Harry arrived on the helicopter pad at Stark Tower, where Fawkes had first appeared. He communicated with his avian familiar to find out how he was doing, but strangely Fawkes felt like he could travel to Asgard and back easily without much effort. "Useful." he said.
"What's useful?" Natasha said as she walked up to him. Apparently they had been on the lookout. She was wearing a summer dress with heeled sandals and simple jewellery. She looked good.
"Fawkes tells me that travelling to Asgard and back doesn't take a lot of effort. I had thought it would take an astronomical amount of power, even just to navigate." Harry said. Fawkes chirped in his ear again. "Oh that makes sense." Before Natasha could ask, he said, "Fawkes says that he followed the mirrors energy from here to there the first time. Now he can just retrace his own path. I think it's because he bonded with me. My magic is now something he can sense and follow."
"That is useful." she said. "Come on, Tony wants to show you something before we leave. He sounded really excited."
"Oh boy, that's either really good or really bad." Harry said. Following her back into the penthouse. He didn't even check out her behind. Not even twice.
"Harry!" Tony greeted him. "Come I have to show you this!"
"Hi Tony. What have you done now?" Harry asked slightly apprehensive.
"Hi Harry. How was Asgard?" Pepper asked.
"It is beautiful. I can show you the memory sometime." Harry said. "Do you know what Tony's been up to?"
"I do, but I won't spoil it for you." Pepper said.
They followed Tony to his lab and he went to a console. "Stay behind the line there and look at that stretch of wall." he said pointing. They did and waited. Tony sat there typing things in and went to stand with them. "Jarvis, activate the program."
There was the sound of a machine powering up and a laser started moving over the wall from the other side of the lab. It was going left to right, skipping over certain parts as it went. Where it went, slowly glowing lines started appearing in all different colours. They watched as the laser did what it had been programmed to do. When it was done, there was a message in the wall: 'Light Runes are my bitch!'
"How did you do that?" Harry asked in wonder, walking up to the wall. He could only see little pinpricks of light, but nothing else.
"The laser can draw microscopic runes, so small you can't even see them with the naked eye. Each dot you see is a whole rune-word for one colour." Tony said proudly.
"This is amazing, Tony! Do you know what this means?" Harry asked.
"Yes. I can now inscribe runes so small on electronic parts to negate magical effects on every component using the rune-words you had on the coffee machine." Tony said. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a phone. "First ever magic immune cell phone." He tossed it to Harry. "That's yours. Now you can join the 21st century. Nice rune-combination, by the way. I just added one rune to stabilize the word."
"No, it means no using your hands for complicated inscriptions that can fail if you make a mistake. You can even have the laser inscribe runes remotely, making it completely safe!" Harry enthused. "What rune did you use by the way, to stabilize the word?" Harry asked interested. They started discussing the runes as they walked back to the lounge. When they got there, Harry reached into his pocket and took out three more books. "It seems I underestimated you. Please be careful, but I can see you know what you are doing, so I'll trust you with this."
Tony was instantly on the books and Pepper had to physically drag him away. "No, Tony. We're going on a magic carpet ride and having a nice day away. You can play with your runes later."
"But Pepper, can't I at least take one with me?" Tony was losing the war. He scowled at Harry, "You did that on purpose didn't you?"
"Actually, no, but I should have." Harry smiled cheekily.
"Come on, Harry. I want to start our picnic." Natasha said. She was carrying a large picnic basket, which Harry took from her. They went outside and Harry got the Carpet out. In a short while they were lifting up.
"Okay, here we go. Air Harry strongly suggests you have fun and don't worry, we have all the necessary charms in place and we're blocked from most of the wind. Coulson said wind was part of the experience, so I'm allowing a bit through." Harry announced. They were soon comfortable, drinking wine and eating snacks, while lying back and enjoying a view few others have ever experienced, in this world at least.
"How much trouble would it be for you to get me one of these?" Tony asked.
"Easy. I've figured out the charms and enchantments. The problem you will have is operating it. At this point only magical people can control them." Harry said apologetically.
"How do you control it?" Pepper asked. "I haven't heard you tell the carpet to fly in a direction or point or anything."
"Intent. Magic is all about intent. I want it to fly us at a certain height at a certain speed in a certain direction or to a specific location, and it does." Harry said.
