Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Kudos to those who need to be listed here.
Harry awoke to the sound of a raven calling.
Slowly, without opening his eyes, he took stock of his wounds. His body ached and his hand hurt terribly but his mind was clear.
He did not want to move as he dimly remembered a one- eyed man and several others who he did not know.
I could be anywhere. Possibly even behind enemy lines.
He cautiously opened his eyes the barest slit. Without indicating he was awake, he glanced around his surroundings. The ceiling high above him was gold with overarching rafters, on one of which perched a raven. The room was open with wide glassless windows and open doorways but all walls and even the floor was also of glinting gold.
"I am sure you find this place strange, but we are happy that you have finally awoken," a kind woman's voice stated. Harry snapped his eyes open completely and looked over to the large archway leading out of the room. She was tall, almost as gold as the room around her, and beautiful with the regal bearing of a queen. Harry blinked, and he let out a gust of air as the warmth of her magic flowed over him, bathing his senses similar to the magic that Professor Sprout employed to coax her cuttings into faster growth. It had the natural hues of golds, greens, and shimmering browns but brighter than he was accustomed to. She seemed like a mix between both Sprout and Professor McGonagall. Regal yet fully attuned to nature. She smiled as she entered with familiar clothes draped on her arms.
Harry glanced down at himself and realized he was in loose fitting light brown trousers and his bare but bandaged torso was covered by an open collar shirt of the same soft material but a lighter beige color.
"Your garments were in need of cleaning and mending," the woman said calmly as she laid his clothes on the end of his bed. Something in her rich voice set Harry at ease, even when he felt like he should still be alert. After all, he was still clueless as to his current situation.
"Where am I? How did I get here?" Harry asked sitting up with some effort. He felt as if he had gone through the Battle of Hogwarts a second time, he was so tired and sore.
"You are in the healing halls of Asgard. As to how you came to our realm, we are uncertain. We had hoped that you would know." She stood straight again, clasping her hands loosely in front of her. A small furrow appeared between her brows, seemingly in concern.
Harry studied the woman closely trying to determine if she was dangerous. Regardless of her magic, he couldn't tell if she was an ally.
"Mother! Father calls for you." A boy said as he ran into the room with the energy only the young possess. He slid to a stop beside Harry's bed, all bright green eyes and black hair that his mother gently pushed back from his face. He spared a grin up at her before turning his eyes to Harry.
Harry noticed that while Frigga's magic was like a spring breeze, Loki's was similar to an autumn frost. Still centered around nature but there was a hint of chill that separated him from his mother.
Harry realized he knew this green eyed child. He had seen him before... Somewhere.
"This is my youngest son, Loki. I am Frigga. If you need anything, you only need to ask," the woman-Frigga-said before she left the room leaving her raven haired son behind.
Silence passed as the boy eyed him in a mixture of curiosity and wariness. The guardedness in him reminded Harry of two other boys he had known-one intimately, and one only from a pensieve. Hopefully this one would turn out better than either of them.
"We've met before haven't we?" Harry asked, his own curiosity getting the better of him.
"On the bridge. I tried to heal you but my magic isn't strong enough yet," the boy confirmed while remaining a safe distance.
"Thank you," Harry said with firm sincerity that seemed to surprise the boy.
"You were badly injured. Were you in a battle?" Loki asked, green eyes watching Harry's expression closely.
Harry wanted to smile at the boy's attempt to read him. Luckily, Harry had gotten good at hiding what he was thinking.
Deciding there was no harm in answering the boy, Harry shrugged "I was in several. My country is at war right now. What about you? Have you been in battle?" He doubted it, but one could never be too certain (after all he wasn't much older when the whole Voldemort fiasco began), and the boy seemed almost eager for it.
"No. Our enemy, the Frost Giants, signed a peace treaty with my father when I was very young. Even my elder brother Thor was too young to remember. We only have the stories the warriors tell." Loki shrugged his thin shoulders.
Harry narrowed his eyes trying to determine if the lad was telling the truth. Everything was telling him that the boy was not lying but hearing about Frost Giants and Thor and meeting the supposed goddess Frigga. It wasn't possible...was it?
Harry decided he had sat around long enough. He needed to find out for himself where he was.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand.
Immediately Loki was beside him with a worried frown trying to stop him. "You aren't healed enough. Mother said you will need bed rest and several more healing sessions before you should be getting up."
"I just...I need to see for myself that I am where you keep saying I am. In my world, Asgard is an old fairy tale. Nothing more," Harry said gently shaking off the boy's hands.
Surprisingly, Loki grabbed his arm and placed it around his thin shoulders for support. "Then let me help you. If I had been in a battle and woke up someplace I didn't know, I would want to see where I was too. I'll help you so you do not injure yourself even more by falling on your face."
Harry bit back a laugh at the boy's earnest candor. He smiled down at Loki, thanking him before getting to his feet with the lad's assistance.
He limped out of the archway across from where Frigga left and found himself outside on some sort of balcony. The sight took his breath away. Before him lay a golden city of spires and graceful curves surrounded by green hills, water, and cliffs that ended under an unfamiliar sky and disappeared into nothing. Far off in the distance, a bridge of shimmering colors lay, ending in star filled blackness. Everything was too bright. Too colorful. This was not England. Not even Earth. This was...
"Impossible..." Harry murmured before laughing. He had to. He should have known better than anyone. Nothing was impossible.
Loki glanced up at the man as he ran his good hand through his shaggy hair and scrubbed at his face. His expression plainly said that he thought Harry was losing his marbles.
