Work Text:
Harry Potter
Howard Stark knew he wasn’t the best father or husband in the world. Far from it, actually.
But he had started out with nothing and his boys would have everything. And to be honest: he loved working. He loved experimenting. He loved THINKING.
And looking after children was… well, boring sometimes. Not his boys. They were both far from boring. But he never got the appeal of sitting around playing monopoly… or throwing a ball. And feigning interest in rudimentary drawing seemed ridiculous. No, it was not good. Try harder. Work harder. It will get better. That was how he had managed to get where he was and he’d gotten farther than anyone would have ever expected.
People had wondered about him, the playboy, marrying Maria. Why had he? Simple: He loved her. She loved him. She understood him. She didn’t try to change him. She accepted him and didn’t ask anything of him that he couldn’t give. So when she had told him that she had wanted a child, he hadn’t found it in him to say no. How could he, really, take that from her? So he had agreed and he had resigned himself to being a terrible father. It was inevitable, he knew. What had he heard all those years ago? Oh yes. ‘You can’t be a father, Howard. You will get bored after a couple of months and then what?’ He had hated her for saying it, but in a way he knew she wasn’t wrong.
Tony had been a positive surprise. Smart. Determined. Howard knew that one day they’d be able to talk to each other like equals and he was looking forward to that. He was determined to do his best, spend time with Tony, teach him. But work took up so much time. His brain didn’t like resting. He took Tony on an expedition, thinking they could spend time together that way, but Tony didn’t like it and Howard didn’t know what to tell him anymore. He would make up for it someday.
Someday, when Lily was older, he would find her, tell her the truth and tell her how sorry he was. He would be a father or at least a friend. Someday he would finally find the time to spend more time with Tony.
But Tony didn’t really like spending time with him then, angry at his absentee Dad. And Lily… Lily died without ever even knowing him. Howard felt like his whole life, his whole carefully constructed plan came crushing down around him.
And then there was Harry. Tiny, orphaned little Harry. Locked in a cupboard, alone in the dark. Holding on to Howard like a lifeline and not letting go. He had already been on his way out. The home was nice. There were baby things everywhere. Nothing for him to do, but demand to wake a sleeping baby. He had walked past that cupboard and heard a tiny, almost inaudible whimper. The look of horror on Petunia Dursley’s face had been far more telling than that noise that could have come from anywhere. Malnourished and scared, the doctor had told him, with a strange cut on his forehead. He hadn’t waited. Hadn’t planned. He had taken the jet home, Harry safe in his arms and never looked back. No one had cared enough to check, no one had even bothered to look. Hide him. Protect him. Do it right, this time.
And so he had tried this time. He had read some bedtime stories. He had looked at those drawings. He had hung some in his workspace.
He couldn’t do that anymore with Tony. Tony, he hoped, would understand someday. And maybe, just maybe, he would see that Howard was trying. It was all he could do now.
“Dad?”, Harry asked him carefully. Howard looked down at his second (third, fourth, fifth) chance and smiled. His golden boy with the unruly black hair. He was nervous and trying not to show it, Howard realized. His hair was neatly brushed over his forehead and he was, much like his father, dressed in a suit.
“Yes, Harry?”
“ Tony won’t be back in time, will he? “
“No. He is ACTUALLY studying, I hear. We should not risk him realizing that it’s something I welcome. “
Harry simply rolled his eyes at his father’s dig at his brother, but it seemed to distract him at least for a bit.
The three Starks were nervously seated in their living room, when half an hour later the doorbell rang and the maid let a middle aged woman in a slightly oldfashioned dress inside.
They all got up in unison, remembering their manners.
The blonde woman smiled at them, “Hello, my name is Esme Eisberg. I am a professor at Ilvermorny. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”
“Thank you for coming.” , Maria smiled back, her hand protectively resting on Harry’s shoulder.
“You were probably the hardest family to reach that I have ever met.“, she laughed, “But I expected that when I read young Harry’s name on my list.“
Howard felt Harry stiffen next to him. He didn’t like being called ‘young’ anything, Howard knew that all too well.
“Maybe we can sit down and you tell us what exactly you plan on doing for Harry’s future.”, Howard told her impatiently, the smile vanished off her face. Maria made a hissing noise through her teeth. He knew that all too well, too. It meant he was being rude.
“Very well.”, Professor Eisberg told them and took a seat. The Starks all sat down again as well.
“You have probably already noticed that young Harry here is different from other boys his age.”, she started and Howard was THIS close to interrupting and telling her, not to call Harry that. He was quite fond of his electronic gadgets, “And there is a reason for it.”
“Magic.”, Howard cut her elaborate speech short. Maria groaned in frustration, but Howard REALLY didn’t have the patience to sit through sweeping, dramatic retellings.
“Yes, he is a wizard”, Professor Eisberg told them, looking unsure how to proceed. “That does explain his habit of blowing up things. Summoning things… oh yes, and being impossible to keep track off.”
