Robb, I


Robb Stark, eldest child of Eddard and Catelyn, knew that many people still saw him as half a boy. Lords and ladies throughout the land, many vassals of his father and some underlings; it made no difference. When one was bestowed with a look of youth, they were granted demeaning titles like 'boy' and 'child'.

That was why Robb found it queer Harry didn't see him in that light. The man, a wizard, seemed to both trust and respect him almost in the same vein he did his father. And so Robb did not protest when Harry half-dragged him from the meeting father had called to the godswood, at which point he let go and started to pace, arms crossed anxiously.

"Harry? What's bothering you?" Robb asked with a frown.

Harry stopped and shot him a cursory glance. "The royal entourage is arriving at this castle within the month. Before they cross the portcullis, I need to know everything there is to know about the noble families of this land, as well as the geography of Westeros itself."

"Didn't you say Luwin was teaching you?" Robb asked. Harry had, after some protestation, brought the aged Maester and mother into the fold. Both knew who he really was. Harry had been apprehensive about Luwin, but everybody knew the man was loyal to a point and assured him there would be no secrets spilled.

"He is, but I'm talking personalities, not words and sigils," Harry frowned, more to himself than Robb. "Your father will be much too busy to devote the time I need to this task. Can you help me?"

Robb started. "Me? What do I know that could help you? I'm a... I'm barely a man, and I've never met the likes of King Robert or the royal family."

"Your father has surely told you stories," Harry shook his head. "Any little you can give me will be useful, I'm sure. Anything at all."

Robb crossed his arms and looked to the ground, adopting a more 'mature' guise. He did know quite a bit from the war stories father, Ser Rodrik and Jory had told the elder boys.

"A place for a third, mayhaps?" came Jon's voice, as he stepped into the clearing.

Harry looked to him and nodded slowly, to Robb's delight. Jon was his best friend and he would be grateful for the help in this matter. Both boys knew equal amounts regarding the visitors that would be received a month from then. Snow might be a bastard's name, but Jon was no bastard in Robb's heart. He was more a brother than the likes of Greyjoy could ever hope to be, and as much so as Bran and Rickon.

"I feel I should warn you," Jon told Harry, "that father despises the Lannisters. Lord Tywin had the children of Rhaegar Targaryen butchered, one a girl near Rickon's age and the other a baby boy, still at his mother's breast. It's said that Gregor Clegane, The Mountain That Rides, raped their mother with the babe's blood still on his hands. The whole of Westeros knows the story, but few know how much animosity there is between the great houses as a result."

Harry looked disgusted for a minute, but then he gave a hollow smile. "That's fucking sickening. But it's precisely the type of thing I need to hear to get a grip on this situation."

Robb grinned at his choice of oath. He also found it an appalling tale, and he knew Jon did as well. The boys had discussed it on more than one occasion; that is, the hatred between some of the houses, the war and the effects it had upon the combatants. Who was he kidding? Robb would be able to tell Harry a great deal, especially with Jon's help. And yet...

"We will do our part, my lord, but I still feel you should talk to father."

"I will," Harry promised. Then grimaced. "But stop with the 'lord' nonsense, could you? You both know the truth about me."

"It's a matter of principle," Jon grinned, and Robb joined in the jesting. "Father has made you lord of Sea Dragon Point, and it would be best if we stuck to that story, to get into character for the king's arrival."

"Yes, about that," Harry said, fixing them with a stern look. Robb was so reminded of father that he almost shirked a little at that moment. "I understand b-men of your age are allowed to drink wine. Don't let your tongue slip."

"We shan't," Robb promised, ignoring the near slip-up.

"Good," Harry nodded, looking relieved. "Now, what else can you tell me?"

"If we're going by hatred first, it'd be best to speak of the Kingslayer," Robb said. "Jaime Lannister and father have known one another for many years and..."

