I have to admit, I was astonished at the response to the first chapter of A Union of Dragons. Hopefully, it'll become a full fic. And as this chapter shows, Dany isn't the only character to make the trip from Planetos to the Potterverse...
A UNION OF DRAGONS
CHAPTER 2:
DANY AND HARRY
They spent the first night on the run in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse in the Flatlands after Harry Apparated out of the city. This one, thankfully, had a few fruit trees they could get some food from, and while Harry found that, even when human, he wanted more meat, he couldn't exactly go to the local McDonalds. No, he'd already gathered that this place was another world, or else Earth during medieval times. So he gathered some fruit, some salted meat, found a well and a few plates and cups left behind, and he and Dany had a rather rustic meal. However, it was still better than nothing. Though both of them noticed that the farmhouse had been used recently. There was less dust and neglect than they expected.
After they finished their furtive meal, Harry looked at his fellow fugitive. Merlin, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, he thought. There was something admittedly unearthly about that beauty, with the silvery-blonde hair and the violet eyes, and Harry had not really paid much attention to the female students at Hogwarts, save for Hermione (and he saw her more like a sister) and Cho Chang (and that was, well, he didn't think Dany was real), so Harry didn't have many people to compare her too.
But she had been there for him since a young age, when he met her in his dreams, while sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs. Daenerys Stormborn, one of the last of her line, the House of Targaryen, a girl who should be a princess, but whose line had been overthrown. So she claimed. Certainly what that fat bastard Mopatis said confirmed that…and claimed her father, Aerys, had been a madman, while he soliloquised to Harry while he was captive.
Dany, as she had insisted he call her after a certain point, had been the literal girl of his dreams, and his oldest friend, a friend who was now very real. She was shivering, not from the cold, but from anxiety.
"I'm sorry for taking you away from there," Harry said. "I just didn't want to leave you with that thing you call a brother."
Dany's lips thinned, but eventually, she nodded. "They will send people after us. I don't know where we can go. Other cities are too far unescorted, especially with us both on the run. Unless…can you change back to a dragon?"
"I dunno. I mean, I changed in the first place, and I forgot who I was. That's why Mopatis captured me, I was out cold. Changing into a dragon did something to my head, and I couldn't remember myself. It took until a week ago for me to remember, and then, I heard your name mentioned by him. I wanted to wait, and see. I was even checking if I could use magic in that form. That's how I got rid of the chains: it was a spell used to unlock locks."
Dany, after a moment, said, "And you can cast other spells?"
Harry nodded, before he took his wand out of his robes (amazing that was still there after the Animagus transformation or whatever the hell it was), and cast an Incendio at the small fireplace. "In our dreams, you said magic was pretty much gone from the world, right?"
Dany nodded. "Yes. It is said that magic began to die out after the last dragons passed. Many believe that magic is completely gone from the world. But you said on your world, it merely hides, as do its own dragons. Can they speak as you did?"
"No, of course not," Harry said. "I'm surprised I was able to, frankly. It's hard to think like a human when you're a dragon."
"I see." Dany was considering things, before she asked, "If you can change back to a dragon, would you be willing to bear me until we could find sanctuary? Braavos, Myr and Tyrosh are far from here."
"I dunno. I'm not exactly big enough to be ridden," Harry said. "And I'd be worried about dropping you if I carried you. If I'm lucky, we can Apparate more, but doing it blindly is just asking for trouble."
"Apparate?"
"The teleporting thing we did to get here."
Dany's eyes widened in comprehension, before she grimaced. "That was…unpleasant. Then again, I should be used to unpleasantness by now." Then, her violet eyes met his own emerald ones. "Harry, how did you come to be in our world? The last time we spoke in your dreams, you spoke of the treachery of your…godfather, I believe the term was? And there were these…demons that consumed happiness and souls, Dementors you dubbed them."
Harry thought back to that time, which felt like an eternity ago now, even if it was only some months. The last time he had seen Dany in his dreams was shortly before that disastrous confrontation. He spoke, haltingly at first, of what happened. Of the confrontation in the Shrieking Shack, of Sirius' innocence, Pettigrew being Ron's pet rat Scabbers, Snape's obsession with having Sirius and Lupin Kissed by the Dementors, his being stopped…
And then, it went even more wrong. Lupin's transformation. Pettigrew's escape. The Dementors swarming them. Harry's desperation causing him to change…the dragonfire, as he now realised, engulfing the Dementors, burning them into nothingness with their screams and shrieks filling the air. But still, there was an instinct to get away from it all, an animalistic desire to flee thanks to the fear-inducing aura of the Dementors, even after they burnt away. He had felt a strange cold darkness, and then, he was in what he later learned was the Flatlands around Pentos.
