Chapter Text
Thanos didn’t get to the Infinity Stones on Earth just yet, and there was the Reality Stone that he might not be able to get easily either, but Tony knew if the Mad Titan showed up on Earth tomorrow, Earth’s defenses wouldn’t stop him.
Tony tried to talk with his older self again, but it was still 10 years before that Tony would start to listen to other people, and Tony didn’t have the luxury to wait for so long.
He needed the patent for the arc reactor but with some negotiation, Tony was sure that could be bought. Plus, he needed the Tessaract, and the Avengers, meaning he needed SHIELD more than he needed the SI. Which meant Tony had to talk with Fury first.
After their rounds with Dumbledore for years, Fury seemed like an open and honest person. Or maybe it was just the shock when a Tony Stark who looked 8-10 years younger Apparated to his super-secret office with Severus and told him that he had come from the future, and had knowledge of Hydra growing inside SHIELD, and some future threats, while assuring Fury was willing to do everything to help, but he needed resources, a team, and - last but not least - he’d preferred to be not locked up in a prison cell, being experimented on by SHIELD, because of admittedly being a time-traveler.
It was only until then that Tony would look like himself - he asked Severus to permanently charm Tony to look different next.
“Are you sure?” the Potions Master's tone was hiding his hesitation.
“Ah, come on, it’s your chance to make me as attractive or average as you want,” Tony shrugged. He didn’t mind looking like his father anymore so much, but he couldn’t run a public company that would (hopefully) challenge SI soon if he was the clone of Tony Stark. He even had to change his name, keeping his first name only.
“Not ugly, though?” Severus asked while already Transforming some of Tony’s features.
“Only if you make an Unbreakable Vow that you’ll stay with me if you do that.”
“Eye color, hair color?”
“Just not blond with blue eyes.”
“You speak like a true Malfoy heir, do you?” Severus could only laugh.
After all, Tony managed to get financing for his soon-to-be company from Lucius Malfoy of all people, converting a large amount of his wizarding gold to Muggle cash, but in turn, demanding Tony would take his name, and seats on the board, and shares.
“If you say Malfoy heir, my mind goes to Finn, not me,” Tony could only laugh. Finn was a very talented magical kid Tom kept locked up, so Draco decided to adopt him when the war was over. Only, Lucius said it would be unwise to do that as a single parent, hoping Finn would become someone else’s problem, with Draco only visiting him every once in a while. The elder Malfoy almost fell over his legs when Draco announced next that he had married Harry Potter and they’ll raise the kid together, as a Malfoy or as a Potter, Lucius could choose - finally, Lucius gracing his “grandkid” with the Malfoy name (and fortune).
But now, in turn, he was pushing Tony to be a Malfoy too, maybe thinking he failed to control his real son, so he’d make Tony worthy of the Malfoy name in the eyes of society before too long, but it’s not like Tony couldn’t handle one grumpy, old Veela if Dray and Harry could have some peace in turn.
“You just gave me a terrible idea,” Severus announced, finishing with the final touches, grinning. Seeing that, Tony was for one brief moment nervous to look into the mirror to check the result, but when he did, he looked like… like he was still a Stark, faintly, but his mom’s features were brought forward more than his fathers, and his coloring was Remy’s (sandy brown hair, green eyes). “Hold on, if you hate it, I’ll just charm it to-“
“No, it’s perfect. Thank you,” Tony was only tearing up because Sev knew what he wanted when he didn’t. In fact, their tight schedule be damned, he was kissing Severus as a thank you soon enough, making the Potions Master say.
“It will take me some time to get used to.”
“Just… close your eyes, if you have to, but for the love of Merlin, don’t you dare to stop,” Tony was having none of that, making Sev chuckle.
“Frankly, I wasn’t going to.”
Tony only got what Severus must have been feeling when Sev said he needed Muggle clothing to blend in, and somehow he had the notion that meant a T-shirt with some metal band’s logo, and jeans, and Tony couldn’t correct him when the Potions Master first showed his purchased items off in their apartment.
“From this day on, you aren’t allowed to wear anything else, Sev.” Even though it was weird, it was good weird. Like seeing the Potions Master use the phone to order pizza when Tony was working for days nonstop, skipping meals - before he could complete JARVIS (and FRIDAY already as well, even though in this timeline Tony had no intention to create Ultron).
