"I'll tell you what you're not going to do, Mr. Potter," the voice of Poppy Pomfrey declared as she smoothed out her robes, stepping in front of Professor McGonagall and Ginny. "You're not going to let this man, god or not, mess with your memories. At least, not without some adult consent."
*
"Ma-Madam Pomfrey?" Harry stammered, eyes wide with surprise as he took in the sight of the three witches standing before him.
"I see that the trend of not being able to stay out of hospital beds stays true throughout the summer as well," the medi-witch mashed her lips together as she took a step towards the bed.
"I-" Harry was cut off my the door to the room flying open to reveal a very pissed off Tony Stark.
"Don't get any closer," the billionaire declared, the glove of his suit already formed around his hand in preparation for a fight. Behind him, Peter stood, web slingers prepped and ready, and Steve slightly behind him, ready for any hand to hand combat.
"You okay kid?" Tony glanced at Harry over his shoulder and he gave a shaky nod.
"And what're you doing?" Tony turned to Loki, who was standing off to the side between Harry and the strangers that had just appeared. "I thought I told you to wait for me."
"I was just trying to hurry things along," Loki replied smoothly.
"I'll deal with you later," Tony growled, turning back to the three women. "Who the hell are you?"
Minerva stepped forward, positioning herself in front of Poppy a bit. Tony raised his arm, ready to put up a fight if need be, but Minerva just held up her hands in surrender.
"I am Minerva McGonagall. I'm a professor at Harry's old school," she explained. "We were a bit concerned when we didn't receive Harry's letter confirming his attendance this next term, and so we've been looking for him. This," she gestured to Poppy, "is Poppy Pomfrey, the nurse at our school, and this is Ginny Weasley, she's a classmate of Harry's."
Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to Harry.
"Wait, Professor," he cried, feeling the all-too-familiar constricting in his chest as panic set in.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall replied, turning towards her student.
"I-I told them. About- well, about Hogwarts and... am I in trouble? Am I going to get arrested? Do I have to go to court again- oh Merlin," Harry began rambling, scratching at his neck and collarbone like he did when he was about to have a panic attack.
"Everybody needs to get out now!" A voice called, making everyone, including Loki and Tony turn around. Peter was standing there, looking very serious. He glanced towards Tony, motioning towards Harry with his head, and Tony nodded.
"The kid's right. Everyone out, right now. We'll settle this somewhere else," Tony barked.
"But-" Ginny began to protest.
"Now!" Peter commanded, voice hard as steel as he made his way over to Harry's bed. As soon as he was in reach, Harry grasped at Peter's hand, gripping it tightly in his own. Peter brought his other hand to the side of Harry's face, beginning to stroke his cheek gently.
Ginny watched the interaction between the two, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. She had had a crush on Harry since first year, but she had always known that he wasn't into her, or many girls in general. She had seen the way he would stare at Fred and George, and practically drool over Bill and Charlie over holidays when he would join them for family gatherings.
But she wasn't jealous, as one might expect her to be. Instead, she was just happy that he had found someone that could help him and make him happy. She would find someone else, it was just a matter of time.
As everyone made their way out of the room, Peter didn't break eye contact with Harry.
"Shh, you're alright, just breathe deep," he coached, similar to how Aunt May did whenever he was having a panic attack of his own. "There you go, just like that."
"What's going to happen to me? To us? With-with everything going on..." Harry heaved, clutching his hand over his chest.
"We're going to be fine. I'll stick with you, no matter what. And I know the exact same can be said about Mister Stark and Ms. Potts, and the rest of the team too."
"B-but my-my aunt-" Harry started with a hiccup.
"We won't let her," Peter stopped Harry before he could get even more worked up. Without saying anything else, Peter pulled Harry into his chest, resting his chin on top of Harry's head and stroking his hair gently.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Peter murmured into Harry's unruly hair, voice barely above a whisper.
"About what?" Harry asked, closing his eyes and leaning into Peter's touch. His back was stinging, and his bottom ached from the way they were sitting, but he felt comfortable with Peter, and he didn't want to upset him.
"Anything. Why you were so distraught when your professors showed up? Why you would get in trouble for having told us about your magic? Who that girl is and why she was so enamored with you... ?"
"She's no one," Harry offered, a little too quickly. He winced as Peter stiffened. "I'm sorry. Don't be jealous of her, she's nobody."
"Harry," Peter sighed. "You're going to have to talk to someone about this at some point. You don't have to bundle everything up and keep it all inside. It's okay to let your emotions show, you know."
