You Guys! I never expected my first ever fic to get even half as much attention that it did for the first chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. There were views from like 70 different countries all around the world. That is SO COOL. *chin hands*
Okay notes:
Pairings: So far Harry/Hermione is winning with pretty much all the votes. One person also requested Harry/any avenger and Harry/Heimdall (which is a pairing I never knew I needed til now, thanks french guest!) but sadly neither of those will happen in this fic as our bro HP is only 14. Loki on the other hand is still open for pairings.
Bashing: A few of you brought up Dumbledore and whether he'll be bashed/have Loki sicced on him for being a manipulative jerk. So this is me letting you know that yes, there will be some light bashing in that sense but ultimately he's still a good guy, albeit one with way too much power in the wizarding world and has made a lot of mistakes. Odin's character will be handled similarly.
Probably some light Ron bashing too since this is GoF where his jealousy is at its worst and chapter one shook things up a bit for him. Hope that doesn't turn anyone off too much. I'll still do my best to keep everyone in character, just pointing out and taking them to task for some of the things they've done.
Extras: Shoutout to Terra King for writing long PMs back and forth with me the past few days and helping me to figure out some future parts of this story. Thank you so much.
Oh, and shoutout to JuMiKu, who hilariously narrated Snape's internal monologue during chapter one in their review. Thanks for making me laugh!
On to the second chapter:
Harry and Thor reappeared on the roof of a tall building in a burst of light. Harry took a moment to observe the busy New York City streets below. He idly wondered in the back of his mind what time it was; the sky was only just beginning to darken and streak with the colors of sunset, rather than the night it had been in Scotland.
"Welcome Harry, to Avengers Tower." Thor smiled gently as he led Harry inside and into an elevator.
Everything suddenly felt far too real. He felt hyper aware as he took in the gleaming metal walls, the feel of Thor's cape brushing against his arm, his own rabbiting heartbeat which refused to slow. And that was before the voice from the ceiling greeted them and asked which floor they wanted. Harry was pretty sure he had literally jumped in surprise.
But Thor just placed a comforting hand on his back as the doors opened up into what appeared to be some kind of Common room. It looked nothing like those of Hogwarts however; all sharp modern furniture and minimal color, rather than the loud eclectic collection of furnishings in Gryffindor house. Somehow, it felt even more alien to Harry than his brief view of Asgard had.
"I shall go find my brother," Thor started. "Will you be alright remaining here until I return?" Harry nodded silently, not trusting his voice to work properly as his anxiety steadily climbed.
Thor vanished down the long hallway to his left, and Harry was left alone in the rapidly dimming light coming in from the large glass windows. His stomach twisted in knots. How on earth did he end up here? He had run away from school. He believed a man he'd just met and thrown all common sense and caution to the wind. He had traveled to another universe.
What if this was just some horrible joke? A fluke? Some utterly ridiculous Death Eater plot? Wasn't Loki responsible for the alien invasion? What if he was evil -lying- for some nefarious purpose? Would he even be allowed back to Hogwarts after this?
Harry didn't realise he was hyperventilating until he was suddenly crouched on the floor, gasping for air. It felt like a Dementor had a cold hand clenched around his sternum and his pounding heart was too loud in his ears and he couldn't breathe-
"Whoa kiddo, calm down!" A voice suddenly cut through Harry's panic as a new man entered the room and immediately dropped to the floor beside him.
"It's alright, you're safe here. C'mon, breathe with me. Nice and slow, that's it. I'm Clint, what's your name kiddo?" The man, Clint, had drawn one of Harry's hands to his chest so he could feel the steady pattern of his breaths while he kept up a soothing stream of comforting and distracting words, as if sitting on the floor and dealing with stranger's panic attacks was an everyday occurrence.
"I'm H-harry." he managed to spit out between gasps, as his eyes finally focused enough to glance at his helper beside him. Clint was blond, with a rough but kind face and tanned skin. He was wearing a purple shirt and grey sweatpants. Harry felt his breathing begin to level out while he distracted himself with the details of Clint's appearance (there was a hole near the hem of his shirt, and the man was barefoot). He finally managed a deep, steady breath in and out.
