Work Text:
Boys
Tony would never admit it, but the whole magic thing was still… not cool.
His mother had been worried. His father fascinated. Tony was… unsure. It was pretty amazing, yes, but also very, very scary. Especially because he could not relate, could not follow where his little brother was going. And that was the scariest feeling possible.
Stop it, he told himself, you are Tony Stark, you can do this.
He still felt somewhat uncomfortable, sitting in a magical pub, waiting for a magical family. Harry didn’t look nervous, he seemed incredibly excited, turning in his seat every time the door opened behind him. Tony shouldn’t have given him the seat with the back to the door. Or a sugary, hot chocolate.
“Dude, calm down.”, Tony told him with a loving eyeroll.
“I AM calm.”, Harry told him sharply, but Tony didn’t believe him one bit. He knew Harry was just excited to be part of the magical world again, but yes, it did sting a bit to see him so impatient.
The door opened again and Harry jumped up happily. It wasn’t a magical family after all, but the Grangers. Tony had seen them once, when he had picked up Harry from the train almost two months ago, but he hadn’t really talked to them besides the normal pleasantries. Dentists, he remembered, they were dentists. He didn’t particularly like dentists, but at least he could place the profession.
Harry and Hermione hugged happily and Tony took the time to greet her parents. They were friendly and, Tony realized, almost as nervous as he was. Perfect. He wouldn’t look out of place that way.
“Hello again, Mr Stark.”, Hermione shook his hand.
“Hermione, I take offence here.You are my brother’s best friend. Get a grip. Don’t make me feel old. Because I am not.”
“Sorry.”, Hermione blushed happily. If it was because he called her Harry’s best friend, Tony didn’t know or care. It was true anyway.
They didn’t have to wait much longer. The Weasleys arrived shortly after, but a lot less quietly and differently that what Tony had expected. They came through the fireplace and in a cloud of green flames. Mrs Granger made a small wheezing sound of shock and Tony could only agree with her there. Still, in a loud and ruckus affair, they did all manage to greet each other. Tony was very pleased by the fact that Ron, Fred and George immediately called him Tony, although their Mum made a displeased tooting sound. Tony was quick to reassure her it was fine.
They made their way into Diagon Alley and split up immediately after. Percy was off to see his girlfriend (a fact he was eager to mention). And to Tony’s huge disappointment the twins took off as well, meeting up with a friend of theirs. Tony liked the twins quite a bit. If they weren’t magical, he would definitely offer them jobs at SI after they graduated. Screw that. He might do that anyway. Did wizards do summer internships? So Tony found himself in the parents group with the four youngest kids, all of them chatting amicably, while Arthur Weasley was doing his best to interrogate the Grangers. Gringotts was their first stop. Mrs Weasley decided to go down to the family’s vault, whereas Mr Weasley offered to help them exchange money. Which basically meant he was staring at their money in wonder. Tony handed over a whole bunch of notes, unsure of how much money he’d actually need to spend. Harry needed new robes. That much was obvious. New books.. necessities. And Tony might need some things as well. The goblin was professional and simply counted the money without commenting on the amount. Tony was oddly pleased by that. He had known people in banks to react quite differently to his antics.
“That would exchange to 2012 Galleons, Sir.”, the goblin told him dispassionately.
“Wha?!”, Ron had obviously heard that and turned around to stare at Tony in horror and awe. It seemed to be enough money then.
“Ron. Don’t be rude.”, his father told him sternly, but even he looked uncomfortable.
It turned out Galleons were horrible to transport. What was wrong with these people? That was horrible to carry around.
“Maybe you should consider opening a vault.”, Arthur Weasley told him carefully, when Tony had no other choice than to simply deposit them all in his backpack. He grabbed a handful and handed it to Harry, who carefully but it in his bag.
“Nah. Harry has a vault already, that’s fine.”
He got a weary look for that. As if it was weird to mention his brother’s birth parents like that. Tony didn't care too much. The Grangers just looked confused. Tony actually felt a bit sorry for them, they seemed to be good people. They asked Mr Weasley if they should get a vault and three real grown-ups, as Tony liked to call them, started to discuss wizarding banking. Who Tony really felt sorry for was Ginny. Harry, Hermione and Ron were whispering excitedly and Ginny was obviously an outsider.
“You excited about Hogwarts, Ginny?”
“Yes. It was really boring to be the last one home.”, she told him and Tony was almost surprised to hear her talk so much. She hadn’t said more than two words on their way here.
“Yeah. Harry was a nightmare when I left for college.” (Thankfully said nightmare was too busy with his friends to hear him)
“And are you all right now with him leaving?”, Ginny blushed, apparently embarrassed by her forward question.
Tony decided he liked the girl. She might look shy, but he guessed that she was hiding a lot of smart personality beneath that.
“I will probably get drunk for a week or something.”, Tony grinned and Ginny grinned back.
When Mrs Weasley returned they decided to split up. Mrs Weasley, Mrs Granger and the three older kids decided to go and get new school robes. Mrs Weasley had written Ginny’s measurements down before and thought this was the best way to group them off, with both Dads and Tony joining Ginny in her quest for a wand. It had kind of been Tony’s idea, who was really excited by the idea of going back to Ollivander's shop. Wands fascinated him to no end. Tony laughed a little at the fact that he was apparently grouped in with the dads and that the mothers stuck together, but it was fine by him.
