Angel sighed as she rolled over in bed. She'd slept until mid afternoon and was only now getting up. The reason that she had slept in? The day before the Weasley family had shown up, along with Hermione and things had just gone crazy. It had seemed the Weasley family had never been to a Muggle city before. The kids had been a little too excited when they arrived, therefore none of them had been quick to go to bed that night. Though it had been funny when Molly had pulled out jumpers for the Avengers, and Steve had made them all put them on; just to not be rude to her. Nothing was funnier than seeing the Avengers in knitted jumpers.
Even Loki had gotten one.
Arthur Weasley, however, had been all over Tony the moment they had met. Asking question after question. Tony rather seemed to enjoy the attention he was getting from Arthur.
Walking into the living area Angel found the kids playing video games, Molly was talking with Pepper, and Arthur was still asking Tony questions.
Angel also noticed that Thor had returned from visiting Jane. It had been a shock to Jane to learn that Sif had given her life so that she could live. And though her seriously severe wounds had healed, Jane had still taken a month to recover.
Loki had theorized that though the sword had used Sif's soul to heal her wounds Jane still had to recover from the toll of the battle along with the power of the sword. Seemed some healing items still required that the one they were used on to recover.
But from what Angel had heard Jane had made a full recovery and was determined not to let Sif's sacrifice go to waste. Though Angel did wonder if Sif was indeed gone. She brought up this feeling with Loki a few times, but the last time she'd brought it up, she'd asked a question that Loki couldn't answer. She'd asked what happened to Sif's body. When Loki was unable to explain what happened past Sif's body vanishing when she used the sword it had made Angel wonder. Loki had suggested that maybe Sif body was also converted into energy to heal Jane. Though Loki said he would spend considerable time searching about it in the future.
Loki walked over to her and kissed her. "Good morning, Dragon. Did you sleep well?" He asked her.
"I did, thank you. I see that everything is pretty much how I left it last night," Angel mused.
Loki smiled, "Not fully. The team is leaving in a few hours to chase after a new lead on the sceptre I used during the invasion. Nobody wants an infinity gem unprotected."
Angel nodded. She'd heard some talk of that lead before the Weasley family arrived, "So where are you going, and who are you searching for?"
"The place is a Hydra base in Sokovia. Should be fairly simple and all of us should easily be back in time for dinner," Loki shrugged.
Angel sighed, "I hate that you guys are going up against Hydra. Those underhanded snakes... Sorry," Angel realized how that comment sounded.
"It's fine Dragon. I know you don't mean it that way. And I do agree with you, however you know the dangers of leaving that scepter in the hands of people like Hydra," Loki sighed.
"Forgive the interruption, but there is a woman and young man in the lobby. They claim to have been invited," JARVIS announced.
"Who are they?" Clint asked.
"They refuse to identify themselves to a 'poltergeist'," JARVIS answered.
Loki sighed, "The Malfoys. Did we truly need to invite them?"
"As I told you when we sent the invitations. With Lucius locked up, this is the best time to try to turn the Malfoy family around. Also Draco was the one to warn us about the Death Eaters."
Loki shook his head, "You just like saving people."
Angel pushed his shoulder before walking around him, "Well I did a decent enough job with you. Jarvis let them up, please," Angel then went to the kitchen.
"I'll go down and retrieve them personally. Otherwise, they might not arrive here," Loki called to her as he headed for the elevator.
Harry looked back to observe what was going on with his parents, "What's happening?"
Hermione looked up from her rune scroll, "Your parents invited Malfoy and his mother. They just arrived and your father went to meet them."
Ron groaned, "Did your mum have to invite Malfoy?"
"Ron, he did help us during the battle with Amora's army," Hermione reminded.
"He's still a git," Ron muttered in protest.
Angel glanced over to the couch at the kids, "Please try to get along with him. He certainly seem to be trying to change his way, and he won't be able to do as much if you don't give him a chance. He proved he is on our side when he helped during the Battle of Hogwarts," Angel and the others hadn't told the kids that Draco had been the one to pass the letter that confirmed that Death Eaters would be at the battle along to them. She didn't want to run the risk of Draco's mother finding out if she didn't already know and thus punishing him for betraying his father, as she would most likely consider his action, "Harry, did you drink your potion today?" 'The potion' being the one Loki had fixed to repair the years of starvation and mistreatment at the hands of the Dursley family.
"Yes, mum. I had it with my orange juice this morning," Harry answered.
Angel nodded.
"Want me to fix you something to eat?" Steve offered her.
"That would be nice, thank you." Angel walked over to where the kids were and checked out what they were playing, "Garry's Mod? What are you guys up to?"
