Work Text:
Tony was watching the simulation running on the lab's computer when FRIDAY interrupted him.
"Sir, I found some results for your search."
Tony looked up quickly, excited by the development.
"Did you actually find any magical holidays?" Tony asked. "I was right, SHIELD is involved with the world of Mary Poppins?"
"There doesn't seem to be any connection between SHIELD and the Wizarding World," FRIDAY replied, something judgmental in her tone, "but I did find some various holidays."
Tony scanned the list absentmindedly before stopping at one entry.
"Friday, does it really exist?" Tony asked, looking at the wording.
"Yes, sir." FRIDAY replied, then brought up all the information regarding the date Tony was staring at.
Tony looked at the date. Then, his thoughts drifted to Harry.
Harry was a teenager, intelligent, had a wand, had fought Voldemort, and would probably protest any attempt to infantilize him.
Tony smiled. "Perfect."
It was time to be the best and worst father ever.
***
Harry entered the room, knowing something terrible was about to happen.
His instincts had never been wrong, and he knew something truly terrible was about to happen.
Indeed, just as he expected, he entered the room and saw Tony sitting on his bed.
"What the hell are you holding in your hand?" Harry asked, because in reality, no one had ever really educated him, and in general, that question could be the proper way to greet parents when they invaded the bedroom.
"Kiddo." Tony nodded, because he was almost worse than Harry, despite having taken various etiquette courses. "Happy Teddy Bear Day!"
Harry felt his eye twitch, but he knew there was no point in losing control.
Tony had expected that kind of reaction, and Harry lived to prove the people around him wrong.
The only reason he'd even gone to America was to show Ron that he hadn't been afraid to talk to his father.
"Why do you have a teddy bear in your hand, Dad?" Harry asked, proud of his controlled tone.
“It’s Teddy Bear Day, and you desperately need one,” Tony explained, saying exactly what Harry was afraid to hear.
Harry rolled his eyes, before deciding he wanted to try to make Tony understand that he didn’t need a teddy bear.
“I’m seventeen,” Harry decided to say, hoping his age would make Tony realize his gift was both inappropriate and unnecessary.
“That’s an irrelevant detail.” Tony replied, as if to prove that Harry’s plans weren’t actually working, unless they were last-minute and completely crazy, physically impossible, and even desperate.
“I don’t need it.” Harry tried to make his father understand.
“It’s not a matter of necessity,” Tony replied. “It’s a matter of principle.”
At Harry’s blank stare, Tony continued. “Not everything you get has to be useful.”
Tony finally handed him the teddy bear, which, after a moment's hesitation, Harry took and looked at.
It was really soft, with a little red and gold sweater and scarf.
"It's cute," Harry decided to say, not wanting to disappoint Tony's hopeful gaze.
Tony smiled. "I knew it."
"I didn't say I wanted it." Harry quickly corrected Tony's expectations, before he risked finding the entire room filled with teddy bears.
"You're still holding it," Tony pointed out, lowering his gaze.
Following its trajectory, Harry looked down at his hands.
Indeed, he was.
And, as he looked at the teddy bear, Harry saw the writing on the teddy bear:
H Stark
It wasn't that bad, after all.