Disclaimer: Any recognizable character from Marvel's Agents of Shield, The Avengers, or Harry Potter is the property of their creators and/or publishers.

Previously:

..."Play the victim?" Vernon growled, face turning from red to a blotchy purple color. "I play the victim, boy? I am the victim!"

Vernon would be the victim here, all right, just not the kind of victim he was used to being.

Oh yes, Vernon Dursley was going down, Coulson would see to that- after he finished his coffee, of course.

Harry waited, served some coffee to some guests as the trickled in his unusually full café, went back to waiting and waited some more for the police to arrive, do whatever they had to do to calm his uncle down, and leave. It went without saying that it took a while and caused some of the patrons to stay a bit longer than what they normally likely would have but eventually, the police came and went taking his uncle with them.

Even after the police car had taken his uncle away (Harry really hadn't expected them to actually arrest him, as his uncle had never actually laid a hand on him or anything like that but did so on the grounds of disturbance of peace and communicating threats) the tension in the air refused to evaporate.

Coulson did nothing to ease the tension, as he waited calmly for Harry to finish making the mocha someone had requested taking up a table near the counter, not minding that his lunch hour was well over or bothering himself with the other guest's idle chit-chat. Occasionally he'd check his phone but other than that, Harry surmised that the man must either have a fairly cushy job and a boss who didn't care if he took a two-hour lunch break or he was the boss man himself and had a good staff working under him. That or he wasn't on lunch break and had only worked half-a-day.

"What was that?" Harry hissed, finally running out of patience. Okay so Coulson was right, his uncle wasn't doing him any favors by spewing off at the mouth, but the man really had no right what so ever to butt in and threaten his uncle, in his café no less.

It would be bad for his business if patrons could just go around and threaten other patrons whenever they felt like it, no matter how deserving they might be. Not that something like that would happen on a daily basis, but still… He owned a coffee shop, not a pub, bar- whatever.

"That was me standing up to that man you refer to as "uncle," Mr. Potter. Child abuse can be a criminal charge and is very much frowned upon."

"I could have done that myself, thanks. And he is my uncle, so no need for the emphasis." Harry purposely ignored the child abuse part. He was out of that environment now. What did it matter if he pursued charges? The Dursley's had nothing he would ever want.
"Yes, you had made how you go about handling your uncle very clear," Coulson said with a raised eyebrow, the smirk had morphed into a slight frown. "I believe I am correct when I say that this is not a singular occurrence." In other words, the only person Coulson thought Harry was fooling no one by denying, or refusing to comment on the accusations of abuse.

Before Harry might have found that knowing-to-the-point-of-cocky smirk interesting, and the well-put-together-man intriguing, but now the man and his antics just downright irked him.

Not because Coulson showed his uncle up. Oh no! At one point in time, Harry would have paid to see that. But because the man thought Harry was somehow incapable of defending himself. Last Harry checked, he was capable. Very capable, it would have been better if he had been allowed to use magic, but then the fight wouldn't be fair. He supposed though he could have leveled out the scoreboard if he had been allowed to one-up his uncle, particularly after all the years he had been against his uncle's and cousin's brute strength and wrath.

"He's my uncle, I couldn't just throw him and my aunt out! This is supposed to be a family-oriented place, where everyone is welcome. What kind of example would I be giving if I just gave my only surviving family members the boot?" Harry questioned.

"A good one."

"What?"

"You would be setting a good example. An example that while you are fair and welcome, you don't allow people to just run over you. And you do not tolerate rudeness or bullies."

"Ever heard of a rhetorical question?" Harry sulked. He knew he had had ample opportunities to handle the situation and contain it before it had gotten out of control, but he hadn't and he didn't need someone, no matter how good looking that man was, to call him out on his failure to stand up against his muggle uncle. (Not that Coulson knew anything about magic and muggles.)

Perhaps something about his uncle still scared him.

And Coulson had merely stepped in to prevent it from escalating further, which he supposed he should be grateful, but the Boy-Who-Lived had always had to fight his own battles, particularly when it came to his muggle family so...
"How would I be setting a good example if I allowed other people to fight my own battles? I have always had to handle them myself."

Coulson did not answer but gazed at Harry intently for a fleeting second before he changed the subject- sort of. "Do you normally make it a habit to argue with your patrons Mr. Potter? I hear that is bad for business."
"Only the ones that refuse to give me a straight answer as to why they felt the need to intervene in a personal matter and cause more trouble when it really wasn't necessary. Any other business advice you want to give me since you're so keen on telling me how I ought to run shop?"

"How you run your establishment is up to you, I am merely giving you pointers on how to bring in more business." Coulson pursed his lips again, the wrinkles around his eyes becoming more prominent with the smirk.

Harry glared at Coulson's back, as he had since turned and was leaving the café.

Harry preferred it when the man just minded his own business, he was prettier with his mouth closed.

"Hello, what might I get you today?" Harry flashed a smile at the customer in front of him hoping to forget the pompous but handsome git, who was probably twice his age…

The day went on steadily from there, and no other unexpected people showed up.

Roughly five minutes before he was set to close his doors, two people made an appearance, and this time the two who entered his shop were more than welcome.

"Hermione! Ron!" Harry greeted warmly.

