Family (024)
Title: Family
Author: sa-kun
Fandom: Harry Potter, Supernatural
Characters/Pairings: Harry Potter, Gabriel, Sleipnir
Rating: PG
Word Count: 823
Prompt: 024, family.
Summary: In which Harry questions the concept of family.
Disclaimer: I do not own.
Author's Notes/Warnings: Spoilers up to book 7 (HP), spoilers for season 4 & 5 (S05E08) of SPN. Talking animals and frivouslus use of Norse mythology. Part of my crossover series: start here.
The concept of family wasn't something that came naturally to Harry. It never had, given his childhood and subsequent years at Hogwarts, but there were times when he'd thought that, finally, he was at least getting close to being part of a family.
So far, it had ended up blowing up in his face every time. There was always someone ready to betray him, to stab him in the back, to die for him or sacrifice themselves so that Harry might live on.
Deep down, Harry knew family was important.
He just couldn't put the belief into action.
"Gabriel…"
"Hmmm?"
The angel sounded groggy and sleepy and content and sated all wrapped up in one. If he were a cat, he'd be purring.
Harry made a humming noise as he smoothed out some of the bent feathers near the base of the primaries. He had a lot of practice, grooming feathers - the wings of an angel, these days, rather than the body of an owl - even more so now, after having done this for Gabriel for so long now. "D'you know…what family is?"
The feathers in Harry's hands quivered and rustled in response to a spike in Gabriel's grace at the question, but Harry ignored it as he smoothed the feathers out, one by one, then focused on fixing every one of the primaries to perfection.
"I've never really had one, you know? I was too young to know my parents, and then, later…well, you know my relatives. And in the Wizarding world…" Harry cleared his throat. "Every time I thought I was finally part of a family, something happened that took it away. So I… Are we family, Gabriel? It's just, I keep saying you're my brother and my father, and I love you, I do, so I was just wondering. Are we family, now?"
"You're my fledgling, kid. Yeah, we're family," Gabriel said softly.
Harry's smile was as brilliant as it was shy. "Oh."
"So, wanna meet your pseudo-step-siblings?" Gabriel wondered as he stretched out a little, flexing his left wing so that Harry could groom the harder to get at spots.
"You have-"
"I was Loki, Harry. Yeah, I've got kids. We'll start with Sleipnir, I think."
-b-
Sleipnir was exactly how Harry imagined a cocky stallion to be, sort of, except that he also had eight legs that hurt Harry's eyes when he looked at the horse walk or run too much, because no matter how natural Sleipnir made it look, a horse having eight legs was just plain wrong. Sleipnir pranced, posed and flexed and showed off something outrageously. He boasted, shouted and tried to 'chat up' more than one of the female thestrals, which was just more than a little disturbing to Harry.
Gabriel watched it all with a calm sort of detached amusement, as if Sleipnir was behaving exactly like he'd expected.
And, well. Harry wasn't sure if he should laugh or not, the first time he heard Sleipnir call Gabriel 'Mama' with all the pride of the most handsome stallion to ever walk the earth.
Sleipnir calmly pranced up to stand next to Harry, then nuzzled his hair. "Mama, I like the new baby," he nickered, snuffling at Harry's neck, which made him laugh uncontrollably.
"Oh, for the love of… He's not a baby, Slippy."
"Smells like a baby," Sleipnir argued. "Smells like Jörmungandr and Fenrir and Váli and Nari and Narfi and Hel."
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, count all my kids, why don't you?"
Harry was confused. "How do I smell like a giant snake, or, or-" Fenrir? The only Fenrir Harry had any knowledge of was a monster - the horrible werewolf who'd turned Remus and so many other kids, just because he was a sick bastard.
"That monster is not my son, kid," Gabriel said firmly. "My Fenrir is a vargr, the grandest of his kind. That abomination you ran into, well. He's a shame to the name."
A weight lifted from Harry's shoulders. "Oh. Good. I don't think I could've…" Harry cleared his throat, then jumped when Sleipnir stuck his velvety soft nose back under his ear. "Tickles," he protested, squirming away.
"Smells like baby," Sleipnir declared. "Baby, can I have one of the thestrals?"
"You're not breeding some new kind of species again. Remember last time?" Gabriel intervened, his voice firm. Harry sort of wanted to know what had happened last time. As it was, he had a sudden vision of an eight-legged, winged, huge carnivoroushorse with wings - and not a skeletal bit in sight.
Slepnir shifted impatiently on all eight of his hooves. "But Flickerwing is waiting, Mama," the great horse whined.
"No."
"Mama!"
"You touch that mare, I'll have you gelded before you can say 'neigh'."
Sleipnir whined with horror, somehow managing to do an impression of a man crossing his legs to protect his bollocks. If now an eight-legged horse could move like that.
