Hiccup didn't stir until Harry had found the flower and was back on the steps of his house. He blinked sleepy green eyes open, and almost startled Harry enough into dropping him completely when he struggled at first.

"Odin," cursed the Viking, "I didn't expect to wake up in your arms."

Harry laughed, his heart fond, "Like a proper damsel in distress?"

Hiccup colored at that, and then frowned, "I'm a Viking. Clad in armor. People call me the Dragon Conquerer, and yet, when I'm with you, I feel like a wee lad."

"Must be because I'm decades older than you," said Harry, sagely, and watched as Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Sure," humored Hiccup. "You going to let me down anytime soon, old man?"

"Old man," he said, frowning, "I don't look a day older than you."

"You just said!" started Hiccup, and then frowned when Harry interrupted him with a laugh. "You're teasing me again," finished the Viking, and yelped when Harry started walking, his body securely in Harry's arms.

"Do you wear armor to sleep?" Harry pushed the door open and then started to head toward Hiccup's bedroom.

"No," said Hiccup, his tone sullen, and Harry grinned, using just a touch of his magic to change Hiccup's normal wear into clothes comfortable enough to sleep in.

"Don't worry," he said before Hiccup could complain, "I'll change it back in the morning. You've stayed up way later than you usually do to protect me, so it's the least I can do."

"It was my choice," argued Hiccup, stubbornly, though he was no longer struggling within Harry's arms. "And besides, it's not like I have to be up early tomorrow."

Harry hummed, and then floated Hiccup gently to the bed. Toothless was already there, and didn't even acknowledge them beyond a lazy wave from his right ear. "Want me to tuck you in?"

"You know, I may have said I felt like a wee lad earlier," said Hiccup, "But I didn't actually mean I was one."

"I'm thousands of years old, Hiccup," Harry said, amused, and he gently brushed Hiccup's bangs away from his forehead. "Let this old man have his fun, okay?"

"Thousands of years," repeated Hiccup, his eyes wide, and Harry shook his head.

"Sleep," he ordered, sternly. "No more writing in your notebook, okay? I'll be here tomorrow."

"But," started Hiccup and Harry interrupted him.

"I can put you to sleep if I wanted to," warned Harry.

"With magic?" Hiccup's eyes were even bigger now. "Is there anything magic can't do?"

His heart panged at Hiccup's innocent voice, assaulted by images of his dead friends. There was so much magic couldn't do. He was determined not to let his sadness show though, and instead mustered up a smile for Hiccup.

"Tomorrow," he promised.

Hiccup's gaze looked curious, but he closed his eyes obediently after a few seconds. "Good night, Harry," the Viking said, and Harry closed the door gently on his way out.

"Aren't you supposed to be doing something important?" asked Harry, although only half of his attention was actually on Hiccup. He had shaped some of the air's magic into a sharp spike, and was currently using it to cut the petals of the flower into small strips. He would melt them in order to create a potion and when he drank it, he would retain his mastery of Norse.

"I'm watching you," said Hiccup. "I'm a chief protecting my village from the scary thing that is magic. That's probably the most important thing I will do today."

"You didn't think it was scary last night," retorted Harry, and he couldn't resist turning to arch an eyebrow over at the peaceful looking Viking. Hiccup's half sprawled across the pile of soft furs that Harry had transfigured for him, and although his earlier claim of watching Harry, the Viking's eyes were closed and his breathing deep and relaxed. "Your eyes aren't even open," Harry said, and Hiccup lazily raised an arm to acknowledge his words.

"You're just cutting a flower right now," said Hiccup, "if something bad happened, there'll be a big boom."

"You were so interested in it last night," he said, amused. "What happened?"

"Well," said Hiccup, his words a drawl, "If you didn't decide to do this ritual before the sun rose, maybe I would be more interested."

Harry couldn't help the fondness seeping into his heart, even though he knew he shouldn't be getting attached this fast. Still, the way Hiccup was acting was as if he was a sullen teenager who hadn't gotten his daily dose of coffee yet. It reminded him of back home, and only endeared the Viking even more to him.

"In my world," he said, conversationally, "there's a drink called coffee. It wakes you right up when you drink it." He paused to set the strips of flowers into position, and then created a fire underneath them. He Conjured up a glass bowl and set it to catch the liquid draining out of the strips.

Since he had to wait for the flower to finish melting, he walked over to the Viking, kneeling and staring down at Hiccup with an amused smile.

Hiccup seemed to sense his presence and eventually looked up at him. "There's nothing like that here, sadly. But can you use magic to wake me up?" he asked, and blinked in surprise when Harry drew his wand. "What are you doing?" he asked, suspiciously, and yelped when water came cascading down at him.

The chill woke Hiccup up and the Viking was growling, his hair, wet with water, clinging to the sides of his head. "Harry!" complained Hiccup, and then he was pouncing on the wizard, intent on getting revenge.