"I'll need to see if I can make runes that will emulate intent, one day." Tony mused. "What's the max speed on this thing anyway?" he asked.
"I don't know. I haven't asked it to go at its max speed yet. Want to try it?" Harry asked.
"Of course! Open her up, let's see what this baby can do!" strangely it was Natasha that asked for more speed.
"Okay, hold on." It was a figure of speech, the carpet's enchantments ensured that its occupants were safe and didn't fall off. Slowly their speed increased and Harry had to block the wind completely. "That's it, I think." Harry said when they stopped accelerating.
"How fast are we going?" Natasha asked looking at the ground below them fly by.
Tony looked over the side and calculated in his head. "We're going at about 1400 MPH! We're going supersonic! Almost twice the speed of sound!" Tony exclaimed enthusiastically.
"That explains it then. I had to block the wind entirely. That's faster than it's supposed to go, though. There's definitely something in your world affecting magic." Harry said, thoughtful.
"And you can just make these?" Natasha asked.
"Well, yes. I suppose I could. I really want to try my broom now! It used to go more than twice as fast as the Carpet." Harry said.
"Can you take me with you?" Natasha asked sweetly, touching his arm and batting her eyelashes.
"Natalie, are you asking me to take you for a ride? Just the two of us, alone?" Harry smirked at her, leaning closer to her.
She didn't bat an eye, "Are you sure you can handle that?" she asked moving closer as well, not backing down.
Suddenly there was a bump and Harry fell forward, their lips making contact. He looked at her for a second and then quickly withdrew. "I'm sorry! I don't know what happened!" He was blushing heavily, looking anywhere but her face.
Pepper spoke up, a victorious look on her face, "What were you saying about the carpet working on intent?"
Harry looked down and covered his face in embarrassment. Natasha, also smiling, spoke up, "I thought you didn't put out until the third date?"
Tony was laughing. This was priceless. Harry had talked himself into a corner. "Why are you suddenly so red, Harry?"
"Oh, shut up! You guys suck." Harry complained.
"I think it's time you two talked." Pepper said suddenly. "Harry is there a way for you to block sounds from this side of the carpet?"
"I could…" Harry started.
"Do it." Pepper said, sternly.
Harry complied. When Tony said something, Harry couldn't hear it. Suddenly Pepper was making out with Tony. Probably trying to give them some privacy. He turned to Natasha, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to."
"Why?" Natasha asked.
"I don't know." Harry shrugged and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I didn't want to take advantage I guess."
"What do you mean, take advantage?" she asked with a straight face.
"Well, that thing I did. I didn't want you to feel indebted to me. I didn't do it for that and I noticed your attitude towards me changed right after that." Harry said.
"Harry, let me explain something to you. You cannot take advantage of me. I wouldn't allow it. What you did for me took a lot of guts and you took into consideration my feelings. You even set it up so I could have an hour to finish what they started so long ago." she said sadly. "So, I might be indebted to you, but you're not taking advantage." As she said this she leaned into him again and kissed him passionately. The world seemed to disappear and he was alone with Natasha. When she broke the kiss, he was breathless.
"Thank you." he said softly after a moment.
"For what?" she asked, still only inches from him.
"For seeing me for me. Not the man who hunted down and strung up twelve men for the slaughter." Harry explained. 'Along with so many others' he finished in his head.
"Then I need to thank you as well. For not seeing me as the monster those men tried to make me into." she said. Having similar thoughts to Harry.
They leaned in again and kissed softly this time. Harry's hand went to her face and cupped it, feeling her soft curls in his hand. The feel of her skin under his thumb. When they broke the kiss this time, something had changed. Harry could see an emotion in her eyes he had never seen there before. There was a hunger. Harry quickly pulled himself together and straightened out.
Smiling at her again, he said, "You are dangerous, Natasha my dear."
She smiled back. "That's the first time you've said my name."
Harry looked up and in the direction they were flying. "Yes it was."
Harry cancelled the silencing with a visible wave of his hand and Natasha knew he had done it to control himself. She was fine with that.
Suddenly there was a chirp from behind her and she looked up to see Fawkes looking intently at Harry, "What did Fawkes just say?"
Harry considered it for a moment and decided to tell her, "He asked if we were mates now."
"Oh, and what did you say back?" Natasha asked.
"I didn't say anything." Harry lied. He thought Natasha knew it, by the smirk she gave him.
