Hi!
It's my first time publishing a story of my own, I've written a lot more but I have also never found the motivation to see them to the end. I'm hoping that posting and getting reviews (hopefully) will keep me writing.
The idea of a crossover between Harry Potter, Got and Asoiaf (I'm taking things from both, not the end, though I'm sure I don't need to say it) has been living in my head for quite some time so I already have a lot of ideas, I'm more of a writer who writes as things move on, a gardener I think that's what George called it, though I wouldn't compare myself to him, obviously.
I'm sure you'll be able to tell but I am not an english native, I have been learning english for fifteen years so I think I'm more than okay but there'll always be things I don't see or simply don't know, don't hesitate to tell me if you spot a mistake.
I hope you like this story, leave reviews if you do or have any way in which I could improve either the story or my own writing as I am far from perfect.
*I do not own anything, everything belongs to George RR Martin and J.K Rowling.
Ps: I'll update characters and relationships as we move on in the fic.
War.
It was all mankind seemed to be able to do. Despite the progress they claimed to make, be it technological or magical, humans never changed.
Harry knew that better than anyone; he had spent most of his life in one war or another.
Even if Harry had not realized it, Voldemort and his death eaters had occupied seventeen years of it. Years where he had known true hardship, still, Harry had prevailed.
It had not been the same in the war that had followed.
Voldemort's actions revealed their secret society to the larger world. The muggle governments and their magical counterparts around the world had banded together to prevent the public from learning the existence of magic. They had failed.
Although Harry found it hard to blame them, for that at the very least. Once more, Voldemort was the one to blame. And even then, the pace at which muggle technology developed pretty much ensured the discovery of magic at some point or another.
But to his and the wizarding world's surprise, the muggles had accepted them when in 2012, the existence of magic was acknowledged by the United Nations.
Long gone was the time of the witch hunts it seemed. In the past decades and centuries, most of the muggle world had released themselves from the shackles of religion, meaning there were few religious leaders to call for such abominations.
It had not lasted.
At first, the ICW and the UN collaborated to create a set of rights that would apply to either class of citizens in both worlds. And the wizarding world had slowly opened its doors.
The Vatican had even presented its formal apologies to the wizarding community for the wrong they had inflicted on them.
At first, it had seemed like everything was going to be all right and Harry had watched the events unravel from the comfort of his home in the company of his wife.
Harry had no wish to be what he had once been. He was perfectly content to leave the world be as long as it allowed the same to him and his.
It had not.
Soon after the "Discovery" as the muggles had come to call it. The effects of their activities had begun to make themselves known.
It turned out that filling the air with filth, destroying the land around you and all in all destroying the planet you lived on was not very good for one's continued existence.
It had started small, with barely noticeable events like longer dry seasons and harsher winters. But it had taken little to no time for things to get worse.
By the time Ginny stopped her quidditch career, after five English league titles and two world cups, the world had gone to shit.
For years the muggles had asked the wizarding world to fix their mistakes. When it came to repairing a city damaged by a tornado or salvaging the crops of flooded land, there was no better thing than magic and thus the wizards had not protested, provided they be paid for their services.
It had fooled the muggles to believe that magic was capable of anything.
Sadly, it was not.
There was no way to bring back the many disappeared species entire ecosystems relied on. No way to restore the coral reefs or drop the temperature of the oceans of the world. No way to clean the atmosphere the muggles had poisoned.
Maybe if they had begun fifty or sixty years ago, and it was big maybe, something could have been done. But once again, the same could be said about the muggles. Had they reduced their pollution and their destruction when they knew what it was doing, they would have been fine.
But no, much like in the wizarding world, money was king in the muggle world. And with money came greed. And it was greed and greed alone that started the end of the world.
Lines had been drawn, tipping points had been reached and exceeded and finally, it came.
It was not climate change that ended humanity, no, it was plenty capable to do so itself.
Neither was it a war of muggles against wizards as one might have believed. No, it was a war of survival. If any wished to survive the coming decades and the destruction climate change brought, they had to secure the least affected lands and the most resources.
