Chapter 7
Summer 2023
In the end, Peter and Mysterio defeat the fire demon without too much trouble. It sort of makes Harry wonder what a kid flinging web shooters has that Mysterio's home universe apparently didn't. Harry hadn't even needed to draw his wand.
They stand in the wreckage of the square in which everything that went down. Things are on fire, Peter is dressed in all black, it's all very dramatic. Harry, still stung from Peter's betrayal, is about to return to the opera, where the rest of the class was being distracted to keep them out of harm's way, when Nick Approaches
Harry, a slave to his curiosity, scrambles closer just in time to hear Nick say. "Stark chose you. He made you an avenger. I need that. The world needs that. Maybe I was wrong. Was he? The choice is yours."
He winces at the intensity of Nick's words, remembering what it was like to be "the boy who lived," or "the chosen one.”
Peter begins to leave, trailing after Mysterio like a lost puppy.
Harry, also a slave to his empathy, puts aside all of his ugly feelings and follows.
---
Winter Fourth year
After his conversation with Clint, Nat takes Harry to Pepper and Tony's new house.
When they arrive the house is in a state of disarray and Pepper's eyes are heavily shadowed. When she lets them in, she pulls Harry into a hug which he appreciates but also isn't entirely comfortable with.
---
From there the rest of Harry's winter hols pass in a blur of chaos and sleeplessness.
Harry loves his new sister. He can't imagine anybody not wanting to protect her tiny, fragile form. He's also terrified of her. Terrified of dropping her, terrified of making her cry, especially terrified of being left alone with her.
Loving his sister does not stop him from feeling lonely and insecure. He wishes he were not so selfish but there is a part of him that resents a summer of being treated like the best thing since sliced bread only to be neglected in the winter.
At least he was excused from the yule ball
---
Morgan's grandparents are staying in New York for Christmas, so they occasionally take Morgan so Pepper and Tony can spend some time with Harry.
In those breaks Harry sits down with Tony and Lily's journal and starts working through her research.
"Her main focus was integrating magic with technology," Tony explains, but she took some requests from unspeakables too."
"One of my professors says she sought you out because of your mother,"
"Yeah," Tony looks out the window, "apparently she was a pretty brilliant witch."
"Do you think you could-would you maybe want to- could you tell me something about her?"
He looks back towards Harry, "sure kiddo. Where should I start?"
Harry shrugs and swings his legs over the barstool in anticipation.
"Her name was Maria, we both inherited her wild black hair and she was brilliant."
Tony pushes away from the bench that they were working on, "c'mon, I'll get Jarvis to show you some videos."
Tony keeps talking as they make their way to the living room, " She was a musician. Excellent at the piano but her real talent was her voice. When she was performing it was like the whole room lit up. She took a lot of time off to look after me so she was never as well known as she could have been.” Here he pauses and seems to gather himself.
“I used to get upset because I felt like my Father swallowed her whole,” he looks to Harry intently, “It meant more than I could express when Lily came and told me there was a whole world that knew me as Maria's son and not Howard's," He looked at Harry, "there were a lot of things about your mother that meant the world to me."
---
Summer 2023
Peter follows Mysterio into a bar and Harry, who had been privy to one of Pepper's many, many lectures about boundaries waits outside for the conversation to finish.
---
Boundaries are honestly agonising. Harry spends what feels like an eternity twiddling his thumbs and stewing with curiosity as he waits for Peter to finish up.
When Peter finally emerges he looks a lot lighter and Harry thinks his efforts might be for nothing.
When Peter catches him lurking his eyes narrow, "were you spying on me? Not cool man."
Harry opens his mouth to explain what happens but Peter barrels on.
"Listen I know you're a bit weird about Mysterio but I really think he's what the world needs right now and that giving him edith was the right thing to do. The only thing to do really, Mr Stark knew I wasn't ready, it's what he would've wanted.
Harry's mind goes blank. "You gave him EDITH?"
Peter startles before barrelling on, "he was the best option, there was nobody else.” He says this with a tone of finality that makes Harry snap.
He pitches forward and grabs a fistful of Peter’s shirt, "Nobody else?" he seethes, "Nobody else!?"
He shoves Peter away from him, suddenly desperate for distance. “Fuck you Peter Parker, Fuck you for thinking that it was okay to give some random stranger something my dead father basically willed to you. Fuck you for not asking me for my opinion or asking me if I might want to take it myself,” he’s practical vibrating by now.
