Harry was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Unfortunately, even with the assistance of magic, he'd nearly arrived late thus leaving him at the very back of the crowd. No one, at least no one outside of a changed Bruce or Jennifer, could see past this crowd of people. Frustratingly, there wasn't anything that he could do about it – using magic in this situation would surely get him in a whole mess of trouble.
The crowd, he knew from experience, wouldn't last long once the passengers began appearing – they'd all be extremely eager to make their way to baggage claim, taking their friends, relatives, whoever it was that was here to meet them with them. The problem was that Teddy was likely to be one of the first ones off the plane – another thing that he'd learnt on his gallivanting around the world was that the flight attendants liked to have the children in their care that were travelling alone off the plane first.
As Harry began sidling around the edge of the crowd, headed for the wall closest to the tunne,l his frustration mounted. This, he knew, wouldn't be a problem for Mage. He, with his distinctive cloak, would part the crowd with ease. That, of course, would completely defeat the purpose of his anonymity, though.
With a host of 'excuse mes', 'sorrys' and 'pardon mes', not to mention the scowls that he received in return, Harry manoeuvred his way between the edge of the crowd and the wall to end up right beside the tunnel.
Unfortunately, though, he was just a little too late. Walking away from the tunnel was a flight attendant and a fifteen year old boy, a pack on his back, his brown head of hair darting from side to side.
"Teddy!" Harry called.
Instantly, the boy in question spun around, his eyes searching. A great smile blossomed on his face as he saw Harry and he began running.
Harry opened his arms for the boy, catching him in a great hug.
"You're late, Uncle Harry," Teddy admonished.
"Sorry about that," Harry replied. "But it was only just."
"I take it that you're Harry Potter?" the flight attendant who'd followed Teddy asked, a small smile on her own face.
"Yep, that's me; Harry Potter, the godfather of Teddy Lupin," he replied. "Thank you for taking such good care of him."
"It was our pleasure," she replied. "Ted wasn't a problem in the slightest."
"Ted, huh?" Harry asked his godson, one eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, well, I'm fifteen now," he shrugged. "And 'Teddy' makes me sound like a little kid."
"I'll do my best to remember that," Harry assured him. "But no promises. Come on, let's get out of here."
Getting back out past the crowd was so much easier than getting through it the first time and within a few minutes, they were headed towards the escalators and the lower level.
"Are we going straight to the Marauder's Den or are you taking me to Avengers Tower first?" an eager Ted asked.
"The Den. But we've got one stop to make first," Harry replied.
Ted's inquisitive look had Harry leaning in and elaborating.
"We need to have a quick stop at the International Portkey Terminal; I'm meeting somone coming to the State there," he explained.
Ted stopped dead, staring incredulously at his godfather.
"What? You made me take the plane when I could have ...?" he asked, thankfully leaving the end of that question unasked with all of the muggles around.
Harry held up his hands as though to ward off the accusation.
"Hey, not my decision. That was your Gran. I suggested the other way but she insisted you come the way you did. Something about experiencing life the way your grandfather did," Harry replied.
A scowling, muttering-under-his-breath Ted stomped off and Harry was forced to quick step to catch up. A shoulder bump as he passed was enough to get the boy to look up.
"Hey, you're here now and that's the main thing. We've got the next few weeks to spend together and I can guarantee you that it's going to be one holiday that you'll always remember," Harry said.
"Yeah, I've been looking forward to this for ages," Ted agreed. "So, who are we meeting anyway?"
By this time, Harry had led Ted over to an old poster of a plane circling the world, the caption, Dragon Air, See The World The Magical Way written across it. Strangely, the two of them seemed to be the only ones paying any sort of attention to it. Harry manoeuvred Ted so that the two of them were leaning against it, then, with a single step backwards, the two vanished from the airport proper.
"Potter. You're late," a cultured voice sniffed.
Harry spun about to find a woman with long black hair standing behind him. Her blue eyes stared at him, disapproval – whether from his tardiness, his appearance or both – radiating from her. As he'd expected, Daphne was dressed in robes befitting a witch, in this case, black with soft green and silver highlights. Thankfully, while they'd appear slightly odd, they' pass muster out in the muggle world.
"Greengrass," Harry replied with a nod. "Thank you for coming."
A single nod was her only response.
"Ted, I'd like you to meet Madam Greengrass. She's a Healer here to help a friend," Harry said. "Greengrass. This is my godson, Teddy Lupin."
"Ted," Ted corrected.
"Lupin?" Greengrass asked, shooting a glance full of meaning at Harry.
"Yes. Lupin," Harry replied. "His father was our old Defence professor from third year."
