Son of the Storm

What's past is prologue

The amount of fussing over the three of them, was, Harry felt, excessive. Diana smiled sweetly enough, though she was clearly somewhat annoyed that most who had not seen or heard of her skills on the training ground assumed that the boys had done all the work while applauding her for being a 'brave little girl'.

This wasn't, Harry grudgingly supposed, an entirely unreasonable assumption with the little information they had – Uhtred was the Asgardian ideal and well known in Asgard, while stories of Harry's skills and courage, all wildly inflated, had been flying around the city for the last couple of days. Diana, on the other hand, looked like nothing more than a pretty little girl, something Harry suspected that she usually used to her advantage, and few knew that there was far more to her than met the eye, something else she doubtless took advantage of.

This time, however, it undoubtedly grated on her, Harry and even Uhtred, who was frowning slightly, and it had gone on until Harry had loudly and pointedly said in a carrying voice, "Diana was arguably the main reason any of us got out of there alive. She flew through the Bifrost portal, carrying both of us, while outrunning the leader of the Disir."

That had stopped matters cold, especially when his dangerous glare, reminiscent of his father in a particularly foul mood, dared anyone to doubt his word, while Diana smiled gratefully at him and Uhtred nodded.

None did.

For though Harry was fairly blasé about it all, the fact of the matter was that he had taken on the Disir, the half-believed nightmares of the Nine Realms, with but two companions, neither warriors of great renown or sorcerers brimming with arcane power, but children, both younger than he. And he had won.

As it turned out, the celebrations went on long into the night, with much slapping of Harry's back, congratulating on his skills and from younger guests, eager requests to see his magic. Harry had complied with a few balls of light, and when that did not seem to overly impress, a spell that Sirius had taught him, which hauled the unfortunate target into the air by his ankle, while his companions roared their laughter.

Diana also got a fair amount of the attention, and Harry saw a few girls furtively inquire as to what it was like, going on adventures, and a few boys blush whenever they got within five feet of her.

But Uhtred commanded the lion's share of the rest, recounting his side of the story again and again to an adoring audience, including several very pretty girls. It so happened that they merely thought that he was cute with potential, but since Uhtred had no idea what to say to even try to charm a girl and therefore didn't even bother, it all worked out well enough And while he carefully made sure that he didn't leave out Harry or Diana, he could be forgiven for the slight embellishments he indulged in.

Finally, Odin stood. And silence swept over the hall in a wave. He didn't use any magic. He didn't say anything. He didn't even change expression.

That, to Harry's mind, was pretty damn cool. He felt a strong hand on his shoulder and twitched, before looking up and seeing his father. "Hey dad," he said quietly. He paused, as something that had been bugging him came up. "Do you know what happened to my crown thingy? I mean, I think I dropped it when the Disir attacked…"

Thor looked shifty.

"Dad?"

Meanwhile, Odin had started speaking.

"This day is a day of celebration," Odin said. "It was originally intended to celebrate the introduction of our grandchild, Harry Thorson, Prince of Asgard, to Asgard, the Nine Realms and the Universe at large." He paused. "He has made quite the impression."

There was soft flutter of laughter, and a spotlight generated by who knew what shone on Harry, who had been mournfully examining his somewhat mangled circlet, and had been caught trying speculatively to see if he could put it back on. He froze under the scrutiny, eyes darting left and right. "This isn't as strange as it looks," he said slowly. His eyes swivelled upwards. "Okay," he amended slowly, in a silence in which you could have heard a pin drop. "So it's exactly as strange as it looks."