"Well?" He asked, looking at Tony. "Please say something."
Tony opened his mouth slightly before closing it again and swallowing.
"Do you hate me?" Harry asked, voice cracking with emotion.
"Absolutely not. Harry, nothing could make me hate you. In fact, I'm trying to think of the best way to help you with your magic. While you just dumped a shit ton of information on me that we will definitely need to discuss further at a later date, I'm proud of you for everything you've done."
"Really?" Harry breathed, heart swelling with an unfamiliar feeling: hope.
"Absolutely. In fact, I want to help you so bad, and make you feel comfortable with your gift, that I'm going to do something that I never thought I would ever do."
"And what's that?" Pepper asked, turning to Tony with an intrigued look on her face.
"I'm calling Loki."
*
"So, wait," Natasha began. "This Voldemort guy- he's definitely dead, right? Like he's actually gone this time?"
"Yeah, he's actually dead this time. We destroyed all six Horcruxes. Well... all seven," Harry corrected, counting himself as one of the Horcruxes.
"Wait, I thought there were only six," Clint spoked, counting on his fingers as he tried to name them all. "The diadem, the snake, the diary, the cup, the ring, and... the locket?"
"That's all we thought there were," Harry sighed, knowing that nobody in the room would like the next part. "You remember me telling you about the three brothers?"
"Yeah, they had the cloak of invisibility- which is now yours, the elder wand and the resurrection stone, right?" Pepper asked, twirling her engagement ring anxiously on her finger.
Nobody had slept the night before. They couldn't. Instead, after Harry went to be for a few hours, they had all discussed the best way to handle the situation. Harry had explained to them that all of his stuff was back at the Dursley's house, and that even though he still had two years left at Hogwarts, he didn't want to return when term began.
Ultimately, they had decided that calling Thor and Loki would be the best plan of action. None of them were familiar enough with magic, and those two were the only one's they knew they could, at least partially, trust when it came to the magic department.
When Harry had woken from the few hours of fitful sleep he had managed to score, he had entered the living room to find the entire team still wide awake, chatting quietly. They had all tried not to bombard him with questions, but he knew that they were all confused and curious.
Now, he was back in the hot seat as everyone gently asked their pressing questions, trying their best not to smother the kid.
"What do those things have to do with you, though?" Bruce asked. "I know you have the invisibility cloak, but you said that Voldemort had the Elder Wand, right?"
"Right. He did, at least. Originally, Dumbledore had it and when he was murdered, Voldemort stole it from his grave, where it had been buried along with him. But during the battle, instead of firing the killing curse back at Voldemort, I used the disarming spell. Ultimately, Voldemort's curse rebounded on him, which obviously killed him, and the wand became mine."
"Wait, so you have this wand now? Isn't it, like, super dangerous and powerful?" Peter asked, eyes widening. Harry had told them the story about the brothers, and how the oldest brother had been murdered for the wand. He didn't want anything like that to happen to Harry!
"No, I don't. I did, but instead of using it, I got rid of it. Snapped it in half and threw it into the lake. Nobody should have that much power unless they earn it," Harry shook his head sadly, and everyone else nodded in agreeance.
"With great power comes great responsibility," Peter murmured. "My Uncle Ben always used to say that to me."
"He sounds like a very wise man," Harry smiled weakly, and Peter nodded.
"He was."
"But what about the resurrection stone?" Tony asked, speaking for the first time since Harry had come from the bedroom. "Based off of your story, I don't think it would have done Voldemort the good he thought it would."
"What do you mean?" Harry questioned, eyebrows furrowing with confusion.
"I mean, if he just existed but didn't have any personality or... soul, don't you think that would have been a bit pointless?"
"You have to want to be resurrected in order for the stone to work. That's why I wouldn't be able to use it to bring back, say, my parents. They would have been here physically, but mentally and emotionally, they wouldn't have been. Does that make any sense at all? Sorry, I don't want to sound condescending- I'm just sure I'm doing a piss poor job of explaining all this."
"No," Tony shook his head. "No, that makes sense. But where is the stone now, and how do we know that one of Voldemort's followers can't use it to resurrect him?"
"You're not going to like this part," Harry sighed, wringing his hands in his lap.
"We're listening, kid. You can tell us," Tony encouraged, giving Harry a small nod, motioning for him to continue.
Harry began to explain how he had used the resurrection stone to come back after Voldemort had killed him, and then destroyed the stone, making it useless to everyone else from then on.
"You DIED?" Tony cried, leaping up from his seat.
"Yeah, I did, but-" Harry was cut off by three pairs of arms being thrown around him. Then four. Then five. And six. And then seven, as the entire team sat there, holding Harry in their arms.
"Guys, I'm okay, I promise," Harry wheezed, being a squeezed a bit too tightly by Peter who seemed to be sticking to him.
One by one, Bruce, then Bucky, and Steve, then Clint, and Natasha, then Pepper let go of Harry, leaving only Peter and Tony clinging to him.
Finally, Tony peeled himself away from his kids and sat back, but a protective hand still rested on Harry's shoulder.
"Pete? I think you can let go of him now," Steve chuckled, watching as the kid raised his head to realize that he was the only one still holding on to Harry.
"You're sticking to me," Harry grinned as Peter went to lean back. Blushing, he superhero flexed his hands and let go of his new friend and scooting away a few feet, while still maintaining a close, protective distance.
"I told you that you weren't going to like that part," Harry blushed, looking shyly at his hands.
