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The Prince in the North
Chapter 7 – A lost wolf
By Jamnaz79
Note: I do not own Harry Potter, Game of Thrones (Song of Fire and Ice) or anything associated with it. I can say that I would never be able to write a masterpiece like Mr. Martin does and I hope you forgive my horrible try. I also do not own the Song of Fire and Ice, Game of Thrones or anything else associated with it. I do not own Robert Jordan's wheel of time. I also make no money off of this writing. God help the person that would pay me to write as my stories are not close to being good enough to deserve to be paid for it. Then again I hope I don't do a chapter every 5 years like Mr. Martin too. But, the books are always worth the wait!
Harry passed the smug looking Crown Prince who still had his arm around the waist of Sansa who in turn looked at the boy adoringly. Already forgotten by the girl was the fact that now her own cousin will pay the price that she was reschedule from. He heard the boy whisper to her about making her a new white rug for her tent. It took all of Harry's will to not pull his sword on the pompous prick but he restrained himself. Instead he turned his purple eyes away towards the outside.
He had learned more in the past ten minutes of the Southern politics then he had ever experienced. From that lesson he had learned a simple fact, there were no permanent allies. There was only temporary being useful, Harry would find a way to be useful till he could get what he wanted. Now the only question was, did he want revenge for his father? Did he want the crown that could be his by right? A boy had entered the tent flaps, now a determined young man left them.
~~~ PitN ~~~
Harry slowly entered into the clearing of the forest. His steps were surprisingly calm and quiet. Only the scuff of the hide of his boots could sometimes be heard as he walked over the foliage. His eyes slowly were drawn to the elegant creature in the middle of the clearing. She was beauty, so white, pure, and pristine. Hedwig was a calm and majestic creature especially at the view before him. He watched her as she lay in the sun on a rock in the middle of a clearing. It would be a funny sight, a wolf sunbathing, or at least it would be if he had not been sent for such a dire situation.
Instead Harry felt troubled as he knew what would have to take a place. The young Stark slowly walked forward into the clearing. At once the ears of Hedwig seemed to perk up. Harry swore he could almost see a grin appear on the wolf's muzzle. A sigh escaped the lips of the young man. He walked over and sat down on the hot rock next to his friend.
"This is a bad situation Hedwig." Harry spoke softly as his fingertips brushed through the fur of his friend. A grimace came over the lips of his young man as he considered his options. He was not certain what he could do to save his friend. Sure he had magic, or perhaps he did from his dreams and he had an idea. But could it work? It would be a risk to possibly expose him to what he could do. He was certain that the faithful of Seven would see him burned as a heretic if anyone ever found out his abilities.
Harry turned his gaze down to linger on his friend and companion. At the same moment her red eyes looked upwards and met his own. He knew no matter the risk he would have to take it. Still he was not ready yet; sure they had little time left. But, he wanted every moment to last longer.
It was an hour later when Harry grimaced to himself. The sun was starting to set in the West and he had pushed it far too long. He slid off of the large rock and looked into the face of Hedwig. Violet eyes looked into the depth of the red eyes as the young man spoke, "I need you to understand me girl. You need to flee. You need to go back to Winterfell. If you stay here they will kill you."
The wolf, while smarter than most of her breed, looked at the young man with her normal gaze. Harry cringed inside as he had an idea of what he might have to do. A grimace twisted his face as he considered. Slowly he broke the gaze with the wolf and spoke up, "I am sorry Hedwig. You must be safe."
The young Stark raised his hands and concentrated on his magic. He could feel it flowing through him as his fingers started to tingle. He was not certain what he was doing, he only knew through the dreams that this feeling was magic. His eyes opened but only to slits as they kept narrowed looking upon the wolf in concentration. The key was that it was a wolf that they were looking for. But what if Hedwig was not a wolf anymore? The power rushed through the young man building up, layering time and again onto itself till the young man felt almost like he would burst, "In my dreams you were not a wolf. You were an owl Hedwig. You will soar free; you will be safe from them. Please forgive me…"
The light burst from the fingertips of Harry striking into the chest of the wolf. A howl was released by the wolf into the early evening. The howl was an echo of betrayal and pain. Harry collapsed to the ground not seeing the results of his work.
