The man stood up slowly and began to walk weakly, letting Hermione guide him in the house, looking at her absent mindedly.
She felt his eyes on her, but given his poor state he was probably just seeing her, not really watching her.
She made him sit in front of the table, and gave him a warm tea, that he sipped calmly and then a plate of hot pasta, that he ate in less than five minutes.
Hermione leaned back on the counter and observed him. He was a handsome man and reminded her a lot of the one from her dream... the vibrant eyes looked green with the warm light of the house, he had sharp cheekbones and thin lips. His not too prominent arm's muscles were well visible under his green shirt...
He had almost finished his meal.
« So, what's your name? »
The man swallowed the last mouthful of his meal and put the cutlery back on the table.
« Loki. » he whispered. Then, he stood up, took a step and fell onto the floor, exhausted. Hermione ran to him. He had fallen asleep while standing up, incredible! He must have been really tired! She grabbed his arms and dragged him on her bed as if he was a sack of potatoes.
« Well, I let him in and fed him, but I can't keep him here forever... » she thought, while taking the wand from her bedside.
With silent movements she fixed and cleaned his clothes. She then wanted to try some healing spells... but they weren't working on him!
How could that be? The spells worked on everyone on earth... « That's the key... » whispered a voice in her head, but she didn't pay attention to it, too focused on trying to think to something that could work. After a long endless hour spent researching on her books, she eventually gave up and hoped for him to be awake as soon as possible.
She curled up on the couch, put the wand at her side and started reading.
An hour later, Hermione yawned loudly.
She closed her book and stretched her neck out, to look at her bed. It was empty.
She squinted her eyes and tried to stand, but something gripped her neck and made her sit again.
She tried to resist, but she was just making it worse, so she threw her head back and saw his aggressor's face: Loki. He was weird, though, he didn't look any aggressive, on the contrary... it almost looked like he was the victim!
Hermione put a hand on the cloth that he was using to choke her and it broke. Then, she stood up quickly and aimed to Loki with her hand, trying to stun him. Like the healing spells, though, the offensive spells didn't work on him either, so she decided to sacrifice her poor books on the shelves behind him. She threw them at him with a rapid and gentle move of her hand, thanking the day in which she had learned to cast spells without her wand, which she grabbed anyways afterwards.
She approached him cautiously, ready to attack him.
Loki looked at her aghast, his mouth open in astonishment and his hands up in surrender.
« A-are you a sister from Asgard? » he asked.
« What's Asgard? » questioned Hermione.
Loki shook his head « You're a human? »
« Of course I am, what else could I be? »
« But then, how did you... » he asked to himself, shaking his head continuously in disbelief.
Hermione tried to hide the fact that the panic was taking over her « What do you want? If you needed something you could have as well just asked, there was no need to attack me. »
« What should I have done after having woken up in a stranger's house? »
Hermione tried to answer, but didn't find anything to say.
Loki stood up and theatrically wiped some non-existent dust off his arms« Anyhow, the only thing I really do need can't be given to me by a kid like you... » he asserted, beginning to walk back and forth nervously. Then he looked up to her, and a spark lightened his eyes « Unless... »
« Unless what? » repeated Hermione doubtfully, while following him with the tip of her wand.
Loki stopped.
« Alright, let's do this: you put that weird device down, even if you could attack me without it too, I won't try to kill you anymore and we just sit for a moment. » and keeping his hands slightly up, he sat gracefully on the couch. He almost looked like a prince...
Hermione sat too and, still suspicious, put the wand on the table.
« So, what's this Asgard you mentioned? »
« Asgard is the place where I come from, it's a wonderful city of which I am... well, was King... » he said, sighing longingly.
« You are a King? » asked Hermione all at once and Loki grinned « Yes, you could say so. » then he froze for a second.
« I want to show you Asgard. »
Loki stretched his right hand in front of him. Some gold-like sparks spurted joyfully from his palm, then Hermione's flat took a peaceful gold shade and the shapes of her furnitures began to change, and there it was, Asgard: magnificent gardens, of the most vibrant green, an incredible gold castle prevailed on the view, while the mountains loomed proudly in the sky. Hermione looked around astonished, tossing and turning on the couch like a child in a shop full of toys to see as much as possible of that gorgeous place. Then, she glanced at Loki, who was smiling like a father smiles to his son, a proud and sweet smile.
« Beautiful, isn't it? »
Suddenly, a shadow appeared on his face « Now watch, look what it has been turned into. »
Loki clapped his hands, than parted them slightly and turned them upside down, as if he had turned an hourglass. Doing so, the warm golden light around his right hand moved to his left one, turning into a cold greyish blue and Asgard changed. The feeling of coziness in the sunny surrounding vanished, replaced by some unnatural darkness. The gardens were just gaunt earth and the palace looked rusty and tottering.
Loki shook his head gravely and closed his hand, making the hologram disappear. Then he turned towards Hermione.
The girl was still staring shocked the point in which two seconds ago was the palace.
« But why would someone ever do something like this? » asked Hermione, bleary-eyed.
« Hunger for power. » Loki answered « Envy that devours the souls and makes them rotten... » his voice broke, as if something inside him had broken along, as if he understood the emotions of his enemy so well that he could think of them as his. In that moment of distraction, a different expression took over him, worried maybe? Anyway, he returned to his senses quickly, getting his confident attitude back on.
This made Hermione a little more suspicious, so she asked « This is horrible, but... what does it have to do with me? »
« Listen, I must save my people, but I am alone and I can not make it! You unintentionally showed me your power and your presence of mind: basic qualities for a worthy person, the same that can help me make my city raise again. » said Loki calmly, articulating his words and looking her in the eyes. He paused for a moment, as if he wanted to check the girl's reaction. Then, he went on « There is just one thing that can help me. It is called "Tesseract", it is an unlimited energy source, the source that my planet needs to exist and without it, well... you just saw what happens. The source has been stolen from me: my enemies, people from your planet, they want to use it to build weapons, to make war. But the Tesseract was not created to hurt, it's only reason of being is bringing life, not death. »
Loki paused again.
« I think you might be a key factor in my mission to get it back. »
Hermione interrupted him suddenly « Wait, wait a second... did you say "planet"? You mean this Asgard is not on Earth? »
« Well... no » answered Loki, as if it was obvious.
Hermione nodded lightly.
« So he is an... alien? Well, at least this explains why my spells don't work on him... kind of... »
«Anyhow» he said, crossing elegantly his long legs «There is no need for you to answer me now.»
He leaned towards her charmingly «I can wait here until you say yes.» he said lightly (even though he didn't properly look like he was joking). Then he suddenly jumped off the couch and began to wonder around the house.
