Chapter 5
Summer after third year
When Harry learned he would be staying with a menagerie of assassins, superheroes, and Gods, he developed some expectations. If asked, he would not be able to articulate exactly what those expectations had been but he could tell you that they certainly weren't met.
That's not to say that he didn't have an excellent summer. After the Dursleys, the Avengers would need to be trying really hard to make this summer worse than Harry's previous ones. The experience was just different than what he had imagined.
---
For one thing, he’d expected that Thor, as a god, would not have enough free time to spend hours on end playing video games. Harry wasn't complaining, as the god seemed to have endless patience for talking him through the controls and helping him with character designs. Although Harry learned very quickly there were certain games that Thor was too competitive about to be patient. The boy simply contented himself with watching the God berate whoever he had roped in to playing with him that day.
--
Another thing he wasn’t expecting was how Natasha Romanov, who had been introduced as an impressive and deadly assassin, spends her days pottering around the kitchen and vehemently refusing to teach Harry anything remotely violent.
When he asked her why, she had cupped his cheek in her hand and said "You have your whole life for violence, you should keep away from it for as long as possible."
Harry had wanted to know more but thought that asking might be overstepping.
She occasionally disappears for "official business" and for weeks Harry entertains himself with visions of her general badassery. But he is immensely disappointed to find her engaged in a glorified skype conference. She catches him. Looks straight in his eye, which was pressed against a crack in the door, and smirks.
From there on, a high stakes game of sneak broke out. Harry spent the rest of the summer trying to catch Natasha off guard. He didn't succeed, but he had a lot of fun trying.
---
Amidst video games with Thor and sneaking with Natasha, Harry also attends awkward avenger family dinners, along with strange, but fun, outings with Tony and Pepper.
Occasionally Sirius tags along as padfoot, which Harry appreciates, but he likes having time alone with Tony and Pepper more.
The first time they go out they take him all over New York. They visit Central Park and the Empire State Building. Conversation is stilted at times but Tony tells Harry bits and pieces about his mother, and Harry tells them bits and pieces about the wizarding world.
They take him to bookstores, and shopping centers, and to see plays on Broadway. Matilda hits a bit too close to home but he really likes Wicked.
He enjoys every single outing, all of which are a stark contrast to the monotony of his previous summers. He enjoys everything, some more than others, with the trip to the zoo easily being one of his favorite days out.
Summer 2023
Nick fury takes them to a secret underground base thingy, complete with high tech computers and stone pillars. Harry snickers under his breath at the cliché.
Before they enter, Nick tells Peter and Harry that there's no need to hide his identity. Harry trusted Nick implicitly, due to his reputation and the time he spent with Harry's family following Tony's funeral. So he, understandably, assumes it's avengers personnel only.
However, when he enters the facility, he finds that the green man from before is there. Blanching at the betrayal, Harry turns an accusatory glare on Nick.
Nick ignores Harry in favour of introducing Mysterio, or "Mr Beck" Harry learns.
"You can call me Quentin," Mr Beck says, holding out his hand for Peter to shake.
He turns to face Harry and asks, "And you are?"
"Harry, a friend of Nick's." Harry says with poorly veiled unease.
Mr Beck doesn't extend his hand to him.
---
They learn that Quentin Beck is initially from an alternate Earth, and he came to this world after the destruction of his alternate earth.
When Peter hears about alternate universes, he goes on some rant about quantum mechanics. It would almost be cute, if it weren't so poorly timed.
When Peter notices the tense atmosphere he slows his rant and apologises. The embarrassment on his face physically pains Harry and he considers offering to continue the discussion later.
Unfortunately Mr Beck cuts in, "Don't ever apologize for being the smartest man in the room." Harry rolls his eyes, finding the statement reminiscent of his sycophants back home in England.
They learn that the water demon they faced earlier that day was one of four elemental creatures from Beck's home world.
"They first materialised on my earth many years ago," Mr. Beck explains, "I fought them. There is only one left. Fire, the strongest of them all, the one who destroyed my earth. "
Maria Hill cuts in to inform them of the following, "It will be in Prague in 48 hours."
Nick continues, "We have one mission, and it is to kill it. You're coming with us."
"Prague?" Peter blanches," Mr Fury this all seems like bigtime, you know, huge superhero kind of stuff, you know? I'm just the friendly neighborhood spiderman. "
"Bitch please, you've been to space." Nick retorts.
Harry squints.
"I know but that was an accident, sir. Come on there's got to be someone else you can use."
Bored, Harry zones out of the conversation, and he turns to examine 'Mr Beck'. There's something about the man that sets him on edge. His powers seem closer to magic, or the scarlet witch than they do to the aliens that Tony has described over the years, and yet Harry can feel nothing. Even Scarlet Witch’s magic had felt like something
Nick dismisses them, apparently conceding to Peter's protests. On the way out Harry pauses just as Peter leaves the room. He turns to grin at Nick "See you in Prague."
