MC4A Winter Bingo

Prompt: 5E (Loneliness)

Representations: James Potter; Lily Potter; Tony Stark; JARVIS; Triad

Bonus Challenges: Machismo; Second Verse (Unicorn; Three's Company; Middle Name; Not a Lamp)

Word count: 1,430

Their one wish for their honeymoon was to get away from the war going on in Wizarding Britain. They had been fighting and in hiding for so long, the Order and Dumbledore asking for more and more. And then they got married, and they asked for only one thing from Dumbledore; to leave them alone for a few weeks as they enjoyed being normal people not fighting in a war for a change.

They left for America, in the Muggle world. They would be safe there. No British wizard would think to look for the Potters in Muggle America. There was no international Portkey as their safety could not be certain when using magical methods of transport during the war; they entered America via the Muggle way and intended to live as Muggles for as long as they stayed in the country.

It was when they were out for the night enjoying being free that they saw the man. He was sitting alone in a booth with a single drink on the table. Even without Lily's ability to see faint traces of auras, they would have been able to tell that the man was terribly lonely. Steeped as they were in their own joy of being together with no other worries, they couldn't stand leaving this stranger to dwell in his sorrows on his lonesome.

They shared a look to confirm the idea and then slipped into the booth on either side of the man. The man groaned. "Not now. I'm afraid the great Tony Stark is out for the night."

"Well that's good," James said. "We're out too, why not join up and be out together?"

The man — most presumably called Tony Stark — lifted up his head to stare at James. "English."

"American," James returned.

"Lily," Lily added.

"Why are you here?"

Lily grinned at Tony. "In the booth or in America?"

"Both?" Tony shrugged, not seeming to really care.

"We're in America because we wanted some freedom from the chaos that is our lives back in England."

"We're in the booth because you seemed lonely and that's never pleasant. We figured you could use some company." Lily nudged her shoulder into Tony's and James did the same thing on his other side.

Tony smiled slightly. Just a small twitch upwards of the lips but it was better than the flat line they had been in before. "And I suppose you've never heard of the name Tony Stark before either."

James and Lily shared a glance. "Never heard of him, though I assume that's you."

"Have you been living under a rock?" Tony asked James, askance.

James shrugged. "Basically. We live in a very secluded community that doesn't get a lot of news from outside of itself."

"What do you say, Tony? Care for some company?"

Hesitantly, Tony nodded. "I think I'd like that."

"Brilliant. I'm James Potter and this is my wife, Lily. What do you do with yourself when you're not sitting alone in a bar?"

The two Potters ended up spending their honeymoon with Tony exploring New York instead of exploring the city by themselves as they had planned. Tony had even invited them to have one of his guest rooms in the tower he called a home. Within a week, they had become very close and Lily and James started having a very serious conversation.

They liked Tony. He wasn't just a lonely person in a random bar they had decided to keep company as they drank. He was their friend; they had a wish to bring a new element into their relationship. In order to do that however, they would have to bring him into the secret of the wizarding world. They had seen the glances Tony had directed towards them — they were so similar to the glances they had given to each other at Hogwarts that they didn't think Tony would have any objections.

They just had to talk to him. Of course, it didn't quite turn out like that.

Tony apparently had a habit of skipping sleep in favour of working on technological inventions in his workshop. JARVIS — Tony's AI that cared for the man and his home — alerted the Potters that Tony had collapsed at his workbench. JARVIS was rather concerned for his creator and asked that they carry him up to bed so that he wouldn't wake up in pain from sleeping in a bad posture.

It was a relatively easy task with the strength James had acquired player Chaser in Quidditch. As soon as they had tucked the man into his bed, however, Tony let out a whimper and curled up into the foetal position. As one, the Potters moved to surround Tony and envelop him in a hug. They spent the night curled around each other — giving and receiving comfort.

Lily woke to Tony repeatedly poking her shoulder. "Hey, Tones," she mumbled.

Tony kept poking her and she groaned before opening her eyes fully. "Why are you in my bed? Why am I in my bed?"

"JARVIS asked us to fetch you from the workshop and we did. You didn't seem to want to be alone so we kept you company."

"Thanks." Tony's voice was quiet, almost disbelieving.

Lily pulled herself closer to him and hugged him before settling back to sleep. Her arm draped across Tony and her hand rested on James' chest. "We love you, Tony."

Half asleep, Lily didn't realise the words she had said; merely patted Tony's shoulder to calm him down when he froze.

"Could you explain what you meant when you said you loved me this morning?" Tony asked a few hours later when the three of them were sitting around the kitchen counter drinking tea (for the Potters) and coffee (for Tony).

James rose an eyebrow at Lily who shrugged unrepentantly. "I was half asleep; we were going to tell him anyway, what does it matter when?"

James turned his attention to Tony. "What Lily meant is exactly what it sounds like. We've grown to love you during our time here and — if you agree — would love to have you join us in our relationship."

"But you guys are married!" Tony sputtered. "Why would you want to add me into the mix?"

"Because you are smart, funny, companionable, adorable, and quite possibly a perfect fit for us."

"You didn't mention rich," Tony pointed out.

Lily rolled her eyes. "James and I live in a completely different society to you. We have different currency and James has more than enough money to keep food on the table for a few years. We don't care that you're rich. Isn't that right, James?"

James nodded quickly. "The Potter family isn't as rich as some others but my father created a potion several years ago that gives us quite a bit."

"Potion?"

Lily smacked James on the shoulder and hissed, "I thought we were going to introduce this to him gently?"

"I'm sorry, Lils! It was an accident! Just like you telling him we loved him when you were half asleep was."

"Ugh, fine, I forgive you."

"Thank you very much."

Tony let them have their moment and a kiss before bursting out, "What are we introducing to me?"

"You know that community we told you we're from?" James started. "It's a community of magic users. We have magic. Wizard and witch, that's us."

"Right, and I suppose you can prove this?"

Lily jerked her head towards James, who was standing up. Tony crossed his arms and watched the other man expectantly. When the man was replaced by a stag, Tony's arms dropped along with his jaw.

"Proof enough?" Lily asked, smirking.

Tony nodded and didn't take his eyes off of James as the stag turned back into a man and said man walked towards him. "We're willing to take anything you want to give us, Tony. All we ask is that you consider our proposal."

"Consider it considered," Tony said before grabbing James and kissing him.

James went along willingly while Lily grinned and patiently waited for her turn. Tony hadn't expected this when two strangers had decided to keep him company as he wallowed alone in a bar. Rhodey had been on duty, Pepper on her day off and Happy on holiday. Those were the three people he trusted above all others. Now he had two more names to add to the list.

One thing he knew for sure was that he enjoyed having Lily and James in his life. Hopefully Rhodey liked them too. He couldn't imagine his new partners and his best friend not getting along.