Chapter Three
Summary: Brunch with Pepper and Tony and an important conversation.
Evie's Notes:Happy Monday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week ! As always, thank you so much your support of this story, it really and truly means the world to me ! Your comments are my fuel to keep going and I am so glad you are loving the story so far! I hope that you all enjoy the this new update .
Bolded words are text messages :)
Tony glanced again at the text message he had gotten from Harry.
Harry: Thank you again for your offer to move in. We would love to take you up on it but there is something we need to talk about first. Maybe we can discuss it at brunch?
Tony: Of course. I will have rooms set up for you three. So happy to have you here!
Tony wondered what on earth Harry wanted to talk about before moving in. He couldn't imagine that the young man would say anything that would make him take his offer back. They had only had two meetings but he already adored his son and grandson.
He had of course spent the last week looking for information on his son online with Friday's help. Unfortunately his search had turned up worryingly few results. He had found school records for Harry up until he turned eleven, then he seemed to disappear entirely until he was eighteen and took on a teaching post at a school called Hogwarts for Gifted Students. The most worrying thing was that there were no health records for Harry implying that he hadn't been to the doctor or received necessary immunizations. Tony couldn't help but think back to George's offhanded comment about Harry's relatives. The lack of information was painting a horrifying picture which Tony hated.
He was shaken out of his thoughts as the elevator dinged and Friday alerted him that Harry had arrived.
"Boss, Young Boss, Little Boss, and Mr. Weasley have arrived" chirped his baby girl.
"Thank you Friday, please let Pepper know that they are here and we are ready to start" he asked.
"Will do Boss… Boss Lady says she will be up soon" replied Friday.
"Perfect! Thank you, baby girl"
"Anything for you, Boss"
"Your AI is so cool!" grinned Harry as he carried Teddy over to the table where Tony was waiting.
"Thank you, Friday is one of my pride and joys. You should come down to the workshop and meet the bots, they are less advanced than Friday but still AIs"
"I would love to meet them all. If they are learning creations, I guess that makes them kinda like my siblings" agreed Harry.
Tony froze for a moment in shock at the easy acceptance and acknowledgement of his AIs. Most people just brushed them off as computer systems, smart, but not "real" at the end of the day. Only Pepper, Rhodey, Peter and Happy truly seemed to understand the true nature of his bots and Friday.
"Yes! Exactly" cheered Tony, happy that his son understood just why his creations were so important to him. They were in a very real sense his children.
The four men moved into the sitting room and Tony had a grand time showing Teddy the play chest he had purchased and the toys inside. Harry smiled seeing his son and father playing together and made himself comfortable on the couch next to George. George wrapped a comforting arm around Harry's shoulders when he noticed Harry's anxious leg bouncing and fingers tapping his thigh.
"It's all going to be ok" promised George, squeezing Harry's shoulders.
Harry let out a breath and relaxed back into the man's hold forcing himself to relax. The four sat happily chatting and playing for fifteen or so minutes as they waited for Pepper to arrive.
Pepper stepped out of the elevator to the adorable sight of Teddy and Tony playing with a build it yourself race car kit. George and Harry were cuddled up on the couch watching the pair play with bright eyes. Pepper almost felt bad trespassing on the scene.
Stepping out of her heels and letting her hair down, Pepper made her way over to the group.
"Pep!" grinned Tony, looking at his fiance with a look full of love.
"Nice to see you again Miss Potts" smiled Harry shyly.
"Pepper please, Harry. We are family after all" reminded the woman kindly.
"Of course," agreed Harry.
"Well now that we're all here, shall we eat?" suggested Tony.
The others quickly agreed and made their way over to the kitchen where the table had been set with lots of waffles and sausages, fruit and other toppings, and juice. Harry quickly settled Teddy in his seat and cut up some of the food for the little boy and gave him a sippy cup of apple juice.
George quickly made up Harry's plate while he wasn't looking, knowing that the other man still needed reminders to eat enough. It is an unfortunate side effect from his time with the Durselys.
Harry, spotting what George had done, simply squeezed the man's hand in thanks, before starting to eat.
Tony and Pepper watched the pair with knowing eyes. They didn't want to make any assumptions, but the love between the pair was obvious enough anyone could see it. They each silently wondered how long it would take the pair to confess their feelings.
After a few minutes of eating a light conversation, Tony brought up the topic that had been haunting his waking thoughts since he got the text last weekend. "So what was it that you felt you needed us to talk about?"
Harry and George traded looks and George gave Harry an encouraging smile.
"Alright, this is kinda hard for me to talk about because legally I'm not supposed to tell many people, and because my last blood relatives hated me for it"
"Harry, I don't want to get you in any trouble, and please know there is nothing you can do that would make me hate you" promised Tony, his brown eyes wide and honest.
"Well you can know as you are my father, and Pepper is marrying you so that's not an issue here. It's just that I'm worried about your reaction to my news…" sighed Harry.
"Please know that we just want to support you, Harry, and help however we can" smiled Pepper.
Harry nodded, before continuing. "I did some research on you before I came in for the blood test" began Harry.
Tony inwardly groaned thinking about all the insane things he had done as a younger man that had ended up on the internet. He should really have Friday scrub everything before little Teddy grows up, it was too late for Harry to not have seen it.
