December 2012, Harry's Workshop

Harry straightened out his back after bending over his workbench for the past two hours. Stretching, he groaned and heard several cracks causing him to feel great relief. Looking down at his work he smiled. Sitting on his workbench was a vibranium ring with lines of inscriptions covering every facet of the metal. Picking it up he turned to an open area nearby and tossed the ring which flew through the air and paused before it expanded and started spinning. Slowly air moved through it at increasing speeds before it was moving the air in the entire room. Taking a deep breath Harry felt the room freshen up. Taking out his phone he snapped a picture. He shot off a quick text to Tony and attached the picture to it, 'It works.'.

Now all he had to do was wait. Not ten minutes later Tony came rushing into the workshop still covered in grease statins. "It worked?" Tony shouted as he fumbled on the last two steps. Harry just waved at the still spinning ring. Tony slowly walked up next to him in awe. "It works…"

"Told you I could do it!" Harry said quite smugly. Tony side eyed him as he approached the artifact and walked around inspecting it.

"What's it called?" Tony asked as he took a deep breath from the ring and smiled.

"Potter's Pollution Purifier." Harry answered as he walked over and just watched the ring spin.

"Alliteration, nice." Together they observed the ring, "How many do you think you'll need?"

"At the current levels?" Harry asked. Tony nodded, "Too many to be viable." Tony seemed to deflate, "Not to say there isn't a way to fix it, it just isn't this ring. This is a novelty, an overhyped air purifier really. No, the real fix is in the magic I used to make it happen."

"Are you planning to enchant something else to do the job rather than these rings?" Tony asked as he waved to the spinning ring.

"Yup. Using the knowledge and runes from this I plan on making something much easier to spread around." Harry said without explaining. Tony just stared at him not saying anything else, but Harry waited knowing Tony was much less patient than he was.

"Well?!" Tony asked, finally breaking the silence. Harry smirked in victory.

"I want to breed an artificial species of tree that will do the work of hundreds or thousands of other trees. Imagine planting a hundred such trees in Central Park in New York. It would be like having an entire forest working non-stop to pull the CO2 out of the air." Harry said. Tony didn't need much more information though, his mind was already drawing up numbers and doing statistics.

"With a million of these things worldwide we would be doing the work of billions of trees." Tony said with some awe. "This is huge! How long till you get a viable sapling?" Tony asked.

"A year, maybe two." Harry shrugged as he waved his hand causing the ring to float up and position itself near the ceiling. Tony nodded along.

"Well that's good. That kind of ties in with what I've been up to as well." Tony said as he pulled out his phone and walked over to his personal holo table that was left in Harry's workshop for when he's there. Placing his phone down the table lit up and projected an image of an Arc Reactor, "This is the new Stark Cold Fusion Reactor. This single reactor, which will fit in most substations, can power all of the eastern seaboard for over a decade. With a half a dozen of them I could power the country." Tony said excitedly.

"Oh this was why you wanted the Cask to study." Harry said as he started pulling up the notes and files on the creation of it. "This is impressive Tony!" Harry said excitedly, "The way you're using runes to target and use a specific dimension's energy is genius. This would have plenty of extra applications as well."

"Well after you told me about the near infinite amount of ice energy that it could access I wanted to make a cold fusion reactor. My work with the Arc Reactor actually helped, as it's an excellent starting point for building a true fusion reactor." Tony explained.

"So how long until it's ready for deployment?" Tony huffed and cracked his neck.

"Unfortunately it's not just the tech, it's the politics." Tony said as he leaned against the table. "If I release this without ensuring it won't be fought, it could get banned or shut down. I'll have to go and gather favors and whatnot to make sure nothing comes tumbling from the government about the tech."

"Fuck that. You're Tony Stark, Iron Man. They try and back door deal you just throw them to the wolves. Release your estimates on power cost using your tech and watch the public tear them apart for you." Harry said grumbling about greedy politicians.

From there they continued to spitball and estimate the effects of the new breakthroughs they each had. It wasn't until Wanda came down asking Harry if he was ready to eat that they realized they had been brainstorming for hours.

"Are you going to stay for dinner?" Harry asked Tony as they made their way upstairs.

"Depends, what are you having?" Tony asked, Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well Wanda cooked so I would guess some type of soup or rice dish." Harry said as they approached the kitchen. When the door was open they were assaulted by the smell of curry.

"Yeah I'll stay." Tony said happily as he moved over to the table and took a seat next to Pietro. Sighing, Harry moved over to help Wanda plate up for everybody before they both walked over and served dinner. They shared easy conversation between bites and they thanked Wanda when they were done. Tony looked over at Harry after he sent the dishes off to wash themselves., "You going to throw another Christmas party this year?"

Harry hummed as he leaned back in his chair. He had thought of throwing another Christmas party but would rather do something else this year. "What about Christmas at the Resort?"

/OO-HP•SoS-OO\

The next few weeks were fairly hectic, with Harry and Tony upgrading some things at the resort and clearing out an area to ski. By the time the week of Christmas was upon them Tony and Harry had replaced the power source at the resort, fit in the newest tech, built a ski lift, mapped out a ski route, and sent out invitations.

