Jon Snow & Sansa Stark - Game of Thrones Fanfiction

Fixer Upper (Semi-Modern?)

Jon's biggest concern when looking at the pile of stones in the middle of nowhere while rain was pouring down on him and his wife wasn't the money. It also wasn't the fact that someone had clearly lied to them. And it also wasn't the fact that they stood here now with their suitcases and boxes and almost literally no roof over their head. His biggest concern was the mental wellbeing of the girl next to him.

Owning her own castle had always been her dream. For as long as Jon could remember she had wished to be a princess, having a room high in a tower and a giant library with bookshelves from bottom to ceiling. She had told him how they would wander through the halls, discovering new hidden nooks and doors and secrets lurking around each and every corner they'd turn.

Maybe they should have known that an affordable castle was too good to be true. Maybe they should have listened to Sansa's siblings warning them at least a million times that this project was doomed. Maybe they also should have listened to Sansa's parents, who had refused to add a penny before they had seen that castle with their own two eyes.

But what could a man do if he got the chance to fulfil that one wish his wife had been harbouring for all her life? Was he really supposed to turn it down? To not give it a try? To not believe in the possibility of it being the best thing that could ever happen to them?

Carefully Jon turned towards the girl next to him. The wind blew her bright red hair in her face and the smile she had worn all the way from their simple apartment until they came here, was now fully and completely gone. Her lips were forming a straight line. She tensed all her muscles and her knuckles paled while she strengthened her grip on her carry on bag. Her chest moved up, slowly. And then she breathed out, just as slowly again.

"What is this?" Sansa eventually looked at him and Jon shrugged.

What could he answer? That this was the castle he had promised her? That this was the home he had promised her? That they would start their own family of princes and princesses here?

"Welcome to Winterfell?" He scratched the back of his neck and he dropped his own suitcase in the wet grass.

"Winterfell..." Sansa repeated the name and once more she breathed slowly in and out. The veins in her neck were visibly beating and Jon braced himself from the outburst that would certainly follow.

A castle he had promised her. A home. Not a pile of stones without a solid roof or sturdy doors or unshattered windows.

"It's a bit of a fixer upper." Jon cocked his head and he grinned. But he shifted his weight from one leg to the other, knowing all too well that whatever she would yell at him, he totally deserved it. "But, it's a castle. An actual castle. An old castle."

Sansa shook her head. "It's a ruin, Jon. A ruin!" She raised her voice. "And this is how we spent all our money? All our savings? All the money we've gotten on our wedding day?" She combed through her long hair and her hands trembled slightly. "Everyone is gonna laugh at us!"

Jon furrowed his eyebrows. "That's the thing you're worrying about? What others are gonna think about this?" He gestured at the pile of stones and then he reached for her hand and pulled her with him.

The ruin looked a little less ruined when they stood right in front of it. The wooden doors hung loosely in their hinges and in some places the windows were still capable of keeping the wind out. There were possibly a few rooms safe enough to keep them dry and warm until the rest of the castle was restored to its former glory.

"It's a house with a story." Jon walked inside and he forced Sansa to come with him.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Sansa looked around.

Spiders had made themselves comfortable in every nook and corner. Jon's en Sansa's feet left footprints in the dust on the floor. Sometimes they heard something squeak or rattle. Most likely other animals had made their home here too. But if animals lived here, then it was safe for sure. They had far better instincts than even the best human.

"This castle stands here for who knows how many years already. If it would collapse, it would have done so by now." Jon lead her to a giant room and when he swiped a little with his foot part of a beautiful mosaic floor appeared. "Imagine what this house has seen! Imagine what has happened here!"

Sansa let her eyes wander over her surroundings, clearly far from convinced yet.

"Do you know what made me buy it?"

Sansa looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "Stupidness? Foolishness? Idiocy? Do you want to hear more synonyms for lacking a brain?"

Jon ignored her. "The story of the dragon." The silence was almost deafening and he knew that if he waited long enough, Sansa would want to know more.

She was probably surrounded by a giant work in progress. And she was most certainly far from happy right now. But she was still Sansa Stark. And Sansa Stark couldn't ignore a good story.

"Dragon?" She carefully put her bag down and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I doubt it was actually worth it, but tell me."

Jon smiled. "You probably think that the reason this castle was cheap and no one wanted it anyway, is the fact that it's completely in ruins, but that's not true." Jon shook his head. "People are afraid of the dragon. The dragon asleep underneath this castle. No one knows when it will wake up. No one knows what will happen if it will wake up. But it's rumoured it's there, waiting for the right moment and the right time."

Sansa stared at Jon and then eventually she snorted. "You bought the castle because there is probably a dragon underneath? Do you know what happens to this pile of stones, to this ruin when that amazing dragon of yours wakes up, Jon?"

Jon swallowed. "Well, I haven't really thought that far. It was an amazing story and every true castle needs a dragon. It sounded like the perfect thing for us."

Sansa bent her head, but she couldn't hide the smile spreading across her face. "O Jon..." She walked towards him and her arms slid around his waist. "There are moments I hate you, like right now, but..." She pressed her soft lips on his. "Then you always find a way to remind me how much and why I love you."

"I'm sorry, San, I truly am. I really wanted to give you a castle." Jon murmured and he buried the fingers of his left hand in his curls. "I meant well. I just wanted to make you the queen you already are to me."

"I know." She nodded and stepped back. "And well, it's our castle now. Like you said, it's a bit of a fixer upper, but it's not entirely hopeless." She looked around once more but there was now something else in her eyes.

Jon knew that something else was maybe even more dangerous than anything else.

Determination.

"This is clearly going to be the great hall." She let the tips of her fingers touch the sturdy walls. "There will be a stage, there." She pointed to the far end. "And there will be two wooden thrones on it and when we host parties the entire hall will be filled with tables and people and laughter and music."

Jon looked at her and all of a sudden he realised once more that he was the luckiest man alive because he could call this woman, this amazing woman, his wife. "Let's make that dream come true, San. Maybe not today, but someday, soon."

She looked over her shoulder and the smile on her face brightened. "Well, let's get to work then."