The corners of Nick's mouth pull up and he shakes his head.
---
Summer after third year
Whilst Harry may not be what Tony expected, it's an absolute delight having him at the tower for the summer. He takes to everything with an infectious sort of enthusiasm that has even Thor rousing himself from his fog of depression.
People who had been spending less and less time at the avengers facility start appearing at dinner, or brunch, and lingering.
Natasha even drags Clint to dinners. The man doesn't say much, has been walking through life as almost a ghost since the loss of his family but he knows that Natasha feels better just knowing he's eating and being dragged out of the house.
Occasionally the man will hang around with Sirius -which Tony suspects is in a largely antagonistic capacity- but when it comes to unhealthy coping mechanisms he's definitely not somebody who could judge.
He is glad that Harry is settling in well and getting along with everybody, but in a place filled with so many distractions it’s hard to actually spend time with his son. So he and Pepper spent as much time as possible taking him out, dragging him around New York.
---
They learn pretty early on that Harry is not a huge fan of noise and big crowds. He wrinkles his nose at the mall and hunches in on himself when people jostle him at the Empire State Building.
So they take him to musicals with designated seating and wait for the bulk of the masses to clear out before they start to head out.
Harry doesn't notice. He knows that Harry doesn't notice because any other time they try to do things for him he blushes and says not to worry before thanking them profusely when they do it for him anyway.
It's odd, because he and Lily had been a lot of things but overwhelmingly polite was never one of them. They had their shy moments and Tony knows that crowds bothered Lily too but she'd never been polite about it. Shoving her way through the masses, sticking her tongue out at people who told her to be more ladylike.
It's odd but then Tony thinks there are lots of ways in which Harry is entirely his own person so maybe he shouldn't be surprised about the things that set him apart.
----
One of the best days they have with Harry is the day they take him to the zoo. When they tell him about it that morning the kid lights up like it's Christmas day.
"Really?" he asks, practically bouncing off his seat.
He's dressed entirely in blue, with pajamas that hang oddly on his thin frame and a smurf beanie which is entirely inappropriate for the weather. The entire outfit is a result of Tony's lack of judgement when Rocket and Nebula requested to take Harry out for the day. He still isn't entirely sure whether the blue is Nebula's slightly inept way of bonding with Harry or Rocket's ploy to piss her off but either way the outfit is a point of pride for Harry.
He also has whipped cream mustache from the pancakes he's in the middle.
"Really," Tony says, coming over to wrap his arms around Pepper's waist. Pepper laughs and flips a pancake.
"I love the zoo. I've only been once and I had to leave early because I accidently set a snake on my cousin but it was amazing! Do you think we could see pandas? I did a project on them a few years ago and I really want to see them but I didn't get the chance last time."
Tony reaches out to ruffle Harry's hair, "Sure, we can see whatever you want."
Harry ducks his head and goes beet red, "Thanks," he whispers through a pleased grin.
Pepper hands Tony a plate of pancakes and he pulls up a chair next to Harry, "Taste good?" he asks Harry who has somehow managed to get cream on his forehead.
"Best breakfast, ever," he turns to grin at Pepper, "You're a really good cook."
Pepper smiles, "You could learn a thing or too from your son, Tony"
He opens his mouth to reply but closes it to watch in fascinated horror as Pepper licks the pad of her thumb before reaching out to wipe the cream off of Harry's face.
Pepper seems to realise what she's done about two seconds after she does it because her cheeks turn pink, and she stares at Harry with wide eyed horror.
Harry, for his part, looks like a deer caught in headlights.
They've bonded over the summer, but haven't quite worked their way up to overtures of distinctly motherly affection.
"I'll go get changed, " Harry squeaks before dashing off in the general direction of his room.
Tony turns to Pepper and smirks.
"Shut up! You're no better, trying to buy his affection with a phone that hasn't even hit the market yet when you know he can't use it for most of the year."
Tony just grins.
---
When they actually arrive at the zoo, bright and early to avoid the sun they spend the trip chasing after an excitable and surprisingly speedy Harry. They stop for lunch at a picnic table under the shade of a tree and eat sandwiches whilst Harry regales them with facts about Pandas he remembers from his project.
Tony's heart warms at the domesticity of it all and he smiles as he imagines doing this a year from now with the addition of a baby.
Unfortunately, that heartwarming thought reminds Tony that he and Pepper actually need to inform Harry of his impending sibling.
Thus far, Harry has been nothing like the horror stories Tony had heard about young boys. He'd actually been so polite that Tony and Pepper were beginning to worry he felt more like a guest than family. Pepper had actually been relieved when they'd found Harry's room a complete mess one time three weeks ago.