"Th-thanks." He said, and as soon as he trusted his legs not to buckle, he scrambled to his feet. Clint followed suit.
"Harry, right. You're Loki's kid! Glad you're finally here, everyone around here was going nuts trying find you." He moved to lean against one of the long white couches near them and gestured Harry to sit down.
"Pretty overwhelming, huh? I get it. Seriously if I were in your shoes I'd be panicking too." Harry blushed, the last few minutes had been highly embarrassing but he took some small comfort from Clint's honest tone.
"I'm betting that Thor wasn't very detailed or diplomatic to whoever you were with but, well, he was the only one who could go, you know? So." He asked, "Which part is freaking you out most?"
"My m...L-loki," Harry stumbled over the name, "Wasn't he… didn't he lead the invasion?"
"Oh. Right, I guess you haven't seen the news lately. Loki wasn't exactly- in control. He had this staff; he used to it mind control people into working for him." Clint's jaw clenched at that. "He used it on me. But… the staff was controlling him too. Something else was pulling the strings...
"We all thought Loki had orchestrated the whole thing. Thor was getting ready to take him back to Asgard for his sentencing when he noticed that his eyes were blue instead of their normal color."
Green, Harry thought as he mulled over this new information. Like mine.
"Apparently everyone who was brainwashed by the staff had these bright blue eyes-I don't really remember that part while I was under- and so we bashed him on the head a few times 'til he uh, woke up." Clint rubbed the back of his own head with a sympathetic wince.
"There was this big shockwave of something. Magic, I guess. And that's when he started screaming for you. There was some kind of memory loss voodoo or something? I'm not too clear on that part. Anyway, breaking the mind control and the memory block took a lot out of him. He's been laid up here in the tower to recover while the rest of us worked on tracking you down." Clint finished.
Harry felt an overwhelming sense of relief. He still didn't know the full story but at least he wasn't being led straight toward another Voldemort. He didn't know what else to ask Clint so he kept his eyes glued to the floor. His ratty old trainers looked even worse contrasted with the pristine hardwood floor beneath them. Clint didn't seem to have anything more to say either, so they sat in companionable silence until Thor returned.
"Friend Clint!" "Hey big guy." The two men greeted each other.
"Come, nephew." Thor waved. Clint patted Harry on the back as he rose to follow Thor, then started walking in the opposite direction as them. "Nice to meet you," he called over his shoulder. Harry just nodded weakly.
Thor led him through the dimly lit hallways until they finally arrived at a plain, unremarkable door.
"I shall leave you to your reunion." Thor spoke quietly. Harry would have much preferred that he stay, but before he thought to say anything, the god was already halfway down the hall.
He stared at where his hand rested on the doorknob and waited, screwing up all of the Gryffindor courage he could. It felt fake. He was still incredibly nervous and vaguely terrified, but isn't that what bravery is? Acting despite fear?
He opened the door.
Clint slowed to a stop as Natasha emerged from the shadows and stepped to his side.
"Something's not right." She murmured, staring in the direction Harry and Thor had disappeared to. Clint nodded.
"The kid flinched bad when I first touched him. And he's way too thin, like he hasn't had a decent meal in months." Clint knew what that looked like, had seen it in himself and his brother back when they were on the streets, before the circus.
"He's got a couple bruises, likely some more on his torso with the way he held himself. A few scars as well. Abuse?" Natasha questioned, though they both knew the answer as she said it. Her voice held a detached, clinical tone but Clint could tell there was a righteous anger bubbling beneath. He felt it too.
"Probably." He sighed. "Let's go talk to Tony, he's the one who found the kid after all."
"I almost feel sorry for whoever's responsible. They're about to have some very dangerous people after them." Nat smiled wickedly.
The two walked down to the lab in complete silence, footsteps never making a sound.
Harry closed the door behind him. He was in a bedroom. It was a refreshing contrast to the harshly modern common area; with blue walls and rugs and warm wooden furniture.
