Thunder Goddess: Rise

by Nathair Bhinse

It was completely the wrong shape for a human and Harry was not an Animagus, so was very used the shape of a human, and therefore clearly aware of his very much not human body. He now had too long a spine, legs felt like they bent in the wrong ways, something itched and rubbed on his back near his shoulders, and there was a vague sense of extra-ness where his tail-bone was.

1. A New Life

Author's Notes:

Welcome to a new fic that I hope will help with my muse problems...

First thing to know is that I am NOT forgetting about my other stories. They are being rewritten, and I plan to write them in full before posting them two chapters at a time until the end. But in the meantime, I need to get away from only thinking about them fanfic wise, so that this major writer's block will leave. I think I'm burned out on them due to wanting to rewrite it and make it something worth reading but not really knowing what I should keep from the old fics in the new ones. I didn't get any feedback on Shimmerscale, so I don't really know what people liked/disliked about the story.

SO, I'm doing this one to help free my muses a bit and get me back into wanting to write.

In this fic, there will be things that are not canon to either universe but most of it will be pretty close to canon. I will try to make the non-canon things believable but like every other fic I've done, some things may stray far from the path. I've read all the HP books and seen all the HP movies, but I've not had a chance to read all of the Temeraire series. I do have them all in book form, save for the newest one, even have them in audio format except for the new one, but as my books are in storage and I got a bad batch of audio books (sound quality is bad on some and others have ENTIRE PARTS of the story missing) I have to read other fics, look at wiki and try to piece things together from there.

I don't speak any other language aside from English (and that isn't fluent either as a warning XD) and a smattering of German, so all dialog will be in English for the readers but the characters will be speaking the languages they should be. I don't know if some breeds of dragons can produce offspring with certain others, but as this is fanfic, I will claim AU power and say it is possible. Some may not like that this is NOT a slash fic (I'm horrible at romance of any kind) or an MPREG (most HP and Temeraire fics I've found are)but I hope you will enjoy it for the plot and action enough to at least give it a try.

I will be tweaking the main Canon characters that interact with Harry instead of adding OCs.

This will lead to many (but not all) being quite AU at times but this is fanfiction and I want to change the rules a bit.

Some parts might happen a bit fast or have time skips, this is intended, partly because the event didn't change from canon or not much from it. But mostly because I want to follow Harry as the focus in this story, so if Harry doesn't go somewhere where a major book event happened, then it won't get shown. The time skips are also to get the story started, not draw it out for ages before anything actually happens.

Too many fics loose interest due to such things. But I will try to keep it from being 'rushed into'.

SPOILERS AHEAD: For all HP books/movies, with some things changed here and there to work for the plot. And for at least the first three Temeraire books...for now.

Pairings:

Mostly Canon, but I will not focus on such relationships. Harry will be the only 'canon character' to

not truly pair off, but will dabble in some relationships at least emotionally in the beginning.

Warnings:

Will contain mild child abuse (canon HP events), language, violence, gore, and severe

spoilers.

Also a gender bender fic with a female Harry, but Harry wasn't female in the past life, only this new one. There is a reason for this, it's not just to have a female Harry Potter for the sake of having a female HP.

Also also, This will also have an indifferent Harry in it. Harry is old and doesn't care what the world thinks about her (think Olenna Tyrell from GoT and you're close), so she will be less likely to just snap off at some one or run headlong into trouble. I mean, really, Dumbledore was ancient and although the man made mistakes and was having emotional issues, he hid them well and kept a cool cucumber mask...most of the time. So it stands to reason that if Harry were to get to that age, have people who were able to knock some sense into his head that he too would be more controlled in is actions instead of being a two-hundred year old man in body but a teenager mentally.

Also also also, Harry may seem more like an OC because of lack of HP Magic in full. I did this because there is another HP character in here going with her and they will be capable of HP magic like they were in their old world. It would be a bit OP if Harry, a dragon, had full HP world magic too.

Temeraire verse characters may be OOC in speech, mainly because I might forget to leave out/add in words or ways of speaking when doing their dialog. I have not done a fic in the Temeraire or any verse really that has the older, more proper way of speaking. Just point it out if you spot some dialog that needs fixing and I'll try to make it fit more with the story.