It could have been an hour or a few minutes later when Harry awoke but the youth wouldn't be know for certain. The stars were out. He let out a groan as his head spun like someone had decided to roll it down a steep hill making certain to hit every rock on the way. Even more Harry felt drained, it was as if someone had literately stuck a straw into his neck and sucked out all of his energy. He turned his violet gaze around the clearing trying to remember where he was and what he had been doing. Is eyes stopped their journey when they saw a single rock in the middle of the clearing. On that rock was a splattering of crimson that must be blood. Strangely next to that blood was fur almost from a skinned animal and white feathers scattered around it. It looked as if some creature had molted from the wolf into some type of bird.
Harry stood up, perhaps too quickly as the world seemed to spin causing him to fall back down onto his knees. The young man started to crawl forward till he knelt before the rock. His fingertips dipped into the blood before brushing over the pure white fur. He didn't notice the tears streaming down his cheeks, he didn't feel the dizziness anymore either. The young man could only feel the pain crumbling in his heart. He had caused this. His arrogance had caused this. His fear of what the Lannisters would do to his friend and companion.
The pain and sorrow mixed with anger over what he had done. He had been foolish, arrogant, a dunderhead! He needed to learn to control these powers; he needed to learn to be strong. He was so distraught he never questioned the feathers . Even hours later when the young man left to return holding the blood skinned fur of his friend he never questioned them. If Harry had looked up into the trees he would have seen a white owl sitting on a branch watching. If he had been calm he may have felt the pair of red eyes watching him in silence. But the young man never did look up or see his friend lived, instead he returned to the camp in a slow walk with a heavy heart that was seeded with anger.
~~~ PitN ~~~
The rest of the trip of King's Landing went quickly for Harry. He worked on his swordsmanship and learned about the duties of a knight from Ser. Barristan. He served the King his wine and cut his meat. He stood outside the tent or rooms of keeps as the man whored his way through life. It was in every moment that he was there that he lost respect for the man his Uncle had praised to be a great man. Perhaps the King had been great once, but he was a shadow of the man he once was.
But there were rare moments that perhaps the old Robert that Lord Eddard talked about which shown through. Once night where he was particularly drunk the King had called him into his tent.
"Come here Lad. Sit." The King called out seated behind a large table with a jug of wine. There were two goblets, one larger and one smaller and the large man poured some wine into the smaller for Harry.
The young man was surprised as since the loss of Hedwig, it had seemed that the King's favor with the boy had disappeared. But, now like the changing of the wind here he was in the bedroom of the King being poured wine by his hand. He respectfully kept silence as he carefully took hold of his cup.
"Your mother was a good woman…"Robert slurred the words from too much drink. The man of his firth though was still coherent. He looked over the young man and smiled, "She was strong willed, stood up for what she believed in. Smart too. She was far too smart to be an oak life me."
The large man gave a grunt as he leaned back into his chair staring at the dark haired boy, "you would have been mine. No more bloody golden hair, just dark Stark and Baratheon hair."
Harry considered his words carefully. He really didn't care for this man anymore, but he was the King. He was powerful and in a position to assist him. Yet, here was the man reaching out perhaps he could use this for own advantage. Or perhaps the King would forget it tomorrow since he was so deep in his cups, "I would have liked to have had a father. Uncle is a good and honorable man though."
"Ned is the best of men." The King raised up his cup to Eddard waiting for Harry to tap his mug to the man's own. The young man raised his own cup quickly and sipped from the glass as the King slurped down his wine. The young man quickly refilled the goblet for the King as the man continued to speak, "He made you a good lad. A good Stark Lad, we need more Starks in the Capital."
"My Uncle is bringing more than a few of us your Grace. I know he is excited for the chance to help you and the realm." Harry replied dutifully.
"Piss on the realm, they always demand more and more. I wish I could climb on a horse and ride off tomorrow swinging my hammer and wench my wife through life." The King roared out with a smile at the thought.
