*Chapter 18*

June 1st, 2008 (Hogwarts Express)

Harry was pouting again. He was stuck on this infernal train because Daphne had threatened to tell Rose that he was avoiding her when she goes to the station if he didn't. That just wasn't playing fair. Granted, he was the king of not playing fair but still, …it was supposed to be his thing! He sighed once more as he looked out his window. Daphne and Tracy were talking about their summer plans. Apparently they were going to Italy together for most of the summer. Daphne had invited him but he had declined. He knew he would most likely take some contracts this summer to keep himself busy as well as earn some money.

"Harry, where do you live?" Daphne asked out of the blue. Harry looked at her with suspicion.

"Why? Harry asked with squinted eyes.

"Just curious." She responded with a face that looked truthful. Harry sighed. Not like humans could find his home, even when they tried. He warded the crap out of it and added new ones every year.

"I own an island in the Caribbean that I live it," Harry responded truthfully. Daphne's eyes widened.

"How can you afford something like that? Do you make that much money" Daphne asked. Harry nodded.

"While I do make more than someone typically does in my line of work, private islands there aren't that expensive, especially if you buy it from the muggles. Everything seems to be more expensive in the wizarding world for some reason." Harry explained.

"How much did the island cost then?" Tracy now asked as she too was curious about this new tidbit of information.

"It was around 5 million USD in price. Although there are some that can get really expensive especially since you have to get fresh water and food to the island as well as have a boat to transfer yourself to and from it. Luckily magic takes care of most of that so I live rather independently on my island. Had to introduce some rodents to it though so Sammy could have something to eat. Other than that though. It's mainly mostly all my work with magic." Harry said as he thought about his own little tropical paradise with a smile.

"What kind of job do you do that pays that much?" Tracy asked curiously. Harry looked at her and sighed.

"Sorry but that is private," Harry said seriously. Daphne gave him a look and Tracy just nodded in understanding but was obviously still curious.

"Maybe you could invite us to your island one summer," Daphne suggested trying to change the subject. Tracy immediately perked up at the idea. Harry gave it some thought before nodding.

"I suppose that can be arranged. The house is certainly big enough to support a few families and I'm sure you would like the beach. Perhaps next summer." Harry suggested. It would be nice to have company. He hated to admit it but he did sometimes get lonely and crave social interaction, especially as he got older he noticed.

"That sounds great I will ask my mother then this summer," Daphne said excitedly.

"Is it alright if my family comes as well Harry?" Tracy asked politely. She knew that she wasn't as much of Harry's friend as Daphne, they were more of good acquaintances.

"Yes that's fine," Harry said with a hint of a smile. The girl appeared to try to be polite but actually looked nervous about his answer. She sagged in relief when he told her it was fine.

The rest of the train ride was mostly quiet. Harry had decided that he was going to take his traditional nap as he always did and slept through most of the ride. When Daphne next woke him up, they were at the station.

"Ugh. I hate this infernal contraption. I could be sleeping at home right now with Sammy wrapped around me but noo. I get to be all cramped up and have to see the damn Potters." Harry grumbled to himself.

"Oh so I should tell Rose that you actually don't want to see her?" Daphne asked. Harry scoffed.

"Don't make me laugh. Rose my carry the last name Potter officially but she is my younger sister and that makes her a Wolfe." Harry said with a voice full of pride.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Harry?" Daphne said in response with a slight smile. This time Harry scowled at her.

"What helps me sleep at night is not having back pains from riding in a fucking train all day!" Harry spat at her. Daphne shrugged.

"I didn't put a wand up to your head and make you ride the train, Harry." Daphne tsked at him as if he were a spoiled child.

"I would have rather you done that then blackmailing me," Harry muttered. They stepped out of the train and immediately, Harry heard someone screaming his name. He looked at the source and felt something collide with force into his side. Harry wrapped his arms around the object with a smile.

"Hello Rosy. Did you miss me?" Harry asked with a grin at the little girl in his arms, The little girl nodded frantically as she tried her very best to burrow her face into his stomach. He laughed as he ruffled her hair a bit.

"What, no greeting for me?" said a voice behind him. Harry turned around and say Arthur step out of the train and smile at the scene good-naturedly. Harry just gave the boy a neutral nod while Rose twisted her head to look at him before blowing him a raspberry. Arthur clutched his chest like he was offended.

"Rose you wound me!" Arthur exclaimed

"Don't be jealous that I'm her favorite," Harry said at him with maybe a little too much pride. In the corner of his eye, he could see Daphne looking at him and making a whipping motion. Harry turned and glared at her and she innocently turned in a different direction.

