Title: The Thief and the Wizard
AU X-men/Harry Potter crossover
Summary: After Gambit is left to die in Antarctica help comes in an unexpected way. Harry Potter was on a job to retrieve an artifact from an old wizard stronghold when he ends up saving a strange man from the ice and snow. What does the future hold for these two men?
Warnings: Possible slash as well as hetero interaction, Violence, Blood, Gore. Does not follow cannon for HP or X-men.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or X-men they belong to their respective creators
Author's Note:
All right everyone I am sorry this was so long in coming. I have lived such a quiet life in the mountains for so long I was unprepared for how noisy the city and my sister's house would be. I seriously tried but between the overall noise and taking care of the kids, even when I had a free moment I couldn't find the concentration to write a paragraph let alone a whole chapter. This chapter was done on a week and a half break I took so I could come back up to the mountains and breathe for a little while. I hope you all enjoy it and hopefully it won't be so long till the next time I can get a chapter out. However I am still helping out my sister and if she is sent to Iraq then I will have the children all on my own. Please be patient because I make no promises. Chapters will come out when I have the time and concentration to do them. I appreciate all of your feedback and please let me know what you liked about the story rather than just saying that you did. Best wishes to you all and hope you enjoy the chapter.
P.S. This story still does not have a beta there will be grammar mistakes and possibly spelling ones please do not bombard me with this fact.
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Harry sat up in bed with a gasp his chest rising up and down with his rapid breathing as he tried to recover from yet another nightmare. With a shaking hand he wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced over at the clock by his bedside, which read 6:15am. Flopping backwards onto his pillows he sighed, it was the third such nightmare he had that night and he knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again. It would seem the conversation last night with Gambit stirred up more than memories for Harry; he hadn't had that many nightmares in one night in a couple years. Closing his eyes for a moment he took a deep breath and decided his first priority of the morning after he washed the stink of the nightmares away would be meditation and then he would do another session before he went to bed that night. Hopefully that would help him regain some semblance of control and he wouldn't have another night like this.
Throwing his covers to the side he slid out of his bed and made his way to the bathroom for a hot shower and daily bathroom rituals. The wards told him Gambit was still asleep which Harry expected after the ordeal of yesterday. He would have to remember to reinforce the silencers on his bedroom while the other man stayed here. Since Harry still barely knew the former X-man he didn't want to show any weakness in front of him until he was sure Gambit was someone he could truly trust. It took more than one night and a sharing of stories for Harry to reveal all of himself to someone. He had learned over the years his instincts towards people were usually right but was still cautious until they proved that he could trust them with more than he showed on the surface.
Stepping out of the bathroom he quickly went to his wardrobe and threw on some black cargo pants, a green long sleeved shirt, and a pair of black boots. After a quick brushing of his hair he threw it back into the same low ponytail as yesterday, a few glamour charms to disguise his crappy night of sleep and Harry was walking out of the bedroom ready to start his day. An hour or so later Harry was in the kitchen grabbing a light breakfast having done his meditation he felt much calmer and the demons that had awoken during the night were once again safely locked away. Chewing absentmindedly on a bagel he pondered what needed to be done today for his business and the list of stuff he needed to go over with his houseguest. Seeing as Gambit wasn't awake yet Harry decided to let the man sleep for a while longer while he took care of his paperwork if he wasn't awake by noon Harry would go up and check on him.
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Up in the guest bedroom a couple hours later Gambit was slowly waking up and the events of the day before came all back in a rush. He had spent quite a long time out on the balcony thinking about what he wanted to do from this point on. The way he saw it was if the X-men thought he was dead then he would stay so and make a new life for himself. He would miss Ororo the most with Logan coming a close second they were the only two from the team that hadn't tried to stab him in the back at some point. Even though Logan and him hadn't gotten along at first the other man had at least been upfront with him about it and they had worked through it. He hated the fact that he wouldn't be able to let the Weather Goddess know he was alive since she was the only reason he had joined up with the X-Men. He also hated the thought that she might blame herself for what happened.
Deciding he wasn't going to get anything done lying in bed he got up and headed towards the bathroom. Twenty minutes later he came out freshly showered and shaved. Since he still didn't have any extra clothes he put on the pants and shirt Harry had given him yesterday, which weren't too dirty yet. Spotting a pair of socks and shoes beside the door he put those on a well. Checking his pockets he made sure he had a pack of cards on him and the pack of cigarettes he had been given last night, which was mostly empty at this point. Making his way out of the room he set out to find his host and start putting a new life together.
