Well, I was unsure if I wanted to write a story for the crossover. I'm not sure I'll be able to continue it, but I had this irresistible urge to write it. Please don't expect me to update it on a regular basis. It's a sketch.

I have to warn you, that it's been years since I read the first four books. After watching the TV show I may confuse events from the books with the events from the show. If you think I do something wrong, tell me, please :)

WARNING: if you're familiar with the works of G.R.R. Martin you're aware that it's a cruel universe. Therefore expect me to be cruel.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The Throne of Many Swords

by CreatorZorah

Harry I

"The rift will bring the five… two will be paid in iron. The one will have to claim the many swords, for two cannot return... unless the one, who lived twice, takes the swords."

Harry groaned and slapped his forehead as the Trelawney's head fell forward onto her chest. He wished he hadn't come to Hogwarts for the seventh year. Hopefully, he was mistaken and wasn't one of the subjects of her third prophecy. The first one was more than enough. Harry glanced at Hermione, who was standing beside him, looking disturbed by Trelawney's words.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Professor Trelawney said. "I think I drifted off for a second."

Harry sighed and shook his head. It wasn't happening again... "You should. probably, get some rest, Professor."

"Yes, it's a wonderful idea," she agreed and headed away from Harry and Hermione.

The pair moved swiftly to a more private area of the castle, making their way through the crowded halls of Hogwarts. He had always been a celebrity of the Wizarding World, but after Voldemort's defeat, Harry, who disliked the attention, found himself tormented by single-minded blushing witches… and wizards.

Once they entered one of the less used rooms of the ancient castle, Hermione closed the door and used as many privacy charms as possible.

"Hermione, don't be paranoid," Harry said with a snort, looking at his friend who was doing her best job securing the room.

The witch frowned and sat at the table. "Let's avoid repeating the same mistakes. Honestly, did you forget what happened when her first prophecy was overheard?"

"Alright, alright," he agreed, taking a seat beside her, "You're right. However, I don't think this prophecy was as important as the first one."

"Let's see," she said, taking a piece of parchment out of her robe. "I'll write it down."

While she was writing, Harry asked, "So, what do you think did she mean by the rift bringing the five?"

"I'm not sure." Hermione sighed massaging her temples.

Harry sat down beside Hermione and said, "The way she spoke about the two and the one makes me wonder if the five are people too. We should get Ron."

"Let's not worry him; perhaps it's just a bogus, like the most 'prophecies' she tells," Hermione said and looked intently at the written-down prophecy. "Supposedly the five are people. What will bring them, where… or, rather, where from? What's far more important, who are these five?"

Harry had an idea. "Considering my uncanny ability to get into every kind of mess..."

"You don't know that," Hermione disagreed. But her eyes weren't as confident as she tried to sound. "The five could be anyone."

"Hermione, she said, 'he, who lived twice'. It's pretty obvious to me."

Hermione paused, studying the prophecy. "Let's assume you are one of the five. Then, for some reason you would need to… claim swords. What the many swords are supposed to mean?"

Harry shook his head. He had absolutely no idea what that could mean. The whole prophecy made only little sense to him, but he knew that it could contain vital information about his future.

Hermione bit down on her lip, and muttered, "And what does iron mean in the context?"

"I have a bad feeling about it," Harry said quietly. "Sort of."

Hermione shrugged. "It might be anything. I believe there is a part of the prophecy for each of the five. Five people will get into some mess, two of them will receive some kind of payment in iron for… whatever. The other two will get back…"

"And I will claim the swords I have no need for, whatever the bloody thing means," Harry interrupted Hermione.

"No," Hermione said, "the prophecy says you'll have to claim the swords for the two to return. It doesn't mean you'll do it or will be able to."

"I may ignore this part of the prophecy until my saving people thing kicks in," Harry said with a smile.

Hermione smacked him on shoulder. "Harry, I'm serious."

"Well, it's truth, isn't it?"

Hermione didn't answer, instead she turned to look at the parchment with the prophecy again. It was a riddle and Harry didn't want to hinder her. If there were hidden meanings, he wouldn't find a better person to uncover them.

"I'm worried about the three who won't return and, most of all, you being one of them," Hermione said finally. "The whole thing makes little sense taken out of context like this. We have no idea what the rift might mean, what the bloody hell the many swords are."

Harry sighed. If Hermione didn't know the answer, there was no way to tell what the prophecy meant. Most likely, of course.

"Then let's forget about it until it actually makes some sense." offered Harry. "There is no reason to worry about something that might happen in hundred years. It might have absolutely nothing with me too. There is, perhaps a second person, who lived twice."

Hermione bit her lip, but said, "You're right, probably."

Harry knew that she would search through thousands of books in her attempts to understand the message Professor Trelawney had given them. Hermione disliked unsolved riddles. He hoped that she wouldn't worry too much about it though. They had gone through enough shit already and the last thing she needed is another damn prophecy.