"Now c'mon Rose, we have to go if we don't want to be late for the party," James said with a smile as he appeared near Harry. Harry inwardly frowned at the man. He had wanted to spend a little more time with his little sister. Rose obviously wasn't so happy either because she pouted at James.

"Don't wanna." She said

"Rose Potter do not make your father have to tell you again," Lily commanded, appearing next to James. Under her much stronger gaze, Rose wilted slightly and nodded her compliance. Harry found that a little funny. As much as he didn't like her, Lily was the only one who could successfully command Rose to do anything.

'Must be a mother thing.' Harry thought silently as he observed the scene. He said his goodbyes to the Rose as she departed to apparently go to some party with her family. As soon as they left though, another voice appeared from behind him.

"Well, well, well. It seems the Potters left their trash just lying about." Said the voice. Harry turned around and saw a man with platinum blonde hair sneering down at him. Even if he didn't see Draco grinning triumphantly from the man's side, he still would have known who he was just by his features. Harry simply raised his eyebrow at the man.

"You must be Draco's father. I'm so sorry to hear that. You have my condolences." Harry said and put a grave look on his face as if he honestly found the news truly saddening. The man sneered at him.

"Watch your tongue boy! With a simple word I could have you put in Azkaban for assaulting my son you peasant filth!" The man said harshly while glaring down at him. Harry just raised his right eyebrow.

'Is Harry going to have to smack a bitch?' he thought as he continued to just stare at the man.

"Not that I expected you to know manners especially from being born from that mud blood whore of a mother you came from. Honestly I find It a miracle that Hogwarts has lowered its standards to just let any old trash off the streets in!" the man continued. The more he continued, the more Draco's grin got wider. Not that Harry noticed. He was too busy with his thought process.

'Yep, Harry's going to have to smack a bitch.' He thought.

"Excuse me Mr. Malfoy but can you look at my palm for just a second I want to show you something," Harry said as he raised his palm as if to show the man something. Malfoy was apparently, very much like his gullible idiot of a son because he did actually pause his rant to see what was so interesting about Harry's palm. Harry smirked.

Before either of the Malfoys could react, Harry reached his hand back and swung it forward in what was clearly a classic pimp slap motion. He hit the man so hard that he instantly fell back and onto the floor where he didn't get up. Harry heard Draco screaming 'Father' in surprise and concern while he watched the man on the floor.

'….is he actually not going to get up? That actually knocked him out? God wizards are weak. Honestly. How has a dark lord not taken over this country?' Harry thought as he watched Draco try to wake his father up who appeared to not be getting up any time soon. Draco then glared up at Harry.

"You will pay for this Wolfe!" He yelled. By now most of the station was watching in stunned silence. Harry just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well you know what they say Malfoy…Talk shit, get hit" Harry said as he put his hands in his pockets and flashed away. Time for that nap he had been wanting.

June 18th, 2008 (New York)

Harry was sitting in the backroom of a bar waiting for his contact to finish their work and come talk to him. While waiting, he tried to use some healing magic to soothe his headache. Apparently, Daphne was not happy that he left the station without saying goodbye and had sent him a howler to make her displeasure known. It was just 10 minutes of her yelling at him on how stupid he was. It was actually longer but Harry had decided to burn it before it could continue. So now here he was with a killer headache because girls were big meanies that liked to cause him problems.

He finished that train of thought when his contact walked in. Craig Howell was his name. Nice guy. He owned a bar as a cover but really was big into finding information on any underground news.

"Hey, you have seen the news recently?" Craig asked getting straight to the point. Harry just raised an eyebrow at him. Craig knew he did not have a TV so he already knew the answer to that.

"Right. Dumb question. Anyways, since you haven't seen the news, I'll tell you. Tony Stark has gone missing." Craig said. That did surprise, Harry. He knew who the man was but he also knew that the man was most likely very well protected wherever he went. Must have been quite a force to kidnap him.

"Okay. What does this have to do with me?" Harry asked.

"I'm getting to that. He has an assistant. Girl by the name of Pepper Potts. She has been looking for you." Craig said crossing his arms. Now that was really surprising to Harry.

"Why? Does she think I took him?" Harry asked very curiously.

"No, they already know it was a terrorist cell who took him. I have no idea why she is looking for you. She doesn't know who you are yet either. She just knows about your character. She has been trying to get a meeting with you from what I hear. The whole situation is being kept very quiet. She obviously doesn't want others to know what she is doing." Craig said. Harry nodded as he thought about the situation for a minute. After a minute of continuous silence, Harry finally sighed.

"Thanks for the info. Here you go." Harry said as he handed the man his reward in an envelope. Craig smiled as he checked the cash.

"Much obliged. Come see me if you ever need more info Harry." The man said with a smile.

