Lore
By: Tara
Summary: Harry is brought to the Labyrinth while still a babe. With the powers of wizards, dragon lore, the gifts of the Labyrinth, and an entirely new way of life, Harry Potter is no more, but reborn Underground as the second son of the one and only Goblin King and his Queen, he will reach powers neither Fae or Wizard has ever seen. And one can never complete such a task alone... HPDM, slash!
Author's Note: Sorry, I may have a bit written, but I am not happy with the summary nor. It may change. Just a heads up. Also, I know it's a short first chapter, but I promise the next chapter is MUCH longer... ^.^
Disclaimer: I own not anything from JKR's books or of the Labyrinth. But my dragon lore is mine! :p
Genres: Humor, Romance, Dangerous Muse, Who Knows
Rating: M just for safety purposes
WARNINGS: It will take awhile to get to "Harry" being old enough to go to Hogwarts... this may very well end up being a Multi-Story epic. The beginning of his life, and then The first year of Hogwarts and so forth... We shall see.
Chapter One: The Child
A very feminine hand, small and delicate, reached out to rest lightly on the tense shoulder of the King. His broad shoulders relaxed at the touch and his own larger, gloved hand came up to rest upon hers. To the lower men in the room, the gesture was small and insignificant. To those with years of experience and personal attention paid to this particular Royal couple, the gesture spoke volumes of mercy and compassion.
"Go Raphael, you have a family to tend to. I will see to the switch in harvest crops and see your farm in the rotation. Now go before I change my mind about the bog."
The short man scrambled out of his lord's throne room swiftly with a toothy grin upon his face. From her vantage point, Sarah could see the plump woman he ran to and she shook her head.
"My sweet, I presume you are done with the preparations for next month."
"You are correct, my love," her sweet tone dancing on the wind, playing about his deeper tones as they rebounded throughout their castle. "Hoggle is seeing to the fairies, I shall not have them biting our guests again."
Jareth's enchanting laugh echoed within his hall. Sarah coyly smiled as she listened to it.
"Are you quite finished with the public affairs this day, my love? Our son yet yearns to be with his father."
Jareth's tall frame rose from his throne and turned toward his queen. "My dear, that boy of ours always wishes to be with either one of us. His curiosity knows no limits."
Sarah took his offered arm and strolled with him to the private gardens, their personal knights following at a respectable distance behind until out of the public eye. Then the two knights quietly drifted off to the barracks, their public duty complete for the day.
When their shadows had left them, the Royal couple released the tension of their royal duties. A small giggle floated from Sarah while Jareth spontaneously swooped her into his embrace.
"At last," he spoke, his forehead leaning to rest upon hers. "I dislike the charade of being royal at times. I'm out there being formal with subjects while you get to dance around the Labyrinth like the little nymph I know you to be."
"Jareth!" Sarah laughed at his antics. "You made me Champion. It's not my fault the Labyrinth likes me better. Must be my powers to sway your tricky ways."
"My tricky ways? Says the Lady of Mischief herself!"
"And you better remember that, Lord of Games," Sarah intoned. "And it seems as if Conrí has your affinity of games. I swear, that boy put the poor maids through a crazed chicken chase this morning and one poor dear somehow managed to get caught in the maze of mirrors!"
Jareth laughed. Their son was turning out to be just as he was as a boy. "A little harmless fun, my heart."
Before she could reply, they walked through the double doors to the private royal gardens where their son sat on a rock, talking with a water sprite of a bright plum variety. The snow-white honey-suckle flowers upon the pillars set off the vibrant blue and green hues of the surrounding plants. Conrí's own black and green stood out from the serene peace of the place.
Jareth plucked a white moon-lily and gently added it to his love's braided locks. The silver accented hair gems sparkled and taunted. As since the first day she willing walked into his arms, he wondered yet again how such a magnificent creature came to be his.
"Mather!" Father!" Conrí shot forward to greet his adoring parents. Heir to his father's throne, Conrí had a knack for the power of the Labyrinth and its twisted ways. At only 6 mortal years, he was well on his way to being the spitting image of his father; having the fire of the king and the compassion of his mother.
"Father! Amets says Uncle Toby will be coming back to the castle! Is it true?" The young boy clung to Jareth as the king carried his son.
"Very true, my son. Your uncle returns from the Above this very night. Your mother has personally seen to the preparations for tonight's meal." Conrí beamed at his mother. "And we have not forgotten your soon-to-be birthday." At this, Conrí sat with rigid attention.
"Conrí, sweet, I know you keep asking for a sibling, but I do not think I'll be able to produce one for you so soon." Sarah caressed her son's cheek. "How about next year? Now that I know how badly you want one, I am sure your father and I will be well prepared then."
"Can I have a dragon then?"
Conrí's sudden question caught his parents by surprise, but Jareth was quick to recover. "Well, now. That's something I can definitely look into, my son. I'll add it to the list. Now," Jareth set the boy on an alabaster bench. "Why don't you tell me about this morning's game with the maids."
Conrí excitedly began to recite with such enthusiasm his parents couldn't help but smile and listen to the tale.
#
Sarah waited anxiously at the edge of the Eastern Labyrinth Wall. Her brother was late and she was growing worried. Both being born Above, Sarah and Toby possessed a high tolerance to the poisonous iron which allowed them to frequently and for long periods of time, travel Above.
Her brother had been particularly intrigued by the unveiling of a wizarding community in Great Britain. He began to obsess over their intricate laws and even stood at the battle lines to witness them at war. This last trip was the longest and most challenging for her brother. Unsatisfied with an onlooker's approach, Toby had spent the last mortal year integrating himself into their society.
