'Thoughts'

Flashback

Spells incants, 'lumos!'

speech Harry replied, "smiles"

Training

Harry woke after a night sleep that he wished he didn't have, he's not tired he just kept seeing a man getting his limbs torn off as well as a strange man muttering in his own sleep, "Must find them... life's work...magic…" It was weird to say the least but Harry is so tired that he falls asleep straight after.

When Harry woke it was to the feeling of being completely soaked with ice cold water courtesy of his cackling godfather. The moment the water touched him Harry shot forwards and fell out of bed, wand in hand. Sirius just laughs saying, "Easy there Prongslet, just me." Harry just groans and asks, "What do you want at dawn Padfoot?" Sirius smiles a little maniacally, "Well we're gonna train my dear godson, you don't know how to use a sword, I'm rusty and we both have to adapt to the magic of this place. That and I'm gonna have to teach you magic now, we'll start with Defence, move onto Charms and finally Transfiguration. We'll have you good with a sword in no time." Harry just groans once more and goes to wash his face and change into clothes suitable to exercise in.

When Harry left the small house he shared with Sirius. Harry sees his godfather leaning against the wall of the house opposite theirs. Sirius sees him, motions Harry to follow him and starts walking towards Vern, who was currently sparring against one of the younger men who fought yesterday. While the man fighting Vern was nowhere near Vern's skill he was still fast with a blade. Steel striking steel, the light crowd rooting on the warrior they want to 'win', steel flashing. It reminded Harry strangely of the DA, in the sense that you could see the skill difference but Vern was teaching, not trying to embarrass his opponent or win out right. When he did finally disarm his opponent it saw spectacular, their blades clashed, locked in a battle of strength when suddenly Vern's sword slid down so the blade was against the other swords hilt, Vern waited a few seconds then twisted his sword and jerked it down so it put a lot of pressure on the other man's wrist, forcing the other man to drop his blade or suffer a broken wrist. The crowd surrounding the makeshift training ring applauded and cheered both men's effort.

When Vern spotted Sirius and Harry he smiled and called out, "Sirius come, let's get that lad of your in here. Harry come come, take a practice sword, we'll get started on your form." Harry and Sirius obediently walked over to the sparring ring, got their practice swords, Harry picked a sword Sirius recommended, it looked to be about twenty-eight inches and Sirius got a long sword and the training began.

One week into training

Harry had learnt the importance of listening to Sirius' advice. Vern was a hard task-master, as was Sirius, they however had completely different teaching techniques. Vern preferred to drill how to stand and footwork for an hour each day, then move onto things like how to stand to provide the smallest target to hit while moving, to simple slashes and thrusts, then finally chaining them together to get your opponent to stay defensive.

Sirius on the other hand hasn't gone over thrusts, slashes, stances or footwork at all. Sirius has stressed the importance of being able to outlast the other guy, being able to batter him into submission. That's why it's not an uncommon sight to see Harry and Sirius running around the town in their training clothes or seeing them swing swords with metal attached to the blades.

The two things they didn't have to improve upon however were Harry's reflexes, they were exceptional. They had to be, he was a seeker. The other, his dodging. He was always a target in the air and with him teaching the DA, his reflexes and dodging only got better.

Vern occasionally had Harry against people his skill level and age, he wouldn't win with ease, he'd be battered at the end of the fight but he also won about half his fights. The only reason he didn't win all of the fights is because he didn't use magic, when Sirius and Vern asked him why Harry responded with, "I don't want to rely on magic to save me all the time. It's a useful ability to have but if I solely rely on that when I can't cast anymore or don't have my wand, I'm fucked. Plus, training with the swords is fun." Sirius just smiled and barked a laugh while Vern shook his head replying, "If you think it's fun then Harry, maybe we'll just have to work harder then." Harry quickly shook his head.

One month

Harry has sweat running down his face, 'I have come a long way from being a scrawny malnourished kid' Harry mused, running his sixth lap of Lightstall. It was true Harry has come a long way, he had muscle from hard work and actually looked healthy, had a tan and overall was feeling better than ever. His training with the sword was going well too, he could train for hours before he started to slow down. He was a pretty good swordsman, at least that's what Athen, Sirius and Vern say. Harry started being instructed by Athen on basic battle tactics about a week ago, Harry at first didn't really understand why he had too, then Vern explained.

-()-

"So Harry, how are your lessons with Athen? Enjoying them?" Vern asked. Harry replied, "Yeah they're great, really fun, I just don't know why I'm learning tactics for battle, at least not when I'm still learning the sword. I don't have a band of men to order and Sirius would be the one in charge anyway."

Vern smiles and says, "Think of it like this Harry, when we defended the town a few weeks ago we had to split up. We'd be dead if the men in charge didn't understand how to utilize their comrades. Sirius knew because in his own words, 'My Father forced me to learn about the Empires that came before my homeland, Britain, became a true power in the world. I know Charles, Harry's Grandfather, taught James, Harry's Father, about the Empires the Potters were involved with. It's quite possibly the only thing I'm thankful my Father taught me, because of it my Grandfather showed me old memories of my ancestors, Generals and the like, commanding their troops. The old man ended up teaching me a thing or two, so did the memories.' So Harry, why do you think we want you to learn tactics?"

