"Okay." Natasha said. "Okay." She repeated, even though it obviously wasn't okay.
"I didn't want you to worry." Harry said.
Ginny scoffed. "You were planning on getting yourself killed. Again. You- I-" She sputtered, at a loss for words. "I've lived through you dying once." Ginny finally managed, Natasha nodding along in emphatic agreement. "I never want to live through that again. Never." She poked his chest for emphasis "Maybe think about sparing us that. Work on a plan that doesn't end in you dead."
Harry looked down. It wasn't that simple. Theoretically he should be able to purge the Horcrux using the soul stone. Easier said than done, considering Voldemort likely had gotten his hands on it. But the horcrux was overshadowed by something far greater- Death. He'd made a deal with her, a soul for a soul. He wasn't sure if that deal was still valid or not, but he knew that she wouldn't be giving up. No matter what he did, she would be coming for him. He just wanted to fix the world first. If he could do that, save everyone, he could let Death take him knowing he'd done his best.
He hadn't told Natasha and Ginny about the horcrux because he didn't want them working on a plan that would ultimately be pointless. He still didn't want to tell them about Death- he didn't want to spend what time they had together dreading the future, or obsessively preparing for an impossible fight.
"If you won't do it for us, then do it for Lily." Natasha said, jolting Harry from his thoughts. A cold horror took him, as the implications became clear. What would happen in a world without him? Would Lily not exist? Or would she still be alive, but without a father? The mere thought of abandoning her filled him with revulsion. He couldn't do that to her.
"There's more." Harry said, his voice hollow, the words dragged out of him by this new motivation. "I never told you."
"Told us what?" Natasha pressed.
He flashed her a hollow smile. "I figured it out- how I ended up in your universe." Once he'd broached the subject, he knew he couldn't stop. Natasha would draw it out from him, even if it was like pulling teeth. It didn't come to that. His words, while halting, kept coming of their own accord. "I was supposed to go back to my body, in the battle at Hogwarts." He nodded to Ginny "I was meant to beat him, to live happily ever after. But then…" another pause, and the weight of the silence was too much for either woman to break "Gin, do you remember the Deathly Hallows?"
"From the Tales of Beedle the Bard?" Ginny asked. "That's not, just a legend?"
"Oh, they're real." Harry said. "If I'm not mistaken Dumbledore and Grindelwald have torn this planet apart looking for them. Thank Merlin they never managed it."
"Could someone clue me in here?" Natasha prodded.
"Sorry." Harry said. "In the wizarding world there is a story called the Tale of the Three Brothers…" His voice dipped as he told the tale, with more reverence than is strictly necessary. If nothing else, he had a deep respect for how very real and how powerful Death is.
"Death's a woman in your story." Ginny noted, after he'd finished.
"She is."
"You act like you've met her."
"I have." The silence again rolled over them with all the oppressiveness of an oncoming storm. "The Hallows weren't just a trick, they're a key. And whichever unlucky fool manages to gather them is the door."
"You?" Ginny whispered.
"Me." Harry bowed his head. "I wasn't about to let her have her way with our world. So I took another option, and I ended up… somewhere else."
"So, we can't under any circumstances reunite the Deathly Hallows." Natasha concluded. "Where are they now?"
"Well, Dumbledore or Grindelwald probably have the Elder Wand." Harry said "I'm not sure about the Invisibility Cloak. But as for the Resurrection Stone, there's a good chance that Voldemort has it."
"At least… since he knows they're a trap, he probably won't use it?" Ginny asked with a disbelieving lilt.
"He also knows that the Resurrection Stone is the Soul Stone, so I doubt it."
Natasha sucked in a breath, her eyes going wide as she put the pieces together. "You- you sacrificed yourself for the Soul Stone."
"Yes."
"The guardian said…" Her breathing was ragged, and she barely got the words out.
"A soul for a soul." Harry finished for her. "She tried to take me, make me her personal servant." He shook his head "But since the prophecy between me and Voldemort hasn't been fulfilled, she had to send me back."
