Chapter 12

Harry thought he looked rather intimidating. If he did say so himself.

His black cloak, combined with the hood over his head and the piece of cloth he'd conjured covering half of his face, gave him the mysterious and menacing appearance he was going for.

Carrying Theon across the courtyard towards the gates of the Great Keep he wondered again if this was the best idea. His intentions were to drive them from the castle, rather than taking them all out. If it came to that he thought that he could take out maybe 10 of the ironborn in quick succession...if he got the jump on them. That would still leave 10 remaining. If he kept his distance then he could pick them off one by one but...attacking like that left him vulnerable to ranged attacks. He might have to think of a different plan.

For him to pick them off from a distance he would most likely have to be above them. Looking around as he exited the gate, he could hear the distant shouts of the ironborn as they continued their search for the assassin who killed their comrades. Thinking quickly he darted in the direction of the wall that surrounded the godswood.

He reached the wall without encountering anyone. He saw the blood from the man he had killed earlier still staining the frost-bitten ground outside the entrance to the godswood. He tried to ignore it as he shifted Theon slightly on his shoulders so that he could climb. The wall itself was about 12 foot of dark cobbled stone. He slipped a few times as he climbed, it wasn't something he was used to, but eventually he stood on top of the wall.

Lifting his wand to his neck he took a breath.

"Sonorus." he said. He then put his fingers to his mouth and whistled as loud as he could.

He may have overdone the charm.

The sound he made was so loud that it almost seemed to shake the wall he was standing on. He wobbled slightly but managed to keep his balance.

'That should have gotten their attention.' Harry thought grimly. 'No turning back now.'

He heard the shouts drawing closer as he continued to wonder how he'd gotten to this point. He was going to have to attempt to intimidate what, essentially, amounted to a bunch of pirates into abandoning their conquest. He'd have to use his magic...liberally.

He took Theon off of his shoulders. The man still weighed almost nothing thanks to the charm Harry had put on him. This allowed Harry to hold the man with one hand...upside down by his ankle. He had his wand ready in the other hand.

'I'd be intimidated by me.' he thought with a bitter smile.

It was that scene that met the remaining ironborn warriors as they stormed into the courtyard around the entrance to the godswood.

One by one they each stopped and stared at the bizarre pairing on the wall. No one seemed to be taking charge, which suited Harry just fine. The more confusion and uncertainty in their ranks the easier it would be for him to pick them off if things went awry. A few of them lifted their axes threateningly at him. Hearing a crunching noise behind him Harry glanced back towards the godswood. He grinned.

"Invaders," Harry boomed, turning back to the ironborn, his voice still magnified. "You see your Prince. A weak and naive boy. He is now a prisoner of House Stark, the rightful rulers of this castle and these lands, and will answer for his crimes to the King in the North himself. Your comrades, those who were guarding him in the Great Hall, are all either dead…or wishing they were. If you do not wish to suffer the same fate then you will leave this place and never return. This is my final warning."

There was silence in the courtyard after his warning. Slowly, the men started laughing.

"You think we're scared of some scrawny little boy who can do tricks with his voice? Come down here, face us like a man, we'll show you a real fight."

Harry saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Protego." he said calmly, flicking his wand. There was a gonging sound as the flying axe connected with the invisible shield that had just sprung up in front of Harry. The weapon spun away harmlessly. He sighed, looking towards the man who had thrown it. The man in question's eyes were wide as saucers and his mouth was open in shock. His look was reflected by most of the other men, including the one who had mouthed off before.

"That wasn't smart." Harry said.

"What are you?" the man asked, still immobile with shock. Harry grinned, not that they could see it under his cloak.

"Me? You don't even have a word for what I am." he said. Cancelling the Sonorus charm he put Theon, still unconscious through all of this, down on the top of the wall. He pointed his wand down at the gate.

"Alohamora."

The gate clicked and opened slightly.

There was a second or two where nothing happened.

Then the gate burst open as both Summer and Shaggydog leapt through the gap and attacked the closest ironborn they could find.

The men shouted in fear and confusion, most turning to flee. Harry took advantage.