The US and its allies had declared war on Russia and had somehow convinced the wizards of their countries to take their side. Harry was still puzzled as to how they had done that.
There were no reasons for them to involve themselves, it was why he had remained with his close ones, seeing no reason to endanger himself for the muggles and having seen more than enough war for a lifetime already.
Up until the day where Harry had visited the Kinglsey, who was still minister after over fifteen years in office, a young Auror Harry ignored everything off had barged into the room to announce Godric's Hollow had been leveled by a missile.
The life he had begun to build with Ginny had been vaporized, along with his pregnant wife, and the manor he had built with his wand, surrounded by woodlands and nature, was gone.
He had felt his heart die at that moment.
And as he was going to take his own life, another bomb struck.
Except for this time, Harry had his wand out, and as if he had never stopped fighting. Harry had summoned everything he had to stop it from impacting.
Barely managing to do it, Harry had felt his reserves empty as the gigantic missile stopped above him. Adorned with what Harry knew was a Chinese flag.
Rage like Harry had never felt before had coursed through his body. They had dared to take what was his; what he held most dear to his heart. The very thing he had fought for all his life.
With a thunder-like crack, Harry had disapparated, shattering the wards that remained in place.
His first stop had been Hogwarts where he had retrieved the elder wand, it has been as if his entire being urged him to it. And one thing that Harry had learned over the years, was to follow one's instinct, for it was usually right.
His second stop had been China, that night the entire Chinese Government had burned to the ground. The fire spared no one as they were trapped behind the muggle-repelling jinx.
Harry had done something that he had sworn years ago he would never do, he had used Fiendfyre.
It turned out his instinct to use the elder wand had been right, as it had been the only thing standing against the entire destruction of Beijing.
Harry had no wish to kill the innocent, he was not Voldemort, but the guilty had paid.
In the following years, Harry fought relentlessly. Not because he believed in the cause, but because he was a coward.
After Beijing, he had never managed to do what the missile had almost done, what he was readying to do.
As such he had sought death by other means, and many times it had been a close call, but for some reason, Death never seemed to keep him.
He had fought amongst muggles and wizards, decimated targets with the power of the elder wand and the knowledge passed down by generations of Blacks.
It had not been enough however, even the elder wand could not stop a nuclear missile and the muggles had made liberal use of them.
They had, bit by bit, destroyed the planet they all lived on. It was quite ironic as they had fought over the survivable lands that were spared the most from climate change and ended up destroying them in the process.
Humans were stupid that way.
But death had kept avoiding him. When it was the one thing he truly wanted. He had been denied, fate had always been cruel to him and there was no reason to believe it had changed.
Up until that point that is, this time he had heard the familiar noise of an incoming strike, but unlike the other times, there was no one with him, no one he had to bring back to their families.
And Harry had let it hit. Knowing nothing could save him this time, there was no trick to be pulled, no last-second luck. And he had welcomed death with opened arms.
He had woken up a few moments ago, although there was no way to tell time, in the same place he had visited more than a decade earlier on that fateful day where so many had died.
Harry quashed the sadness that threatened to come up, he had become an expert at doing that. Using the one thing he had truly hated to learn.
It turned out that Snape was not a bad teacher, he had simply used the fastest way to create an ability in occlumency in someone. By repeatedly battering his mind with his attacks of legilimency, Snape had aimed to develop an instinct for the mind to defend itself.
Yes, it was mostly unsuccessful against Voldemort, but their bond had run far deeper than the mind alone. Since Tom's death, no one had been able to breach his mind.
It did not mean Harry was lauding the man for anything else, he had still taken the opportunity to bully and humiliate him and countless others at every chance he got. He had chosen to carry a grudge against a man long dead, against a boy who had done nothing to deserve it. It was loathsome as far as Harry was concerned, especially when one considered the fact that Snape had been the one to report the prophecy to the Dark Lord and was ultimately responsible for his parent's death.
But much like with his dear former headmaster and his secretive ways, Harry had long forgiven the dead potion master. There was truly no point in holding a grudge against a dead man.
Which he was too, Harry thought with a strained smile.
