22 Chapter Twenty-Two

Harry was having a nightmare. He knew it, yet he couldn't escape it. Hermione had been taken the previous day. Knowing how the enemy worked, he had little to no time. He had been frantically looking for any traces since he heard, ignoring orders and simply moving. He knew what to expect if he took too long. He had taken too long already. People had spotted him all over the country that day, breaking in doors and interrogating people.

Then he found a trace. A possible lead through word of mouth. He had no way of knowing where it came from at this point, but he didn't care. He appeared in a graveyard. Ahead of him there was a person lying under a gravestone, reaching out to him for help and he ran to them, but just couldn't reach. "Harry, help me!" she begged.

"Hermione, I'm coming! Hold on!" he kept running, trying to reach her, but the distance just grew.

"Why won't you help me?!" she begged again. She was bleeding out from her many wounds and he could see her losing strength.

"No! Hold on, I'm almost there!" Harry begged her and tried harder, running faster, but he seemed unable to close the increasing distance.

"Harry!" she screamed as she started fading out of view, the distance too great to see her anymore.

"Harry!" it was another voice this time. Closer, concerned.

Harry finally awoke, in the midst of a cold sweat, his body finally awakening with a start, heart racing. The urgency of a moment before still in his mind as he started to slowly realize he was sitting up in bed, Natasha looking at him with concerned eyes. It took him a minute, but he got his heart under control, his face still wet from sweat and tears.

"Nightmare?" Natasha asked with sad eyes. She knew too well the consequences of a life like his. Hers.

"Yeah." Harry finally said.

She leaned into him and hugged him. She had never seen him so vulnerable. He had been crying out in his sleep. She had tried to wake him, but he couldn't. Like he refused to leave the dream trying to stay there to help whoever he was trying to save. Had she not spent the night, would he have told her? "You were calling for Hermione. Was she a friend?"

"She was one of my best friends. They took her one day and I looked everywhere and broke many laws looking for her. When I finally found her she was already dead. The bastards had eviscerated her and left her manacled with magic suppressing cuffs. She must have suffered so much…" Harry's haunted eyes was too much for Natasha. Harry was always smiling and fighting to make everyone else happy. Did nobody care that he was doing it despite his own pain and loss?!

"I am going to go make some tea. Then you are going to tell me about Hermione. Good memories, things you did for fun. And then you are going to tell me what she'd do if she ever saw you looking like you do now." Natasha finished firmly.

Harry mutely nodded. His thoughts at least on something better. He smiled slightly. It had been a while since someone made him tea. These Americans generally preferred coffee.

When Harry joined Natasha in the kitchen, he was already feeling a bit better. They went to the fire and Harry told her about the school days, when they studied and worked together. About her unwavering respect for authority and how many times that ended up working against them and when it would have helped, when Harry had convinced her not to go to those in charge.

They talked for an hour, Natasha asking little questions for clarification that ended up becoming whole stories that made them both laugh. By the end, Harry was looking much better and they went back to bed, with Natasha throwing one arm over him, her head on his shoulder. She fell asleep to the thought that she needed to spend more time with him. If he was taking care of everyone else, who would take care of him otherwise?

The next day, they joined the team for breakfast and then trained in the dojo for a while before Steve said they had other training to do. Harry asked Fawkes to go fetch Thor, having forgotten he could give Thor a Portkey. That would be useful for the future. He remembered something and added it to his internal list of projects. They called in Tony as well. Apparently he had created a suit for training in a heavy magic environment, though it cut the Arc's life in half as it could not restore its energy with the runes blocking magic in place. He was still working on a solution to that.

They walked through the door and found Manhattan under siege from the Chitauri again. Steve had them split up into different teams and they went to work, Sif deciding to join them. Two hours later, the team exited the Room and went for lunch. Steve had prioritised focus on the enemy for this simulation. The cost to the civilians were much larger. That had been his point. Since they had the opportunity, he wanted to show them what their efforts in the last battle had meant and how many they had actually saved.