"Bombarda Maxima!" he shouted, aiming his wand again at the ground beneath the largest group of ironborn. The spell worked just as well this time, as the earth exploded underneath them and sent at least 6 of the men flying into the air. Harry didn't waste time with them as he sent spells at the ones still standing. It didn't take long before he'd hit his predetermined 10 downs mark, most were dead but some still lived, unconscious on the ground. Hostages.

The direwolves were attacking with extreme prejudice, having ripped the throats out of at least three ironborn each. Harry saw the remaining 4 men were almost out of range.

"Incarcerous." Harry shouted, aiming at the straggler of the four. The ropes bound the man head to foot. Harry saw the remaining men round the corner out of sight. Frowning, he jumped down from the wall, using magic to land carefully. He walked calmly over to the man he had bound, who was struggling furiously against the ropes. He bent down and removed the gag from his mouth.

"You will go back to your 'King' and you will tell him what happened here. Tell him that the North is under my protection and that neither he, nor any of your pirate friends, are welcome here. Also tell him that I very much doubt his last remaining son will survive his next encounter with the King and that if he wants his men back from the dungeons of this castle he will have to beg for them. Now go, and remember this mercy."

He released the man from his bonds and watched as he scrambled to his feet and ran after his fellows. For a moment there were only the sounds of the still alive ironborn moaning with pain. Harry looked back to see the direwolves stood looking at him again, their muzzles and fur covered with blood.

He wondered for a second whether he'd done the right thing.

He was second guessing himself a lot today.

He had tried hiding himself, keen on not getting into trouble, but time and time again he'd been forced to reveal himself to people and use his skills to help and to survive. Maybe if the world knew what he was capable of, and that he had the backing of one of the biggest houses in the land, then they would be less likely to mess with him. He was tired of hiding what he could do as well, it wasn't productive.

Turning away from the men he'd let go he summoned Theon back to him, stunning and bounding the still moaning ironborn in the process, and started back towards the Great Keep. Winterfell was free from occupation and he had his next direction.

He opened the gates to the Great Keep and walked back into the courtyard, followed by the two direwolves. He crossed the courtyard and opened the doors of the Great Hall, telling the direwolves to wait outside.

"It's about time, wizard. I was getting bored." he heard someone shout to him, as he entered.

The man known as Reek stood at the front of the hall, Meera held in front of him and a knife positioned at her throat. Harry stared at the two, and then to the body on the floor in front of them.

Mikken lay there, face down in a pool of his own blood. Harry looked quickly around, spotting the Stark children and Jojen alive and well next to Luwin still. Breathing a short sigh of relief that the body hadn't been one of them and hating himself for it, he turned back to Reek, who had begun talking again.

"...had to kill that one really, he was making such a noise. Wanted to go out and help you, as if that would have made a difference. Got this lot all riled up as well, they were going to come and fight. Except from one or two to guard me of course, couldn't be leaving me alone. Well by that point I couldn't take the posturing any more and so he had to go. Then all the sheep began to turn on me and so...here we are." he finished, grinning maliciously at Harry.

"I'm curious," Harry began lightly, though the anger bubbled inside him as he put Theon on the ground again. "What was your ultimate goal here?"

"I'm very glad you asked, wizard. I simply want to leave, that is all. I've been charged with no crime and yet I was locked up in the dungeons like a criminal. It was Ramsay Snow that committed those crimes, I was only there." he said, still grinning.

"That may or may not be true, but you killed Mikken and that makes you a criminal. Let Meera go and we will decide your fate." Harry tried, though not believing for a second it would work. Of course he was right as Reek pressed the knife slightly harder against Meera's neck, drawing some blood.

"I don't think so, I hold all the cards here. You really shouldn't be so open with who you care about, it just makes it so easy to use it against you. Too easy really, all so predictable. Now...I'm going to take the little frog-eater here and we're going for a walk. You could try and follow us but...my hand is starting to get tired so, you know, it might slip…" he let the threat hang in the air. Harry looked from the mad eyes of the man to Meera's.

She wasn't looking as worried as he would have thought, she was only staring at him. Harry made a subtle stamping motion with his foot. He received the tiniest of nods in return.

"Ok," Harry said. "When I say 'now' you can make your way past me and out of the door."

