They landed hard, with grunts and breathless cursing. Harry, at the bottom of their haphazard pile, was just relieved that the portkey had worked, that they'd all gotten out of there alive. It was the only silver lining.
Natasha would be scolding him for his complacency, his blind trust of people who weren't the friends he'd known- not quite. He'd let himself be led straight into a trap, one that he was lucky to have escaped alive. Harry wasn't a schoolboy out of his depth. He knew that he could have escalated the fight far more than he'd had. But for everything he'd done- Tom Riddle was still a magical prodigy with decades of experience on him and no scruples. Not to mention, loyal followers.
That was something Harry was perilously short of- not followers, but friends. He wasn't even sure where Neville and Ron stood. They'd fought Bellatrix, but that didn't mean they might still have some loyalty to Riddle. But damn them, Harry loved them, and Riddle knew it. And Harry knew Riddle, he knew exactly what he would do if Harry had drawn the fight out. He'd use his friends against him, and Harry didn't think he'd be able to protect them all. Even if Harry could beat Riddle, it would be at a cost. Harry had already lost enough, too much. He wouldn't be letting them go again, even if it damned him.
Neville, Ron, and Peggy stumbled to their feet, but Ginny had latched onto him and refused to let go. "I'm sorry." He told her "I'm sorry I had to do that to you, I know that was hard."
"Shut up." She sniffled. 'Don't apologize' went unsaid.
"Yes ma'am." He snarked, and Ginny giggled wetly against his chest. "Are you okay?" He continued, more seriously.
"Yes, it's just, a lot." She admitted, but she didn't let go.
"At least get a room." Ron said, making a disgusted noise.
"Or tell us where you took us." Neville added.
"That's rich, considering you just led me to my arch-nemesis' lap." Harry said. Reluctantly, he stood up, but neither he or Ginny were inclined to part just yet.
"How was I supposed to know you two had a history?" Neville challenged "You never mentioned him."
"He was the dark lord in his world." Ginny said, placing a protective hand on Harry's arm "The Voldemort who killed his parents and tried to take over the world. He didn't go by Tom Riddle, for the most part."
"If you'd just cooperated, we could have avoided it all." Neville argued, to Ginny's squawk of outrage.
"If I'd cooperated, he'd have killed me as soon as he got what was in my head." Harry said testily "I'm too dangerous for him to leave alive." No matter how it went down, the instant that Riddle learned the prophecy 'neither can live while the other survives', Harry would not have been allowed to live. That scrap of knowledge was one of the few things he'd managed to keep from him.
"How can you know that?" Neville asked.
"Can I really trust you with that information, Neville?" Harry returned.
"What's done is done." Ron intervened, standing between them. "If you really do know Riddle, then you know that by throwing our lot in with you, there's no going back."
"Why did you throw your lot in with me?" Harry asked.
"Ginny." Ron said, as if it explained everything.
"I don't abandon my friends." Neville said heavily "Even when they do something dumb and reckless." He glanced at Ginny and Ron with exhausted frustration "I'll give you whatever you need from me to be sure of my loyalty. If you want to read my mind, or want an unbreakable vow, you can have it."
Ron seconded Neville's offer, and it occurred to Harry that such loyalty requirements must seem normal for them. Harry frowned with distaste. He didn't like either option, but he didn't like that he couldn't trust them either. Peggy looked dubious but was keeping well clear of this conversation.
"You should think about it." Ginny told him "Using legilimency, I mean. It shook a few things loose for me, it might for them as well."
-----
Thankfully, Ginny, Ron, and Neville had enough supplies from their expedition to last for weeks, along with tents and gear. Neville and Ron dutifully set up camp while Harry, Ginny and Peggy discussed their options. Harry had reluctantly put some space between him and Ginny, to Ginny's disappointment. They really needed to talk- about what she remembered and what they were, and Harry's previous relationships, but they had far more immediate problems than the mess that was Harry's love life.