"You asked me to wake you up," said Harry, bearing the full anger of a wet, irate Viking with ease. Hiccup was straddling him, his arms crossed as he glared down at Harry, obviously not amused one bit.

"Not like that," grumbled Hiccup. "I'm going to make you pay for that."

"Oh?" asked Harry, enjoying every second of Hiccup's tantrum. He was going to dry Hiccup and Rennervate him eventually; he had actually been planning to do so right after surprising Hiccup with cold water. But the Viking looked so adorable with his pout and his angry, green eyes that he had hesitated. And now Hiccup was on top of him, intent on getting revenge. "And how exactly are you going to do that?" he teased.

"Like this," said Hiccup, his tone dark, and then Hiccup was tickling him. Harry hadn't been tickled in ages. As such, he really didn't have any defenses against it, and he collapsed in breathless laughter as Hiccup's fingers ran up and down his sides and found their way into every nook and cranny of his lanky body.

"You're evil," he got out in-between pants of laughter, and he was writhing and trying to get Hiccup off of him. He resisted the urge to use magic, instead trying his best to catch onto Hiccup's fast moving hands. He eventually got a good grip on them and Hiccup's smile was bright when Harry finally succeeded in stopping the tickle onslaught.

Sounds he had never heard before fill the air and Harry watched in wonder as Hiccup tilted his head and similar sounds left the Viking's mouth. Hiccup looked down at him after he was done speaking, his eyes bright and his smile wide. "Toothless thought we were mating. Silly dragon doesn't know boys can't mate."

Harry blinked, and wondered if he should set the Viking straight. If he should tell him that boys could be together even if there wouldn't be a baby born from their love. But one look at Hiccup's innocent green eyes and he decided against it. Because even if Harry was starting to become fond of the little troublemaker, he knew it wasn't in their destiny to be together.

"That was Dragonese?" he asked instead, and Hiccup nodded.

"Yup, it was a pain to learn, though I'm willing to teach you if your fancy magic can't …" he trailed off, and frowned. Harry was pointing his wand at him, intent to dry off the wet Viking as an apology. "Oh no you don't," grumbled Hiccup, "You are not casting any more of those spells on me!"

"It's not going to hurt," he said, grinning, and Hiccup glaresd at him, his green eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms in front of him.

"Fine," says Hiccup, and was pleasantly surprised when Harry cast a drying charm on him followed quickly with Rennervate. "That…was pleasant," he said, and he probably would have said more if Harry didn't turn back to look at his ritual.

The flower had finished melting, and he picked up the bowl, casting a quick cooling charm on it to ensure he didn't burn himself. With his pointer finger, he swirled the mixture, the color changing rapidly with each swipe of his finger. Hiccup watched over his shoulder, but he kept quiet, and Harry used the mixture to draw a complicated mark on his forehead, eyebrows, and cheeks. Then he downed the rest of it, grimacing as the tastes slowly disappeared.

"Are you going to have to walk around like that?" questioned Hiccup after a few minutes pass, and Harry laughed.

"Would I embarrass you if I do?"

"They already think I'm crazy," shrugged Hiccup, but his eyes were twinkling, "Having you walk around like that won't do a thing to my reputation."

"As tempting as that sounds," he said, "The mixture needs to be burned off."

"Won't you hurt yourself?" asked Hiccup, his eyes wide, and Harry smiled. Hiccup would learn soon that nothing in the world could hurt Harry if he didn't want it to.

"Nope," he said, and then with a wave of his hand, fire covered him briefly. Hiccup let out a shout of surprise, and stumbled back, and he briefly heard Dragonese in the background. When the fire disappeared, Hiccup was frowning, and Harry grinned at him, booping him on the nose as Hiccup continued to stare at him. "See? Perfectly fine."

"Physically," grumbled Hiccup. "I think old age may have done something to you mentally though. Most people warn the other person before they set themselves on fire."

"Do you know many people who do that?" he laughed, and he waved his hand, banishing the bowl and the knife.

"The twins," he said, "Not to the extent you just did, but they don't have your magic so…"

"They sound fun to be around," he said, honestly, his mind on the twins from his past, and Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"You would say that."

He couldn't help chuckling at Hiccup's petulant tone, and when he finished cleaning everything up in the small room, he turned to face Hiccup. "So, what's the plan for the rest of the day? Meeting the twins?"

Hiccup brightened, "Better. You can meet my mother."

He blinked, "Introducing me to your mother already? I didn't know you thought so highly of me."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, but there was still a faint pink dusting his cheeks. "You're a highly suspicious individual that I let into my house. I think my mother's already angry enough that I didn't bring you to her yet."

"Is she scary?" he asked.

Hiccup blinked, looking thrown at the question, before he laughed. "You see this?" He gestured toward Toothless. "I have one, but my mother? She used to command dozens."

Harry was about to protest, when Hiccup continued, a wry smile on his face. "But then again, you're magic, so I doubt you have anything to be afraid of."