"Harry what are you doing?!""Harry don't!"

"Quiet!" he said sharply to the Starks as they tried to stop him letting them go. Jojen just looked on somberly. Looking back to Reek he breathed slightly.

"Now."

Reek had barely made to move them both when his eyes widened and his small eyes scrunched up slightly. Meera had stamped, none too softly, directly on his foot. His hand, and the knife in it, involuntarily moved away from Meera's neck. That was the opening Harry needed.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted. His spell hit Reek, the knife flew out of his hands and into Harry's. Meera compounded her stamp by using her increased range of movement to throw an elbow back into the man's sensitive regions.

Reek collapsed to the floor holding his package. He didn't make much of a sound, however, which unnerved Harry somewhat.

"Impedimenta." Harry said, the spell struck Reek and he froze.

"Get away from him." he told Meera sharply. She followed his command, looking in disgust at the man on the floor.

Harry stalked forwards, trying to ignore the sight of Mikken's body on the floor. He got to the still prone Reek who looked up at him, eyes watering slightly but a hint of that maniacal grin still on his face. Harry drew back his fist and struck him with all his strength. Blood splattered from the man's mouth onto the floor. Harry smiled grimly. That had felt good.

He knelt down and grabbed the man's long hair, dragging him face to face.

"Legillimens." he said, keeping eye contact.

Immediately he was assaulted with memories. These were slightly clearer than those of the man at the Twins, he must have been getting better.

He wasn't sure why he'd needed to see Reek's memories, maybe he wanted to have all the facts before he did what he did next.

After what seemed like hours of looking through the man's memories, but was most likely only a few minutes, Harry drew back panting.

He looked away from Reek for a second, trying to keep down the little amount of food he had in his stomach.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Reek...Ramsay Snow, Harry corrected himself internally, rasped. "A life well lived I would say."

Harry didn't say anything. His arm moved seemingly of its own accord, slashing quickly to the left. The knife he had taken from Ramsay flashed, there was a soft fleshy sound and a great spurt of blood.

Ramsay collapsed to the floor, holding his neck and choking on his own blood.

He didn't get up immediately, he just stared down at the dying man...no. This creature wasn't a man by any standards that Harry was aware of. There wasn't really anything Harry could compare him to, such were the depth of the horrors he'd seen in his memories.

"Harry." he heard distantly. "Harry are you ok?"

He shook his head slightly, tearing his eyes away from the man.

Now there was a question. Was he ok? It seemed that just as quickly as everything had started...it was over. There was no more danger within the castle walls. He'd taken care of the threat, rather forcefully at that.

The first kill he could live with, it had been self defence. All the other kills had been to protect the innocents within these walls and to send a message to the King of the Iron Islands about not attacking the North again. This kill though...he had killed Ramsay Snow because he had wanted to. The man had been unarmed and harmless.

'No,' Harry thought furiously. 'He was dangerous, you saw what he did to all those women...to Lady Hornwood...he deserved to die.'

He looked towards Meera, the one who had spoken to him. The adrenaline that had been keeping him going through the various fights that night was quickly leaving his system. He'd barely noticed the sky outside had been lightening rapidly, the fight had lasted through the night and he'd barely slept for any of it. As tiredness started to creep over him he forced a tight lipped smile onto his face.

"Of course," he replied. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired now I think." he turned to Bran and Maester Luwin. "Most of the ironborn are dead, I let 3 of them go so they could tell their King why attacking Winterfell might not be such a good idea in the future. Hopefully the message will sink in, though if he's become this bold then I would imagine not."

"I do not think this attack was of Balon Greyjoy's making." Luwin said quietly, glancing at Theon on the ground at the end of the hall, where Harry had left him. The young man in question was starting to stir. Harry sent another stunner at him, knocking him out cold again. There would be a time that he would question Theon Greyjoy, but it would not be now.

"Whoever's foolish idea it was...Theon will be taking the fall for it. I'll see to that personally." he said. "Did you manage to get a raven off before they stopped you?"

Maester Luwin hesitated. "I managed to send two ravens. Whether either managed to make it...I am not sure."