The Avengers were more than happy to come, Bruce bringing Betty, Tony and Pepper, Clint and his family, Thor and Jane with her friends; Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis. Harry even invited the X-Men and their students for a winter camping trip, which they happily agreed with. Thus the large influx of visitors that started showing up the Saturday before Christmas. Harry stood there in the lounge greeting the X-Men as they led the group through the Portal Frame. "Xavier! Glad you could make it!" Harry said as Charles Xavier exited the portal.

"Harry, I'm just happy that the kids get to have another chance at enjoying this amazing place you built." Xavier said as he shook Harry's hand. Harry then went on to greet the other teachers.

When everyone was through Harry clapped his hands, "Alright kids, you're all going to be staying here in the main building. While there are a lot of rooms you will have to bunk up so we can keep you in the same area." Harry then led them all to the east wing of the resort, boys on the second floor guest rooms, girls on the third. Harry then placed Xavier, Logan, and Hank next to the stairs and elevator on the boys floor. Ororo, Jean, and Cyclops, who stayed together, were placed at the end of the girl's hallway. With that out of the way he started tours of the main building, showing off the upgrades, where they could find food, and the new activities. Of course he threw up some wards to stop them from approaching the bar and leaving the building in the middle of the night.

With the X-Men finally settled in, Harry waited for his team to show up, the first being Bruce and Betty who got dragged off by Hank McCoy and Jean Grey to pick at their minds. The Bartons were next, followed swiftly by Natasha. She walked through behind Laura and approached giving him a quick kiss before she greeted everyone else. Ororo who was standing nearby slightly widened her eyes but sighed and walked away. Harry didn't notice this as he was already leading the Bartons to their accommodations, but green eyes nearby noticed and walked off thinking about it.

By the time dinner was being served everyone had shown up. Steve was only a few minutes behind Natasha and Clint. Thor showed up a few minutes after Steve, with Jane, Erik, and Darcy using the portal in Avengers Tower. Tony, being Tony, arrived just before everyone sat down to eat. Greetings were shared and everyone sat in the large cafeteria style eating area. The kids from X-Mansion were spread out fairly evenly, with the adults dominating 3 tables. One table was commandeered by Bruce, Betty, Hank, Tony, Jane, and Xavier. Pepper, Laura, Ororo, Darcy, and Natasha were sitting at the next table. The final table had Harry, Logan, Steve, Thor, Erik, Clint, and Scott. Dinner was largely loud and entertaining, Thor ended up telling stories to tables of enraptured kids, getting smacks from Jane when his stories got a little too adult for teenagers. The X-Men, well Scott and Logan, were telling the Avengers about the villains they fought and the different scenarios that came up in battle. Steve was quickly pulled into a talk about strategies and teamwork by Scott. Tony was still completely focused on the science discussions happening between Bruce, Betty, Hank and Xavier. Jean had wandered over to the table where Darcy and Ororo were chatting, Darcy clearly leading that conversation.

Harry was sitting next to Wanda and Natasha watching as everyone had a good time. Wanda was soon pulled away by Pietro to go have a snowball fight in the front of the building. Laura and Clint were chaperoning, well Laura was chaperoning. Clint was probably in the middle of the snowball fight with the kids. Slowly everyone wound down for the night and the kids and teens were taken to their rooms. There was a long week ahead of them.

That was how the next few days went, the adults would cook and set up activities for the kids to do or just sit around and hang out. Sunday was spent showing off the new installations. Such as the arcade that Tony had bullied Harry into adding. Some of the kids even wanted to run the obstacle course again, which was supervised by Logan, who tried to get even more of the teens sitting around to join. Monday was set up as a sledding competition, even the adults joined in. Most of the kids were knocked out of the competition pretty quick, but the teenagers held on. The semi finals were finished with Harry, Scott, Logan, Hank, Tony, and Steve all eking out a victory.

The final round started on top of the hill leading down to the black lake. The finalists were all standing with a sled in their hands waiting for the starting mark. Wanda stood to the side and created a small 'bang' with her magic. Harry was the first to mount his sled, already feeling the magic activating. Logan and Steve were right behind him with Tony, Hank, and Scott all falling behind. Harry had himself pressed against his sled, much like he did on his brooms when he flew. His head start wasn't enough to pull away though as he started to lose ground to the metal skeleton of Logan. Sending out a discreet wave of his finger he removed some of the friction on his sled stopping the slow advance of Logan. Steve on the other hand summoned his shield and laid it in front of himself at an angle, removing most of his drag causing him to pass Logan and pull closer to Harry. They were barely 20 feet from the finish line when a blue blur shot by. They were all flabbergasted when Hank revealed himself at the finish line, his knees on the board but his arm fur and claws were covered in snow. Clearly he used his arms to increase his speed. The finalists all stopped at the end with the kids and teenagers all cheering for Hank as he stood up.