Steve wanted to show them the consequences of acting differently in different situations. They would learn how their actions affected the bigger picture. That was his stage one of training. Breaking bad habits. It was a military tactic that bonded teams together and improved a soldier's individual efficiency by focussing on their small part of the whole.

After lunch, Harry presented Thor with his own Avengers Portkey amulet. "This will take you to and from Asgard. Don't abuse it. I don't want King Odin getting angry at me."

"This is a wondrous gift! My father will be well pleased to hear you have devised such an artefact, Lord Harry!" Thor said enthusiastically.

"Lord Harry?" Tony and Sif asked at the same time.

"Father would not tell me why as it was a private affair, but apparently Harry and Natasha were made Lord and Lady for services to the crown. They will be honoured and presented to Asgard in a Grand Feast in six days. Most were quite excited to hear of it. I heard many a maiden were planning on challenging for the right to be Harry's companion." Thor said with a smirk.

"This is never going to end is it?" Harry lamented.

"I'm afraid not, Harry. You are a rising star and Asgard will long talk of your many deeds of strength and cunning. I hear rumour some have even decided that they would be your concubines if only to garner some of your attention." Thor laughed, knowing it would make Harry uncomfortable.

"Stop it, Prince Thor! You know Queen Frigga would never allow such things when Harry so clearly will not abide by it." Sif interjected.

"You cannot argue that he is one of the most desired men to come to Asgard in many centuries." Thor countered.

"You are not wrong, but that will not change who Harry is." Sif said.

"What if I accept a challenge and defeat my opponent?" Natasha asked with a thoughtful look on her face.

"If you could defeat a strong opponent, many would be dissuaded from attempting so again, but you could not stand up to the strength of the Aesir, even though I know your skill is great." Thor said with a frown.

"Am I limited in my choice of weapon?" Natasha asked.

"No, you may use any weapons of your choosing, but lethal force would not be allowed." Sif said.

"That will be fine. I'll sort something out for her." Harry said with a twinkle in his eye.

"You have something planned?" Thor asked.

"I have an idea." Harry said with a smile. "If Natasha needs the help. I suspect she can stand her ground, though." He said smiling at her.

For a second, Natasha had thought Harry was afraid she was too weak, until he finished his last statement. She smiled at him, knowing he meant it. "I was thinking the same thing. Harry can always outfit me with his old armour and that would add some protection."

"About that," Harry said, "I can't use that armour anymore, and it fits you like it was made for you. You might as well keep it." Harry offered.

"That's very nice of you Harry. I'll make sure you receive a proper reward later." Natasha said with a wink.

Thor laughed and clapped him on the back. "If you keep giving her gifts that are more precious than gold and jewellery, mother will declare you betrothed by your next meeting!" he said.

"Not all engagement gifts are rings, you know. Some men kill a mighty beast and present its head as an offer to wed." Sif explained.

"No, I have something special in mind for that." Harry said without thinking. At Natasha's incredulous look, he explained, "It's a family heirloom! And tradition in my family. It's not like I'm planning for it!" Harry quickly backtracked.

Natasha sighed, and while she would admit to herself that she's falling for him, rather fast, she was not ready for that, yet. "Good." was all she said.

"Okay," Harry said breaking the tension of the moment, "Thor, I request that you go tell Odin about the Portkey. This might come in handy someday." Harry turned to Sif, "Today, you'll be sharing memories with me and I'll attempt to go to the other realms using portkeys. This will allow me to plan future excursions with you to attain ingredients."

"That sounds like a dangerous plan." Natasha said. "Let me make a couple of calls and see if I can get you a suit." She didn't wait for a response and simply left to go make her calls.

Thor bid them farewell and said "To Asgard" touching the amulet with his finger and took his first solo trip back to Asgard. Only to re-appear thirty seconds later. "Just testing. This is really amazing." Then he left again.

Harry, Sif and Bruce (once he heard what they were doing they couldn't keep him away) took the better part of the day looking at some of her memories of her exploring the worlds and investigating the wildlife. Harry and especially Bruce were excited that some of the creatures looked exactly like Harry remembered. Some of the ones they saw were strange to them both and with the different names the Aesir attributed to the creatures, they would need to investigate them after they collected what they could recognize first.