Then, they got the Avengers compound (not the Tower) as HQ, Sev had a lab, and Tony a workshop, where Tony first hired Pepper, Happy, and Arthur Weasley, just as later he could get Ivan Vanko and Hermione Granger.
And even after some time, Remy and Siri were visiting, and just seeing the R&D division, Sirius was almost jumping out of his skin seeing the hybrid Muggle tech and enchanted objects, so Tony asked whether they’d like to stay a little bit longer, and help, and Sirius got so into inventing things (again) that they simply never left.
Remy was a full-time teacher in the new Hogwarts now, so he had to get a permanent International Apparating license, but he never looked happier - especially since Sev brew him a Potion he only had to take once a year and could survive the full moons now as if he took Wolfsbane.
And they were making good progress. There was the public part of the company that only made a profit with Muggle inventions (never weapons though), but behind the scenes, they also were managing to create a growing arsenal of hybrid tech, producing all sorts of trinkets that Tony would have thought weren’t possible before.
If he wanted to put it all into suits, he’d have to design at least 200 different ones. At the same time, that’s what they were. Trinkets. Not Titan-killing weapons, and even if they were, what was the guarantee that Thanos would be foolish enough to let Tony come close to him ever again, knowing what he knew now?
Life was like a dream, but only with the threat of half of the universe lingering over Tony’s head, uncertain when he could lose everything in a blink of an eye. Or rather, in a snap of a finger, as it was.
And while he was told Severus should make the difference on his side, the Potions Master wasn’t going to go near to the always crowded and very noisy R&D section where Tony had spent half of his life now (if not in his workshop).
“Let’s Apparate to a deserted island in Hawaii, and never come back,” Tony suggested when he got back to their room and was surprised to find Sev there reading in bed, instead of staying up late in his lab, just as Tony was known to work 18 hours a day.
“Hmm, I give you two days,” Severus gave him a look over the book he was still holding.
“Before a nervous breakdown?” Tony guessed, unfazed, deciding whatever it will take, he’ll make Sev pay less attention to the 800-page-tome and more to him.
“Before we’d have to come back because you wouldn’t be able to bear being away for longer.”
“You know me so well.”
“Unfortunately.”
“Take that back!” Tony said, but he was laughing.
“Or what, you don’t threaten to kidnap me to a deserted island anymore?”
“You’d have to Apparate, so if anything it would be the other way around.“
“Clearly, I’d be under duress. And you don’t wish to know what could be on an island like that. Poisonous snakes, wild beasts threatening your life daily, and even the worst: no wifi connection.”
Tony, who thought Sev was going to say no water at first, was giggling like a girl hearing Severus talk about wifi.
“Please tell me more,” he got very close to Severus, teasing. “What for do you need an internet connection so badly? I’m dying to hear.”
“I wasn’t talking about myself.”
“Then tell me what is important to you,” Tony kissed him. “All this is… it doesn’t mean anything if I can’t keep you happy.”
“Because your guardian angel/advanced being of light said I’ll be crucial in this war?”
“Because I’m only willing to fight again this time if I have someone to fight for,” Tony said, making Sev’s eyes grow wide if only for a second before he was back to his usual self again.
“I can tell Fury to find and wake Captain America up a decade early if you’re too busy to ask him yourself.”
“We’ll need to do that sooner or later,” Tony could only sigh just thinking about that. “But that has nothing to do with my point.”
He was about to put his mouth where his words were too, kissing Severus deeply for a start, but that’s when the Potions Master uncharacteristically stopped him.
“This is your world. Even working with hybrid tech, there’s a light in your eyes when you’re talking about it. But… it’s not me, Tony. And I fear it’s never going to be.”
“What are you saying?” Tony froze with fear. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“Gods no,” Severus kissed him. “But Albus had offered I could return to teaching next year, and I can’t say I’m not thinking about it. If your dogfathers can manage it, we could perhaps as well…”
“We barely see each other as it is,” Tony’s heart was still beating out of his chest, as the first scare was still affecting him, thinking Severus was just about to dump him. “And you hated teaching.”
“Teaching students who weren’t motivated to learn, yes, but now Hogwarts is different…”
“And I’m just a Muggle, right?” Tony could only hide his disappointment behind a frown. “Even if I work with hybrid tech every day, I’m not your person anymore, because I don’t have any magic, do I?”