"So where are we, really, fearless leader?" Peggy quirked a smile.
Harry rolled his eyes. The landscape here looked as desolate and war torn as London had, which didn't bode well. Still, he held out hope. If anywhere on Earth could survive half a century of war- Kamar-Taj was high on the list.
He'd thought quite a bit about where he wanted to go next over the past day. It had made his decision on the portkey destination a split-second one. Wakanda had crossed his mind, but considering how xenophobic they were, and how much worse that was likely to be in this timeline, he didn't want to take his chances. The sorcerers, if they existed, were his best option. They'd might even be able to give him answers about… everything.
"Wait, you know where the Sorcerers are?" Ginny gaped. That was good. The Sorcerers existed in this world and were apparently out of Riddle's and the Orders' reach.
"I know where they were in another world." Harry shrugged. "But that doesn't mean…"
"Yeah, yeah yeah." Ginny waved her hand "You know they probably won't be happy to see us."
Harry grimaced. "Well, the reception can't be any worse than the last place."
-----
They only had three tents, and Neville guessed that he and Ron would be sharing theirs. Harry trusted Peggy and Ginny, for good reason, but he didn't have the same reason to trust them, except for memories from another life. He was expecting another difficult conversation with him and wasn't particularly surprised when it came that evening.
He and Ron were sitting outside, enjoying a cool breeze that swept down from the mountains. "I've thought about your offer." Harry told them without preamble "And I'd like to take you up on it, the legilimency. I won't be requesting a vow from you."
Ron and Neville looked at each other and nodded. It was about what they were expecting. Severus Snape had probed his mind for any hints of treachery on the Order's behalf, and Riddle had done the same when he'd defected. It was how the world worked; you couldn't trust anybody, especially not a proven traitor.
"I'm ready when you are." Neville volunteered, making no effort to shroud his mind. He had no occlumency training to speak of, but hopefully keeping his mind as open to Harry as possible would earn him some goodwill. As far as Neville was concerned, his bridges with Riddle were burned. Even if he had any inclination to turn against Ron and Ginny, and even if he could somehow work his way back into the Organization, he'd always be the target of the Professor's suspicion, and that wasn't something he wanted to subject himself to. The Order would also never take him back, and he'd rather die before trying. By process of elimination, Harry was his only option, so he'd have to make the most of it.
"We need to talk about what we're going to do first." Harry said with a small shake of his head "I want you to bring your memory of that fight to the front of your mind. I want to be able to see why you decided to do what you did. I'd also like memories of the last couple days, both our interactions and your conversations with Riddle, and any memories related why you joined Riddle in the first place If you keep those at the front of your mind, I shouldn't have to go rooting through and stumble across something private."
"I appreciate the consideration." Neville nodded.
"Take your time, but if you try to fiddle with them, I will know." Harry said with a knowing smile.
For the most part, which memories to choose were obvious. It was with Harry's last request that gave Neville pause. His decision to join Riddle hadn't been made overnight. It had been a lot of little things. Did Harry want all of them? Did he want to see the brutal battles with the goblins that had cost him his eye? Did he want to see all the friends Neville had lost as the Order threw their lives away? In the end, Neville aired on the side of inclusion, figuring that it would make him seem more forthcoming. "I'm ready."
Harry's touch was far gentler than he was expecting. When Riddle and Snape had come knocking, there had been no pretense of care. They hadn't gone out of their way to be cruel, but their explorations were sharp and efficient, yanking Neville from one memory to the next in a disorienting sequence. With Harry, it felt far more natural, like Neville's mind was a pool, and Harry was slipping in, letting the memories envelop him rather than forcing his entry into them. He viewed Neville's memory of the battle and then his recent conversations with Riddle. He could feel Harry's interest spike when Riddle asked Neville about his parents' fate and concluded that something was off with his memories. He rewatched that moment twice, trying to decipher Riddle's meaning just as Neville had. The Professor had always been… enigmatic.