References to sexual acts will be made and are there because life happens and it is part of world building,

the world itself would be without depth if all the characters were seen as untouchable in some way, even in matters of the heart.

Intimate acts will not shown, I'm rubbish at them, don't ask for any.

Chapters will get longer and better as I go along.

Disclaimer:

I don't own anything to do with the Harry Potter universe, J. K Rowling has that honor. I also don't own anything to do with Temeraire, that wonderful Naomi Novik does.

I'm just borrowing the verses for a bit.

Although this isn't a multi-crossover fic, I may bring in references to other fandoms, such as recalls or

abilities. This isn't a guarantee, however, just a warning in case I decide something might work in the story during writing.

In this case I do not own any of the stuff I would be referencing and it would belong to the people who do own it.

I will put ANs: at the bottom of the chapters with all the references I used if any.

Rating:

M - Just to be safe. Lots of battles, deaths, sicknesses, foul language and other nasty things that earn an M will be here.

Wow, an awful lot, if rather important, stuff to read before you get to the fic! But just three more things:

1. I do not have a Beta, and I do use spell check but it does miss things sometimes, so if you find something that needs to be fixed (spelling, historical fact, canon event/information, formatting errors), give me a shout...

2. I do not have a set time to update, this is for fun and to help me with my writer's block on the rewrites of my other stories. I may update once every few days or weeks. I will try not to let it get to the every few months level, but I cannot promise this will not happen. I do have a life outside of fanfiction and am currently doing commission work to raise money for a move to get a job so this will always come before fanfiction.

3. Here are the Extra Notes:

'Parseltongue', ‟Normal Speech and spells", "Other Languages aside from English or Parseltongue" 'Thoughts', *events, like sounds that are not speech*

Alt Summary:

It seems that even at his extremely old age, Harry Potter is still subject to "Potter's Law", in that anything that can happen be it bad or good, will happen to the nearest Potter. Death was suppose to be the end journey, one that will reunite families, friends, and even pets in the afterlife. But Harry Potter is so unlucky that he doesn't get that kind of an ending. He gets an embarrassing ending with a really weird new beginning, well he calls it weird because he is actually now a she and just so happens to be living her life through another war, far in the past, and at least a few universes sideways from her own...oh and she is apparently a dragon now. Well at least she still has a familiar face from her old world to comfort her...she just wished it wasn't under such terrible circumstances.

Chapter One: In which an old life gets a new chance.

START CHAPTER

It was really quite warm where he was right now, so comfortably warm in fact that if it weren't for the oppressive feeling he was getting from his current place of resting, he would have very happily gone right back to sleep. The walls, floor, and ceiling of his abode were pressing heavily upon him so much that he had to curl in to a tight ball, head between his legs, just to be able to breath. Harry didn't like this strange situation; Not. At. All. It felt like a live mouse trap going wrong and he really wanted out of here immediately, to escape into a wide open space and stretch himself to his full size so as to work out all the very painful kinks in his system. How he had gotten in this mess was a huge mystery to the wizard, he didn't remember going into a small space at all. In fact, the last thing he did remember was leisurely walking down the grand staircase in Hogwarts, heading toward the feast he was sure was still in session...No, wait, that wasn't his last memory at all.

He WAS walking down the stairs, taking in the sights and remembering all the times he trekked this same path as a young man, but this time on the last landing before the ground floor, he moved wrong and misstepped, tripping on that long and tattered scarf Molly made him so many years ago...and he fell. The loud crunch of landing at an angle on the stairs, the severe pain lancing through his body when he hit a stair edge right in the center of his back...

The memories stop there after the vague sense of the castle's bond to her Headmaster seemed to fade into nothingness and Harry can only imagine it is because he had died. 'And quite spectacularly at that' he thought sarcastically, wiggling around in his small place and taking note of the extremely odd feeling of his tightly curled body.

