Prince of Asgard

by Drakenn

New Mexico was not the first time Asgard came to Earth in modern history, it happened earlier and in the Old World. Now consequences of it start to appear and it might change the history. I don't own HP or Avengers or any other thing used. May contain bad grammar. It's not a nice world, you have been warned.

42. The end of the term

A/N - Last chapter before holidays on Asgard.

o-0-o

Beta - eri1551

o-0-o

Harry growled as he rolled away from Laura, her claws almost hitting his chest and opening it, she was a person he enjoyed sparring with. She was a petite girl, but she knew how to fight and was tough. He saw her shrug off hits that would have killed a normal human, even with all of her toughness and lethality, she was rather attractive and someone that he wanted to be around with. "You are good," he said, getting up and pulling out his knife.

"You aren't too bad yourself," she said, before she screamed and jumped at him, her claws extended and shining in the light of the room.

He caught her claws onto the vambrace he had on his left hand and watched as the adamantium screeched, sliding off his mithril. At the same time he used the knife he had in his second hand to stop her second set of claws.

"Didn't you miss something?" she asked sweetly.

"No...," he said and his eyes widened the moment he saw her foot fly towards his chest, claw extending between her toes and about to open his chest.

He jumped away, his wings beating in the air, sending wind at her eyes and forcing her to shield them as particles of dust and sand slammed into her body. She growled, closed her eyes and at this point he realized his mistake; when she was relying on sight, he could predict her actions, when she used smell, he didn't have a way to guess her behavior.

When fighting her he always treated it like yet another duel with Atalanta where he could force her to close her eyes and use his wings to stay out of her reach. However with Laura it was a big mistake as he saw her crouch and prepare to pounce onto him, her leg muscles tensed and she jumped at him. He barely dodged her, and shook his head, these duels would be dangerous, lengthy and not boring at all.

o-0-o

Gambit smiled as he stood on the the Institute's roof, he never expected to have a more stable home, a place where he could return over and over again, without fear of being murdered or kidnapped by one group or another. He heard footsteps behind him and instead of reaching for his cards or his staff, he only turned to look at who was coming toward him. He nodded when he saw it was Storm. "How can Gambit help you?" He asked her.

She walked to him and stopped at the edge of the roof before answering him. "We would like to make you an offer," she said and he arched an eyebrow. "We need someone who could find runaway mutants and tell them about the Institute and the fact that we are a safe haven for them."

"And you want me to be the one doin' it?"

"Exactly," she said and smiled faintly. "I was a thief once and I know how hard it is to make us open up or make us trust someone, while X-Men are great when it comes to dealing with one group of extremists or another, we fail when it comes to runaways."

"Assumin' that I would accept the offer, what would I get from it?"

"Satisfaction, an opportunity to see new places and a chance to help the world and our kind," she said, and added after a moment. "Please, Remy, not many are capable for this and you are our best choice."

He sighed and looked at her, his crimson red eyes meeting her blue ones. "Storm, it is the first place in a long time where I feel at home and don't need to watch my back constantly," he said and moved his hand around, indicating at the world outside. "There, I will need to be on guard constantly , watching out for trouble and people that want to murder me, I need some rest first," he said and shook his head, his auburn hair flying every witch way. "Give me a couple of days or, better yet, weeks to rest and have an opportunity to relax and I can go out into the world after."

He saw her nod, understanding visible in the simple move. "This is the answer we expected to hear, we just need someone out in the country, looking for those mutants," she said and smiled. "Now enjoy your time at the Institute, do what you want and as long as you do not break the rules, you are invited to stay for as long as you wish to."

"Thank you," he said and looked at her. "How are they?" she arched an eyebrow in question. "Those that I helped free," he clarified.

"Better," she said after a moment. "What the Professor and the White Queen are doing is helping them a great deal. They should make a full recovery. It will take time, but they will manage."

"Good," he said and sighed. "I tried to keep the worst goons away from them, but there were times I failed."

"You did more than most people would have," she said and smiled reassuringly. "You helped save them and that is all that matters, at least here, from what I know about Director Fury, he would agree with me."

"Thank you," he said. "It means a lot to me."

"No problem," she said. "You deserve it."

He nodded and looked at the horizon, it was different here than it was at his hometown in New Orleans or when he was an undercover agent for Fury. Here, it seemed, everything was fresher and better, as well as a lot safer, he could sleep soundly, with no fear of waking up with an assassin ready to cut his throat.

o-0-o

Lucius Malfoy frowned as he looked at the report from one of his many agents. Durmstrang was no more, and its inhabitants were scattered through other schools of magic. Even if it was a terrible event, for him it didn't matter as he didn't have any plans for it and Karkaroff was a traitor, plain and simple, it was a source of information about what SHIELD and Asgard could do though.

He stood up from his armchair and walked across the room, towards the window. He looked out and his gaze swept over his pets, they would keep his enemies away from his mansion. He glanced at the single sheet of paper on which his notes about the Darkhold were and he wanted to growl; his agents had been unable to get even remotely close to it. The only thing they had achieved so far was activating every single layer of the defenses placed around the castle and getting all the attention focused on him. He opened one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out an old large iron key, it was time to bump up the stakes even more.

He pulled out his wand and in one smooth motion apparated out of his mansion and into the English countryside, just outside of a very special cottage, inside of which was hidden a ring belonging to his master. He walked around it until he found the door that led inside, he slipped the key into the matching hole and turned.