“Harry was very good at hiding as a toddler.”, Maria agreed eagerly.
“Well, that sounds promising.”, Professor Eisberg smiled, “Do you have any questions for now, Harry?”
“No.”
Howard smiled at Harry’s tone. That boy knew how to hold a grudge.
“Oh… okay. There are several magical schools all over the world…”
“Does one of them happen to be in Scotland?”, Howard asked, thinking about what little information he had been able to unearth about Lily and her husband.
“Oh. Yes. There is… how did you…?”
“What’s it called?”
“Howard!”, Maria hissed.
“Ahm. Hogwarts. It’s one of the oldest and best schools in the world.”, she answered dutifully, “I was under the impression that young Harry here came from a non-magical family. How do you know all this?”
“I am Howard Stark”, he told her earnestly.
“Howard!”, Maria groaned, but it had the desired effect on Harry, who laughed wholeheartedly, turning his head to grin at his father. When he turned back to look at Professor Eisberg, she gasped in shock, her eyes wide open.
“What?!”, Maria asked.
“Harry… might I see that scar on your forehead?”
“No.”
“It’s really important.”
“No.”
“What is important about Harry’s scar?”, Howard asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Professor Eisberg was looking between the three Starks with a mixture of excitement and horror.
“Harry Potter.”, she said and Howard felt his blood freeze.
“I think you should go.”, he told her darkly. Harry was looking at him wide-eyed.
“No.”, Maria told him sharply, “I apologize for my family’s behaviour today, Professor, emotions are running high.”
Professor Eisberg was looking wearily between them.
“Do you know that the whole wizarding community has been looking for Harry for years? Fearing him dead?”
Howard couldn’t help himself: he laughed, “Oh. With what I have seen, I very much doubt that.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing that is any of your concern.”, Howard told her sharply.
“Enough now! This is not helping!”, Maria interrupted them sharply, “Professor Eisberg, did Lily and James Potter go to Hogwarts?”
“They certainly did.”
“Thank you. Would it be possible for Harry to go to another school than Ilvermorny?”
“Of course. Technically his name should have been on the list for Hogwarts. But I assume all of that changed when… yes, when what exactly happened? “, she asked, but no one answered her.
“Why did you immediately know Harry’s birth name, when you saw his scar?“, Maria asked carefully.
“You don’t know?”
“Would she ask, if we did? “, Howard asked.
“Is it because Mom and Dad adopted me away from… the Dursleys? “, Harry piped up.
“No. You were famous before that. Oh, I am not the right person to explain this.”
“You are the only person.”, Maria told her firmly.
“Oh… ahm… well, just because there is magic in the world, does not mean there are no more problems. We might be magical, but we are still very much human. And we are just as good or bad, as non-magical people. Some years ago in Britain there was a wizard that turned especially bad. He was so powerful that people even refused to call him by his name. They called him ‘you know who’ or something like it instead.”
Howard shuddered at that thought. He had seen a lot of horrible things in his long life and to think that there was a whole different world out there with just the same kind of problems… no, he thought, that is not happening.
“He was cruel and relentless. Many fought him and he killed most of them. People say that Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, was the only one he ever feared. Lily and James Potter were members of the resistance. As far as I know.”
“They were 21 and had a baby at home.”, Howard huffed, “They should not have been near any kind of resistance.”
“Sometimes, I fear, Mr. Stark, people don’t happen to have a choice.”
Howard was prepared to respond with a snarky comment as to how many wars exactly he had seen, but he stopped, when he saw Harry’s face. This was the first time they had an opportunity to find out about Lily and James and he couldn’t let his own grief and regret get in the middle of that.
“What happened?”, Harry asked, his voice sounding a lot less snarky than before. Small. He sounded small. Howard hated it. Harry wasn’t supposed to sound like that. Ever.
“As far as I know, Voldemort went to the Potter’s home and… well… Harry here is the only known person to ever have survived the killing curse.”, the Professor explained, her pitying gaze turned on Harry.
“He tried to kill Harry?”, Maria asked, Howard could see her inching closer towards Harry.
“I am afraid so, yes.”
“Is that why they hid Harry away and just left him there?”, Howard asked harshly, unable to ever truly forget the sight of that scared little baby clinging to him.
“I… I honestly don’t know.”, Eisberg admitted, “ I knew that Dumbledore had placed Harry somewhere safe. We all heard the news later. That Harry had vanished. That his Aunt and Uncle were killed. That was all.”
This was news to Howard, who had chosen to never think of those people again.
“They had a child, too, no? What happened to the boy?”, Maria asked.
“He survived. That’s all I know.”
“And Voldemort?”, Howard scuffed at the name. Ridiculous.
“Dead.”, the Professor explained.
One thing less to worry about, Howard thought and got up.
“Dumbledore. The man that took charge of Harry’s life, how do I reach him?”