Harry had been making portkeys once he thought he could safely create them, but wouldn't go before Natasha was back. He knew she was right and a spacesuit might just buy him the time he'd need to get himself to safety. The most recent memories were of Muspelheim. It was a fire world. Lava and fire everywhere. He'd have to ensure his flame freezing charm was up to scratch and probably don his armour under the suit, just in case for that world.

While they were waiting on Natasha, Harry had been working on his own Carpet, as he'd prefer to stop using the one he'd brought from home. He was thinking of taking it to one of the other planets as a form of scouting. Normally he'd take his broom, but since Sif would be accompanying him on the trip, after they've confirmed success, he didn't want to give her the wrong impression by having them in such extremely close proximity.

He had just finished it and was about to test it, when Sif turned to him, "Is the new carpet ready?" she asked.

"Yes. Do you want to take it out for a test drive?" he joked.

"Sure." she answered. She walked onto the carpet and it took off! "It functions on intent. That's useful. Will you still have the wind issue?"

Harry was still struck silent. How was she doing this?

"I think the fact that you are able to operate it is what has him so quiet. He told us once that only magical people could operate them." Bruce explained with a smile.

"Oh. Well that explains why then. Most people on Asgard has at least some form of magical ability." Sif shrugged.

"So you're all magical?!" Harry asked incredulously. Why hadn't anyone told him?

"Asgard is the home of the gods, Harry." Sif reminded him. "I myself am attuned to the earth. My magic is subtle, but I can usually feel movement and know where to find things of interest with a bit of concentration."

"Right. Of course." Harry finally remembered Odin's statement about enchantments. Obviously they knew more about magic than normal people. "And yes, I was able to add the wind shielding charm into the enchantments." He was still amazed. He'd have a whole other project to complete in the next couple of days. But now thinking of it, he could combine the two. A smile lit his face. "That's awesome news!"

The next moment Sif was out the window. "Do you think Sif thought your offer of a test drive was genuine?" Bruce asked.

"I think so." Harry said. He quickly ran to the window and added some protection from sight. Didn't want the neighbours talking.

Just then Natasha walked in carrying two large suitcases. "Got the suits." She said heaving them onto a table.

"That was quick." Bruce said.

"Fury pulled some strings. I told him we're experimenting with something and it was a safety precaution. He'll want a report." Natasha said.

"Excellent!" Harry exclaimed. "Well, let me put one on and test the portkey. I'm going to Alfheim!"

"We're going to Alfheim." Natasha said. "You're not going without me." it wasn't a question.

"Is there even a point in me arguing with you?" Harry asked.

"Not really." she deadpanned. "Where's Sif?" she asked.

"She took Harry's new toy out for a joy-ride." Bruce smiled.

"New toy?" Natasha asked.

"I made a new Carpet. Turns out Asgardians can use magic items." Harry said.

"That will be useful." Natasha said.

"That's what she said, kind of." Bruce said with a smile.

Natasha put her suit on showing Harry how to put his own on as she went. Just as they were both finished suiting up, Sif flew in through the window. "I'm sorry for taking so long. I got lost. I didn't know what your house looked like from up there. It's much larger on the inside."

"I should have warned you about that. Sorry." Harry apologized, skipping over the fact that she wasn't really supposed to take the Carpet in the first place.

"Are you ready to go already?" Sif asked.

"We are." Harry replied. "We also need to ensure all the locations work, so that another project of mine can be started. We'll do that first, so that we can ensure we don't need the suits again."

"You'll be fine. I have the utmost faith in your capabilities, Harry." Sif said confidently.

"Ready?" Harry asked Natasha.

"Ready." She replied.

Harry took up the portkeys he had made. He had conjured some keys with words on them and put them in a keychain. Alfheim (home of the elves), Vanaheim (home of the Vanir, a sister race to the Aesir), Muspelheim (the fire realm, home of the fire demons), Jotumheim (home of the ice giants), Nidavellir (home of the dwarves), Asgard and Midgard. Harry had made those last two for emergency returns. Apparently Svartalfheim and Niflheim were off limits and Sif hadn't gone there yet.