'But if I'm dead, what's happening?' he could not help but think.
Even his first time here, Harry had not waited so long before Dumbledore had appeared.
Everything else had been the same, from his Adam-like state of dress to the eerily reminiscent decorum of King's Cross Station.
Of course, there were no deformed Horcrux babies, which was a relief as Harry could still feel his skin crawl at the mere thought of it.
Suddenly, Harry felt something in his back and spun as he ducked instinctively flicking his wrist as to release the elder wand, only for nothing to come from it.
But all thoughts of fight left Harry's mind as he gazed upon the figure that had materialized in his back.
It was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, she had blonde almost white hair, and her eyes seemingly changed color as she advanced toward him as she seemed to be surrounded by some sort of ethereal glow, and he could do nothing but gape.
"Welcome Harry," she said and her words were enough to break the green-eyed wizard from his trance.
"You know my name?" was the only thing that seemed to come out of his mouth.
She laughed, it was a beautiful crystalline laugh and it reverberated all around them, filling up the space.
"Oh my, you are refreshing my child." The beautiful blonde said chuckling.
Harry frowned, it was a weird way to address him, she did not seem like she was much older than him.
"I'm sorry" Harry began, "but who are you? I just died and I'd like to see my family, I don't have time to waste on games."
The blonde finally stopped laughing and looked Harry in the eyes and the now adult wizard felt like a child and knew he had chosen the wrong words.
"I am Death, and you're in my realm."
Harry gaped, 'Oh shit,' was the only thing he had in mind.
"It's quite all right, young one," Death dropped her enrapturing gaze from Harry's green eyes. "I am not as your silly tales describe me to be."
Harry was speechless, there was a legendary being, right in front of him, talking to him as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Still, Harry regained his wits quickly, he had a goal.
"So… When do I get to see it,"
"Yes, I know, your family" Death interrupted him, "You do have quite the tunnel vision, your wife had told me of course but it is still impressive"
"You've seen Ginny?"
"I have" the being confirmed, Harry was not quite sure how to qualify it but there were more important things right now.
"Please, have a seat" she gestured toward a bench that had not been there before, "There are quite a few things I'd like to discuss with you."
Harry restrained a sigh, things always had to be weird with him, he could not even have normal death. Still, he took the offered seat, knowing he did not have a choice anyway.
"I know you, Harry James Potter" she began, "I have watched your life as it unfolded across many different timelines. Watched you grow old, die young, and live a happy life and sometimes a miserable one. But one thing never changed, is your character. It is why you are here today,"
Harry frowned, what she talked about barely made sense. What did she mean by different timelines?
"Far before your birth, your ancestors set into motion events that were beyond their comprehension. The Peverell brothers found a way to call on me to defeat a great evil, one much like Tom Riddle, who had defied nature's ways and found a way to cheat me. You see, Harry Potter, if there is one thing that is and will always be true, all things must die. Even I, at some point, will meet my end, not for a long time, but still, I will."
Harry had a sinking feeling in his stomach, somehow, without knowing precisely what was happening he could feel he was getting screwed over again.
"By splitting his soul, Tom Riddle condemned himself to eternal damnation, but only because you killed him and destroyed his abominations. Sadly, I have no way of delivering those like him to such a fate."
'That's it,' Harry thought, he was seeing it coming from a mile around now.
"Yes, you are quite the clever one," the entity praised him, and Harry couldn't help the blush that formed along with his widening eyes. She could read his thoughts, immediately wanting to facepalm himself at realizing the stupidity of what he was thinking. Only to realize she was probably hearing everything anyway, her knowing look pretty much confirming it and reinforcing his blush.
He cleared his throat and tried to get his blush under control.
"So, what do you want from me?" He asked trying to restrain any other thought from crossing his mind.
"As I said before, I cannot intervene in the physical plane, not directly, but I can through another. It was what I did with your ancestors when I gave them my hallows, with each came a life of servitude to me where they had to answer my call to slay any that dared to defy nature's way. But there are many worlds and while some are fine being left alone, some I cannot"
"Many worlds?" Harry questioned dumbfounded.