“I could contact him. I will have to anyway. Harry is alive, people need to…”
“No.”, this time Maria was faster, “You cannot tell people. He is safer this way.”
“But…”
“No.”, Maria’s voice was firm, “We need time to think this through. Time to plan. People don’t know where Harry is. It should stay that way.”
Professor Eisberg was looking at them with worry and excitement, “I don’t know. This is big.”
“And we can’t exactly run away and hide from you.”, Howard admitted grudgingly.
“You can come back tomorrow.”, Maria offered, “But we will need some time tonight. To talk… about what you have just told us.”
The Professor’s gaze came to rest on Harry sitting between both his parents, their hands placed on each of his shoulders. Howard could see him looking down at his hands wearily.
“Yes. I will be back tomorrow.”
---------------------
It was the first time since he had exploded the lab that Harry slept in his parents’ bed.
“Someone tried to kill him.”, Maria whispered, once Harry had finally fallen asleep, “As a baby.”
“The same person that went and killed two 21 year olds. “, Howard sighed, “Not much more than children themselves. “
“Tony’s age now.” , Maria’s voice was heavy, she was crying, Howard realized.
He felt a shiver run down his back. Yes. Tony’s age. He hadn’t made that connection before. Lily had been married and a mother. Tony was… Tony. It was hard to console them as the same age.
“We can’t let him go, Maria.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There is just no way. We can’t protect him there. And it doesn’t sound like a healthy community. They just left him with THOSE people, after Lily and James were killed. Like… like he wasn’t important. “
“For his protection. To hide him away. And the Professor said he… Voldemort was dead.“, Maria tried carefully.
“Then why hide him? And even if: he is safer here. With us. Where we can protect him. “
“Howard… we can't protect him forever. You know that. And we can’t keep those opportunities from him. “
“He is a Stark. He can have everything. Money. Power. Whatever he likes. He doesn’t need to go to a different… world for that. “
“It’s not the same, Howard, and you know it, too.”
“ I am NOT losing another child to this madness. I won’t! “, Howard hissed angrily, still mindful of the sleeping boy between them. But Harry was still breathing heavily.
“ Oh Howard… I am so sorry. And I am worried and scared as well, but we can’t take that away from him. Magic, it’s a part of him. And we can’t protect him forever. We won’t always be there. All we can do is give him the opportunity to learn to defend himself. “
Howard huffed angrily. He knew she was right. But all he could see then and there was him standing over the still scarily fresh grave of Lily all those years ago. His poor girl he never got to know. She never even really got to live…
“They were at war, Howard. You can’t guarantee Harry never having to face one, with or without magic. Tony, neither.“
“I know that. But I can damn well try. “
…………….
When Howard woke the next morning, the space in the middle of the bed was empty. Maria was still asleep, but Harry was gone. With his shocks and worries of the past day still fresh in mind, Howard hurried out of bed in search of his youngest.
He found Harry on the balcony off the living room, looking over the already busy city. He was clutching a piece of paper in his hand, that Howard recognized immediately. It was the one picture Howard’s private investigator had been able to unearth of Lily and James. Howard wondered now, where and how the man had found it.
“Harry? What are you doing out here? “
“Thinking.”
“I always welcome thinking. Nothing wrong with that. “, Howard sat down on a lawn chair next to Harry.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Is it okay, if I want to go to British magic school?”
Howard tried his best not to flinch at the idea.
“Of course.”, he managed to say instead, feeling more than a bit uncomfortable at the idea, “We would have sent Tony to boarding school as well, if it hadn’t been for your mother staying at home more anyway with you. You know that, too. You are already bored without Tony around.”
“That’s not why I'm asking.”
“I know.”, Howard admitted and carefully reached for the picture in Harry’s hand, “You want to go there, because Lily and James went there, too.”
“Is that bad?”, Harry asked, his voice sounding small again, “I don’t want to go, if you and Mom think… I… you are my Mom and Dad. I don’t want you to think anything else.”
Howard felt his heart break a little at his son’s tone.
“Harry, if you want to go to that school to find out more about where you came from, then that is totally fine with us. Your mom and I will support you all the way.”
“It doesn’t mean I… you are still my parents.”
Ah, Howard thought, Harry was afraid they’d be angry or sad, if he chose to follow the path of Lily and James.
“Harry. Listen closely now, because I will only say this once. You know how I hate repeating myself.”
Harry nodded seriously, his small face looking apprehensive.
“You are my son. That’s it. I would have loved you as my grandson, but I took you in, I gave you my name. You are mine. Whatever your name is, Stark or Potter or anything else in this world. You will always be mine and no one can take that away from you.”
And as Howard said these words, he realized Harry’s fear had been his biggest as well. If he went back to the magical world, maybe he’d think it was where he really belonged. Maybe he would leave them behind and become Harry Potter again.
“Dad? You’ll always be my Dad, too.”
“It’s a good thing then, that we talked about this.”, Howard told him firmly.