Days, weeks and months went by; Harry forgot about the prophecy. It was still somewhere in the darkest corner of his mind, but he was enjoying his life and didn't want to think about some vague insights into the future. Sometimes he saw Hermione looking for the answers in the library, but after two months even she had given up.

Soon the last year at Hogwarts was finally over; Harry and Ron began their auror training, while Hermione decided to take a position at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Ginny said yes to Harry's proposal, making him the happiest man on Earth. He had always longed for a family and it seemed that it his dream would be fulfilled.

It was one of those seemingly perfect summer days. The sky was blue without even a hint of whiteness. Harry couldn't wish for a better weather - it was neither cold nor too warm. Just right for a free weekend. Yet he felt very unusual today, as though something was leeching on his magic. He had already spoken worriedly to Hermione about it, and she had explained that it had something to do with a very rare position of the celestial bodies. Astronomy had never been his favorite class.

Strangely, his subconsciousness decided to remind him about the prophecy at this very day and he felt unease because of that. He hated coincidences.

"Harry, are you listening?"

Ginny's voice interrupted his thoughts. He shook his head and said, "Sorry, I had something on my mind."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Mind to share it with us?"

His eyes flickered to Hermione's and for a few moments he contemplated telling them what he was thinking about. Then he thought about the wedding and decided to keep it to himself. Ginny was nervous nervous enough because of the wedding. Telling her about the prophecy at the moment would be unwise. On the other hand, perhaps she had the right to know that he could be taken by some mysterious rift.

"It's nothing," he said at last.

"Right," Ginny said. "We were asking you if you weren't against a visit to the Flourish & Blotts. Hermione and I wanted to buy some books."

"Of course Hermione wants to buy some books..."

"Be silent," Hermione said dramatically, "if you don't want me to tell Ginny about the new broom you bought..."

"Harry James Potter!" said Ginny.

"You traitor," he whined, scratching his head.

Harry's love for flight and good brooms gave him an idea of starting a broom collection. Unfortunately, his childhood with the Dursleys hadn't taught him to spend money wisely. By the time Ginny had noticed what he had been doing, he had spent almost everything his parents had left for him. In his defence, he hadn't visited his vault, getting his gold from goblins in the main hall and therefore hadn't been aware of how much he had spent. He was a proud owner of hundred seventy three brooms now.

"It was a cheap one, Ginny," he explained. "Three Galleons."

"More like three hundred," Hermione corrected him ignoring the glare she was getting from him.

"I've got a sudden urge to strangle him," the redhead said softly.

Harry sighed. "It's an irresistible broom!"

"You promised that you won't buy another broom until you actually get a job. "

"That was the last one."

"I'll hex you into the next millennium, if it wasn't."

He was a little bit displeased with Hermione for spilling the secret, but he knew that she was right. He had seriously messed up and Hermione was still quite angry at him. That aside, he was going to be an auror-in-training for two more years. He was probably the best fighter, but he knew next to nothing about the laws of the Wizarding World. Aurors were very well paid, but a trainee's salary was barely enough to survive. Therefore Harry was a broke. Well… not exactly. He could sell his broom collection and get his thousands Galleons back, but neither Ginny nor Harry wanted to sell the brooms.

Unlike him Ginny had gotten into the Holyhead Harpies the moment she had stepped out of the Hogwarts. Therefore the three hundred Galleons had actually been Ginny's. As a rising star of the team, her salary was quite high. He couldn't help but feel bad about using her gold like this, but it was the broom!

"What was the broom, anyway?" she asked.

"Sykes' Oakshaft 79," he answered.

"You're kidding me!" Ginny exclaimed, getting excited. "Where did you get it?! Are you sure it's the real thing?"

"Yep," Harry said proudly, "bought it directly from her granddaughter."

"And you paid only three hundred Galleons?"

"I may have used my, well..." Harry blushed.

"Your what?"

The whole affair involved him drugged with some kind of ridiculously powerful potion by the said granddaughter when he had stupidly agreed to drink tea. The potion had turned him into a mindless thrall under her control. Harry had absolutely no recollection of the day.

The potion had been bought from a shady wizard in the Knockturn Alley and she had thought it were a weak love potion, which are completely legal in the Wizarding World. The poor eighteen years young witch hadn't expected it to enslave him. The witch panicked and decided to keep him dozed with the potion in the fear of ending up in Azkaban.

Thankfully, being his usual paranoid self after the war, he had told Hermione about his trip and she had saved him. Again. He knew that he should have reported the crime, but the witch had been scared out of her mind and he was sure that she had learned the lesson. Instead he had gotten the broom for three hundred Galleons and the name of the wizard who had sold the potion.

"My... undeniable attractiveness?"

He wasn't afraid of giving her impression that he had cheated on her. She knew that he wouldn't.

She sighed. "Even if you'd done something bad, I'd forgive you… It's Sykes' Oakshaft for Merlin's sake! I'm totally going to fly on it today," she said dreamily reminding him of Luna somehow. "But you will spend this night on a coach. For committing the sin of hiding this treasure from me."

Hermione covered her face with a palm. "You two are insane."

