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“Tony, I’m just not certain what’s going wrong. In theory, everything is in order and it should be working.” Steve scratched his head, scowling as he looked at his pouting friend. He’d been working with Tony for what felt like months now, trying to help the other boy figure out how to perform the Patronus charm. Steve had been able to perform the spell for a little over a year now, although not always in its corporeal form. So far, all they’d gotten out of Tony’s casting was a little bit of whimsical mist. “You’re concentrating on that happy memory, right?”
Tony’s pout transformed into his usual grin, and he stood as though he hadn’t been frowning a hole into the stone floor. “Of course, Cap,” he said, teasingly. Steve scowled at the Ravenclaw before him, hating the other boy’s assumed nickname. Steve was not Tony’s Captain. He’d only this year been named captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team anyway, and it was still difficult to get his own team to call him by his proper title. “I’ve been thinking of my first kiss, of course.”
This only made Steve scowl harder, because he sort of doubted Tony even remember the name of his first kiss, much less any of the details. Tony had grown into a reputation as a bit of a playboy around the school, and was usually dating a new girl every week. Since Tony had started hanging out with the odd-ball group of friends he had collected (and Steve was included in that, since he still wasn’t sure how they had come to be friends), the numbers had apparently gone down, but one could never take all the flirtatiousness out of Tony.
Steve supposed he wouldn’t have it any other way. Tony could still come off as an unfeeling playboy sometimes, but those that mattered were slowly coming to understand Tony’s defense systems and were beginning to work their ways around it. Steve prided himself one of those people. “I said your happiest memory, not something you completely made up,” he accused, because he knew that Tony had made up all the details about whatever he thought his first kiss was supposed to have been. It wasn’t that Steve didn’t think Tony had never been kissed, because he’d definitely had his fair share, he just didn’t think the brunet kept any stock of any of them.
“You wound me,” Tony replied, covering his glowing amulet and making a melodramatic face. But there was no malice in the response, because Tony knew what Steve was saying to be true. “Really, straight to the bone. I thought you cared, Cap.”
Tony was grinning, but Steve just crossed his arms. “We’ve been working on this for four months, Stark. You really mean to tell me that in all this time you’ve only been thinking of some fake kiss and pretending it was your happiest memory?”
Tony didn’t cease grinning. “Not this whole time. I’ve been thinking of other fun things, too. That painting up on the third floor, Veelas, that one time I actually made Bruce wolf-out even though it was totally mid-day – “
“I’m serious, Stark. We’re not here to waste time. You’ve got to master this charm before you actually need it.”
If Tony was all grins, Steve looked too serious. It hadn’t even been Tony’s idea to try to learn this charm, and it wasn’t like they were in war times. There hadn’t been a need for a real Patronus charm for quite some time, and Tony rather thought that Steve was only pushing all of them to learn the charm simply because he himself had mastered it.
Not that Tony wasn’t grateful. He really did enjoy Steve’s presence for the most part, and if he dared look deep inside himself, he could admit that he was touched by Steve’s need to make sure he was protected. Steve’s need to protect didn’t kick in all that often with Tony, and this was partially because he was often too busy worrying about Clint and Natasha than Tony or Bruce or even Thor. Tony also attributed Steve’s inattention to the fact that he and Bruce had yet to let the blond into the Ravenclaw common room, which was where the two boys usually committed themselves to late night potions projects that would probably panic the pants off the Gryffindor. Tony wasn’t really inclined to share that secret just yet.
“Let’s try again,” Steve offered as Tony just shrugged off his lecture. He was used to Tony shrugging off most of his admonitions, and he had stopped taking it to heart ages ago. There were more important things to take care of now, and if Steve let them start arguing then nothing would happen. “And try to come up with something actually happy.”
The accusation stung a little, although Tony wouldn’t tell Steve that. He knew the blond meant well, and as he raised his wand and chanted the usual, “Expecto Patronum!” he honestly tried to find something that might work for the spell.