Too late, Harry realized that Natasha was hyperventilating. He took her in his arms, but she was cold and stiff, clutching herself tightly as she gasped in panicked breaths. He'd never seen her like this, not even after the snap. He'd seen her devastated, heartbroken, and empty, but not in terror.
He didn't know what to do.
Then Ginny was on them. "Fuck that!" She hissed. Her face was horribly pale, but there was a desperate determination in her eyes. "We're not going to let her take you from us!" That seemed to bring Natasha back, and then both women were clutching him between them, clinging like he'd be ripped away from them at any moment.
"You were just going to let it happen." Natasha said finally, her voice hoarse. "That's the worst part. It's what you always do. You have people who'd take on the world with you, but we can't help you if you won't fight for yourself."
He didn't want to argue with her, to tell her that it was hopeless, that they couldn't fight against a force of nature. He didn't want to see her like that ever again. But then, the only way to truly spare her that pain would be to find some way to save himself. "Okay." He allowed "We'll work on it. But… I think we have more immediate problems."
-----
"Wait, you saw Hermione? And Luna?" Neville gaped, hope cresting in his voice. "Where are they?"
"It has to be Hogwarts." Harry said. Even if the vision hadn't been explicit on that, he knew it had to be.
"Would Dumbledore really keep something like that at the school?" Neville pressed. "Isn't that… risky?"
"You remember the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry countered wryly.
Ron snorted. "Oh yeah, Dumbledore would totally do that. God, what a crock of shite."
"So, all we need to do is break into one of the most heavily defended fortresses in the world. No problem." Natasha said with forced levity.
"It should be easier, with us." Ron said. "We know the layout and defenses, and I've been thinking about it… for a while."
"Unfortunately, we've got a more urgent problem." Harry redirected "As much as I want to save Hermione and Luna." And he did, so very much. "Hela is going to attack Wakanda. We can't let them fight her alone."
"Good luck with that." Natasha muttered.
"Have the Sorcerers had any contact with Wakanda?" Harry asked.
"Nothing of consequence." The Ancient One said. "Believe me, we have tried to foster relationships with other groups, but…"
"But Wakanda was paranoid about outsiders when they lived in a world that hadn't experienced decades of war." Harry surmised. "We'll be lucky if they don't shoot first and ask questions later."
"So, what do we do?" Peggy asked.
Harry had spent some time thinking about this problem, but it was still a rough outline more than a plan. Thankfully, he had several people he trusted far more than himself when it came to making plans. "Well, I do have some ideas."
-----
"No sign of civilization." Peggy noted. "How sure are you that Wakanda really is here?"
Harry didn't answer immediately, instead casting a silent homenum revelio. It picked up several presences a few meters ahead of them. "They know we're here." He told her, before calling. "We mean no harm!" No response. "You can take us in, we won't fight you. We just want to help. Hydra and the Goddess of Death are about to attack you."
Still, only silence greeted them. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, tread carefully."
"How likely is it that we're about to become pincushions?" Peggy asked with a sardonic smile.
"Higher than I'd like. As soon as we cross the boundary, they'll freak out, but they're determined to pretend they don't exist until that point."
"Splendid."
"Okay, we're going to walk forward. If at any point you'd like us to stop, just speak up." Harry called again, taking careful, deliberate steps. Sure enough, Harry's leading hand pressed against a barrier in the air. "Ah, there we are." He muttered.
-----
"They'll have defenses." Ron told him. "If they're that committed to hiding, you might have to penetrate them before they're willing to even talk."
Harry nodded, knowing that Wakanda had its fair share of energy-based shielding. "I should be able to take care of that."
"Without a wand?" Neville challenged with a knowing smirk, and Harry waved him off.
-----
Before Harry could begin to muster the magic to press through, something in the barrier shifted, and Harry found himself stumbling forward without resistance.
"Harry, status. Are you through?" Peggy asked.