Harry and Natasha took hold of the first one, Alfheim and Harry activated it with intent, he couldn't very well expect to activate them by voice in the vacuum of space if they got stuck. They were instantly on their way and arrived just as quickly.

"We made it!" Harry said, looking at the scene Sif had shown them. Natasha looked at a device that would measure oxygen and realized it was broken. They should have known.

"We can't be certain the air here is compatible with our bodies." Natasha said.

"I'm sure." Harry said. He started undoing his helm when Natasha stopped him.

"No! You said you'd listen to me and I'm telling you we need to be careful. I see the trees and grass too, but that doesn't mean they breathe what we do." Natasha warned.

"Okay, okay. Let me check first." Harry waved his hand and he got some information back. "The spell said the air is safe to breath."

"You have a spell for that?" Natasha asked dubiously.

"Poisonous gas was a thing where I came from you know. There is a spell that tells you if the air has been poisoned. It tells me it's safe." Harry responded honestly. Then he undid his helmet and breathed in the air. "Smells nice and clean. Lots of natural scents."

Natasha undid her own helm and smelled the air. "It smells like a forest should. Sorry for doubting you."

"It's not your fault and you were just looking out for me." Harry said easily. "Next stop?"

"Let's go." she sighed. They both put on their helms and followed the same procedure four more times. Each time they would check the air with magic first and then take the helms off. Harry had to add Flame Freezing charms before Muspelheim and heating charms before Jotunheim. Both of those two gave Harry warnings of lower than natural Oxygen levels, but not enough to worry him. He did inform Natasha, though. He didn't want her to start worrying about him keeping secrets that might risk his life again.

When they returned home, Sif and Bruce were waiting for them, with sudden relieved expressions on their faces. "We didn't know if there was a problem or not. You took longer than we expected." Bruce said.

"The instruments to measure the air didn't survive the first trip, but Harry had a spell to check the air. We tested each time and confirmed all five realms were safe for humans, but the fire planet and the ice planet has lower oxygen levels, so any excursions there would require extra oxygen, just to be on the safe side." Natasha informed them as she started taking the suit off.

"Besides that everything went off without a hitch." Harry smiled, also removing the suit.

"That's great news. Are we heading out to go look at some creatures?" Bruce asked excitedly.

"Give me an hour. I want to try something first." Harry replied. He went to the Carpet and started weaving his magic.

It took an hour and a half, but when he was done, he was very pleased with his work. He'd had to remove the original enchantments to add to them, but it was a success. "I give to you the first ever Inter-Galactic Magic Carpet!" Harry exclaimed.

"What!?" Sif and Bruce exclaimed simultaneously.

"Get on, I'll show you." Harry was excited. If this worked, his plans for Asgard were one step closer to completion.

When everyone was on, Harry told Sif to take control. She had the carpet lift up. "Now choose a realm and say 'To' followed by the Realm's name."

Sif nodded and said, "To Alfheim!" The portkey activated and a couple of moments later they were in Alfheim, exactly where Harry had been, except a couple of feet off the ground. "This is astounding." Sif said as she started flying them up and in a direction that only she knew where they were heading.

"Does this mean, we can now take the carpet out and go exploring?" Bruce said.

"Yes. You can track down some of the creatures so long, but no capturing yet. I still need to set up places for them. I suggest you study their habitats, eating habits and territories. We don't want to capture them and put them in places they cannot thrive. Besides that, if you find some unicorn hair stuck in trees or something, you're more than welcome to collect them." Harry finished with a big smile.

"Harry, do you know what this means?! We'll soon be able to start making potions that will change our world!" Bruce said excitedly. He then turned to Sif and gave her a big hug. She froze as he said to her, "And it's all thanks to you! Without your memories we would never be this close to curing cancer!"

She smiled softly then and hugged him back. "You're welcome. It was no chore. Harry did all the difficult work." She hadn't done it for herself. She only wanted to help.