"Easy enough," he had said. "The chaos of war is the perfect cover," he had assured her. And now she stood here, waiting to see her brother's form appear, late as it was already.
And though it felt longer by far, her dear brother appeared in a long, flowing robe with a small bundle in his arms. A twisted grin of sadness and relief graced his lips.
"Sister, it's been too long," his voice was rougher around the edges and Sarah could hear the raw tones of grief. "I am glad to finally be back."
"Welcome home, brother," Sarah smiled with bittersweet joy at his return. "I hope you plan to stay longer than before."
Toby nodded absently as he adjusted his bundle. "Sister," he paused. "I bare a gift I hope will be greeted without resent."
Sarah opened her arms and accepted the bundle he held so gently. She instantly knew the bundle to be a child before her fingers grazed the cloth. With a mother's touch of gentle hands and nimble fingers, she uncovered the child's face and gasped as two dim emeralds peered back at her. With her own Fae abilities, she could see the swirl of raw power within those quiet eyes.
"His name is Harry James Potter. I was befriended by his parents, Lily and James Potter, before their lives were taken while protecting this little one here. I managed to get him before the heads of the wizarding world found him." Toby gave the boy a small smile as Harry began to play with a length of Sarah's hair. "I was hoping you could beseech Thanatos to a meeting so his parents may rest at ease."
Sarah let a tear freely trail her cheek. She nodded in agreement and beckoned her brother to walk with her. As they neared the castle, Sarah laughed suddenly, breaking their silent trek.
"What is it sister?"
Sarah gave him one of her quirky smirks. "It seems, dear brother, that you are just in time for Conrí's birthday, and you will never guess what he requested this year."
Toby returned her smirk with a quirked brow. "Oh? And what has his highness thought up this time?"
"A sibling, brother," Sarah giggled at his wide-eyed understanding.
"You do not object to taking him in then?"
"How could I, Toby?" Sarah shook her head. "You offer the gift of a homeless child at the home of the man whose love for children knows no bounds. We would be more than happy to bring him into our home."
Toby sighed in relief. "I had thought he would be sent to live in one of the villages of a town as the others are."
"Don't worry, brother. We won't have you walk through trail. No point, anyway. You would just fly over," she laughed.
Toby joined in with his own laugh and Sarah could pick out its rusty tone. No laughs in the Above for awhile it sounded like. "Only too true, sister."
"Well, come on, brother. We'll see if Jareth can rouse his brother from his domain to join us for dinner and we'll see to the boy's parents."
Toby could only comply with swift feet of hope.
#
Jareth lounged in his study with the new boy-child in his arms. His affinity with children and his love for them a rare trait in Fae's. In fact, he was the only one to set up a successful "orphanage" for all kinds of children: abandoned, abused, and even runaways.
It had not been hard to convince the Lord of Purg, the Land of Dreams, to come to his abode for that eve's dinner. His brother had a taste for Labyrinthian food and a secret soft spot for his nephew. Jareth laughed when the child smacked his gloved hand away. Apparently the boy was defiant of the tickling torment of the appendage.
His crafty wife was in the kitchens, making amends to the dinner plans while Toby entertained Conrí with stories of the wizarding world Above in the expansive Library – an anniversary gift for his love, one mortal year from when they had been joined as King and Queen – leaving him with the new boy-child.
Meeting Harry's parents will serve a dual purpose for his wife. On one hand, letting them know their child is safe will ease their souls and his love was the most compassionate being in the Underground. The second would be their blessing for a renaming ceremony. Without it, Sarah would not be able to claim baby Harry as her own and would only be allowed to foster him until the Underground Council took the boy away.
Jareth held the boy's chin and stared into the young emeralds. Using his birth-gifted second sight, the King moved through the ribbons of power within the universe and into the luscious green wells of power within the boy. Examining the sources of the power there, he was surprised to see a silver strand of power swirling about.
His magical self reached out to brush against the strand and found the strength of the boy's power. This was nearly as strong as his love's and the source undeniably the same. The years he spent searching for the source of his wife's uniquely powerful gifts, a search spent in his free time, seem to fly out the window with this new discovery.
The low humming of power held no sway over the calm flow of the silver force. Stepping away from the power, he swept his "sight" around again, searching for more clues only to turn and be greeted by his own fluctuating power pattern.
A green mist trickled through his power and solidified as a full grown panther at his feet. Staring into its emerald eyes, Jareth found that one eye was vastly darker than the other.
"Mixed sight."Jareth's 'voice' spoke in their strange place. It was then that he knew it was the babe, Harry, sitting before him in this form of power. The boy's coat was at times smooth and then at times chaotic. A silver slash went across his face from the base of one ear to his nose. His coat held no other distinguishing qualities and Jareth's attention was centered on the eyes.
The dark eye grew into a midnight void, while the other into a blinding light. As Jareth was held memorized by the boy-panther's stare, he was unable to register the return to the physical world and the transition to solid form.
Shaking his head in amazement, the weight of the necessity of meeting the boy's parents begin to take hold. There was no way he could allow this boy to be taken by the council.
Swooping the babe in his arms, Jareth sought out the one who brought the boy to them, Toby.
TBC
Thanks to the wonderful tonks-666 for beta-ing for me! I'm going to try not to bombard her with chapters to beta... but she's amazing! ^.^ 3s!
REVIEWS! They're like ambrosia to use writers! Mmmm… yummy! Seriously!