Harry nodded. "You did well, we need to make sure Ser Rodrik is aware of this attack and returns as soon as he is able. We do not have the strength at the moment to survive an attack larger than that one. I will send a letter with Hedwig, she will get to Rodrik fastest. I would go myself but I feel like I might fall off my broom if I go now, and that would be no help to anyone."

He dimly heard mutterings of 'Broom?' 'What's he talking about?' 'Wizard things I guess'. He ignored all of them and turned back towards the hall door.

"I will do that, take the remaining ironborn down to the dungeons and deal with our dead…" Harry began. Luwin spoke up.

"No, Harry. We will see to the dead, you have done more than your fair share already." he said. Harry inclined his head to the maester.

"Then instead I think I will go and sleep for a few days." he finished, rubbing his face, before remembering something. "Ah, yes. There was a serving girl that was getting...attacked...by two ironborn just outside the gates of the Keep. She is safe in my quarters if anyone is able to come and comfort her. She was quite distressed when I saw her last."

"I'll come with you." Meera said quietly. One of the older women looked like she had been about to volunteer but Meera's words stopped her. Harry nodded slightly. He gave another forced smile and a bow to Bran, Arya and Rickon. The two older children were looking at him with concern. Arya looked like she wanted to run to him again but she held herself back. He was grateful for that. He turned and started towards the door, Meera following.

He wasn't sure why he was feeling like this, it was almost beginning to annoy him. The act itself had seemed so simple in the moment. Him or them. He'd acted on instinct and it had kept himself and almost everyone else in this castle alive. That alone should have made it worth it…

So then why did he feel so awful?

They continued in silence towards Harry's rooms. He didn't really want to look at Meera, afraid he'd give away the internal conflict he was experiencing. For her part she didn't say anything either, though Harry was sure he could feel her eyes on him the entire way.

Finally they made it to the door to Harry's room, he took out his wand and absently dispelled the locking charm he'd put on the door. Opening it he was almost immediately tackled by the girl he had saved. Stumbling slightly he managed to keep his balance. Gently patting the girl on the back he turned to Meera with a slightly pleading look. She smiled and moved towards the girl, gently detaching her from Harry and leading her back into the room. Harry followed.

As Meera sat the girl down on the bed and whispered gently to her Harry moved towards his desk, grabbing his rucksack in the process. He took out a piece of parchment, a quill and some ink. Sitting down he started to write a message to Ser Rodrik.

Ser Rodrik,

The attack on Torrhen's Square was a diversion. Around 30 ironborn warriors, led by Theon Greyjoy, attacked the castle in the night.

We have managed to defeat the invaders and have Theon, along with a few of his warriors, in our custody. I would advise you to hurry back to the castle with your men as soon as you can, I fear we are not equipped to survive another attack of its kind.

Harry Potter

Putting down his quill he reread the message. Rodrik would possibly be a bit suspicious as to how the token force he'd left in the castle could defeat such an enemy, but Harry would clear that up when they arrived back. He rolled the letter up when the ink had dried and stood.

"Where are you going?" the serving girl said quickly as he got up. "Don't go."

Harry looked at her in surprise. "I'm…" he began, glancing at Meera again. She smiled sadly at him. "I need to send this letter, it's rather important. Then I have a few other things to deal with, Meera will be happy to stay with you."

"You're coming back though right?" the girl asked. Harry blinked again. He hadn't expected this kind of reception.

"What is your name?" he asked as kindly as he could. She smiled slightly.

"My name's Lily, Ser." she replied.

Harry almost rolled his eyes, of course it was. She even had slightly reddish hair.

"Well, Lily." he said. "I will be back when I've finished the things I have to do. I can't promise how long I will be, but I can promise that I will be back. Until then Meera will be here with you, is that ok?"

His words seemed to calm her down slightly and she nodded. Harry smiled at her and got one in return. He looked again at Meera, only to find an inscrutable look on her face as she stared at him. They locked eyes for a second…

...before Harry coughed slightly and the moment was broken.

He stood up quickly. "You sure you're ok staying here with Lily for a while?"

"Of course," Meera replied. "You better keep your promise though."

Harry grinned slightly at her before turning and leaving the room.