Heading downstairs he peeked into both the kitchen and the entertainment room and not seeing Harry headed towards the office they had used last night. Knocking on the door he heard Harry call for him to enter and taking a deep breath he opened the door and walked in. Harry was behind his desk with papers in neat little stacks all across it but he put down the one he currently held in his hand and motioned for Gambit to sit down.
"So, how are you doing today? Did you sleep alright last night?"
Gambit decided to sit in the chair he had occupied last night as he replied,
"Merci, Gambit slept just fine once he actually went to bed. Gambit be mostly ok today cher, just a few sore muscles."
Harry raised an eyebrow as his eyes gave the other man a quick once over.
"If you say so Gambit I will take your word for it. Have you been able to come to a decision regarding what you want to do?"
Harry's expression was curious but also compassionate as he waited for Gambit to respond. Gambit sucked in a deep breath a little nervous as he said the words that would completely change his life.
"Oui. Gambit thinks it's best if he stays dead for now. De' X-men and Sinister have no reason to make trouble for Gambit if dey' don't know he alive."
He shrugged his shoulders as he pulled out a cigarette and started fiddling with it. Sharp green eyes stared at him for a minute before Harry leaned back and relaxed in his chair.
"I think your right but it might be a good idea to notify your Father and The Guild. You don't need a mini war between them and the X-men right now."
Gambit snorted he knew who would win that war if it ever happened.
"Don't worry bout dat' cher. Gambit has to call ma pere anyway for the key to da' safe box here in New York. He will keep Gambit's secrets, never did like da' fact dat' I joined da' X-men."
A slow smile spread across Harry's face as he heard that. He had a feeling he would get along with the leader of the Thieves Guild.
"Good, I'm glad you have someone like that. Feel free to tell them whom your staying with all I ask is that you not say exactly where you are. The phones here are all automatically scrambled so they can't be traced and wiretaps won't work on either end all anyone hears is static. While you're doing that I will head out and deliver the artifact I recovered yesterday then we can go out and get you clothes and anything else you need. Sound good?"
Gambit smiled back, "D'accord mon ami Gambit don' mind doin a little shopping."
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An hour and a half later Gambit hung up the phone after a long conversation with his father and Tante Mattie. It had taken a while to fill them in on everything that had happened with the X-men in the last couple months and what went down in Antarctica. Even though Harry had told him that Jean-Luc and Tante should know about him Gambit still hadn't expected them to recognize the name of his rescuer right away. After a few questions verifying that they were all talking about the same man both Jean-Luc and Tante Mattie told him what they knew and it matched up with what Harry had told him so far. Tante also had some advice for him regarding his savior.
"Remy my boy, you tend to run into some very powerful people both good and bad. This wizard Harry is both powerful and good-hearted however he has a reputation of being a bit of a loner, not many people get to call him friend. He obviously sees something in you that he likes; don't go looking for an ulterior motive because he won't have one. This man will be a good friend to you if you let him don't ruin that with mistrust and suspicion."
Those words from his Tante reassured Gambit, she had a way of seeing who people really were and if she said he could start really trusting Harry then Gambit was going to try. He really did want the other man as a friend and he could already feel a connection forming between the two of them. After that the last few minute on the phone were spent ironing out the details of getting Gambit access to his accounts without alerting anyone and getting him new identification. It was decided that the account the X-men knew about would stay the way it was until they notified Jean-Luc of his death and then taken care of along with anything he had left at the mansion.
Just about ten minutes after Gambit ended his phone call he heard the door to the apartment open and a few seconds later Harry appeared in the doorway. As he walked through the door Gambit gave him a quick once over. The other man looked to be in good spirits as he moved towards the mini fridge hidden behind a cabinet door. Grabbing a bottle of water Harry leaned against the edge of the cabinet unscrewed the top on his water and took a long swig before addressing Gambit.
"Were you able you able to talk to your father and take care of what you needed to or do we need to take a quick trip down to New Orleans?"
Remy shook his head, "Non, ma pere was home. Still have a few loose ends but Gambit need to take care of dat' on his own and dat' can be done here in da' city."
