Disclaimer: not mine

People seem to want the trio together and the guys, or even all 7 of them mixing together at various levels of relationships.

Chapter 3

Ignis woke slowly, head throbbing, body aching, nothing he wasn't used to after a decade of almost non-stop fighting. He blinked up at the hazy ceiling above him…it looked familiar…he lifted a hand to rub his eyes and froze…he could see the ceiling….he bolted upright, blinking in the light, eyes watering.

"Easy," a gentle voice called and then the light dimmed.

Ignis stared at the blurry figure in front of him, trying to make sense of senses he had been without for so long. His vision slowly began to focus, and he saw a young man with dark hair and dark green eyes, a faded scar on his forehead. "I…" how was this possible.

"Nice deep breaths, take your time. I don't know how old the injuries were, but it might take a little while for your mind to adjust," the young man offered and Ignis realised he recognised the voice, the young man who had led him to Noctis…Harry. He recognised where he was, the Citadel throne room. "I don't know how much vision you'll have, there's still some scarring."

"How…is this possible?" he asked and then his hand went to his throat, his voice…he sounded…like he had back when this all started.

"Noticed, huh? Yeah, as soon as all three of you touched him, you passed out and now you look about the same age as us, all four of you. As to your eyes, once you were younger, the wounds were fresh, so we did our best to heal them."

Ignis stared at him in shock, he could vaguely remember Prompto frantically breaking an elixir over his face while he was struggling to remain conscious before the altar, then a hi-potion or three once they were in the hotel, nothing had helped. So how had they done this? He glanced around, finding Prompto and Gladio beside him, looking as he remembered them from before he lost his vision. "Noctis, where is he?"

"That's his name?" Harry asked.

"How can you not know the King?" Ignis demanded and the young man shrugged.

"We're not exactly from around here," he answered. "And he's in the tent, Ron wanted to monitor him more closely. Hungry? You've been unconscious for a few days."

Ignis nodded, looking around and finally he spotted the tent, or at least he thought it was, his distance vision was definitely worse. Harry got up and then returned with a bowl of warm stew.

"Not sure how much you remember, but I'm Harry, Harry James Potter. Never caught your names."

"Ignis Scientia. The other blonde is Prompto Argentum, then Gladiolus Amicitia. Our King is Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV, King of Lucis. While Noctis may have spent the last decade within the Crystal, his family has ruled Lucis for two thousand years, how can you not know of the family?"

"When I said we aren't from around here, I meant that. we've been here a few months and I've done some exploring while Ron and Hermione were working out how to thaw your King without killing him. This world is nothing like our home, this city is the closest you get to anything like back home. The animal species here are very different too, never seen anything like them."

"Are there many out there? Surely after a decade of night, most plants and animals outside of the safe areas are dead?"

"It's wild out there, untouched wilderness other than one largish town and then some smaller settlements, like the one not far from here. I'm guessing you guys were frozen for a long time for the world to recover this much form what you're describing," Harry told him and Ignis wasn't sure what to think.

They had been frozen? That sounded like Shiva's intervention, but why? How had she saved Noctis? The tale he was being told seemed very farfetched and yet… he sensed no deception in Harry. He heard a moan and glanced over to see Prompto stirring.

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Harry left Ignis with his stirring friends, slipping into the tent to find Hermione asleep and Ron watching his patient. "How is he?"

"Healing well. It's odd, the blind guys wounds changed with his age, but this guy still has a hole through him, though almost healed now."

"Blind guy's name is Ignis Scientia. This is King Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV. Blondie is Prompto Argentum and the big guy is Gladiolus Amicitia."

"Interesting names," Hermione offered sleepily form the couch. "All very Latin and laden with meaning."

Harry nodded, looking down at the sleeping King, though at the age he had regressed to, he had likely been a Prince at that point. How would the populace react to a King so much younger than he should be? And why had it happened? They had far more questions than answers and he knew it made all of them wary. Where they stuck in this world? Or was there a way home?

"Why do you think we were brought here? I mean, why us specifically?"

"It may be we weren't, that whatever brought us here simply grabbed the first person or people it could that fit certain criteria needed to wake the King. Harry may not like admitting it, but he is the most powerful wizard since Merlin in terms of raw power, I doubt the universe has many who can match him. we may have been collateral. Or it was looking for a Healer of Ron's skill level…who knows."

