Chapter One, Aftermath

On the way up in the lift with her Dad, Dr Banner and Loki, Valentina was lost in her own mind over everything that has happened in the last few days; it was a lot for her young, albeit brilliant, mind to cope and deal with.

~ Flashback ~

Valentina winced as she exited the Hogwarts Express onto Platform 9 3/4, trying to keep a hold of both her trunk and Hedwig's cage in her injured arm, but she was sad to admit that she was used to pain; they were old friends.
"Tina, why don't you come stay at my Manor? I can ask Mother." Draco asked or more like begged his best friend/ little sister.

"Or stay with one of us." Sue Moriah Li put forth, gesturing to herself, Neville and Susan Bones.
"You're my God-sister and my best friend, Tina, I don't want you going back to them!" Neville argued.
"Dumbledore really has no right to send you back there. Not after what you told him and, what Madam Pomfrey found out, it's actually really illegal and my Auntie will certainly hold an enquiry at the least." Susan added.

"I know but we've seen what happens when someone tries to interfere and he wipes their memories and I don't want that to happen to any of you. I don't want to lose my best friends." Tina whispered lowly so only they could hear, a note of sadness and resignation in her tone. Draco and the others had used her Invisibility Cloak to come and visit her in the Hospital Wing after they had been discharged when they noticed Dumbledore wiping Madam Pomfrey's memory of the abuse Valentina had suffered at the Dursleys when she had went to make a report for the Board of Governors and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, before he destroyed any evidence. "But I'm also scared to go back." She whispered, rubbing the toe of her shoes on the ground anxiously.

"Don't worry we have all made statements about what we saw Dumbledore do and what he said to you." Susan assured, pulling Valentina into a side hug, hugging the smaller girl tightly, a girl who had untied all four Houses with their friendship and a girl they were all fiercely loyal to and protective of. "I will make sure you're not with them for long and Dumbledore is held accountable for his crimes. Even if I have to bug my Aunt till she agrees, which I won't have to, but the point stands."
"And I'll get my Mum to owl you with an appointment. I really think it's imperative you speak to someone qualified over what you went through in the chamber, just for it to be on the books so no one can refute it, and so you can stay with us." Sue added.

Before the boys could add anything two twin redheads battled the throng of people to the five first years enveloping Valentina in their warm and secure embrace.
"If you need us, little mischief, send Hedwig to us and we will come and get you in our Dad's car." Fred said seriously.
"Promise us." George said firmly.
"I promise." Valentina whispered, holding as tightly as she could for a moment relishing the last semblance of safety she'll get for a while before letting go. "I better go. See you later, don't worry about me, I'll be okay. Have a good holiday." She waved to her friends before quickly disappearing to the Muggle side before they could say anything.

Taking a deep breath Valentina looked around before spotting her Aunt, Uncle and Cousin who not only looked extremely annoyed - Valentina winced knowing she'll pay for keeping them waiting later - but she was also confused as they each had a large suitcase and carry-on with them.
"Finally! You took your time girl! Any later and we'll miss our flight!" Uncle Vernon raged, attracting looks from passers-by.
"Flight?" Valentina questioned, feeling rather confused.
"Don't ask questions!" Aunt Petunia snapped. "You're lucky we have a hotel booked for now and the flight later this evening otherwise you will pay for making us lose money, girl!"
"But where are we going?" Valentina questioned once more.

"We're taking you to your father!" Dudley cried cheerfully, taking a sick glee at the hurt and confusion on Tina's face.
"Turns out your Father, that Potter, couldn't have kids so your freak and good for nothing parents only had relations with another man while being married!" Aunt Petunia spat angrily, grabbing Tina by her broken arm and pulling her long. It was then that Tina knew she would pay for all the questions; and she certainly did. As the moment they had entered the room in the hotel Uncle Vernon had beat Tina to almost unconsciousness the only reason he stopped just shy of it was because Petunia reminded him they couldn't pull attention to themselves at the airport and their niece being unconscious would certainly do that.