There wasn’t much. Tony didn’t exactly have a tragic childhood but there wasn’t much in the way of happy memories. Really he’d been sort of an attention-seeking problem child up until he’d received his letter and his father had shipped him off to Hogwarts in an attempt to get rid of him. Even here, he’d done his best to piss off his favorite professors and had managed to come off as some know-it-all rather than the genius he actually was. Very few people knew the real Tony Stark, and he wanted to keep it that way.
But it did limit the potential for happy memories. Really the only times he was even okay thinking about might be the past few years, when Pepper had forced him to introduce himself to her friend Natasha and that had grown to include Bruce and Clint and eventually even Thor and Steve. The group was now practically inseparable, having grown and shrunk in number since its unmarked creation, but they were times Tony actually enjoyed thinking about.
Bruce Banner was like his best science buddy, the two staying up until the wee hours of the morning studying the potions and charms and spells they were actually interested in learning. Tony wasn’t even bothered by the fact that Bruce was a werewolf and occasionally lost a few days a month as a hulking mindless monster. Natasha had become a natural fixture in his life when she and Pepper had become best friends. Pepper Potts was Tony’s oldest and closest friend here at Hogwarts even though she was a Gryffindor, and she had surprised everybody by becoming friends with quiet, emotionless Natasha Romanoff. Turns out, Tony discovered, the redheaded Slytherin wasn’t as emotionless as she sometimes (always) seemed, and actually had a sense of humor that was much like Tony’s. It was probably why Pepper liked her so well. It was also how Tony had come to know Clint Barton, who followed Natasha around like the two were dating. Clint was Tony’s best pranking partner, and he was eventually going to get the guy to admit that if he wasn’t already seeing Natasha in the secret corridors (if you caught Tony’s drift), then he was totally interested in it. Tony was a kindhearted guy, after all, and it was his job to make sure his friends were happy.
Thor and Steve had taken a little longer to get to know, and Tony was loathe to attribute it to Thor’s brother, Loki. Loki Laufeyson was a Slytherin like Natasha and had been on the receiving end of some nasty bullying at the hands of some older Gryffindors some year that Tony really didn’t remember. He and Clint and Bruce and Natasha had frightened them off, but Loki had brushed them off briskly and disappeared with no kind words shared. Clearly something had gone down, though, because the next day the group was approached by Thor Odinson, thanking them for “their participation in aiding his younger sibling.” True words. Thor had taken the liberty upon himself to handle the other Gryffindors, and had enlisted the help of the golden boy in his house that had introduced himself as Steve Rogers. The two had become naturals in their group after that.
Steve in particular had taken well to the group, and he later explained it as a particular appreciation for those who could stand up to bullies. Apparently the golden boy had been a scrawny kid, and didn’t take lightly to those who wouldn’t pick on somebody their own size. Tony was glad to have the guy in their group mostly because while pranking teachers with Clint was fun, getting Steve riled up was even more fun. Mostly because their professors tended to punish him with lines, and Steve just shook his head and got that fond smile he often got when he was with his friends. Tony would never admit it, but the fondness for all of his friends was one that seemed to be shared amongst all of them, even himself.
“Oh, Tony,” Steve whispered, finally breaking Tony’s concentration. Tony shook his head lightly, focusing back on the present, and noticed the swirling mist around him. Unlike his previous attempts, this one was much more solid, and as he let out a triumphant whoop it completed its transformation. The tiger that stood before them circled Tony once, brushing its glowing fur along Tony’s leg before taking a seat and regarding the two boys in front of it.
“Tony, you did it,” Steve mumbled almost incoherently, and Tony nodded proudly.
“Of course I did,” he replied cooly, although his eyes shone bright with his excitement, “And don’t you dare ask about that happy thought.” He felt silly even saying something so ridiculous.
Steve looked at Tony, prepared to tell him that he hadn’t even the slightest interest in Tony’s personal thoughts, but Tony was looking to peaceful and happy that Steve couldn’t find it in himself to say anything against that. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied instead, and Tony’s grin was infectious as it grew. Steve thought he might have an idea of what it had been, anyway.