Then he cocked his head curiously to the side, "Would we really be able to take a quick trip down to Nawlins' right now?"
Harry laughed his green eyes sparkling with humor as he took another sip of water and replied, "If we needed to I could apparate us there and back in a few minutes. It is one of the ways wizards travel and similar to teleportation however for most wizards there are limits on how much distance they can cover and how many times in row they can do it."
At Harry's last comment Remy had the feeling he was talking about wizards other than him and decided to voice that thought with a smirk playing across his face.
"But Gambit is guessing those limits don't apply to you do they mon ami?"
Using a sly tone of voice in response to Gambit's smirk Harry replied.
"Not really it takes a lot for me to reach my limit I have a lot of stamina."
Gambit just laughed appreciating the humor he liked knowing that Harry didn't take himself to seriously and could poke fun at himself.
As for Harry he just liked watching his guest enjoy himself and Gambit truly was a sight to behold when he laughed it lit up his face and erased some of the lines that had appeared from stress and sleepless nights. Once the thief's laughter had died down Harry decided to take a seat in the matching chair across from Gambit before continuing to speak.
"Now that we have that taken care of I think the next thing is to go shopping for some necessities for you and to introduce you to the staff running the lobby in this building so they know your staying with me and are free to use the elevator and get an extra key for said elevator and the door. I also want to know if its ok with you if my healer friend comes over for dinner tonight so you two can discuss what he found when he treated you. He is magical and has taken an oath of patient privacy that if he violates will cause him to lose his magic so he hasn't told me anything beyond what I needed to know to treat you."
Gambit wasn't sure what to think he was naturally wary of doctors, scientists, and the like but the healer had already had an opportunity to do something and he hadn't. Gambit was also wondering just what the man had found that he felt a meeting was needed. Deciding to get it over with he nodded his head slowly his eyes still showing his wariness even as he spoke his agreement.
"Dat' be okay Cher, Gambit must admit he is a little curious to hear what your healer thinks he found in this Cajun."
Harry smiled at the other man trying to show his reassurance in both his face and voice. He could understand Gambit's wariness around those in the medical field considering how other medical personnel had treated him already.
"Neville is an old friend and one of the very few that I trust with my life. He won't do anything you don't want him to and whatever you tell or discuss with him is guaranteed to stay between you two. He really is a nice guy."
Deciding the conversation was becoming to heavy Harry got up out of his chair and snagged a pen off the desk before quickly transfiguring it into a pair of wrap around sunglasses which he handed to a fascinated Gambit before going behind the desk and rummaging around in one of the drawers before finally slamming it shut and coming back around the desk, a pendant with a stylized sun hanging on a leather cord in hand.
"We need to go shopping and I believe the sunglasses are a given but this pendant will hide you in other ways."
Harry held up the pendant to show it off before giving it to the curious Cajun as well.
"There are a couple spells on it. One will hide your scent that way anyone with enhanced senses like Feral-type mutants, Werewolves, and Vampires can't recognize it or follow it. The second is called a notice me not, unless you make a big commotion or speak directly to a person people are going to basically ignore you and that way you avoid being recognized if indeed someone is looking for you. The third charm is a shield charm, if someone shoots a spell at you a magical shield will appear to protect you from most spells except for some of the higher level nasty ones. However I would still recommend dodging since I can't guarantee how long the shield will stay after being hit. What do you think?"
Gambit fiddled with the pendant for a moment before lifting it up and pulling the leather thong over his head so that the pendant fell at about mid chest. The sunglasses were already in place and hiding his unique eyes that Harry already found himself wishing he could see again.
"Sounds tre' bien, mighty useful little thing to have. Gambit's gonna have to figure out how he gonna make himself different on a regular basis though."
Harry just shrugged, "It shouldn't be to difficult if there isn't a muggle way there is a magical one. I will show you a few things wizards use besides their own magic to disguise themselves. Are you ready to go then?"
Getting to his feet Remy walked to the door and opened it with a mocking half bow.
"After you monsieur."
Rolling his eyes Harry walked through the door already knowing today was going to be an interesting experience and hoping he was going to survive with his sanity intact.