"He's lying." Tony interjected. Harry had forgotten for a moment that Tony and Pepper were there and could now hear them again.
He looked over at them to scowl, but Pepper seemed genuinely happy. "Now it's a real double-date!" she exclaimed.
Fawkes let out a cheeky chirp and everyone was hit by a feeling of lust. "No Fawkes, don't even suggest it!" Harry was blushing profusely again.
"Did he just ask if we were going to mate?" Natasha asked.
"Something like that." Harry said refusing to make eye contact.
They made it to Malibu in record time, sipping wine and chatting. Harry had warned them to close their eyes when they arrived at his house. He'd give them the secret later. It's not like they could tell anyone. They would need a Contract for Backup Plan though. Its contents was still something he needed to protect.
He took them on a tour and Tony's eyes bulged when Harry told them of the expansion charms. "That's awesome! You can buy a shack and live in a palace!" Tony started looking around. "Where's the TV. For that matter, where are the lights?"
"The expansion charms can't multiply space that far. There are limits before the spell breaks down. Unless you have a pocket dimension sustained by runes, that is…" Harry said slyly. "As for the technology, magical homes can't have them. Too much to interfere with. As for lights…" Harry made the room they were in light up with a command.
"You have one?!" Tony asked suddenly off the subject of technology. "You said you could make one, you never said you had one!"
"I know. There are some secrets I have to keep protected. Even from you. There is a way that I could share more, though." Here Harry produced the Contracts he had prepared for them. "These are magically binding Contracts…"
After explaining the process and doing a demonstration again, he was surprised to note Tony signing them first. "What? Did you think I didn't note this protects our future copyrighted products? This is a very useful tool Harry. I wonder, could you set up something like this for me?" Tony said.
"I'm afraid at least one party of the Contract has to be magical." Harry apologised.
Natasha frowned, but signed as well, just after Pepper. Harry produced a new pouch and needle and handed it to Tony, who knew what to do. While he was sorting out Pepper with her very own bag of holding, Harry was testing the phone, by apparating with it. It didn't affect it at all! He was worried it would be left behind. He turned to Natasha handing her the phone. "Could you please give me your number? It would be the first one I have." Harry asked with a smile.
"Actually, my personal number is already in there." Tony said.
"That's not the same, Tony. This is a first for Harry." Pepper interjected.
"Thanks Pepper." Harry said. He then turned to Natasha and took his phone back. "I might need some help figuring the phone out as well. Maybe we could spend some time later and you can show me how to send pictures and stuff?" Harry asked.
"I think I'd like that. I'll send you a picture later so you can see if you can open it." Natasha smirked. Harry wasn't certain what the smirk was about. Natasha liked that about him. In some ways he was so innocent. In others he was as drenched in the darkness as her.
Harry led them into the trunk. He told first Natasha and Pepper the secret, enjoying the look that Tony sent him as Pepper tried to tell him about the door, but couldn't. He then had them walk through it. From Tony's perspective, they just seemed to cease to exist as they walked to a wall. Harry didn't keep him in suspense long, but had fun delaying. When they entered, Harry showed them his old room first and they found Fawkes on his perch looking contentedly at Hogwarts.
"Don't get me wrong, this is an amazing illusion, but come on, Hogwarts, really? What a stupid name!" Tony was saying.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just insult the place that gave me some of my happiest memories. But, at least, I do understand. Wizards have this need to give things weird names. Some of them were so steeped in the culture, they wouldn't understand logic if you explained it to them." Harry said.
When she spotted the tentacle, Natasha only cocked her head to the side and asked, "Did you have a kraken in your lake or did you add that tentacle for effect?"
"Kraken? I don't know about that, but we had a giant squid. He was actually a friendly sort. Kept helping students that fell in. The Merfolk weren't quite as nice." Harry replied.
"Merfolk? As in Mermaids?" Pepper asked with wonder.
"Yes, kind of. They didn't look like you're imagining. Remind me to show you the memories of the first two tri-wizard tasks." Harry said. The third one was not so bad until the cemetery. If they insisted, he could do that one as well, up until he touched the cup.
Harry showed them the library and was saddened that the Monster Book of Monsters was now a permanent guest in Bruce's place. Sometimes he'd sit there stroking its spine while he read. Harry didn't fully understand it, but suspected it had something to do with his inner monster. It was also the closest thing Harry had to a monster from his home, besides the precious few ingredients he still had, and used sparingly.