When the four entered the dark and cramped space, Tony was immediately transported back a year, when he had been standing here with Harry and their parents, taking what felt like hours to find Harry’s wand. Nothing had been right and Dad had prolonged the whole process by asking about every component and what exactly they did or meant for Harry’s possible magical future. Choosing Ginny’s wand didn’t take that long, but it wasn’t that far off either. Yew was the only thing Tony actually remembered about Ginny’s wand, but he was again amazed by the whole process of a wand choosing its owner.
“That was a success.”, Mr Granger exclaimed, looking as excited as Tony felt, when they left Mr Weasley inside on his own to pay for his daughter’s wand. Ginny was staring at it in awe. Tony assumed the thing was somehow making her finally going more real. It was indeed a pretty thing, black with a spiralling adornment.
“All done.”, Mr Weasley exited the store, a mixture of happiness and resignation on his face. Tony vaguely remembered some comments Harry had made about the Weasley’s lack of money, the wand had probably not been cheap.
“Where to next?”, asked Mr Weasley.
“Depends on what time it is.”, Mr Granger answered, looking at his watch.
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked past them. Hermione was talking about paper, the boys didn't look that happy.
“You guys okay?”
“Yeah! We wanted to go get some sweets.”, Harry was swinging his bag of what Tony assumed was his new cloak.
“Why don't you give that to me? Mr Weasley, Dr Granger and I will look after that.”
“Means you wanna go and get a drink.”, Harry grinned at him, handing over his bag.
“Yes. Take Ginny with you and scamper off. Bring some fun joke stuff for me. You have two hours before we all meet at Flourish and Blotts.”
Ginny looked panicked at the idea of having to go with them, but Tony winked at her and turned to the other two men, “Or not?”
“Fantastic idea.”, Dr Granger smiled and took Hermione’s bag as well.
Mr Weasley looked positively ecstatic at the idea of getting a drink with two muggles to squeeze for information.
They took the kids’ bags and Ginny’s cauldron and the kids hurried off.
“Off we go, Dads.”, Mr Weasley let the way.
Two hours later they made their way to Flourish and Blotts, Dr Granger, Tony thought, drifting slightly to the left. Although he was not supposed to call him that anymore. They were on first name basis now.
Apparently they were late. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny met them right near the entrance. All of them with books in hand. Harry was grumbling.
“What's up?”
“Nothing anyone hasn't tried to do to me before.”
“That's totally reassuring, buddy.”
Both Ron and Ginny walked over and dropped their books into the cauldron their father was carrying. The other members of their group were nowhere to be found.
“Well, if that isn’t Arthur Weasley.”, the voice behind them was so… disdainful, Tony actually blinked. He turned around. There was a tall, blond man standing there, a firm grip on the hand of a boy that could only be his son. They had the same sneer on their faces. Lovely. His Mom would have said “careful, it might stick”.
"Lucius," said Mr. Arthur, giving a very uncharacteristically cold nod.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," the stranger replied. Who the hell… oh. Blond. Sneering. Yes. This had to be Draco Malfoy and his father. Urgh. Harry had not been overstating anything. Not that he had expected him to.
"All those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime?", Mr. Malfoy reached down into the cauldron Arthur was still holding and picked up one of the books. It was a pathetic looking thing that Tony was pretty sure they had not bought in this store. Had Mrs Weasley gone somewhere else?
"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" Arthur turned beet red. Tony was too shocked to even say something. Was this… normal? To get into fights in front of your children? He always thought it was just him, but then again he was a guardian, not a parent.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Arthur spat out.
“Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes moving to give Tony and Dr Granger a disdainful look. Tony was too dumbstruck to react. He logically knew that bigotry and racism were a problem. It had just never been for him personally. He was a rich, good-looking American genius. People didn't think badly of him for anything (except maybe sometimes his behaviour). It was the first time in his life, Tony Stark was judged for something beyond his control.
“The company you keep, Weasley, and here I thought your family couldn’t sink any lower.”
Vaguely he could hear Harry huffing in anger, but before he even had time to process this new situation, Arthur seemed determine to defend his new-found friends. And he clearly didn't like the guy anyway. With a very satisfying thud Ginny’s cauldron made contact with Mr Malfoy’s face. Later Tony would not be able to describe what followed next in great detail, it was all a huge mess of flying limbs, books and cheering children. He could remember Dr. Granger trying to pull the kids away from the fighting dads. He could also very much remember Mrs Weasley screeching at her husband and a huge ass man Harry later identified as Hagrid separating the two. Before Tony even really knew how, he was standing outside Flourish and Blotts, Mrs Weasley and the shop owner still lamenting angrily. The Malfoys had stalked off and Arthur was mumbling. Tony assumed he tried really hard to look ashamed at his wife's anger. Personally Tony thought he was failing, but maybe that was just him.
“Well. That was different.”, Tony declared loudly. The rest of their excited group turned around to look at him, like he was unhinged, “How about ice cream for all? My treat.”