The Diagon Alley was full of witches and wizards, who, like Harry, Ginny and Hermione, decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather. Thankfully it wasn't the time when armies of annoying children were swarming the Alley buying stuff for Hogwarts yet, otherwise it wouldn't be an enjoyable day anymore.

He recalled his first time at the Diagon Alley. Everything had seemed weird and magical… Now he was used to it. Harry felt a twinge of sadness when he realized that the Wizarding World became less mysterious for him over the years. Though visits to the Gringotts were quite fun ever since his break-in. The goblins had agreed to let it slide, but they hadn't forgiven him.

"I see having one girlfriend not enough for you anymore, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes and turned around to see his self-proclaimed arch-rival. The blond was looking at him with a smirk. Beside him stood four very familiar Slytherins: Blaise Zabini, Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass. Another unfamiliar younger woman was holding hands with Draco. She bore a great resemblance to the blond-haired Slytherin, Daphne, but had rather beautiful black hair.

Harry nodded, greeting them.

"Well, I have to uphold my reputation as a celebrity," he said. "One girlfriend is too boring."

Hermione gave him an elbow in the ribs. "The fame has finally gotten to his head," she said.

Harry groaned. "Which side are you on, Hermione?" He smiled and looked at the woman beside Draco. "So… are you going to introduce me to this lovely lady?"

The war had changed many people. One of them was Draco, who had made his way into the politics, trying to change the world for the better. He was still quite arrogant, but his belief in pure-blood supremacy was gone. He had helped Hermione to force through new laws about magical creatures, and since that moment she was quite fond of him.

"The lovely lady is Astoria Greengrass," answered Draco, "my fiancee."

"Oh… I'm glad to meet you," Harry said.

But the moment he touched her hand, he sensed a horrible shift in his magic. He looked around quickly and saw that he wasn't the only one affected by the phenomena. For some reason he felt drained and judging by Astoria's pale face, he knew that the same thing happened to her too. Others were shaken as well.

"What the fuck was that?!" Draco shouted.

Harry heard a horrible screeching sound as something began to tear apart the very fabric of reality. It looked like a hole, a growing hole in the reality that was growing bigger right between Harry and Astoria. People around them screamed, running away.

"I can't get away!" Draco's fiancee shouted in panic.

Harry couldn't either. He was fighting for every foot as the hole began to suck in everything close enough to it. Hermione and Ginny were desperately pulling him away from the anomaly, just as Daphne and Tracey were trying to help Draco and Astoria.

It was very difficult to move, but Harry managed to take out his wand and point it at Astoria. The spell banished her and Draco away from the hole. Unfortunately it instantly found other victims. The pull grew stronger and he saw Daphne and Tracey fall into the anomaly. He was about to push away Hermione and Ginny, but was too late. The pull became too strong and the three flew right into the anomaly.

It felt a lot like traveling by portkey, but much worse. Harry felt unimaginable pain comparable to the one that had been inflicted on him by Riddle's Cruciatus Curse. His eyes were closed but he saw lights of all possible colours.

And then he fell onto something with a soft thud. He growled and sat down, trying to get hold of his wand, but found it missing. Right beside him were Daphne, Tracey, Ginny and Hermione. He didn't waste time on asking if they were alright, he saw that they were relatively unharmed, instead he looked around studying the surroundings. They were on a forest's edge just twenty metres from a sea.

"What the hell happened?" Daphne asked.

"It's… the rift," Hermione whispered.

The realization dawned on Harry and he paled at the thoughts of all implications. He tried searched through the ground to find his wand, but it was just not there. He cursed. Wherever they were, he wasn't looking forward being here without his wand. Harry went to Ginny and helped her to get on her feet.

"What do you mean by the rift?" she asked.

"When Harry and I were back at Hogwarts," Hermione explained in a calm voice as she searched for something. "Trelawney made a prophecy."

"Trelawney?" Tracey snorted. "She's fraud."

Hermione shook her head. "As ridiculous as it sounds, she's not. Sybill Trelawney was the one who predicted Voldemort's fall at Harry's hand."

"It doesn't matter, if she's fraud or not," Harry said. "This prophecy seems to be a true one."

Hermione gave him a nod, continuing, "The exact wording was: 'The rift will bring the five… two will be paid in iron. The one will have to claim the many swords, for two cannot return... unless the one, who lived twice, takes the swords.''"

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Ginny demanded accusingly.

Harry shrugged. "What would I tell you?" he asked. "We were unable to comprehend it until now."

"Still..."

Thankfully Daphne choose exactly this moment to ask, "Where's my wand? Did anyone see my wand?"

"I don't have it either!" Tracey exclaimed in panic.

Harry sighed. "It seems the rift didn't let our wands through."

"Wands are insignificant, we can always make them," Hermione said. "Anyone has any idea about where we are?"

"Somehow, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," Harry muttered.

That confused everyone except Hermione. "Kansas? What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

Hermione smiled weakly. "I think likewise. The rift took us to another world."