"Yeah whatever you greedy bastard," Harry said with a crooked smile. He then flashed away as Craig headed back to his work.

'Let us go see what this assistant wants.

June 19th, 2008 (Los Angeles)

If Harry were, to be honest, he knew he was being a little creepy and dramatic. He had found were this assistant lived and was currently waiting in one of her chairs, in the dark, for her to come home and most likely scare her. After all, what good was being an assassin if you weren't over the top?

At around 10 pm, he heard her enter the house. He watched her come into the living room absent-minded without even a thought to the danger she could be in. From his spot in the shadows, Harry took a moment to simply observe the woman. It was clear that she had no fighting experience with how skinny she was and the absence of muscle. She was definitely pretty and had soft red hair as well. Definitely a pretty woman that most men would be happy to come home to. After observing her, Harry decided to speak.

"Good day at work Ms. Potts?" Harry asked from his spot on the couch. As soon as he talked, the woman jumped and immediately turned to him. She reached for the light switch but the lights didn't turn on no matter how much she clicked.

"You done?" Harry asked politely.

"Who are you?" she asked apprehensively.

"Will get to that in a moment. For now, please take a seat. If you try to run, we are going to have problems. Longs as you cooperate, no harm shall come to you." Harry said softly as he watched her slowly take a seat nervously.

"Good. Now why don't you tell me the reason you have been trying so hard to get an audience with me and all the lengths you went through to make it a secret." Harry said, getting straight to the point. Even in the dark, he could see her eyes widening.

"You mean you're…" she started.

"Yes. Now please answer my questions." Harry said cutting her off. She nodded slowly.

"Ok. I would like your help in finding my boss, Tony Stark." She said as she tried to make herself look more professional. Harry raised an eyebrow not that she could see it.

"You do know I am an assassin correct. We don't usually rescue people. I don't think you did your homework on me well." Harry said to the woman. She shook her head.

"I know of your preferred….services. But I also heard that no matter who or where your target is, you can find them." She replied. Harry looked at her curiously.

"So you're telling me that you only want to meet because of my tracking skills. Huh. Didn't even know that I was known for that." Harry said the last part to himself.

"So would you be willing to do this. I shall pay of course." Pepper asked him with a hint of nervousness of course. Harry just thought about it silently. He could take the job even though he didn't really do recovery missions. Generally speaking, it was much harder to keep a target alive than just killing them. However, he was one of the best in his field. He was fairly confident he could keep the billionaire alive long enough to bring him home. He sighed finally.

"You should be aware that recovery missions cost more than assassinations since they are harder to perform," Harry said at the woman. He could see her straighten and nod vigorously.

"That will fine. How much do you charge." She asked. Harry thought about that. He wasn't really pressed for cash anymore. In fact, he was pretty sure he could live his life happily with enough left for any children he may have. He decided to go cheaper with the price.

"I will do it for 1.5 million dollars. That's non-negotiable since I already brought the price down. You will pay half before and after mission completion. Failure to abide by these stipulations will result in your immediate termination. Understood?" Harry asked.

"Of course. You should make the money out to an account." She asked. Harry shook his head.

"Just have two suitcases with half in each. Easier for me." Harry said as he got up and walked to her door. He saw her trying to make out any of his facial features. This caused him to smirk slightly.

"I will be back tomorrow for the first half at 8 pm. Make sure you have it by then." Harry said as he opened the door.

"Wait what about my power?" she asked. Harry chuckled a little.

"That doesn't have anything to do with me. Your street is having a power outage. Didn't you notice that there were no lights on, on the entire block?" Harry asked with amusement. Even without the light he could see her blushing in embarrassment.

"Ah. I see. My mistake then. I shall have your money here tomorrow then. Goodbye." She said as she hurriedly closed the door behind him. Harry just made a slight grunt in thought before he flashed away to do some research.

June 22, 2008 (Somewhere in the Middle East)

Harry could honestly say that the Middle East wasn't so bad. Granted that it was pretty chaotic but still. It wasn't bad. Many of the locals he had encountered were very nice. He had immediately just found a hotel before going out searching. He was just using a variation of the tracking charm. Since he did not have a wand, he had to alter his so he would feel a tug in the direction he needed to go. He was pretty sure his version was better since he could still cast other magic while it was active. He had been flashing around the desert for a few hours now and could feel himself getting closer. It was hot as hell out in the desert and Harry was glad he had brought plenty of water. Just as he was about to flash away again in an effort to get closer to his target, he noticed a man in the desert walking across the desert with a makeshift turban. As soon as the man saw him, he waved his arms apparently trying to get Harry's attention.

'Well there goes that contract. Oh well. I will only keep the first half since I didn't really have to rescue him.' Harry thought as he started to jog over to the man. The man collapsed to his knees as soon as he saw someone coming to help him. As soon as he got close enough he immediately saw the man smiling in joy.