The door clicked and the sound of magic being released was heard, the door creaked and opened a little.

He pushed it wide open and stepped inside, he looked around the room which had fallen into a state of disrepair as nobody had lived inside for the past few dozen years. He walked across it and towards a plank in the floor that was in its opposite corner, he kneeled in front of it and bared his forearm. With his wand pressed against it, he reached out and moved the plank loose, it screeched, but gave up and he was able to remove it.

Below was a single golden ring with a small stone placed in the middle of the band. He conjured a piece of cloth and, wrapping the ring in it, walked out of the cottage. The moment he removed the key, the wards snapped back into place, protecting the cottage and ensuring his enemies were fooled.

o-0-o

Harry yawned loudly as he sat up on his bed and looked at Atalanta who slept by his side, at first he had been slightly reluctant and didn't want this arrangement; now he didn't mind it one bit, as it meant almost no nightmares for him and an opportunity to get as much rest as possible. Also it made time pass quickly, before he even noticed, the windows were covered in a thin layer of frost and it was actually snowing outside.

"Slept good?" she asked as she stirred and her eyes opened. "Or did you have nightmares?"

"Not a single one," he said with a small smile. "I was just thinking that this isn't the worst deal ever and you allowed me to get a full night of sleep without a single nightmare yet again."

She smiled and looked at him. "How long until Yuletide and an opportunity to be on Asgard?"

"Three or so weeks," he said and looked at the window. "Winter is here and it is one of the few things I miss when on Asgard."

"Ia it the snow?" she asked, sitting up. "Or the cold?"

"Cold?" He arched an eyebrow. "I know no such thing."

She chuckled softly and he looked at her. "Harry, not everybody is an Æsir or has Jotun blood in their veins, Olympians prefer the warmer climate, give us a desert and we will be fine. While the cold doesn't cause any harm to us, being in it isn't the most pleasant thing, unless you have someone or something to keep you warm."

He laughed loudly at her words and it took him a couple of minutes and painful jabs from her to compose himself. "Sorry," he said, before breaking into another bout of giggling. "It's just too funny."

"What is too funny?" she asked, a dangerous edge to her voice and her eyes narrowing.

"Nothing," he finally managed to say. "Just a really amusing thought appeared in my mind, don't kill me," he said, seeing her glower at him. "Sorry," he said as her hand slammed into his ribs. "At, I said I'm sorry."

She stopped and looked at him. "I don't know why, but I like you," she said. "Even if you are an insufferable git at times and need to be beaten to get things in or out of your skull, I still like you."

"Thank you," he said, massaging his pained ribs. "So what do you think about Laura?"

"Jealous, are we?"

"No," he said with a blush. "It's just that you two spent an awful lot of time with each other and I'm curious what are you doing."

"Girl stuff," she said. "You won't be interested in them, believe me."

He looked at her and shook his head. "You are strange and understanding you is impossible," he declared with a sigh.

"As if you are better," she said and he arched an eyebrow. "I mean, nobody can understand how you think, so it is fair that it is the same for me."

He sniffed softly and made her chuckle.

"You are a big boy, you will find something where you can be better," she said, shooing him off the bed. "Take your precious shower and let me get a few more moments of sleep."

He rolled out of her way and off the bed, grabbing his toiletries and clothes, he went to the bathroom and let her have her sleep.

o-0-o

Rogue looked at Harry and later at Kitty. "He has changed," she said. "Before he was more open and relaxed, now he is a bit more quiet and careful."

"Who wouldn't change after what he suffered?" Kitty asked and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I mean, he was experimented on and a few more things were done to him."

"Fair point," Rogue agreed as they entered into the classroom. "And it seems that he found a girlfriend."

"Atalanta?"

"Atalanta," Rogue said, a hint of envy in her voice. "She has a lot of luck, but he doesn't lack any as well."

"No, he does not," Kitty said and sighed. "I kind of hope that he will invite us to Asgard this Christmas."

"Ulf?"

"Yes," she said in a far-away voice. "He looks so good and hot."

"He is an Æsir," Rogue pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "Did you expect something else?"

"No," Kitty said. "Still, he looks damn hot and I like him."

"What about Bobby?"

"Which one?"

"Iceman," Rogue said. "He looks interesting."

"Ulf is better."

"Whatever," Rogue muttered and at the same time Cyclops entered the classroom, starting the lesson.

o-0-o

Robert Drake got used to seeing a lot of things since he had arrived at the Institute, but there were still some that made him gape like a fish. Seeing someone easily bench press something like a tonne or two and show no strain was definitely one of them. "How are you doing this?" He asked, finally breaking himself out of the stupor. "It should be impossible.

"I'm half-Æsir," Harry said with a smile. "I told you that I am a Prince of Asgard and it comes with several gifts, one of them is being able to do something like this."

Bobby shook his head and slightly pinched himself, trying to see if it was an illusion. "So how did you get caught by them?"

"A lot of luck on their part and a surprise or two," Harry said, placing the barbell on its stand and sitting up, sweat covering the front of his shirt. "But I think that there is something else that you want to talk about."

Bobby shifted uncomfortably. "My family is supposed to come here in a few moments and my relations with them aren't the best," he said with a sigh. "Truth be told, my parents are fine, but the brother..."

