They had their work cut out for them. Even with help from Wakanda and the Guardians, the Avengers were hard-pressed to keep the newly re-enlarged population from each other’s throats. With footage of the final battle leaking to the press that showed witches and wizards fighting alongside their heroes, the wizarding community decided to formally announce their existence and step forward to help repair the planet once again.
It was a shock to find out that there was a whole hidden world existing under their noses, but most civilians were just too tired to care at this point. As long as these “magical folk” didn’t start trying to take over the world, the general public didn't really care what these newcomers called themselves.
That was until some wizards were caught in what was essentially a very convoluted Ponzi scheme that the victims didn’t even remember contributing to. SWORD was called in to roust them out, but the UN-sanctioned response team didn’t have anyone with more than a surface-level knowledge of magic. After reaching out to the newest additions to the UN (representatives from the magical governments of each country), an “expert” was sent in to help make sure the correct wizards were apprehended and a modern witch hunt was avoided.
To the rest of the world, Harry Potter was a bit underwhelming. He was barely in his 20s, muscular but slim, he wore his hair long, and dressed like he had just been pulled from an all-night study session at the local university. It wasn’t until you got closer to him that you noticed his overly-serious demeanor. The Avengers recognized it for what it was: a veteran fighter surveying the situation. His teammates didn’t have any problem seeing past his unorthodox uniform to see the war general underneath.
The few muggles that were violently opposed (sometimes literally) were properly cowed when footage from the ground battles were leaked showing Harry taking on entire battalions by himself. He didn’t even muss his hair.
What made him truly terrifying was the laughter. Harry Potter spent the entire battle literally laughing in the face of death; cackling gleefully as he killed thousands.
Most people thought he was a sociopath. The Avengers and their handlers thought he had a massive case of PTSD and depression which seemed to manifest as an almost suicidal approach to battle.
Only two of his teammates thought anything remotely possible about the young man. Nebula thought he was an idiot, but was looking forward to a good battle at the next group training session, even if he would eventually lose to her superior skills. Peter Quill kept going back and forth between attraction and wariness.
On the one hand, it was unbelievably hot the way the wizard fought. Harry Potter did battle the way Black Widows did seduction. His battle techniques looked more like a dance, all flowing and rhythmic, each spell blending into the next in a hypnotic, almost sensual way. Peter was present for the live show, so to speak, and it took a considerable amount of willpower (not that he had much to begin with) not to drool.
On the other hand, ever since finding out his heritage from his “dad”, Peter had been researching the various forms of magical manipulations throughout the galaxy. After discovering that the planet he was from had magical beings the whole time, he couldn’t wait to compare skills with the magicians residing in secret on Earth. He didn’t remember much from his time planetside, but he was pretty certain that he’d never heard about sorcerers in ancient orders or witches and wizards with their own schools and governments.
He kind of fell down the rabbit hole on that one which is why he was pleased to see them participating in the final battle, but the amount of power that Harry Potter was casually throwing around was alarming. There’s no way a mere human could channel that much raw energy and not take some serious, possibly fatal, damage.
No one else seemed too concerned, they were confident that he was “safe” just because he came with glowing recommendations from the entire wizarding community, but Peter was smarter than that.
He’d learned his lesson about beings with untold power who seemed to be too good to be true. There was something going on that no one was telling him and that made him on edge around the otherwise attractive wizard. Peter considered these quirky superheroes family and refused to sit back and allow them to be taken in by someone who had the potential to end them all.
-.-.-.-.-
Harry thought he’d grown out of his awkward-crushes-on-inappropriate-persons phase. He was a grown man, working with an internationally-lauded team of superheroes who respected him and his opinions. He would even go so far as to say they were becoming as close as family to him. Even the cyborg alien Nebula liked him, at least that’s what Tony says her constantly trying to train him means.
Honestly, most of the superheroes seemed to bond by training, even going so far as to block out “hanging out” time in the training room schedule. The staff psychologists hate it, always saying it’s an unhealthy coping mechanism for untreated trauma, but Harry never did have healthy coping mechanisms and he really enjoyed learning new moves to incorporate into his battle magic.
In the beginning, the others were wary of adding an unknown magic-user on the team, especially one with what appeared to be a death wish. But after a few battles and team bonding activities (i/e: movie nights and training marathons), the majority of the Avengers and Co. were comfortable having him around.
He’s pretty sure Bucky and Natasha have actually adopted him.
One of the Guardians was dead set on disliking him, though. Unfortunately for Harry, Peter Quill’s dislike of his personage didn’t deter the massive crush he’d developed on the space captain.
Hence the return of the awkward crushes phase. This was almost as bad as the one he had on Draco growing up.
Harry didn’t know why Peter didn’t like him, but he tried to avoid irritating the part-Celestial. The last thing Harry needed was another person trying to kill him. They’d fail, but it’s still pretty annoying.
Bucky and Nebula were beginning to notice Peter’s blatant skepticism regarding Harry and his motives, which means they had already begun plotting how to take him out without raising suspicion with the other heroes. Harry didn’t want to hurt someone so fundamentally good; Peter was right to be suspicious of Harry. Everyone seems to forget how many people have died because of him.