Harry sighed, feeling the all too familiar feeling of anxiety prick at his chest. He knew Peter was right, that he should open up about what was going on. It would make him feel better for one, and it would help Peter, Tony, and the rest of the team help him.
But was it possible that maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to be helped?
"Harry? Are you alright?" Peter asked, shifting as he noticed the grimace on Harry's face.
"M'fine," Harry arched his back at the flare of pain that shot through him as Peter moved.
"No, you're not. Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you? I would have moved," Peter fussed, sliding out from behind Harry and propping him up with more pillows. "Are you comfortable? Should I go get the nurse? Jesus, Harry, next time tell me when you're hurting and I'll-"
"Maybe I deserve the pain," Harry snapped, his voice the most forceful Peter had ever heard it be. Instantly, however, Harry's face that had been twisted with anger and pain melted into that of guilt and regret.
"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to..." he trailed off, looking at his hands. "I've just lived with pain for so long, it's almost like I deserve it now. Without it, I feel... empty..."
"Harry, what your aunt and uncle did-" Peter started, face falling, but Harry just held up his hands.
"It wasn't just my aunt and uncle, Pete," Harry sighed, and Peter could see the war that was raging inside of him, deciding whether or not to elaborate. When Harry took a deep breath, Peter knew that he had chosen to explain, so he took a seat in the chair next to Harry bed.
Harry shifted his weight off of his back and bottom and more on to his side as he turned to face Peter.
"That girl that was in here, Ginny- she's a year younger than me. She's had a major crush on me since my first year, and, before you say anything, I never reciprocated. And she accepted that."
"I'm sensing there's a 'but' coming," Peter murmured softly, and Harry nodded.
"She's Ron's little sister," Harry began, and Peter's eyes crinkled as he winced. Harry had told him about Ron and how close they used to be, but he had sensed that something had happened between the two that Harry didn't want to remember or talk about, so he hadn't pushed the matter any further.
"The very end of May, I had another dream. It connected to Voldemort, and he was at the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Mysteries. The headmaster at our school, Dumbledore, he had been missing for a while, leaving us with a Ministry employee that was out to get all of us that didn't believe that Voldemort was dead. Which included me because, you know, I saw him being fucking resurrected-"
Peter placed a hand on Harry's forearm, reminding him to breathe and snapping him from whatever dark place he was drifting to.
"Sorry," Harry apologized, closing his eyes for a moment and trying to block out the vision of Cedric's dead body hitting the ground, eyes glazed over and staring at nothing.
"You loved him, didn't you?" Peter spoke softly, but his voice wasn't coated with jealousy, or pity. It was empathy- he understood how it felt for someone you loved to die.
"Yeah. Now that I look back at it, I did. But I was just so afraid of being even more of a, of a... freak," Harry spit out the word like it pained him to say.
"Anyway, er, so after Dumbledore left, I knew that we needed a solid Defense Against the Dark Arts program, since nothing was actually being taught by Umbridge. We called it Dumbledore's Army, and it grew and grew as people realized they needed to be able to defend themselves. But then, I had the dream. In the dream, Voldemort had kidnapped my godfather, Sirius-"
"The one who had escaped from Azkaban during your... third year?" Peter asked. Harry was impressed that he remembered.
"Yeah, him," he gave a small, sad smile. "You would have like Siri, and I know he would have loved you."
Harry paused for a moment, letting a stagnant silence fill the room, before clearing his throat and sniffing.
"So in the dream, Voldemort kidnapped Sirius, and I was going to go alone, but some of my friends that were in Dumbledore's Army insisted that they all join me. I should have said no. I should have just gone alone," he shook his head, shaking away tears and flashbacks that were threatening to surface. Peter gripped his hand tighter, giving it a squeeze.
"Sirius wasn't there when we got there. It was a trap- Voldemort figured out how to manipulate the mind link between the two of us, and he knew that I would come for Sirius... It was a trap. Once we realized what was going on, it was... it was too late. We were surrounded."
"Harry, none of this is your fault, you know that right?"
"But it is, Pete," Harry whimpered. "It is. First, they killed Dumbledore. He never saw it coming- a Death Eater came up behind him and... then, it was my potions professor, Snape. He never cared for me, never liked me, but he was a spy. I got hit with a curse and was down, and Snape jumped in front of the killing curse for me. I'll never understand why, but...
"Then, as if that wasn't enough death all cause by me, it was Fred. He was dueling, and they disarmed him... Ron and Ginny both were next to me when we watched it happen. Ron hasn't spoken to me since.