Sequel: Strangers
Author: sa-kun
Fandom: Harry Potter, Supernatural
Characters/Pairings: Harry Potter, Gabriel, Sleipnir
Rating: PG
Word Count: 823
Prompt: 024, family.
Summary: In which Harry questions the concept of family.
Disclaimer: I do not own.
Author's Notes/Warnings: Spoilers up to book 7 (HP), spoilers for season 4 & 5 (S05E08) of SPN. Talking animals and frivouslus use of Norse mythology. Part of my crossover series: start here.
The concept of family wasn't something that came naturally to Harry. It never had, given his childhood and subsequent years at Hogwarts, but there were times when he'd thought that, finally, he was at least getting close to being part of a family.
So far, it had ended up blowing up in his face every time. There was always someone ready to betray him, to stab him in the back, to die for him or sacrifice themselves so that Harry might live on.
Deep down, Harry knew family was important.
He just couldn't put the belief into action.
"Gabriel…"
"Hmmm?"
The angel sounded groggy and sleepy and content and sated all wrapped up in one. If he were a cat, he'd be purring.
Harry made a humming noise as he smoothed out some of the bent feathers near the base of the primaries. He had a lot of practice, grooming feathers - the wings of an angel, these days, rather than the body of an owl - even more so now, after having done this for Gabriel for so long now. "D'you know…what family is?"
The feathers in Harry's hands quivered and rustled in response to a spike in Gabriel's grace at the question, but Harry ignored it as he smoothed the feathers out, one by one, then focused on fixing every one of the primaries to perfection.
"I've never really had one, you know? I was too young to know my parents, and then, later…well, you know my relatives. And in the Wizarding world…" Harry cleared his throat. "Every time I thought I was finally part of a family, something happened that took it away. So I… Are we family, Gabriel? It's just, I keep saying you're my brother and my father, and I love you, I do, so I was just wondering. Are we family, now?"
"You're my fledgling, kid. Yeah, we're family," Gabriel said softly.
Harry's smile was as brilliant as it was shy. "Oh."
"So, wanna meet your pseudo-step-siblings?" Gabriel wondered as he stretched out a little, flexing his left wing so that Harry could groom the harder to get at spots.
"You have-"
"I was Loki, Harry. Yeah, I've got kids. We'll start with Sleipnir, I think."
-b-
Sleipnir was exactly how Harry imagined a cocky stallion to be, sort of, except that he also had eight legs that hurt Harry's eyes when he looked at the horse walk or run too much, because no matter how natural Sleipnir made it look, a horse having eight legs was just plain wrong. Sleipnir pranced, posed and flexed and showed off something outrageously. He boasted, shouted and tried to 'chat up' more than one of the female thestrals, which was just more than a little disturbing to Harry.
Gabriel watched it all with a calm sort of detached amusement, as if Sleipnir was behaving exactly like he'd expected.
And, well. Harry wasn't sure if he should laugh or not, the first time he heard Sleipnir call Gabriel 'Mama' with all the pride of the most handsome stallion to ever walk the earth.
Sleipnir calmly pranced up to stand next to Harry, then nuzzled his hair. "Mama, I like the new baby," he nickered, snuffling at Harry's neck, which made him laugh uncontrollably.
"Oh, for the love of… He's not a baby, Slippy."
"Smells like a baby," Sleipnir argued. "Smells like Jörmungandr and Fenrir and Váli and Nari and Narfi and Hel."
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, count all my kids, why don't you?"
Harry was confused. "How do I smell like a giant snake, or, or-" Fenrir? The only Fenrir Harry had any knowledge of was a monster - the horrible werewolf who'd turned Remus and so many other kids, just because he was a sick bastard.
"That monster is not my son, kid," Gabriel said firmly. "My Fenrir is a vargr, the grandest of his kind. That abomination you ran into, well. He's a shame to the name."
A weight lifted from Harry's shoulders. "Oh. Good. I don't think I could've…" Harry cleared his throat, then jumped when Sleipnir stuck his velvety soft nose back under his ear. "Tickles," he protested, squirming away.
"Smells like baby," Sleipnir declared. "Baby, can I have one of the thestrals?"
"You're not breeding some new kind of species again. Remember last time?" Gabriel intervened, his voice firm. Harry sort of wanted to know what had happened last time. As it was, he had a sudden vision of an eight-legged, winged, huge carnivoroushorse with wings - and not a skeletal bit in sight.
Slepnir shifted impatiently on all eight of his hooves. "But Flickerwing is waiting, Mama," the great horse whined.
"No."
"Mama!"
"You touch that mare, I'll have you gelded before you can say 'neigh'."
Sleipnir whined with horror, somehow managing to do an impression of a man crossing his legs to protect his bollocks. If now an eight-legged horse could move like that.
Sequel: Strangers