Chapter 2
Natasha stood in the doorway to the hotel bedroom, staring at the boy as he slept. It'd been a long and exhausting day for the both of them. Though it'd been clear that Harry was wary of her, his home life was obviously bad enough that the offer from a complete stranger was enough to send him running, and she hadn't been shocked when he'd asked to leave with her. The ensuing reaction had only come as a mild surprised, though equally as irritating.
“I'LL CALL THE POLICE!” Vernon had been shouting, but the moment he'd tried to touch her, he'd been on the ground.
“Do not ever presume to touch me again.” she’d snapped as he stared at her in terror. She’d known he'd hardly even have a bruise, but her goal had been to scare, not injure. “You think my friend is bad, look me up. I'm the Black Widow.” She'd stood straight, looking at her sister.
“I'll be in touch.” she told her simply, and then offered Harry her hand. When he took it, she lead the way out of the house, and together they drove away. The next couple days had been spent getting the papers in order so that he could stay with her in New York, and shopping for him so that he was no longer in his fat cousin's hand-me-downs. She'd been feeding him way more than he normally ate – obvious to her by the way he nearly went green after eating nearly a whole small pizza, but grinning from ear to ear the whole time. Even if he had been sick, Natasha was sure it would have been worth it. Currently, the boy was taking a nap, but then she'd promised to sit down and tell him about her job and the people she lived with. She left the room, moving to sit in the tiny living room space, putting her head in her hands.
“Are you okay?” her head shot up, she hadn't even realized he was awake, and the fearful expression on his face had her softening.
“Of course. Are you?” he nodded, coming closer, fidgeting with his sleeve.
“I know that children are a bother, so I would be okay with going back.” the words not only broke her heart, but fuelled her hate for the Dursley’s all the more. She stood, moving towards him to put her hands on his shoulders.
“Having you here doesn't bother me.” she said firmly. “And as long as it's what you want, I would like it if you stayed with me. If you don't, that could be arranged too.” even as she said it though, he was shaking his head.
“I want to stay.” he admitted. “But I don't want to be a bother.” Natasha looked at the forlorn child in front of her, and before she could help herself, she pulled him in, one hand on his head, the other across the back of his shoulders.
“You will never be a bother.” she promised, and was rewarded with his tiny arms wrapping around her in return. Then she smirked. “I just hate paperwork.” Harry giggled at that, but his shoulders were shaking too, and she could feel the tears soaking through her t-shirt against her stomach where his face was pressed. Alarmed, she pulled back, dropping to her knees in front of him, checking him over for any sign that she might have accidentally injured him somehow. “What's wrong?” Harry sniffed, tiny fists rubbing at his eyes.
“You're the bestest person in the whole world.” it took every ounce of self control not to drive back and destroy the people she'd taken him from. Family or not, that a friendly touch could so reduce him to tears, made her see red. She wiped the tears from his cheeks before pulling him in again.
“I'm going to take care of you.” she vowed, cuddling him close. “I will always keep you safe.” when she felt the tears slow, she pulled back again, giving a soft smile. “I think today we should get you new glasses. I made you an appointment with an eye doctor. Is that okay?” she didn't mention that she'd actually had Phil arrange everything for her, trusting her to get things done while keeping her nephew away from prying eyes.
“Will you be coming too?”
“Of course. I'll always be here if you need me.” she couldn't help but wonder where all these promises came from, all she knew was that she meant every one.
“Let's get you cleaned up then.”
The trip to the optometrist was easy and they walked out of the shopping centre two hours later with a new prescription for Harry and new glasses to go with them. The frames were still circular, since Harry seemed to actually like them best, though these ones were brand new and not broken. They went out for dinner together at a restaurant they wandered by, and Natasha answered all of Harry's questions on New York.
“We leave tomorrow?” he asked, seeming both nervous and full of awe for this new place and the new experiences that came along with it.
“In two days. In the afternoon. We'll be meeting with a friend of mine on the other side.”
“Who?”
“His name is Phil Coulson. We met through work, but we became friends.”
“Do you have other friends?” Harry asked, curious about all these new people.
“Yes. My best friend is a man named Clint Barton. And then there are the people he and I live with.”
“Is he your – boyfriend?” Harry asked, having had to pause and think of the word, and Natasha just smiled.
“No. What I meant was, we all live in the same building, but with our own rooms. Sometimes we all sleep in the same room to watch movies.”
“Do you sleep in the same room for bad dreams?” Harry asked, voice quiet, and Natasha nodded seriously.
“If you have bad dreams, you can come and sleep with me you know.” Harry nodded, looking pleased though hesitant. Natasha didn't push it though, steering it to other subjects. She was good at reading people, and this was a time when the subject needed to be more lighthearted.
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They were having spaghetti and meatballs which Harry was eating with gusto, but that didn't stop the wary looks he kept sending her, a clear sign something was on his mind.
