Chapter Text
The young man walking up the front path to a bland looking house scoffed as he took in the monotony of the neighborhood he found himself in. Times like this made him want to curse his parents for dying and leaving him this responsibility, but he would do what he must. His only hope was that the individual he was visiting had the information he needed.
He huffed quietly before rapidly knocking on the door once he’d come to stand in front of it. He brought his wrist up to look at his watch, his mind timing how long it took for the resident to answer the door.
Almost two minutes later the door opened to reveal a sunken-cheeked woman with blonde hair. Her dull brown eyes raked over the man at her doorway before she spoke, her tone flat and seemingly bored.
“Anthony.”
The young man – Anthony – sneered at her before speaking himself. “Petunia.” He dropped his hand back down to his side, staring at her passively. “I have something that I need to discuss with you. Preferably inside.”
“Fine. Come in. Vernon and Dudley are in the sitting room. We’ll join them there and sit down on the settee.” She stepped back to allow him inside, barely sparing a glance for the black car parked in front of her house.
He huffed quietly to himself as he followed her into the room. Brushing thin fingers through dark hair, he settled across from her in the armchair. He didn’t spare a glance to the fat blobs that she called family, attempting to keep his focus on her instead of letting it wander off to whatever was pinging on his magic.
“Mother and Father died six months ago,” Anthony began, expecting the interruption of condolences before continuing, “We didn’t find his will or mother’s until last week. Each of them left both yourself and Lily things. I need you to sign the property transfer.”
“Of course.” Petunia replied, looking much more excited at the prospect of everything she could have gotten – the joke was on her, though, the majority of the property left to her was a series of money payments that would occur four times a year and in small amounts.
“And I need to get into contact with Lily. I was hoping you would know where she is.”
Petunia’s face soured and paled at the same time, immediately alerting Anthony to something being wrong. A quick flare of the natural magic inside him and he knew what that was almost immediately. His face blanked and he carefully set his briefcase down on the floor next to the chair as he rose.
The other occupants of the room froze as he calmly approached a small door under the stairs. The voice that came from the young man as he looked at it warned them of the dangerous path they were treading if they didn’t answer how he wanted.
“What is under here.” It came out like a statement, and the tone implied harm if it was what he thought it was. “Answer me, or you will find out why Stark is a dangerous name.”
“Harry,” was the innocent reply of the obese child that sat next to his father.
As soon as that word had passed the boy’s lips it was as if a whirlwind had been released in the home. Everything was affected but the boy, Anthony and the briefcase he’d set down. Vases fell from their places; picture frames had the glass shatter before they fell to the floor; the lights flickered; and some of the objects that were whirling around the room had struck both other adults, knocking them unconscious.
Anthony took a deep breath before he moved closer to the door. The magical outburst calmed slightly, though it was still breaking things it had stopped throwing them around the room. A careful hand moved to the latch of the door and opened it, knowing what to expect but still being surprised by what he found.
Inside, lying on a thin mattress and dressed in a much too large sleeper, was a small boy. His dark curly hair was plastered to his head by sweat and tears while his eyes fluttered rapidly. He had his hands clenched in a light blue blanket with moon phases covering it. He shifted slightly, and some of the hair on his forehead moved to reveal a scar that was shaped oddly like a lightning bolt.
Anthony crouched down carefully and scooped the small boy up into his arms. Anthony wasn’t sure that he was doing it right as the last time he’d held a baby had probably been when he was still a child, and he’d first met Grace Jarvis – Edwin’s young daughter – but he couldn’t stand to leave him laying there without any kind touch.
Moving back to the chair, he rocked the boy carefully in his arms. He unbuttoned his jacket carefully before settling the boy against his chest and buttoning it back up around him. He reached down to his briefcase, picking it up and setting it down on the table so that he could open it. With two quick motions, the case was popped open, and he’d removed his phone.
With a quick press of one contact, he made a call and was now waiting for the other line to be picked up. He closed his eyes again as he tried to calm himself down more so that his magic would quit flaring out around him looking for threats or other things to break.
“Good morning. This is Janice Fry, secretary to Lawyers Malfoy and Grier. How might I help you, Mister Stark?”
A click had preceded the soft voice of the secretary to the London Branch of Stark Lawyers, and Anthony took a deep breath before he spoke, “Good morning Ms. Fry. I have an immediate emergency that requires the knowledge and legal help of both Esquires.”
“I’ll patch you through to them. They will be most happy to help. Please let me know if you need anything else.”
“Thank you, Ms. Fry.”
Another click and a short tone before a pair of deeper voices greeted him.
“Mister Stark. How may we help you?”
“I need custody papers for both worlds. As well as any other papers that may be helpful in this circumstance.”
“Of course sir. Where shall we meet you?”
“Number four, Privet Drive, Surrey.”
“We will arrive in five minutes. Less if want us to pop in immediately.”
“Immediately, please. This is most important.” Anthony had barely finished his sentence before two men appeared just outside the doorway.
The two men were quite different. While one was blond, the other was as Raven as night; while one was thin and willowy, the other was built like a brick house; while the one was soft edges and smooth lines, the other was all sharp corners and rough surfaces.
These were the two highest level lawyers in the English Branch of Stark Industries’ legal counsel – Warner Grier and Julius Malfoy, newblood and pureblood respectively. Both were the best at what they did whether that was in the Mundane world or Magical it didn’t matter. The fact that they could drop whatever they were doing for him touched Anthony’s heart happily because it let him know that they cared enough to do so.
“Tony.” The blond – Julius – greeted, looking around with narrowed eyes at the destruction that had occurred. “What caused this outbreak of your magic?”
“In a moment. You brought what you thought was needed?
“Aye,” Warner replied, pulling his wand from the holster up his sleeve and beginning to set the room back to rights. “You mind telling us why we’re here and where in Merlin’s name we are?”
“This is the home of Petunia Dursley nee Evans, sister to Lillian Potter. I came to see her about Lily – who has died with no notification to the rest of our family.” Tony replied, arm clutching Harry close to his chest.
Both wizards frowned, and Julius spoke, “A death notification should have gone out the moment that she died. The wills of both Lily and Lord Potter should have been read, and their son Hartford should have gone to his legal guardian.”
“No one knows what happened to Hartford. The Headmaster just keeps saying that he is safe and with family,” Warner added.
Tony took a deep breath before opening his jacket again. “Warner, Julius, meet Hartford Potter.”