Busted
February 2009
It was Saturday evening when Harry came home from his work at St. Agnes. He expected to find Andromeda with his daughter in the living room when he came out from the fireplace, through floo network. But instead, he also found Aria sitting on the couch with them.
His wife was wearing a casual blue t-shirt, brown blazer and a pair of black jeans. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and her lips were the color of pomegranate red. She was talking to Andromeda while subtly keeping an eye on their daughter.
“Daddy!” His little girl immediately jumped up and ran to him with her arms stretched up. He pulled her up onto his arm and kissed her on the forehead. “Mommy’s home, Daddy!”
“She is, isn’t she?” Harry looked at his wife, still surprise.
“Surprise,” his wife smiled. “I finished my paper work early.”
The wizard sauntered to his wife to lean down and gave her a peck on the lips. “Brilliant. We could go have dinner together. It’s been a while.”
“Harry, we still have a guest,” the SHIELD agent chuckled.
The man who once dubbed ‘the boy who lived’ almost forgot about his oldest friend slashed babysitter. He smiled sheepishly at her,” Sorry Andromeda. Thank you for looking after Lily.”
Lily’s grandparents were usually available, but they were vacationing in Tahiti for the next two weeks. Tony was in Rome and would arrive back in New York in the afternoon, which was an hour ago. Teddy was on a date with Natasha, which was a rare occasion with how their schedules almost always clashed with each other, so Harry didn’t want to touch that with a ten foot pole, lest he wanted to face the wrath of the infamous Black Widow.
As much as he didn’t want to bother Andromeda on her bingo day, he didn’t have any other choice.
The older woman waved him off,” It’s alright, my dear boy. Taking care of Lily is hardly worked.”
“Still, it was last minute this morning. So, ta,” he said gratefully.
Andromeda just patted his arm before saying goodbye and stood up to apparate home. Then the sound of his wife clearing her throat turned his head back towards her.
“So,” she drawled. “I was wondering about something.”
Harry cocked his head, motioning for his spouse to continue. “It’s been a while since I had a girl’s night with Lily. So, I was thinking about having a pajama party with my 6 year old daughter.”
“Well, of course we could order in,” the wizard took out his Stark phone out of his pocket. “What would you like? Pizza, Chinese or Indian?”
“Maybe just order in for two tonight.”
“Two?” The 48 years old had a puzzled look on his face for a second. “But there are three of us. Have you girls eaten already?”
Aria sighed exasperatingly, taking Lily from him. “Girl’s night, Har.”
“Yes, and?”
His princess giggled,” Daddy, you’re silly,” while Aria shook her head, smiling, “Oh, Harry. You’re so oblivious sometimes.”
Harry just gave them a perplexed look. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a girl’s night, Daddy,” the little girl closed her mouth to stop herself from laughing too much. “You’re a boy.”
When the realization came to him, his girls laughed harder at him.
“You never do hints very well,” she put Lily back on the couch and kissed Harry fondly. “But that’s your charm.”
“So, you’re kicking me out?” Harry smiled amusingly at his wife.
“I knew you’ll get it,” she winked before leaving the living room to go to the master bedroom.
“Lily, do you want Daddy to go too?” Harry pouted and kneeled in front of his pretty daughter.
Lily put her hands on his shoulders, giving him a calm serene look, which eerily similar to Aria’s expression when she tried to give him an explanation. ” It’s only one night, daddy. We’ll see you again tomorrow.”
Harry could feel his jaw dropped a little from hearing his little girl being mature.
“Now I need to poopie,” she smiled her toothy smile before kissing his cheek. “Bye Daddy.”
The little girl got up from the couch and skipped to the toilet. If that didn’t ruined the precious moment, Harry didn’t know what would.
Chuckles came from the master bedroom, where Aria stood in front of the door with his satchel packed.
“You packed for me?”
“I have it on good authority that Pepper has a business trip in California,” she crossed the room towards the couch and sat. “So, maybe you could have a boy’s night with Tony. You can gossip about us behind our backs for once in a while.”
The wizard sat next to his wife and cocked an eyebrow at her.
She rolled her eyes, “Okay. I don’t know what father-son talks you boys usually had, but I’m just guessing that one of the topics would be about Pepper and me. Admit it.”
Harry admitted softly,” Only sometimes. Mostly Orion likes to wax about Pepper and the perfect time to,”he tapped on his left ring finger.