"Has issues with the fact that you are a mutant," Harry finished

"Y-Yes," Bobby said and looked at him. "How did you guess?"

"Part of my family had issues with whom I am."

"Had?" Bobby asked and paused when he saw Harry wince. "You don't need to answer the question."

"It's fine," Harry said. "They are in prison right now and I never considered them my relatives anyway, I much more prefer my winged cousin."

"Angel?" Bobby frowned. "He is the only winged person at the Institute."

"The same one," Harry said and looked at Bobby. "If you want I can hang around as I tend to dissuade people from doing stupid things."

"How? Your good looks?"

"No," Harry laughed. "My wolves are enough," he said and whistled, making two wolves appear by his side. "They are cute," he said, placing his hands on their necks. "But also deadly."

Bobby moved away from them, fear in his eyes, he hadn't expected to ever see such things . "How did they appear here?"

"Magic," Harry said and looked at him. "Let me take a shower and dress, and I will join you."

Bobby nodded and leaned against the wall, waiting for Harry to get cleaned and dressed. Fifteen minutes later he saw Harry emerge from the shower. "So how did you end up here?"

"Because of my cousin," Harry smiled as they walked through the Institute and Bobby noticed that people seemed to not care about the wolves, heck some were even willing to scratch or pet them. "My dad decided that I should spend some time here and leave Asgard to know him, so I ended up at the Institute."

"And those wolves?"

"A gift from my grandfather, they were his pets, but now they are mine."

"Grandfather?"

"Odin," Harry said and chuckled at his expression. "I thought that you figured out who my grandfather was, since you know my father."

"Did I look that bad?" Bobby asked

"Yes," Harry said and smiled. "I will be taking a few people with my to Asgard for the Christmas break, so you can also join us, I will probably invite one more person, but I need to think."

"It is real?"

Harry chuckled merrily. "I am real and those wolves are real, heck, my uncle is somewhere around and grandfather's ravens are following us right now, so why shouldn't Asgard be real?"

"It's just hard to believe," Bobby said and sighed. "A few years ago it was so simple, no Asgard, no aliens and just a usual life."

"I much more prefer my current life, it is certainly more interesting," Harry said. "Asgard is a nice place, you should enjoy being there."

Bobby nodded and they walked in comfortably silence towards Professor Xavier's office, he wanted to get this meeting out of the way and deal with his annoying brother, the one that drove him away from home. He paused outside of the office and took a deep breath to calm himself, he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder and glancing in that direction, he saw Harry.

"You will be fine," he said. "The Professor knows how to deal with people and I will be there too, after all he asked me to get you here."

"Oh," Bobby said and opened the doors leading into the office, he stepped inside and saw his parents sitting inside and his younger brother looking like an insulted and angered teen.

"Bobby!" His mother shouted when she saw him and rushed towards him. "We were so worried about you," she said through tears of joy and happiness.

"I'm fine," he said as she hugged him. "I've been worse, but now thanks to the Professor I am right as rain."

"He said that you are a mutant," she said, releasing him and looking into his eyes.

"I am," he admitted.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked and after a look from him sent at his younger brother, her eyes widened. "Ronny?!"

"What?" his younger brother asked. "He is a freak and deserves to be treated as such."

"I suggest that you change the tone of your voice," Harry cut in and Bobby saw him, holding his wolves by their collars, their mouths open and fangs bared. "They really, really don't like that word and I like it even less, so I might release them and let them attack you."

"Harry, tell your wolves to calm down," Professor said and his gaze flickered to Ronny. "You, young man, behave like a younger brother should behave, people died to rescue your brother and several dozen of other children so at least show some respect to their memory."

Ronny was still unhappy, but Bobby could tell that those words hit him hard and made him fall silent.

"Perhaps we can speak like civilized people," Professor said after a moment. "I will explain everything and I will answer all of your questions. Also, Harry, if you could leave us alone for a moment."

Bobby heard Harry leave the room and then he took one of the seats around Professor Xavier's desk.

o-0-o

Harry leaned against the wall outside of the Professor's office, when he heard the doors open and glanced in their direction he saw Bobby walk out of the room, a somewhat happy expression on his face. "So are you staying?" Harry asked him.

"Yes," Bobby said with a smile on his face "My parents agreed to it and my brother got himself into trouble."

Harry laughed. "Digging a hole under someone and later landing in it is always amusing to watch."

"I wouldn't put it that way, but yes," Bobby said with a smile. "Also the Professor told me to tell you that you can show me you know what."

Harry looked at him and then smirked. "You should enjoy it," he said as he got off the wall. "There are hidden things many want to see."

"Oh?" Bobby asked as they walked through the Institute.

"You will see," Harry smirked. "You will enjoy it and nothing bad will happen to you."

He saw Bobby smile and Harry had a feeling that the Professor knew what he was doing, not many were ready to be X-Men, but Bobby seemed like a person that would fit.

o-0-o

Professor X smiled as he watched the former captives of Weapon X interact with the rest of the students, for those that didn't know what to look for telling them apart would be extremely difficult.

"How are they?" Storm asked, dropping onto the ground to his side.

"Better and should make a full recovery," he said. "It's a miracle what some kindness and warmth can do, therapy is also important, but that on its own helped them a lot."

She nodded and stood with him for a moment in silence. "How is he?"

"Harry?"

"Yes."