For the next few weeks, the oldest Stark child and Snow continued to teach Harry as much as they could, often turning to Luwin for technical information and to father for personal feeling whenever necessary. The latter wasn't altogether pleased that they were speaking of hatred between Stark and Lannister, but after Harry had a quiet word with him one evening he took both boys aside and bid them tell Harry all that would help him, whether it made them uncomfortable or no. He did much himself, provided he wasn't busy with the running of Winterfell and preparations for the king's arrival.

Robb sat there one afternoon, watching Micah wield hammer and tongs emphatically as he scratched Grey Wind behind the ears, pondering the mysterious man in black, as he had come to be known around Winterfell. A man in black who did not belong to the Night's Watch was an oddity, and there were many who mistook him for one of the ancient brothers. Arya was insatiable in her thirst for stories, which Robb helped the man to rehearse. He knew Harry felt guilty about lying to the girl, more so than any other member of the castle who didn't know of his true background, but it was a necessary set of lies to preserve an even stranger truth.

From what Harry had told them, the truth was too dangerous to be made public. There were those who would call him mad and those who might take violent action for the sake of normality. Harry once remarked that "the men of Westeros are as like to fuck your daughter as to skewer you", which he called a "double whammy" of insults. Robb didn't understand it entirely, but he got the gist and wasn't altogether happy that Harry tarred them all with the same brush.

"I'm not," Harry had said. "I'm joking. You need to understand that in humour, there is always someone insulted by the joke."

His musings on those words were interrupted by the arrival of his half-brother. Jon could have been older or younger than he was; nobody seemed to know for sure. He had more of a Stark look about him than Robb did, who was closer to looking a Tully with his auburn hair. Something about Jon made him think of the North and the cold of winter, though Jon's demeanour was only frosty when being set upon by either Greyjoy or Robb's mother.

"What do you make of his tale, Stark?" Jon asked, as they walked with low voices. Arya and Bran circled a few times, before Robb shooed them away.

"I don't know, Snow," Robb said, thinking hard. "I believe him, if that's what you're asking. We all saw what he's capable of."

"We did," Jon agreed. "And father trusts him too. I fancy your mother is rather fond of him too, or at least how close he is to the children."

"Rickon hangs off of him like a third arm," Robb grinned. "And Arya won't shut up about whatever stories he's filling her head with."

"Maybe she's enamoured," Jon laughed.

"I don't know about that," Robb said, trying and failing not to laugh. The idea of Arya having a crush was certainly amusing, especially when she seemed more rebellious than either of the boys were at her age. "She's still young, too young to have any clue."

"Long may it stay that way," Jon muttered. "Gods help that one if she comes after him."

Dinner was a pleasant affair, as it oft was. True to his mannerisms, father chose another member of Winterfell to sup with them that evening. This time it was Jory Cassel, and he had the younger children in fits of laughter with his tales of the Winterfell guard. His party piece, a drunken impersonation of Hodor, was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

Father frowned as Maester Luwin entered and whispered a word in his ear. He rose and motioned to Robb and Jon to follow him. The four set out for the godswood, leaving Catelyn with a worried look and Jory to distract the youngsters.

"What's happening?" Robb asked, as they walked in quiet darkness.

"Best you wait and hear it for yourself," Luwin said.

The group found Harry with his wand drawn, muttering choice words over the trunk of the weirwood heart tree as he ran his spare hand along the smoothened surface.

"What's the meaning of this?" father asked, in a patient but firm tone.

"Ah, Lord Stark! Do you remember how I told you that I came here through a magical device we call 'the portal'?" Harry's voice was on-edge, but in a surprisingly dapper way. Father blinked in surprise, both at the tone and the abrupt question.

"Yes, what of it?"

"I think I've found it."

His father frowned, but Robb cottoned on quickly. "You mean the tree?"

"I mean inside the tree," Harry explained, glancing at them momentarily. "It seems to be housing something of magical temperament, which gives it unique interdimensional qualities that can cause temporal displacement and-"

Harry took one look at the black faces he was receiving and rolled his eyes. Robb had understood maybe half of that cut-out sentence, to his smugness.