It was completely the wrong shape for a human and Harry was not an Animagus, so was very used the shape of a human, and therefore clearly aware of his very much not human body. He now had too long a spine, legs felt like they bent in the wrong ways, something itched and rubbed on his back near his shoulders, and there was a vague sense of extra-ness where his tail-bone was. Harry also felt entirely off in another important department, instinctively knowing that he was now a she and didn't that just blow his mind?

So he is a she and she very much not a human, and somehow not dead, and was in some kind of box or cage; she was also being slowly crushed to death by said warm container. A muffled posh voice not far away from where she was held grabbed her sudden attention, causing her to wriggle much more violently in response.

"Damned if I know what to do with it! We already have one in harness and can't afford another! Laurence-"

"I know. But there is little to be done about it now, the egg is hatching-"

"Yes, yes, the beast is coming alright, and we've nothing to feed it! All the spare food is going to Temeraire. We don't even have anything to put on it!"

Harry kicked out in mild frustration, knocking hard against the walls of the ball shaped box imprisoning her. This wasn't fair at all! She some how escapes being dead permanently but wakes up in a much too small for her box, in a female body, surrounded by people who were worrying about some stupid egg hatching. Dear Merlin, she was in real danger of dying in here! A sharp crack signaled the start of a successful exit and the sudden chilly air and lack of voices was a tell-tail sign Harry had been heard. The hole was too small to see more than a bit of light and some brown grass, but the fresh air was wonderful on her skin and in her lungs. It smelt of salt and fish, and sweaty bodies.

"Well, any minute now..." said the tired voice Harry identified as Laurence, though she was sure it would sound different and not so muddled when she was out of this box, and then maybe she wouldn't be able to tell him from another unless he was very close. There was some shuffling of what sounded like shredded paper or the dried grass and more light, this time a flickering kind, could be seen just outside of the box. It cast an eerie pinkish glow into Harry's world, illuminating tiny red vein like shapes in the box's walls. Fear flooded the wizard turned witch...or whatever she was now, as the thought that boxes don't have veins flitted into her head. A hand landed softly on the wall she could see with the eye facing that side, and gently tapped the box with one finger without lifting the hand at all. She gasped deeply for breath, lungs feeling heavy with thick fluid that dropped from above her into her mouth and nose, the same fluid now leeching out of the box and into the grass. Her arms were trapped, pinned to her sides by her thighs and the overwhelming feel of claustrophobia set in.

"Pray, do wait, little one. We are only at most two weeks out from shore and then you will be safe to hatch there. But you must wait a little while longer!"

With a giant huff of utter disbelief and terror, Harry pushed out with all her might at the walls she was now quite sure was the shell of an egg. No way in hell was she going to wait two more days, never mind going two full weeks, to deal with this ravenous hunger! Plus her egg was way too small and she would suffocate for sure if she didn't hatch now! Letting out a small moan of despair at the thought of being a lizard of some sort - for surely she wasn't a snake or a bird, there were too many limbs for that - Harry gave one more great push against the egg, sharp cracking noises greeting her efforts, and ignored the shouts of horror as she tumbled triumphantly out into the greater world in a slimy mess of tangled limbs.

Laying on her back and taking great gulping breaths between coughing up mucus, the first thing she noticed about her new home was that there were two men in the room, dressed in very dated uniforms and looking quite ruffled at her quick hatching. She dismissed one of them as a threat without really looking at him, but the other looked like he could be a Malfoy, and therefore a threat. But after another look over she decided he had a kind air about him and an aura that commanded respect that Harry was sure he deserved. The second thing she noticed about her world was that this room seemed to be part of a large old ship, like the kinds the old pirates used to sail. The sounds and smells of the salty sea and fish, the size of the room, and the materials used in making this vessel were strong indicators of this truth. Plus it was rocking about as if in the beginnings of a storm, so either it was a ship on the sea or she was in some kind of flying contraption going over an ocean.