"Better," Professor said and winced. "When I talked with him last year I misinterpreted his past life and in top of the things Weapon X did he also has issues with abuse that need to be addressed."

"Petunia and Vernon?" Storm asked, her eyes flashing white for a moment.

"Yes."

"How those two things were allowed to take him in is a mystery to me," she said and took a deep breath to calm herself. "They destroy everything they touch and being given a child to take care of is the stupidest and the most foolhardy idea I have ever heard of."

The Professor sighed and nodded. "I have an idea about who did it, but it is less important now that they got a nice, long stay in prison and I can help him deal with all of the things they and Weapon X has done."

"And it won't be a pleasant stay," she said, some satisfaction in her voice. "They aren't liked even in prison."

He nodded and focused on watching his students, it was one of the few rare moments when he could enjoy being a teacher and see the effects of his work without the need to watch out for trouble.

o-0-o

Rahne smiled when she saw Harry walk into the room in his matte black armor with weapons in various scabbards and holsters, his massive wings moving in sync with the rest of his body. "You look good," she said, finishing lacing her boots. "Banshee is away so we are training with Wolverine and two new ones."

"Newbies?"

"Yes," Danielle said. "Iceman and Gaius, when you see their powers you might gape like a fish."

"Why?"

"Oh, you will see," she smirked. "The names say a lot, but you need to see it yourself, you won't believe us otherwise."

"Are they that good?" He asked, making sure that every weapon was within his reach.

"Oh, yes," Rahne said. "Even if they lack training and experience, let them cooperate and they will impress you."

He nodded and at the same time Iceman and Gaius stepped in into the room, Rahne glanced at Harry and saw that his jaw had dropped and she could see his teeth in all of their glory, elongated canines included. "Them?" He asked. "I know that he," he indicated Iceman. "Has some powers, but that," his head indicated Gaius. "I haven't seen him show anything before."

"Let us show you a thing or two and you will be impressed," Gaius said, cracking his knuckles. "Besides, you didn't see everything, let us show you that we know how to kick butt."

"Maybe you are good, but I'm still better."

"Boys," she said with a roll of her eyes. "You can have a pissing contest later, now we have training to complete."

She heard them mutter something, but she ignored it and instead walked forward, towards the Danger Room where they were supposed to meet with Wolverine. When they entered it they saw their leader waiting for them, hands crossed over his chest.

"I expect you to behave," he said gruffly. "You are still an untrained squad, no matter the fact that Black Eagle was accepted as a full X-Man, he is still recovering, so you have no special privileges. You will learn how to use your powers and how to do so safely." He smiled ferally and at the same time the room's holographic walls started to flicker and change.

o-0-o

Harry crouched behind a fallen tree trunk and glanced at Gaius, who was hidden behind a big piece of rock and panting a bit. "You okay?"

"Yes," Gaius said and wiped the sweat of his forehead. "Just never had the opportunity to get as fit as you are."

"I'm Æsir," Harry said and smiled. "I'm naturally better, but we can talk about that later." He paused and sniffed the air. "Trouble is coming."

"From where?" Gaius asked, frowning.

"Ahead of us," Harry said and looked at him. "They are downwind from here."

He squinted his eyes and looked at the forest in front of them, lush, vividly colorful and full of life, hundreds of plants and animals, filling the place with hundreds of noises and smells, creating an intoxicating mixture that could knock you out.

"So what are we going to do?"

Harry frowned and looked at his companion, normally he would play hunter-killer with Danielle, but they were scattered and hitting anything in the maze in front of them required a lot of luck. "You have control over all of the elements?"

"Yeah, but I'm best with earth and air," Gaius said and at the word 'earth' Harry smirked.

He looked at the landscape in front of them and tried to imagine where their opponents were, having done that he paused to think and finally looked at Gaius. "Could you cause the ground to lower itself and create a depression in the ground?"

Gaius shifted and was silent for a moment, looking at the ground ahead of them. "I never did it, but I think I can."

"Good," Harry said and pulled out few small pieces of rocks inscribed with runes. "These will work," he murmured inspecting the runes written on their surface. He closed his fist around them and looked at Gaius. "We will slowly walk towards the place where I want the ground to be lowered and once it is done, I want you to retreat and support me from a distance."

"But you will be alone."

Harry grinned, his expression predatory and dangerous. "I want to be alone. Every trap needs a bait and I will be far safer than you ever will."

"Oh," Gaius nodded in understanding and smiled, his smile as dangerous as Harry's.

Harry nodded, leaped over the trunk and started to slowly move forward, his eyes looking for a good place for an ambush. He stopped behind a rotting trunk, motioned for Gaius to get close to him and indicated at a clearing in front of them, though clearing it would be an issue as there were still plants, just less of them, there were already clean patches of ground. "Do you see this bit of clear ground in front of us?"

"Yeah."

"I want you to lower it a bit and create a depression," Harry said and looked at Gaius. "Can you do it?"

"I think so," Gaius said before kneeling on the ground and pressing his hands against the soft soil, there was a light shudder and Harry saw land in front of them lower itself. "How did I do?"

"Good enough," he said and smiled reassuringly. "You have power, but now you need to get away and let me deal with it."

"But-"

"Gaius, you have power, heck, a lot of it," Harry said quietly. "But you lack the knowledge and the experience to use it well."

