Chapter 1
Vernon Dursley was infuriated. Not only had he had a day full of confusing events yesterday-thus having him tempt fate in bringing up the Potters to his wife-but he and his wife woke up to said son lying on their front porch, wrapped in a blanket with a letter tucked in. After reading the letter, Petunia took the waif in. Vernon did not want to do that. It was against his wishes. He just knew that the brat would be a freak, just like his parents. He had to do something.
Getting to work his mood was immediately noticed. This was not Vernon's usual anger, this is was frustration beyond that. One of Vernon's co-workers, Mr. Oliver Jackson, entered Vernon's office when barked to enter and sat in front of his desk.
"What happened?"
"What?" Vernon snaps.
"You usually bellow and scream all the time, Vernon, but this is different. What happened?" Jackson asks. Vernon thinks over his choices of telling his soft-of friend what happened and sighs heavily.
"My wife's estranged sister and her husband died recently and their son was left on our doorstep. I know damn well that we are not listed as one of the kid's guardians and my wife is determined to take the kid in even though I don't want to. We already have our precious Dudders. He should be enough. Why isn't the boy being given to his legal guardian?" Vernon rants. Jackson, a half-blood who is well aware of who the Dursleys are thanks to Dumbledore's orders as well as how the Dursleys think, sit there in contemplation.
"How desperate are you to get rid of the boy, Vernon?" Jackson asks. "How far are you willing to go to get rid of him?"
"As far as it takes. I just know that this boy will bring nothing but trouble."
"Oh, no doubt. Are you willing to work with those you despise to get him out of your life?"
"What do you know?" Vernon asks with narrowed eyes. Jackson sends up a mental apology to both his sister and his brother-in-law for what he was about to do.
"I am in the same boat as your wife. My sister was sent off to a school for freaks at 11 years old."
"How do you know-"
"My sister came over to my house yesterday raving about 'The Boy-Who-Lived' who defeated 'You-Know-Who' and how the danger is finally gone and a bunch of other rubbish. Hearing your tale, it wasn't hard to put together. Let me guess, the boy's name is Harry Potter?"
"It is." Vernon confirms.
"My brother-in-law is a magical lawyer. He can look into the Potter's wills and figure out where the boy is really supposed to go. If not the will then he can find a new place to put him." Jackson explains. Vernon looks thoughtful.
"He can get rid of him?"
"Completely. For good. I heard about Dumbledore though. If he's the one that placed him there you may have another encounter with him. If that's the case then one more encounter and then you'd be free of all wizards."
"You mean to tell me that I only have to deal with the freak your sister married until the brat is gone and one more encounter with this Dumbledore man and then all the freakishness is done for good?"
"That's all." Jackson confirms.
"How soon can I meet with him?" Vernon says almost immediately after. Jackson stands up and adjusts his suit.
"I'll go contact him now. With any luck, before lunch. I wouldn't wish your predicament on my greatest enemy."
"Thank you for helping me." Vernon says with honesty and gratefulness in every syllable.
"Thank you for letting me. I'll keep you updated." Jackson says and leaves the muggle's office.
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William Fletcher of Fletcher, Hayes, and Beckett has had a fine, calm morning. Putting the finishing touches on the last client he had William was looking forward to an easy morning. That is, until his brother-in-law all but barged in and word vomited what had happened at his muggle job.
"HE DID WHAT?!" William demands so loudly that his partners run in, wands drawn.
"Oliver, what are you doing here? What's going on?" Hayes demands.
"Dumbledore placed Harry Potter with is magic hating muggle relatives." Fletcher explains angrily.
"One of said relatives is desperate to get rid of Harry." Jackson continues.
"Why? Do they know how lucky they are? They are housing what could even be said to be wizarding royalty!"
"They hate magic. They don't care." Jackson says.
"Right. We're getting Harry Potter out of that house."
"Any help you may need, Fletcher, tell us and we'll be there." Beckett says.
"Thank you." Fletcher says honestly to his partners and old school mates.
"Good friends."
"Always have been. Let's go." Fletcher says, standing to follow his brother-in-law to the door. Fletcher leaves off his clock, leaving him in as close to a muggle suit as he has to meet this man.
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It doesn't take long for Fletch to hate the man his brother-in-law had taken him to. Within one conversation Fletcher wanted to hex him within an inch of his life. However, the ends must.
That night Jackson and Fletcher are sitting in Fletcher's office, the results in piles on Fletcher's desk.
"He would blow his top if her knew." Jackson says.
"He would extort him. I gathered that within the first five minutes. He's a money hungry walrus." Fletcher opposes and Jackson snorts in amusement.
"You're not wrong."
"Tell him the truth with limited magic." Fletcher says and Jackson raises an eyebrow at him. "Oliver, Potter's biological parents are James Potter and Tony Stark and his adoptive mother is Lily Potter. You have heard of Tony Stark right? Multi-billionaire? Owner of Stark Industries? Ringing any bells?"
"Yes, William, I am aware of who Tony Stark is. And you're right. If Dursley ever found out that Potter is related to a multi-billionaire he would demand thousands just to hand over the man's son."
"Exactly. So, tomorrow I will tell Dursley that Harry is biologically James Potter's son but magically blood adopted by Lily Potter. I will contact Tony Stark tonight, so that everything can go smoother. Apparently the Potters were prepared for this eventuality. They wrote the man a letter."
"They want to explain everything in a bloody letter?!" Jackson demands
"Do you have any other ideas?" Fletcher asks tiredly.
"No. Nope. I will leave this all to you."
"Thank you."
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Two days later Fletcher is sitting in his muggle office when his PA informs him that Tony Stark had arrived. Fletcher rises to meet the man that is about to have his world turned upside down.
"Hello, Mr. Stark. It's an honor."