“What are you thinking about, Harry?” she finally asked, careful to look at her plate so he wouldn't feel pressured by her gaze. She wondered briefly if she'd been too blunt when Harry didn't speak for a moment, but before she could apologize, he spoke up.
“What am I supposed to call you?” he finally asked, and at that she did look up, noting that he was now staring at his plate, fork idly playing with the food, mouth turned down in a frown.
“What would you like to call me?” was her first reply, but at his defeated shrug, she continued, thinking quickly. Natasha was a bit of a mouthful, and Nat seemed too adult and therefore too formal – which left the perfect solution, a nickname Clint only used when he was really sick and needed taking care of like a child. It would do perfectly. “You can call me aunt Tasha.” she said, decided, and Harry looked up in surprise.
“Really?” he asked, hopeful smile on his face, and rather than grow angry once more at the poor treatment he'd previously received, she smiled back.
“Really. Now eat up. I want to go get ice cream for dessert.” Harry's eyes shined with gratitude and it was later that night after ice cream when Natasha was tucking Harry into bed for a mid afternoon nap that he used his new title for her for the first time.
“I love you, aunt Tasha.” were his murmured words, said so quietly she knew she wasn't supposed to hear them, but they had a burst of fondness welling up in her chest and she leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead.
“I love you too, Harry.” and she knew that the words were a bit preemptive. What she was feeling probably wasn't love yet, but she knew that's what it would become, and knew she was willing to feel it for this boy who'd been without it for so long.
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Natasha's head snapped around at the sound of the knock on the door. She'd been sitting with Harry, explaining the basic dangers of her job as best as she could without terrifying the poor boy, but the surprise knock still had Harry's eyes going wide and moving closer to her for safety. Natasha gave him a smile but fingered the knife against her hip as she strolled silently towards the door. Of course, the moment she looked through the peephole, she was relaxing. The door swung open to reveal Clint Barton leaning casually against the doorframe, and his clear blue eyes fell on her the second the door opened before switching to Harry in the room behind her. Everything about her partner softened when he caught sight of the child, and he gave her the barest of smiles.
“Is he yours?”
“My late sister's.” Clint just nodded, though she saw his regret in the slight shift in posture. “I'm bringing him back to New York.” she admitted, and she could practically see a puppy-like joy in Clint's eyes at the idea of having a kid around. He really was a huge softie.
“Gonna introduce me?” She smirked, stepping back to let him in.
“Harry? This is my friend Clint Barton. Clint, this is my nephew, Harry Potter.”
“Pleasure to meet you sir.” Harry greeted softly, but Clint made a face.
“Please don't call me sir. It makes me feel old. And no matter what Nat here tells you, I am only 15.” Harry's eyes went round at the obvious lie, and Natasha just rolled her eyes. “You can call me Clint, since that's my name.” Harry just glanced at Natasha, and now she did smile, moving closer to put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Don't mind him. He really is just a child in a grown-up's body.” Clint just nodded in eager agreement.
“It's true. In fact, I even have a deck of cards with me for games at all times in case I get bored. Want to play a game?”
Harry just frowned a bit at the deck of card that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
“I don't – I don't know any card games.” Clint just gave an easy smile.
“No problem, I'll teach you. Go fish is a favourite of mine. Come on, your aunt has to make a few phone calls to our boss, so we'll hang out in your room, sound good?” Harry nodded, looking a bit lost but warily excited to learn a new game. As soon as the two of them had left the room, Natasha dropped back onto the couch again, this time pulling out her phone. She dialled the number without even thinking, letting it ring in her ear.
“Natasha, is everything all right?” the sound of her former handler's voice had her relaxing and replied an affirmative.
“Everything's fine. We saw the doctor and the optometrist today. Harry's files should be arriving to you shortly.”
“I've already got them. Just looking through them now.” then there was a pause and she knew it meant he was deciding whether or not to ask his next question.
“Does anyone else know about this yet?” he finally asked, and Natasha couldn't help her smile. Her boys really were oblivious.
“Clint knows. He's here. He's entertaining Harry in the other room.”
“I had a feeling he'd gone looking for you. But he's not actually who I was talking about. I meant Tony or Pepper or even Maria. Someone to prepare things at the tower.” the moment he said it Natasha wanted to groan. It was the very thing she'd been avoiding.
“Not yet.” Phil made a noise of disapproval.
“You arrive tomorrow. He needs to have a space ready to receive him especially since everything's going to be so different. I suggest you speak with Pepper. She'll ask the least amount of questions and get the most done for it. Would you like me to patch you through?” Natasha bit back a comment about Phil's secretarial abilities and just sighed.
“Yes, thank you.” he said a quick goodbye and then the phone was ringing in her ear again, and this time the greeting was much brighter.
“Natasha! It's good to hear from you. How's London?”