He hopes that the, somewhat dramatic news, of a new sibling won’t push Harry over the edge.
Summer 2023
When they get to the hotel room, Harry is too keyed-up to go to bed. A glance at Peter tells him the other boy is feeling the same. So Harry nods his head in the direction of the hotel’s door, and the two of them head out. They walk down to the canal under a moonlit sky.
When they reach the Canal, they sit next to each on a ledge. Had the canal been less filthy, Harry would kick off his shoes and dip his feet in.
They sit in silence for a little soaking in the relative quiet of Venice at night. Now that it's so late there's a cool breeze blowing through, a nice change from the stifling heat of the day.
"You must think I'm such a coward, wanting to stay on the trip instead of fighting."
Harry lets the statement roll around in his mind for a moment before sighing, "not particularly."
Peter turns to him, "not particularly?"
Harry shrugs, "I don't know how much you've been told about my life before this but when I ask myself what I would have done if I had the option to let somebody else handle it all, somebody who actually knew what the fuck they were doing, I don't have an answer."
Peter's gaze is intent, "Aunt May hasn't told me anything, but that sounds rough. I don't know what I would've done if Mr Stark hadn't been there."
Harry swallows, "I didn't mean to imply that I was alone. There were people there helping me. I would've been dead without them. It's just, as much as I had help I also had no choice."
"Sometimes I feel like I don't have a choice."
The corner of Harry's lips tug up, "Yeah, heads up I'm fairly sure we'll get up tomorrow and find our trip’s been rerouted to Prague."
Peter blanches, "Prague? But I had plans for Mj in Paris."
Harry ducks his head, "I'm sure there will be plenty of romantic locations in Prague."
"I guess."
There's a brief lull in conversation, presumably as Peter mourns his lost plans.
"Have you ever dated anybody? Got anybody waiting for you back home?"
Harry shrugs, "They’ve been a few girls but none of them ever got serious. There was always too much going on," he takes a deep breath, "there was somebody, the first person I ever dated. Well, I say date but we never got that far."
"What happened to her?"
Harry swallows "Death."
Peter exhales sharply.
"Didn't even get a DTR," Harry chuckles bitterly.
"That's rough."
Harry's eyes sting, "You don't even know the half of it."
---
Lo and behold when they leave the hotel the next morning on their way to Paris, Mr Harrington is informing them that they've been "upgraded" and are on their way to Prague.
---
Summer after third year
Telling Harry about his prospective sibling is a somewhat anticlimactic experience.
Pepper, who has been spending her time consuming parenting books at the rate of knots, fretted about stability and consistency and all manner of things that make Tony's head spin.
Which in turn had made Tony freak out too.
--
In the end they sit in the living room Harry curled up on a blue single-seater sitting opposite to Tony and Pepper.
"Sorry to sit you down all formally like this, we don't want to make you uncomfortable but we do have some important things to tell you."
Tony's glad that Pepper knows what to say because he's at a loss.
Harry's shrugs and slumps in his chair, "s'okay. As long as it's nothing bad."
Tony smiles, although he's sure it's a little strained
Pepper smiles, "Nothing bad, just, something that might take a little bit of adjustment"
"Try discovering you’re a wizard from a friendly half-giant when you're eleven. Now that took some adjustment."
Tony boggles, "You didn't find out until you were eleven?"
Harry shrugs "My Aunt's family are all muggles, it never really came up."
"Right," Tony doesn't have the headspace to process that right now. "Right," he repeats, "What Pepper and I wanted to tell you is that-"
"I'm pregnant," Pepper bursts, "four months along, "You'll have a sibling by Vhristmas," she finishes with a rather strained smile.
"Right" Tony says, turning to Harry to gauge his reaction.
Harry blinks, "Congrats," he says looking slightly bewildered. He turns to Tony, "That's what you're supposed to say, right?"
"Right" Tony says for what feels like the millionth time tonight.
"Tony and I want you to know that this in no ways changes our feelings for you. The baby will require a lot of work, but we want you to know that we'll try our best to make you a priority."
Harry blinks. "Thanks? Do you want me to hang in England for a while? I've heard that new babies are stressful or whatever and I'm sure there's somewhere I could stay."
"No!" Tony exclaims before taking a breath, "No, we love spending time with you and we wouldn't want to waste any of it. Unless your relatives want you to stay, I'm sure they miss you. We could do it in halves? That way you might be able to catch some sleep if the baby is keeping us awake too much."
Harry shrugs, "My relatives aren't like that, I have their blessing to spend as much time here as I want, but like I said I can work something out if you need. "
Pepper smiles, "the only thing we need to work out is your flights here and back for the winter hols."