"The other option is someone was watching us and wanted us here," Ron sighed.

A knock sounded on the tent flap and Hermione pulled it back, letting the three men in only for them to freeze and look around in confusion. "Never seen a magical tent before?" she asked innocently, hiding a smile and Harry rolled his eyes at her, not many people got to see her playful.

The youngest looking shook off his shock and scurried to the bed. "Noct," he whispered, reaching out to take a limp hand.

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Prompto clutched Noctis' hand, feeling the warmth of his skin, the warmth of life. Somehow, Noct had survived the coming of the dawn, he didn't care how or why. He felt the fingers in his twitch, and he leant over him, wanting Noctis to see a friend first. "Hey buddy, gonna sleep forever?" he managed a slightly teasing tone even as he bit back a sob of relief and ever so slowly dark blue eyes fluttered open. He moaned softly, head lolling on the pillow as he struggled to really wake up. "That's it, rise and shine." The hand in his suddenly was clutching at his as Noctis focused on him, eyes wide. "Welcome back your Majesty."

Noctis' lips parted, tongue licking them to moisten them and Prompto found the redhead offering him a cup of water. He took it and then freed his hand to help Noctis lift his head so he could sip the water. "P…Prom?"

"It's me Noct, you did it, you beat him and brought back the sun. And you lived through it, don't know how but you did."

"Not dead?"

"Nope," he managed a shaky smile, leaning down to press his forehead to his best friends. "Thought we'd lost you for good," he admitted. "Should have known better than to ever doubt you." He fought back tears and then he felt shaky fingers run through his hair.

"M'here," Noctis murmured. "Iggy? Gladio?"

"They're here, we all made it," he promised as Noctis started trying to push himself up.

"Hey, I just finished healing the hole through you, no moving just yet," the redhead spoke up sternly.

Noctis frowned at him in confusion. "Who?"

"Ron Weasley, nice to see you conscious and aware. I just need to do some checks, alright?"

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He could hear a voice, calling him and he struggled to reach it, to leave the darkness and finally he was blinking up at a familiar face.

"Welcome back your Majesty," Prompto told him and he stared with wide eyes at his best friend.

He licked his lips, wanting to respond but his mouth was utterly dry and then Prompto was supporting his head, helping him drink and the water tasted better than anything he'd had in a long time. He felt so confused, had he been injured on a hunt? "P…Prom?" he finally managed to get out.

"It's me Noct, you did it, you beat him and brought back the sun. And you lived through it, don't know how but you did," Prompto quickly reassured him.

The dawn? And then it hit him, Providence, Ardyn, the Astrals….a decade lost in the crystal. "Not dead?" he asked, maybe they had both died?

"Nope," Prom gave a shaky smile, leaning down to press his forehead to Noctis' and he revelled in the pain free contact. "Thought we'd lost you for good," he admitted. "Should have known better than to ever doubt you."

He could see the tears Prompto was trying to fight with their faces so close and he forced a heavy, clumsy, arm up to shakily run his fingers through wild blonde hair. "M'here," he promised softly. "Iggy? Gladio?"

"They're here, we all made it," Prompto was quick to assure him.

Noctis got his arms under himself, trying to push himself up, needing to see them, to see the light for himself.

"Hey, I just finished healing the hole through you, no moving just yet," an unfamiliar, stern, voice called and then a redhead stepped into view. He had almost as many freckles as Prom did and bright blue eyes. He was a little taller than Prompto, his hair falling to just beneath his collar. The most important bit though was that he was a stranger and he found himself frowning. "Who?"

"Ron Weasley, nice to see you conscious and aware. I just need to do some checks, alright?"

Noctis glanced at Prompto, seeing him watch the redhead, there was no alarm but some slight wariness. Prompto saw him looking and smiled at him, taking his hand again and he squeezed Prom's fingers. "Checks?"

"You were impaled on a sword, I just want to make sure there is no brain damage from lack of oxygen when you were frozen," Weasley told him and Noctis nodded, that sounded okay. "Full name and date of birth to start."

Noctis swallowed and Prompto gave him some more water. "Noctis Lucis Caelum. August 30th, M.E. 735."