Harry exhales harshly before his eyes catch on the door of the pub. There's still time to fix this, he thinks before making his way over.
Peter puts an arm on his shoulder to stop him but he just shrugs him off and keeps walking.
----
Harry enters the bar just in time to see the warm exterior melting away like the end of a glamour. Only-as the customers, decorations and bar melt away there is a bright blue flash which makes Harry think of a patronus rather than a glamour.
"Somebody get this stupid costume off me!" Harry turns to face Mr Beck, who seems giddy in a way that’s wholly unsettling.
He has the presence of mind to realize something is very wrong before there's a pressure at the back of his neck and the world fades back.
---
Winter fourth year
On the morning of Christmas Eve Nat brings Harry to the Avengers tower to help with preparations for Christmas. Steve is there and Harry laughs at the combined hopelessness when it comes to all things cooking. Thankfully, it's more baking and preparations than actual cooking so Harry takes over the baking and leaves Steve and Nat to layer the pasta, sauce, ham and cheese for the lasagna.
It's a really nice day and Harry finds that he quite likes bossing people around in the kitchen as opposed to being bossed around.
In the evening Steve and Nat drop him at his house before heading off to mass. Nat tells him that Steve really likes the caroling at Christmas Eve mass and she goes because she likes to see him happy. In return he goes with her in early January to observe Russian Orthodox traditions.
Pepper and her family also go to Christmas mass. Her parents are staunch Irish Catholics and go to mass every Sunday. They were very disappointed when despite her Christian upbringing, complete with a baptism, reconciliation, communion and confirmation, Pepper fell out of touch with some of their more traditional beliefs. However they are happy enough that she always makes sure to spend Christmas and Easter with them.
This leaves Tony and Harry alone with Morgan. Apparently Tony usually accompanies them to church but they decided that bringing a baby to mass wasn't the best plan.
---
That night, after Morgan has been put to bed Tony sits with Harry in front of the fire. Beside the fireplace, there is a Christmas tree bursting with presents underneath it.
"Before Hogwarts, I never really celebrated Christmas.'
"Oh. Does that mean your family observes another holiday? We can sort something out for you if that's the case. Rhodey's parents were Muslim but his Father was a convert so a lot of his family still observed Christmas, so whenever they got Christmas presents they saved them and opened them on other holidays."
"Is he still coming to lunch tomorrow?"
Tony smiles, "yeah, kiddo. Christmas lunch for us is more of an excuse to have as many people as possible all in one place. Only Steve and Pep really celebrate Christmas. My Dad was an atheist, Natasha celebrates on another day, Thor celebrates Yule and Rocket and Nebula don't generally observe human traditions."
Harry grins, "that sounds really nice. I think the Dursleys would have a conniption if they were forced to spend dinner with such an eclectic mix of people."
His father focuses on him intently, "You know that is not okay, right?" he asks tone stern, "you understand that family means everybody is welcome at the table regardless of if they're a racoon or a hostile cyborg or a wizard.
Harry squirms, "I guess, I mean, I would never want Rocket or Nebula to feel unwelcome," he takes a breath, "but it's different with the Dursleys, they didn't choose me, they just inherited me when my aunt's sister died."
Tony takes Harry's hand, "They're adults and you were a child in their care. They had a responsibility to make sure that you were well cared for and treated with respect at the very least."
Harry bristles, "who says I wasn't well cared for?"
Tony squeezes his hand, "you did, Harry. When you told us that your relatives didn't want to spend time with you on the holidays and talked about yourself like you were an imposition rather than a member of the family."
Harry blinks, and struggles to speak through a sudden tightness in his throat, "but isn't it really common to be wary of things that are different? Doesn't it just make sense that they wouldn't want a wizard with unruly magic near their son."
"Being common does not equate to being right or justified. There are plenty of awful things that happen everyday and they don't become less awful because they happen routinely.
Tony pulls Harry into a hug, "Being a wizard isn't inherently bad or dangerous and if the Dursleys were afraid because they were ignorant, they had a responsibility to educate themselves. Children have a right to feel safe and loved in their own home and if they are made to feel guilty just for existing then that means the adults have failed them, not that there's something intrinsically wrong with them."
Tony strokes Harry's hair, "it might not feel like it right now, but none of that was your fault. You are loved. You deserve love and there are a dozen people here to tell you that if you ever need to hear it again."