"If that is your wish, I can ready the horse at once." Harry grinned back at the older man.
"Oh, you are going to come with me lad?" Robert asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A knight needs his squire your Grace. Plus it sounds like it would be a grand adventure." Harry quickly added as he started to fill up the King's cup again for the man.
"It would be an adventure alright. We would drag your sour uncle with us. Ride off and fight for each meal, bed any wench we find, live by the roadways, find the beautiful wenches we desire." The King laughed to himself at the thought, his eyes growing distant as he looked off to the torch at the side of the tent.
"You said bed the wenches twice there your Grace." Harry gently pointed out.
"Aye, I did at that… They need to be bed more than once a day after all. It is half of the fun. They will swoon as we ride forward into the towns waiting for us." Robert shook his head before he grinned at the boy, "You have been with a woman boy?"
"I hmmm… not yet your Grace. My Uncle is rather determined not to have bastards running around." Harry turned crimson in the cheeks as he admitted it.
"We will fix that lad, when we get to the city. I know of the perfect place." The King grinned lecherously at a most disturbing image. He took a deep drink of his cups then looked back to his squire, "Got a wench you desire lad?"
The question definitely put Harry in a disturbing position. He raised his own glass and took a deep drink for courage. He spoke far more calmly than he felt, "I do your Grace. She is beautiful, smart, kind, and of good birth."
"Oh? Is she a lusty wench?" The King grinned at the idea not realized the particular blonde who had caught his squire's eye.
"I don't know but I hope so your Grace. I don't know what she will grow to become. I just met her less than a month ago." Harry spoke quickly before taking another sip after he realized what he said.
"Picking them young Squire?" The King teased before taking another deep drink from his goblet. For a brief moment he looked far more coherent then he had been moments before. His eyes stared at the Stark youth with a grin, "I fell for your mother at first sight. She was a young one too. She was sweet as nectar between the sheets but a fiery bitch when you pissed her off."
Harry didn't know what to say about finding out the King had slept with his mother! So instead he kept silent letting the man linger in his memories. After a few minutes he broke the silence, "Your Grace, you said before to my uncle you wanted to join your family to his?"
"Yes, Baratheon and Stark together as one, it was always a dream of ours." The King looked down and frowned at his empty cup. But, that frown disappeared as Harry refilled the cup at once with a smile, "That is why my Joffrey will wed your cousin Sansa. The little runt doesn't deserve the beauty but she will reign him in perhaps."
"Sansa is a proper lady. I am sure the Crown Prince will enjoy her company," Harry offered politely with a smile.
"The little shit will do what I tell him to do." The King's angry stated calmed as he chuckled afterwards.
"Have you ever thought of marrying your daughter to a Stark?" Harry suggested quickly as his eyes watched the King carefully over the rim of his cup. He could tell the liquid was starting to go to his own head despite only sipping it.
"Maybe, your cousin Rob and my Myrcella seem to be a good match lad. Ned will not force his lad to wed but it seems a good match in time." The King grew silent again in his thoughts as he closed his eyes seeming to start to slip into sleep.
"Perhaps she will come to like a different Stark child your Grace." Harry spoke quickly and quietly. But not quiet enough for the King seemed to stir and look up at the boy.
Robert studied the young man, son of his lost love for a long moment. The boy was smart, skilled, and useful so far. But he was the son of that bastard dragonspawn to offset these traits. Because of the boy's blood there would be no chance in hell he would allow the child to become part of his family. Still perhaps it was the drink of just his good mood this evening that made him speak, "We shall see what happens lad."
"Have I ever told you of the time that I killed two boar on a hunt within five minutes?" The King asked before he started to tell a fanciful tale of a hunt. For the next few hours story after story was told by the King till he passed out from too much drink.
Author note: Here is the next new chapter, rather short but I will do a longer one soon I promise. After this it will be on to King's Landing. A young dragon in the middle of a pit of vipers will be coming up. I hope everyone likes it. Let me know.