~ End of Flashback ~

"Bambina?" Tony called worriedly, crouching down in front of her. Both Jarvis and Loki had informed him of her rising stress levels and her rising magic levels.
"Don't! Don't touch her!" Loki said hurriedly when Tony raised a hand to pull his daughter into his arms to comfort her. "Her magic is rising fast and will react violently if it feels she's threatened. I've never felt such strong magic from a Midgardian Sorceress before and certainly not one as young as Valentina." He was enthralled by her magic, but there was a dark leech attached to the scar on her forehead and magical binds upon her magic; he wasted no time in using his magic to destroy the leech causing its remaining magic to meld with Tina's own but as for the binds he will have to remove them carefully, and preferably when she's in an induced sleep.

He explained as much to Tony, figuring the Father needed to know. Tony was left reeling and feeling horrified that anyone (Dumbledore and Voldemort, he knew it was them) would do anything so heinous to his baby girl! Anger boiled within him like a volcano seconds from erupting, but just as he was about to lose his cool; his daughter came out of her own mind blinking rapidly, eyes startled and hands raised ready to protect her head.
"Mini-me you're safe here. You're safe." Tony hurriedly assured her, recognising the signs of a flashback from the multiple times he's had them since Afghanistan.
"D-Daddy?" Valentina whispered unsurely.

"I'm here baby girl as is Loki and Dr Banner. When we get to the apartment will you let Dr Banner check you over before Dr Stephen Strange gets here? Just to make sure you don't have any injuries that need immediate attention, you can cuddle with Hedwig outside of that cage on the sofa." Tony proposed, trying to get her to agree he didn't want to force her.
"O-okay." Valentina agreed so quietly they almost didn't hear her.
"Thank you sweetheart." Tony said relieved, kissing her inky locks.
"Sir, Dr Strange is ten minutes out and I must warn you that Rogers has been on coms with Nick Fury trying to get someone to overwrite my systems to allow the Strike team in. He is rather enraged that Nick Fury agreed with you and hung up." Jarvis informed them as the lift was slowing down.

"Thanks Jarvis. Tell Stephen to use my private elevator from the underground garage when he gets here and monitor Rogers closely if he goes to attack let us know I won't have my daughter in harm's way and initiate Protocol Protection Three." Tony ordered.
"Right away Sir." Jarvis agreed.
"What's Steve's problem?" Bruce asked, confused.
"The Serum didn't only enhance everything 'good' in a person but also their 'bad' attributes as well." Tony informed them. "According to my father's and Aunt Peggy's notes Rogers always had a temper and would often pick fights that Barnes would have to clean up. He's angry that we aren't listening and things aren't going his way. He doesn't want to know about what I saw in space or about who controlled Loki, wait is he a big purple guy? About the size of the Hulk?" Tony suddenly asked Loki.

"You saw him!?" Loki asked, startled. "You need to be careful. He will come for you now as you embarrassed him in front of his fleet. He will exploit every weakness and make you hurt in the worst possible ways." He subtly nodded to Valentina which caused both Tony and Bruce to clench their fists. The Hulk did not like the sound of someone hurting little Iron Witch, the daughter of the only person he liked.
"We'll be ready for him, I won't let him do anything!" Tony said so fiercely that Loki almost pitied the purple bastard - almost. "Anyway back to Rogers, he's the sort of guy who has to cross the t's etc only seeing the mission and the small picture, despite not finishing basic training or earning the captain title."

"So the fact that we all concur that Loki shouldn't be punished and that sorting out the bas- the Dursleys is a priority puts us as his opposition." Bruce concluded.
"Exactly." Tony stated, nodding to his science buddy, before he knelt in front of his daughter he didn't want to startle her but he also wanted to protect her and that was what was most important at the moment. "Sweetheart, when the lifts open I want you to stay inside the lift and behind us until we tell you to come out, okay? It's just in case Rogers is angry and I don't want you hurt. I love you tons." He kissed her forehead.

Having felt the safest she could ever remember being for the last decade and thanks to her Eidetic and Photographic memory Valentina remembered her Dad and how she felt around him as a baby so she uttered four words that made an impossibly wide grin stretch across Tony's face, "I love you 3000."