Then, capture by Magister Illyrio Mopatis. Chains and darkness, fed and watered, but held captive as a valuable bargaining chip. And then, Dany and her brother arrived.
"You know what happened next," Harry concluded quietly.
"Yes. You kidnapped me," Dany said, with a nervous, but wry smile. It seemed that she was trying to find some humour in the situation.
"I think you needed it, given how Viserys treated you."
Dany opened her mouth, as if to object, only to change her mind. "He has changed much, from my brother to my warden, with a singular obsession towards regaining the Iron Throne. It consumes him, Harry, like fire consumes fields of wheat and grass. I have told you of this before."
"Yeah, I know. Don't get me wrong, I don't know enough about what happened to your family to say much. Mopatis said something about your father Aerys being the Mad King, about the people he had burned. But I know you're worth helping, Dany. I mean, I probably can't get your throne back, but I want to help you stay alive and happy. Merlin knows you helped me do the same, especially when I was still in that cupboard." He chuckled. "You want to know the reason why I thought you weren't real? Well, one of them? It was because you said you were a princess. Even given how young I was when I met you…I thought I couldn't have a princess for a friend. That stuff only happens in stories."
"And yet, here I am. Daenerys Stormborn, of the House of Targaryen. I would be offended, but I thought the same of you. All the same, you were of considerable comfort to me, Harry Potter," Dany said.
"I'm glad. You probably needed it. As bad as the Dursleys treated me, at least they gave me a home. You had to move so many times and sell your things, it isn't funny." He frowned when he spotted, near the table, a dusty, careworn book. He went over and picked it up. "A History of the Seven Kingdoms?" he read the title. "What's something like this doing in a farmhouse?"
"I don't know," Dany said, joining him. "It is rare that one of the smallfolk can read, let alone have an interest in history. And history of another continent, at that." She took it out of his hands, and flicked through it. "It documents the history of Westeros up until the reign of my grandfather, Aegon V. Maybe the man who owned this house once lived in Westeros, only to leave for Essos, though why they would do so to become a farmer…" She shook her head. "Never mind. It may prove useful for both of us, especially yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't taught you much about the kingdom my line ruled over," Dany said. "If we travel there, it would help for you to familiarise yourself with their history. And so would I, given that most of what I learned has come from my brother's mouth. Of course, nothing is certain. The Magister has doubtlessly sent men after us, at my brother's urging. And when they find us…" She shivered.
After taking the book from her and stowing it in his robes, Harry gently put an arm around her shoulders. "I won't let him hurt you. Not while I'm still alive…"
Dany shivered a little at Harry's proclamation, spoken simply, but with an undercurrent of menace. She knew that her brother would be sneering at the lowborn teenager's presumption at being so familiar, and even a small but vocal part of her, the part that felt the fire of her heritage most keenly, felt the same way. But…Harry had been there to talk to her at the lowest points of her life, to comfort her. He was her friend. Even if it was only in dreams, he had made her laugh. Nobody else had made her laugh for a long time. They either jeered secretly in contempt, or else deferred to her due to her admittedly diminished station. Harry treated her…normally. And it was surprisingly refreshing.
To many, she was the sister of the Beggar King, making her lesser in their eyes. But to Harry…she was Dany. Despite knowing her station, diminished though it was, he treated her with familiarity, and in a way that didn't grate on her. Then again, he was her friend.
Her thoughts were interrupted when they heard a horse outside. Only one, but still, it could be a problem. Harry shot her a look, before the pair of them got into hiding, though not before Harry extinguished the fire with a jet of water from his wand. Maybe he had magic that could help them. And there was also the uncomfortable Apparition Harry spoke of for escape.
The door opened, and in the dim light from the moon, they saw an armed man come in. He frowned, before kneeling down next to where the fire was, before looking at the plates with the remnants of fruit on them. After a moment, he said, "Come out. I know you're here."
As the man drew his sword, Harry drew his wand, and hissed, "Expelliarmus!" A jet of light smashed into the man, sending his sword flying, along with the man himself.
"Run!" Harry yelled. But even as they fled, the man recovered his wits, and managed to trip them both.
But as he bore down upon them, he managed to get a look at Dany's face. And she got a look at his in the moonlight. An older man, past forty, but fit and still filled with fighting spirit. His face was handsome, she supposed, in a rugged way. He was dressed in a manner that seemed to have elements of Westerosi warriors, and the Dothraki she had heard tales about.