Next was his garden, then the first greenhouse. Then the vault, he'd save the potions lab for last.
Tony was for once dumbstruck. Mouth hanging open in awe at the amount of gold and precious items.
"Is this real?" Pepper asked going to some of the art Harry had saved.
"Yes, but it's…" Harry started.
"From your world. Yes, I know, but look at this!" She was looking at one of the portraits. "This one was lost in a fire! Nobody knows where that one is. This is one of the earlier works, but could still be shown in art museums." She mentioned as she walked around looking at different items. "You've got a treasure trove of lost art!"
"Wow, I didn't even know." Harry said. He supposed if she wanted he could send these along with her. He started shrinking the ones she had pointed out. "Anything else?" He said holding them out to her.
"What do I do with them?" she asked. "We have to be careful, they can't be handled incorrectly."
"Just put them in your pouch, one at a time. They are all preserved magically anyway. You'll have to remember what they look like to retrieve them, though." Harry explained and she started doing just that. "Point out the ones that I can hang and claim are fakes, please?"
They went about gathering art and things Harry thought was beautiful to put in his house at a later stage.
"You weren't kidding about the gold." Tony finally spoke up. "If you are interested, we could consider using some of this for circuitry. Gold is expensive, but makes for the best conduction."
"If you want. We'll just try sticking with the bars for now though. The coins are from my family fault. I'd like to keep them." Harry responded.
Tony started looking around and found something he didn't recognize. "Harry, what's this?" he said holding up a bar of unknown metal.
"I think its adamantite or something like that." Harry replied.
"WHAT! That's supposed to be one of the ingredients for adamantium, the toughest metal known to man, supposedly indestructible!" Tony exclaimed.
"Really? Where I'm from it's a magically conductive metal. Rare and expensive to create, but there is a process to create it somewhere in the library…" Harry thought. "Maybe we can look it up sometime?"
"That would be a very good idea. Why do you say it's expensive to create? We only find it in meteors here." Tony asked a sudden gleam in his eyes.
"I think it uses actual gold. I don't know the process, but you only get a little bit of the metal and all the gold is lost." Harry said.
"We'll have to look into it. If we can find out how exactly it works, we may be able to change the process and have less of a loss." Tony was thinking it was probably something like removing bonds of the gold's atomic structure. Dangerous at best. They'd have to set up a safe space to test it. Harry didn't know it yet, but this discovery would later be the start of Bruce's move from Potions Master to Alchemist.
"Okay, on to the last room!" Harry decided.
They went back to the Potions Lab and as Harry expected, Bruce was there brewing. Harry didn't even know what he was doing anymore. It had been only a couple of days and Bruce had started going into advanced potions that Harry's stores had excesses of ingredients for.
"Hey there, Bruce! I've brought guests!" Harry said.
Bruce greeted the guests, and him and Tony started talking about what he was doing. Harry took Natasha and Pepper around the room pointing out his rarer ingredients and those of magical creatures.
"Ashwinder eggshells?" Pepper asked.
"Ashwinders are fiery magical serpents. They are born from… Magical fires!" Harry was suddenly excited. "Bruce, I just got an idea!" he yelled over to Bruce.
"Is it a dangerous one?" Bruce asked with a smirk.
"Well, yes, but also potentially useful to us. Pepper was asking about Ashwinders and I remembered that they are born randomly from magical fires! If we had a controlled environment, we might be able to make our own magical animals!" Harry enthused.
"That would be amazing!" Bruce was suddenly on-board. "There are so many potions that simply will not work without magical animal ingredients! If we could produce a breeding pair, we might be able to bring magical animals back from extinction!" this was a dream come-true for Bruce. So much he still could learn and do. "Do you know of any other magical creatures you could make?"
"Only one other that I can think of and it is potentially a bad idea." Harry sad apologetically.
"Why, what is it?" Bruce asked confused.
"The king of the snakes, a basilisk." Harry said.
"Oh, yeah, that might be a bad idea after all." Bruce said.
"Why is it a bad idea?" Natasha asked.
"Basilisks kill with eye contact and their venom is incurable and kills almost instantly, not unless you have a phoenix on hand." Harry said.
"Useful against an enemy, though." Natasha said with a calculating look in her eye. "Could one be controlled?"