"The tree," Harry said, "is a protective case for something powerful on the inside. Something which allows people to be in two places at once."

"How is that possible?" father asked, practically in shock.

"Don't worry about that," Harry said, shaking his head impatiently. "The why and how of this matter is too complicated to explain. Just know that I think this is the case in question because we've seen such objects before. Of course, I don't literally mean two places at once. I mean the speed of embarkation is so quick it gives that impression."

"Slow down," his father said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Eh... if you step in at one end, you appear at the other so quickly it seems like you're in two places at once. For a nanosecond. We call it 'teleporting'."

With a crack, Harry disappeared! Robb jumped out of his skin when the man appeared a foot to his right, and the other three were no less shocked.

"Apparition, as you've just seen, is one variation of this ability. But it's a difficult skill to master and it isn't taught to children because of the dangers involved, so we use other methods as well. Vanishing cabinets and portkeys are the two most common means outside of apparition, with the portal being a new device that works in a similar manner."

"And you think this... portal is inside the tree?" Ned asked, perplexed. "How is it convenient if someone on the... other side... is trapped like that?"

"The device can't be used inside the tree," Harry said calmly, enunciating carefully. He looked Ned Stark dead in the eye. "My lord, I need to-"

"No!" father exclaimed, his voice filled with venom. Harry recoiled. "I won't have you defile the sacred place of worship that we pray to. It's unthinkable, besmirching the old gods in such a manner."

Harry grimaced. Robb didn't understand everything that was happening here, and nor apparently did Jon. The both of them watched with both fear and awe, the former at Harry's abilities and the latter the same. Luwin watched with his typically becalmed aura, absorbing the scene with hands folded inside his robes. Robb didn't agree with the idea of destroying the heart tree, but Harry was doing his best to make a convincing argument.

"My lord, you have to trust me. If Voldemort gets ahold of enough servants in this land, it won't just be your godswood that he burns. It'll be your farms, your homes and your people. When the last ember is scattered across the battleground of ash he leaves behind, the gods may be wishing you had let me destroy this tree. Besides... destroy is a strong word. My friend Hermione excels at medical care and my friend Ron at ward work; either might be able to help."

Father shut his eyes, head bowed to the ground. Robb had to wonder whether his honorific principles would win over his desire for justice, given that both were the most important things in the world to Ned Stark after his family. Harry did not say a word and the silence stretched for several seconds. Finally, the older man sighed and looked at him.

"We can speak of this later. We certainly can't cater for your friends when the king is arriving. You'll be suspicious enough on your own."

"They can hide," Harry protested. "Or we can link up the portal and let them go home in the meantime when push comes to shove."

"This is a castle, but it will be filled to bursting," Ned retorted. "There will be no place to hide. And we can't have you using that ability in plain sight."

"You're wrong on both counts, my lord," Harry muttered, "because you underestimate magic. But I do appreciate and respect your concerns. I must insist we talk about this on the morrow, however."

"That would be fine," father nodded.

Robb found it incredible that these men saw one another as equals. All his life he knew that father was one of the five most powerful men in the kingdoms, but this Harry Potter spoke from great strength in his own right. When that was coupled with his ability to wield a sword, one could see how advantageous it was to have an ally like him if war ever came to pass. Which he hoped it wouldn't. Peace was good, and winter was coming.

He wasn't sure what exactly they had talked about the next day, but Harry spent a great deal of time in the godswood from then on, attempting to use his magic to 'uncover the portal', as he put it. Lord Stark insisted that the boys keep him company, in order to act as a lookout and to make sure he didn't try anything dangerous. Robb knew he was wary of leaving his sons in the presence of anything that might cause harm, but at the same time he trusted Harry to not do that.

"Okay, to hell with this," Harry snapped suddenly, pulling Robb from that reverie. He aimed his wand directly at the trunk and sliced it like a sword. "Diffindo!"