"You were right. I didn't," Tony agreed, shaking his head and grabbing Pepper's hand with his open hand.
"When are Thor and Loki arriving?" Steve asked.
"They said they'll be here tomorrow morning. They've got some business to finish up in Asgard, and then they'll come," Tony responded.
"Alright," Steve replied. "Harry, are you alright?"
Everyone turned to Harry as he began to shiver, cuddling his knees to his chest.
"Rea-really cold," Harry chattered, and Bruce knelt beside the quivering child, placing the back of his hand on Harry's forehead and cheeks.
"He's running a bit of a fever," he declared with a slight frown. "We'll have to watch that- it could be sign of infection from the cuts."
The silence in the room was deafening. Everyone had almost forgotten all about the 'incident' once Harry had told them about his magic. Now, however, everyone had been snapped back into the seriousness of the situation.
"You don't think it is infected, though, do you?" Natasha asked with a frown. She hated seeing Harry constantly suffering, and if there was any hope that he would be spared some pain, she wished badly for it to happen.
"I can't be sure. My best guess is that between lack of sleep and the adrenaline from the conversation earlier having worn off, he's probably exhausted. I think we all forget how much energy it takes for our bodies to just heal," Bruce replied, keeping his focus on Harry as he checked his pulse. "I think it's best if we just get him to bed so he can rest."
"I'll take him," Peter chirped, standing up. "Just in case it's anything contagious. Don't want any of you to take a risk at catching it."
Harry gave him a puzzled look, but when a sudden wave of nausea washed over him, he decided he didn't want to know badly enough to open his mouth and ask. Luckily, Peter knew exactly what he was wondering.
"Ever since I became Spiderman, it's impossible for me to get sick," he explained softly.
"Alright Pete, you can take him to his room, and I'll go work on fixing some soup. It's probably best for him to eat something too," Tony nodded, watching with curiosity at how excited to help Harry the hero was.
"Harry, do you think you can walk, or do you need me to carry you?" Peter asked, face deadpan as if he were asking a life or death question. Harry couldn't help but give a sad bark of laughter.
"It's alright mate, I can walk," he chuckled, getting to his feet with the unneeded (but very appreciated) help of Peter.
The two teenagers made their way out of the living room, ignoring the curious expressions of the onlookers they were leaving behind. When they reached Harry's room, Peter carefully helped Harry into bed and began tucking him in.
Wow, he was taking this 'caretaker' role very seriously.
"Pete, I'm okay," Harry chattered, but his body's involuntary actions sent another message.
"No!" Peter cried, a bit too loudly, and it made Harry flinch. Guilt flooded Peter's chest and he immediately began apologizing.
"I'm sorry, but I already failed once at taking care of you. I'm not going to do that again," Peter sniffed, looking as if he were on the verge of tears.
"Hey, I'm sorry. It's okay, I didn't mean to upset you," Harry began, feeling bad for upsetting his newfound best friend.
"It's okay, I'm sorry I scared you," Peter gave him a weak smile. "Can I get you anything else?"
Harry paused, hesitating with what he was about to ask. He didn't know Peter that well yet, but there was a connection between them that he and Ron just hadn't had. He wondered if it was just because he and Ron had an off and on relationship, or if he and Peter had a brotherly relationship or...
Could he and Peter have a relationship like Bucky and Steve?
"Harry?" Peter's voice snapped him out of his trance.
"Erm I understand if you don't want to, or if you're uncomfortable, but..."
"Are you feeling okay? What do you need?" Peter kept his concerned brown eyes trained on Harry's big, emerald ones.
"Can you... can you lay here with me?" Harry asked in a whisper. Peter looked taken aback for a moment, but not in a bad way. Just more surprised than anything.
"Of course. Do you want... should I cuddle, or just lay here with you until you fall asleep? Are you cold still?"
Now it was Harry's turn to be taken aback. Peter blushed at his hesitation and immediately began trying to take a step back.
"Sorry, that was probably a bit blunt, and I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable, and-"
"I'm really cold," Harry said quietly. It was understood between the two what he actually meant, despite not having actually said it.
"Okay," Peter gave him a small smile and climbed into bed besides the small teenager, realizing just how much taller he was as he wrapped his body around Harry's. "Well, it's a good thing my temperature naturally runs warm."
"I thought Tony said you were always cold," Harry shifted into Peter's embrace more, enjoying the extra warmth.
"I do. It's weird and complicated," Peter chuckled.
The two lay there, each comforted by the other's touch and warmth. It wasn't long before both teenagers fell into a much- needed, deep, nightmare-less slumber.
In fact, even after Tony had entered the room with two bowls of soup for his kids, smiled and taken pictures to show the team, covered them up with more blankets, kissed the top of each boy's head, and turned out the lights, both Peter and Harry were still fast asleep.
And with what was coming, they were going to need all the sleep they could get.
*
(A/N: EWWWW I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT WASSSSSS!!!!!!! Honestly this was more of a filler chapter than anything, because I need time to build up the S U S P E N S E for Loki and Thor's [probably over-dramatic] arrival. Anyway, I've been contemplating the relationship between Peter and Harry and I want you guys to let me know what you think-- keep it platonic/ brotherly, or make it romantic? Either DM me on Wattpad or Instagram [ @OkaySiriusly_wattpad ] or comment on here and let me know!! As for this chapter, I'm sorry it was short and really bad, but I wanted to push one last update before the school year takes off [today was the first day :/ ] but I promise future chapters will be longer and hopefully MUCH better quality. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying! Stay safe everyone!)