“That’s not- I’ve never said that, so don’t think that,” Sev was trying to calm him down, reaching for him, but Tony didn’t want any comfort from him if they were doomed, and soon Tony would only have himself to comfort him, missing Severus all the more if he accepted the consolation right now, or at least that’s what he thought.
“Do as you like.”
“Should I?” Severus got hold of Tony’s hand and asked.
“Yes! I never thought you were only here because-“ Tony would have probably cried a river if Sev didn’t stop it with a dry chuckle.
“Than I shall. Starting right now. It requires you to undress immediately, as the first step.”
And he was controlling Tony with not only his words and skilled fingers already taking Tony’s clothing off, but also his body weight, now on top of Tony, making Tony think this was no fair way to win an argument, surely.
“You’re Slytherin as ever,” he noted, once Severus fucked him twice as a result: once in the bed, and almost immediately in the shower.
“And isn’t it what you love about me?” Sev smiled, before going back to their previous topic. “But I’d be whatever you want or need, Tony, just… I don’t have any use staying here. I used to invent some spells and were fairly decent in Potions always, but I never said I could join your merry group of inventors, especially with Black, I’m not like that…”
“Neither am I.”
“Neither were you,” Severus corrected. “Until you ended up in a school where everyone was decades younger than you, and you still made lifelong friends.”
“And… is returning to Hogwarts what you truly want?” Tony’s voice was barely louder than a whisper. No matter how Dumby was different, and Tony’s relationship with him as well, the last thing he wanted was the Headmaster around Sev again.
“It’s all I’ve known my entire life.”
“The old fool better double your salary, and give you 3 days off a week, at least,” Tony hated even the idea with all his might, but there was no way he could keep Sev from anything, nor would he ever attempt limiting him.
“I’ll ask for as many days off as you take off from your job, so we can spend it together,” Severus said, making Tony shake his head.
“You’re good. Telling me what to do without discussing it.”
“I trust you’ll always say a few words about it if you don’t like my ideas, so…” Sev said, suggesting Tony talked too much.
“You know, if I shut up, you’ll have to talk, so be my guest,” Tony threatened. “Tell me what weather we’re having today?”
“There’s a Wind of Change,” Severus said in a dead-pan voice, the ends of his mouth curving a little upward.
“I can’t even be mad at you when you’re like this,” Tony gave up, hearing that.
“It’s called humor.”
“It’s called pop culture references of the things I like, and you now somehow know, despite being a wizard.”
“Maybe the extremely loud Muggle music blasted from Black’s speakers isn’t the worst thing about this compound,” Severus shrugged, and Tony truly couldn’t be angry with the wizard any longer, despite how he was pulling back in a sense from Tony, even if he said he had a reason(/excuse?) to do so.
And maybe it wasn’t the end of the world (or half of the universe) just then, even if Tony noticed he had a shorter fuse when it came to paperwork and the theatrics of the board of his new company when Sev wasn’t around. Maybe that was a good thing, Tony spending more time on the part of his job that actually mattered, grooming Pep for taking over the company a hundred years early.
And in turn, when Severus was finally home, Tony had felt less guilt about dropping all his work on short notice, just spending time together with him, even if all that time was “wasted” in the grand scheme of things.
Who could be bothered to keep freaking out on an epic level, (on the borders of a panic attack each day,) for the safety of trillions of people, when someone had such a delicious distraction as Severus Snape, really?
Just the smallest moments with the Potions Master - despite the threat hanging over Tony’s head, or maybe exactly because - felt like separate worlds, each a different lifetime, and so, even if Tony would die again, Thanos could never take that from him.
And the best ideas, ironically, came to Tony when he wasn’t working. He wouldn’t even try to implement them right away then either if it meant he couldn’t be with Severus any longer.
Thanos had attacked in 2005, and though there were several plans in place to make it impossible for him to do the Snap, Thanos could still find an easy way around that. He didn’t put his forces just to one grand battle, but he ran several random attacks with disposable armies, while Earth had lost the lives of Avengers.
Tony lasted longer than he thought he would - Clint died in his arms, Bruce was blown up in the Hulkbuster so they had to bury an empty coffin - and when he was left with a fatal wound, he could still activate the emergency Portkey Severus had given to him, so he activated it to say goodbye.