Ron looked at Prompto who nodded that it was right. "Good so far, long term memory seems intact. And you recognise your friend there, also good." The redhead moved closer. "Just want a look at the wound," he offered quietly, lifting up his shirt and Noctis realised he wasn't in his own clothing but something soft and warm. He tried to look and then Prompto's hands were under his shoulders, helping him lift up enough to see a red line in his upper abdomen. "The sword went right through you, but missed the major organs thankfully. Now then, short term memory, what's the last thing you remember?" he lowered the shirt, taking his wrist, obviously checking his pulse.

Noctis closed his eyes, forcing himself to focus, what had happened? A sword…the dawn… "Ardyn, we were fighting. He died… came back to the Citadel…" Then what? "Dad…saw Dad…called the Lucii…it hurt," he whispered, and he felt his hand being squeezed.

"Easy Noct, it's over," Prompto whispered and then his other hand was being taken and Noctis turned his head.

"Iggy," he whispered.

"We're here Noctis, you just focus on getting better," Ignis smiled at him and something seemed….different.

"Your eyes…"

"Ah, yes, thanks to these people my sight has been restored, though my distance vision is rather limited," Ignis explained.

Noctis could see the scarring on his face, much less than there had been, his eye no longer sealed shut and both once again the green he'd known his whole life. It wasn't just that though, the Kingsglaive uniform that had fit perfectly…didn't now. He looked at Prompto, seeing the lack of facial hair and his uniform was loose too. They looked…younger? "What?"

"Don't look at us, last thing I remember is feeling a jolt like electricity then nothing till I woke up like this. You're the same Noct, you look like you did before the Crystal," Prompto told him.

Noctis lifted a hand to his face, feeling smooth skin instead of the straggly facial hair he had woken in the future with. His head was feeling clearer the longer he was awake. Which should be impossible, he had died, he had gone into death willingly to end the threat of the Scourge forever, to give his ancestors brother peace at last. If he was somehow alive, what did that mean for Ardyn and the Scourge? He wasn't in any pain which was nice considering how he'd died. He tried to sit up again only to find both Prompto and Ignis reaching out to help him, and then he felt a solid body behind him, supporting him and he recognised it immediately, leaning against him to press his head against his chest. With his friends around him he felt safe and secure.

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Harry hissed suddenly and his friends focused on him.

"Harry?" Hermione called, bringing everyone's attention to him.

"Someone just tripped my perimeter wards," he answered, closing his eyes. "The intent wards are undisturbed, so they don't have bad intentions."

"Wards?" Ignis asked, looking between them as Harry opened his eyes.

"Protective magic," he answered. "They're on foot so we have maybe half an hour till they reach us." At his words the young King began struggling to his feet, his friends trying to get him to remain on the bed.

Ron sighed but nodded and Hermione quickly gathered the clothing she had mended and cleaned, holding it out. "Just let at least one of them help you dress," the Healer told him sternly. You can get up but nothing strenuous for another day," he warned, and the King nodded.

"Bathroom's the middle door if you want a shower," Harry offered.

"Sounds good," King Noctis offered him a small smile and Harry smiled back.

"I want to check that leg later," Ron called after the limping King as Gladiolus helped him to the bathroom.

"His leg is uninjured," Ignis told him. "His back was injured when he was a child and he nearly died. It has had lasting effects."

"Hmm…" Ron frowned, and Harry knew why, spinal injuries were tricky, even for magicals and the wound was far too old for phoenix tears to heal.

He slipped out of the tent and went to ensure the camp was secure, intent wards were not fool proof after all. He then went to the windows to look out on the street for their visitors. He smiled as a slender arm slipped around his waist and turned his head to look down at Hermione as she rested against him.

"You like him," she murmured.

"Oh?"

"The King, you're drawn to him."

"There's something about him, like he'd understand," Harry admitted softly.

"So go for it, once he's free from Ron's tender mercies and fully back on his feet anyway. He is definitely cute."

"And he's likely got a Princess waiting for him somewhere, or one of his friends," Harry pointed out, kissing the top of her head.

"But if he doesn't?" she grinned up at him. "I think you'd look cute together. Not like we'd mind if you did."

"Or brought him in?" Harry smirked and she laughed, leaning up to brush her lips against his. He smiled and then ran a hand through wild black hair, pushing it back and she tutted, tying it back at the nape of his neck.

"That could be a lot of fun…and here comes our visitor."

They turned back to the view, watching as a man in black walked towards the building they were in.

TBC…