With a loud snap, the bark split in two. Robb's throat seemed to constrict as half of the trunk fell away from the centre. He had cut it vertically, leaving enough support for the upper section that the tree itself would not topple. It was as though Harry had carved away a large piece of the middle, exposing the centre of the trunk.

"What are you doing?" Jon exclaimed, wide-eyed.

Harry ignored him and laughed loudly, almost giddily. He reached his hand inside the trunk and pulled something out. Robb saw that it was a smooth stone, indigo in colour. But he didn't care – he was incensed.

"Harry! You heard what father said!" Robb said with anger.

"Relax!" Harry smiled. He bid them come closer, which they did with no small amount of trepidation. Robb watched with raised eyebrows as the man waved his wand and the broken piece of trunk seemed to reattach itself. Harry muttered a few foreign words beneath his breath, and it seemed to create a seal around the area he had carved away. It wasn't smooth or flawless, but from a distance no one would be able to tell the difference.

"Just like new," Harry said, nodding with pride. "Ron could do a better job – wards and repair are his forte – but I think it'll do."

"Does that mean you can summon your friends now?" Robb asked, after his shock had subsided.

"No," Harry said, suddenly looking weary. "The truth is, I've spent a few weeks studying this device now. The tree is the portal, but it's incomplete."

"How so?"

Harry took a deep breath, and Robb had a horrible thought this explanation was going to be painful to follow. "Let me make it easy to understand. There are seven worlds, with a corresponding stone for each. These worlds are marked by a particular colour. Violet is for this one, and red for mine. Once the device is aligned, the stones can be used to access those worlds by using a certain technique.

"But, for whatever reason, the portal still functions if one or more of the stones are taken away. Originally we had no violet-"

"This is all well and confusing," Jon interrupted. "How does it affect us, exactly?"

"I was getting to that," Harry frowned. "Obviously you can't access the world you're in with the portal, so a violet stone wouldn't cause any effect in this world. The portal would just remain inactive. Only the other six will work."

"But if the portal isn't... aligned, how did you get here?" Rob asked, trying to keep up.

"It can receive travellers, but they can't go the opposite way," Harry explained. "Basically, I got here, but until it's aligned in this world, I can't go back."

"Someone must have aligned it originally," Jon pointed out. "And surely, if the portal still works without all the stones present, it should be functioning properly here?"

"Two good points," Harry nodded, "but both wrong. We don't know where it originally came from, so I won't even try to guess at that. And as for the second point... all we have is a theory. Hermione tried to explain to me multiverse theory once-"

"What?" the young men blurted out together.

"Oh, bollocks," Harry muttered, scratching his head wistfully. "Basically, her theory is that the portal was created in our world and has never been accessed in this one, which is why I have to align it. Don't ask me where the stones are, because I don't know. Come to think of it, that links with both your questions, Jon. If it was created in our world, the only people to ever use it are my group and Voldemort. Unless someone accessed it secretly long, long ago..."

"If Voldemort is here, could he have stolen the stones?"

"No. At least, not this one," Harry said, holding up the smooth indigo rock.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because it would have been much better hidden than inside a fucking tree, that's why."

"Wait," Robb said, after thinking a moment. "Unless I'm mistaken – which is probably true – you just said the stones aren't all in the one place-"

"I only have this one and the red one I took with me as an emergency escape. Once we use a stone for the portal in another world, we can't reuse it somewhere else. The red stone I have, let's just call it the Earth Stone, has never been used before."

"-right. So what now?"

Jon looked from his brother to Harry, both of them clearly expecting an answer. Robb had a good idea of what this meant, but he wanted to confirm it with the only man who could actually tell him the truth. He was utterly lost with most of what Harry was saying, but he understood this much, at least. And as it turned out, Harry would confirm his guess.

"I have to keep looking. Like I said, I've been studying this tree for a while now. If I'm right, the stones are placed... right... here," he said, tongue between his teeth, as he slotted one into each eye socket of the heart tree. They seemed to flash for a heartbeat. "Bingo. There are no other places to put the others, so I can only assume the 'portal' in this world consists of more than one device. Can either of you tell me where there are other godswoods?"