"Harry, how are you doing?" Hermione asked while Ron just looked amazed at everything in the shop like he always does. He complained about Mr. Weasley and how he acted around muggle items, but Ron was just about as bad.

"Never better. Won't you guys sit down? I'll lock the doors here in a few minutes and then we can hit the city."
"Sure. Ron! I swear, sit down!"
"But-"
Harry just smiled at his friends' antics. Somethings would never change.
"It's okay, so long as you don't do anything stupid and get hurt. You know I'm not good with blood." Harry said pointedly. That was a total lie, and the three friends knew it but Hermione and Ron didn't comment on it as there was a family of muggles still in the shop.

"Just keep a close eye on him, Harry, you know how he is," Hermione advised, but Harry just smiled.

"So what did you do today?" He asked trying to make small talk.

"Oh, Harry it's wonderful! I met up with the Kingsley and went over the petition and advocation for the rights of, well, you know. I have been working on it for a while now, but it still needs a lot of work, but he sounded extremely interested and said he wanted to be kept informed of my progress." Hermione positively beamed. She really wanted to go into detail and explain to Harry just what she proposed for the House Elves, but couldn't.

"I know you will get it right," Harry said kindly thinking of Dobby and all the other house elves who had been treated unfairly by their master's and mistress'. It was about time they got some rights.

"At least someone has faith in me," the witch snorted looking over in Ron's general direction. "Are you sure you don't mind Ron snooping around? I can always…"

"He's fine. I wanted to talk to you anyway about something that happened earlier today, and I'd rather Ron didn't know about it just yet."
"Oh?"

"The Dursley's came," Harry said with a grimace.

"What? Here?" Hermione gasped in shock.
"Yeah, I saw them today. I figured they wouldn't care to hear the news that I had survived, so I didn't bother to write to them and tell them. Actually, I think Uncle Vernon was more disappointed that I had managed to survive."
His friend did not look happy with the news but seemed to understand that that was just the Dursley's typical behavior.

"What happened, Harry?"
"I think my aunt wanted some tea or something and thought that the White Stag might have what she liked, dunno. Bit of a nasty surprise when they saw me."
"I'll bet! So what happened after-"
"Goodnight." Harry broke in while standing up and giving a polite smile to the leaving family allowing them to exit his shop before locking the door securely. He was pleased that they remained respectful of his closing hours. Sometimes college students would come in and spend hours treating his café like a library, spreading out all their electronics and books and tempting to stay well past closing hours.

"What happened after they saw you?"
"Saw who? 'Arry?" Ron reemerged from somewhere with his mouth stuffed full of pastries. "The Dursley's. Ron, keep in mind that I will be keeping a tally on everything you eat and will be charging you for it later," Harry warned jokingly. He didn't care what Ron ate, he baked it to be eaten.

"Hey! I'm your friend!"
"Yeah, I know, which is why I'm just going to charge the standard price and not double it like George does. So anyway the Dursley's came and Uncle Vernon was spouting off at the mouth like he usually does."
"Oh no, Harry! What did he say?"
"He was making a big scene, trying to sell the usual story about how I robbed his family of money and their happiness. He… actually asked me when I'd start paying them back for what I owed them."
"Owe them? I don't understand, Harry you owe them nothing." Hermione said at the same time Ron also said: "I couldn't imagine ever having to pay my mum back for everything."
"I sort of let my emotions get the better of me and told them that I was a bit more well off than they had originally believed. I'm pretty sure Uncle Vernon was trying to find a way to get his hands on at least some of that money, but he wouldn't have a chance."
"That was a very foolish thing for you to do, Harry," Hermione said in her usual bossy manner making Ron roll his eyes, but surprisingly, she did not leave it at just that. "But they deserved it. After all, they have done to you, the best way for you to get back at them is to be successful. I think that would make them the maddest."
Harry smiled his thanks at his friend's support. "How very Slytherin of you Mrs. Weasley."

"Thanks, Harry, but I am serious! You have often said that they hated nothing more than you outdoing your cousin. If they know that your parents and your godfather left you everything then I am sure they will try everything in the power to-"
"Oh lay off Hermione! The goblins oversee Harry's property and his money is in Gringott's. Those fat muggles wouldn't stand a chance." Ron said almost boastfully, probably for no other reason beyond the wizarding world's "advanced" protection and safeguarding capabilities. The same ones that the three of them had managed to circumvent back when they were just seventeen. Although Ron was right about one thing, they were muggles, they didn't stand a chance at getting Harry's money. Ron knew this and Harry knew this. They all knew it and that was why Harry had taken that risk.

"Well, it's a good thing that they are muggles then! The Dursley's would take everything Harry's ever had if given the chance!"

"I'm pretty sure that Uncle Vernon was already contemplating a way to get his hands on that money I had mentioned," Harry said with a hollow laugh.

"Why'd'ya mention it anyway?"
"Aunt Petunia wanted some tea or something and reckoned the White Stag was just the place that would carry the kind of tea she liked. I dunno, really, but anyway they came in, saw me and asked me what I was doing."
"I told them I was working and one thing led to another in the way it usually does with them, and I finally just let out that I owned the place and they wanted to know where I got the loan to open a business."
Once Harry finished telling Ron what happened a lengthy silence fell over the three friends.

"Well, let's not dull the evening by talking about them. You said there was somewhere you wanted to take us?" Hermione said, finally breaking the silence.