"Why yes" she exclaimed jovially, "There are thousands upon thousands of them, each filled with so much life" the being sounded happy at this making him frown.
"I don't understand…"
"Why do I seem happy with them having so much life if I am Death?" the being interrupted and Harry nodded. "Death is as much a part of Life as Life is a part of Death, the two go hand in hand, side by side, without one there cannot be the other and vice-versa. Do you understand?"
Harry nodded slowly, "I think so…"
"From Life comes Death and from Death comes Life, if the dinosaurs had never come to an end, the humans would have never existed. And from the death of your planet will come life once it has repaired itself. Yes?"
Harry nodded more firmly; he understood now.
"But as I was saying, every so often, comes one that tries to break the rules that govern us all." She sighed, "And in such a world, most of the timelines I have seen end in endless death, endless night, with no chance for life to bloom again."
"Why should I help you?" he couldn't help but ask, "I didn't ask you for anything, the hallows came to me, I didn't even seek them out."
"Because I believe you are not the type of man that can watch millions die when he knows he could have done something."
Harry groaned, there it was, his "saving people thing" as Hermione called it.
The being smiled as she watched him think, probably reading his mind as he did so and Harry found it hard not to smile at her, it was weird.
"I truly am sorry, young one, ideally I would take care of it myself, but I cannot. Ideally, I would let you pass on to your well-earned afterlife, but as you have realized, we do not exist in an ideal universe." Harry nodded at that; she was completely right.
"The Night King, as he is called by the inhabitants of this world, seeks to kill everything and add it to his army of the dead to conquer."
"Inferi?" Harry frowned as he asked, it sounded a lot like them, and sure the abominations were bothersome but far from what he considered dangerous. He was not a witless teenager anymore and conjuring a storm of fire was not beyond his skill, especially armed with the elder wand.
"Of a sort," the being answered cryptically. "This world is very different from your own, it is far behind technologically, you could consider it as a version of your middle age."
Harry raised his eyebrows, the Middle-Age? He had barely any notion on the subject. The only thing he knew about it was that there had been a lot of witch hunts and goblin rebellions, and he had never been the best student in history.
"There is very little magic as most of it died with the Dragons," the being said the word with something akin to reverence.
"It is not the dragons you think of, in this world they can be many times bigger, the largest would have dwarfed even your school,"
Harry raised his eyebrows, this was no normal dragon, yet he had no reason to believe the being would lie.
"They are the keepers of magic and without them, it is dying, but it is about to be revived through the birth of three dragons, but it is not enough, I do not think it is and I do not wish to take the risk, for the consequences are terrible."
"So… you need me to bring magic back, well more than it is, and kill an evil wizard and a bunch of inferius" Harry summed up sarcastically.
The being laughed, "Basically, yes."
"And then you'll leave me alone when I pass on next time, I get to be with my family and you never ask me anything again, yes?" Harry half asked half stated.
He might not be able to resist his saving people thing but he was not going to get played into saving everyone every time something went wrong.
The being nodded, far more quickly than Harry expected.
"I also want to see my wife,"
"Very well, you do not have long, souls tire from traveling between planes as it is not their natural state."
Harry nodded; it seemed the tale of Beedle the Bard still held some truth. He had not been so concerned when he was going to die, and the stone had disappeared in the forest since then. But he had no wish to inflict pain on his wife.
Before any other thought could cross Harry's mind; his wife appeared in front of him and all thoughts of the ethereal being left his mind.
The next thing Harry knew, he was engulfed in the loving embrace he had missed so much. The one only Ginny seemed to be able to give, one that assuaged his worries and made him feel like everything was going to be okay. And he cried.
He cried for the life that had been stolen from him, his wife, and the future they could have had but was taken too soon.
Years of despair at being alone in the world came out of Harry and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"It's okay my love" Ginny kept repeating in his ear as she held him close to her, rubbing soothing circles in his back as he let out all he had held in since her death.
"I'm so sorry..."
