Son of the Storm

Oncoming Storm

It was New Year's Eve. While there was a party that the Avengers had been invited to, since Carol and Jean-Paul weren't going – the former had returned to spend New Year with her parents, but not before Harry had, with Tony's help, set up an email address and a Facebook account under 'Harry Potter' (Thorson would have been a tad noticeable) and 'friended' her. He'd also friended Jean-Paul, who was also spending New Year with his family, and while he'd looked for Hermione, he hadn't found her. He hadn't found Lex, either, though Tony had explained that if Lex had been on Facebook, he'd be swamped with Friend Requests and hate mail from people who didn't like his father, Lionel Luthor.

It then struck him how few friends he had outside Hogwarts. Carol, Jean-Paul, Uhtred and Diana were the only friends he had of the same age. Sure, he could count the Avengers and Sif and the Warriors Three as friends, but neither Tony nor Pepper had Facebook for various reasons, Clint and Natasha preferred to keep a low profile, Bruce claimed that it raised his blood pressure, and Steve and Loki had blogs. His father didn't really use technology, if only because he tended to break it.

Harry didn't mind so much in regard to the Avengers – he could just write them letters or use his Stark Phone (Tony had insisted on giving him one and he'd found it, in all fairness, very cool).

But how would he keep in contact with the other two?

He put this question to his father.

"Worry not, Harry. You shall see Diana and Uhtred in Asgard," Thor said reassuringly.

"But… what if I want to send a letter?" Harry asked, frowning.

Thor looked thoughtful. "Well, you may not need to. After all, you are a Prince of the House of Odin: it is well within your rights to call on Heimdall to open the Bifrost, or if one is nearby, to use one of the New Bifrost portals."

Harry flushed and mumbled something.

Thor gave him a puzzled look. "Harry?"

"I… don't want to bother Heimdall," Harry muttered.

"Harry, you are a Prince, it is your right," Thor said gently. "You wouldn't be bothering him. In truth, he would probably be relieved from the monotony. He spends most of his time as a watchman and doubtless gets very bored." He paused. "Though I suspect it wouldn't be easy to tell if he did."

Harry looked unconvinced, and Thor forcibly reminded himself that unlike Harry, he had grown up taking such privilege for granted, whereas Harry… Harry had hardly had anything, when Thor would have showered him and his mother all the glory of the Nine Realms. Suddenly, he pulled Harry into a tight hug, drawing a surprised squeak from his son. "Dad?"

"Sorry," Thor muttered, going to release his hold. But Harry caught his arms.

"No, wait… I was just surprised," Harry said quietly, leaning against his father.

Thor smiled and retightened his grip. "I know that all this change… it's a little unsettling for you," he said quietly. "And now that I think on it, I'm not in the least surprised. You went from being foully treated by the Dursleys, reckoned as scum or less, to a Prince of Asgard and one of the Avengers family in next to no time." He paused. "Aside from my exile in New Mexico, which your uncle perhaps rightly sees as a glorified sightseeing trip - he may have a point. It was only three days, after all – I have… I have never known a time when I was not privileged. I have never wanted for anything, save perhaps my father's attention, something restricted by his duties as king. And even when I was New Mexico, I practically fell into Jane's lap."

"I don't think there'd be much left of Jane if you'd actually fallen into it," Harry said, a slight smile on his face.

Thor chuckled. "No, there probably would not." He paused. "Was that a jab at my weight?"