"This really is Asgard, isn't it?" Harry asked staring out across the glittering city.
"It is indeed, stranger," a deep voice answered behind him.
Harry looked over his shoulder to find a bearded, one eyed man dressed in rich clothes of an unfamiliar style. Harry could tell this was a hardened warrior from his walk, but also one possessing qualities only a leader of others had-there was no denying the weight on his shoulders. Harry knew too well what that was like. Steve, too.
However, the wizened warrior had magic that pulsed and flowed from somewhere Harry could not detect. At first glance, he couldn't even see it-the soft beat that resonated in the floor and the walls and the city beyond. Negligible at any one point, less than a heartbeat. But it was powerful. Very powerful. Because it collected from everywhere and pooled into this single man.
A blonde boy not much older than Loki stood by the man's side. He was the opposite of Loki in every way, and Harry bit back a frown. Even at his young age, Harry could tell the boy would grow to be a large athletic man. Where Loki's features told of intelligence and insightfulness with that hint of insecurity, the need to prove himself, this other boy's features were of arrogance and stubborn surety of his own importance. Most likely he was the biggest and strongest of his peers to have developed such a strong opinion of himself already.
However, Harry's impression of the boy softened as he watched him give a swift worried scan of the thin boy by his side as if searching for signs that he had been harmed. They were obviously close.
"I am Odin. The king of Asgard," the large man declared before placing a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder. "You have already met my youngest son, Loki. This is my eldest, Thor. Both are princes of Asgard." The boys grinned at each other, and Harry smiled. Perhaps the blonde named Thor had more to him, judging by the looks of brotherly affection between the boys.
Odin gazed at his sons fondly before turning his piercing gaze upon Harry once again. "What may we call you, stranger?"
Harry took a deep breath as he looked over his surroundings once more before answering. "Harry. Harry Potter."
The next day, after Odin had shooed his sons out of the room and made Harry rest, Loki listened in from his hiding spot as the stranger and his father were deep in discussion at a small table on the healing room balcony.
They were attempting to piece together what had brought Harry to their realm.
"My world is currently in a global war. Germany, Italy, and Japan is fighting against almost everyone else. This includes my country, Britain."
"Ambitious. And why go to war?" Odin asked trying to figure out how he had not heard of such a war.
"The short version is a very bad man with horrible followers believe in genetic purity. They want to conquer the known world, kill everyone who does not match their ideal race, and start a new civilization based on this supposedly superior race of people. They already imprisoned and killed thousands if not millions of people. They won't stop until someone stops them.
"My part in the war is different. My people are magic users. Similar to Frigga and Loki, but not the same. However, most of the world does not know we exist and we want to keep it that way. Our magical community had already fought a civil war, and we are dangerously vulnerable right now. A Nazi group called Hydra has discovered our existence and is already hunting us. I was fighting the leader known as the Red Skull when-" Harry cut himself off, and Loki blinked. Harry was frowning, and his eyes were darting around the room, no longer focused on Odin. "I-I don't remember after that. I was fighting. Then we were falling. Then I was here." Harry finished rubbing at his temple with his good hand. The other was cradled uselessly on his lap.
Odin frowned under his beard. The man seemed terrified that his memories were lost. He supposed that one's memories were often part of who you are. You lose them, then how do you know anything about yourself?
"So we wait until your memories return." Odin stated calmly as he studied the man before him.
Dark circles lay under those emerald eyes that were so similar to his own son's.
Hugin, one of his loyal ravens, reported that the man slept little and was often plagued by dreams that caused him to rouse himself to fight unseen enemies.
Odin knew of this sickness. He had seen warriors haunted by what they have bore witness to and what they have done. His love, Frigga, warned him that Harry was exhausted in mind, body, and spirit making him unable to fight against the sickness that consumed his dreams. Odin wondered if he would start to see the man lose himself even when awake.
Odin knew that it was not weakness that caused the sickness but the strength of character. Only the best and noblest of beings suffered so greatly under their burdens.
"Come. You must eat and rest before my Queen comes to heal more of your wounds," Odin said standing and offering his hand to Harry.
With a nod of thanks, Harry allowed himself to be hauled out of his chair by the Allfather's impressive strength.
"Will your son be willing to leave his hiding spot and join us?" Harry asked turning to look at Loki just before he could duck back behind the potted plant that was big enough to hide his small frame.
"Loki," Odin growled in warning. Temper rising at Loki's poor manners.
"He's not harming anyone. Boys his age are always curious. I know I was," Harry said with a grin. "I'm a stranger from a distant world. He is going to want to know more about me."
Odin sighed before calmly asking Loki to join them in a meal. The boy's eyes widened with relief and an easy happiness that came so often to children, and he darted forward to stand between them. Odin held back his smile at how Loki couldn't seem to decide whether to remain beside him or press forward to question their guest.
Lounging on his bed to ease the burden on his still healing body, Harry handled the boy's interest with ease and quiet patience throughout the meal. Often hiding a ghost of a smile when the boy's curiosity was more important than eating. A habit he also had.
By the time the food was finished, Odin was pleased to see that Loki had warmed up to Harry enough to climb on the bed with him. He no longer held himself to polite restraint, his voice rising with passion and his hands waving. Only the sight of Harry's rapidly dwindling strength, made Odin take pity on the young man and declare their visit over. "We will return tomorrow," he said when Loki pouted.
"I look forward to it already." Harry could barely keep his eyes open, but he managed a grin to match Loki's.
Thank you for waiting so patiently. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. -Randompersonality