body temperature in the privacy of the room. He got the water and walked back to the living room to sit down and relax, his eyes wandering about before focusing on a photograph on the wall that featured him, Rose, Del, and an older man who was a little chubby and with features that made him slightly mouse-like. To think it had been seven years since they came to America after getting out of Britain, time honestly flew without him realising, but Harry was grateful that his uncle Peter along with others helped them to do so after what his once parents did to him and Rose, and what others had done to Peter and Del. They all have a life of their own right now and there was no way any of them would go back to Britain willingly.
Not if he could help it.