"Hush you, you have nothing to apologize for,"
He stayed in her arms for as long as he could before the warning of Death came back to his mind, no matter how good it felt, he was hurting Ginny with each second he took for himself.
"I…" Harry knew not where to begin, there was so much he wished to say.
"It's all right Harry," Ginny said as she cupped his right cheek with her hand. "I know what you have to do, it's who you are and why I love you so much."
Harry gave her a strained smile, "I love you too, more than anything"
"But you have to listen to me, you can't go on as you have," Ginny said with sadness etched on her face, "You can't cut yourself from the world and your feelings, it was your feelings, your love that made us win against Tom."
"But,"
"No buts, Harry," Ginny smirked, and he could do nothing to prevent the smile from forming on his face, this was everything he had ever wanted.
"I want you to find love again, I want you to be happy in this world, find someone worthy and please, let her love you."
"I can't Gin', you're everything I ever wanted,"
"Yes, you can Harry, you have to. If not, you'll lose, and it will all have been for nothing. Besides, eternity can be a bit boring, I wouldn't mind another woman to chat with."
Harry nodded, more to settle the argument than anything, he could not picture himself loving another as he had the fiery red-haired woman that was his wife.
"I know you won't consider it right now, but keep an open-heart Harry, please."
Harry had no idea what to answer, it still seemed unfathomable to him to consider loving someone else. To some, it would appear foolish, but Harry knew that love was perhaps the only thing capable of transcending and living beyond death, his oath might have until death does them apart, but his love was not restrained by such things.
Still, now was not the time to argue about anything, Harry merely wished to hold his wife for as long as he could.
"I am sorry," the ethereal being reminded herself to them, "but time is running out…"
Both husband and wife squeezed each other even harder, enjoying the few seconds they had left. "Please, Harry, never forget that you are not alone, we'll always be with you, no matter where or when you end up," Ginny whispered in his ear.
In the last moments they had, Harry tried his best to memorize every single detail he could about his wife. Her fiery red hair, freckled face, and her warm brown eyes filled with nothing but love. And before he could realize it, Ginny was gone.
Harry's green eyes filled with tears. He had gotten what he had wished for so many years, but it had come and gone so quickly.
Death cleared her throat, reminding him of her presence.
The green-eyed wizard wiped his eyes clean with his sleeves and turned around.
"I imagine you have questions about what your task entails,"
"I do," Harry said having finally regained control of his emotions. "I don't know where to start though…"
"I usually find it quite useful to start at the beginning,"
Harry held in his smile, his former headmaster had used a similar line, it just seemed like a lifetime had passed since then.
"Death is a woman?"
"I am not," Death chuckled, "I thought you would be more comfortable if I looked similar to what you know, I do prefer a woman's face though."
He nodded; it made more sense than to assign a gender to an eternal concept.
"Do you have a name then?"
This time the ethereal being fully laughed.
"Of all the questions I have imagined you asking, those were never ones I considered," Death said once she had calmed down.
Harry was settling on a she, she might not be a woman but calling anyone it, felt deeply wrong.
"But to answer your question, I do not, I simply never needed one."
"So, I should just call you Death?" He asked to make sure, he had no wish to offend such a being.
She shrugged, and he felt, even more, disturbed by the gesture than anything else, it just felt so wrong to witness Death shrug.
"I am sure there are more important questions you must ask, young one." She said with a single raised eyebrow.
"Errrr…" In truth, he was truly baffled as to what he could ask. "Will I get my stuff back?"
"Only the hallows I'm afraid," she sighed, "they are the only things that can transcend with you,"
Harry frowned. He did not have much but all he had he deeply cared for.
"What about my body?" he realized she had used very specific words, making him think there was more to it.
She sighed, "I'm afraid you'll have to forego your physical envelope."
"So what will happen to me?"
"You will be born again,"
"Is there no other way?" Harry was reluctant to follow this path, it would mean there would be years before he was able to do anything.
She shook her head, "your body has died, only your soul will transcend to this world, and because my hallows are tied to it, they will follow."
Harry felt a chill go down his spine, another thing had been tied to his soul years ago. If that had not died with Voldemort's killing curse, he could not picture the consequences of bringing the former dark lord with him. One dark wizard was enough.