* * *

The second the lifts' doors were open Rogers came storming towards them only to be forcefully - and comically - bounced back by the force field Jarvis had erected.
"Now, are we gonna talk like adults, Rogers, or will you interfere while my daughter is being healed?" Tony demanded. "Believe it or not, but I want this SHIELD business over with and all - but a few - out of my tower, my home by the way, so I can peacefully reunite with my daughter and deal with the scum that stole her and the scums in holding who harmed her."

"I get that, but -"
"Steve, if you're about to suggest that the SHIELD business - which Fury, Barton and Romanoff are more than capable of handling without us, mind you - is more important than child abduction and abuse then we are gonna have some serious issues, and not just me but the Other Guy too. He likes Valentina." Bruce interrupted, voice firm and hard with a dark glare on his face.
"I like him too!" Valentina's shy voice piped up from the lift making Tony, Loki and Bruce laugh.
"Fine." Rogers sighed darkly. "I'll go and secure the sceptre until Fury gets here." With that he entered the second lift which started its descent as soon as the doors were closed.

* * *

After a cursory examination Bruce pulled Tony to the side while Loki entertained Valentina with his magic, her cute giggles lighting up the room.
"Tony, this is way out of my league." Bruce sighed, running a hand down his face feeling stressed out, angry over how this little girl has been treated and barely holding Hulk from a rampage at this point.
"Please tell me it's not that bad. I don't want it to be that bad, look at her, she's too innocent to suffer that!" Tony begged.

"It is that bad." Bruce insisted, confirming Tony's worst fear that it felt like a physical lodge in his throat. "She has multiple incorrectly healed bones I'm guessing from the pain she described, she's never been inoculated for either our diseases to her knowledge, or the Magical ones like her friends, burn scars on her hands, scars on her back in lashes, and she's severely malnourished. My guess is that she probably has deficiency in iron, definitely in calcium, and that's not to mention the binds on half her magic that Loki told us. I'm really surprised she was not hospitalised while in school."
"What do we do?" Tony asked, distraught.
"Have Dr Strange properly assess her and perhaps have her admitted to hospital. I only have the basic First Aid as I'm a Science Doctor like you." Bruce explained gently.

"You could always come to Asgard and have one of our Healers heal her." Loki suggested. "It would be virtually painless for her and wouldn't take as long."
"That is a very tempting offer but if I'm going to make the Dursleys pay I need proof that no court can overrule and medical records will do that. They will just write off anything to do with Asgard and they need to pay for what they've done to her as does Dumbledore." Tony ranted, running his hands through his hair as he tried to think of the best course of action.
"If we get these records from your friend that's coming here, Doctor Strange, is it? Then either I, my Mother or the head Healer Eir can produce the results on the documents. Think about it." Loki shrugged.

"I'll think about it and discuss it with Stephen and Rhodey when they get here." Tony replied, giving Loki a grateful nod as he sat next to his daughter, smiling as she curled into him one hand absently stroking Hedwig as they watched cartoons. While they waited Loki looked over at the pair and couldn't help the smile that turned the corners of his mouth up; they looked adorable together.

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Author's Note: DO NOT ask me to update in any way shape or form. There are other ways of telling me what you thought of this.

Second Author's Note: Please continue to vote for your pairing for Valentina. The votes so far, are as follows:

• Ned: 1

• Fred and George: 21

• Theo: 6

• Neville: 4

• Ron: 1

• Blaise: 5

• Draco: 8

• Percy: 1

• Draco and Theo: 2

•  Fred: 2

• George: 1

• Viktor Krum: 2

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The best friends:

Tom Felton as Draco Lucius Malfoy (Slytherin).

Matthew Lewis as Neville Frank Longbottom (Gryffindor).

Evanna Lynch as Luna Pandora Lovegood (Ravenclaw, year below).

Ellie Bamber as Susan Amelia Bones (Hufflepuff).

Arden Cho as Sue Moriah Li. (Ravenclaw).

James and Oliver Phelps as Fred Gideon Weasley and George Fabian Weasley (Gryffindor, two years above).