Author's Note
I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire.
Jon visits Winterfell but a scarce few times during the years he fosters with Howland and sends but a handful more letters. The Crannogmen are reclusive, and now Ned has given them his blood, he fears he may never get it back.
His worries are less founded, and Jon is thirteen when he comes home to Winterfell. He has grown slender and lean, with fine, delicate features and Stark grey eyes. He carries a dagger on his hip and a pronged spear, Crannog weapons. With him comes Meera, taller than she was though still smaller than most, and her brother, Jojen, sickly and frail. Howland has sent no word of a desire to see them foster at Winterfell, but Ned assigns them chambers regardless, and they settle in to stay some time. Jon is as close with them as Ned had once been with Robert, and it is pleasing to see. They oft haunt the halls with Jon, and Ned sees them pray together in the godswood.
Bran is most curious of the two, and one day Ned sees him scowl at the pair, most odd for the boy. When asked what the matter is, he only growls and complains of them being 'difficult.'
Cat gifts Jon a cloak of Stark grey, along with fur-lined gloves, and Ned knows him wear those more than anything.
Robb seems to be curious of him now more than anything. Ned sees him stalk Jon sometimes, and tells Jory to be sure none are ever too far from the pair.
In the yard he trains with the Reeds and their Crannog weapons. Howland has made a true little bog demon of him, but Ned bears him no ill-will for it. In the great hall the three sit together, Jon between the Reeds, as though they are guarding.
Sansa prefers to watch him from afar, and oft watches him on an eve when she is meant to be sewing with the Septa. Bran sits at her feet and bears his teeth.
Sometimes Ned sees Jeyne Poole sit with the group. Her father, Vayon, had once hoped she might be a lady in waiting to Sansa, but quickly changed his mind after seeing Sansa's nature. The girl is of an age with Jojen, and while their interests differ, seems to get along well with the serious young boy.
Arya and Rickon are less easy to come to trust. Rickon snarls when he first meets Jon, while the boy himself shies from Arya, holding his arm to his chest. Ned cannot fault him.
Beth Cassel, too, shows some interest in the group. She is shier, more unsure, but Ned sees her with them one day and that seems to have become that.
He encourages them to be kind to Jon, teaches them that he is family and pack, just as their mother and he himself are.
"But he's not," Arya complains, showing her fangs.
"He smells like us," says Robb, which is the first Ned has heard of that.
"You love your mother and I, don't you? Jon is family too; he shares your blood."
"He smells like fire," Sansa decrees, and that is the end of that discussion, as all things dance to Sansa's tune.
#
Still, his children – with the exception of Rickon – are careful now not to bring harm to Jon. He cannot play their games, nor their strange interconnection, but they care for him in their own way. When one of Cat's maids, one of the few southerners from Riverrun to hold out, scorning his bastard nature, her body is found at the foot of the inner wall in the morning.
Ned reminds his children of the rules, but Sansa and Bran are unrepentant, while Robb and Rickon seem more interested in whether they can eat the unfortunate maid. Only Arya is quiet for once.
"What is it?" Ned asks.
"Is Jon alright?"
Ned smiles. "He will be."
#
Ned sees her with his little pack, some days after that, trailing after the group or bounding at his side. Jon is nervous of her, as many are, but Ned advises him to accept Arya's sudden newfound interest in him. If it encourages a family bond, then it can only be positive.
#
The Reeds stay three moons, four, and Ned writes Howland to inquire how long his children will be staying. A reply doesn't come for two moons, wherein Howland unhelpfully tells him they will stay until either Ned bids them leave or Jojen knows it is time to return.
Ned doesn't mind so much, per se, the two are good children and little bother, but he might have been told that sooner so as he could start including the two in the tutoring his own children receive.
Author's Note
*You have a message from: Howland Reed*
Howland: Hey Ned, can my kids stay at yours for a bit?
Ned: Yeah sure, no probs.
*Two months later*
Ned: Howland, the kids are fine, but how long are they going to be staying here?
Ned: Just a rough estimate?
Ned: Howland?
Ned: …
*Messages read*