The cleanup of the trail of bodies both the ironborn and Harry had left behind them was well underway when Harry got out into the castle grounds. He felt a weight land on his left shoulder and looked up. Hedwig hooted softly at him and gave him an affectionate nip on the ear. He smiled at her and stroked her white feathers.

"You think I did the right thing don't you girl?" he said quietly. Hedwig hooted again. Harry sighed. "I know, it's no use dwelling on it now. What's done is done." Hoot. "I know I'm too hard on myself, can't really help it though you know." Hoot. "Thanks Hedwig, you always know what to say."

"Are you talking to your owl?" he heard to the side of him. Spinning round he saw Arya standing there, looking at him weirdly.

"No." Harry said defensively. Arya grinned.

"Yes you were, I knew I'd heard you muttering something to her before! I thought I was the one going mad." she laughed. Harry grunted.

"Yeah well, at least Hedwig doesn't judge." he grumbled. Arya still laughed and, reluctantly, Harry felt a smile find its way onto his face.

"What are you doing here anyway? I'd have thought Maester Luwin would have sent you all to bed." he asked. Arya shrugged.

"Not like I could really sleep now, it's day time. Plus I wanted to help with the cleanup." she replied. Harry looked at her for a second, before giving a shrug of his own.

"If that's what you want I guess, personally I would rather go to bed." he said, taking out the message he had written to Ser Rodrik and tying it around Hedwig's leg. "Take this to Ser Rodrik, he should be at Torrhen's Square but he could also be anywhere in between here and there so watch out for him. And be careful, please." he finished. Hedwig hooted one more time, nipped him affectionately again and took off. Harry watched her go before turning back to Arya.

"Well, let's clean up then shall we." he said. Arya nodded and they got to work.

They found only 3 of the 6 men he had left stunned and bound outside the gates to the godswood and none of the ones he and the direwolves had ended permanently. Thankful that most of that task had been dealt with he cast a featherweight charm on two of them and, lifting them over his shoulders as he had done with Theon, levitated the last man with his wand. They headed off in the directions of the dungeons.

All in all there wasn't really much for him or Arya to do when all the relevant prisoners were secured. Harry had placed locking charms on all of their cells so there would be no way for them to escape, leaving someone to guard them was more for show than anything. When it was all done he sent Arya off to her rooms to sleep...or...do whatever she wanted really. He wasn't her father. Then he made his way back to his quarters, wondering whether Meera had taken Lily back to her rooms or if they were still there.

He found that they were both still in his rooms when he arrived, though Lily was fast asleep on his bed. Meera was sitting at his desk, her head lolling slightly onto her chest. She perked up when she heard the door open.

Harry gave her a smile as he walked quietly towards his dresser, taking his cloak off and laying it on top.

"Is everything done?" she asked quietly, careful not to wake Lily.

"The letter is sent, the prisoners locked up and the dead...the dead are being taken care of. We'll have a ceremony for them later tonight I imagine, I'll leave that up to Bran or Maester Luwin though. I'm not sure which one of them is really in charge at the moment if I'm honest." Harry replied. Meera stared at him.

"I would say that you were in charge really." she said. Harry frowned. "I know you don't really want to be, but...the people trust you. You saved them, you saved all of us really." she finished, looking at Lily.

"I was just doing what anyone in my position would have done. I have my powers, I can help. Any more deaths would have been on my head if I didn't." he replied. "Besides, I still failed. Mikken would have been alive if I had thought about Reek before I left to go and play the hero." he finished, voicing something that had been on his mind since the confrontation with Ramsay in the Great Hall. It was Meera's turn to frown this time.

"No, don't do that. None of this is your fault. You hear me. None of it. We all should have paid more attention to him, he got the jump on Mikken and then me. If his death is anyone's fault it's...it's mine." she said haltingly, as her breathing quickened slightly. Harry moved over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

"If I don't get to blame myself then neither do you." he said firmly. Meera nodded shakily, taking a deep breath. "Besides, you helped me bring him down more than anyone. I didn't want to disarm the knife when it was so close to your neck, it might have cut you, so you did well getting him to flinch with your stamp. Then that elbow into his plums was quite something, even I flinched." he grinned. Meera started laughing quietly, soon she was bent over in silent giggles. Harry couldn't stop the smile on his face as he watched her lose it.