"Well I do poses the ability to talk to and control snakes, but it is still a danger to anyone who accidentally sees its eyes. Even only a reflection of it would petrify a person. To the point of suspending them indefinitely unless you can make mandrake potion." Harry said.
"Um, Harry? You do have a magic immune camera on you right now. If you could take a picture of a basilisk's eye, couldn't you use that to petrify people? Enemies, for example, or those who are in need of urgent medical attention?" Tony asked, a thoughtful look in his eye.
"That's not a bad idea, actually," Harry said, "but one I'm not willing to risk just yet. We can work on another form of instant suspension for medical use though. One that does not need the use of a magic potion to remove. That would at least help in those situations, right?" Harry asked.
"Fair enough." Tony said.
"Um, did I just hear you say Harry had a magic immune camera?" Bruce asked.
"Oh, right. Thanks for reminding me." Tony said as he fished another phone from his pocket and gave it to Bruce. "Both your phones has my direct number and is encrypted, so nobody can trace your calls."
"Thanks." Bruce said humbly. Then he joked, "Now I just need a magic immune electron microscope." he laughed.
"When do you need it?" Tony deadpanned.
"You can do that?" Bruce asked.
"Harry's set me up with enough knowledge and I brought it into the 21st century. I can make pretty much anything magic immune. Stark Industries and Potter Innovations Patented technology, completely radiation and EMP immune. Useful side effect." Tony said brightly.
Bruce suddenly had a gleam in his eyes. "So you can set me up with a computer and electricity?" he asked.
"Sure. I'll start on that and send the bill to Harry. From what I understand he's been working a high-paying job for months and used very little of his earnings." Tony said. "He's also told me of a possibility for creating free electricity?" He looked at Harry questioningly.
"Actually, Tony. I've been looking into buying an Island. I need to have the space for future plans. Fields and greenhouses, labs and power stations. That is going to take more money than I have available." Harry said apologetically. "As for the generator, I was going to ask you about that. There is a rune-cluster, which causes anything above it to levitate. Modify that and it will send it flying. Does that give you any ideas?"
Tony thought about it for a second, he really loved a challenge. Then it clicked, "Perpetual motion! Rotation on demand connected to a dynamo!" Tony exclaimed excitedly. "This will be a game changer! Not as vast a power source as my arc reactor, but consistent and cheap!"
"I can help out with the money." Pepper entered the conversation. "Your art collection will be worth hundreds of millions. You won't need to worry once I've set up an auction with the right people." she finished brightly, then frowned, "If you'll allow me to handle it."
Harry looked at Tony. "Don't look at me! She loves art and stuff. If she can handle it and wants to, I say let her." Tony said. He was still thinking of the applications for the Perpetual Motion Generator, or PMG as he was thinking of trademarking it. He was thinking of how to cut power, stop motion, adding some form of gear function if it turned out torque was great enough. Then he started thinking of how he could modify a car for it. In other words he was distracted for a whole minute. Genius that he was.
Harry looked back at Pepper, "That would be a great help, thank you!"
"No, thank you. Thanks to this I'll get quite the reputation in the art world. I'll be invited to exclusive sales and auctions. I'll have an in at any museum as a valued contributor to the arts!" she said excitedly.
Harry cast a tempus instead of looking at his phone, not being used to having it yet, and jumped, "Oh, damn, we're going to be late!"
They said goodbye to Bruce and as they hurried out of the lab, Natasha asked, "What are Ashwinder eggs used for anyway?"
"A couple of restorative potions and, off the top of my head, Amortentia." Harry replied as he rushed.
"What is Amortentia?" Natasha asked. The name sounded derived from something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
"The most powerful love potion known to man." Harry replied. Natasha made the connection: Amor, for love.
"Love potion?" Tony asked with a gleam in his eye.
"Tony!" Pepper slapped him in the arm. "Am I not enough for you!?" She sounded insulted.
"No, you're getting me wrong!" Tony said. "We could sell it to people whose marriages are failing. Kids never have to worry about mommy and daddy getting a divorce." Tony lied easily.
"I don't believe you," Pepper said, but let it go for now.
"I don't like love potions. It's a form of enslavement. The drinker becomes obsessed with the object of their desire." Harry shuddered.
"Has anyone ever given you a love potion?" Natasha asked.