"We're playing a prop hunt. Ginny's really talented at hiding," Harry answered.
Ginny laughed a little, "I'm not actually hiding. They just haven't been paying attention to the rooms each time they're hiding."
"Currently, we're focused on hiding when it's our turn," Ron pointed out.
"But when you are hidden you should look around and try to remember what's in the room that's not someone else hiding," Ginny advised.
"That is solid advice," Angel nodded to herself.
"Mum, you met Malfoy's mum. What is she like?" Harry asked.
"The two of us only happened to meet a few times. She seemed to agree with her husband a great deal of the time, but only rarely would a married couple's opinion differ. Aside from that, she seemed like a smart enough woman," Angel shrugged.
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Narcissa Malfoy had been shocked to receive an invitation to spend the summer with Prince Loki's family. Even more so now, considering what had happened to her husband at Hogwarts. Though she was upset with what happened during that battle and the humiliation it brought her family Narcissa wasn't about to let a chance to be the acquaintance of Prince Loki and his family go to waste.
"Narcissa, Draco. Welcome to the Avenger tower," Loki greeted as he stepped out of the lift.
"Prince Loki," Nacrissa bowed, "We were honoured to receive your invitation."
"I didn't know these Muggles had a poltergeist in their tower," Draco commented.
Loki chuckled, "That is no poltergeist. That is JARVIS, an advanced Muggle machine built by the owner of this tower to serve as a servant and loyal retainer of sorts. Now if you will follow me, the three of us can join the others upstairs" Loki then lead them into the lift and they proceeded up to the top floor, "It is good that you came today as myself and the Avengers will be leaving shortly to go after a dangerous object that must be removed from Midgard as quickly as possible."
"Oh? Are we to be left with your wife?" Narcissa asked. She remembered the last time she'd met Princess Angel. The two hadn't gotten along after it had been discovered that her husband had tried to poison Princess Angel. Narcissa had no idea that Lucius would do something like that, but it wasn't the first time he went too far for his beliefs and it certainly wasn't the last. Narcissa wondered if there were still ill feelings for her family. After what happened with Lucius at Hogwarts she was sure there had to be some.
"Actually it was Angel's idea to invite you. We decided it would be better for our son to spend his summer with a few magical families in addition to his own family," Loki corrected.
The doors of the lift opened and the three stepped out to the cries of "Ron you git! You cheated. We agreed to not using v-clip."
George had been outraged when Ron won.
"I didn't cheat. You can hide under those logs without v-clipping," Ron defended.
"There are areas in those maps that happen to have spots such as that," Angel commented before looking over to the lift, "Ah, the Malfoys are here. Welcome,"
Angel waddled over to them with a friendly smile.
"I understand we owe our invitation to you. Thank you, Princess Angel," Narcissa bowed.
"Draco, why don't you join the others over on the couches. I'm sure they would enjoy teaching you how to play prop hunt," Angel suggested.
Draco frowned, "Prop hunt?"
Harry turned around, "Come over here and I'll show you."
Draco looked to his mother, who gave him a nod then walked over and sat between Harry and Ron. Ron seemed disgruntled at this predicament, "What is that?" He asked as he looked at the laptop.
Tony, who had entered the room in time to hear that sighed, "I am definitely building computers and cellphones that can hold up to their voodoo."
"I have a feeling you won't get around to that for a while," Loki chuckled.
"Mr. Stark, I have a question about this Twitter you spoke about," Arthur called from the bar as he looked up from the tablet Tony had lent him.
"Artie I told you, call me Tony," Tony said as he walked over.
Just then Steve walked out of the kitchen with a plate of sandwiches for Angel and Angel noticed a subtle look of interest in Narcissa's eye, as the woman in her late thirties eyed Steve Rogers.
"Here you go Angel. If you want a second helping, just ask," Steve said.
"Thank you Steve. By the way this is Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa this is Steve Rogers," Angel introduced.
"A pleasure Mrs. Malfoy," Steve greeted.
"It is likewise my pleasure, Mr. Rogers," Narcissa smiled.
Loki guided Angel away, "You remember what you said, about getting Narcissa and Draco on the side of light?"
"Yes, I believe I said that only a few minutes ago. Why, what are you thinking?" Angel asked.
"Well the Captain is without a lover and Narcissa no longer trapped under her husband's influence. Perhaps, with some guidance she might leave him all together for the someone better? Someone who has strong ties to the light?"
Angel knew where Loki was going with this, "Oh? You think Steve is what Narcissa needs to change her ways?"
"I am merely suggesting a way to better that family. I was under the impression that the goal was to bring Narcissa and Draco to the side of light. Was I wrong?"