"Fine," Gaius said before he disappeared into the thick foliage behind.

When he was gone Harry looked at the depression in front of him and waited, not moving a single inch in any direction, his body in perfect stillness as he prepared for the moment of the ambush. His mind was registering every single detail of what happened ahead of him, looking for any signals heralding the arrival of those that were looking for them.

There was a sudden movement in the leaves and he almost immediately looked in its direction, just in time to see something jump onto the clearing. It was a robot that looked like a dog and had a pair of energy guns mounted to its muzzle. It looked around and its head almost immediately focused on his hiding spot.

Harry tensed and waited, knowing that there were more of them coming, he could smell three more of those things hiding around and waiting for him to reveal his position. He steeled himself and waited, his form unmoving and not making a single sound.

The robot moved around the clearing in circles, not managing to find him and then it let out a rattling whistle that shook everything, he slowly looked out from his hiding spot and saw the rest of the pack appear on the clearing.

Harry extremely slowly moved his hand with the runic stones, making sure to remain silent, he waited for the right moment and then he threw them. All of the robots looked in his direction and started to fire their guns, sending hundreds of beams of light flying all over the area, cutting down vines and scaring animals as well as cutting down various branches.

Thankfully for him they suffered from accuracy issues and instead of hitting him or close enough to rain debris onto him, they hit everything else. On the other hand the runic stones he had used worked as advertised and they exploded in a staggering chain of explosions, throwing dirt, plants and pieces of robots into the air. When he looked at the clearing from his hiding position he saw a nice hole in the ground and smoking wrecks of robots around it. He gave it one last look and retreated away from it and towards Gaius, their opponents would need to be blind not to spot that explosion and they were going to be all over the place in a couple of minutes.

o-0-o

Danielle crouched on top of a branch and cursed under her breath Wolverine's creativity, who first dumped them into the biggest jungle she had seen and later decided to scatter them. She could see somewhere in the thick foliage Wolfsbane's form and Iceman was with her on the tree.

"Something is coming," Wolfsbane said as she emerged and changed unto her human form. "A couple of somethings that might be keen on getting to us."

"Predators?" Danielle asked, notching an arrow onto her bow. "Or something not from the forest."

"They behave like a herd of elephants and are loud, so most likely not predators."

She nodded and looked at Iceman, then she glanced at the ground covered in thick foliage and hundreds of small plants, roots and dozens of other things. "Could you be kind enough and get us a nice, big skating rink?" she asked him.

"Skating rink? For what?"

"To greet our guests and allow us to have the upper hand," she explained. "They shouldn't spot it and a surprise is always nice."

"I will do it," he said, hopping onto the ground. "Tell me when."

"Wolf?" she asked, glancing at Rahne.

"I will tell him," she said and crouched on the ground. "Now!" she shouted and at the same time changed into a wolf and jumped onto the tree.

Bobby nodded and pressed his palm against the ground, frost started to cover the ground, starting from his place, it was growing over everything on its path, no matter if it was leaves, roots, plants or rocks, it all got covered in a layer of ice. It also caused everything that was moving towards them to end up on a very slick and smooth surface.

Danielle smirked when she saw robots appear out of the forest, trying to move towards them, only managing to slide helplessly, for her it felt as if she was on a shooting range, each shot was a hit and before she noticed all of the robots were wrecks.

She dropped onto the ground, her boots crunching on the ice and she looked at the robots, all of them were similar to dogs or large cats. "Let's go," she said. "If those things are designed in the same way Sentinels are, we will have company, a lot of it and soon."

Wolfsbane and Iceman nodded and broke into a sprint towards the place where she thought Black Eagle was supposed to be and where she previously heard a large explosion come from. She jumped over a fallen trunk, used a vine to support herself and almost bumped into his winged form.

"How did you find us?" He asked as he turned to look at her. "Moving in this jungle is a nightmare."

"Keen nose and luck," she said and looked at the sword in his hand and later at a large path of cut through the jungle. "I guess this approach also works."

"And I think it is over," Wolfsbane added as the landscape started to disappear.

"It is," Wolverine said as he emerged from the forest. "Showers and briefing room in twenty minutes."

o-0-o

"Wolverine is a slave driver," Harry muttered over an hour later as he stumbled into the dorm. "He thinks that running through the jungle is funny."

"Oh?" Atalanta asked, she was laying on the bed and reading something. "I thought that you enjoyed playing hide-and-seek in the forests around Ullr's palace."

"I do," he said. "But there you don't need to chop a path to move freely."

"Poor you," she chuckled and then looked at him. "It's good that you got back now, we need to talk about things, things that affect the both of us."

"Oh?" He asked, sitting down on the bed and to her side. "What are these things that I should discuss with you?"

"A certain person we both know," she said and smirked. "A person that I think you also like or maybe there is more to it."

He blushed and then frowned at those words. "Laura?" He asked as he looked at Atalanta. "It's obviously not Jean-Paul, so it must be her."

Atalanta closed the book she was reading and shifting uncomfortably looked at him. "Yes, it is her," she finally said and sighed. "I'm attracted to her, yet I also like you and I don't want to betray your trust."

Harry blinked, blushed and then finally looked at Atalanta. "That might make things complicated and interesting," he said and made her look at him. "I'm also attracted to her and she looks hot."

Atalanta blushed and looked at him. "So we have a small problem, don't we?"