"A girl in school once tried getting me to eat chocolates with Amortentia in it. Sent it to me on Valentine's Day. Fortunately, for me, one of my best friends at the time was a glutton. He got into them first and we were able to counter the effects when we realised." Harry said. "I've been careful ever since. I was only caught once, but by that time my mental defences were strong enough to realise what was happening and I took a bezoar."
"A bezoar? Like, from the stomach of a goat?" Tony asked incredulous.
"Best cure for poisons I ever heard of. It can also neutralize certain potions. Where I'm from anyway." Harry said with a shrug. He had led them back to the back-yard, where he brought forth the Carpet again. "Everybody got everything they need?" Nobody answered, but everyone got on the Carpet.
Harry asked Pepper to point out where they were supposed to go and soon they arrived at the restaurant. They had a private table overlooking the ocean and, most important, privacy. They were seated and the waitress, having smiled flirtatiously at Tony, took their drink orders. Deciding to stick with wine, Harry asked Natasha to order for them, since she had supplied the wine they had drunk on the carpet.
"So, how do you like seafood?" Tony asked them.
"I'm afraid the only seafood I really know is fish and chips, but I suspect that doesn't count?" Harry asked.
"You really are British aren't you?" Tony asked.
"As they come, I'm afraid. So how do I choose," Harry said, looking at the menu.
"With your eyes." Tony said, with a mock smile.
"Let me help you choose." Natasha said leaning over to him to look at his menu. She started pointing out dishes and how they were prepared and served. Harry valiantly ignored the fact that he could see more cleavage than he was necessarily comfortable with. Natasha didn't act like she noticed. Harry ended up ordering some sort of steamed fish and a salad, which Natasha suggested.
Tony started discussing possible applications of the PMG and asking Harry what book the information he would need was in. Harry refused to do so, reminding Tony of his promise to follow the books first. He still had his mastery books and Hermione's projects to work through, mentioning that her work would probably contain data that she had researched for years. She was a genius in his mind as well, and would probably have some devices that were stored in the boxes. In the meanwhile, Harry could help build a prototype with enchantments, so Tony would have something to play with and experiment on, that wouldn't blow up in his face without the proper knowledge.
Natasha and Pepper were busy discussing the art Harry had had in his trunk. It seemed she had a working knowledge of some of the more shady brokers and dealers, which Pepper could make sure to use and exclude as necessary.
They all re-joined the conversation when Tony asked Harry, "So where were you thinking of buying an island?"
"I hadn't given it much thought yet, but I have to consider the plants." Harry said.
"So, some place with clean water and plenty of sunlight?" Pepper asked.
"Tropical would probably suit those needs the best. That also gives you the opportunity to start a resort. Once your operations are up, you could probably start hosting corporate retreats to introduce people to your products." Natasha said, thinking of white beaches and fruity drinks with little umbrellas.
"I think it would probably be best to hold off on a retreat at this point. While we are still starting up crops and getting the land ready, we'll need as much security as we can get. I don't want the wrong people getting hold of the ingredients we'll be growing. I was actually thinking of making the island unplottable and hide it with a Fidelius." Harry replied.
"Unplottable?" Natasha asked.
"It's a form of protection. It makes it so people can't accidentally sail into it. Add the Fidelius and nobody would be able to see it. Like my house. Someone could follow me, know where I disappeared and fire bullets in a circle and never even hit my house once. In my old world, it was suspected that Avalon and Atlantis were protected by those spells." Harry supplied.
"Couldn't you just make your own island and do that?" Tony asked, deciding to discuss the possibility that Atlantis or Avalon were real at some other time. "Think about it! A tiny island with a couple of large expanded Greenhouses. You could still buy an island where your products and services are featured, and then right next to it, without anyone's knowledge, there's an invisible island that hosts all your stores and crops."
"I wouldn't know how to go about making an island, Tony." Harry said with a thoughtful look. "Your idea about large expanded greenhouses however, does have some merit. I could even build a house there. A private beach with nobody able to find me, current company excluded, does sound like a dream."
"Stark Industries would need its own lodgings as well, for business purposes, of course." Tony said with a friendly smile Harry had never seen before.
"Your place isn't built yet and there goes the neighbourhood already." Natasha responded with an exasperated smile, placing a hand on Harry's knee, making him smile and blush slightly, distracting him again.