Harry smiled at her. "I like that smile you're wearing, Sif."

She stiffened, realizing what he meant, then hugged Bruce harder. "Thank you." She murmured.

They explored a bit after that. Bruce had actually blushed when he realized he had hugged her. When he had apologized, she just smiled at him. When they had spent an hour, only finding tracks, they decided to go home. When they arrived, Bruce was soon going to his lab to get his laptop. He'd start making notes in it on the next excursion. He was planning a whole lot of things and wanted to keep track while he made food. Harry took pity on him and said they'd order in.

He and Sif were sitting at the table still talking about their next excursion. Steve had volunteered to go with them. The idea of going on a trip to a world where everything was as foreign to him as Bruce, was somehow appealing to him. If he could be of use, he'd count that as a win. He had spent some time in the woods after all.

The next team training was scheduled for a couple of days from then. So Harry started planning a major enchanting spree. He'd had some ideas he wanted to try.

Harry spent the next couple of days doing just that, often accompanied by Natasha. Fawkes was off in a corner observing. He was often giving Harry input that Harry found useful. Harry sometimes boggled at the ideas, then remembered Dumbledore had invented a couple of items himself in his time. Fawkes must have been discussing things with him as he went. The idea to enchant parts of an item that would end up having one function actually came from him. It was useful as Harry's plan had several required parts that needed to function together.

As he went he'd answer questions for Natasha and she'd try and help with the layout and look of one of the items. It was for her after all. He was telling her about his plans this time. She was pleased and felt included, just like Harry wanted to include her. She actually went to go buy some of the items he needed.

On other days Harry would go enchant Firewhiskey. He'd set up a room that would age the magical drink and Tony had decided to round things out to twenty-five years by letting it stand another hour. He also had a barrel that he ended up letting stand for fifty hours. It would not be for the public and he intended it for his own collection. It was also fully enchanted. The drink they were producing for the public was less so. No fire and a less euphoric reaction. Odin's order was the first they filled and was already standing in their barrels. Harry had decided to age one of the Barrels twenty-five years, the other fifty and the last one hundred. Hopefully they tasted as good. Harry didn't know.

Of course that made Tony experiment with the aging as well, but he went for smaller increments of five up to fifty. The older it was the more they would sell for, but nobody would believe the recipe had been around for a hundred years.

Soon the day of the auction arrived. It was a silent event and invitation only. Pepper had decided that they would invite only some press with gag orders, that they only release the articles after the auction was completed. If there was no press coverage, the buyers would think something suspect was going on. Harry understood her reasoning, but decided to stand by in his gear just in case. Natasha was there with him, watching on the security feed. She was in her new Dragon hide outfit and gear.

Tony had decided to go to the event as well. For added security, but then everyone knew he was Iron Man.

Even with the event reasonably small, there were still more than a hundred people representing large amounts of capital and their guests. People were mingling, talking about rumours about what would be displayed and drinking champagne. When the moment arrived, Pepper was standing at the front of the room, where the items would be unveiled.

She tapped on the mic and got everyone's attention. "Good evening, Ladies and Gentleman. The auction is about to begin. If you would please be seated?" She waited for them to sit and started again, "Thank you. I would like to welcome all of you this evening. I'm sure you will all be pleased that you decided to attend. I'd like to confirm that all the items on display here tonight have all been authenticated by a world renowned specialist." She nodded at a man in the front seat. He got up and turned so the people could see him. There was a murmur of approval as he was instantly recognized by most of those there.

"We recently found out that the artworks were discovered in an undisclosed location, having been securely stored and left for decades to be discovered again by a person who would like to remain anonymous. They had though them fakes, but decided to keep them hung on their walls to admire. When Tony and I met with the person, we recognized the works for what they were and had them authenticated and here we are tonight." She smiled.

"I'd like to remind you all that all sales are final. Do not bid if you cannot afford the item." she warned. "I'd like to start with this item." A covered painting was brought in. She uncovered the painting and there were gasps of astonishment. The bidding started at a higher number than Harry would have thought, he had been told it was one of the less valuable items. They were starting at the items of least value first and it was already worth over fifty million, and climbing!