"Yeah, we do," he said and looked at her. "I know that I like you, but what about her?"

Atalanta paused, humming quietly. "What about explaining things to her when we are on Asgard and have time to do so without any interruptions or guests?" she finally asked.

Harry felt a redness creep up his cheeks, but he nodded in agreement. "It should work, the question is how she will react to it," he said and placed his hand on Atalanta's side, hugging her. "But now I'm happy to be with just you."

He saw her blush and then she looked at him. "Harry, are you suggesting something?" she asked as her fingers moved into his feather-covered wings and her head rested on his shoulder. "You are a sweet person," she said.

"At," he breathed out and snuggled against her. "I'm glad that you came to stay with me at the Institute," he whispered. "I know that otherwise I would end up being haunted by nightmares and unable to get some rest."

"Friendship is about helping each other, isn't it?" she asked and made him smile.

"It is, among a great deal of other things, but helping each other is one of them."

"Then I'm doing what a good friend is supposed to," she said with a small giggle. "Not that I think you mind it."

He blushed lightly and made a smile appear on her face as his mind started to wander in directions he didn't want it to. "I don't mind it, Princess," he said and she giggled.

"Good," she smiled and looked into his eyes. "As I don't want to hurt you."

"So do I," he said as their eyes met, her golden ones with his emerald.

She smiled and pulled him closer to herself and into a kiss, he was surprised by her willingness and openness, but he only smiled and let his lips melt on hers. It was a short kiss, but it felt like liquid pleasure for him, clouding his mind and senses.

"Harry," she breathed out as they parted. "I love you."

"At," he said, blushed furiously and looked at her. "I-I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything," she said, her fingers moving through his wings.

He smiled and they sat comfortably snuggled against each other, enjoying being in the presence of each other and the physical closeness. Harry felt as if good times were ahead of him, times that could only get better as time passed and he got older.

o-0-o

Jean looked at Harry and Atalanta and considered how to explain to them what she had on mind and how to make them practice it, then she had an idea. One that was evil and nice, one that she would enjoy a lot. "Today we will work on searching through memories," she said and they looked at her. "It is a bit of a gray area when it comes to morality, so I want you to use it only when you don't having any other choice, also when done wrong it can destroy the person's mind or turn them insane."

"So what's its point?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Atalanta, I think you know," Jean said, noticing that his girlfriend was smirking.

"Yes, it allows you to get data you wouldn't get through other means or without extreme risk," Atalanta said. "Or when someone is not willing to tell you what you want to know."

"Exactly," Jean nodded with a small smile. "So now I want you to look for something inside of each other's mind, things that you think are the most embarrassing or amusing."

Harry sputtered and she looked in his direction. "We are going to what?"

"Look for the most embarrassing or amusing things you can find," she said. "It is the least dangerous way to learn how to do it and don't tell me you wouldn't like to know some things that can be used for blackmail."

"You should have said that from the beginning," he grinned. "Now that is something I won't mind doing."

Jean nodded and looked at Atalanta. "Do you want to do it?"

"Yes," she grimly nodded. "We need to learn to, sooner rather than later."

Jean nodded, quickly explained how to do it to them and leaned back to enjoy the show, they were two hormonal teens that were in a state close to love. She didn't manage to get in a comfortable position before Harry blushed furiously and looked as if he wanted to hide out of Atalanta's way. It was soon followed by a very similar reaction from Atlanta whose cheeks turned their color to a very nice shade of beet red and she looked as if she was about to murder Harry; overall it looked like a very good show to watch. At least this was far better for her, than if she let them practice it on her, she didn't want to think about what they could find. She definitely didn't want Harry to see her having sex with his older cousin. She had some borders and she didn't want to pass them, at least not too badly.

o-0-o

Carol growled as she looked at Harry, he was annoying at times and now was one of those moments when she wanted to punch him, hard. "Can you stop playing games and tell me what's on your mind?"

"Carol, why should I do that?" He asked. "I love my games and I think that you also love them."

She growled and shook her head. "Did I say that I love them? I find them amusing, but now I'm not in a mood for them and I can tell that you have a lot of fun thanks to them."

"Maybe I do," he said cheerfully. "Or maybe I don't, the meaning of fun is hard to define."

She felt her temper rising and it was momentarily followed by the sound of metal being thrashed and a feeling of something wet flowing down her hand. She looked in the direction of her hand and saw that the can she had been holding was now a destroyed piece of metal. "How?" she asked and looked at him, only to see him focused on her hand. "Do you have an idea what that was?"

He frowned and looked at her. "I had exactly the same issues a couple of years ago, ask Atalanta if you don't believe me," he said, seeing disbelief on her face.

"Tell me what it is," she said, trying to keep her temper under control. "The story of your life is certainly amusing, but can wait."

"Superhuman strength," he calmly said. "And quite a lot of it guessing by the damage you've caused," he indicated at the can she was holding, or its remains. "Also it tends to manifest when you are angry."

"So the can was the poor victim of my temper?"

"Yup," he said with a grin. "It happens to everybody."

She nodded, hummed quietly and once calm she looked at him. "So about what did you want to talk about before this can got destroyed?"

"Asgard. I can take few people there and I think that you are lucky to get invited since I like you enough to consider doing it."

She blinked and looked at him, unsure if she had heard him right. "Are you offering me a trip to Asgard?"