"Tony! Let the man enjoy the dream for a moment before you go destroying his imagined freedom." Pepper said. "That being said, it would be nice to have a secret getaway with some friends in the area." Natasha did not miss the plural in the statement and smiled at Pepper.
"You know, having dinner parties and a barbeque every now and then would be better if you could invite your neighbours…" Natasha said, squeezing his leg.
"Um, yeah. That does sound like a good idea." Harry mentally shook himself suddenly realizing what they were doing. "Hey, you guys are supposed to be my friends! Let me enjoy my island before laying claims." Harry said with half a smile before looking at Natasha, "And you, Natasha, are pushing it." Harry looked down at her hand that had moved up to his thigh and back at her. She looked away unrepentantly and winked at Pepper, her hand staying where it was.
"Your, currently, imaginary island, you mean?" Tony asked with a smile of victory.
Harry was looking at Natasha as she ignored him. He decided to play dirty as well. He put his hand on her knee, gently, and sent a mild tickling charm down her leg. She shivered and her breath caught for a moment, before she looked at him with that hungry look again. Somehow he felt he had won that round as well, but would pay for it later. He kept his hand where it was and decided to keep the tickling charm in place, he smirked and turned to Tony. "Once your lady is able to set up a gallery and an auction, I suspect I'll be able to start shopping."
"That might take a bit of time, Harry. We need to have the items authenticated and then declared as new finds. I'm sure Tony could come up with a story about having discovered a sealed cargo container somewhere and salvaging it." Pepper said having noticed Natasha's flush and look. "I'm afraid that will take some time." She then stood up and said, "I need to visit the ladies'. Care to join me Natasha?"
Natasha was conflicted. Whatever Harry was doing was giving her goose bumps, but she realised that it was some form of punishment for doing something similar to him. She sighed inwardly and agreed. As they walked away Pepper asked quietly, "What was that?"
"Let's just say Harry has the magic touch." At Pepper's scandalised look she said quickly, "Not like that! He was somehow touching my entire leg at once. It felt," she shuddered, "very nice."
"You're a lucky girl. I can't remember the last time I felt like that." Pepper pouted.
"Probably never. You don't understand. It was truly magical." she said, flushing at the memory. "Too bad he's such a nice guy. I was tempted to make a scene…" she trailed off.
Harry and Tony couldn't hear what they were saying, but the giggles were telling. "You weren't doing anything uncouth under the table were you?" Tony asked, mock stern gaze in place.
Harry just smirked, "I just touched her leg, I swear." Then he added, "Maybe a little magic was involved…"
"Her reaction was noticeable. You have to tell me what you did and if the same is achievable with runes!" Tony begged.
"I'm afraid I don't know the runes for a tickling charm." Harry said with a waggle of his eye-brows.
"If I need to tattoo a rune schema on my skin to get the same results, I'll do it. Harry, you had the Black Widow in what looked like full blown heat!" Tony said in awe.
"I wasn't aware. Good to know, though." Harry said with a slight blush and a thoughtful look at the same time.
"Don't tell them I said that, though. Pepper would skin me." Tony whispered as he saw them come back.
"And what are you two whispering about?" Pepper asked with a knowing look at Tony.
"We were just discussing how beautiful our dates are tonight." Harry came to the rescue. He got up and held Natasha's chair as he had done when they had arrived.
Tony was about to do the same, but Pepper sat down before he could. "Way to make me look bad, Harry." he mumbled.
When Harry sat back down, Natasha took his hand in hers and put it on her thigh, firmly. She gave him a look and Harry just smiled applying the same charm. She immediately shuddered in pleasure, but said nothing, keeping her hand on his. Until dinner arrived. Harry reluctantly removed his hand, she had amazing legs and the contact was probably doing as much for him as he was doing for her.
They settled into amiable conversation about possibilities for their companies in the future as they ate and some stories were shared. Harry told them about Bruce's new pet book and everybody laughed until Harry elaborated.
"The Monster Book of Monsters? Seriously? Your people must be the strangest lot I've ever heard of." Tony remarked.
"I'll give you that, but there was never a dull moment." Harry said with a wan smile.
"And what about girlfriends?" Pepper asked, "I remember you talking about your best friends and acquaintances, but never a girlfriend.
