Reviews:
Paul : Fair criticisms and I do agree with you, especially on what you said about Silver King, as for this story, I do have an end in mind. But it will take a while unless I just cut the story short by skipping a couple of years.
Fire turtle: In this story, he'll be using wandless magic, runes and magical/enchanted devices. The pairing is Harry and three other girls.
AshokaTheGreat: I'm just glad that you understand it's a slow build, I've gotten a lot of (debatably warranted) complaints about Harry's magic. I think after this story I probably won't ever try to do a slow burn again.
Pathfinder097: Glad you mostly like it, I don't claim to be a perfect author but I do try at least.
Chapter 47 -
"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask, how's your new friend doing?" Peter asked, gesturing to Harry's back, speaking quietly so the driver couldn't hear them properly.
"He's still there," Harry replied with a small shake of his head. "I woke up and thought he wasn't there anymore, went in the bathroom and he wasn't in the mirror, I turned around for about a second or two and suddenly the little bugger's stuck to my back again."
"Do you control him?" Gwen couldn't help but ask. "Is it a 'him'?"
"It's a 'him'," Harry said confidently. "I can't tell you how I know that, I just do. It's like...well...well, it's just hard to explain if you're not experiencing it yourself. I feel like he's a part of me, he does what he wants but the second I give him a command he's obeying me. It's quite interesting to be fair, I'm really starting to like him." Harry said before his back suddenly started shaking for a second or so.
"What was that?" Gwen blinked.
"He's appreciative of the compliment," Harry explained. "Our communication is remarkably similar to the way I talk with spiders,"
"But it's not an organic lifeform, is it?" Peter asked in a confused voice. "So what is it?"
"There are many possible ways to animate things with magic," Harry replied. "If you want short-term movement then there are animation charms, they usually last a couple of hours. I know that there are portraits and pictures that move around in my world but I never got to learn how they worked. I was only in my fifth year of learning magic when I got sent here, I don't know half as much about it as I'd like."
"How is the whole magic thing going?" Peter questioned him quietly.
"It's...' going'," Harry said awkwardly. "I woke up today and was in a rush to get to the bathroom and accidentally launched myself off the bed and nearly avoided slamming through the door. My clothes changed automatically and when I wanted to go for a shower I got covered in water that I had conjured. I spent the majority of the day getting my magic under control."
"Oh, we thought you were out patrolling," Gwen admitted.
"I considered it, but knowing my luck I would have probably ended up permanently transforming someone into a rodent of some kind,"
"Wait, that's possible?!" Gwen gaped at him.
"I don't know about 'permanently' but yeah, it's possible," Harry replied.
"So...what...you can control reality now?"
"Not quite," Harry shook his head. "I think what I was doing was more along the lines of accidental magic, it'll take a long while before I can get it all under control and consciously use it."
"Oh...that blows," Gwen sighed.
"Tell me about it," Harry snorted before looking out the window. "Hey guys, I think we're nearly here."
"We've arrived, Sir." Arnold the Osoborn family driver said, parking the car.
"Thanks, Arnold," The group thanked him before stepping out of the car. Once out of the car, they were immediately greeted with the sight of Harry's girlfriend walking towards them.
"Whoa," Peter blinked.
"Indeed," Harry agreed without thought as he stared at Felicia. She was dressed in black high heels and a silver dress that descended down to just above her ankles, combined with thin, black gloves that went to just past her elbow. She also wore a pretty pearl necklace and a white, fur scarf that wrapped around her shoulders. Her look was completed with white earrings and hair styled into an intricate bun. The wind in the area increased, pushing through and around her white hair, behind her a car ended up with flat tyres and Harry could start to feel his belt unbuckling itself. With a strong force of will, he reigned in his magic as quickly as he could. Harry let out a small whistle as she got near. "Looking good, Hardy,"
"Looking quite dapper yourself, Osborn," She smiled brightly at him, leaning up and pecking him on the lips before pulling back to look at the other two. "Peter, you're looking tastier every day," She grinned as he blushed brightly. "Gwen," She looked at her before letting out a whistle of her own.
"Thanks," Gwen sent her a somewhat amused look. "You're looking good too,"
"Naturally," She said in response before sliding an arm around Harry's. "Shall we, Osborn?"
"If you haven't got anything better to do," Harry nodded before the two walked forward with Gwen and Peter following behind them. "So, have you been waiting long?" Harry asked.