"Thank you. What's this all about?" Tony says, shaking Fletcher's hand.
"Right. Straight to it. Which, honestly, I'd prefer. To begin with, what do you know about magic?" Fletcher asks. Tony snorts and raises an eyebrow at the other man. Fletcher levitates his cup of tea in the air, puts it down, and then summons the case file to him from across the room.
"You have my attention." Tony says, suitably shocked.
For the next thirty minutes William Fletcher is explaining the wizarding world and even some of wizarding biology to the great Tony Stark who is soaking it up like a sponge.
"Okay, not that this hasn't all been fascinating, because it really is, but what does this have to do with me?"
"Do you remember a Mr. James Potter?" Fletcher asks.
Tony freezes. He had been looking for the Potters for just over two years now. Lily had been the closest he could get to having a sister, but James...James had been his everything. Tony had no idea how Lily was bale to share her husband as she had, but she did. They were a tight unit of family and love and, in James' case, passion. When the two of them disappeared with a single note, stating that they were in danger and had to protect the one person they loved most by leaving, Tony was heartbroken and angry.
Tony's thoughts come to a screeching halt when part of his genius brain remembers what Mr. Fletcher told him about wizarding biology.
"Wh-why did you tell me about a wizard's biology?" Tony whispers. Mr. Fletcher looks at him sadly and hands him a letter.
Dear Tony,
If you're reading this then the worst has happened and Lily and I are dead. We are both so, so sorry for leaving you, Tony. Lily was heartbroken for months, but me...I'm still feeling the loss of you. You are one third of myself that I had been missing my whole life.
When I was little I always felt empty. I mean, I was happy and loved and cared for, but I knew something was missing. And then I met Lily. I felt better and knew that she was the one, but I still knew something was off. I asked my parents, as all innocent 11 year olds do, and my parents explained that some witches and wizards have more than one soulmate and said witch or wizard will be fully complete with their child from their soulmate. Lily is one of them and you, Tony, are the other. Being with you, I finally felt as complete as I ever had before. Leaving you broke me.
I was going to tell you the Saturday before we left. I had it all planned out. I was going to tell you about magic and wizarding biology and witch/wizarding soul mates, and then I was going to do a pregnancy spell right in front of you. I would show you the blue light that would glow from me that confirms that I was pregnant with your son. But then Lily came back from a meeting with our old Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and told me of how a prophecy had been told about a child that would be born as the seventh month dies that would destroy the dark wizard that had been plaguing wizarding Britain for decades. Our little boy was due at the end of July. We had to go into hiding.
It took Lily days to convince me that you couldn't join us in hiding, no matter how much she wanted it too. You are too much of a public figure and it would put us in more danger than keep us safe, no matter how much we both hated it. So we left. Against Lily's knowledge I left you with every trace of us that I could manage without her managing to find out. It's selfish of me, I know, but I didn't want you to forget us or our wonderful three years together.
When our baby was born he was, he is perfect. He is so smart, Tony. When Lily blood adopted him he gained Lily's green eyes, but that was all that changed. He has my hair and nose, but everything else is all you. He's smart, Tony. So smart. And he's happy and funny and cheeky and...he's perfect. We named him Harry James Anthony Stark Potter; Stark has a lot of pull in the muggle world, but Potter has just as much in the wizarding world). He was born July 31st at 1035 at night. You would loved him, Tony. I know you're scared you'd be just like you're dad, but you wouldn't be. You'd be caring and loving and do everything you can to protect the little being that is the perfect mixture of you and me with a little magically added Lily.
I pray that, should Lily and I die, you take in Harry. If you do that, keep him as far from Albus Dumbledore as you can. Lily may trust him, but I do not. He told us that running would be worthless and not to try it. I happen to have several Potter properties under death wards, but the cottage with next to no wards is the home he advised us to stay in? It doesn't seem right.
If we die we have a long list of who Harry's magical guardians should be, but you, my love, are his father. You are the guardian he should stay with and who should raise him and love him and care for him.
If, but some miracle, we make it out of this, the first thing I'm doing is hunting you down and begging for your forgiveness and explaining everything.
I love you, Anthony Edward Stark. One day I hope to turn that into Anthony Edward Potter Stark.
All my love and soul,
James Charleus Potter
Tony looks up from the letter, unaware of the tears falling down his face. Any anger he'd once held towards his love and pseudo-little sister had evaporated with ever word he read. They left to protect their son. His son. Harry James Anthony Stark Potter.
"James and Lily...they're dead aren't they?" Tony asks, and don't those words hurt like a stab in the heart. Fletcher nods his head.
"They died on Halloween night. Their son, your son, is currently with Lily's sister and-"
"WHAT? Petunia hates Lily!" Tony cries, jumping to his feet. Fletcher also stands, keeping Tony Stark at his level to calm him.
"And her husband hates Harry which is why my brother-in-law, another wizard, offered my services to get Harry out of that home. He knew that it would be dangerous. We also conveniently forgot to mention that men can get pregnant in the wizarding world and Harry's father is an extremely rich muggle man. I was with Vernon Dursley for five minutes and I knew he would go for extortion." Fletcher says and Tony smirks.
"When can I get my son?"
"We gathered him this morning. Lucile." Fletcher says, calling for his PA. In walked the Personal Assistant carrying a tiny, napping baby dressed in a blue onesie covered in gold winged balls which were zipping around the fabric and wrapped in a lighter blue blanket with S.P. embordered in the corner. Lucile carefully places the baby in Tony's arms before backing up.
One look at the child and he immediately knew that this baby was a mix of him and James just from the pictures he had seen of the two of them as babies. This was his son. This tiny, beautiful being. This is his baby boy.
In his head Tony made a promise, a promise to his lost love and family: I will love and care for him. Always. I promise.