Angel shook her head, "Even were that an option, doesn't the Wizarding world have that whole blood thing that basically traps women and men in their marriage until death claims one or both of them?"
"Come now Dragon, I practically created the Wizarding world. I'm certain I can open their minds to the concept of divorce," Loki brushed off. "Muggles divorce. Aesir divorce. It may be unfortunate but it is not an unusual event."
"Well I am not as sure, but it would be nice if Narcissa ended up with someone as nice as Steve," Angel sighed, "Very well then. Let's do what we can to bring those two together."
"Wonderful."
"Hey Lokes. Countdown until mission time," Tony called as he walked past Loki with Arthur following him.
"I will be ready," Loki nodded.
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Loki was somewhat amused by Hydra's attempts at keeping them away. They kept throwing legions of men at them as they fought their way across Sokovia. He'd heard Hydra's little "Cut off one head and two more shall take it's place" moto and the soldiers whom the team was fighting did seem to be trying hard to live up to it. Loki mused how amusing it would be if his wife were on the battlefield with them. But as she was heavy with their second child there was no way he or anyone on the team were going to let her fight any battles that weren't verbal or with the kids.
"We've got an enhanced on the field," Steve said over the comms.
Now this had Loki's interest. There had been a few enhanced persons that had appeared in the short time since the end of Harry's third year. Loki was also interested in just what ability this one has.
"I'll go inquire if I can perchance capture them for questioning," Loki then began wandering the area, picking off Hydra men as he search for trace of the enhanced.
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Angel was starting to wonder if inviting wizarding families was the best idea she'd had. She'd managed to have Arthur ask his questions about Muggles to JARVIS. The kids had moved away from Garry's mod and were playing an old fighting game called Evil Zone. Molly was sitting in one of the many chairs in the living area knitting and trying to have a conversation with Narcissa, who was barely saying a word. Luckily for Angel the elevator dinged and a woman with curly red hair, tanned skin, and warm brown eyes entered the penthouse.
"Astrid!" Angel greeted as she walked over to her, "I am incredibly grateful for your coming."
Astrid smiled, "Well who could refuse a chance to spend some time in the home of the Avengers? Also I just had to meet your son."
"I know that Loki will be exceedingly happy to see you again."
Astrid chuckled, "I remember the last time I saw him. Lucky for him there's no mud puddles for him to fall into this time," She teased knowingly.
Angel laughed, "Admit it, you knocked him into it."
Astrid just smirked her tail lightly swaying behind her in amusement. Mid back length curly red hair seemed to frame her body like a short cape, the tips of her pointed elf like ears just peeking out from beneath the curls. Her skin was sun kissed with not a mark marring it. Astrid had the body of a model and brown eyes that could make any man melt. Wearing a simple white blouse and jeans she was clearly dressing down for this informal visit with her friend yet still looked like she'd jumped out of a beauty magazine.
"Harry, could you come over here?" Angel called.
Harry, who had just finished his turned passed his controller to Eisa before going over to his mum and Astrid.
"Harry this is Astrid, she's an old friend of my mother's as well as the one who told me what I am. Astrid this my son Haraldr, he prefers to be called Harry, though," Angel introduced him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry. I have been looking forward to meeting you since I read of the reunion between you and your parents in the papers," Astrid greeted.
"It's nice to meet you too," Harry smiled.
"Well you most certainly remind me of your father in appearance. I just hope you take after your mother," Astrid winked.
Angel gave a dramatic sigh, "Sadly I fear there is a fair amount of Loki in him."
Astrid laughed, "Should've guessed."
Harry rolled his eyes at the two of them. This wasn't the first time one of his parents had spoken to someone about how much like either parent he was. The groan worthy times this happened was when it was both his parents and they would find themselves in playful arguments over which side he got what from. Though those moments did tend to lead to Harry learning about his parents' past as they would bring up old stories from before he was born.
"I must say though he's quite the handsome young man. I wonder if his Huldra heritage will come into play at some point. He won't have any problem getting what he wants," Astrid smiled.
Angel frowned, "Astrid, seriously? Harry is not the type of person to use his Huldra side to seduce people," Angel then crossed her arms over her chest, "Also we have no way of knowing if he even will have such skills. He is one fourth human and one half frost giant."
Astrid raise a brow, "Oh? Loki wasn't Asgardian after all? How interesting."
"His heritage was hidden from him by Odin. It was quite the blow when he learned the truth. You know how the Aesir hate giants," Angel sighed.
Harry went back to the couch to see if anyone needed help with the controls or if anyone wanted to play a new game. He would have spoken up and told his mother and her friend that he was leaving but they clearly were focused on their conversation and he didn't want to butt in.