Aria put her hands on her hip and huffed. “They haven’t even come out to people that they’re in a relationship and he’s planning to propose? I don’t understand that son of yours sometimes.”
“Yes,” Harry sighed. “My concern is the same. I’m afraid Pepper will get all the brunt if their relationship came out in the open, without any input from them.”
“Exactly,” she agreed. “It will be best if they do an interview with New York Times or other famous megazine. After all, they’re a power couple. And pardon me for saying this, but Pepper should be the one to handle it. Tony loves to go too big. Big event, fireworks and all. And sometimes, he forgot to do some precautions and think about the consequences.”
Before he could defend his son, his wife added softly,” But that’s why their relationship work. Pepper is the planner and Tony is the doer. Pepper isn’t easy to rattle and very thick-skinned. She seemed like the type of woman with a mean streak and would viciously protect the people she loves.”
“Don’t forget Orion, honey,” he smiled. “You remember what he did to Ross when he crashed Bruce’s wedding last week.”
“How could I forget?” She snorted. “That old geezer was destroyed. Fortunate for him, he was forced to retire early instead of being discharged. I wouldn’t want your son as my enemy.”
“He’s technically your son as well, “ Harry reminded her.
She scrunched up her nose in disgust. “Don’t remind me. Having a stepson 10 years younger than me makes me feel so old.”
“Having a younger independent strong wife makes me the luckiest man in the world, “ he nosed her neck a bit.
“Oh stop it, “ the brunette smiled bashfully.
“I really, “ he whispered in her ear, “ really, “ a kiss on the ear, “ really want to snog you right now.”
“Harry, “ she turned her head slightly to him until their nose almost touched, “ I, “ she trailed her finger playfully down his dress robe, where his chest located, “ really, “ slowly and carefully touched his pecks behind his clothes, “ really, “ and slowly put her hand on his waist and gave him a hard pinch that made him yipped, “ really want to have a girl’s night.”
“Aria darling, could you…” Harry tried to hold the pain at bay, “ please stop?” then the pain was doubled, “ Now, “ he immediately said,” I’ll go now.”
The Deputy Director of SHIELD kissed him on the lips briefly, “ I love you. See you tomorrow, hon.”
It’s odd, but this side of Aria always endeared her to him and petrified him at the same time. He really have an unusual taste in woman. Ginny and Mia would have laughed at him from up there in their final resting place.
After kissing his wife once more and saying goodbye to his daughter from behind the toilet door, he grabbed his satchel and apparated to Tony’s penthouse at Stark tower with a soft pop.
“One of these days, Harry, “ he scolded himself, still rubbing his painful side. “You’re going to be better at taking a hint.”
He arrived at Orion’s modern-looking living room, but he wasn’t around. His boy was probably in his workshop, which was located a couple of floor below the penthouse.
Harry took a quick look around the room. There were more feminine things around the place since the last time he visited and more sophisticated things than his son’s taste like the abstract painting on the wall.
Probably Pepper’s stuffs. It’s a wonder she didn’t live here since years ago with how much time he spent working for his boy. Nobody was more patient than Pepper when handling Tony. One time, he even called her the ‘Tony whisperer’. The affectionate look she thrown at his son when he’s not looking was probably helping her resolve to stay by his side.
A week after Bruce was back, Harry and Lily stayed at Tony’s home. Aria was busy with a new SHIELD project; thus, he decided to spend the weekend with both of his children. He left Lily with Pepper in front of the tv to watch Beauty and the Beast while he went down to Tony’s workshop.
“What’s he doing, JARVIS?” He asked the AI after he entered the elevator.
“Sir is currently doing some magic, Mr. Potter, “ the computer answered.
“He is?” The healer looked surprised. “In the workshop? That’s very unlike Orion.”
“Sir has a certain puzzle he needed to solve. Perhaps you can help sir solve the matter, Mr. Potter, “ the AI suggested.
“I guess I should help him then, “ he smiled at the ceiling. “Thank you for telling me J.”
“Sir’s happiness and health is my main priority, “ JARVIS informed him.
“Mine as well, “ Harry pushed his glasses to his nose and winked before stepping outside of the opened the moving compartment.
There were glass walls separating him and the workshop. He could see his son with his back against him, scratching his head. It’s a rare occasion when his genius son got confused about something.
The last time he got this confused was when he tried so hard to learn how to be an animagus. Of course in the end he succeeded and his animal transformation was very Tony-like.