After a minute of contemplation, Harry pressed onward, slipping into another memory- the first that led him on the road to leaving the Order.
-----
At first, the opposition had been light, so Commander Dawlish had led them deeper in hopes of flushing out their prey. Neville had been nervous about this, about venturing so deep into a protected Hydra bunker. They wouldn't be able to apparate out, which meant that if they were put in a tight spot, they'd be trapped.
It quickly became clear that Neville's worries were founded, and that they were the prey.
Once they'd passed into a large, central room, the trap sprung. From three doors soldiers poured in, and more teleported around them with flashes of blue light. The sheer volume of firepower that was thrown at them, and the suddenness of the attack was too much. Nearly half their team died instantly. Many new recruits found that their shields could not sustain a direct blow from more than one beam. For others, their shields failed to cover their entire body, allowing shrapnel to circumvent their defenses. Neville didn't need to look, he'd seen it before, and he didn't want to know how many friends he'd just lost.
He and Ron ducked into a hallway and ran. Behind them, he heard the sounds of spellfire and explosions, the Order was fighting back, but after the losses they took there was no salvaging the mission. They took down anyone they ran across, until they were truly lost within the monotonous concrete corridors of the base. "We're fucked." Neville muttered, despair overtaking adrenaline "This is it."
Ron grabbed his shoulders "No."
"What are we supposed to do? Fight our way out by ourselves?" It was hopeless, completely hopeless.
"No" Ron said, a manic gleam in his eye that told Neville he had a plan "Not by ourselves."
He didn't exactly have anything to lose, so Neville joined Ron in blasting their way to the lower levels deep underground, where any prisoners would be kept. It wasn't entirely mad. Intel about a prisoner was the motivation for attacking this base, after all. A hydra officer had revealed, under veratiserum, that a witch was imprisoned here, though before he'd been forced to elaborate, he'd killed himself with a poison pill. Hydra didn't capture wizards. They killed their kind on sight and almost never took prisoners, not unless they had a very specific goal in doing so. Freeing one of their own was within this base then wasn't merely a matter of honor, it would be a tactical coup.
Neville figured that they'd have no chance of reaching the dungeons, but it turned out that Ron had been onto something after all. Nearly every Hydra soldier was still concentrated at the point of ambush, and Ron and Neville were moving fast enough to stay ahead of the guards. It made Neville wonder if a covert operation would have been better. Instead, they'd arrogantly kicked down the door and found that their target was far more well defended and expansive than they had imagined.
For all of Ron's cleverness, there was one massive flaw in his plan. They were flying blind. They had no clue where they were going, and basically just hoping that if they blasted through enough floors and walls, they'd eventually find captives. It would only be a matter of time before they were cornered.
Two doors up and to the left. Neville nearly tripped over himself. The voice was in his head, indistinct, spoken as if muffled by several layers of cotton. Who are you? He tried.
Who do you think? She replied.
You're the witch. Neville let out a shaky breath. If she was capable of legilimency at such a range, she had to be a powerful magic user, very powerful. He grabbed Ron's arm "I know where to go."
He followed her instructions, which conveniently led them around a patrol. There will be guards outside my cell, be ready.
"Prepare for contact." Neville said. Ron nudged his arm and produced a packet of explosive fireworks.
"Fred and George want me to test them." He said with a slight grin. Neville nodded and gave the signal. Neville blasted apart the door while Ron threw the packet into the room. There were indeed a group of seven guards. While they were alert and ready for combat, they weren't expecting the frenzied assault they received. Fireworks exploded with multicolored brilliance, bouncing around the room, casting sparks into the air, before exploding with a shower of spells. Neville and Ron added their own spells into the mix, and quickly six of the seven were down.
