Author's Note: Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Whatever-Holiday-You-Celebrate! I'd apologize for my long absence and promise not to let it happen again, but...well, couldn't be helped, and it probably will, so... :/

At least you've got another chapter? :D

Also, I'm well aware I've got a ton of reviews/messages I need to respond to, and I will, I promise, but I'm posting this on my way to the second wake in six months, so it's not going to happen now.

Chapter Four: A Compromise

No one spoke. Not that there were a great many people around to speak, but still.

Tony would be the first to admit that he wasn't always the most observant person, and he tended to ignore social norms and cues—but even he could tell that this silence was heavy and fraught with meaning.

That was fine with him. As much as he was dying—hopefully not literally—to know more about whatever the fuck was going on, he needed a little bit of time to process things.

Apparently—if he wasn't hallucinating, and his rescuers weren't delusional—magic was real. The scientist in Tony wanted to reject such a ridiculous concept—but if there could be superheroes, and mutants, why not witches and wizards? Sorcerers? Magic-users?

Whatever, doesn't really matter what they're called. And it would explain a few things. Not everything—Tony still had a ton of questions—but the lack of sweat and transport? Definitely. He used magic to keep himself cool, and to travel from place to place.

Almost obvious, really.

"I don't think they'd throw The-Boy-Who-Lived-Twice into Azkaban," Harry eventually muttered, sounding surprisingly bitter. "I'd probably get off with a slap on the wrist."

"I wouldn't," Susan replied sharply.

"Healers don't take the same oaths that Aurors do. In fact, with your oath to heal anyone who needs it, you can argue you didn't have any choice, once I dragged you into things."

"Harry!"

"He needs help, Susan! Maybe his injuries aren't as life-threatening as I'd thought they were, but he needs healing!"

"Not even you can get away with breaking the Statute of Secrecy, Harry! Not when it's not a life-or-death situation—and it's not! He'll be fine once he gets to a Muggle doctor!"

"We don't know that for sure! And I'll bet you anything they can't remove that…thing inside his chest!"

Susan hesitated, and Harry pressed his advantage. "Maybe removing it isn't a matter of life or death, but it's not natural, it's got to be messing with his heart and his lungs, and you've sworn to heal anyone who needs it. And if it can't be removed any other way, then he needs it."

And he sounded so goddamn earnest about it, too. Tony couldn't help but wonder what the kid must've gone through, to make him so fiercely protective of someone he'd only just met.

"Why is this so important to you, Harry?" Susan asked softly. "Why are you so upset?"

Harry didn't answer right away, and Tony cracked his eyes open a bit, just enough to get a glimpse of what was going on.

Harry was rubbing his forehead gently, like he was trying to soothe away a headache. "If I could've gotten rid of that bloody scar, I would've," he eventually replied. "It came in handy every now and then, but the cost…"

Another heavy silence descended.

"It doesn't seem to be doing him any harm right at this moment—stuff it Harry, if you want my help with this, then we're going to do it right. Apply for an Exception for him, once we're back in London. Then we'll be able to get whatever we need—more Healers, more supplies…it's just stupid to perform such a complicated Healing out in the middle of nowhere, with no help and next to no supplies, when we don't have to."

"You really think we'll get one?" Tony hadn't known someone could sound so simultaneously sceptical and hopeful. "I mean, why would they decide to trust some random Muggle bloke with the biggest secret this world's got?"

"You're The-Boy-Who-Lived-Twice," Susan mocked. "You think they'd really tell you 'no'?"

Harry snorted. "As you so recently pointed out—"

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Tony was mildly surprised to hear himself talking, but it wasn't like this was the first time his mouth had started talking without his brain's permission. "Isn't there some sort of, I don't know, magic spell or something you can do, to keep me from talking about it? I want this stupid thing out as much as you want to take it out."

Harry jumped—literally jumped—and the look on his face was priceless. Tony opened his eyes fully and grinned.

"Well, I guess that settles it," Susan sighed, wearing the same look that Pepper had worn that time he came home drunk, naked, and covered in glitter. "Thankfully we weren't talking to him, not really, so we won't be carted off to Azkaban in a few minutes…"

Harry snorted, but kept his mouth shut.

"As much as I'd love to hear more about the magical world you live in—no, really, I would, and how does magic work, exactly?—I really think that, this one time, I will stay completely on topic, and insist on an answer to my question."

"There's actually several spells we could use," Harry answered, grinning slightly.

"Great! Pick one and let's go."

"You're going to make an Unbreakable Vow," Susan decreed, glaring at Harry when he opened his mouth to object. "That's the only one the Ministry will accept."

"Fine," Tony replied shortly, trying to sit up.

Harry pushed him back down. "It's called an Unbreakable Vow for a reason," the younger man explained, still grinning. "If you try to break it, you die. Even if it's an accident. Also, you haven't been Healed yet, so don't try to move. Your Healer's a real—"

"What was that, Harry? You want me to report you to Kingsley after all?"

Harry turned his grin on her. "A real kind, gentle, discreet young woman, with an excellent bedside manner, I was going to say."

"Sure you were," Susan replied, arching an eyebrow disbelievingly. "Now, Mr…?"

"Stark. Tony Stark." Huh, she didn't recognize his name, either. Tony couldn't decide whether to be insulted or relieved. "Call me Tony."

"All right then, Tony, extend your right hand towards Harry. Look straight at him. He's going to ask you some questions; answer them with the words 'I do.'"

"Like we're getting married." Tony waggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Harry to let out another snort.

"As long as I'm not the one wearing the dress."