"Impossible…" he hissed. "Daenerys Targaryen…Your Grace, what are you doing here?!"
"Get away her you bastard!" Harry snarled, kicking up at the man, but the man caught it. "You're not taking us back!"
The man, after a moment's thought, said, "Quieten down, lad, you scream enough to bring the dead down upon us. I am not taking you anywhere, save for where she wishes to go."
Dany stared at the man in fear, but eventually found her voice. "You are from Westeros?"
"I was, before my exile. I am Ser Jorah Mormont, Your Grace," he said. His gaze went over to Harry. "And this is…?"
"Harry Potter, a boy I befriended on my travels," Dany said. "Despite his station, he has been my sole friend during these years of hardship. And he is very protective of me."
Ser Jorah looked at Harry appraisingly. "And his eyes?" he asked.
"A side-effect of practising magic. He is a mage of considerable skill, as you found out," Dany said.
"A spell that can deprive a man of his weapons," Ser Jorah mused. "Useful." He looked over at Harry with trepidation, and a little respect.
"Is this your house?" Harry asked.
"It is now," Ser Jorah said. "The Magisters of Pentos pay tribute to the Dothraki to prevent raids against the city and the Flatlands around them. However, a newly-appointed Magister was something of a miser, and refused to pay tribute. This farm, small though it was, was one of those attacked to try and persuade him to do so. I ride with the Dothraki, and act as a liaison between them and Pentos when we're nearby. The Dothraki gifted me with this house. It's maintained by servants of Magister Mopatis, who are sent out on a regular basis to tend to it. I stay here when I am needed in Pentos."
"So you got this house because of some murderers on horseback?" Harry asked in a dangerous tone of voice.
Before Ser Jorah could retort, or Dany rebuke Harry, blue flames seemed to appear out of nowhere, gathering around them. "What manner of sorcery is this?!" Ser Jorah hissed.
"Other than it's a manner of sorcery, I've no idea!" Harry retorted sarcastically, shortly before the flames seemed to gather strength…and engulf the three of them.
The first thing Dany noticed when the azure light faded away was the stone floor beneath her feet, warmer than that of the farmhouse. The second thing she noticed was the susurration of many voices, speaking quietly, too many to fit into the farmhouse. As her eyes cleared from the blue light of the flames that had engulfed them, she realised that, instead of a farmhouse, she was in some sort of hall within a castle. Hundreds of teenagers in robes were seated at a quartet of tables. Candles hung in the air with no visible support, and the ceiling showed an image of a night sky. With a start, she realised she didn't know any of the stars, no constellations she recognised.
"Harry?" came a voice from behind them, the voice of an old man. Dany turned her head to see an ancient man, with a beard long enough to be tucked into his belt, and wearing a rather eye-searing combination of colours. He was standing next to an ancient-looking goblet on a plinth. "Harry…you're alive!" he cried in obvious relief.
Harry smiled back painfully, before turning to Dany. "Dany…Mormont…welcome to Hogwarts…"
CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:
So, Harry, Dany, and Jorah are at Hogwarts. And Harry has been brought back, once more, by everyone's favourite MacGuffin, save perhaps for the Veil, the Goblet of Fire.
So, a few notes here. It took me a long time to consider when to set this during Harry's life. I was leery of doing yet another story set during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but I eventually decided to do it. Of course, how Harry ended up in Planetos in the first place is something we will answer later, but here's a clue: some of the dragons in this story are a bit like Anne McCaffrey's, including Harry. This isn't just an Animagus transformation.
Secondly, bringing Jorah in. I actually did this on an impulse, and I've probably buggered up the timeline of the Game of Thrones story to give him a justification for it. But he's a useful source of information on Westeros, as well as Dany's father, and is not wholly afraid to tell Dany the bad parts of her heritage as well as the good. While there may be some part of him that does get attracted to her, Jorah will become basically her bodyguard, as well as an advisor to the couple. He will be somewhat wary of Harry, partly due to his familiarity with Dany and partly due to a paternal protectiveness. He is already recruited by Varys, to act as his spy on the Targaryens in Essos, but his time with Dany will have his loyalties change sooner.
Thirdly, there will be no Dumbledore-bashing, or at least he won't be made a villain. He will be a flawed man more focused on the Greater Good than individuals, but he will be a good man. As the Horcrux was annihilated by Harry's transformation, Dumbledore will be a little more open with Harry. What's more, he will be one of Dany's main tutors in statecraft when he learns of her station.
No numbered annotations this time.