His eyes traveled up the white bed sheets until green eyes met green.
The man before him was sickly looking and pale, but there was no mistaking him for anything but Loki, God of Lies and Mischief. He was wearing a plain long sleeved black shirt, and sweatpants that appeared to match Clint's.
He simply stared at Harry for a long moment. Harry stared back, unable to think of anything to say. He moved slowly to the chair set near the left side of the bed and sat, fidgeting under the heavy weight of the god's gaze. He appeared to be trying to memorize every inch of Harry's face before he spoke.
"Harry…I-" Loki's voice wavered, somewhat rusty. "… perhaps it would be easier… like this." He waved one hand as his form seemed to flicker at the edges with golden light.
Suddenly it was no longer Loki before him, but Lily.
She was even more beautiful than the few photos Harry had of her implied. Flowing, shiny red hair fanned around her shoulders. Her face had softened, become more feminine, but Harry could still see the echo of Loki's features in hers. And in his own.
Their eyes were still the same.
It was this that finally broke him. His mother was alive. She was here. Harry was only tangentially aware of the tears starting to slip down his cheeks as he simply drank in the sight of the one woman he had dreamed about knowing all his life.
Her eyes were watery too, as she continued.
"I'm so sorry. My son. You were the one thing that- that I was supposed to be able to keep-" she fairly snarled the last word as a tear of her own began to fall.
She paused, collecting herself. Harry took the opportunity to take off his glasses and swipe at his eyes.
"...You know of Odin, and of Thor's arrival on Midgard as a human?" Harry nodded, he was only vaguely aware of the story, but he knew that Odin had cast Thor down as punishment, and he only gained his powers back when he'd learned his lesson.
"Dear father," Lily (Loki?) continued with sarcastic emphasis on the title, "cast me out years earlier, into the form of an infant. This original body was stillborn, an empty vessel without a soul. Easy for my own to be shoved into its place. I was to live out a mortal life with no memory of Asgard, and be restored there upon this body's death.
"But Odin did not care that this body I took was female, or realise his error in erasing my memory. He didn't consider that I could fall in love with a mortal." Her face contorted in pain.
"Your father was...good-so good. He did not deserve… any of it. Me. But I loved him anyway, and we both loved you. So much."
Harry felt as though he could choke on the intensity of emotion in the room. Lily didn't look much better. He drew in on himself, hugging his arms to his chest and pulling his feet up onto his seat.
"That Hallowe'en night… the night I was killed, I woke up in my true body, in Asgard. I tried to leave, to get back to you but… I was so angry, so afraid. Half out of my mind from the trauma I told Odin just why I needed to return." She chuckled bitterly, a dark, dreadful sound.
"I had inadvertently committed the very crime I had been punished for. Producing a child. Another monster, in the eyes of the Allfather. One more to be taken away." Her voice grew flat, emotion deadened. Her eyes were rimmed with red.
"I fought, but I wasn't strong enough. He took my memories. Left false ones in their places. Unremarkable ones I never looked at closely. I'm sorry, so sorry. I left you behind, let him erase you away- and for that I'll never forgive myself." She finished. Her eyes slipped closed as she leaned back against the headboard, breathing harshly.
Harry couldn't take it anymore. He finally let go of his fear and doubts. That kind of pain; such love couldn't be faked. And it was all he'd ever wanted. He'd react to the rest later.
So he pitched himself forward into his mother's arms, and finally let himself cry for the family he'd never had, and the piece he'd just been given back. Lily's hands moved up to cradle him carefully, as though either one of them might shatter if she held on too tight.
Her hair was just as soft against his face as it looked, and her scent was achingly familiar. Even as Lily's form flickered once more into that of Loki, his smell remained the same.
"My apologies. Though shifting may be one of my more simpler magics, I am unable to maintain it for long in this state." Loki murmured into Harry's hair.
"It's okay." Harry replied. He wasn't one to judge someone over their appearance, or ambiguously changing gender, as the case may be. He finally pulled back from the embrace and sat on the edge of the bed rather than take the chair again. Silence lapsed over the room once more.