"Yes," he smiled. "You, Jean-Paul, Laura and those that I invited there last time."

"Sounds like fun," she said and looked at him. "So what are we going to do?"

"Laze around for a week or two?" He suggested with a grin. "Nothing to do, just relaxing, away from your brothers and maybe with Jarl."

Her eyes shined, she hurled herself at him and hugged him. "Yes please, yes," she said as she crushed him in a hug.

"Easy, Carol, easy," he said, trying to push her away. "I will take you there, but let my ribs live and remain whole."

"Sorry," she said, releasing him from her hug. "I didn't want to injure you."

"No problem," he said, taking a couple of deep breaths to see if his ribs were whole. "I just wasn't prepared for it."

"So when are we travelling to Asgard?"

"The moment the break starts," he said and she smiled.

"Thank you," she said. "I want nice holidays away from my father and idiotic brothers."

"No problem," he smiled. "Do you want to learn a thing or two about Asgard?"

"Sure," she said and looked at him eagerly.

The next few minutes she spent with him and Atalanta, who joined them, talking about Asgard and its wonders, what she would see and should know or things that were simply nice and amusing.

o-0-o

Tony Stark was busy designing the new plane for the X-Men when he heard a soft chime from his communication system. "Jarvis, tell them that I am busy," he said and focused his attention back on the design he had in front of him.

"It's impossible, sir," Jarvis said. "It's Mr. Worthington and he is on his way here, he will be in your office in five minutes."

"Warren II?" Tony asked. "The same arrogant and self-righteous bastard that won the last deal for those missiles for the Navy?"

"The same one, his secretary said that his visit is related to something of great interest for the both of you."

"Fine, tell him that I will meet him, but for just five minutes, no more."

"It will be more than enough," someone said and when Tony diverted his attention from the display he saw Worthington standing in the door leading into his office.

"Worthington," Tony coolly said. "What do you want?"

"Stark," Warren nodded and looked around the room. "Tp talk with you, there is a matter in which both of us are interested and we both want it to flourish."

Tony looked at Warren and then laughed. "You are arrogant enough to show up here and now you are playing your games, while I'm busy and don't have any time for them."

"Stark, do you always need to be an insufferable git that lacks manners and common sense?" Warren asked with a sigh. "We do not like each other and we often disagree, but can we behave like two reasonable businessmen that want to discuss something for just five minutes?"

"You have your five minutes, after that this audience is over."

"Xavier's," Warren said simply. "We are both somewhat interested in its well-being and survival, so I thought that we could combine our resources and fund them a new campus and a few other things for X-Men."

Tony looked at Warren, trying to gauge the truth of his words and see if they were something more than they looked. "How serious are you?"

"Dead serious, my son is one of the students there, my cousin another," Warren said and added after a moment. "I am cold and ruthless, but family matters to me, so I don't want them dead."

"You care about family?" Tony snorted. "What about Petunia and Vernon?"

In Warren's eyes appeared a cold, dangerous fire, one that Tony rarely saw, but knew enough to know that it was a really bad sign. "They betrayed the family, so they were punished," he said. "You know Harry Potter, or Thorson now?" Tony nodded. "He was abused by them, so I had no mercy to spare on them."

"Fine, you are right about them," he said and looked at Warren. "So what do you propose and how much is it going to cost?"

"New campus and gear for the X-Men," Warren said and smiled. "The price tag is just under two billion for everything, I pay half of it and you the other half."

"Send me the list and I will fund it."

"It is already sent," Warren said with a smirk. "Did you seriously think that I would come unprepared and without everything ready."

"Jarvis?" Tony called out.

"It is ready."

He nodded and glanced at the list that appeared on one of the monitors, his eyes quickly scanned it and he arched his eyebrow at a couple of items, but then he nodded and turned to look at Warren. "Good list, I would have done it a bit differently, but it works."

"So you will pay?"

"I will," Tony said. "I still don't like you, but I think that a partnership might not be the worst idea ever."

"Indeed," Warren nodded. "Tell Xavier's what we have agreed upon and I will get the ball rolling."

"Fine," Tony said and Warren with one last nod vacated his office. "Jarvis, where was I?" Tony asked looking at the design.

"Working on the engines," Jarvis said. "There are issues with its flow and vectoring."

Tony nodded and started another session of designing and working on something that should make the X-Men and potentially SHIELD really happy.

o-0-o

Lucius Malfoy looked at the golden ring placed on his desk and wondered what to do with it, he knew what was inside of it, but he didn't have any idea what to do with it. His master wasn't the most reasonable man and lacked the refinement needed to play against SHIELD and its allies, while he was a powerful and knowledgeable wizard, he was not a spymaster and Lucius knew well that he only a spymaster could survive with Fury looking for him.

Fury was clever, devious and had almost unlimited resources, as well as contacts in almost every country on the surface of the Earth, which made him a person that was almost impossible to beat. Lucius snorted at this thought, nobody was unbeatable, it was just a matter of finding the right way to do so and during the last war he had almost managed to beat SHIELD, almost, but not quite.