"So, are we agreed now? I'm not to blame, just as you aren't to blame." he said as she reigned in her laughter. She smiled and nodded.

"Agreed, though I'm still saying you're a hero. I think there was a minstrel in the hall with us, he'd just arrived the night before last. You'll have a song written about you before long!" she said with glee. Harry groaned.

"Just what I need." he grumbled. "They'll find some way to twist it so that I'm the murderer or something, I'm sure."

"I don't think so. I think he wet his breeches when Reek attacked us, we'll just threaten to tell everyone about that if he doesn't make you look good." she said confidently. Harry laughed. He stopped laughing when she moved closer to him. "Besides, I know you're the hero. Isn't that enough for you?"

"Well...I…" he stuttered as her face was inches from his. He swallowed. "I suppose I could live with that." he said, his breathing shallow.

"Right answer." she smiled as she closed the distance...

^MitS^

Harry woke with a start, realising that he was no longer in the chair he had fallen asleep in but rather in his bed. He wondered for a second if it all had been a dream, if the ironborn had never attacked Winterfell, but he knew from the young girl sitting at his desk flipping the pages of one of his books that it had all been real. He remembered his moment with Meera, she had left shortly after that and he had fallen asleep in the chair, not willing to wake Lily up. She must have been stronger than he realised if she had managed to get him from the chair into bed when he woke.

Sighing, he threw the covers off himself and swung his legs off the bed. Lily jumped slightly.

"Harry!" she said loudly. "You're awake."

Harry laughed slightly. "That I am," he said. "How long was I asleep?"

"Only about half a day or so. It's early evening at the moment." she said. Harry nodded.

"You've been here the whole time?" he asked curiously. She shook her head.

"I went back to the kitchens to ask the older serving girls what I should do next. They said I was ok to stay with you as long as I got you anything you needed." she said. As if on cue Harry's stomach grumbled loudly. He blushed slightly as Lily giggled.

"I suppose it has been a while since I last ate." he said sheepishly.

"Everyone in the castle is having a celebratory supper in the Great Hall soon. I'm sure they would love to have you join them." Lily said. Harry pondered it for a moment. Did he want to face the stares that would inevitably come with him attending such a supper?

"Ok, I'll come." he said finally. "What have you been up to while you were in here?"

She looked slightly embarrassed at this. "Well...I saw one of the books on your desk and...well I..."

Harry waved her off. "Don't worry about it, I don't blame you for being curious. You are able to read then?"

She nodded. "I was taught by my father, he was one of Lord Eddard's personal guards before..." she trailed off, looking downcast. "I'm not sure where he learned to read, but he used to show me books with stories in, to help me learn."

"That book's not very good for stories I'm afraid." he said, looking at the book. It was his copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, he'd been curious as to whether there were any magical creatures in his world similar to Direwolves.

Her eyes lit up. "I think it's brilliant! Are all these animals real? I've haven't heard of most of them."

Harry smiled. "They're real, unfortunately you won't find any in these lands. They live pretty far away from here." he finished a bit sadly. She noticed.

"They live where you're from?" she asked. Harry nodded. "Where is that?"

"We better get to supper." Harry said, changing the subject. She looked slightly disappointed. Harry sighed. "Maybe I'll tell you one day soon, it's quite the story." This seemed to brighten her mood as they both left the room and headed down to the Great Hall for supper.

The hall was half full of chattering, laughing people. Harry looked around and wondered how they could all be so happy after the events of the night before. It made a light frown appear on his face.

"They're happy because they're glad to be alive." said a voice next to him. He smiled as Meera appeared beside him.

"Well, I guess that's not so bad then." Harry said.

"Come on." Meera laughed, taking his hand and leading him towards the platform at the end of the hall where the Starks, Jojen and Maester Luwin were sitting. He was pleased not to see any hint of the Frey children. He'd interacted with them just the once since he'd arrived. He wondered briefly where they had been during the invasion but he found he didn't much care, they'd been Freys through and through, and therefore not worth knowing.