Shaking his head Harry stood up as well before walking over and congratulating the furry man. After that was a large dinner and an early bedtime. Harry had lots of work to do while everyone slept. Once the last of the stragglers went upstairs Harry appeared in the lounge, His arms started moving around as a small tree that sat on a table flew towards the center of the room growing more and more. When it was done a 25 foot tree now stood dead center of the area, covered in fairy lights and ornaments. He pulled a bag off the ground and started summoning gifts out of it, slowly stacking them under the tree in an organized fashion. Harry had already gotten everyone else's gifts so those were sat out as well. Looking over the more homey looking room he smiled and gathered his bag and walked off to his room.

/OO-HP•SoS-OO\

The next morning, bright and early, noise was drifting up from the lounge waking Harry from his short rest. "Merry Christmas sleepyhead. Did you get everything put together?" Harry heard a soft voice from his left. Turning over he was greeted by the deep red hair and beautiful green eyes of Natasha Romanov. Smiling he leant forward and gave her a soft kiss.

"Happy Christmas Nat." Leaning back he let his head hit the pillow again. "I got the tree and presents all laid out down there now." Natasha cuddled into him smiling. They laid there for a few moments enjoying the early morning sun shining off the snow clad mountains outside his window. Unfortunately that peace was ruined when a silver haired speedster came rushing by the door and knocked dozens of times in seconds and yelled 'Wake up! It's Christmas!' before he was gone. Grumbling Harry and Nat both rose out of bed, "I think I'm going to glue his feet to the ground."

Natasha chuckled before she slipped on a robe and followed Harry out to the main room where a cacophony of noise was being made as teenagers were diving out presents and being generally antsy. Smiling slightly he moved over to a long couch near the fire where the other adults had congregated and sat down. He sat next to Ororo and sat Nat on his other side putting an arm around her waist. Ororo quickly looked away pretending to watch the kids.

"Everyone got their presents sorted." Harry asked the others. Charles was about to speak up when a silver blur shot between everyone handing out gifts as fast as possible. Soon enough everyone was looking at a small pile of gifts laid out. A quick 'Thanks Pietro' was shouted before wrapping paper was being torn and flung all around. Harry didn't even look at his gifts yet and just watched, keeping a close eye on his twins. When Wanda opened a certain gift it revealed a box. Her magic seemed to thrum as she picked it up, her heart started beating faster as she opened the box revealing a long white stick. Her eyes snapped over to the only person who would give her a wand and found Harry giving her an encouraging smile. Moving her gaze back to the wand she slowly picked it up and felt a surge of warmth and heard a faded neigh in the background. Red and Green sparks shot out of her wand as she slowly stood and made her way to Harry. Nat sat back against the couch allowing Harry to stand just in time to hug the young witch.

"Thank you." Wanda said, her voice muffled against his chest. Harry hugged her back before he held her at arm's length giving her a big smile.

"Sorry it's a little late. Typically a witch gets her first wand on her 11th birthday." Harry said. Wanda just shook her head before giving him another hug and rushing over to Pietro to show off her wand. Pietro smiled and congratulated her as he put on a new pair of shoes.

"Are you going to be teaching her how to use your magic?" Nat asked as he sat back down. Nodding Harry went on to explain.

"I found out a while back when I was teaching her some elemental sorcery. She has the gift to use my magic as well as her chaos powers." Harry finished leaning back and watching the mayhem that is Christmas.

The week only picked up in intensity from there. The X-kids were all playing with their new toys or using the entertainment rooms to play video games. The ones who wanted to go skiing got a chance to. Every night they would gather the kids and tell stories or play games together as groups. Unfortunately all good things must end. For the final night, which was the Sunday after Christmas, Harry set off a truly wonderful fireworks display. He created phoenixes in flight, dragons calling down fire storms, thestrals, unicorns, manticores, and many other various magical beasts. New Year's Eve had a wave of people using the Portal Frames to return home, eventually leaving Tony, Pepper, Harry, Natasha, Steve, Bruce, and the Bartons. Thor had left to escort Jane and her friends home. Betty left to join her family for New Years.

Sitting next to the fire with a big mug of cocoa, Harry sipped lazily. 'Have a good time?" Harry heard Tony from the side. Looking over he noticed Pepper was asleep on his arm.

"It was good. I'm glad I could give the X-Kids a more normal Christmas. Doesn't help that I just love having people around." Harry was silent for a moment as his eyes traced the fire's flickering body. Nat bumped him when the silence went on too long. Looking back at Tony he saw Pepper with a slightly confused look. Nodding to her he started, "I was left alone on my planet for several years, so sometimes I just enjoy the busy aspect of having people around." Seeing the mood darkened a bit Harry shrugged, "Don't worry about that too much, I've got friends and a family now." Harry finished with a smile.

"Think anything exciting will happen this year?" Tony asked as he sipped his whiskey.

"Nah. We cleaned up HYDRA and stopped Loki's invasion. This should be a quiet year." Harry says as he leans back, closing his eyes. Nat leaned into him and the fire crackled merrily. "What a good Christmas." Harry finished slightly under his breath.