"I presume you are Tony Stark then?" Harry asked just to be sure. The man nodded in joy, still on his knees.

"Exemplary my dear Watson," Tony said back sarcastically.

"Sure are sassy for a man lost in a desert." Harry shot back with a smirk as he handed the man some water.

"Yeah well, you know how it gets when you have to break out of a terrorist stronghold," Tony responded after a big gulp of water.

"Indeed I do," Harry said with a smile as he recalled a memory from back when he was younger.

"So uh…you wouldn't happen to be able to get me to the nearest village or city would you?" Tony asked appealingly not too worried about his situation. Harry looked amused.

"Yes, but I think I will wait a minute before I take you to it," Harry said. Tony looked confused.

"Hm. You're not planning to kill me and then impersonate me so you can steal my fortune are you?" Tony asked with what sounded like, real concern. Harry chuckled.

"No, although I bet I could actually pull that. No the reason is that I am waiting for you to pass out from heat exhaustion that's about to catch up to you after the adrenalin of being rescued has left your body." Harry said amused. Tony raised an eyebrow.

"You sure because I fee gre…" He didn't finish because just like Harry said, he passed out and immediately fell forward where Harry put out his arms and caught him. Harry looked at the man and his arms and sighed.

"Better make sure Daphne never finds out that a handsome man fainted into my arms or anyone else for that matter," Harry said as he flashed away to his hotel room he prepared in advance.

Next-Day (Unnamed Hotel in the Middle East)

Harry was currently watching Tony finally wake up after sleeping for 16 hours. His eyes opened groggily.

"Where am I?" Tony asked as he looked around, trying to find his bearings.

"In a hotel which has a name that I will not even try to pronounce," Harry said from a chair at the other side of the room. Tony's head swiveled around and looked at Harry.

"Oh, it's you," Tony said as he looked at Harry through squinted eyes.

"How astute of you," Harry said as he got up and handed Tony a bottle of water.

"Drink up. Your body is going to feel week for a while from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Few days of rest and hydration should fix you up." Harry said.

"Thanks. Wait for a second! Are you a kid? How old are you?" Tony asked as he finally took a good look at Harry.

"I am 12 almost 13. Whether I am a kid or not is debatable." Harry said as he sat back down and stared at Tony.

"You sure look and talk like one. How did you find me anyway? You don't look like a local." Tony asked, clearly starting to have his mind recover from his experience of being lost in the desert.

"Magic. Not going to ask how you ended up wandering around in the desert. You should also know that the military is on their way to recovery from here. For you and your assistance's safety, I would not mention me at all when you are recovered." Harry said as he got up and prepared to leave.

"What? Why? Who are you?" Tony asked curiously.

"I'm an assassin that your assistant paid to rescue you out of the kindness of her heart. Sadly, I don't think the press or anyone else would look kindly on that. As for who I am….names Harry. I will see you probably never. There is a cell phone on the table if you want to call someone before the military arrives. Oh and tell your assistant that she does not need to pay the second half of the fee since you technically escaped yourself. Goodbye Mr. Stark." Harry said as he exited the room and immediately flashed away as the door closed behind him, leaving behind a baffled Tony Stark.

June 23, 2008 (Wolfe Cove)

Harry appeared at Wolfe Cove and sat down on his bed. He was pretty tired since he had stayed up almost all night making sure that Tony did not die or go into a coma. He laid down on the bed and sighed.

"You've been gone for a while," Sammy said as she slithered next to Harry's head. Harry did not answer the snake. He just looked at her in surprise.

"Umm….Did you have a growth spurt?" Harry said as he looked at Sammy. She looked to be almost 2 to 3 times her previous girth and length. She hissed in what sounded like an annoyance.

"The magic in the body has been having some….effects. I can shrink myself if I concentrate most times but when my core has spiked, I cannot control my size. It should be fine when it stabilizes again. Now tell me where you decided to disappear." Sammy demanded. Harry just continued to look at his friend before nodding slowly.

"Anyways. I had to go rescue a billionaire. Didn't make much money from it though. Only around 750,000 USD. It was a pretty easy job though. Didn't even have to kill anyone." Harry said as he closed his eyes.

"I thought you were paid to kill people?" Sammy asked. Harry just shrugged.

"Must be going soft," Harry said Sammy did the snake version of a snort

"I love how your definition of going soft is not killing someone," Sammy said. Harry cracked an eyebrow.

"You have something to tell me?" Harry asked.

"Yes, by human standards, you are a sociopath" Sammy snipped at him. Harry closed his eye and sported a grin.

"Just a little bit."