Only one remained. Though the fireworks had forced him to the ground, the spells had pinged off his heavy armor with little effect. He rose to his feet, levelling his gauntlets at them. The armor was unlike anything Neville had seen before, and he would have sworn it was magical if not for it being used by a Hydra soldier. In the center of the suit's chest was a glowing ring of light that seemed to charge the entire suit. The gauntlet lit up with that same energy. The blast clanged heavily against Neville's shield, and though it didn't hurt him directly, the force sent him flying back into the wall.
Neville rose to his feet as quickly as he could while Ron set a series of cutting and blasting curses at the armored man, he needed to-
-----
The memory cut off suddenly, and Neville was momentarily disoriented. Harry cursed.
"Er, is everything alright?" He asked. Normally, it probably should be Harry checking in with him, but Harry seemed far more disturbed by what he had seen than Neville. They hadn't even gotten to the important part.
"What the fuck are you doing, Tony?" Harry muttered to himself, pacing back and forth furiously.
"Who's-" Neville shook himself, it wasn't important right now "Never mind."
Harry let out an explosive breath. "Yeah, sorry. Just realized one of my old friends might be working for Hydra. You know, not the worst revelation I've had today."
Neville cringed "Sorry?"
"No." Harry sighed "Its better I know now, so I should be thanking you for showing me."
"Harry, you haven't even seen the half of it."
-----
They took down the armored man with a precision strike to its reactor, which exploded with blue fire and arcing electricity. "Bloody hell." Ron cursed.
The two of them gave the burned out wreck a wide berth, heading to the heavy set of doors opposite them. The doors, predictability only opened with liberal application of the blasting curse. The door opened into a long hallway, with a series of empty holding cells on each side. Are you here? Neville asked the witch, a distinct sense of unease kicking in.
I'm at the end of the hall. You can't miss me.
The hall ended with a small circular room. There was a hole in the center, covered by a grate- an oubliette.
The hole opened into a larger room, where the witch was kept, chained by each of her limbs. On the walls of her prison were engraved runes, runes intended to suppress and block telepathic power. To think that she'd been able to speak to him through all of that, no matter how faintly…
You're not a witch, are you?
She looked up, not a hint of apology in her eyes. No, I'm the witch.
-----
Neville could sense Harry's reaction. His emotions ran high, close enough for Neville to feel for himself. The affection, the worry, the intense longing… he loved her. Harry leaned into the memory, gleaning everything he could from it, every detail of her face and inflection of her voice.
-----
Ron vanished the grate. "Wait." Neville said "She's not a witch. She's a mutant."
"Like I care." Ron grunted.
"But…" Though he hadn't fought them yet, they'd both heard stories about mutants. They were savages, abominations that thought they could mimic true magic, but lost their humanity instead. There were stories of them killing babies, desecrating the dead, of going on mad, blood hungry rampages and destroying everything in their path.
But then, this girl- and she was a girl, she was at least a few years younger than them- she looked so human. She looked small and cold, and hungry. And she was asking for help. Maybe the stories were wrong. They were just stories, after all. It wouldn't be the first time Neville had been lied to. "Neville." Ron said with conviction "I promised my family that I'd make it back. I don't care who we work with. I'm not going to leave them."
"You're right." Neville relented. They made quick work of the chains that bound her. "Do you need-" He began to ask, only to stop himself when the witch propelled herself through the air, up to them.
"Thank you." She said, her voice bearing an accent Neville couldn't quite place. "I promise you'll make it out of here alive."
"That's bit of a tall order." Ron said "But I like the spirit of it."
The witch chuckled "Don't worry. Help is on the way."
"You used your legilimency-" He began.
"Telepathy." She corrected.
"-telepathy…" Neville allowed "To call for reinforcements?" That was incredible range, unless the mutants were already nearby. Not even Dumbledore would be capable of it.
"Well, I'm not about to reveal all of my secrets." She demurred. "But we mutants have our fair share of tricks."