Harry looked uncomfortable. "I did have a girlfriend, on and off for a couple of years, but when I realised my association with them was putting her family at risk, a family that had cared for me for many years and felt like my own, I broke it off and focussed on ending the war." Harry had a far off look, remembering his loss again. "That didn't stop them from being targeted anyway."
"I'm sorry." Pepper said. "I didn't mean to bring up something like that."
Tony, deciding to distract Harry, asked, "Just the one? From what you told us, girls were throwing themselves at you!"
"He's not the sort to take advantage like that." Natasha interjected, smiling at Harry.
"Thanks," Harry replied, putting his hand on her thigh and squeezing it for a moment, but not applying a charm this time. She didn't seem bothered.
Tony was wise enough not to mention the by-play. "So, who wants dessert?" he asked as their waitress showed up, having stopped flirting with Tony once she noticed he seemed completely unaffected.
Harry ordered a sundae and Natasha ordered a slice of cheesecake. Tony and Pepper ordered themselves some sort of alcoholic coffee drinks, one hot and the other cold, respectively.
When it arrived Harry and Natasha did not share their desserts like they were in some sort of romantic story, preferring to tell each other how much they enjoyed their own. It was another contest of sorts, with each of them trying to convince the other that they should have ordered something else. Tony and Pepper were silent, enjoying their drinks and having a muted discussion of their own.
When the bill came at the end of their evening, Pepper took it before anyone else could, stating that she was using Tony's company card and writing it off as a business expense. They laughed, good-humouredly and let her, not knowing nor caring that she was serious.
"So, where to?" Harry asked after they had stepped out and onto his concealed Carpet.
"I think I'm going to call it a night. Both Tony and I have some work to get to in the morning." Pepper said. "If you could drop us off at Tony's house?"
"Of course. Where would that be?" Harry asked.
"You didn't know? I've got a place right here in Malibu!" Tony exclaimed. "I'll show you the way."
Tony showed Harry where to go, obviously not following the roads. Instead, they were flying along the ocean, enjoying the scent and sounds of the sea. When they reached their destination, Harry was impressed. "This place is amazing!" he exclaimed.
"Oh yeah, this is my baby. All the windows are fully capable screens with dimming and shading as necessary. The walls are all re-enforced. Security is better than you could find anywhere else, except maybe for yours…" he ended lamely.
"Well, I think it's beautiful. This place looks like a piece of art! All the slanted walls, stylishly smooth, curved corners and glass. I can see why you love it." Harry said looking around the place, never having seen it's like before.
"Why thank you, Harry. I did work directly with the architects designing it." Pepper said, proudly.
"Care for a night-cap?" Tony asked.
Harry looked at Natasha, who shook her head and said, "I think I've had enough to drink."
"Okay, then. I think we'll go now. I've had a long day." Harry said, thinking of his adventure to Asgard. "Thank you for a wonderful evening. I really enjoyed it."
"We'll have to do so again sometime," Pepper said as she stepped forward and hugged Harry and then Natasha.
"Good night," Harry said as he shook Tony's hand and then went to hold the door for Natasha as they left.
"Don't be a stranger!" Tony called after them. After all, he wasn't planning on staying away from Harry's place.
As Harry lifted off, he asked Natasha where he should take her. She pointed and Harry set the Carpet to moving the indicated direction, back along the coast the way they had come. As soon as they were out of sight of Tony's house, she moved to sit right next to him. The little bit of wind was playing with the hem and collar of her summer dress, suddenly making Harry very aware that he was alone with a very attractive, very feminine, Natasha. He had to divert his eyes as they were inexorably drawn to her body. He started getting slightly uncomfortable as his clothes suddenly felt very confining.
"Are you alright?" she smirked at him, very aware of what she was doing. She was good at what she did and probably better at reading people's body language than Coulson.
"I'm fine," Harry lied, his voice suddenly not as confident as he wanted it.
"Are you sure? We could always lie down and look at the stars, if you're tired of sitting?" she said in a breathy voice.
The Carpet betrayed him again as it came to a stop. She smirked at him, put a hand on his chest and pushed him gently into a laying position against one of the cushions. She was laying right against him, her upper body on one elbow, as she moved closer to him. Harry did not fight it. He was only a man. Once her soft upper body made contact with his chest, the world seemed to fall away again.
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It was a couple of hours later that Harry arrived home. He stowed the carpet and went to bed with a soft smile on his face.