"Well," he said, smiling, "if she's anything like you, the big, bad, scary Dragon Conqueror…"

"Right," said Hiccup, his tone flat, "I doubt you're even a little scared of me."

"Nope," he said, confirming Hiccup's words, and laughed as Hiccup pulled a face.

Valka was tall.

He could see the resemblance between the two of them, especially when the woman greeted Toothless in Dragonese.

"So," she said, "Astrid told me about you."

He grimaced, "Nothing bad, I hope?"

She hummed, but there was a hint of a smile on her face. "Astrid doesn't like outsiders. Most of us don't."

"Aw," said Harry, though he's grinning, "Is it because I don't have muscles? I don't look like a Viking, do I?"

Valka laughed, charmed, "Hiccup doesn't look like one either, but he's our Chief."

"So you're saying it's just me," he pointed out and Valka grinned, her eyes twinkling.

"Stop picking on Harry, mother," said Hiccup, returning from where he had been supervising Cloudjumper remove an embedded icicle. He was frowning, and there's a bit of ice in his hair, probably broken off from the removed icicle. Harry moves before he can stop himself, getting closer to Hiccup and removing the ice from his locks before it can melt.

"How's the ice?" asked Valka, quietly, and Hiccup shook his head a little.

"It'll be a little while more before we get all the ice out. Repairing the houses shouldn't take too long, but I'm still worried for winter."

"It'll be alright, Hiccup," said Valka, and Harry politely stepped back, letting them talk quietly about the state of the village.

"You know," he said, eventually, "I can help with the ice."

"Harry," started Hiccup, frowning, and Harry pressed on before the Chief could cut him off.

"It'll take me less than an hour to remove. And we can do it at night, call it a miracle or an act of the gods if you don't want your village to find out."

Valka didn't react to mention of his magic as he suspected given the fact that Hiccup's mother knew Dragonese as well as she did. The dragons could sense he was otherworldy, after all, and he doubt they would have hesitated to share it with Valka.

"It's not a bad idea," said Valka, eventually. "It's taking us longer and more resources than we have available right now. We can do it tonight."

"I can put them to sleep," added Harry. "It's harmless, of course. But they won't wake."

Hiccup hesitated, his gaze wandering between his mother and Harry before he nodded. "If you're sure, Mother. And only if it doesn't cost you anything, Harry."

Harry smiled, "I told you before, Hiccup. The magic in the air is ridiculously strong here. It'll be easy to remove all of this."

Hiccup made a face, "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Noted," said Harry, even though he knew there was absolutely no chance Hiccup would ever be on his bad side.

That night, Harry put the rest of the village to sleep.

Hiccup and Valka stood behind him. Toothless and Cloudjumper were in front of him, eyeing him warily as Harry started to gather the magic in the air.

Harry knew that Merlin wouldn't be mad he was using his magic for this. It was relatively small, in the grand scheme of things, and if Merlin truly had something to say, he would've said it already.

As such, he felt no guilt about using the magic to melt the ice still embedded in the houses. The icicles became water slowly, trickling down the pathways and toward the sea. By morning, the water would be gone.

He stumbled a bit as he turned; the magic had used him as a conduit and although none of his innate magic was touched, it still took a bit out of him. Hiccup was there, shouldering his weight easily.

"I thought you said it wasn't going to cost you," groused Hiccup, but Harry couldn't respond, his ears filled with a roaring sound.

There was something magical here. In Hiccup's time and world.

Something calling to him in sweet, dulcet tones.

He couldn't make it out, but he knew deep down that it wanted him to find whatever it was. It needed to be rescued.

He staggered even more as the pitch rose in fervor, and then collapsed into Hiccup's arms when it suddenly became piercing quiet.

Hiccup's face was worried when he gathered the strength to stand on his own, rocking back on his heels and allowing Hiccup to hold him at arms' length.

"Harry? Are you okay?"

He frowned, shaking his head a few times to get the memory of the voice out of his head. He couldn't hear it anymore, but he knew he would have to find it. "I'm okay," he said, putting on a smile for Hiccup's sake.

"Okay…" said Hiccup, and then he moved faster than he should've been able with his missing foot, hoisting Harry up and onto his shoulder and keeping one hand on his bum.

"Hey!" protested Harry, but the effect was ruined by his laughter. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you to a bed," grunted Hiccup. "No struggling from you, alright?"

"Help!" he said, still laughing as he caught Valka's attention. "The big bad Viking is kidnapping me!"

Valka laughed, waving them off. "Get some sleep, Harry," she said, her smile easy to see even as Hiccup carried him farther away. "You deserve it."

"That was pretty bold," he said, when they were a further distance from Valka. "Announcing your intentions to bed me in front of your mother."

He felt Hiccup nearly miss a step, and Harry didn't need to see Hiccup's face to know he was blushing even as he was protesting.