Before Neville could inquire further, they were rudely interrupted by a squad of Hydra soldiers. Neville was given a glimpse of their new ally's fighting style, a brutal and powerful form of telekinesis. She used her former chains as a lash, wrapping them around a soldier's neck and whipping him into the wall, knocking over half of the squad. Then she laced the chains around the soldier's limbs, suspending them as a tangled string in the air. Ron and Neville took out the rest, but he knew that more were on their way.
"I hope your friends really are coming." Ron grunted "Because we can't survive here forever." Hydra was far less limited in manpower than the Order. They could afford to round up a bunch of muggles, strap guns to them, and run them to their deaths. The Order had probably killed twice as many people as they'd lost today, and it would still be a horrible blow for them. Despite their best efforts to boost fertility, it was a constant fear that one day the attrition would bleed them dry.
"They'll come." She said with complete assurance.
Another squad of Hydra soldiers rounded the corner, but before either side could attack the other, flames erupted in the center of the room. Neville jumped back reflexively, bracing himself. Across from them, the Hydra soldiers hesitated as more filed in behind them, all keeping their guns at the ready.
Then Neville heard it, a song that pierced through the rush of flames and set his heart at ease. Doubts, fear, and suspicion melted away, and Neville was left with the strong sense that everything would be okay. The Hydra soldiers flinched back from the song as if in pain. The flames receded as quickly as they'd appeared, revealing two people. At the center was a redheaded woman about their age, and on her shoulder was perched a bird. It was unmistakable- the brilliant orange and red plumage, the song, the fire… it could only be a phoenix.
Behind her was an older man. He was tall, dressed in black and red, and though his hair was streaked with grey, his eyes were sharp and fierce. He lifted his hand to the air and wrenched the guns from Hydra's grasp. "You should be grateful that your deaths will be quick." He snarled. The guns turned on their former wielders, charged up simultaneously, and disintegrated the lot of them. The combined explosive power of the weaponry collapsed the wall and ceiling behind them. Just like that, the immediate threat was gone, and with the help of a phoenix they could escape from anywhere.
"Dad!" The witch called, running up to him. His harsh features softened in an instant as he turned and wrapped her in his arms.
"Wanda." He said, his voice tender "I can't believe it. When Charles couldn't find you with Cerebro, I assumed…"
"Father…" She said, her voice hushed "Not here."
The man returned to alertness, his focus turning to the two wizards, the levitating guns pivoting in the air to aim at them.
"Wait." The redheaded woman interceded "Don't kill them, didn't you see how they reacted to Fawkes' song? They both have good hearts."
"Jean, they're wizards. They're from the Order. They're trying to exterminate us. How many of our kind have these two killed?"
"None!" Neville said, honestly.
"They're lying, of course." The man sneered.
"No, they aren't." Jean countered.
"Dad." Wanda grabbed her father's shoulders "They saved me."
Once again, he softened as he looked at his daughter. When he returned his gaze to them, Neville felt as if he were under a microscope. After a long moment of consideration, he said "Until moments ago, I thought my daughter was dead. You brought her back to me. Thank you."
Neville didn't know what to say. Part of him was compelled to apologize for everything his people had done to theirs. He wanted to beg for his mercy and help, even though few of his comrades would have given the same aid. He wondered just how much of his thoughts were exposed to the telepath in the room.
All of them, sorry. Jean's teasing voice broke into his mind, nearly startling Neville out of his skin. You're an open book.
"Jean." The man, who's name Neville still didn't know, said "Take us out of here."
-----
Neville shook himself as Harry stared straight ahead, his eyes misting. "Harry… are you okay?" He'd felt much of Harry's emotional rollercoaster, even if he couldn't fully understand it.
Then, suddenly, Harry pulled him into a hug "Thank you." Once again, Neville found himself at a loss for words. He wasn't sure he was worthy of Harry's gratitude.
Harry remembered himself and pulled back. "I'm so glad that she's safe. That she's with people who care for her." He ran a hand through his hair, relief shining in his eyes.
"I didn't do much." Neville shrugged.