“Let me get Pomfrey,” Sev was trying, but Tony knew it was futile. Ebony Maw wouldn’t have left Tony behind unguarded if there was any way in the universe that he could be healed.
“I just wanted to say I have no regrets,” Tony shook his head at Severus. That alone was worth it, coming back, and redoing everything. “And I don’t want you to do anything about my death. You’ve barely got over…”
Lily Potter. But it’s not like he could finish that line of thought, when he was gone just a second later, smiling in Severus’ arms.
***
Severus had heard about all the plans of how the Avengers could stop the Snap, but maybe they had it backward, and Thanos had it right. There would be nobody to implement all these brilliant plans and high-tech weapons if there were no Avengers left.
Severus was supposed to make this stop, and he ran away, so when Tony died in his arms, he decided he wasn’t going to do that anymore, even if the decision came too late. He did think Tony was brilliant enough to pull anything off he wanted, he did just that in Hogwarts for 7 years straight it seemed, but maybe his luck ran out, or maybe Thanos was that strong?
Dumbledore tried to stop him, then Lupin and even Black, saying Tony strictly told them not to let Severus fight, no matter how badly they were losing, but some others didn’t have the same reservations.
Fury said he’d give a mountain of weapons to Severus, and even an army to lead, Marvel said she’d fight with him anytime, and Tony Stark (the older) promised a suit that could enhance your magic in combat, and Sev was just one step away from taking up all on their offers at once.
Except, Dr. Pym only approached him then.
“I was working with Anthony on a device that would take the Infinity Stones Earth has out of existence in the exact moment of the Snap,” he started.
Severus could only nod because he knew as much, and at least the Doctor wasn’t coming at him with a “sorry for your loss” as everyone else in the compound for 4 months by then, giving Severus pitying looks.
“Accidentally, it also can pinpoint the location in time and space of these objects, because we didn’t know whether we’d need to use their powers later,” Pym said. “I suspect Anthony knew this means he was surrendering a time-travel manual to me by explaining how that should work, but luckily, he never suggested we should use it. Just imagine the implications it would have. As I understand, Tony Stark in a different timeline of the same reality used time travel already once to change everything. Now even if someone went back, and tried to do the same, it could be that their mind wouldn’t be able to differentiate between that past, or ours, being paradoxically at three places at once.”
Severus knew about this as well, so he just wondered why the doctor was telling him as much.
“That said, you weren’t involved in the original Time-Heist, Severus. And you were barely in the compound these last couple of years, only dropping by to visit Tony on a tight schedule. You’re probably the only one who could walk around changing things, and not have to risk running into yourself, no matter which past you’d return to.”
“Are you suggesting you’d help me?”
“If that’s what you want,” Pym simply announced. “I respected Anthony enough not to push if you don’t want to go against his wishes…”
“I want to do it. But I don’t know what to change so it wouldn’t just come to the same result, only later.”
“But then, I’d be a fool not to at least let you try if Earth and half of the universe could use your help, just as much as Tony does,” the scientist smiled. “You know, the good thing about Time-Travel is that we have time to figure out a good enough plan as well. At least for an average one, until Thanos Snaps, because I’m going to disintegrate then.”
“There are worse ways to go,” Severus said, for a moment forgetting he wasn’t talking to Tony who appreciated this kind of humor.
“Indeed, there are!” but luckily, Pym only laughed. “I’ve heard you were bitten by a man-sized snake?”
“I… don’t remember that,” Sev could only say.
“Then, you were also the Horcrux of a noseless dark wizard, and if Anthony didn’t understand your intentions, you were supposed to sacrifice yourself if you wanted to get rid of it?” the doctor went on with a smile that reminded Severus of Albus’ smiles when the Headmaster was genuinely amused.
“I’m surprised he told you that.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time together,” Pym said. “And he was constantly thinking of you, so I was forced to listen to your life story, pal.”
“My apologies?” Severus could only say. If he ever had doubts about what Tony ever saw in him, especially when he could get back to his American friends, and have tons of money, and tech so advanced that Sev would probably never understand… what Pym just said could have been reassuring.
Going back in time was relatively easy, even if due to some parts of the timeline having already 3 versions (due to the Avenger’s time-travel, then the supernatural one Tony’s protective being did, and now with Severus being back), sometimes it wasn’t easy to navigate, Sev seeing double sometimes, but his Tony was always just at one time in one place.