Thankfully, Greengrass chose not to make a big deal out of what she knew about Remus Lupin.
"Shall we go?" Harry asked, pulling a short length of rope out of his pocket.
The three shuffled together, each grabbing hold of the rope. Once Harry was sure that they were all ready, he flicked out his wand and tapped it to the rope.
ooo00ooo
"This is where your 'friend' is?" Daphne asked, looking around at what was obviously a flat of some kind and definitely not a hospital.
Potter barely glanced up from where he was directing his godson to place his bag in a room down the hallway.
"No. This is my place," Potter replied. "I thought that it might be good if we had a small talk first before I took you there."
"Logical," Daphne replied.
Seconds later, the boy, Ted, was back and Potter was ushering them through the closest door.
As they descended the staircase, she couldn't help but slow. Dozens of photographs, all of them muggle, and all of them showing scenes and animals from around the world, many even containing Potter himself. These, she realised, were from his travels around the world. She'd known that he'd travelled. Intellectually, at least. But to see a snapshot of what he'd seen made her pause. There was a world beyond Britain; this, perhaps, was a way for her to see it, experience it.
The door being held open for her at the bottom had Daphne rushing the last few steps and it was only her years of self-control that prevented a blush from forming on her cheeks.
The room that she stepped into at first reminded her of the Leaky Cauldron or perhaps the Three Broomsticks, albeit with a muggle flavour. A feeling of unease swept over her at the sight of so many muggles and she made sure to stay close behind Potter; she might not know him well, but he was still a known quantity.
Once again, Potter surprised her and held her chair out for her, the perfect gentleman, before taking a seat across from her.
"Hiya, Harry," a teen with chestnut brown hair said, appearing at their table, a notebook of some kind in her hand. "What can I get you?"
"Earl grey tea, please," Potter replied.
When the girl turned to Daphne, she readily supplied her own order echoing Potter's own choice. And then the girl turned to the boy.
"Teddy?" the girl asked excitedly. "Welcome to America. It's so good to see you again."
At the boy's confused expression, she continued.
"It's me, Doreen," she said.
"Doreen? You mean, Squ ..." Ted exclaimed, only to cut off mid-sentence with Potter's hand clamping down on his arm.
"I didn't realise that you ..." Potter began, his narrowed eyes switching between the two teens before he cut off with a shake of his head. "Never mind. You can tell me later. Actually, Ted, would you mind giving Madam Greengrass and I a few minutes?"
"Sure, Uncle Harry," Ted replied. "I'll eat up at the bar and catch up with Doreen."
At the girl's return grin, the two quickly left. Daphne's head whipped back from watching the teens leave as she felt a wave of magic wash over her.
"Nothing to worry about," Potter said, his hand coming to rest on the table. "Just a simple muffliato. We can talk in safety now without worrying about the wrong people overhearing us."
Daphne gave a single nod but remained quiet, unsure how to begin.
"Thank you for coming; I really didn't expect that you would," Potter said.
"Then why have Granger ask me?" she replied.
At that, Potter sighed and ran a hand through his messy black hair, a gesture that she remembered from back at Hogwarts.
"Because you're the only Mind Healer that I know and that I know that I can trust you?" Potter replied.
Daphne stared at him.
"You trust me," she repeated flatly. "Why?"
"We went to Hogwarts together," he shrugged.
"And never said more than a sentence or two to each other at the one time," she retorted.
"We both know what you did at the Battle, the way you put others first, working to heal everyone, regardless of where their loyalties lay," he said. "We may not have interacted much at Hogwarts, but that doesn't mean that I can't trust you."
"Thank you," Daphne replied.
"Why'd you agree to come?" Potter asked.
Daphne had been asking herself this very question ever since she'd agreed. And every time the answers were the same.
"Because of what you did," she said.
"You mean that 'Man-Who-Conquered' crap?" Potter asked, disgust clear in his voice.
"Yes. No," she replied before sighing. It seemed that it was finally time to come clean. "To a large extent, yes. You saved magical Britain and you are owed for what you did."
Quickly, she raised one hand to stop him from interrupting. Thankfully, he complied, sitting back and picking up the cup of tea that had just been placed on the table.
"But it's more than that," she continued. "The last time that you were in Britain, you were there keeping people safe once again. Including my cousin's son."
"Daniel, I remember," Potter said softly.
Daphne nodded. "Daniel, yes. He told us all what you did. And then, a few days later, you rescued me and my sister for the most vile of situations."
"I did? How?" a clearly startled Potter asked.
"By killing my husband and having my brother-in-law locked up in Azkaban for the rest of his life," Daphne replied simply.
"Nott," Potter breathed after a few seconds. "You were married to Theo Nott? That Death Eater?"
"I was," she confirmed.
"What in the world caused you to marry him?" an incredulous Potter asked.
"My father," Daphne replied and then quickly continued. "It was in the First War. The Light Side was losing and with them going, it was only a matter of time before the Neutrals, too, were targeted. So, my father did what he had to to ensure the continuation of our House. He signed betrothal contracts between the Ancient and Noble Houses of Nott and Malfoy with the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass."
"Wait! Your sister was married to Malfoy?" Potter asked.
"Yes," she replied simply.
"But I thought, Parkinson ..." Potter said.
Daphne waved the idea off. "Draco knew of the contract, he simply wanted to, as the saying goes, have his hippogriph and ride it too."
Potter shook his head. "And by killing Nott, I got you out of that marriage. You're welcome?"
"Thank you," Daphne said before deliberately changing the topic to safer cauldrons of potions. "Now, tell me about my patient and explain what you thought you were doing rummaging around in his head when you are anything but qualified."
ooo00ooo
"Woah!" Ted grinned and Harry couldn't help but adding in his own grin.
Standing on the opposite street corner from Avengers Tower, their heads craned back made the Tower seem even taller and even more impressive. From this angle, the quinjet launchpad could be seen jutting out from the main part of the tower, the impressive, signifying 'A' telling all exactly who lived and worked there.
"What is this place?" Greengrass asked from behind them.
Harry looked at her over his shoulder, catching what looked to like a scared or apprehensive expression on her face.
"Avengers Tower," Harry replied simply. "Your patient's up there."
Her dubious nod was enough to make Harry grin again.
"Come on," he said and darted across the road, the other two following along.
Once inside the main doors, Harry led them towards the private elevator. They'd barely reached half-way there when a security guard stepped out in front of them, one hand raised towards them.
"I'm sorry, folks, but this area's off-limits," he stated.
"Oh, hang on," Harry said before fishing a white and gold plastic card out of his pocket and holding it up.
Instantly, the guard's demeanour changed.
"I'm sorry, Sir," he smiled. "Go right up."
"Thanks," Harry said before stabbing the button to the elevator.
"What was that, Uncle Harry?" Ted asked once the three were safely ensconced in the elevator and headed up.
In response, Harry once more fished the card out and handed it over.
"An Avengers all access card," Harry explained. "It allows me to get in anywhere within the Tower."
"Can't you simply use magic to unlock doors or apparition to bypass them?" Greengrass asked.
Harry cocked one eyebrow at her.
"Sure; if I want to blow everything up," he shrugged. "Remember that magic and technology don't get along so well. Besides, it's the height of rudeness to enter a room unannounced without an invitation, as a pureblood, I thought that you'd know that."
Greengrass' mouth snapped closed and Harry nodded. Obviously, she was revising her opinion of how to deal with muggles. And considering how many non-magicals she was currently amongst and about to meet, that was a very good thing.
"Sparrowhawk!" Tony exclaimed from his place behind the bar when the doors opened, "about time you got here."
"Traffic," Harry explained simply.
"Pfft," Tony waved away the excuse. "Shoulda just used your magic voodoo, then."
"Voodoo?" Greengrass asked incredulously. "Exactly what types of magic have you been learning, Potter?"
"Don't mind Tony, most of the stuff out of his mouth should be ignored," Harry replied.
"I take it you're the doctor that Harry recommended for Bucky?" Steve asked, striding over with his hand outstretched. "Hi, I'm Steve."
"Daphne Greengrass," she replied.
"Captain America!" Ted breathed, staring round-eyed at the man.
Steve for his part, laughed and tussled Ted's hair after finishing shaking Greengrass' hand.
"Just Steve's fine," he said. "I'm guessing you're Teddy? Harry here's been talking non-stop about you for the past couple of weeks."
"You have?" Teddy asked, staring up at his godfather.
"Of course, I have," Harry grinned.
"It is pleasing to see you again, young Seidhr," Thor smiled as he came across.
"Healer Greengrass; Thor, Norse god of Thunder," Harry said, introducing the two. "Healer Greengrass is a witch and Mind Healer."
"Thor," Greengrass repeated flatly, staring at the man.
"I'll admit it takes a bit of getting used to," Lavender said as she joined the group. "Greengrass."
Greengrass instantly shied away, her eyes widening and fixated on the other witch.
"You allow a werewolf here?" she asked panicky.
"And this is why I like New York better than jolly old England," Lavender snarled.
"Drop it, Greengrass," Harry stated, rounding on the woman. "You're both witches. You both went to Hogwarts. You were both there at the Battle of Hogwarts. You both did what you could to make sure that people survived. Greengrass, you were in the Hospital Wing, while Lav battled a bunch of Death Eaters and even managed to kill Fenrir Greyback. The fact that she was bitten during the battle couldn't be helped. Lavender ended up with a disease. So, what? It doesn't stop her from being the good, kind, brave, intelligent person that she is."
"Intelligent?" Greengrass snorted.
At that Harry smiled. "By the fact that that was what you focussed on, I'm going to assume that, as a Healer, you understand the disease and that Lav isn't dangerous. And even on that night, she uses Wolfsbane."
Shakily, Greengrass straightened, seemed to gather herself before giving a single nod to Lavender.
"Thank you, Harry, that's got to be some of the nicest things that anyone's ever said about me," Lavender said shyly.
"Werewolf?" Bruce asked interestedly. "A real werewolf?"
"That would explain the pheromones you give off," Matt commented idly.
"Werewolves are supposed to be strong, aren't they?" Tony asked. "We're going to have to get you down to the exercise room and see what you can do."
Harry couldn't help himself but to laugh at Lavender's horror-struck expression.
"I did tell you these guys wouldn't care," he said.
"I suggest you lot give the girl some space, she's here to tell us her plans about getting us some good PR, not to satisfy your scientific curiosity," Natasha stated, slipping through the group of men to reach Lavender's side and to put an arm around her waist.
"My dad was a werewolf," Ted said simply, his gaze towards Lavender almost awe-like.
Lavender focussed on him, as did Greengrass.
"I remember Professor Lupin," Lavender said. "He was one of our best Defence Teachers. After Harry, of course."
Greengrass' snort had Harry mock scowling at her.
"You never had me for a teacher; you don't get to comment," Harry stated.
"Right, Jarvis, lock the doors. Sounds like these three have a whole heap of dirt on Gandalf and I wanna hear it all," Tony called.
This time, Harry's scowl was directed towards Tony.
"Unfortunately, Stark, that's going to have to wait," Steve interrupted. "Healer Greengrass is here to see Bucky. If you're ready, ma'am, I'll take you to him."
"Please," Greengrass nodded. "I think that would be for the best."
ooo00ooo
"What are you doing?" Daphne asked incredulously staring at Potter.
The man in question didn't even pause as he swung a blue, dragon-hide cloak – Swedish Snort-snout, if she wasn't mistaken – around his shoulders and pulled the hood up over his head. The other man, Steve, didn't even blink at Potter's antics.
"The man in there, Bucky, doesn't know my real name, he only knows me as 'Mage', my Avengers code-name," Potter replied as he swiped his hand across his face, obviously applying a number of charms to it.
Daphne narrowed her eyes at him, not even bothering to understand exactly what he'd just said. Nor was she going to acknowledge the fact that he'd just done those spells wandlessly.
"No. No hoods or disguises or whatever that is," Daphne stated, in full Healer mode. "You have told me that the man in there has severe mental problems. Masked men entering his room is not going to help that. He needs openness and trust if he's going to allow me access to his mind."
Potter looked at his companion.
"It's alright, Harry," Steve said. "I know Bucky and once he's been fixed of whatever HYDRA did to him, you'll be able to trust him; he won't tell anyone your identity."
"And until then, it's not like he's getting out of that room at all," Potter sighed.
Once Potter had dispelled the charms – again doing it wandlessly – and had lowered his hood, Daphne nodded for the door to be unlocked and opened.
As soon as she was through the door, Daphne's eyes locked onto the form lying on the bed. His dark brown hair was shoulder-length and his muscles appeared well defined. One arm had been slung over his eyes but at their entrance, he swung his legs around and sat up.
Daphne couldn't help but gasp and stare. One entire arm was made of some kind of metal. And the way that he was moving it made it obvious that he was in complete control of it.
"Bucky?" Steve said. "I've brought the Doctor that I said that I would."
The man, her patient, stared at her and Daphne could have sworn that he took in everything about her; his eyes even rested briefly on her wand in her pocket.
"It's nice to meet you," Daphne said. "My name is Daphne Greengrass and I'm a Mind Healer."
"You're like him," the man said, jerking his head towards Potter.
"If you mean that I'm magical, then yes, I am," Daphne replied.
"It's her magic that will allow Doctor Greengrass to look into your mind and to fix what HYDRA did to you, Bucky," Steve said.
For the longest time, he simply stared at Steve. Daphne knew that this was a critical part; her potential patient needed to accept this treatment, any reluctance on his part would make the job that much harder, if not impossible.
"You can give me back my memories?" he asked at last, having switched his attention to her.
"I can try," Daphne replied. "If you'll let me."
A jerky nod indicated that, for now at least, he was willing.
From her pocket she pulled a length of parchment and a self-inking quill.
"If I may, I'd like to ask you a few questions to get a feel of what you can remember," Daphne said. "Let's start with your name."
His eyes appeared panicky for a moment before darting to Steve, a fact that Daphne took note of.
"They call me the Winter Soldier," he said slowly. "Steve says my name is Bucky."
"James Buchanan Barnes," Steve supplied.
"He's been conditioned for the purpose of assassination," Potter added. "The people who did this to him only wanted a soldier who followed orders, not someone who would question anything, including his name or identity."
"Thank you," Daphne said and her tone of voice made it clear that interruptions weren't to be tolerated.
"May I call you Bucky, then?" she asked. At his nod, she asked her next question. "When is your birthday?"
"March?" he replied and it was obvious that he really wasn't sure.
"What year?" Daphne encouraged.
"Nineteen seventeen?"
That answer, while still aimed at Steve, seemed – erroneously – more sure.
"Good memory," Steve smiled.
Daphne stared between the two men, confused at how in Merlin's name that answer could ever be considered right. The man in front of her was in his twenties or early thirties at most.
"He really is that old. So's Steve for that matter – don't ask. Between missions, Bucky was placed in some sort of suspended animation," Potter explained. "Think of it as like being constantly fed the Draught of Living Death and only being brought out of it for brief periods of time."
That, at least, she understood, even if the reasoning for it eluded her.
Just from those two simple questions, it was obvious that this man's memory was as bad as Potter made it out to be. Of course, there was no substitute for examining his mind herself.
"Would you mind if I sat beside you?" she asked.
"I'd never say no to a beautiful woman sitting beside me," Bucky replied.
Once she was settled facing him, Daphne pulled her wand from her pocket. Instantly, he shifted backwards, his eyes never leaving the wand.
"Exactly what did you do?" Daphne snapped at Potter.
"We've had a few altercations," Potter shrugged.
Reining in her scowl, Daphne turned back to Bucky.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a Healer; I'm only here to help," she said in as soothing a voice as she could. "My wand is merely a tool to help me focus. I need to have a look inside your mind to see what we're dealing with before we can work out how to help you get your memories back."
At his nod, she continued.
"I'm going to point my wand towards you now," she said. "Are you ready for that?"
She could see him steeling himself, preparing for the 'invasion' and she knew that she was likely to encounter a battle. Once it seemed that he was as ready as he was going to be, Daphne cast the spell.
"Legilimens!"
Instantly, Daphne was transported inside Bucky's mind. As expected, there was resistance but, seeing as it came from a muggle and an untrained one at that, she was easily able to batter it aside.
Surprisingly, Potter's description of Bucky's mind was accurate. There was a lot of grey, cloudy mists surrounding her indicating that his mind was disjointed and that his long-term memory had been cut away from his short-term memory. Occasionally, a flash would show through, seemingly from far away of a memory of a child; a fight; a teen; Steve in a strange red, white and blue uniform; a war; strange muggle weapons; Steve as a much smaller, younger man; a circular shield of some kind.
Yes, Bucky's memories were still there, it seemed, simply buried and disconnected where he couldn't access them. For now, she'd seen enough and so gently pulled back and out.
As Daphne came back to herself, she blinked and slightly shook her head.
"Well?" Potter asked.
"Bucky's memories are still in there," she said slowly. At the hopeful expressions on both Steve and Bucky's faces, she held up a hand. "There is a lot of damage. Your memories are disjointed and have been buried far below your subconscious. They've been, for want of a better term, cut away from your mind and are floating free and far out of your current reach."
"But you can get them back?" Steve asked hopefully.
Daphne looked at Bucky for a long time, judging the expression on his face. What she saw was promising. He appeared interested, eager.
"With a lot of work and a great deal of time, maybe," she hedged. "I'm sure that together we can recover a lot, to piece your past back together for you. Be warned, though, that the odds of recovering all of your memories are next to nil. The majority, though, that I believe is doable."
"Thank you," Bucky said. "I'd ... I'd like to know who I am, to remember the person that Steve's been telling me about. And I'm willing to work at it, to do whatever you say."
"So, you'll take the job?" Potter asked hopefully.
Once again, Daphne took the time to look at Bucky before also taking in the extremely hopeful expression on Steve's face and finally, the intense look on Potter's.
"I will," she replied.