"Barely two minutes. You know, I don't think I've taken a ride in that limo of yours yet," She said thoughtfully, sending him a look.
"Maybe on the way back, besides, I did offer to pick you up." Harry reminded her just as they reached the entrance.
"This ain't a prom night party," One of the guards said as soon as they got near. "Move it along,"
"Sorry, Mr Osborn, he's new." The other one immediately replied. "He's new," He added in an apologetic voice.
"Mr Osborn?" The first guard repeated.
"Yeah, dipwad, he's Norman Osborn's son," The second guard sighed before turning to Harry. "Please go on ahead, sir."
"Thanks, Dave, say hi to the family for me," Harry said as he and the others walked in.
"Dave?" Felicia asked Harry once they were far enough away. "Do you know everyone here?"
"No, just most of them," Harry shrugged. "I like to spend time at Oscorp whenever I can. I've gotten to know a few people here,"
"Why spend the time doing that?" Felicia couldn't stop herself from asking. "You're Harry Osborn, one of the richest guys in the country. What does it matter to you?"
"They're still people," Harry reminded her. "Besides, Oscorp wouldn't be half as successful without all of the people working for it. Besides, being born rich is nice, but it doesn't mean I don't understand that everyone else isn't as well off as me. I don't look down on any of them, they're just doing what everyone's doing, trying to get through the world without being ripped apart." Harry stopped as he saw Felicia giving him a sad smile. "What is it?" He asked.
"Nothing, just glad that you are you," She said, leaning up to kiss his cheek before suddenly turning to Gwen, she gave Gwen an odd look. "You should grab his other arm," She told her, causing Harry to look as confused as Gwen.
"What?" Gwen blinked at her. "Why should I..."
"Well, you're not in a relationship with Peter, are you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, but what does that..."
"It'll look good for Harry if he shows up with two girls on his arm," Felicia said, matter-of-factly. "Besides, it's not like Peter will mind, right?"
"Please," Peter chuckled. "Go for it,"
"Peter, you traitorous little.." Harry began but was quickly cut off when Felicia pulled Gwen closer and had her grab his other arm.
"There," Felicia said, sounding much happier than a few seconds ago. "Perfect."
"Is this really necessary?" Harry huffed.
"Yes," Felicia said with a straight face. "It's not like Gwen's complaining about it."
"I hate you," Gwen said flatly, sending Felicia a mild glare.
"Love you too,"
"Of course, thank you very much for your support," Norman said, watching as the third person he had talked to in the last half an hour walked off with what Norman was going to assume was his daughter. He let out a small sigh, fixing the tie on his suit before turning to look at his wife who was dressed in the most beautiful purple dress, complete with expensive jewellery and hair that she had tied up into a ponytail.
"I hope that that woman was his daughter," His wife commented before turning to Norman. "Is Harry here yet?" She asked.
"He should be here soon," He assured her. "Ah, speaking of...there he is." He gestured, she followed the gesture and her eyes slightly widened as they saw Harry walking towards them with Peter and two beautiful girls hanging off of his arms. They both recognised one of them as Gwen, so it was safe to assume the other was this girlfriend that Harry had told them about.
"Harry?" Emily said once they were near enough.
"This was not my idea," Was Harry's first response.
"Fair enough, perhaps some introductions are in order," She suggested.
"Fair enough," Harry replied. "Mother, I am your son, Harry Osborn. This is Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy," He said, pausing to allow his mother a brief slap on the back of his head before he continued as if nothing had happened. "Mother, Father, this is Felicia Hardy, my girlfriend. Felicia, this beautiful woman is my mother and this person right next to her is the loser she settled for," Harry finished by flashing a grin at his father, Norman rolled his eyes before Emily slapped the back of Harry's head again.
"You're lucky I find your wit amusing," Norman told Harry in a dry voice before turning to Felicia. "It's a pleasure to meet you,"
"Likewise, Mr Osborn," Felicia said politely enough. "I'm a big fan of your work, even this one," She added, gesturing to Harry.
"Personally, I'm undecided on that particular project," Emily said with a light huff. "It's good to meet you, Miss Hardy."
"You wouldn't happen to be Mrs Victoria Hardy's daughter?" Norman asked curiously.
"The very same," Felicia confirmed, though her voice sounded a tad bit tighter than usual.
"So, Felicia, may I call you 'Felicia'?" Emily said before Norman could continue that particular line of questioning.