They arrived at the head table and Harry bowed to Bran, Arya and Rickon. The Prince smiled at him.

"We're happy you could join us Harry. Again, the House of Stark owes you a debt I'm starting to think we will struggle to pay."

"You have no debt to pay, your Grace. It is my pleasure to drive those scum from these lands and to protect the people of this castle." Harry replied.

"But still, my brother will know of everything you've done today. I'm sure he'll wish to thank you personally." Bran said. Harry hesitated.

"About that, your Grace." he started. "I wanted to ask permission to deliver the traitor Theon Greyjoy directly to King Robb himself. I will leave after Ser Rodrik has returned with his men, with your blessings of course."

Bran frowned. "You wish to leave? So soon? I can send others to take Theon, or he can remain here until Robb returns."

"I'm afraid I have other business that takes me South again, your Grace. Things that I need to convince your brother of if I am able." Harry said. Maester Luwin was the one to speak this time.

"What matters do you speak of, Master Harry?" he asked curiously. Harry looked around the room and then guiltily back at them.

"I'm afraid what I have to say will have to wait until we are in private. It's rather...sensitive information." he said. Bran frowned again but nodded finally.

"Very well, you have my permission to accompany Theon Greyjoy to my brother King Robb so that he may stand trial for his crimes."

Harry bowed his thanks and went to sit with Meera at the end of the table, next to her brother.

"I suppose you can't tell me the reasons you're leaving?" she asked him, frowning at him. He smiled.

"I will tell you after supper if you would like? I will not be gone long, I would ask you to come with me but if it is just me and Theon then I will be able to be back in Winterfell in no more than a few days." he finished. Meera was about to ask how that could be possible when Maester Luwin stood up.

"My friends," he said to the room at large. "His Grace, Prince Bran of Winterfell, would like to say a few works before supper."

Bran coughed slightly. "Tonight might have been the end of the Starks in Winterfell. I could see no other way out of the situation, or to save as many lives as possible, other than surrendering the castle to Theon. We should all take a moment to remember the lives that have been lost."

There was silence in the hall as people bowed their heads. Eventually Bran continued.

"Fortunately for all of us, the Old Gods brought us a protector, to rid this castle of the Ironborn and stop more unnecessary blood-shed. I would like us all to raise our cups, to Ser Harry of House Potter." he finished, raising his own cup.

There was a scraping of wood on stone as everyone in the hall got to their feet and raised their cups in the air, all looking in his direction. A cheer went up as one.

"To Ser Harry!"

Harry felt his face burning. He inclined his head awkwardly to the crowd, a small smile on his face. As everyone took their seats again he felt a small hand slip into his. He looked at Meera on his right. She smiled brightly at him.

"To Harry, the hero of Winterfell." she said softly.

Maybe he didn't have to rush to find a way home...few people at home had ever looked at him like that before.

AN: Hi all! A day late on the update but things came up on Sunday which stopped the writing for a bit and I wanted to make sure the chapter was good before I posted it. I hope you all enjoyed it and it wrapped up the first kind of 'arc' of the story in a good way. Harry foiling the Ironborn attack on Winterfell, other than saving Arya from Kings Landing, was the first major plot divergence point I had envisioned him making a difference in. You could argue that Theon's capture of Winterfell and 'killing' of Bran and Rickon directly lead to Robb losing the War and unfortunately his life. He slept with Jeyne out of grief and therefore married her out of duty, losing the Freys and...unfortunately...his life.

I also liked that I was able to dispose of Ramsay Bolton (then Snow) before he became too much of a cartoon villain. I sometimes wonder whether anyone could possibly be as evil as Ramsay was made to be. He's a good villain, if rather one-dimensional, but this leaves room for others to fill his spot which is quite exciting.

There were a few fluffy moments in this chapter between Harry and Meera but I hope I didn't go overboard or make Meera too OOC. Take this as my version of Meera haha.

I still have some planning to do on the next arc of the story, hopefully now that I have more free time that will allow for another update next Monday, but don't be surprised if it's a day or two after that.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to leave a review letting me know where you think this story should go. I have my own plan but if someone comes up with something that fits too perfectly then you never know. Thanks all, see you later!