"And now he is back, you are about to have another child, and you both are a part of a group of mostly human heroes," Astrid shook her head, "Your mother was right about you."
Angel frowned, "What do you mean?"
Astrid just smiled before walking over to the bar. Ignoring Angel's repeated attempts to force her to explain her comment as she fixed herself a drink.
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The mission was over. The enhanced had gotten away, the Hydra base was shut down, the scepter was safely tucked away in a case on the jet, and the team was safe. Loki was disappointed that he'd not been able to catch the enhanced. Either of them. From what Clint had told him one of the enhanced was faster than normal humans, but the second one was unknown as far as he knew. Steve had apparently seen the second one, a young woman with red hair but that was it. Clint had told them that the enhanced he'd seen was male with short white hair. This surprised Loki as he knew that wasn't a normal color for humans to have. Was it part of what made him an enhanced? What was the connection between the two enhanced and Hydra? How was it they were enhanced? Was it natural? Or something Hydra did to them? If it was something Hydra did to them, why would they allow it? What drove them to allow Hydra to experiment on them? There were, indeed, many questions, and yet no answers. Well, unless Loki got Tony to let him look over the files they had been able to retrieve from the Hydra computers.
Loki was on the phone with Angel, letting her know that all of the team was safe and that they would be back shortly, and checking that everything was fine back at the tower.
"Well, there was a little confusion involving the microwave, the stereo, and the automatic doors that lead to the balcony. The mess was cleaned up, but I believe Arthur is in love with the bots and Narcissa almost fainted when Dummy tried to bring her a glass of water," Angel listed.
Loki chuckled, "I'm sure her views on non magical people are changing the longer she remains in Stark's tower."
"Yeah I think so. Oh, and guess who just showed up an hour ago?"
"Who?" Loki figured it had to be another magical family.
"Astrid. She can't wait to see you again and meet everyone."
Loki was surprised by this. As far as he knew Angel had not seen Astrid in years, he had not thought Angel could even contact her, "Now that is surprising. I do hope she will behave herself this time. The last time she was with us it took almost an hour to clean the mud off of myself.
"Oh, do not worry so, Loki. After all, there is no mud around the tower," Angel brushed off, "Oh, Harry wants to talk to you."
Loki heard the phone being passed before hearing Harry's voice.
"Hi dad. How's your trip going?" Harry asked.
"Excellently. In fact, we have what we were seeking and are on our way back now. We should return in an hour or so," Loki answered, "How goes teaching the magical families about non magical things?"
"Well it's not completely miserable. Fred and George like the nerf guns, Ron and
Ginny seem to like Game of Thrones, and Malfoy is watching something on YouTube," Harry answered.
"What about Narcissa Malfoy?" Loki was going to look for that footage later.
"After she got scared by Dummy Steve took her into the kitchen."
Loki nodded to himself, "Wise choice." This also served to help Loki and Angel's plan to try to get Steve and Narcissa together. I mean, what better way to bring two people together, then for one of them to have gotten scared by something and the other comforting?
"Hey, that Magic Boy? Hi Magic Boy!" Tony called from the pilot seat.
"Stark and the others say hello," Loki relaid with a roll of his eyes, "Anyway,
we should be home shortly. We might be able to sneak a quick lesson before bed."
"Loki, I want Harry asleep at a decent hour tonight!" Angel yelled in the background.
"How does she do that?" Harry asked in amazement.
Loki laughed, "I have yet to work out the answer."
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Sometime later
It had been so very easy for Ultron to track down the Maximoff twins, and convince them to join him in destroying the Avengers. Although Ultron didn't fully know the reason for the twins' vendetta against Tony Stark; Ultron was happy to use it to aid him. Ultron, however, hadn't expected the young woman that came up to him. He had seen this woman with the Avengers, and he knew that she was friends with Angel Devin, Loki's wife, as well that she wasn't human. But why would she be here speaking to him?
"Just what is it that you want?" Ultron asked her. She smiled at him.
"Simply? I want Loki to suffer, and, if possible, die," She answered, her smile bright and cheerful, but her tone like ice.
Ultron stared at her for a moment, studying her carefully for signs of deceit. Finding none, he took a few steps towards her, "Wouldn't that hurt your friend? Loki's wife?"
Her smile fell at that, "Angel is a naive and... a young woman. Having been raised by her human father, she leans more heavily towards her human heritage than her noble Huldra heritage. She could never understand my reasons for which I hate him. I want- I desperately need- for him to pay. But, I also want for Angel and her children to remain safe," There was a pause, "So? Am I wasting my time with you?"
Ultron studied her a little more before chuckling. "How could I turn away such an offer, Lady Astrid?"