Harry felt a bit like a plague, killing anyone who got close to him, whether with his actions or his own bad luck. Because of this, Harry has tried for years to lead a solitary lifestyle, much to the consternation of his friends and family. Having to live in close quarters with others again, Harry has been reminded of the joy and peace felt when surrounded by people who care about him. If he was less selfish, he would leave, protect them before they became collateral damage, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Harry walked into the trendy corner restaurant in Manhattan, glancing around at the well-dressed patrons. He was looking for his date, specifically a red jacketed person.
Harry had been guilted into accepting a blind date set-up from Natasha despite the fact that he didn’t date and didn’t do well with secrecy. The fact that she wouldn’t tell him anything about the designated person spoke volumes about how much of a flight risk she thinks he would be.
To be fair, she was right; now that he had spotted the red jacket and the warm body attached to it, all Harry wanted to do was sprint out the front door… or through the kitchens…or that plate-glass window right there. Being practically immortal gave him some benefits, not feeling mortified wasn’t one of them. And he wasn’t sure if it could save him from the wrath of a Star-Lord. Merlin, he would kill for his Invisibility cloak right about now.
-.-.-.-
Peter was idly perusing the pretentious menu propped up on the water pitcher when he felt someone’s gaze land on him and stay. He was used to people checking him out, he was a stud after all, but no one ever spent much time after the first glance. Peter prided himself on giving off a “Don’t fuck with me” vibe, and most people gave him a wide berth after a few seconds.
This person didn’t follow the norm. Thinking it was probably his date (and how could he let Gamora talk him into going on such a ridiculous idea for human interaction, this was just demeaning!) Peter turned around slightly in his seat and glanced behind him towards the door.
Peter stared in shock, mirroring the look on Harry’s face, before arranging his features into his best menacing scowl. He couldn’t believe his so-called friends set him up with a potential supervillain! Okay, so maybe he was being over dramatic, but come on! There was something off about this guy. Maybe he could get some information out of Harry tonight while he was semi-captive.
-.-.-
Harry sat down at the table slowly, reminiscent of what one might do when approaching an angry momma bear. He watched as Peter’s scowl quickly turned into a frankly evil smirk and felt his courage leave his body.
“So, Harry. What makes you want to be in the spotlight?”
Harry bristled at that. “I don’t. I’d prefer to do things anonymously, but I was outmaneuvered by my best friend who basically runs our country’s magical government. I’ve been in the crosshairs of the media my entire life. It sucks.”
Peter seemed surprised with his response but he didn’t care. His opinion didn’t matter if he thought Harry was an attention seeker.
“You know, for someone who likes to call themselves Star-Lord and parade around doing sexy dances, you seem really concerned about my media appearances.”
“It’s not the same thi…. Did you just call my dancing sexy?”
Harry blanched and stuttered out a reply, “No, of course not. You’ve misheard, that’s all. Did you give any of the rest of the team this interrogation or am I just special?”
“Oh, Honey, you’re special all right, but don’t change the subject! You’re hiding something and I want to know what it is. Why would the entire wizarding community choose you to represent them? What makes you special?”
Harry laughed harshly. What a can of worms. “I’m not special. I’m expendable. I was raised like a lamb to slaughter. A sacrifice to be made at the right point to stop a terrorist. Unfortunately for them, I survived and killed the threat in one fell swoop. I freak them out so they throw me at anything heavy, hoping that I stop it but also that I might die in the process so they don’t have to deal with me anymore. I don’t fit their criteria for a savior.”
He stared at Harry for a long time before speaking, “Is that why you fight like you do? You don’t care if you die?”
Harry laughed again, a dark look crossing his face, “I fight the way I do because I can’t die, not because I want to die. You see their big plans involved me reuniting these three magical items supposedly gifted from Death himself, making me his master. Problem is, the stories weren’t entirely accurate on what that meant long term. I’m basically immortal. So they can keep sending me up against every big bad and hoping for the worst, but it will never happen. I’ll watch those people whither and die and others try the same tricks forever. Alone.”
Harry looked down and sighed into the tablecloth. “This was a mistake. I know that Nat thought getting us alone would make me act on my silly little crush, but no one deserves to deal with all of my baggage. And honestly? You’re too hot to watch slowly die.”
He stood up to leave but Peter grabbed his hand before he could walk away.
“You know, I’m practically immortal as well. Only outside forces and all that. I won’t age or waste away. And I’d hate to waste all of Nat’s hard work.”
Harry squinted at him, “I thought you hated me?”
“I didn’t hate you. I hated that I was attracted to someone that was a potential threat to my family. Now you’ve told me why I was getting that feeling, and I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. You’re not a threat; you care about them just as much and would literally die to protect them. That makes you even hotter, really.”
Harry studied Peter’s face for a moment, then smirked and sat back down. “Well, then. Let’s get this date going!”
Peter grinned before nodding his head and saying, “They’re never gonna let us live this down.”