"In particular I focused on the footage and various information I gathered about your time since Iron Man and the mess that was the Avengers break up"
Tony winced and rubbed his chest remembering where Steve had almost killed him in Siberia only a year and a bit ago. Unfortunately the Avengers were once again his problem due to Accords Council's decision for them to live at the compound while on probation. Tony was tasked with providing for them and checking in on them on a biweekly basis. It could be worse though, he could still be on the team like Rhodey, who was the new team leader and had to deal with Rogers and Maximoff all the time.
"As Iron Man you fought both Loki and the Scarlet Witch…"
Tony's face blanched at the mention of Wanda, as he remembered the horrible manipulations she had done to their minds. He cleared his throat doing his best to stay in the moment and present with his kid. "Yes, that's true," he agreed.
"I know that because of that you have had bad experiences with magic. As you have probably guessed, Loki and Wanda are not the only magic users on this planet" continued Harry.
Tony and Pepper's eyes widened as they processed what Harry was implying.
"On earth, there are a large number of magic users who live in secret societies for fear of another witch burning. Our magic is very different from Wanda's or Loki's as we were born with it. Magic is a part of our DNA and an essential part of who we are".
"You're saying you have magic?" asked Tony in shock.
"Yes" said Harry firmly, though the look in his eyes was fragile as if he was expecting Tony to turn him away now.
Knowing that his next few words were important, Tony responded "That's amazing. Thank you for telling me. I would love to talk about it more with you and try to understand it. From the way you described it so far it seems to be a genetic mutation that I assume is passed down through families"
Harry relaxed in his seat as if the strings holding him up had been cut, a look of pure relief on his face.
"Yes, like Harry said magic is in our DNA so a mutation is the best way to describe it" agreed George. "There are three types of wixen, those who have two magical parents like me are called purebloods, those who only have one magical parent like Harry here are half bloods, or those who have no magical parent are called Muggleborns"
"Are there a lot of you all?" asked Pepper interestedly.
"Yes, we do have relatively large communities in each country, though the community in Britain has gone down significantly due to the attacks a few years ago".
"Wait! Are you saying that those terrorist attacks were magic?!" asked Tony.
"Yeah, there was this mad man named Tom Riddle who was intent on ruling our community and wiping out the muggle, non magical, community. He is actually the one who killed my parents and tried to kill me several times over the years. I eventually was able to defeat him when I was seventeen. Most of his followers were rounded up and put in our prison, but there are still a few who ran and are on the loose" explained Harry, picking at his fruit as he talked.
"That's horrible. I can definitely understand why you are so concerned about security now" agreed Tony. "It's not a request anymore, you all must move into the tower for my own peace of mind"
Harry laughed and seemed much lighter now that he had gotten this secret off his chest.
"Well now that we're spilling all of our secrets, I guess I should tell you about Teddy's secret too" grinned Harry. "In some magical families there are extra special gifts or mutations that can occur. Teddy is descended from the Black family which is known for their metamorphmagus powers. That means that he is able to change what he looks like at will"
Harry leaned over and removed the bracelet on Teddy's wrist. Immediately the boy's dark brown hair and green eyes returned to his favorite look, teal hair and purple eyes.
"That's amazing" declared Tony and Pepper as they looked at the little boy in awe.
"Thank you!" replied Teddy before begging to be let down to go back to playing with his new toys.
Harry quickly cleaned the jam off the boy's face and hands before letting him down to go play.
Turning back to the others he explained, "The magic in the bracelet locks Teddy's appearance into one which is pre-set. We chose that one since it makes him look the most like me without being a complete double"
Harry handed over the bracelet to Tony to examine as he could see his father's fingers twitch with desire to examine it.
"What is his original look?" asked Pepper.
"He looks just like his birth father, with sandy blonde hair and amber eyes" smiled Harry sadly. He missed Remus and Tonks so much.
"Thank you for telling us about your powers" said Tony, "But they don't stop us from wanting you here and to get to know you better. Please move in"
"You're welcome, and yes, we will move in. George and I can bring over the rest of our stuff this afternoon" agreed Harry.
"Just one thing though, magic and technology don't really mix well. It is part of the project that I am working on right now to try and make the pair mesh… but I haven't had a lot of luck" explained George.
"Yikes! Thanks for the heads up. I will hold off on asking for any magic demonstrations in the tower" agreed Tony. "George, I would love to pick your brain about your research if you wouldn't mind. It seems so interesting"
"I would love to work on it with you" agreed the redhead.
Harry smiled, happy to see the pair getting along.
"It shouldn't be a major problem since George and I rarely use magic when not working these days" explained Harry.
"Wait! So does that mean that Prism Heights is actually a school for witches and wizards?!" asked Tony, shocked.
"It is. It is just one of the many primary schools scattered around the states that prepare young wix for Ilvermorny, which is essentially our version of a boarding secondary school" explained Harry.
"So cool!" exclaimed Pepper.
The group spent the rest of the afternoon transferring the trio's items to the penthouse and getting them all moved in. Harry was utterly exhausted by the end of it but also deliriously happy. He had been fully accepted by his father and future stepmother for who he was and had a new home for the people he loved, Teddy and George. Harry could feel in his heart this was the start of something new.
Evie's Notes 2:Thank you all so much for reading ! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next update !
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr Find-y0ur-j0y! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie