Hello Parseltongue
It had been a little over eighteen months since Harry and Steve had been given the serum, and it had been a long, tiring, and somewhat humiliating eighteen months. They had been forced to give blood samples after Erskine's 'Death', had attended Erskine's 'Funeral' and had been given a job offer by one of the governors so that they weren't used in experiment after experiment to see the limits of the Super Soldier Serum. When Steve had accepted the jobs for the both of them, Harry had very nearly throttled Steve when he found out what kind of job he had accepted.
They were then show boated and paraded across the country, raising money for the war effort, doing shows in every state capital and every other city almost three times a day, every day, until they had made it to where they were now. Though it had been more Steve, as Harry had quickly made his way to the wizarding world, making speeches in an effort to raise money on the wizarding side of things for the war against Grindelwald. It had taken him throwing around his lordships a little, but he had eventually gotten to do it.
Now, eighteen months later, they were easily recognisable by their on stage persona's, with Steve being known as Captain America, being the fitting image of the true image of the American Soldier. Harry had two personas, one for the Wizarding World, and one for his few appearances in the muggle world. Due to the wings, which he could only have out while in the Wizarding world, earned him the name of Azrael, The Angel of Death. In the muggle world, however, he became known as Azrael, The Hooded Soldier, as he was only ever seen in a long, black trench coat, with a hood shrouding his face in shadows, his glowing green eyes the only distinguishable feature under the hood.
Though Harry didn't like the attention, he was glad no one in the public knew his face, as he was able to have some peace while out in public. Unfortunately, Steve was dogged by men, women and children, all dogging him for his attention, asking for autographs, photos and even some women asking for sex, despite their husbands being present when they asked. The both of them laughed whenever they were called the 'innocent and virginal young men, waiting for the right woman'. They were certainly not virginal, or innocent, or waiting for the right woman, if their night time escapades were anything to go by.
They were now in Italy, shortly after the successful invasion from the allies. Steve was currently performing his speech to the awaiting soldiers, just after the girls had walked off stage to prepare for the next show. Harry stood off stage, just out of sight of the crowd, cradling a warm cup of coffee in his hands, as he watched the crowd and Steve almost mindlessly, with his eyes half closed, wordlessly mouthing the speech that Steve was reciting from perfect memory.
A wave of embarrassment washed over him, and then relief, before he heard the heavy foot falls of his mate, and without looking up, he slipped into parseltongue and said What happened, Steve?
He heard Steve sigh, before he heard It's nothing to worry about, love. They weren't really interested in what I had to say, is all.
It's a different crowd, Steve, I'm sure you'll get used to it Harry said reassuringly, before slipping back into English and speaking up. "The Colonel wishes to see the two of us, he has some news for us."
Nodding, Steve followed Harry towards the general's tent, as his thoughts swirled. It had been a total shock for the two men when Steve had first spoken Parseltongue, as he hadn't spoken a single word or under stood anything Harry had said up until the point. Harry had been the first to realize that, due to their soul bond, much like when Harry had been Voldemort's horcrux, some of Harry's powers had transferred over to Steve as well, namely the parseltongue. Though it wasn't as strong as Harry's ability, Steve could not cast spells in Parseltongue, he could still understand what was read or said in the language.
Not long after they had realised that Steve was a wizard as well, they had quickly gotten him a wand in the wizarding district in New York. A combination of cedar and cypress wood's and with a griffin tail feather, and at thirteen inches long, it was a perfect match for Steve. Shortly after, Harry had taught him as much as he could, starting mainly with Defence against the Dark Arts in case they were to go out onto the field. Harry had most recently taught Steve how to cast a patronus, which had turned out to be a Lion. So far, out of the areas of magic that required spells, they knew that Steve was excellent at Defence, as well as Transfiguration, but was terrible at Charms. Not everyone could be good at everything.
Shaking his head of his thoughts, Steve asked "So what did the Colonel want us for? I can't be good if he's calling for us."
"I have no idea what he wants Steve" Harry replied, weaving through the various tents of the US Army camp. "But I have a feeling that it won't be good, for either of us."
"And how would you know that?"
"Let's just call it a gut instinct" Harry replied lowly, as he ducked his way into the camps radio tent.
"Ah, you're here, finally" Colonel Phillips said in greeting, a grim smile on his face. "Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. We lost contact with the 107th Infantry Regiment, and seeing as you are the next of kin for one of their members, I regret to inform you that as of now, one James Buchanan Barnes is now Missing in Action, and presumed dead. Until such time as it is deemed successful, we are unable to provide a body for burial."
"I did say it was going to be bad news" Harry muttered under his breath, as Steve asked "How long has it been since they were captured?"
"A little over a week, Mister Rogers" the Colonel replied grimly. "I am sorry for your loss, but I am sure you both have work to be doing. You are dismissed."
Still shocked from the news, they slowly made their way out of the tent, and made their way towards their own in a daze. They sat down on the collapsible chairs before either one spoke another word. Harry had been twisting his ring on his finger the whole walk, and spoke up first.
"He's not dead."
Steve's head shot up at these words, not even questioning his mate's positive tone of voice. "Are you sure, Harry? Absolutely, one hundred percent sure?"
"I don't know if I should be offended or not that you don't believe me Steve" Harry said, a mocking tone to his voice. At Steve's glare, he merely took the ring off of his finger, and passed it to Steve. "Turn it three times, and try not to touch them, okay?"
"Okay" Steve said, a little hesitantly as he did as he was asked, and turned the ring in his hand three times, as he stared at the object as if it had offended him in some way. Having done that, and not noticing any difference, he looked up to say something to Harry, before he choked back a gasp.
Standing before him, if a little transparent, was a beautiful woman with bright, sparkling blue eyes, long blonde hair that reached down to her waist. She wore a plain, white dress that covered her arms to her wrists and flowed elegantly down her body. Steve just continued to stare at her, not believing he was seeing his mother for the first time in years, before she had gotten sick and passed away. He didn't notice when Harry shifted, only reacting when a slightly smaller hand clasped his own, specifically the one holding the ring. In an instant, five more figures joined the blond woman, and though Steve did not know them himself, he could certainly place names to faces.
There was a sandy blonde, scar faced man with bright, amber eyes and a weary look to his face. Steve could tell this was Remus Lupin. Next to him, the tall, black haired man, his long hair tied up into a bun, and a mischief look to his grey eyes, was Sirius Black. Next to him, a tall, slender man with long, flowing white hair that reached his waist, and a long flowing beard that reached further, sparkling blue eyes hidden behind half-moon spectacles was Albus Dumbledore. To Dumbledore's right, was a man that looked like he could have been Harry's clone before he had taken the serum, was James Potter. And in his arms, with long fiery red hair and the same, emerald green eyes he had fallen in love with, was Lily Potter.
Before he could say anything, all six figures disappeared, and the ring removed from the slack hold he had on the band. The silence stretched on, before Harry was the first to speak, his voice a soft whisper.
"The Resurrection Stone is, by far, the cruellest of all of the Deathly Hallows. It allows you to see those of whom you have lost, even talk to them, but they cannot be touched, and they cannot touch you." He breathed in a shaky breath, before he continued. "You can never feel a mothers touch, a lovers warm embrace, a father or uncles calm reassurances that everything will be fine. This single stone…" here he held up the ring, the stone embedded in the metal band easily noticeable for Steve to see "…has driven so many people to suicide, so that they can join their loved ones, that it far outweighs the Elder Wand in the number of deaths it has caused. If there had been another way to prove to you that Bucky was alive, I would have done it, but this stone…" he shook the ring for emphasise "...shows the loved ones who have died of the one who uses it. Bucky is like a brother to you, and a dear friend to me, and we would have seen him if he were dead."
Steve wrapped an arm around Harry's softly shaking shoulders and placed a kiss to the raven's temple, calming him the only way he knew how. When Harry calmed down enough to speak again, Steve asked "So what do we do now? Bucky is alive, and we know where, but how do we get to him?"
"It might be a long shot, but I think I have an idea."
-Line-Break-
"Remind me, exactly why did I think this was a good idea?" Harry asked, groaning and grabbing his stomach as the plane was shifted due to more turbulence. He felt like he was going to be dangerously sick.
"What, can't stand a little bit of flying?" Howard called over the from the pilots seat. He was one of the few people in the army aware of Harry and Steve both being wizards, and also being a couple. The only other two that knew were Bucky, who was currently missing, and Agent Carter, who had been told after a number of rejections when she had asked both of them out on dates a number of times. She also turned out to be a muggleborn witch who had joined up with the Strategic Scientific Reserve in an effort to find a way to make technology work with magic. They were not, however, aware that Harry was from the future.
"It's not the flying I've got a problem with" Harry called, groaning again when they hit a patch of turbulence. "A broomstick is fine, my wings are even better, but a flying metal contraption that can turn into a falling death-trap at any moment? I think I will stick with magic from now on."
"Well whatever happens, make sure you don't make a mess of the back. I just got this baby cleaned up three days ago."
"Great, now he's calling it his baby. Next he's going to marry it" Harry shuddered at the thought, while Steve and Peggy started laughing at both Harry's and Howard's expense.
The flew on, past the front lines for another hour, with Peggy directing Howard on the best way to get to the base that Bucky and the rest of the 107th were located.
"Was all of the 107th muggle?"
Harry's question stunned the other inhabitants of the plane, before Peggy spoke up.
"I am not entirely sure, why do you ask?"
"I was going over the memory of the last time Steve and I talked to Bucky, and he said he had to sign a confidentiality agreement. But he said that that wast the weirdest thing, as he had heard all of the other infantries were the same. The difference was, was that they had to sign it in their blood. They were given a blood quill, and were told that if they wanted to be in the 107th, they had to sign the agreement. The thing is, the only people I know that have documents to sign in blood are the Goblins, and a smart person would have gone to them for such an agreement."
"So, you're thinking there might be wizards involved do you?" Steve asked, before he leaned forward, and said quietly. "Are you worried that you might be caught?"
Not long after Harry had arrived to the 1940's, he had researched all of what the Wizarding World knew about time travel. It wasn't much, most cases being that if you wanted to return to your original time, you had to live through the years and return, or if you went to the future, just continue on living as best you could. However, travelling into the past was considered a major criminal offence, considering how one event that could be changed could drastically alter the present. And so, since time turners had been invented (sometime in the 1700's), unless given special permission by the ministry, time travel was illegal. If those who did it without permission were caught, they were thrown into Azkaban until they had travelled in time so they did not mess up the timeline.
"Yes to the first, no to the second" Harry replied. "For the first, it has to be, there is no other option, really. For the second, only two people, aside from me, know I came from the future, and I highly doubt that you and Bucky are going to spill the beans on me anyway. And as much as the Goblins know, they don't like wizards much, and will never turn over private information unless granted by that person. So my secret is safe."
"Okay. So what is the-" Steve started to say, before he was cut off by a flash of light and a loud bang to the right of the plane.
"We've been spotted" Howard called from the front of the plane, manoeuvring them so they were not hit by the incoming shells and missiles from the ground. "You've got to bail out, now!"
As Steve shrugged on a parachute, Harry let out his wing, a small, sharp stab of pain shooting out of his shoulder blades before a pair of beautiful, elegant ebony wings spread out from his back, the feathers glistening like oil under the pale light of the plane's cabin.
"Good luck, boys, you're going to need it" Peggy called to them from behind Howard, as Steve pulled open the cabin door, the howling wind screeching through the confined space.
"Knowing my luck" Harry called back, as he walked towards the door "I'm going to need it." And with that, he jumped out of the plane.