Not to mention, by then, he was grieving Tony for almost a year, so thinking how he could be alive and well was all the miracle Severus needed to pull off anything he had to just to get him back. If Voldemort was on the other side, he would have sold his soul to the Dark Lord, just to get Tony.
If Tony himself was about to get angry that Severus got involved to save him, even if Tony explicitly said not to, and they’d break up because of this, that was still alright, even if an equally horrifying prospect.
But Pym had a way around that: “Whatever you do, just avoid Antony as you would your past self. The others don’t know you well, but he’d sense right away something was up.” Easy, right? Meanwhile, Severus could just dump ten years of research into Tony’s lap by plugging in a drive to JARVIS’s main server, and Tony would never know it was him.
Except, to get to the server, Sev needed to go through Tony’s workshop, and when he was done, Tony got back too early, and when Severus saw him, he broke down. Not to mention, he was wearing a Pym suit, so Tony had no illusion of what he was up to.
“No! No, I’ve told you to not get involved!”
“Yet, you also told me I was supposed to save you this time.”
“I’ve been in that position last time. Strange gave up the Time-Stone for me, and I could guess it must have happened for a good reason. And I can deal with whatever Thanos is planning, but I refuse to sacrifice you.”
“Then don’t. But like it or not, I’m already very much involved, so…” Severus could barely keep his hands off of Tony when it was Tony who kissed him, considering not just returning where he came from, but staying, probably assassinating the other Severus out there just to take his place.
But Pym didn’t advise him to do that, except for major timeline breach emergencies, so he did return to the lab, putting in the numbers where and when he started from.
When Pym wasn’t there in the lab to welcome him back, Sev assumed the worst. But when Tony showed up, Severus’ heart lept.
“You’re grounded,” Tony said.
“But it worked.”
“Or, you created just another branch in the timeline.”
“I don’t mind if the Time-Police chains me up next for the breach, if you sometimes can come to visit,” Severus tried to act cuter than he was, but was pleasantly surprised when Tony only blushed.
“Oh no, your punishment is that you have to spend more time with me since I’m alive and all that,” Tony announced. “With Thanos trapped in a place that shouldn’t exist, Marvel using three Stones to put him there, I’m retiring. To Scotland. Into your bed, actually…”
“What?”
“Yeah, I’ll be too lazy to dress myself as well, so if this is what you wanted, suit yourself. Because I won’t. Although, the Dungeons do get cold often, so maybe-“
“No, I mean… we won?” Sev could only ask.
“Yes. In this timeline, at least. My research regarding the properties of the Stones went 10 years faster with all the info you dumped on me in the past from your future, so… we’ve made some discoveries before Thanos came.”
“I… have a very comfortable bed,” Severus couldn’t bring himself to say “love you” then and there because Tony would think he’d only said it because of the shock that Tony died. But he said the closest thing that came to mind. “And having quarters in the Dungeons is overrated if you ask me. Besides, you’re also grounded, you know, for dying.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Severus Snape?” Tony asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say so many sentences at once unprompted, Sev…”
“Well, be ready for it, because I kept having conversations in my head when you died, conversations I wished I had with you when you were alive, and now I’m going to push for them to happen.”
“Like?” Tony was also cheating, because he was kissing him, rendering Severus unable to speak with very Slytherin, underhanded methods, indeed.
“Would you… forget it.”
“If this was meant to be a proposal you thought better of in the middle, I gotta say you should work on it. And practice by asking me at least three times a day, at least until I say yes,” Tony noted.
“I wasn’t… Do you want to get married?” Severus was shocked, because Tony never said, or even suggested, and Sev assumed they were on the same page about how marriage on its own didn’t help any relationship so…
“Ah, that better, but maybe-“
“I was going to ask you about whether you wanted kids. Not now, but someday,” Severus didn’t, but if he could babysit the teenage Harry Potter for years without a problem, he supposed he could only do better with kids who weren’t the children of his arch-rival. And, Tony did mention some kids named Peter and Harvey, and it was hard to mistake his tone for anything else than longing. But in the past, Sev chose not to bring the topic up, because he guessed he couldn’t give Tony what he wanted, and just by discussing it, it would have become obvious.
“Whoa, this isn’t how proposals are supposed to work. You’re taking it a little too far for a joke,” now instead of him, Tony was freaking out.