Though now that she really looked about, it was actually a smallish room that the walls had been knocked in to make larger, with the floor being covered in large amounts of hay and dirt. A huge crate with more hay and bits of egg shell sat just behind her up against a wall, probably to prevent it from sliding around over much. Claw marks raked the floor where her feet still scrabbled for purchase on the smooth wood. Now was the time for Harry's brain to kick in and decide that the room and people could very well wait while she checked out her new form; identity was very important you know. Turning her head back to look at her rear, she took in the sight of a long blackish gray, reptilian body with rather large for her size wings and a long thin tail. The wings were folded tightly to her sides and were a lighter gray than her main color scheme seemed to be. Small ripples of cobalt to royal blue danced over her scales in the light, giving her an iridescent shine that captivated the newly hatched dragon; for that was what Harry now possessed, the shape of a rather lean baby dragon.

Looking down at her feet and hands showed she thankfully still had five fingers and toes, though her feet and hands were a bit different from the ones she was used to as a human. The long tail and neck made for awkward maneuvering due to the ingrained need to stand up in order to walk about. Harry was sure that the two watching humans were no longer silent because of awe, but more now out of humor at seeing a dragon try to stand up and walk as a man does.

It was so weird being something that wasn't human and of course being female. Harry wished she could have been at least a bit human shaped and kept her male gender, then it wouldn't be such a shock all at once. But even now, with a great panic coming over her the instincts of the dragon were trying to assert themselves; it was fine, she was female and that was all there was to it. But her mind kept going back to the obvious WRONGNESS that was being the wrong gender from what she had been for almost two centuries; that shape change she could live with easier than becoming female. There was no use getting worked up over something she couldn't change, though it would be quite hard to just change how she perceived the world as she was sure a dragon would see things differently than a human. And a female dragon even more so if Charlie's words about the females being nastier than the males was true.

A loud thump from the ladder on the other side of the room brought Harry out of her thoughts and into a fight or flight reaction. She darted from her previous resting spot to the open crate in the blink of an eye, burying herself under the extra hay as best she could, and peeking out at the intruder with narrowed eyes, nose flaring slightly. Slowly the shadowed thing squeezed itself into the hold, seemingly oozing down the ladder and onto the floor with a strained grunt. It was hard to see from here what it was in the dark, but as it came into the light from the candle the Malfoy still had in hand, Harry got a good look at the newcomer.

It was another dragon, a male by the scent of him, one like her in shape but darker in color overall, shorter and stockier in body too, for Harry was longer and leaner by a small amount.

'A sibling maybe?' she thought with a bit of happy curiosity, crawling out of her hiding spot with hesitant steps, eyes darting from the other dragon to the two humans who were now watching the possible fight in the making with wary looks. Neither of the men seemed inclined to step between the two dragons, but the Malfoy copy looked worried every time Harry made eye contact with the male dragon. So, he was protective of the little male, interesting.

"OH! Hello!" the male dragon exclaimed loudly, making Harry jump at the volume. The other's larger form trotted over to Harry with near puppy like enthusiasm. She hissed viciously in answer, coiling up like a defensive snake and fanning her wings out in a makeshift frill, not an instinctive action, but one of mimicry that she witnessed in the Eastern breeds of dragons in her home universe. They had frills and manes around their heads that were puffed up when the dragon felt threatened and Harry tried to copy that effect with the wings in hope of looking bigger and not prey to the other dragon.

She had no idea if this was something a dragon here did, and she was positive now that she wasn't in her old world. Having dragons on ships, especially Muggle ships at that, with no magic in the air at all told her she was well and truly screwed; being a powerful wizard could allow you feel the ambient magic in the world, and there was a void like aura here in this one. It was totally without magic or at least any kind Harry was familiar with.

The other dragon reared in fright with an indignant squawk, scuttling backward swiftly and tripping over himself in the process. Harry's mind came to a screeching halt when she fully registered that the dragon actually spoke to her... In English! So shocked was she that her wings drooped and her coils slackened, exposing her head in full to the newcomer. He was fascinated with her that much was clear, even scared as he was of her she still had him staring at her in a way that made Harry think she was the first dragon he has ever seen aside from himself.

'You speak?' she hissed, before almost smacking her face in irritation at the Parseltongue that left her. Here she thought that language had vanished forever and instead it was coming back to mock her for ever thinking she was escaping it that easily. Damn you Tom, damn you.