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Shopping with Remy was more than interesting it was a whirlwind of designer store after designer store. Harry had apparated them to a small alleyway so when they came back it would look like the first time Remy had been in the apartment building and after a quick stop at a small but exclusive bank to pick up his account details the shopping experience had begun. It seemed the Cajun was fond of silk and leather as well as designer labels. Amused Harry found himself comparing this to the equivalent of going shopping with Draco Malfoy in the wizarding section of town. The blonde Slytherin was a clotheshorse and frequently updated his wardrobe with the newest fashions. He was also forever trying to convince Harry to go shopping with him whenever they met up because according to him Harry just wasn't dressing to his full potential. So far Harry had managed to avoid Draco's attempts but knew sooner or later he would be cornered into one.
As they moved from store to store Gambit slowly built a whole wardrobe from boots and shoes to trench coats and sunglasses. Harry even found himself picking up a few new things that caught his eye including a pair of sunglasses and a soft leather jacket with a warm interior perfect for when he was riding his bike. As they exited yet another store Harry motioned for Remy to follow him into an empty alleyway, slightly confused the Cajun did. Once they were in the alleyway and out of site Harry quickly set his bags down and shrinking them with a wave of his hand. Motioning to Gambit to set his down too he said,
"Let me shrink yours too it makes things a lot easier to carry and I can enlarge them when we get back home."
After he got past his surprise Gambit handed over his bags and commented, "That is awful handy cher, all da' women must love having you tag along. They never have to carry a bag den', non?"
Harry snorted, "Most the women I know can do this for themselves and know better than to try and rope me into their shopping."
"Aw, you make Gambit feel special cher. Better watch out dis' Cajun might even blush a little." Remy spoke in a teasing tone and even lifted his sunglasses to add a little wink that made Harry laugh as he picked up the shrunken packages and placed them in a safe pocket in his coat. Deciding to tease back Harry responded with,
"Don't let it go to your head too much my friend, I can't help it if I have special skills and you don't. I am only trying to do my duty as a higher powered being to a lesser one."
Harry made sure to turn his nose up in an exaggerated way he had seen many pure bloods do when faced with those they felt were below them as he walked past Remy stopping at the entrance to the alley he gestured imperiously with his hand.
"Come now no time to dawdle we have more shopping to do."
With Remy standing there speechless with his mouth open at the sheer snootiness in Harry's voice Harry couldn't hold the expression anymore and broke down snickering with Remy joining him as the two men stepped back out onto the streets of New York enjoying each others company and sense of humor. Still snickering Remy couldn't help but comment.
"That was good cher, Gambit be guessing da' high society in your world kinda like the one in mine oui?"
Harry wrinkled his nose, "Yeah they are if not worse. After all apparently since we have magic we are especially better than other people. Some of them can be ok but I prefer to keep away from all of it."
Gambit was quick to catch the way Harry worded things and pounce on it.
"You say we as if you a part of dat' group cher, are you?"
Harry made kind of a face and ran a hand through his hair before speaking his tone almost apologetic.
"Technically I am apart of the wizarding aristocracy since I am head of two old families whose bloodlines go way back and made a crap load of money along the way. My father's family, the Potter's are an old light family that I am the last of and inherited when he died. The other family I inherited was from my Godfather he was the head of 'The most Noble and Ancient House of Blacks.'" You could practically hear the quotation marks. "His family was considered dark and he had no children so he named me as his heir to prevent the other dark oriented family members from claiming it when he died, which was when I was fifteen. The thing is I grew up not even knowing about magic let alone high society so when I finally found out all this I decided to stay as far away from it as possible. Anything to do with the Potter and Black families goes through representatives I picked and only the really important stuff comes directly to me. I just check every so often to make sure the representatives I chose are doing their jobs well."
Gambit was able to keep his surprise from showing on his face for once. It seemed his new friend had all sorts of interesting facets to him and he was looking forward to seeing each one. Sensing that Harry wasn't exactly comfortable with the subject anymore Gambit tabled his questions for a later point in time.
"Well cher, Gambit likes you all the same so it don't matter none. Now the next thing on Gambit's list is transportation and while he be liking his Harley's in the past he thinks it's time for a little change."
With that exclamation the Cajun halted in front of a motorcycle showroom with the words Ducati emblazoned across the top. Stopping in front of the doors Harry looked on amused as Remy rubbed his hands together in glee before pushing the doors open and striding right in eager to get his hands on the shiny machines. Shaking his head in amusement Harry pushed his way through the doors wondering what Gambit would say when he showed him the Hayabusa he had sitting in his garage.
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