"Yeah, I think the defenses… let me in. I didn't do-" In that moment Harry found himself surrounded and at the wrong end of half a dozen spear-tips. Both the Dora Milaje and the Border Tribe were present, and neither seemed inclined to hear him out.
"Hullo." Harry said.
"Drop your weapons!" One of the Dora Milaje, who Harry recognized as Okoye, barked.
"I don't have any." Harry said, holding his empty palms up to the air.
-----
"Harry, I really don't like you not having a wand for this." Ginny said. She understood why it had to be him. He could recover Shuri's memories, and frankly he was better able to get out of a dangerous situation than any of them. Still, after the revelations of the previous night she was feeling protective.
Natasha, who had far more experience with Harry's wandless magic, wasn't as bothered. "It really isn't worth antagonizing them. Carrying a weapon is just going to provoke them."
"Besides, this wand is a bit crap." Harry muttered. It did give him more power than going wandless, but it was slow- nothing at all like Mjolnir, the Elder Wand, or his old Phoenix Feather wand. He looked back up at them, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "I'll do everything I can to get out of this alive. Even if it means blasting my way out of the city."
"You won't be alone." Natasha promised "We'll have someone tailing you with an astral projection. If it comes to it, we'll portal our way in before anyone can even blink."
-----
"He's obviously lying." One of the Border Tribe said. "Search him, carefully."
"How did you get in?" Okoye demanded.
"I think the barrier let me in." Harry said. "Though I'm not sure-"
"That's impossible." Someone else scoffed. "He's lying." Two of the Border Tribe pressed Harry to the ground, and he didn't resist. He wasn't afraid, he could apparate away easily enough- Wakanda wasn't warded against it. He could also just take down the entire retinue, but blasting his way into places wasn't how one made friends.
"Grab his companion." Okoye ordered. Two more of the Border Tribesmen complied and led an unresisting Peggy back through the barrier.
-----
"Someone needs to go with you." Natasha insisted.
"And by someone, you mean you." Harry surmised.
"What about me?" Lily interjected.
It took Harry and Natasha only a beat to get on the same page. "No." "Absolutely not."
"I've been fighting my whole life!" Lily argued, her voice cresting in outrage at the swiftness of their rejection. "Both of you did things this dangerous when you were my age!"
Both Harry and Natasha winced, knowing that she was right, but still… "Lily, this isn't a 'never'." Harry soothed "Just a 'not right now'." Lily wasn't placated but seemed willing to at least hear him out. "We're working on your training still, and this isn't a mission where we need another powerhouse."
Lily huffed "I just don't like the idea of both of you going in without me." Leaving me behind.
Harry gave Natasha a meaningful look. While neither of them planned to die on this mission, it wasn't fair to Lily to put both of them at risk while she sat on the sidelines.
"Honestly, Peggy's the better choice anyway." Ron said casually.
"How so?" Harry asked.
"Well, not a wizard." Ron ticked off a finger. "No association with Hydra or the Order." Another finger. "Very dangerous without weapons. And if they recognize her as 'Captain Carter' it might actually give you some credibility."
-----
Both of them were scanned, and their would-be captors scowled at the results. "They're unarmed." A guard said. "But this one's a wizard."
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Okoye demanded.
"Harry Potter, and my friend, Peggy Carter." Harry said. They didn't seem to recognize either name. "Hydra is going to attack you. We came to warn you, and to offer our help."
"Why should we trust the word of a wizard." The word was spat from Okoye's mouth. And, ouch, but if his experience in this world was any indication, probably fair. "Where's your wand?"
"I left it behind, as a display of good faith." Harry said.
"We're fighting against the Order, too." Peggy added "I'm not magical. I haven't been enchanted or compelled. We're just trying to help."
"Consider us warned." Okoye said, though Harry felt like she didn't appreciate the severity of the situation. "But we both know that having a wizard in our midst just makes us a bigger target." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"And we both know you can't release us, not when we know where Wakanda is." Harry countered, keeping his voice level.