Harry shook his head "You did enough. Neville, I want to show you something, memories from my world."
"Memories of what?"
"Of you."
-----
Harry let out an exhausted sigh. It had been one of the longest days of his life, and that was saying something. He hadn't expected Neville and Rons' memories to be so… much.
Wanda was out there, and she was okay. She still had her father in this world, she had people who cared about her and were watching out for her. He could only hope that this timeline had been as kind to Natasha and Skye.
Neville and Ron both looked overwhelmed after Harry had shown him a carefully curated selection of memories from his world. He showed Neville some scenes of their friendship, but he focused on the fight in the Department of Mysteries and the final battle at Hogwarts- both of which he had carefully edited for sensitive information. Ron had gotten more- including rescuing Hermione from the troll, his sacrifice play during their attempt to protect the Philosopher's Stone, Harry's experience with Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets.
He hoped that the memories would have some impact on them, as they'd had on Ginny, but he was preparing himself for the possibility that Ginny was just special, and he'd never fully get his two friends back. As for Ginny, they still hadn't really talked about their relationship. Harry knew he loved her, but it wasn't that simple. Wanda was out there, and Natasha, Skye, and Shuri could be too. Could he really choose Ginny over any of them? Ginny had been his first love, but what he had with Wanda, Skye, and Nat was much stronger than his brief relationship with Ginny. He'd been planning a family with them, a future. He'd had years with them.
Of course, that assumed that they were the same people in this world, that they were still alive, that weren't in relationships, and that they even wanted anything to do with him. It was a mess. So, Harry put it off. It was true that they had more important things to worry about. He just hoped that answers presented themselves soon, or he and Ginny would be forced to have a very frank discussion about his romantic history.
Really, he should just be grateful that he had them all back, that he had a chance at a love that he'd lost. The complications he could deal with, he would deal with. With another, more wistful sigh, Harry turned back, passing back through their camp's temporary wards.
"Shit!" A voice hissed.
In an instant, Harry was on full alert. Harry turned casually, as if he were just taking in the view, and a silent homenum revelio revealed another person, someone who had been tripped up at the boundary of their wards. They were under a disillusionment charm and were trying to creep away, but they'd been a little too quick with it, causing a telltale ripple in the air.
A few things were immediately apparent. This was a wizard, that meant either Riddle or the Order had found him. He'd put the Sorcerers at risk. He needed to take care of this now. With any luck this was a lone patrol, and he could obliviate them.
With one swift motion Harry dispelled the disillusionment charm and sent out a series of stunners. Instead of shielding, his opponent rolled away from them. Her form and technique were familiar, and Harry was hit with a sense of déjà vu as she sprang to her feet. She struck back with a stunner of her own that Harry batted to the side without effort. She was dressed practically, but not for combat. She had a wand in one hand, but the other bore a sling ring.
Shit. He'd just attacked one of the people he was trying to win over.
The sorcerer brandished a rope of golden magic from the sling ring and swung it awkwardly at him. Harry dodged, observing as she tried to get away. Whoever she was, she clearly wasn't that experienced, perhaps a trainee? But then why was she out here? Either way, he needed to make amends. "Wait!" He called out. Of course, she didn't listen. The girl ducked behind a boulder and began forming a portal, though her lack of skill and blind panic were making it slow going.
"Come on, come on." She chanted under her breath as sparks formed in the air, not taking full form.
"Hey, I'm sorry about that. You startled me." Harry called again "I don't want to hurt you; I just want to talk." There was silence, so Harry continued. "We're not with the Order, or anyone else, but I have some information that the Sorcerers could use. Could you go back to them and tell them that Harry Potter is waiting for them?"
Harry stepped around the boulder to take a look at the girl. She couldn't have been older than fourteen. Just as her fighting form was familiar, so was she, achingly so. Her hair and the shape of her face reminded Harry so much of Natasha.
But not her eyes. She had his eyes.