“That’s because I’m not.”
“Proposing.”
“Kidding. I’m not kidding.”
“So what, you’d brew a Potion or something? And even so, which one of us would carry the child? I’m retired, and the kids at Hogwarts wouldn’t know what hit them if their teacher suddenly showed up pregnant…“
“Merlin, stop!” Severus could only laugh, just imagining Albus’ face when Sev told him that he’d be going on paternal leave, or how would that work, even if Severus could create such a potion. “You’ve officially worked with too many wizards and superheroes if you think magic can solve everything like that…”
“So there’s no such Potion or spell? For thousands of years your people had magic, yet they never thought of a solution?”
“I was talking about adoption. But, you’re right. I’d invent a way if you’d carry the child… We’d also need a biological mother, so maybe we could ask Pepper for a weird once-in-a-lifetime favor…”
“Oh no, no, no, we’re never having kids,” Tony saw the evil smile probably on Sev’s face, and declared. “And I’ve arranged for Peter and Harvey to have a better life this time around, so they won’t need me.”
“I see.”
“But… maybe we should. Once, in the future. Just so I can see what face Siri would make that now he’s officially older than old, having a grandkid.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Sev grinned.
“And, we’d have the Weasley twins for godfathers…”
“Or maybe, if we wanted the child the survive longer than two weeks under our care, we could ask Draco and Harry to do it. Or Bruce.”
“You’ve thought about this a lot.”
“Not just this,” Severus admitted. “Do you wish to also hear the sonnet I’ve created about you while we were apart?”
“Oh don’t hold back,” Tony knew there could not be such a thing, but looked like he wanted to hear what Sev would come up with right on the spot. “And you might as well have a chance at the next proposal attempt if it’s something nice.”
“When I said sonnet, it’s more like a modern one.”
“Do you need instrumental support or something? Is it death metal?”
“More like some rap,” Sev started. “But maybe we should get out of Hank's lab before I start.”
“I don’t think he’d mind a mini-concert. In fact, should I call him in?”
“Maybe I should have stayed in the past,” Sev could only mutter to himself.
“I’m sorry, but you saved me, even though I wasn’t going to use you like that,” Tony stated. “So I can’t help it if I’m a little bit insufferable. It’s your fault if anything.”
“How so?”
“I think for the first time in my life I’m happy. I never considered retiring in my original time, and not only because Earth was under constant threat, but also because I had… nothing better I could have been doing.”
Severus thought about the new Hogwarts, and how Dumbledore was threatening to make him the next Headmaster soon - only waiting for Sev to look a little bit older than 25, again, he said.
“I never did either,” Sev confessed. “But maybe we could travel around the world, now that it’s supposed to be safe from both Lord Voldemort and Thanos - at least for a while.”
“Really?” Tony asked, his eyes big as plates.
“I’d even get myself a so-called backpack if that’s what you want. Although I’m not going anywhere without my wand…”
“Of course not,” Tony agreed, only to add with a mischievous tone. “Where would I be without your wand, Sev…”
“Here we go again,” Sev could only roll his eyes.
“I meant that literary like all the times you used magic to save my life, but I can see how you could interpret it differently,” Tony laughed happily in his ear.
“Pray tell, how?” Severus wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
How Tony started out by doing more than just telling him about it was the best thing that happened to Severus in quite some time. How Doctor Pym chose that moment to suddenly appear in his lab and even seeing what they were up to, he was only stood there the same, giving them a funny look, was certainly not.
“Gentlemen, I still have some research to do today, if you don’t mind.”
“Just when we have found a good use for your table,” Tony was red as a tomato, but he also kept his back to Pym while speaking, covering it up.
“If it’s not the research of how you two could have a child you two mentioned before, I’m afraid it’s not something I’d like to research.”
“Because if it was, you’d participate in what and how exactly?” Severus was a bit unnerved that the doctor had eavesdropped on them the whole time, and how pathetic he could have been barely getting Tony back.
“I’m just saying, I’d help with the science, or the magic, should you need it,” Pym shrugged, and when that almost sounded sentimental, as if he was rooting for Sev and Tony or something, he added. “Imagine how Howard Stark would turn in his grave hearing I got his only son pregnant, even if not with my child, obviously. It still sounds like sweet revenge to me.”