"Wait. Did you say another child? Do I have siblings?" Harry asked incredulously. Loki nodded, but his lips were pressed into a thin line and his expression was...off. He sounded increasingly bitter as he began to name them;
"The first was a mistake, the product of rape; Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse. I still loved him deeply despite his form and painful origin. He was still mine. Odin forbid me to see him after I gave birth. He dares use him as his own steed, as though he were a common animal." Loki bit out harshly, hurt and guilt clearly written all over his face.
"The next three were born of myself and the giantess Angrboda, but none took after either of our forms. Odin and the others were fearful of them, and took them away before they grew too powerful to control. Fenrir, the wolf. Jörmungandr, the world serpent. Hel, goddess of Niflheim; the realm of the dead.
"And lastly Nari and Váli. They were not monsters, but I could not bear the thought of having them taken like the others. I asked their mother, Sigyn, to flee with them somewhere Odin could not follow. I've not seen any of them since." Loki finished miserably.
Harry's head was spinning. Six half siblings! He spared only a moment's thought to their strange forms. Most mythological figures had crazy back stories, right? He desperately wanted to meet them but… they were lost, chained up in other realms.
"That… that's not fair! So what if they weren't Asgardian or whatever, why would he… isn't Odin your father?" Harry questioned. Loki's face twisted in some dark emotion.
"Not by blood. But that is a story for another time. I do not know why he took you all away from me. Is there… anything else you wish to know?"
Harry thought for a minute, dozens of questions whirling through his mind before he finally settled on the one most precious to him.
"Could you tell me more about you and… and dad?"
"Very well."
They talked through the night until they both began nodding off. Loki, still weak, succumbed first, leaving Harry to awkwardly sit and wonder where he was supposed to go and if it was appropriate to stay in the same room. Thankfully, JARVIS came to his rescue.
"There is another bedroom made up for you just across the hall, mister Potter," came the soothing voice from the ceiling.
"Thanks," Harry yawned as he quietly made his way out of the room and into the one across from it, set up and decorated similarly to Loki's. "And it's just Harry, please."
"Of course, Harry. Breakfast will be served in the kitchen one floor below at 9am. Would you like me to provide an alarm?"
Harry didn't answer, having passed out the second his head hit the pillow.
Back at Hogwarts, the sun was just beginning to rise over the mountainside surrounding the castle. Albus Dumbledore sat calmly at the desk in his office, though inside his mind was working furiously. Where was Harry Potter? What was the purpose of the ridiculous story of the god Loki being the boy's mother? How had Thor managed to kidnap him so easily, to a place not even Fawkes could find? He would have the Phoenix try teleporting to the boy again in a few hours in case he was moved elsewhere.
He looked up as Professors McGonagall and Snape entered. Minerva looked frazzled, while Snape looked even more displeased than usual.
"You summoned us, Headmaster?" He drawled.
"Yes," Albus replied. "I have been unable to locate Mister Potter. I fear it is time. We must reassemble the Order of the Phoenix."
And that's it for chapter two. Hopefully it fulfilled your expectations and wasn't too ooc. I have no idea how many times I rewrote the Harry/Loki scene, trying to mesh Lily and Loki's personalities together in a believable way. Gah. It still doesn't feel right to me but I've gone numb to it after rereading it so many times.
Those of you familiar with the mythology might have noticed I changed a few small things and made up some of my own conclusions where there are gaps in information about Loki's kids (mostly the Narfi/Nari/Vali thing) to keep it more consistent with the version of Loki in this au. I also kept that part intentionally short, so if anyone felt lost don't worry; you'll get more detailed pieces of their stories as Harry does.
Chapter Fun Fact: You can actually catch a glimpse of Sleipnir in Thor when Odin arrives at Jotunheim to rescue Thor & Co. from starting a war with the frost giants.
Next time: Harry meets the rest of the Avengers and learns how a bunch of muggles managed to find him when gods couldn't. The truth about the Dursleys comes out, as well as the events of Harry's first three years of school, much to everyone's displeasure.