"I am afraid my attention is required somewhere else," Death interrupted his train of thought and Harry understood he had little time to ask questions that could well mean the difference between life and death.
"Where do I start?"
She gave him a tight smile and Harry had a feeling he already knew the answer,
"I am afraid your task does not have a single point of departure, if I know you well, many things will attract your attention and even I could not distract you from them, for it is simply who you are. But you need to find dragons. They are the key to bringing magic back."
"That's it?" Harry had barely time to speak before Death snapped her fingers and his world went black.
His eyes snapped open. He felt warm but yet something felt truly weird. He felt himself being picked up. 'Picked up?' Harry thought, how could anyone do that? He was not the largest of men by any means but still, no one bare Hagrid should be able to do so with such ease.
The memory of what had happened hit him in full force, he had died, and then he had seen Death and his wife. His eyes widened as much as they could, 'I'm a baby,' he realized.
True to this thought, he tilted his head and saw the baby hands that had replaced his grown ones.
That was when he noticed his surroundings. He was in a richly decorated room with a very high stone-made ceiling. The room was circular, much like the towers of Hogwarts had been.
"My lady," the voice of whoever held her in his arms, for it was a woman's voice, interrupted his thoughts, "your sons,"
'Lady' Harry thought as he was passed to another person, did it mean he was born into the nobility?
"My sons" the woman whispered, and he could nothing but stare at her face. Warm grey eyes filled with love gazed at him, he felt the need to speak, to say something but only a gurgle escaped his lips.
She chuckled and he smiled, his new mother was beautiful. She had high cheekbones and her dark hair contrasted with her very pale complexion.
Suddenly the door banged open, and his mother curled around him. Despite being in a babe's body, Harry could understand they were in danger.
He tried to feel for his magic but only got a feeble answer. 'Shit' he couldn't help but think, as a baby, he only had so much and was powerless now.
He felt something squirm against him and he noticed for the first time the other babe. She had said sons, plural, it was logical there was another one, but Harry was surprised for having missed it.
He felt his mother relax, "Ned," she said, Harry tried to see who it was that had entered the room but failed.
"Lyanna," the man named Ned answered as he approached, apparently it was his mother's name.
Finally, the man got close enough that Harry could take a good look at him. He was covered in blood, he could help but tense at the sight but as he gazed at the face of the stranger, he was surprised to see a face eerily reminiscent of the one of his godfather.
The same high cheekbones, grey eyes, straight nose, and dark as night hair. Now that he saw that, the former grown wizard, could not help but notice the many similarities with his new mother.
"Ned," she said, "I'm sorry,"
"There is nothing to forgive sister," he reassured her.
Harry was frustrated, he had not been prepared to be conscious and a babe, and he would have to wait years before he was able to do anything.
"I am dying, Ned," his new mother said, 'NO!' Harry could do nothing but scream in his mind. Try as he might, his magic was too weak to do anything, and he was going to lose another mother again.
"Do something!" Ned got angry his brother began to scream.
"There is nothing I can do my lord," the woman that had held him before said, "twins are always hard on the body and Lady Lyanna is losing too much blood,"
"Twins?" the man said and gasped as he noticed the second baby.
"Take them, please," his mother pleaded with her brother, "I know Aemon can't be hidden" Harry felt himself being raised, 'Aemon', it was a strange name. "Take him to Ashara, please,"
He could see who was to be his uncle's nod as tears escaped his grey eyes.
"And take Daemon, and keep him safe, please," apparently, he was not going to grow up with his brother.
"I swear it on the old gods," he answered,
He felt his mother cough and as he looked he saw blood coating her lips.
"I love you, my baby boys," she said as her own eyes filled with tears, "more than you can ever know,"
He felt himself being rose in the air, next to his brother and found himself in the strong arms of his uncle.
He took one last look at his mother as she couched once more and lay back on the pillows.
They soon exited the tower they were in, and Harry felt his eyelids drop, he was so tired already and soon enough he fell asleep.