The door to the workshop has a panel for passwords and retina scan, but it also recognized magic signature. The door would open for Harry and Teddy without them having to do the previous two.
“So, J told me you have magic type of problem, “ Harry announced his presence and walked inside when the door opened up for him.
The older wizard took a seat on the beat-up couch that Tony loved so much. It was an early birthday gift from Rhodey when he took him on a garage sale spree a month before his son’s birthday. It was the air force man’s way at the time to cheer Orion up after Jarvis, his mentor’s death a few months before.
“Hi Dad.”
Tony turned around to address his dad looking unsurprised. Harry guessed JARVIS had informed him of his arrival.
Then something caught his attention. Harry saw a piece of lettuce hovering in front of his son. It could simply be a levitating magic, but what made him couldn’t keep his eyes from straying away was how the levitated green leaf kept disappearing bit by bit as if it was being eaten by an invisible being.
“Mia, stop it,” Tony reprimanded, staring at the empty space where his arm stretched out a little as if he was holding something. “You’re scaring my dad.”
The name put a stutter to his heart. It’s been a long time since he heard the name of his first wife being called out.
“Come on girl. Let me see your face,” his son cooed at the invisible being. “I want to introduce you to someone important to me.”
A being as small as a one year old suddenly appeared with its arms around Tony’s neck. It looked like a baby ape with long grey silvery hair and brown eyes.
“A demiguise?”
“Yeah, dad,” Orion smiled. “I found her near the location where I killed the troll. Her mom was killed and she attached herself to me. I know they’re rare and protected, but the head of the village told me that once they’re attached to human, they couldn’t be separated.”
His son stroke the demiguise’s hair lovingly. “I’ve registered her as mine with the Chinese wizarding government and just got the permission to have her as my familiar with MACUSA.”
“Why named her Mia?”
“Her eyes,” Tony smiled tenderly. “It reminded me of the color of mom’s hair. The name … It just feels right.”
His son looked at him nervously as if asking for approval. Harry smiled with a sad frown on his face. “I think… I think she would approve of it.”
“Thank you,” the younger wizard swallowed the lump inside his throat.
“So is this your magic emergency?”
“What?! No,” he denied it immediately. “It’s my patronus. It changed and I don’t know how, “ the billionaire sounded truly puzzled. “I casted it last week in China and instead of a fox, this came out.”
He casted a patronus in front of Harry. Instead of the form of a red fox, an American beaver shot out of Tony’s watch. It ran around the room before settling itself on top of his son’s work desk, rubbing it’s head against Orion’s hand.
“It’s a beaver, “ Harry frowned.
“Thank you for stating the obvious, dad, “ his son patronized him slightly.
He ignored it with a chuckle. “I mean, it’s a beaver.”
“Yes, I…”
“Beavers are famous for being hard workers, “ Harry cut in. “Impeccably organized little buggers they are. And they take their responsibility very seriously too, “ he smiled, tilting his head towards Tony. “Kind of reminded me of Pepper.”
The CEO did a double take.
The hero of British wizarding curled up a smile. “Teddy’s mom used to have a penguin for her patronus. But after he fell in love with her future husband, her patronus turns into a wolf.”
Orion blinked a couple more times at his explanation.
“So you see, son,” he pointed his finger at him. “Somehow your patronus changed in the span of time when you started developing feelings for her until you started dating her. After all, it is a known fact that some patronus can change depends on the animals that portrayed their life partners the best.”
At the last statement, Tony’s face turned as red as a beet root.
The healer had a mixed feeling when he recalled that particular memory back. He shook his head and walked to the elevator. It was unusual for J not to open the door for him. Maybe Tony was doing some updates on the AI. Harry shrugged and opened the door before pushing the button for the workshop floor.
When he arrived there, he expected to see his son’s clutters all over the place. But when he walked out of the elevator, he saw something unimaginable and a marvel of wonder behind the glass walls.
He stepped into the workshop door, which was automatically opened for him inspite of JARVIS being somewhat absent.
Without further ado, he exclaimed,” Orion, what is this?!”
His brilliant inventor son was in a some sort of mechanic contraption, suspended in the air with a few mechanical arms surrounding him trying to pull and remove the black metallic armor off of him. Mia was waving a screwdriver at Tony, looking a bit frantic.
“Let’s face it, dad,” he grinned nonchalantly, trying to hide his nervousness.This is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing. “ (excerpt from Ironman 1)
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