"Er, I don't understand" the larger male voiced, tilting his head to the side and smiling slightly. "Is that a new language? Can you teach me?" Excited once again, the male dragon almost trampled Harry underfoot when he tried to take a seat next to her while she was in the process of uncoiling. There was no real danger from the other dragon right now, or so it seemed that way, so there was no need to keep being a bitch towards him; time to make new friends and figure out where the hell she was. And when, for these ships were old but also new, and the manner of speaking was old, as was the dress. She was most certainly in the past, but just how far back?

"Temeraire! My dear, come away, you mustn't crowd him so!" the Malfoy look-a-like started, his voice sounding a bit like the Laurence she heard in the shell, reaching out toward the male dragon, Temeraire, to move him away with the hand not holding the melting candle. But the surprisingly agile Temeraire just danced away from the man, coming to a rest behind Harry with a funny look on his face.

"She, Laurence." he stated, tilting his head like a bird this way and that. Harry blinked at the human, so he was Laurence, and then back at Temeraire with confusion plainly seen on her face. So the humans were not surprised that dragons could speak?

"I beg your pardon?" Laurence inquired of Temeraire, again reaching out to him, but this time only to lay his hand on the head of the dragon as if to keep him rooted to the spot.

"I am a female he means" Harry answered, back to observing her scales and wiggling a bit to make the light dance, casting the blue sheen about. Temeraire was in awe of her colors, poking her side with a forepaw and making soft 'oohs' with every new wave of color that showed up. Both dragons relaxed and admired the sparkling effects of the light as it bounced off the scales and reflected onto the floor.

"Oh, well, I am dreadfully sorry my dear, to have called you a him." Laurence looked a bit out of sorts now, wringing his hands together and casting glances at the ladder that lead to the deck. The other man in the room moved quickly, almost running to the exit and climbing up the ladder with a shout of "Get some rope to make a harness! And some one get down here to claim it, the other one finally hatched!"

Harry didn't like the sound of those orders but was distracted from making a plan when Temeraire brightened up and showed Harry his harness.

"Laurence is my Captain! He won me in a battle, he took my egg from a French ship. Your egg was there too!" he said, pointing at Harry and bobbing his head.

"Yes, but unlike your egg, Temeraire, her egg looks to have been rescued by the French from some pirates. The writing on her crate was possibly Japanese or so I'm told. The pirates must have stolen the egg from a Japanese ship and then made the mistake of attacking the French vessel. That or the French took the egg from the Japanese ship themselves, we just assume pirates were involved because there is little chance that the French attacked a ship of a nation they are not currently at war with. The French will not tell us about the egg though, I'm afraid."

Harry shrugged in indifference and laid down on the floor, exhausted from the hatching but still quite hungry. "Might I have some food now? I am very hungry!" she chirped, looking over at Temeraire, who had perked up at the thought of food being brought down. Although she was bothered by this whole French war that seemed to be happening, there was no reason to brood on an empty stomach. Laurence appeared uneasy for a moment, but relaxed when a young lad came clambering down the ladder, rope harness slung over his arm and a bucket of fish in one hand.

"You can eat after you accept this harness from young Mr. Carver here." The young man waved nervously at her "You must understand, dragons need a Captain, otherwise they are labeled feral and have to be seen off to a breeding ground" Laurence added after seeing Harry's skeptical look toward Mr. Carver. "He does not look like he enjoys the idea. He doesn't even seem to like dragons" she stated, moving away from the humans and closer to Temeraire for protection. Both men exchanged a look at the dire situation; they managed to get Temeraire in harness but now it looks like they might still have a dragon going feral.

"Can I not just take the food now and wait for a better Captain?" Harry asked, not at all planning to actually take a Captain; it seemed a bit like the humans would then own the dragon like one does a horse or a dog. She had not bowed to the whims of the Dursleys, nor to Voldemort or the Ministry, she was not about to do so for some random Muggle soldier nor matter their rank. Being a dragon and not being allowed the freedom to be a proper dragon was a horrible idea!