Babies were not meant to be conscious; it was one thing Harry had learned since he had arrived in this world.
He and his brother had been carried for over a month, on horses. Despite having lived several decades it was one thing he had never done before.
Still, the month thing was an estimate it was hard to keep a sense of time when you were being jostled around for the entire day, alternating between being 'fed' and sleeping, he could still not realize he had to do that.
It was the only way for him to get food right now, so he had to suck it up, but it was another reason why people were never meant to remember their early years.
Still, he had been able to follow the conversation between his uncle and the man he traveled with, Howland Reed.
He could only understand so much with many of the words they used being unfamiliar but there had just been a war. They cited names like they meant something, Baratheon, Arryn, Lannister, Stark, Targaryen…
It had taken him a few days to understand they were names, from there he deduced they were the names of the noble families that had been in said war.
What it was being fought over, Harry had no idea.
While he still felt like Harry Potter, he knew he could do nothing but embrace his new identity. Harry Potter was dead, he was now Aemon something. His family name was still unclear, but that was the least of his concerns.
His main one was getting his magic back.
Magic was like a muscle in a way, the more you practiced the better you got, both in power and in control. In the same way that only a few could become international athletes, or recognized scientists, some had more ability in it than others.
It was one thing he had stopped denying long ago. The truth was that he was more powerful than most wizards ever could be. It was a double-edged sword as far as he was concerned. Power attracted enemies; it was like a moth to a flame.
And to be all but devoid of it after having lived for over two decades with it made him feel extremely weak.
As such, he had taken to try and train his magic as much as he could. Over the first two weeks, he had only gotten a feeble answer as he had in the tower where his mother, Lyanna, had died. But on the third week, he had finally felt more, it was a very small difference, but one all the same.
It was confirmation that in time it would be more.
He had also tried to summon the hallows, while he could feel something, he knew he needed more power, it was as if something inside of him was telling him so.
So Harry had spent his first month on this new land sleeping, being fed, training his magic, and listening in on his uncle's and his friend's conversations.
The war had not been the only info he had gotten over the past several weeks he and his brother were heirs to the crown, his uncle had said he was the firstborn and that with his half-brother and sister dead he was the rightful king.
'Not anymore,' had countered Howland Reed and Ned had nodded.
He could still remember his uncle whisper to his ear in the night while everyone else was sleeping. 'You will be king one day, Robert will never be good enough and one day, the war will begin anew and better my sister's son than those Lannisters,'
Why his uncle had said that he did not know, but he knew that those words would never leave him.
Death had not made his life easy.
It took them another month to reach their destination.
Over it, his magic practice slowly grew better, it was baby steps, literally, but steps, nonetheless. He knew he had no choice but to be satisfied with it, no matter how frustrating. Hopefully, his dedication would pay off and his magic would come back sooner.
He had finally learned the name of the woman he was being fed by, Wylla, she had been called a wetnurse by Reed and he could only assume the name described precisely what she was doing.
It was still extremely embarrassing for a grown man of thirty-three years old to be reduced to sucking on a woman's tits for sustenance.
Still, he had no choice but to do just that.
"My lord," a voice distracted him from his thoughts as Howland Reed hailed his uncle, "Starfall."
As he was tied to his uncle's torso, he could not see what it was. But he had heard the name several times over the long ride, and he had understood it was their destination. Where the woman named Ashara lived.
"Let's dismount," his uncle said and did just that.
Harry was not untied from his previous spot and could only rely on his ears to understand what was happening.
"Don't take your sword out,"
Why would he do that? He could not help but question.
"But, my lord," Reed protested.
"Don't," his uncle cut the man off, "We are with babes, and the Daynes have honor."
He struggled to understand a single thing that was happening.
Suddenly, doors banged open and he could hear the sound of metal hitting stone multiple times, suggesting soldiers had come out of whatever Starfall was.
"Ned!" a woman exclaimed, and he could hear footsteps closing in as swords were drawn.
He tensed immediately at the now familiar sound.
"No! Sheath your swords!" the new woman ordered and they immediately complied.