He walked to the window and looking out of it thought about how to get the upper hand in this battle, he didn't have too many options and Durmstrang was gone, which meant no useful and cheap magical muscle. He needed to expand his net of agents and do so subtly enough to not get the other players' attention as he knew that there was a new player, one that seemed to know everything and his agents were everywhere. Lucius shook his head and looking at his son flying on his new broom, he thought about the way the game was changing, how he could adapt to it, as well as finding someone who had an axe to grind and would be willing to work against SHIELD.

o-0-o

Harry smiled when he felt a breeze touch his back and then stop to his right, he glanced in its direction and smiled when he saw Jean-Paul there. "What's on your mind, mon chéri?" Jean asked.

Harry smiled and looked at Jean around whom always was a comfortable aura of arrogance and cockiness, something that drew people towards him and one that made him the favorite X-Men among the younger students. "Nothing, for the first time, nothing," Harry said as he looked out of the window at snow covered the landscape. "Just thinking about the future, Yuletide and what might happen around that time."

"Not Christmas?" Jean asked and Harry laughed. "What?"

"Nothing," Harry said after a moment. "It's just that Christ and Christianity don't belong to Asgard, we call it Yuletide and celebrate, but for a different reason than you."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Harry said and paused, thinking about how to explain it. "Equinoxes and solstices are important from a magical point of view," he finally said. "Magic, especially the one practiced on Asgard is strongly connected to the shifting of seasons and those four days are important, really important, which also makes them a favorite time for all of the rituals."

"What rituals?" Jean asked.

"Coming of age rituals and a few other things, but mainly coming of age," Harry said and shifted uncomfortably. "They usually take a long time so I am supposed to start passing them during this Yuletide."

"Oh," Jean said in understanding. "No wonder you are so stressed about everything."

"Yeah," Harry said with a weak smile. "I'm pretty nervous about it, if I'm going to be honest."

"Would you mind telling me what it entails?" Jean asked and glanced at him. "If you want, we can talk in my room where we should have more privacy, if you want it to stay between us."

"I will tell you," Harry said. "But in your room, I trust people here, but I don't want to talk about it too much."

Jean nodded and they walked to Jean's room, which for the time being was only occupied by Jean alone, Harry looked at his friend who just indicated to his bed. "Make yourself comfortable," he said.

"Sure," Harry said, plopping down on the bed.

Jean sat to his side and looked at him. "So how complicated is coming of age on Asgard?"

"Not complicated," Harry smiled. "Just long and stretched over time," he said and untied a braid with clay beads. "I need to get eight of them, I have two at the moment and for each step or trial you get two more."

"So you passed one rite and there are still three more ahead of you," Jean said and looked at him. "Let me guess, you are supposed to make the next step during this break."

"Yes."

"So what is it?"

"Do you want to know?" Harry asked.

"Mon chéri, there aren't many things that will shock me," Jean said. "So trust me and just tell it, I can see that you are not sure how to treat it."

Harry sighed, but nodded. "It's circumcision," he said quietly and Jean looked at him. "It is supposed to mean losing innocence of the body and we are supposed to sacrifice our foreskin to the spirits of the ancestors."

"Oh," Jean said. "No wonder you are so stressed about it and unsure about how to deal with it."

"Yeah," Harry said and sighed. "My reasonable mind knows that this part of my body isn't important and the body doesn't suffer without it, but the emotional one..."

"But the emotional one is a bundle of nerves and stress," Jean said and pulled him closer. "I know that Atalanta will murder me for it, but mon chéri, you are a sweet person and you have nothing to worry about. You will be fine," he said looking into Harry's eyes. "They know how to do it and they have been doing it for as long as Asgard exists, so they won't hurt you, so accept it, do not think about it, and you will be fine."

"Jean, it is easy to tell me that I will be fine when you are not the one that will lose a piece of himself."

Jean sighed and Harry looked at him. "Don't fret over it and you will be fine," he said. "Also if you think that it will make you less attractive, we are attracted not only by your body, but also by your mind, so we won't notice it, heck, maybe it will make you more physically appealing, assuming someone will be able to see you naked."

Harry blushed at those words and then looked at Jean. "Thanks, it means a lot to me, Jean," Harry said and made Jean smile.

"No problem," Jean said. "You are my friend and I care about you, as do a lot of other people, so let us help you when you need it."

Harry smiled and felt his worries disappear out of his mind thanks to Jean's smooth words, not to mention that it was a very pleasant moment for the two of them.

o-0-o

The end of the term and the beginning of the break arrived which for Harry and his friends meant a trip to Asgard. All of them walked out of the Institute with bags slung over their shoulders and formed into a small group centered around Harry, who looked at the sky and moment later a beam of ethereal light whisked them away from Midgard and to Asgard.

o-0-o

A/N - Relationship, everything will be revealed in due time, a huge nightmare is caused by them and it will take time before they get untangled and everything will be explained.

Coming of age, I said before that it was and is usually painful in most of ancient cultures, if he wished to he could not pass it, but it would mean that in the succession line he would drop to the last position as during it he is accepted as a full member of the society, with all duties(being eligible for military service) and rights(succession).

o-0-o

Reviews:

Gime'SS - Atalanta is there to keep Harry's powers under control and she is one of few that have power to subdue it easily, not to mention that she is one of his friends, so there is a better chance that he will listen to her than to others. Professor X will be the one working with Harry, not her, she is here just his friend and also protects her territory.

Pushy? She protects her territory and she treats Jean as a threat that needs to be kept at distance, at least until he learns his intentions.

BiGDeal - And the best things are only to come, this is in my opinion one of more boring arcs.