Harry thought for a few moments before finally saying, "So if I ever have to defend say a town, I'd know how to position the people I'm fighting alongside? Possibly too help me help Sirius or you in defending a camp or something like it?" Vern smiled and responded simply, "Yes and in Lightstall there is no one better for it than Athen, he fought for the Mad King in the War of the Ninepenny Kings. He commanded a battalion and had to know tactics to be able to keep his men alive."

-()-

It was after that conversation that Harry had a new respect for Athen and dove into his tactic lessons with vigor.

He was a quick study too, at least in this early stage. They were only going over basics, it helped that some of the tactics were just a bit of common sense mixed with having the right gear. Like having a few rows of spears to meet a cavalry charge, getting your archers in a position where they have the most vision and can maximise their range.

Sirius was also learning, not tactics or the basics with a sword. He was learning about the land they were in, for example, they recently had a rebellion where the Crown lost, the King and Crown Prince were killed and now a new King sits on the throne. Although the people of Lightstall and all of Dore in general apparently, absolutely revile the current King, he allowed the muder of the former Princess and her children to be unpunished, even going so far as to reward the family that ordered it by making the daughter his Queen. It definitely didn't help that the Princess was from Dorne.

Sirius had been thinking for the past week, he and Harry had helped Lightstall in its hour of need, they liked the people, so they've stayed plus Harry is able to learn from more than just him. However the more Sirius hears about Westeros, the more he wants to travel North with Harry. Apparently that's the last place magic was truly strong. If they could get there they might be able to strengthen their own magic or at least recover faster. He'll have to talk to Athen and Vern about it sometime soon.

Winterfell

Eddard 'Ned' Stark was worried, the Ironborn were raiding far more regularly and he couldn't lend much aid to his bannermen who were suffering. Not for the first time he cursed his ancestor, Bran the Burner. If they just had a navy he'd be able to help, if they had a navy maybe the Ironborn would have the courage to raid. However much he may wish, they don't have one and they won't for a long time, coin was low and a navy was expensive to build. That's always the problem up North, money, there's never enough to support them.

Ned just sighs and pushes it out of his mind and walks out of the Godswood, it always helps him think on pressing issues, this time however, it didn't inspire any solution.

When he made his way to the courtyard he could spy his eldest son and nephew, that no one knew was his nephew, sparring under the watchful eye of Ser Rodrik Cassel. Rodrik barking orders and the boys hastening to comply. Watching them reminds him of himself and Robert, his oldest friend and his King, neither of them were thought of as basterds but they each favoured different weapons, Robert preferring his hammer and Ned preferring his great-sword. This time however it's not hammer vs great-sword, it's bastard sword vs sword and shield.

His son was trying to clobber Jon's shield away but Jon kept moving, putting just enough distance between them to make Robb swing just a bit too much, tiring him out with Jon just poking Robb's chest ever so slightly, just enough to knock a bit of wind out and aggravate him.

Ned smiled, life, overall was good.

King's Landing

Jon Arryn was not having a good day, as a matter of fact Jon can count the number of good days he's had in King's Landing on one hand. Jon just doesn't know where he went wrong with Robert, he taught Robert all he knew about how to manage finance, how to rule fairly and now he has to deal with Dorne, who STILL haven't been given Princess Elia's body and those of her children. Robert insisted that he had sent them on their way. Now Doran Martell is demanding, not asking, for his families remains, the only problem is that Jon doesn't know where the bodies are, so he can't even personally escort them to Dorne and offer his sympathies, because he is truly sorry, he knew Elia, they were friendly, she was smart and her and her children did nothing wrong.

Jon decides to write a letter, all that matters now is how to word it and how much to lie to stop a war or at least an uprising and the spread of discontent.

'Prince Doran Martell,

First of all please allow me to express my utmost apologies, I was informed by King Robert that he sent your sister and her children's bodies off a few days after they were murdered. I am currently preparing to escort them down to Dorne myself, it is the least that I can do.

I am truly sorry about the muder of your sister, niece and nephew, Eddard Stark was not the only disgusted and horrified that day. I wish every single night that the Northern host or my own forces got here before the Lannisters. I will endeavor to get their bodies to Sunspear with absolute haste.

Regards, Lord Jon Arryn

Hand of the King

Warden of the East'

What Jon wrote isn't far off the truth, he is going to escort them himself, every night he does wish Ned got here first and he was told they were sent off. Now he just needs to find them, he has been prepared to leave for a week.

A/N: things are going to happen next chapter, this one is just saying that Harry is gaining his skill.

Jon Arryn will escort the bodies/skeletons to Sunspear whether he runs into Harry & Sirius I'll decide later.

To amritasrivastava03, if you're reading, you're the only one to say it flows poorly, the other critics are to stop announcing POV shifts or outright call the story shit.

I agree with you, it does flow poorly, it is something that I hope will get better over time. Again you're right, most potterheads know the spell info/character info, I do it for the benefit of those who don't know and for my own made up spells and history I'm writing at the same time so it can all be in one spot for you to find.

guest, no never thought of pairing Harry with Jon Snow !fem or otherwise, I don't really write any romance, if it ends up Harry/Dany romance it's not by design. An extra reason why you won't find me writing a single slash story is simple, I wouldn't do it well, I guess some people would say I can't write well at all tho so eh.

Words without A/N - 2144