"Sirius and Remus arrived, right after Fred... after Fred. I told them to leave, it wasn't worth it. They had just reconnected after thirteen years apart, and they were getting married, and they were going to adopt me and... oh Merlin... no. No, no, no, no..." Harry began furiously shaking his head, squeezing Peter's hand four times.
"Hey, hey, hey. Shh, shh, it's okay. You're okay, everything's fine. Shh," Peter fumbled for the oxygen mask, grabbing it and pressing it to Harry's face. "Do you want me to call in Mister Stark?"
Harry shook his head back and forth rapidly, squeezing his eyes shut as the world began spinning. Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he pushed Peter's hand and the mask away from his face as he doubled over.
"Sick," he gagged, and a dish was thrust into his hands right as he began to get sick.
"Shh, let it out," Peter soothed, rubbing Harry's upper arm as the teen continued to cough and gag. Discreetly, Peter pressed the call button on the remote beside Harry's bed, alerting a nurse and hopefully Tony.
"Don't wanna forget. Don't wanna forget, don't let me forget," Harry sobbed.
A few moments later, sure enough, a nurse and a very distraught Tony burst into the room. Tony stopped at the doorway to take in the scene, as the nurse sprang into action.
"Can't lose Tony. Can't lose dad. Can't lose dad too," Harry was hysteric now, and Peter glanced at Tony with a deer in the headlights expression, eyebrows knit together with concern.
"Oh dear, let's set you up a bit more," the nurse tsked, gently helping Harry sit up as Peter handed her the remote to raise the bed.
"Pete," Tony said in a low voice, motioning Peter towards him. But the hero just glanced from Harry to his mentor and back at his hand, which was intertwined in a death grip. Tony nodded understandingly, staying where he was. He knew that if Peter called the nurses and not him that he needed to wait for Harry to ask for him.
"Harry, I'm going to give you some medicine that's going to help you relax, okay? It might make you a bit sleepy," the nurse told him, and Harry nodded, getting sick once more. Without needing more instruction, the nurse administered something to Harry via IV before gently taking the dish from Harry's hands, helping lower him back down as his eyes already began to drift shut.
"He should be asleep for a couple hours," the nurse turned to Tony with a soft smile. "Just call me if you need anything."
"Thank you..." Tony glanced at her nametag. "Lisa."
"No problem," she nodded before slipping past him and out the doors.
From across the room, Peter stood up, releasing Harry's hand that had gone lax as he slept. Wordlessly, he walked straight into Tony's arms, letting the billionaire wrap his arms around his small figure.
"Let's step outside, and you can tell me what happened, okay?" Tony murmured into Peter's curls. Peter gave a small nod and nestled himself under Tony's arm as they turned, leaving the room.
*
"Here you go buddy," Steve handed Peter a bottle of water, taking a seat across from him.
Tony had managed to score a private waiting room for everyone, and at the moment, all three witches, Loki, Thor, Steve, Bucky, Tony, Pepper, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce were all staring expectantly to Peter to hear what had happened.
"You don't have to tell us all, or any of us, if you don't want Peter," Pepper told him, eyes soft and mouth pulled into a tight, strained smile.
"No, it's okay. I need answers," Peter spoke, opening the water bottle and taking a long drink, savoring the excuse to not talk for even a moment.
"Mr. Potter has always had a flair for the dramatics," Poppy began, waving her hand.
"Shut up," Peter exclaimed, jumping to his feet, eyes flashing wildly, taking everyone in the room aback. "He is not being dramatic. He is suffering. He thinks he deserves all of this for being a, a, a fucking freak!"
"Pete-" Tony placed a hand on Peter's forearm.
"No! He thinks he deserves the pain that he's been given, both physical and emotional! How messed up is that?"
"What happened just now? What did he say?" Natasha asked, watching Peter attentively, but Peter could see she was nervous and distracted. She was picking at her nails, something she only did when she was anxious.
"Harry was telling me about what happened that night in the Department of Mysteries," behind him, Ginny tensed up, Poppy and Minerva lowering their gaze to look at the floor. "The night where he lost his teachers, his best friends, his family..."
Peter gritted his teeth, taking a deep breath.
"Harry was telling me about Sirius and Remus. How they were going to get married. How they were going to adopt him and he..." Peter trailed off, heart breaking as he saw the look on Tony's face.
"And he thought-" Tony started, voice wavering as Pepper gripped his calloused hands tightly between her own.