“Let’s leave while we still can,” Tony told Sev. “He’s clearly out of his mind…”
“My evil plans can wait,” Pym announced as he did hear everything. “My research cannot.”
“Sorry,” Severus felt like a teenager when saying. “And also, thank you.”
“Should it be you, Severus, who wants my help in experiencing parenthood, mark my words…”
“I meant to thank you for the particles,” Severus quickly said. “And for being Tony’s friend, even when it must present some challenges…”
“Hey, I’m right here, you know!” Tony punched Severus’ arm, not even a little.
“As if I could ever forget,” Sev said, but he also meant it. And not in a bad way either, because… he was working with Doctor Pym for what it seemed like the longest time before finally traveling back, plagued by the fear that they won’t finish until Thanos’ Snap, the doubt whether he was doing the right thing, and the knowledge that he could change the future for the worst just as simply as for the better, but he went on because for one, Tony had rescued the whole Wizarding Society once, just as Severus before, so Sev owed him at least this, and for second, he’d even take a small possible chance of success if he could spend his time with Tony, instead of living a life - any life - without him. “But you did mention you were moving, maybe we should take a look at your new address?”
Tony had already forgotten, so he was confused for a while until Sev couldn’t Apparate them fast enough to a bed, and make him remember the “hard way”.
“You know, if I was a villain, I’d quit my job right about now,” Tony said with a smile after, kissing him.
“Only now?”
“Yes, I mean, we’ve just saved the world twice and had countless plans for so many things going wrong chances are we could still reuse them with some modification, no matter what they’d be using. And we’re kind of awesome as we were always were, but joining forces, we’re kind of unbeatable.”
“Maybe we could be the villains next,” Sev could only say.
“Indeed, the horrible things I’d do if I had the power to enforce it,” Tony started and just when Severus was half-convinced Tony was maybe seriously considering it, Tony went on. “I’d put a Weasley Wizarding Wheezes shop in every corner around the world.”
“That’s just the question of money, you can already do that.”
“Shush. And I’d make Pepper not only CEO but women like her running countries…”
“Scary…”
“Exactly! There would be order everywhere, finally. If she could keep me in check for years, running a country or two shouldn’t be a problem,” Tony promised. “Which brings me to the last part of my evil plan… I’d arrange it so you wouldn’t be able to leave me. Even if you hated me or just had enough of me talking too much as I’m now, you’d have to forgive me, no matter what.”
“Maybe-“ Severus started after a contemplative pause.
“Maybe it’s better I’m not a supervillain?” Tony could only guess.
“Maybe if you had three wishes, you shouldn’t waste it on wishing things that are already true,” Severus finished his line of thought the same.
“Oh, because you love me so much you’ll never leave me?” Tony inquired.
“I’ve heard the Weasley twins had a shop in Japan already, and one in New York will probably be next.”
“You’re lying,” Tony at least had the confidence to say, and Severus at that moment only loved him all the more for it.
“No, but I’ve never said it’s the only thing that’s already in the way you wished them to be.”
“Pepper just got an offer for a country’s throne or-“
“I would risk the integrity of any timeline any day just not to lose you,” Severus quickly said. “So you won’t get rid of me as easily as you think.”
And for a brief second, Tony was grinning at him, and Severus seriously thought he was going to drop a joke about the running topic of how this was a bit better before another proposal, but then Tony closed his mouth, and only blurted out.
“I love you too, Sev.”
Even when they were together, this wasn’t their style before, so maybe Sev was surprised a little before he could say.
“Only, I love you more.”
“Is that so? Where’s your proof?”
And Severus showed him all the proof he could provide before even Tony stopped talking for just a little while.
It didn’t stop him from grinning at Severus with a smug expression like Sev was the best thing that ever happened to him, and after everything Severus had found that if it was Tony, looking at him like that, he didn’t feel the urge to look away either, feeling just a little bit smug himself.
“I’ll need a reminder of this ‘proof’, ever so often, I hope you know,” Tony said as if reading his mind.
“I’ll do my best to not forget to remind you. Ever so often, in any way I can, everywhere we wouldn’t get arrested for it,” Severus promised, even adding to it.
“Everywhere?!” Tony could only laugh, making Sev think he’ll never hear the end of this now, but that was okay as well.
“Why what comes to your mind?” he only raised an eyebrow at Tony who tackled him with another kiss, and with that, the question was soon forgotten, but not the activities it started.