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Tony Stark was determined to be the best parent in the world.
Pepper and her comments about Tony’s inability to look after the company or himself, or even remember her single allergy didn't count.
For one thing, Tony was dying and had taken precautions regarding the future of his family.
Furthermore, Pepper was a potential girlfriend, though they weren't actually together, whereas Harry was his son.
Finally, Harry didn't have any allergies to keep track of.
Unfortunately, the boy had a whole other set of issues: a tendency to flinch at loud noises and explosions, a habit of checking every exit, and a way of watching whatever Tony was holding as if he feared getting hit on the head with it.
Tony had also discovered what he’d missed out on regarding Harry’s life and his parents.
Lily and James had been killed, murdered, by a madman who vanished that very night, defeated by Harry somehow.
Harry had spent eleven years with child abusers (who had lost everything they owned, though that was a separate matter) before entering Hogwarts and facing a near-death experience every single year, along with the occasional, though not impossible, risk of being ostracized by classmates for various reasons.
At the end of the previous year, the madman who had murdered his parents had returned to life via a ritual Tony intended to investigate further; Harry had been tortured by the lunatic, surrounded by grown men who mocked him, and had watched a friend die right before his eyes, only to return to the child abusers and find himself isolated from his best friends.
Tony had picked a hell of a time to add his own brand of chaos to Harry’s life, upending the boy's reality all over again.
Harry had problems, but Harry belonged to Tony, and Tony fixed problems. If Harry had been an AI, Tony would have had a much easier time helping him, but he had to adapt to a child's needs.
First and foremost, helping him understand what Voldemort was doing at that moment.
“See that?” Tony said, pointing to a frame on the screen and making sure Harry was looking too. “Wizards seem convinced they’re better than us mere mortals, but arrogant people are always so easy to take down.”
Harry nodded, leaning in a little to get a better look at the computer screen. He was so close to Tony that Tony could feel his breath against him. It was a bit thrilling, if Tony were being honest. Harry usually kept his guard up so high that Tony struggled just to talk to him. And now, he had moved closer to Tony on his own. Closer to the screen, sure, but still closer to Tony.
“Oh.” Harry nodded. “That seems to fit the way their minds work.”
Tony chuckled at the little dig Harry took at wizards, well aware of how Harry sized those people up and viewed them.
He wasn't wrong.
“Yeah.” Tony laughed, shifting slightly and blinking when he noticed Harry freeze, as if he didn't quite understand what had happened. Looking down, Tony saw that his hand was resting on Harry’s arm.
A very still, tense Harry.
“Tell me what they’re doing,” Harry said then, adjusting his position without pulling away from Tony’s hand.
With a smile, Tony did exactly that.