"Then why shouldn't we just kill you?"
At that point, Harry could have made several blunders. If he'd revealed, however unconsciously, that he was not nearly as helpless as he seemed, it might have escalated the situation. However, he couldn't show weakness either. He needed to show them that he wasn't intimidated, without revealing his hand. Natasha had coached him on this exact situation. "We don't work alone, of course. We're with the Sorcerers, who also know where you are. If you kill us… well… I honestly don't know what would happen."
-----
"We wouldn't actually do that, right?" Wong asked.
"Does it matter? Hela would destroy them anyway." Neville said fatalistically.
"It's a moot point. I'm not going to let them kill me." Harry added.
"But you will let them capture you." Neville snorted.
"Yes, I know it's a stupid plan, but even I have limits."
-----
Okoye glared with impotent fury. There was nothing she could do, at least, not without orders from the royal family. This was exactly what they'd wanted. "Knock them out and take them up." She ordered. That wasn't what they'd wanted.
Still, he had options- morally ambiguous options, but options nonetheless. He cast a silent confundo, and with her mind now receptive, injected a suggestion with legilimency. Don't antagonize them.
"Actually" she pivoted. "Just take them up. We don't know who they are, and we need to be cautious."
-----
"You can do that?" Peggy asked uneasily.
"There's a reason why people fear wizards so much." Neville said.
-----
They were blindfolded and led up to the capital. While they were constantly under guard, they did not seem to consider Harry an imminent threat without his wand. For an interminable time, they waited until Okoye's voice pierced the monotony. "The King wants to speak to him." They were pushed onward in a pattern Harry couldn't hope to retrace- not that he cared to. When finally, the blindfold was removed, Harry found himself in the Wakandan Throne room, facing a man he had saved years ago. Unlike other's he'd met in this world, King T'Chaka looked just as Harry had always known him.
"King T'Chaka." Harry bowed his head in respectful acknowledgement. "Queen Mother Ramonda."
"How do you know of us?" The king asked. "How did you find Wakanda, and know our names?"
-----
"Just be honest." Natasha said bluntly "It's a story too crazy to make up. It'll at least keep them interested. And if Shuri's anything like Ginny and I-"
"She'll be drawn to it." Ginny finished.
-----
"I come from a different universe." Harry said "One where I worked with Wakanda in a war against Hydra. I was friends with your son and daughter in that world. I'm here to help. Hela is planning on attacking the city imminently. You need to prep-" He was silenced by a spear pressed to his throat.
"Do not presume to order the King of Wakanda." Okoye said.
God, he was getting annoyed with her.
"My apologies." Harry said, mustering his patience. No matter how annoying Wakanda's leaders were, there was far too much at stake. It wasn't just Shuri's life, but the lives of countless civilians who had no say in who ruled them. "As I'm certain that you care for your people, it would be wise for you to prepare for her attack. If you evacuate the city and prepare the defenses, we will be there to help."
"What you say is unbelievable." T'Chaka said. Harry sighed internally.
"And the price for ignoring my warning?" He challenged, ignoring the press of metal on his throat.
"We have no reason to think he knows anything. No one could possibly find Wakanda." Okoye argued.
"And yet this wizard did." T'Chaka said, his tone was even, the voice of a man who'd never had to speak up to be heard, who was used to total deference from his subjects. "We clearly have a security breach on our hands, whether we believe him or not."
"You do have a daughter, right?" Harry tried. "Shuri?"
"What business could you have with her?" Ramonda bristled.
"I believe that we have a connection." Harry said carefully. "One that you might be aware of." Both royals blanched. He'd hit a nerve, perhaps too much of one. A silence blanketed the room that grew heavier as the emotions flickered across the king's face- shock, outrage, terror, rage, and finally a guarded accusatory stare, as if he could indict Harry through force of will alone.
"You-" The King said, his voice brittle. "-will explain yourself. But not now. Take him away."
Well, at least he had their attention.