Robb stammered, but Harry watched him with expectation. "Father didn't tell you? There are dozens across Westeros."

Harry's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yes, many of the northern households keep the old gods," Jon said. "I thought he mentioned that?"

"He did, but I assumed a godswood was a special place for higher-born lords and ladies. Damn it. That means I'm going to have to search. This task has just become laughingly difficult, going by how large the North is. What about the South?"

"Some keep the old gods in the Riverlands, but not many," Robb said.

"That's still something to note," Harry muttered. "Are there any particular places of great importance where there might be a godswood? Hell, I don't even know for sure the other piece of the portal is inside a heart tree, but it's my best guess by this point."

Robb and Jon shared a look of shock.

"What is it?" Harry asked, looking at them curiously.

"There is a godswood like that in the South," Robb said. "One that's in an area of great importance, even if it isn't used. But I don't think it has a heart tree anymore."

"That sounds suspiciously Voldemort-convenient," Harry said dryly. "Where?"

Robb swallowed. "In King's Landing."


:Author's Notes:

- "Pretty sure Robert (or any King) doesn't have the power to choose a Lord Paramount. Least of all Replace one."

Actually, that happens in the books, but Tywin later gives back the position to Robert Arryn after he assumes the role of Hand. In this world, the king does as he pleases.

- "To the Warden titel, I thought it would mean the warden gets the command only in the case of a foreign invasion? So at the moment the position is absolutly useless, especially since no Lord of the Eryie will follow the Kingsslayer. So I dont really understand Roberts plan, but I guess he doesnt know it himself."

In the books, Robert tells Ned that Jaime is being given the position because Robert Arryn is a sickly boy who can't rule from a position of strength. The first indication we get that this is happening is on the Kingsroad, after Robert finds out Dany has wed Khal Drogo. In his words, he wants to repel any potential Dothraki invasion. For the sake of this story, that event was moved up, as an effect of his argument with Stannis also being moved up in Jaime's first POV. The reason he hesitates, which Jaime notes as odd, is that he doesn't yet know of Dany's marriage, hasn't got his ire up as a result and is slightly self-doubting the decision.

- "Wow... For a reality travelling warrior this Harry seems unbelievably incompetent. He trains in martial arts that take years to be competent in but he doesn't know any mind magic or how to cast a few healing spells? I stopped reading because willful ignorance and stupidity is not becoming of a main character especially when his current skill set is not what would be expected of a person who has seen many friends and loved ones die."

Ehm, no. Harry isn't academically brilliant enough to learn Healing on his own and can't take an apprenticeship because, 1) the war is ongoing and 2) it's what we collectively call "a division of labour in warfare". You should look that meaning up. Harry chooses to focus on battlefield strategy, Hermione focuses on Healing and Ron on other things I haven't yet discussed in the story (warding is one example), while all three have a smattering of cross-role training. He knows basic first aid, as is said, but he isn't a genius and was so preoccupied with fighting for survival he couldn't get down the more advanced charms. As for mind magic: Harry was utterly incompetent with regards to Occlumency in the series and we have to assume Legilimency is just as difficult to learn, if not more so. And even if he wasn't, yet again, where is the master for him to learn from? Read between the lines and assume Voldemort is taking out everybody who can harm him, which is what happened before he fled.

On a side note to everybody, I wouldn't have given Harry Legilimency even if he was capable of learning it. The reason? It's a deus ex machina that I have no desire to employ in this story. Any Double Jeopardy readers know it can be balanced with mental defences, but those don't exist in ASOIF, so it would just be a boring, all-powerful addition to the story for the protagonist.

- "Short Chapter, even it it seems as a filler chapter."

Every POV character will have less than 5000 words per chapter, bar Harry, who has 8000-10,000. This keeps the pace balanced and allows him to maintain the brunt of the story.

Thank you to everyone for following/favouriting/reviewing.