The auction went on. Some people were on phones to their beneficiaries and bidding when told. Others had crestfallen looks when items were snatched up by more eager collectors. There were no interruptions, until the final item had been sold. Suddenly twenty men with semi-automatic rifles ran in with combat gear and wearing balaclavas over their heads.

Harry looked at Natasha, who nodded. They both then disappeared. Natasha with the words, "Widow Going Stealth".

The men were pointing guns directly at Tony and one of them spoke up, "You so much as twitch a finger and a bullet goes in your head and then the pretty girlfriend's." He moved his gun to point at Pepper. She didn't even look scared. Probably because Harry had added more protective spells to her than his own armour. He had assured her she could survive anything short of a rocket launcher and she had complete faith in him.

"People, please be calm so this matter can be resolved without violence." Pepper said calmly.

"SHUT UP! Who told you that you could speak?!" the same man demanded. Rather than antagonize the man into killing one of the guests, Pepper decided to keep her mouth shut.

Meanwhile unnoticed by anyone, Harry and Natasha were moving through the men with guns and disabling the weapons either by waving a hand or a slight touch from Natasha's new combat glove. When it could be seen, it looked like a glove with a bracer over the knuckles. Each finger was a different colour, for their different functions. Natasha had learned their functions well.

Nobody noticed as their weapons were disabled all their moving parts locked into immobility. Then they started falling unconscious where they stood. One by one they started dropping. The men, not knowing what was going on, tried firing their weapons at Tony, thinking he was somehow doing this.

He just smirked at them. "Issues with your guns? You should check your safeties." Some of them actually did. 'Idiots' Tony thought. One of the men wised up, and took a hostage with a knife. The woman didn't even blink. She just twisted his arm and dropped him, taking his weapon and holding it at his throat. She had been one of those on a phone. Obviously her boss only hired the best.

The rest of the men kept dropping until only two remained. They dropped their weapons and held their hands up. "Surrender! We surrender! Don't kill us too, please!?" One of them said.

Ghost and Widow appeared in front of them, and Ghost said, "Tell us who hired you!"

They both pointed into the crowd at a fat foreign man who was suddenly sweating. He stood up and bolted for the door, but before he got there, Ghost was standing in his way. He punched him out, stunning him for good measure. Then he and Widow put small discs on the fallen men tapping them once and moving on after removing their weapons. A second later the men disappeared to their holding cells at SHIELD. This was one of the items Harry had given to Fury for Shield's Ghost to use. Thin discs in an easily dispensable container at the hip. Fury had been warned that they might receive company.

Then they vanished again.

"Sorry about that interruption. We did tell you that we had taken steps for security and you were never at any risk. Mr. Stark asked some of his colleagues to be at the ready, just in case." Pepper said with a smile. Suddenly there was a rousing applause. The people had just witnessed superheroes taking care of the bad-guys. Some were still shaken but all were grateful and impressed. Pepper's calm demeanour had also been impressed on them that she was in full control at all times.

"There will be a short break while we confirm your funds have been cleared and then we'll arrange the items for transport to their destinations. Please feel free to help yourself to the finger sandwiches and drinks." Pepper finished, before turning off her mic. Tony still stood there with a smile on his face, very proud of her.

The reporters were on their phones instantly, as all of them tried to get the scoop on the other. The end of which was an impromptu press gathering at the doors when the people finally exited the building. Neither Pepper nor the Avengers could hope for better press coverage as billionaires and their guests sang their praises. Nearly every channel had something to say. The artworks were also mentioned in passing. Tony knew not to leak the footage again, tempted though he was.

When Harry and Natasha got home, they went directly to Harry's room and Natasha's armour disappeared off her, leaving her in what she had worn before donning it. It was a nifty piece of enchantment, which Harry thought might come in handy. This way she'd never be caught without her armour or weapons. He did something similar for himself, but hers was tied to a bracelet that would become her enchanted glove. Blood tied to her, of course.

Harry helped her out of those clothes and then they did not go to sleep.