The men looked utterly stumped, the thought had clearly never crossed their minds before now. "Well that isn't, that is to say, I've never heard of a dragon refusing the harness until a later date. If a dragon refuses the harness right out of the shell, then they never intend to take it at all!" Carver said, holding up the web of rope and buckles for Harry to inspect.

She sniffed disdainfully at it and gave both humans a withering glare. "I don't want him. I will wait" and she wiggled off to the crate, plopping down into it with a huff. Carver went over to the other side of the room and set both the bucket and the harness down on the floor, before taking a seat against the wall and waited, watching Harry for any sign of caving into their demands. The young man did look a bit put out that the dragon vocalized her dislike of him, but his scent suggested he wasn't as upset as he appeared. Laurence ushered a vehemently protesting Temeraire out of the room and back on deck just as a fairly large wave hit the side of the ship, tilting it to one side and then tossing it to the other.

Harry fell asleep with a rumbling stomach and didn't wake till mid afternoon the next day. She could hear people up on the deck complaining about the massive storm they had last night. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that her crate had some water in it but that the hay was keeping most of it from her body. And that Carver had been replaced by another younger man, this one sleeping peacefully on the soaked floor next to the bucket, but not so close that Harry couldn't sneak some food if she was daring enough. But the idea of being sent off to a breeding ground kept her laying there, staring at the food with a sad look.

"You can have some you know, you just have to let me put this on." The now awake young man held up the harness and sighed at Harry's negative shake of the head. "Can I choose another Captain later? Or is this a permanent affair?" she asked, puzzling the boy and bringing the attention of one William Laurence - Temeraire spilled the beans on that one last night during his protests of being removed - as the man climbed down the hatch.

"That is a good question, my dear, I do not think we have the answer to that though. Pray, if you take the harness for now and promise to listen and stay on the ship, you can eat now and even go on deck with Temeraire." he answered, indicating toward the harness with a pleading look. With a great put upon sigh Harry got up onto wobbly legs, sloshing the thin layer of water on the floor about with each step, and made her way over to the boy and harness, letting the apologetic young man attach the thing and then give her the bucket to eat from. She spent the next hour eating in the hold and then later answering questions put to her by Laurence, who was interested in a lot of things, mainly what languages she spoke.

"Japanese for sure, so you are probably right about the crate being from Japan. Some German though not much, English of course. Very little Chinese...OH! and French." She nodded and flourished her wings, catching the wind and sea spray in them. They had taken her up onto the deck after her meal for the light interrogation. Many of the younger members of the ship were trading off in taking care of her (guarding her) as it was now well known that although she had taken the harness as a promise to serve to the corps, she hadn't chosen her real Captain yet. Surprisingly, many of the young men were not too bothered by this. Some seemed happy to pretend she was theirs right now, but the idea of having to give up a life they knew and take care of a dragon for the rest of their days seemed to be one they weren't prepared to take on just yet.

"But what about that hissing one? The one you spoke when I startled you." Temeraire laid down next to her, placing his head down to look smaller and less threatening when he spoke.

"That is Parseltongue, I don't know where it comes from, but snakes speak it." Harry shrugged, it was a mistake to speak it, but the cat was out of the bag so she had to come up with something. Dragons could learn languages in the shell, it was how Harry learned Japanese, French and Chinese. The German was Krum's fault as it was part of a bet during a drinking game when Harry was younger; if he lost, he had to learn passable German... and he lost. If push came to shove she could always say it was in her early days in the shell that she heard the language and was told by those speaking it that they were snakes and the language was Parseltongue; maybe they would assume it was something she heard in Japan.

"Can you teach me this language?" the other dragon asked shyly, turning his head to keep Laurence in view while still watching Harry. It was cute how the little dragon would always know wherever Laurence was on the ship, and if he didn't he would seek him out. "I do not know, but we have nothing but time until we reach port, so I suppose we can try." Temeraire wiggled excitedly and shouted over to his Captain that he was going to learn a new language, and Harry smiled secretly as she thought 'This life may not be so bad after all'.

END CHAPTER.