She closed in and he felt his uncle kneel before the woman as he raised something with both his hands.
"No," the woman sobbed,
"I am sorry, Lady Dayne, your brother died well, keeping his oath and I bring Dawn back to you, where it belongs," his uncle formally said.
The wizard baby felt truly frustrated from his impossibility to feel and see anything but the leather covering his uncle's torso.
"I truly am sorry, but I must ask you more," Ned said as his arms came back down.
"What, Ned? What more do you want from my house?" she answered heatedly.
"After what happened, I wish I didn't have to ask you this, but it is a subject better discussed in private."
'What had happened?' Harry asked himself, but as usual, he could get no answer.
"Very well, follow me," she said, "but no weapon other than Dawn will enter Starfall."
"Stay with the horses, Howland," his uncle ordered his companion as he grabbed discarded his sword and took Daemon, his little brother, in his arms.
"And who are they?" Lady Dayne asked.
"I promise to tell you everything, but inside,"
Soon enough they crossed huge gates he could spot from the corner of his eye, they closed behind them as they were being led to some other place.
After having gone up a few sets of stairs, they stopped.
"Stay here," the lady Dayne ordered.
"Yes my lady," two voices answered as one he heard metal clang against the stone.
"Come inside, Ned, take a seat and ask what you have to ask"
Harry could not help but feel there was some animosity in the voice of the woman.
He felt Ned seat and finally, he was unstrapped from his uncle's torso.
He would have gasped if he had been able to. The woman that Ned had called Lady Dayne was extremely beautiful, she had purple eyes that entranced his own and kind traits that made her feel nice, even if she was upset with his uncle.
"Ashara," Ned began, "I know I have no right to ask you this, especially after…" his voice broke. "I found Lyanna dying, having birthed twin boys, Aemon Targaryen," he felt himself being handed over and the brunette got closer, immediately her eyes got even kinder.
He had learned his name a week or so ago, not that it meant truly anything, besides the fact that his family was involved in the war.
"The rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms," he said as she took hold of his small form and brought it close to her chest.
He could not help but smile at her as she looked down and gave him a smile of her own.
"And his brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen."
She made to open her mouth but his uncle spoke before she could, "I can hide Daemon, I'll take him North and say he's my bastard, he looks enough like a Stark to make it work but Aemon… Lya asked that I brought him to you…"
"If the few dark hairs he's got are any indication, and the purple eyes, he could pass as a Dayne" she completed the blank spots.
He had not been able to see himself but apparently, he had purple eyes and dark hair whereas his brother had dark hair but grey eyes, like his mother, Ned and Sirius.
Purple must have been passed down from his father, though he had no idea who it was, and the only people he had ever seen with such a color were Ashara Dayne and Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Yes," he confirmed,
"Very well, I will raise him but I will prepare him for his destiny, we both know Robert Baratheon will never be a good king, the day he dies will be the beginning of another War and Aemon will end up on top."
"No one can know, they are not safe," his uncle replied to Ashara, "Robert will hunt and kill every Targaryen he can get his hands on, especially when he learns my sister died,"
Harry followed the conversation intently. Every bit of information was crucial. He already despised the idea of being a king but he had also learned long ago that some things you could not control.
"I know, I am no fool, but Aemon will learn of his heritage, of his duty to the realm"
Suddenly she rose from her seat and Harry could see for the first time the room they were in. It was richly decorated. Leather chairs that looked very comfortable, beautiful tapestries and an unlit hearth.
"You can spend the night here with your companion but leave at first light, you have a long route North. I thank you for bringing Dawn back, Lord Stark, but I must take care of Aemon now, he could use a bath."
It was true, Harry knew that very well, but he could also tell she was dismissing his uncle. He tried to take a final look at him but failed. He had no idea when he would see his uncle next.
I hope you liked, if you did don't hesitate to fav and follow, and if you didn't do not feel obligated to read, I won't mind ;).
I'm hoping to release a second chapter by the end of the week-end or early next week but I do have a job to do.
In december I'll be pretty much free as my last internship is ending so I'll hopefully write a lot more.
See you soon,