"That's why he kept saying 'can't lose dad too,'" Peter finished, staying silent for a moment before rounding back to the medi-witch.
"So no, I don't think Harry has a 'flair for the dramatics'. I think he has had a seriously fucked up life and deserves the world, because nobody should experience this much pain and suffering in life. Ever."
Poppy's face fell. "I'm sorry. I truly didn't mean-"
"Quite frankly, I don't give a damn what you meant," Peter snapped, spinning around on his heels, preparing to go back to his seat when a question dawned on him.
"Also, can one of you explain to me why I had to get Harry through a panic attack about going to court because he told us who he is? We're his family, and he had to risk being arrested to tell us about his identity. I don't care who you are or what you do, but your world sure does sound awfully fucked up. Here, people thank and worship their heroes, not banish them and treat them like criminals."
Minerva bit her lip, knowing that the teen had a point. She had never agreed with how harsh the punishments for telling other about magic was, especially those that are as close as family. And the wizarding community had been extremely harsh on Harry, especially considering how he took down Voldemort. Twice.
She was getting ready to explain this to Peter when a new voice that hadn't spoken since they had come to the waiting room sounded.
"After Dumbledore, Snape, Sirius and Remus and Fr... Fred's... deaths," Ginny began, a tear dripping down her cheek. "Harry blamed himself, so everyone else, instead of owning up to our own decisions, placed all of their grief and blame on Harry as well. In our minds... well, it was easier this way, to have someone to place the blame on instead of just being confused, and lost, and....
"I won't lie, I wake up every morning, regretting how we treated Harry. Everyone focused on those lost in the battle instead of the victory and Harry's heroics. There's no excuse for that, and I'm not looking for one because I know what we did was wrong," Ginny sniffed, swiping away her tears with the sleeve of her jumper.
"Ms. Weasley is right," Minerva agreed, taking the youngest Weasley's hand and giving it a light pat. "The wizarding world is flawed. We're so afraid to integrate with the muggle world and be judged or shunned that we take it so seriously when someone shares their magic with muggles."
"Pardon me ma'am, for speaking out of place here, but that seems like a lot of pressure to place on eleven to seventeen year old kids. They have magic that they're learning to control, and school is a major part of their lives for seven years, and you ask them to keep it all a secret," Steve spoke, a frown prominent on his face.
"I didn't say I agree with these rules, but I do understand why they're enforced," Minerva mashed her lips together. "However, there is something that concerns me that I do feel we should discuss."
"And what's that?" Tony asked, the witches beginning to get on his nerves.
"Why in Merlin's beard is Loki, the god of mischief, here offering to replace Harry's memories of his childhood?"
Tony's eyes widened as he whipped around to face Loki.
"You did WHAT?"
Loki held up his hands, his usually sly smirk nowhere to be seen. "You have to understand, it was just an offer."
"I brought you here to help me understand his magic, maybe help him in his healing, and you go and do this?"
"I thought it might be his best option," Loki grew defensive, voice hardening. "It's a bit selfish to make him relive all of that every time he closes his eyes, don't you think?"
"Stop," Peter whispered, head pounding.
"Selfish? You think that I'm being selfish here?"
"Stop it," Peter said, a bit louder. But even still, Tony didn't hear.
"Everything I'm doing, it's for him! I love him, god dammit, and I'm trying, okay? I'm trying!"
"Stop it!" Peter yelled, catching everyone's attention. "Nobody's replacing, erasing, altering or whatever-ing his memories. He told me he doesn't want to forget. When he was beginning to panic, he begged me not to let him forget."
Silence filled the room as everyone took in everything that had just happened.
"I think everyone should go for the night. We can discuss this all further tomorrow, but I think for now, we should go back to the hotel and everyone needs to shower, eat and sleep before we do or say something stupid that we can't take back," Bruce spoke for the first time. Tony had almost forgotten that he was there.
"I think that's a great idea," Steve rose to his feet, holding out his hand to Bucky. "Tony, Pep, do you want us to take Peter, or can he stay here with you?"
Tony glanced to Peter, who was looking at him hopefully.
"I think that after everything the kid's done for Harry today, he's earned the right to stay here with him."
*
(A/N: Hey y'all, here's another update for you! Sorry about the kinda bad ending but I couldn't figure out another way to end it without adding another couple thousand words that I was going to put in the next chapter. So, I figured instead of making you wait even longer, I'd break it here and continue later! I hope you're still enjoying, and thanks for reading! Stay safe everyone [and also, happy New Year!!!!])