"Of course, Mrs Osborn," Felicia said easily. "May I call you Emily?"
"If you wish," She nodded. "Now, did you and my son meet?"
"Oh, it was such a lovely story," Felicia smiled brightly. "I had accidentally picked up somebody else's stuff," Harry had needed a great amount of willpower to not react to that. "He chased me down to let me know, and I was quite interested in him. I asked him out and he accepted, naturally."
"Naturally," Harry gave her a dry look. "It was no hassle chasing you down, I barely broke a sweat." Felicia didn't say anything but she did give him a look that said 'Oh, is that supposed to be a challenge?'.
"Well, it's good to meet you all," Norman said. "Though if you don't mind, I'd like you all to borrow my son for a moment. I have a few people I'd like you to meet,"
"Oh, well...I'd like to, Father, but I think I should probably spend some time with my date first," Harry said hesitantly, glancing at his mother who quickly gave him a confirming nod.
"You don't have to do that for me," Felicia told him softly.
"Well, I want to, besides...the scientist will still be there after, right?" Harry quickly asked his dad, Norman looked between Harry and Felicia for a moment.
"I'm sure I could convince them to stay a moment or two more if necessary," He said confidently with a small nod of his head.
"Great," Felicia turned to Harry. "We could hit the dance floor for a bit," She said.
"What?" A slightly panicked Harry blurted out before Felicia turned to Gwen.
"I'll give him back, promise," She said before pulling him away from the others.
"I didn't sign up for this!"
"So," Gwen said. "Did you enjoy your dance with Felicia?" She asked as she danced with Harry.
After a good few rounds of dancing where he had thankfully not managed to break Felica's feet, she had gone to get drinks for herself, but not before all but commanding Harry and Gwen to dance with each other while she was away. Harry was not - nor would he ever claim to be - an expert on the behavioural pattern of young women, but even he was sure that Felicia was not acting normal for a girl, not that she was much like your average girl, anyway.
"Yeah, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Harry admitted. "What about you? Enjoying dancing with little ole me?"
"I just might be," She smirked as he spun her around before pulling her back in. "I got to admit, I'm surprised you can dance so well."
"Yeah, well...Mum made me practise with her whenever she had to go dancing," Harry shrugged.
"It's paying off," Gwen told him.
"Aw, thanks, I...it's going a lot better than I expected it to be, though I suppose my choice of dance partners means that I did at least something right today," He grinned at her.
"You're choice?" Gwen snorted. "Wasn't it Felicia who got us both to dance together?"
"What's up with that?" Harry couldn't help but ask. "Is that like some girl test or something?"
"I'm not quite sure, but...um...where is she?" Gwen asked suddenly, looking around. Harry frowned before he shifted his head up and focused on his hearing. Gwen stayed silent, watching as his face shifted through various emotions.
"Found her," He scowled a moment later.
"You don't sound happy," Gwen couldn't help but note, a few moments later a nearby light bulb burst and a table that was a short distance away collapsed.
"I'm absolutely livid,"
"Come on, damn it!" Felicia cursed under her breath whilst staring at the thumb drive that she had plugged into the Oscorp computers in front of her.
Sneaking into the room wasn't too hard, nor was taking out the sole guard that had been left in the room. That poor fellow was currently unconscious and sleeping nicely in the closet. The hardest part about the whole thing was slipping away and changing into her 'work clothes', leaving behind Harry and the others. It was such a shame, she was starting to like them all. Peter was funny and fun to tease, Gwen was obviously jealous but was still nice enough to hang around with. And then there was Harry...honestly, she'd kind of feel bad if she did the whole 'gold digger' thing with him which was honestly tempting given how rich he was.
'Stupid asshole couldn't even have the decency to be a dickhead so I don't feel bad about this whole thing,' She couldn't help but think. Harry was everything she wanted in a boy, she'd probably be interested in him even if he was dirt poor, which made what she had to do even worse for her.
Letting out a deep breath, she went to reach for the thumb drive once the computer said it was done, she pulled it out and was ready to tuck it away when something pulled it out of her hand. Stumbling a bit, she turned and looked up, only to pause at the sight in front of her. The one person she really didn't want to see was in this room with her, hanging upside down off a web that came from the ceiling.
"So...anyone call tech support?" Spiderman asked, his voice not as light as he was aiming for. "Anyway...want to tell me what a pretty girl like you is doing here?"